An optical disc drive apparatus includes a frame having a sidewall, and a disc tray supported by the frame. The frame has a supporting portion including a guide rib formed protruding from an inner wall surface of the sidewall and a plurality of guide protrusions formed protruding upward from the guide rib. The disc tray has a supported portion implemented by a guide groove slidably engaging to the plurality of guide protrusions. A guide protrusion positioned at the forefront among the plurality of guide protrusions is structured so as to come in surface-contact with a wall surface implementing the guide groove. With such a structure, an optical disc drive apparatus unlikely to be broken even if a force in a transversal direction is applied to the disc tray while the disc tray is at a disc-removable position can be obtained.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical disc drive apparatus to which a disc recording medium represented by a CD (Compact Disc), a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), or the like is loaded for reproduction or recording of information.
2. Description of the Background Art
In the optical disc drive apparatus, information is recorded and erased by condensing a light beam emitted from an optical pick-up into a small spot on information recording tracks on a rapidly-rotating disc recording medium (hereinafter, simply referred to as an "optical disc") and scanning the tracks. When the information recorded on the optical disc is reproduced, the information recording tracks on the rapidly-rotating optical disc are irradiated with a light beam, and the reflected light is received for reading the information.
Generally, the optical disc is loaded to the optical disc drive apparatus of the above-described type by mounting the optical disc on a disc tray drawn out of a cabinet and storing the disc tray in the cabinet by means of a tray moving mechanism. The optical disc loaded in the cabinet is clamped by a turntable and a damper and floats from the disc tray. A high-speed rotation operation of the optical disc is thus enabled.
A variety of types of structures have been invented as the tray moving mechanism described above. For example, Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 7-57362 and Japanese Utility Model Registration No. 3088851 disclose a general structure of the tray moving mechanism.
FIG. 10 is a schematic top view showing a tray moving mechanism of a conventional optical disc drive apparatus, the disc tray being at a disc-removable position. As shown in FIG. 10, the optical disc drive apparatus includes a cabinet (not shown), a frame 120 arranged in the cabinet, and a disc tray 110 slidably supported by frame 120.
A disc mount portion 112 on which an optical disc is mounted is formed on an upper surface of disc tray 110. An opening 111 is formed in the center of disc tray 110, through which elevation/lowering of the turntable as well as irradiation of the information recording tracks on the optical disc with the light beam emitted from the optical pick-up are allowed. Elevation of the turntable through opening 111 will push up the optical disc mounted on disc mount portion 112 to a chucking position. In addition, irradiation of the information recording tracks on the optical disc with the light beam through opening 111 will enable recording and reproduction of the information.
A supporting portion for supporting disc tray 110 is provided in a sidewall 120a of frame 120. On the other hand, a supported portion supported by the supporting portion of frame 120 is provided at a side edge of disc tray 110. More specifically, the supporting portion of frame 120 includes a guide rib 126, a plurality of guide protrusions 127a, 127b, . . . formed on guide rib 126, and guide tabs 128. Meanwhile, the supported portion of disc tray 110 includes a guide groove 113 provided on a lower surface of disc tray 110. In other words, the plurality of guide protrusions 127a, 127b, . . . provided on frame 120 engage to guide groove 113 provided in disc tray 110, so that disc tray 110 is slidably supported by frame 120. Guide tabs 128 provided in frame 120 serve to prevent disengagement of guide protrusions 127a, 127b, . . . described above from guide groove 113.
A stopper 129 provided in frame 120 abuts on a stopper 115 provided in disc tray 110, so as to prevent failing of disc tray 110.
Power generated by a driving motor 121 is utilized to move disc tray 110. For transmission of the power, components serving as power transmission mechanisms such as a timing belt 122, a gear 123, pinions 124, 125, a rack 132 provided in a slider 130, a protrusion 133 also provided in slider 130, a rack 114 provided in disc tray 110, a guide rail 116 provided on the lower surface of disc tray 110, and the like are used.
FIG. 11 is a partially enlarged view showing a shape of a guide protrusion positioned at the forefront in the optical disc drive apparatus described above, whereas FIG. 12 is a schematic cross-sectional view along the line XII—XII of the optical disc drive apparatus shown in FIG. 11.
As shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, in the conventional optical disc drive apparatus, a guide protrusion 127a positioned at the forefront among guide protrusions 127a, 127b, . . . provided on guide rib 126 is implemented by a boss having a columnar shape and integrally formed with frame 120. Accordingly, guide protrusion 127a positioned at the forefront has been in line contact with a wall surface 113a implementing guide groove 113 provided in disc tray 110.
In the optical disc drive apparatus with the above-described structure, if a force is applied in a direction F in FIG. 10, that is, in a transversal direction with respect to disc tray 110 while disc tray 110 is drawn out and at the disc-removable position, guide protrusion 127a positioned at the forefront is broken. This is because the load is concentrated on guide protrusion 127a positioned at the forefront when disc tray 110 is drawn out and at the disc-removable position. If guide protrusion 127a positioned at the forefront is broken, disc tray 110 may fall at worst, resulting in failure of the optical disc drive apparatus.


An improved reinforced friction material is comprised of a cured friction material mixture of friction particles, filler particles, and binder particles, and has a embedded honeycomb core reinforcement whose individual cells are filled with and bonded at the cell walls to the cured friction material mixture by a novel manufacturing method.

The us in automobiles and other transport vehicles of various braking devices such as drum brake assemblies, disc brake assemblies, and the like is well-known. Such devices function to retard or stop vehicle motion, often from high velocities and at high rates of vehicle deceleration. In the braking process much or very nearly all of the vehicle's kinetic energy is converted to frictional heat at the surfaces of the friction material or materials incorporated in the vehicle braking devices. Such braking process also frequently results in very high operating temperatures being developed in the friction material or materials.
Friction materials incorporated in the known braking devices have generally utilized discrete reinforcement fibers or continuous reinforcement filaments for material reinforcement purposes, and often with a compromise as to one or more of the material's qualities of wear-resistance, developed braking noise, and release of fiber debris. U.S. Pat. No. 3,639,197 issued in the name of Spain, for instance, discloses the use of both continuous carbon filaments and randomly-oriented short carbon fibers as reinforcements in the rotor and stator composites of an aircraft brake assembly.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,759,353 issued in the name of Marin teaches the use of both circumferentially-wound carbon filament and woven carbon filament cloth reinforcements in a disc brake friction disc composite structure.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,278,153 issued in the name of Venkatu discloses a brake disc construction having a copper or copper-plated metal honeycomb core reinforcement that is filled with a powdered friction material, normally comprised of powdered metals and including powdered copper. The powdered friction material is subsequently sintered at an elevated temperature in the range of 1,800 to 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit to form a unitary structure that is made up essentially of single phase, metal-to-metal bonded material resulting from solid state fusion of the mass.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,373,038 issued in the name of Moraw et al. teaches an asbestos-free friction material useful for brake linings, clutches, etc. and comprising a combination of discrete aramide fibers, mineral fibers, and steel fibers reinforcing a hardenable binder.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,384,640 issued in the name of Trainor et al. discloses a friction composition wherein aramid fibers only, sometimes in continuous filament form and sometimes in discrete fiber form, are utilized as reinforcements in the fabrication of various brake or clutch components.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,418,115 issued in the name of Le Lannou teaches a friction lining material for use in brakes, clutches, and other applications having both mineral fibers and organic fibers as reinforcements in a mixture having fillers and a binder. The organic fibers are at least partially composed of a cross-linkable, fusible type such as acrylic or modacrylic fibers.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,997,067 granted in the name of Watts also teaches a friction material for brakes, clutches, etc. wherein the reinforcing medium is a woven fabric that includes fluorine (polytetrafluoroethylene) fibers in yarn form. See also U.S. Pat. No. 3,365,041 granted in the name of Stormfeltz for a friction clutch teaching of the earlier conventional use of both asbestos fibers and glass fibers in a woven reinforcing fabric that is embedded in a friction material composition having also fillers and phenol formaldehyde resin binder.
As to teachings concerning noise reduction in a braking device, see U.S. Pat. No. 5,083,643 issued in the name of Hummel et al. and assigned to the assignee of this invention. The friction material disclosed therein incorporated reinforcement fibers which are more particularly described as being glass fibers, rock wool fibers, processed mineral fibers, or refractory material fibers.
Also, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,673,058 and 3,790,654 issued in the names of Jackson et al. and Bagley, respectively, for disclosures of apparatus and methods for manufacturing honeycomb core materials.
Our invention offers performance advantages over the friction materials referenced above, particularly with respect to resonance noise reduction, increased wear resistance, more consistent friction material performance, and minimizing release of fiber debris. Other advantages will become apparent from a careful consideration of the described invention and of the method of friction material fabrication or manufacture that is detailed and claimed.


A piston for an internal combustion engine includes a piston head provided with an annular field, and a piston shaft arranged beneath the annular field. The piston shaft has shaft surfaces and a recess surface which is arranged around a bolt borehole and set back in relation to an outer diameter of the piston. At least one cavity is provided in the region of the lowest annular groove for oil flow in the direction of the recess surface during the movement of the piston and the at least one cavity is arranged outside an especially stressed region above the bolt borehole.

Pistons of combustion engines which have a piston crown with a ring belt and piston skirt located below same are known. Such pistons are also designated, for example, as box pistons or pistons with a box design. It is known that in the area of the piston skirt a piston pin bore is present where a recess surface is configured around the piston pin bore which is set back compared to the outer diameter of the piston. It is further known that in the area of the lowest ring groove within the ring belt of the piston at least one depression is present by way of which the oil collected by the lowest ring while the piston is operating is collected and taken by way of the recess area towards the lower edge of the piston skirt. It has turned out that while the known pistons are operating, depressions of this type are located above the piston pin bore such that they are in a particularly stressed area. This particularly stressed area of the piston is located to the right and left next to the highest point of the piston pin bore since the piston, in particular the piston crown, deforms around the piston pin located in the piston pin bore during operation. If the recesses are in this particularly stressed area, the recesses create a design fracture point so that cracks occur when the piston is operating, particularly when used in today's highly stressed diesel combustion engines.
It would be desirable to find a remedy for this problem.

Rotor recess with scupper slots and free casting


A spectrum display device for audio use includes a first differential amplifier circuit and a first capacitor forming a low pass filter. A second differential amplifier circuit and a second capacitor form high pass filter; A band pass filter circuit is formed by the low pass filter and the high pass filter; A band selection circuit selectively sets a frequency band of the band pass filter circuit out of a plurality of predetermined frequency bands through selective setting of the operating currents of the first and second differential amplifier circuits.

The present invention relates to a spectrum displaying device for an audio device and, more specifically, relates to a spectrum displaying device for an audio device in which transconductance amplifiers, so called variable Gm amplifiers, constituted by differential amplifiers and capacitors are combined to form an active differentiation circuit and an active integration circuit and a band pass filter (BPF) is constituted by the active differentiation and integration circuits for use as a graphic equalizer display circuit, and which enables reduction in the circuit scale thereof.

Spectrum displaying device for audio device


A new portable beverage carrier for transporting beverages while keeping them at a constant temperature for long periods of time. The inventive device includes a case and a cooler insert member. The case functions as a suitcase and includes a base, a top hingedly secured to the base, and a latching means. The cooler insert member is disposed within a hollow interior of the case base and includes a plurality of beverage container receiving cavities. The cooler insert member is collapsible for convenient storage.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to food and beverage containers and more particularly pertains to a new portable beverage carrier for transporting beverages while keeping them at a constant temperature for long periods of time.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of food and beverage containers is known in the prior art. More specifically, food and beverage containers 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 food and beverage containers include U.S. Pat. No. 4,106,597; U.S. Pat. No. 4,662,188; U.S. Pat. No. Des. 330,513; U.S. Pat. No. 5,257,509; U.S. Pat. No. 4,344,301; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,858,444.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not disclose a new portable beverage carrier. The inventive device includes a case and a cooler insert member. The case functions as a suitcase and includes a base, a top hingedly secured to the base, and a latching means. The cooler insert member is disposed within a hollow interior of the case base and includes a plurality of beverage container receiving cavities. The cooler insert member is collapsible for convenient storage.
In these respects, the portable beverage carrier 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 transporting beverages while keeping them at a constant temperature for long periods of time.


The present disclosure provides a method and device for transmitting information. The method includes: configuring a first physical uplink control channel format and a second physical uplink control channel for a user equipment first. An orthogonal sequence of the first physical uplink control channel format and an orthogonal sequence of the second physical uplink control channel format correspond to different expansion factors. Then the user equipment selects one of the physical uplink control channel format and the second physical uplink control channel format to transmit the feedback information.

In an LTE (Long Term Evolution, long term evolution) communication system supporting carrier aggregation, a UE (user equipment, user equipment) measures channels of multiple downlink cells (or called as carriers) to obtain multiple downlink CSI (channel state information, channel state information). The UE needs to feed the CSI back to an eNB (evolved NodeB, evolved NodeB), and the eNB performs downlink data scheduling by using the CSI. In the prior art, cyclic CSI of one cell is merely fed back on a PUCCH (physical uplink control channel, physical uplink control channel) Format 2/2a/2b of a subframe; and CSI of different cells is fed back on different subframes through different high-level configurations. In aforementioned feedback mode adopting the PUCCH Format 2/2a/2b, the number of feedback bits supported by one subframe is 1-11 bit (bit). The aforementioned feedback mode adopting the PUCCH Format 2/2a/2b may feed back a few bits and has long feedback delay. Therefore, a scheme for cyclically feeding back CSI of multiple cells in one subframe is proposed in the prior art. For example, cyclic CSI is transmitted on a PUSCH (physical uplink sharing channel, physical uplink sharing channel); and cyclic CSI is transmitted on a PUCCH format 3, and so on. However, in the communication system adopting a carrier aggregation technology, as quantity of activated serving cells is continually changed, a type of cyclic CSI reported in one subframe is also changed; so the number of bits fed back in one subframe is continually changed. The aforementioned prior art can not meet a condition that information (such as bit number) fed back in one subframe is changed.

Method and device for transmitting information


An air inlet system of an engine includes a fan having a plurality of vanes in a radial arrangement for blowing air from a center of rotation of the fan towards a radially outward area. A fan case covers the fan and has an airflow supply opening formed in the vicinity of the center of rotation of the fan and an airflow path formed at the outer periphery of the fan to direct an airflow for cooling said engine. A communication path has an air intake formed in the vicinity of the airflow supply opening in the fan case and directs the introduced air to a carburetor of the engine.

This invention relates to an air inlet system of a small-sized engine for use in a portable working tool such as a chain saw, a bush cutter, and a blower fan.
FIG. 1 shows a conventional small-sized engine of the type described. A carburetor 7 is fixedly connected to an air inlet 3 of an engine cylinder 1 through a heat insulator pipe 5. A suction port 9 of the carburetor 7 communicates with an atmosphere through a filter 11. In a chain saw, for example, the suction port 9 of the carburetor 7 communicates with an atmosphere through a gap between a handle 13 and a carburetor cover 15, or a gap between a fuel tank 17 integral with the handle 13 and the carburetor 7.
Generally, a portable working tool often produces dust such as chips, sawdust, and sand dust. In the conventional engine, air is directly sucked from an atmosphere into the carburetor 7 through the filter. In this event, the sucked air inevitably contains a large amount of dust which is stuffed into the filter. This requires frequent cleaning of the filter. Thus, maintenance of the filter is troublesome.


The invention concerns a device for a adjustable flap adjustably mounted on a main wing surface of an aeroplane wing, in particular, a landing flap, with at least one adjustment unit for purposes of adjustment of the adjustable flap, which has an actuator arranged, or that can be arranged, on the main wing surface, and has a kinematic adjustment mechanism running between the actuator and the adjustable flap, wherein the adjustable flap is mechanically coupled with the actuator via the kinematic adjustment mechanism. At least one damping unit for purposes of damping a dynamic loading effected by the adjustable flap on the adjustment unit, which can occur as a result of a critical malfunction event occurring in the region of the adjustable flap, is arranged, or can be arranged, between the main wing surface and the adjustable flap.

Devices of this kind are of known art. In modern aeroplanes two devices of this kind are normally deployed for purposes of adjustment of a adjustable flap. Here the adjustment units of the two devices are spaced apart from one another in the wingspan direction, and their actuators are coupled with a central drive via a central torsion shaft train. The torsion shaft train transfers the mechanical drive power of the drive onto the actuators, which in turn actuate the adjustable flap via the kinematic adjustment mechanism.
In flight aerodynamic forces act on the adjustable flaps of a wing; in particular, these are dependent on the setting of the respective adjustable flap relative to the main wing surface, and on the flight speed. As a result of the aerodynamic forces acting on a adjustable flap a so-called flap moment is brought about, which acts on the adjustment units; the latter must apply a corresponding flap counter-moment so as to hold the adjustable flap in the desired setting. With the occurrence of a malfunction event, in particular a critical malfunction event that represents a hazard to safe flying operations, such as, for example, in the event of a fracture occurring in the kinematic adjustment mechanism of one of the adjustment units, it may be the case that one of the adjustment units can no longer apply the necessary flap counter-moment, so that the whole flap counter-moment must be applied by the other intact adjustment unit. This leads in particular to a sudden rise of the flap moment acting on the intact adjustment unit, so that the flap moment is not only statically redistributed onto the intact adjustment unit, but for a short period of time, in addition to the static loading, there is also a dynamic loading acting on the intact adjustment unit. The intact adjustment unit must be designed such that it can accommodate both the dynamic and static loadings acting on it. Since in particular the dynamic loading occurring for a short period of time can be relatively high, it is necessary to design the adjustment units to be very robust, which has a negative effect on the weight of the adjustment unit.


Two magnets in a circumferential direction of a rotor are provided in each slot of the rotor. The two magnets are consistently pulled in a direction in which they are mutually separated by magnetism of a stator and fixed on inner surfaces on both sides of the slot in the circumferential direction of the rotor.

Conventionally, a motor employed in a compressor has a rotor and a stator placed radially outside the rotor. The rotor has a plurality of slots arranged side by side in the circumferential direction, and one magnet is provided in each of the slots in the circumferential direction of the rotor (refer to JP 2003-32921 A). The slot is set larger than the magnet in order to fit the magnet in the slot, and the magnet is movable in the slot in the circumferential direction of the rotor.
However, as a consequence of a trial to incorporate the conventional motor into a sealed vessel together with a compression element to constitute a compressor, there was a discovery of a problem that sounds and vibrations were generated from the motor. With regard to this, the present inventor discovered that the sounds and vibrations were generated by a lubricating oil in the sealed vessel, which entered the slot and made the magnet easily move and collide with the inner surfaces of the slot.
That is, since the one magnet is provided in each of the slots in the conventional motor, the magnet moves in the slot reciprocatingly in the circumferential direction of the rotor due to the magnetism of the stator.
In short, the magnet is consistently pulled rightward and leftward in the circumferential direction of the rotor by the magnetism of the stator, and the magnet vibrates in the circumferential direction of the rotor in the slot due to the out-of-balance of the rightward and leftward forces.
In concrete, when one slot 111 is located in a specified position with respect to the stator 120 as shown in FIG. 9A, electromagnetic attraction forces by the stator 120 are exerted on the one slot 111 (the rotor 110), and an attraction force (arrow E1) exerted on the left-hand side of the one slot 111 is larger than an attraction force (arrow F1) exerted on the right-hand side of the one slot 111. Therefore, an attraction force pulled leftward is exerted on the magnet 112 in the one slot 111 as indicated by arrow G1, and the magnet 112 collides with the inner surface on the left-hand side of the slot 111.
When the rotor 110 rotates by a prescribed central angle, as shown in FIG. 9B, an attraction force (arrow E2) exerted on the left-hand side of the one slot 111 becomes smaller than an attraction force (arrow F2) exerted on the right-hand side of the one slot 111. Therefore, an attraction force pulled rightward is exerted on the magnet 112 in the one slot 111 as indicated by arrow G2, and the magnet 112 collides with the inner surface on the right-hand side of the slot 111.
In FIGS. 9A and 9B, a coil wound around the teeth of the stator 120 is omitted in illustration. Moreover, a gap between the slot 111 and the magnet 112 is illustrated larger than the actual one for better comprehension.
As described above, the magnet 112 collides with the inner surfaces of the slot 111 many times when the magnet 112 vibrates in the slot 111, and sounds and vibrations are generated from the rotor 110 by the collision of the magnet 112 with the inner surfaces of the slot 111.


A wireless scanner includes an optical scanning assembly which includes a housing, a light source circuit board, a reflective member and an image capture module. The housing has a bottom wall defining a window, a high end wall, a short end wall and two side walls. Two edges of the two side walls connecting with the top wall and the short end wall are defined as slopes. The light source circuit board is mounted to one of the two side walls and inclined upward and outward. The reflective member is mounted to the slopes and receives light from the light source circuit board to reflect it uniformly on the window. The image capture module is mounted to the high end wall for receiving light which is from an original in the window and reflected by the reflective member and then transmitting it to a Printed Circuit Board assembly.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a scanner, and more particularly to a wireless scanner.
2. the Related Art
In computing, an image scanner, which is often abbreviated as a scanner, is a device that optically scans an original, such as an image, printed text, handwriting and an object, and converts it to a digital image. Commonly used in offices are variations of the desktop flatbed scanner where the original is placed on a glass window for scanning A disadvantage of the desktop flatbed scanners is that it requires a lot of desktop space that is undesirable. For miniaturization, a hand-held scanner adapted for being moved by hand has become attractive. However, the principle of the hand-held scanner also limits that it must be of elongated rectangular shape that is inconvenient to carry. For portability, a mouse scanner equipped with two-dimensional array of optical sensing components and position sensors emerged to sharply reduce the length of the foregoing scanner. However, it has affected the appearance and size of the mouse.
In order to solve problems of the mouse scanner, a wireless scanner is provided and includes an optical scanning assembly. The optical scanning assembly includes an imaging surface for holding the original, a plurality of light sources arranged around a perimeter of the imaging surface for illuminating the imaging surface and the original, a reflective member positioned opposite to the imaging surface for receiving and reflecting light from the light sources and reflected from the original on the imaging surface, and an imaging member disposed adjacent to an edge of the imaging surface to receive the reflected light from the reflective member.
However, the light sources are arranged on the same level with the imaging surface. When the reflective member receives and reflects the light, some highlights will be produced by the light sources. Furthermore, the brightness on the imaging surface will be reduced and the light on the imaging surface is non-uniform, so that could result in a poor scan effect.


A multi-element, vascular stent may be used to maintain or enhance patency of a blood vessel. The stent may be used in peripheral blood vessels, which may be long and/or tortuous. By using multiple, separate stent elements that are balloon expandable, the multi-element stent may be stronger than a traditional self-expanding stent but may also be more flexible, due to its multiple-element configuration, than a traditional balloon-expandable stent. The distance between stent elements may be based on characteristics of the stent and the target vessel location such that the stent elements do not touch one another during skeletal movement. Thus, the multi-element, vascular stent described herein may be particularly advantageous for treating long lesions in tortuous peripheral blood vessels.

Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death and disability in the world, accounting for nearly one-third of all human mortality. Atherosclerosis is the pathologic process of arterial aging; over time, the once soft and pliable arteries become stiff and brittle, then fouled by the development of fatty, cholesterol plaques. As cholesterol plaques grow large enough reduce the flow of blood and oxygen to vital organs, they cause the clinical syndromes of chest pain (angina pectoris), gangrene (critical limb ischemia) and transient ischemic attack (mini-stroke). Plaques that are unstable, laden with complex calcification and blood clot, can abruptly rupture and occlude the arteries in which they reside. These generate the acute clinical events of heart attack (myocardial infarction), acute arterial ischemia and stroke.
Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease is an international epidemic. Although many developed nations have made significant strides in risk factor modification, the worldwide prevalence of atherosclerotic disease is still increasing. Globally, an estimated 16.7 million deaths were attributed to atherosclerosis in 2010 and projections suggest an increase to 23.3 million by the year 2030. The economic cost is staggering. In the United States alone, the estimated direct and indirect cost of heart disease in 2010 was $204.4 billion.
For decades, the only available treatment for occlusive atherosclerotic plaques in arteries was surgical bypass grafting. In 1977, a new method was introduced in which plaques could be internally stretched and cracked by intraluminal balloons advanced over coaxial wires. The development of so-called "percutaneous transluminal coronary balloon angioplasty" (PTCA) ushered in a new, non-surgical era of therapy for arterial occlusive disease. The field was further advanced through the development of intracoronary metal stents which were shown to yield superior patency results to balloon angioplasty alone.
Since their introduction in the 1980's, intravascular stents have changed radically. Through refinements in engineering, metallurgy and manufacturing, modern stents exhibit increasing better flexibility, trackability, radial strength, conformability, rheology, biocompatibility and radiopacity. Two major designs categories have emerged: balloon-expandable stents (BES) and self-expanding stents (SES). While both types are intended to increase and maintain the flow channel of diseased arteries, they perform this function in radically different ways.
Balloon-Expandable Stents (BES)
The first stent type to be widely applied to the treatment of atherosclerotic plaques was a balloon-expandable stents (BES) designed as an open mesh tube comprised of stainless steel. When crimped onto an angioplasty balloon it could be advanced through the arterial tree coaxially and deployed directly within the plaque. Stent implantation created a larger and more durable flow channel as compared to balloon angioplasty alone.
In the modern era, balloon-expandable stents are deployed in virtually every case of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and in about half of all peripheral interventional procedures.
FIG. 1 shows a force analysis of a balloon-expandable stent inflated in a 7 mm target vessel. During balloon inflation, the stent contacts the vessel when it reaches 7 mm signified by symbol (a). Balloon, artery and stent are inflated together to 9 mm, reaching point (b). This generates a tension force within the artery, approximately 0.13 N/mm in the figure. When the balloon is deflated, the tension force within the artery re-compresses the stent until equal to its radial resistive force, point (c). The difference in diameter between points (b) and (c) is referred to as the stent recoil.
As the arterial lumen is always larger than the diameter of the crimped stent, the initial balloon and stent expansion occurs without contact to the arterial wall. When the expanding stent initially contacts the wall (signified by symbol (a)), the stretched artery begins to exert an opposing inward force on the expanding balloon and stent. Maximum inflation (determined by the operator) is illustrated by point (b) in the figure. It is generally maintained for 1-3 minutes in an attempt to relax the stretched artery. When the balloon is finally deflated and withdrawn, the tension generated within the expanded artery partially re-compresses the stent until an equilibrium is reached between the inwardly-directed arterial tension of the artery and the outward radial resistive force of the stent. The difference between the stent diameter at maximum balloon inflation and the stent diameter following balloon withdrawal is commonly referred to as the stent recoil.
BES are rigid and non-deformable medical devices; they are deployed by inflating their delivery balloon within the target lesion and embedding the rigid scaffold within the vessel wall. The final stent shape is casted by the deformation produced by the balloon, and held in place by the opposing collapsing force of the target artery. Its architecture is permanent; reimaging the device over time generally reveals no change in the diameter or shape that was achieved during the procedure.
In order to fulfill these design inputs, BES are rigid medical devices. They typically maintain their cylindrical shape under pressures of 15.8-28.9 N/cm. These are non-physiologic forces that far exceed any vascular pressure observed within the human body; in fact, BES are more than ten times more rigid than the vessels they inhabit. Because they are so rigid, BES can only be implanted in a limited number of anatomic locations, namely those with minimal or highly predictable motion such as the coronary arteries, renal arteries and common iliac arteries. Due to their inherent lack of flexibility, BES are absolutely contraindicated in a number of important peripheral vascular beds including the carotid, subclavian, external iliac, common femoral, superficial femoral and popliteal arteries.
The rigidity of BES also severely limits their usable length. BES that are too long will damage or kink arteries that bend, leading to restenosis, thrombosis, pseudoaneurysm formation and, in some cases, device fracture and migration. Knowing their dangers, stent manufacturers make their devices available in only limited lengths. Although atherosclerotic lesions in peripheral arteries can be several hundred cm long, the longest available BES is only 60 mm.
Self-Expanding Stents (SES)
As early as 1969, it was theorized that intravascular stents should be flexible rather than rigid. First developed for aerospace applications, an equiatomic alloy made of nickel-titanium called nitinol was thought to exemplify the ideal mechanical properties for the scaffolding of blood vessels. One property was superelasticity, or the ability of a metal to return to its original shape after a substantial deformation. This assured flexibility within arteries in motion and the ability to reform the arterial lumen following its temporary collapse by extremity flexion. The other was shape memory, or the ability of an alloy to be annealed at one temperature, substantially deformed at a lower temperature, then return to its original shape when heated to its original temperature. This enabled the development of intravascular, tubular nitinol self-expanding stents (SES). They are created by laser cutting nitinol tubes at body temperature (37° C.) then deforming the tubes when cooled to enable loading into delivery systems. When the device is ultimately deployed in a blood vessel at body temperature, it expands to assume its original, annealed shape.
The first self-expanding nitinol stent to be approved for clinical use was a simple, coiled wire made of nitinol. It was introduced into the American market in 1992. Seamless tubes of nitinol became available shortly thereafter, enabling the development of laser-cut, tubular nitinol stents. In the modern era, tubular, nitinol SES are the most common devices deployed in long, flexible blood vessels such as the external iliac and superficial femoral arteries.
The forces generated by the intravascular deployment of SES are vastly different from BES. SES are much gentler and expand vessels much less completely than BES. FIG. 2 shows a force analysis of a self-expanding stent inflated in a 7 mm target vessel. The stent is deployed from its delivery system until it contacts with the vessel wall at point (a). Both vessel and stent expand to point (b); at this point the outforce of the stent has reached an equilibrium with the compressive force of the vessel. The operator removes the SES delivery system and replaces it with an 8.5 mm angioplasty balloon in an attempt to further expand the device and vessel. The balloon is expanded to 8.5 mm at point (c) then deflated and removed. The act of further expanding the stented vessel increases its diameter to >8 mm (d).
By design, they deform easily, at pressures ranging from only 0.39-1.7 N/cm (29-128 mmHg). Therefore, in order to get them to expand more fully, SES are routinely post-dilated with balloons following their deployment. Even after repeated balloon dilatation, however, the relatively weak SES often cannot fully expand the diseased, recoiling artery.
The result is an insufficient post-procedure diameter and intraoperative outcome. This is a frequent occurrence with SES, especially in peripheral arteries with significant burdens of atherosclerosis disease. In one study, underexpansion of the target lesion (defined as >30% residual stenosis) was observed in 70% of cases after SES implantation. In some cases, the only available treatment is to implant the stronger BES inside the weaker SES.
The second drawback of the use of SES is their disquieting tendency toward fracture. Only occasionally observed after balloon-expanding stenting, SES fracture is alarmingly common, as high as 65% in one clinical report. Although not fully understood, one attractive hypothesis for this phenomenon is that fracture may be a function of the unique biomechanical forces exerted on stents dwelling in the SFA. Movement of the legs is a complex motion; loading of the hips and knees during ambulation repeatedly compresses the arteries axially and can even produce multidimensional bends, twists and kinks. Because the stent isn't rigid and moves in tandem with the artery, the repeated deformation can result is single or multiple strut fractures or, in severe cases, complete stent transection. Not surprisingly, SES fracture is more common after implantation of long and/or overlapping stents and in more active patients. Fracture of intravascular stents is clearly associated with restenosis, although it remains controversial whether the relationship is associative or causal.
Lastly, unlike the relatively transient forces imparted by BES, the unique mechanism and design of SES unfortunately assures that a continuous, chronic outward force will be applied to the treated artery. Stenting with BES causes an initial perturbation as the artery is stretched. Once deployed, however, BES are rigid so the forces are static. In contrast, vessels that contain a SES are continually subjected to interaction with a foreign body as well as the chronic outward forces (COF) exerted by the device. These forces are generated because SES must be "oversized" when implanted; in order to assure that the SES doesn't migrate following deployment, the manufacturer's nominal diameter of the stent must exceed the target lesion's reference vessel diameter (RVD). Because the final diameter of the device is, by definition, less than its nominal shape memory diameter, the stent will exert an outward stretching force upon the wall of the vessel until such time that its nominal diameter is reached (if ever). Considering the motion of the vessels in which these devices are typically implanted, SESs exert continual and chronic perturbations upon the vessel walls that they contact. This explains the relatively poor long-term patency of arteries treated with SES, indeed, restenosis complicates roughly 40% of all peripheral vascular interventions after one year. This led a recent international consensus panel of cardiologists, vascular surgeons and interventional radiologists to suggest that the current state-of-the-art of SFA stenting results in only about 60% primary patency over the first year and continues to decline over the long-term.
Summary of Differences Between BES and SES
The fact that BES and SES are both intended to treat atherosclerotic arteries is, essentially, their only similarity. The two devices differ in virtually every other respect: material, design, pattern, method of manufacture, mode of delivery and vascular response. An illustration of their differences is shown in FIG. 3 which depicts side-by-side how the forces generated by BES and SES vary with their diameter.
Expanded BES are rigid; they can resist forces as high 5 N/mm; forces which are rarely, if ever, reached within the human body. They have no shape memory; if deformed, they will remain deformed and pose a continual threat to arterial patency. In contrast, SES generate much less force within the vessel; so little that they often fail to achieve full expansion of the target lesion. They exhibit a high degree of shape memory, however, so will return to their fully expanded state if transiently deformed by arterial movement or compression.
Not surprisingly, the two stent types also generate vastly different cellular responses within blood vessels. At first blush, it might be assumed that the vasculature would exhibit a more rigorous inflammatory and hypercellular response to the stiff, non-physiologic BES as opposed to the more gentle SES. This is not the case, however. The trauma of BES implantation does induce inflammation and vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) activation, but the response tends to be transient and, because the applied forces equilibrate and the stent is motionless, self-limited. In this respect, the vascular response to a BES is similar to that of any motionless foreign body within human beings. There is an initial inflammatory reaction followed by fibrosis and scarring intended to separate or wall off the invading antigen.
The 30-day response of experimental arteries treated with BES has been a surprisingly consistent finding. It parallels the clinical observation that, once stable for several months, bare metal stents implanted in the human coronary, renal and common iliac arteries generally enjoy long-term patency.
In contrast, the vascular response to SES implantation tends to be more severe. Because the stent exhibits relatively little radial force, it cannot be dilated and embedded into the lesion similar to BES. Instead, it must be oversized relative to the vessel wall such that its nominal (manufactured) diameter exceeds the target lesion's reference vessel diameter (RVD). This is the only way to assure that the device will stay in place once deployed within the dynamic arterial system.
SES oversizing assures that all devices will be deployed in a partially compressed state. Given the stents' inherent self-expanding design, it will continue to exert a chronic outward force upon the vessel wall until such time that the device finally achieve its nominal diameter (if ever). As the gentle stent rarely can exert enough force to fully expand itself, the COF may persist for the life of the patient. It is a fundamentally different kind of foreign body, one that continues to move, press, disturb and interact with its host.
The net reaction is dependent on both the degree of oversizing and the dwell time of the device. In cases of severe oversizing in arteries that exhibit repetitive movement with skeletal muscle, the reaction can be profound. In an attempt to adapt and exclude the foreign body, the artery will completely fill its lumen with SMCs and fibrin, rendering the artery useless as a conduit for blood flow.
In summary, BES are the preferred device for endovascular treatment of occlusive lesions in the arterial tree. They are mechanically inert so induce only a transient pathologic response from which the arterial readily and reliably heals. Their only disadvantage is that their rigidity precludes implantation in long arteries that require the flexibility to accommodate skeletal movement.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to have a stent for use in peripheral vasculature that is easier to design, develop and manufacture than currently available stents. Ideally, such a stent would have a desirable flexibility and conformability profile while also having sufficient strength to withstand the stresses placed on peripheral vascular stents, as described above. This would make the stent more useful and effective, and safe for the treatment of long, tortuous blood vessels. At least some of these objectives will be met by the embodiments described below.

Radially rigid and longitudinally flexible multi-element intravascular stent


A leaf gathering apparatus includes upper and lower conveyor axes, a conveyor extending around the upper and lower conveyor axes that is continuously rotatable, and a rotatable sweeping mechanism having a generally horizontal axis of rotation, the sweeping mechanism being configured to move leaves from a ground surface onto the conveyor. The apparatus includes a bag and a channel extending from the conveyor to the bag to direct leaves therebetween. A shredder is located along the channel. A frame, the upper and lower conveyor axes, and the sweeping mechanism are operatively coupled to the frame. A plurality of wheels are operatively coupled to the frame to allow the frame to be easily transported and a motor is operatively coupled to the sweeping mechanism to rotate the sweeping mechanism, the motor being operatively coupled to at least one of the upper and lower conveyor axes to rotate the conveyor.

This invention relates generally to machines for gathering articles and, more particularly, to a motorized apparatus for sweeping a lawn of debris such as grass and leaves into a container either directly or through a shredder or mulcher.
A lawn that is moderately or heavily covered in leaves may require raking and then bagging the debris. This is typically done by an individual using a hand rake and then slowly depositing pile after pile into bags for collection. Even if a lawn full of leaves is mowed first with a lawn mower, large portions of leaves are not sufficiently "mulched" and remain to be collected. In this case, grass, twigs, and other debris may need to be raked and collected.
Various devices have been proposed in the art for sweeping and gathering debris from a ground surface for deposit into a bag or other receptacle. Although assumably effective for their intended purposes, the existing devices have primarily been large commercial devices that must be towed behind a motorized vehicle or are not entirely effective at efficiently collecting debris that includes dirt particles that need to be separated from leafy or grassy material Further, the existing devices and proposals have not included a wheeled vehicle that, using a conveyor, operates a conveyor and shredder as a result of wheeled movement.
Therefore, it would be desirable to have a leaf gathering apparatus particularly configured to gather leaves and similar organic debris into a bag receptacle by sweeping it onto a conveyor operated by movement of its wheels. Further, it would be desirable to have a leaf gathering apparatus configured to shred gathered material before depositing it into the receptacle. In addition, it would be desirable to have a leaf gathering apparatus that may be motorized and have user controls for selective activation by a user. The leaf gathering apparatus according to the present invention provides picking up and bagging leaves in only one step unlike any device on the market today.


A shoulder carry assist is a device that allows the user to carry loads without having his or her movement restricted and without losing the use of his or her hands. The device features a left shoulder pad and a right shoulder pad that are connected via a left linkage rod, a right linkage rod, and a width-adjustable cross-bar. Loads may be attached to a left load-bearing hanger and a right load-bearing hanger that are attached to the left shoulder pad and the right shoulder pad by a left cord and a right cord, respectively. The left cord and the right cord are guided via a plurality of left offset guides and a plurality of right offset guides as well as a stabilizing guide located on both the left shoulder pad and the right shoulder pad.

When carrying loads such as multiple shopping bags, packages, and parcels for extended periods of time, one must take care to avoid stress and even injury to the arms, shoulders, and back. In addition to the potential for injury, because these types of items must often be carried, the carrier is left without the use of his or her hands. Various types of items such as strapped bags may be slung over the shoulders for more convenient carry. However, carrying objects on one shoulder only can result in the carrying stress being focused and localized solely on the shoulder bearing the load and the corresponding side of the body. This localization of stress can result in an imbalance on the carrier's body as well as cause discomfort and pain over time. The present invention seeks to address the aforementioned issues relating to carrying loads as well as provide the user with a convenient and practical solution.
The present invention is a shoulder carry assist that is designed to facilitate the carrying of various objects by placing the objects into a suspended position on the left side and/or right side of the user's body. Additionally, the present invention does not compromise the user's ability to use his or her hands while carrying a load using the present invention. The present invention is worn on the user's shoulders and is not subjected to any torque or rotational forces due to the load being carried. Additionally, any load applied to either the left side or the right side of the present invention is not transferred to the opposing side. As a result, the user is able to carry a load on only one side of his or her body without causing a negative effect on the opposite side of the body.


Disclosed herein are rigid solar powered photovoltaic (PV) integrated roofing membrane and related methods of manufacturing such a membrane. The disclosed membrane and methods beneficially provide solar power to structures in either off-grid or on-grid connections. The roofing membrane may comprise multiple membrane strips or members having electrically interconnected photovoltaic solar elements. The membrane members preferably have distinct patterns for the solar elements located thereon that provide for coverage of entire sections, upon installation, as well as accommodate interconnections between the solar elements. Moreover, the membrane will appreciate the numerous types of patterns to achieve such purposed of full coverage and electrical coupling.

The presence and use of electricity is an everyday necessity that every modern home and business enjoys. Equally enduring is the periodic cost of that electricity, based on the amount, typically in kilo-watt/hours (kwh), used at the specific location. Efforts to combat the ever-present high-cost of electricity in homes and businesses have explored a number of different avenues. For example, in the general consumer market (e.g., residences) solar power as a replacement for electricity provided by typical utility companies has been attempted relatively unsuccessfully in so-called "off-grid" connections. Such off-grid connections embody the use of solar power in lieu of conventional in-home electricity.
Whether it be the initial costs associated with such off-grid systems or the relatively difficult and costly maintenance required, off-grid systems have typically not been accepted by the consumer market. As a result, the use of solar power to supplement, rather than replace, conventional electricity has continued to gain acceptance. These so-called "on-grid" systems typically work in conjunction with conventional electrical connections to supplement that electrical power, for example, during times of peak use. By supplementing conventionally available electricity, the overall annual cost of residential (or commercial) electricity may be substantially reduced.
Conventional residential solar-powered on-grid systems are typically incorporated into the roof of a house, due to its orientation towards the sky. Earlier systems employed large, flat crystal solar panels dispersed across the surface of the roof to collect the solar energy. However, the fragility and high cost of the crystal materials, as well as the clearly distinguishable appearance of the panels from ordinary roofing shingles, has resulted in essentially a rejection of such system by the market place.
Modern systems have developed members of solar shingles that are more durable and predominantly resemble ordinary roofing shingles, thus substantially concealing the system from plain view. Unfortunately, even such modern systems suffer from deficiencies, such as the need to form multiple holes through the roof deck and into the attic area for each shingle member in order to electrically connect all of the shingle members to create a functional system. As the number of holes formed through the roof deck increases, so too do the chances of leakage through the roof during inclement weather. Moreover, making the electrical connections from one shingle member to the next, and then to the circuit breaker box of the home, is typically quite tedious and exhausting.
In addition, because the shingle members replace the ordinary shingles typically used on roofs, an experienced or specifically skilled installer is typically needed to properly align and electrically interconnect the solar shingle members during installation, just as with ordinary shingles, so that the aesthetics of the entire roof are preserved. Even so, panels located in the middle of a roofing section tend to be aesthetically unpleasing as they detract from the section's homogeneous and symmetrical appearance. As a result, a relatively inexpensive and residentially available solar-powered system is needed that does not suffer from these deficiencies.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Rigid integrated photovoltaic roofing membrane and related methods of manufacturing same


A method and device are described for applying a microprotrusion member (44) including a plurality of microprotrusions (90) to the stratum corneum with impact. The method and device are used to improve transport of an agent across the skin for agent delivery or sampling. The applicator (10, 60, 80) causes the microprotrusion member (44) to impact the stratum corneum with a certain amount of impact determined to effectively pierce the skin with the microprotrusions (90). The preferred applicator (10, 60, 80) impacts the stratum corneum with the microprotrusion member (44) with an impact of at least 0.05 joules per cm2 of the microprotrusion member (44) in 10 msec or less.

Interest in the percutaneous or transdermal delivery of peptides and proteins to the human body continues to grow as the number of medically useful peptides and proteins becoming increasingly available in large quantities and pure form. The transdermal delivery of peptides and proteins still faces significant problems. In many instances, the rate of delivery or flux of polypeptides through the skin is insufficient, due to their large size and molecular weight, to produce a desired therapeutic effect. In addition, polypeptides and proteins are easily degraded during and after penetration into the skin and prior to reaching target cells. Likewise, the passive transdermal flux of many low molecular weight compounds is too low to be therapeutically effective.
One method of increasing the transdermal delivery of agents relies on utilizing a skin permeation enhancer, either by pretreatment of the skin or co-delivering it with the beneficial agent. A permeation enhancer substance, when applied to a body surface through which the agent is delivered, enhances the transdermal flux of the agent. These enhancers work may function increasing the permselectivity and/or permeability of the body surface, and/or reducing the degradation of the agent.
Another method of increasing the agent flux involves the application of an electric current across the body surface referred to as "electrotransport." "Electrotransport" refers generally to the passage of a beneficial agent, e.g., a drug or drug precursor, through a body surface, such as skin, mucous membranes, nails, and the like. The transport of the agent is induced or enhanced by the application of an electrical potential, which results in the flow of electric current, which delivers or enhances delivery of the agent. Electrotransport delivery generally increases agent delivery and reduces polypeptide degradation during transdermal delivery.
There also have been many attempts to mechanically penetrate or disrupt the skin in order to enhance the transdermal flux, such as, U.S. Pat. No. 5,879,326 issued to Godshall, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,814,097 issued to Ganderton, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,279,544 issued to Gross, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,250,023 issued to Lee, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,964,482 issued to Gerstel, et al., Reissue 25,637 issued to Kravitz, et al., and PCT Publication Nos. WO 96/37155, WO 96/37256, WO 96/17648, WO 97/03718, WO 98/11937, WO 98/00193, WO 97/48440, WO 97/48441, WO 97/48442, WO 98/00193, WO 99/64580, WO 98/28037, WO 98/29298, and WO 98/29365. These devices use piercing elements of various shapes and sizes to pierce the outermost layer (i.e., the stratum corneum) of the skin. The penetrating elements disclosed in these references generally extend perpendicularly from a thin, flat member, such as a pad or sheet. The penetrating elements, often referred to as microblades, are extremely small in some devices. Some of these microblades have dimensions (i.e., a microblade length and width) of only about 25-400 μm and a microblade thickness of only about 5-50 μm. Other penetrating elements are hollow needles having diameters of about 10 μm or less and lengths of about 50-100 μm. These tiny stratum corneum piercing/cutting elements are meant to make correspondingly small microslits/microcuts in the stratum corneum for enhanced transdermal agent delivery, or for enhanced transdermal efflux of a body analyte, therethrough. The perforated skin provides improved flux for sustained agent delivery or sampling through the skin. In many instances, the microslits/microcuts in the stratum corneum have a length of less than 150 μm and a width which is substantially smaller than their length.
When microprotrusion arrays are used to improve delivery or sampling of agents through the skin, consistent, complete, and repeatable penetration of the skin by the microprotrusions is desired. Manual application of a skin patch including microprotrusions often results in significant variation in puncture depth across the microprotrusion array. In addition, manual application results in large variations in puncture depth between applications due to the manner in which the user applies the array. Accordingly, it would be desirable to be able to apply a microprotrusion array to the stratum corneum with an automatic or semi-automatic device which provides microprotrusion skin penetration in a consistent and repeatable manner.
It would be desirable to provide an applicator for consistent and repeatable application of a microprotrusion array to the skin with the applicator applying an impact capable of achieving effective penetration of the stratum corneum with the microprotrusion array.

Apparatus and method for piercing skin with microprotrusions


An air dam for an automotive vehicle has panel wherein the panel extends vertically down from a bottom of a bumper of the vehicle when in the deployed position. The panel has at least one openable and closable air flow opening therein. In an aspect, each air flow opening opens to a mouth of a duct that extends rearwardly form the panel. In an aspect, the panel has a plurality of air flow openings and ducts. In an aspect, the air dam is a deployable air dam.

Air dams, which are sometimes called spoilers, can be mounted to the lower front bumpers of vehicles such as pick-up trucks to reduce the amount of air passing beneath the vehicle. This reduces aerodynamic drag and helps increase fuel economy. It should be understood that the lower front bumper is in some cases surrounded by a fascia and in this type of arrangement, references to the front bumper herein are to be understood as including the front bumper/front fascia arrangement.
One type of air dam is the deployable air dam that can be moved between a deployed (or down) position where a panel of the air dam extends vertically down from a bottom of a front bumper of the vehicle to a short distance above a road surface and an undeployed (or up) position where the panel of the air dam is retracted to a position spaced from the road surface several inches more than when it is in the deployed position. For example, when the air dam is in the undeployed position, the panel of the air dam is at or slightly lower than the bottom of the front bumper of the vehicle.
One of the drawbacks of a deployable air dam when it is in the deployed position is that it blocks air to under-hood and under-body components. A fixed air dam has the same drawback of blocking air to under-hood and under-body components. This reduces the amount of heat that can be dissipated by the air flow to under-hood and under-body components.
An object of the present invention is to provide a deployable air dam that can provide increased air-flow to under-hood and/or under-body components when increased air-flow is desirable.

Vehicle air dam with openable and closable air flow openings


The present invention relates integrated optoelectronic devices comprising light emitting field-effect transistors. We describe an optoelectronic device comprising a light-emitting field effect transistor (LFET) with an organic semiconductor active layer and a waveguide integrated within the channel of the light-emitting field effect transistor, wherein said waveguide comprises a material which has a higher refractive index than said organic semiconductor. We also describe a light-emitting organic field transistor integrated with a ridge or rib waveguide incorporated within the channel of the LFET; and a similar light-emitting organic field effect transistor in which the waveguide incorporates an optical feedback mechanism.

This invention relates to integrated optoelectronic devices comprising light-emitting field-effect transistors.
Organic electronic devices, such as light-emitting diodes, solar cells and field-effect transistors have become of interest for a range of applications in displays and electronics. Organic LEDs have advanced to become one of the most efficient light sources available, organic photodetectors and organic solar cells are capable of near 100% quantum efficiencies, organic-based biological, chemical and mechanical sensors and memory devices are being developed for a range of different applications. A recognized strength of organic devices is the ease with which different device functionalities can be integrated in a common materials platform. All these functionalities can in principle be realized using similar materials than can be processed using a common set of manufacturing technologies. Therefore, integration of multifunctional devices on a common substrate is simpler than, for example, for silicon based devices.
There is particular interest in integration of information processing functions realized used transistor devices and optical function with light generated by LEDs and detected by photodetectors. Integration of optical and electronic functions could be used in optoelectronic integrated circuits, in which a light signal that is generated in response to the outcome of some computations is coupled into a waveguide structure and send to a spatially separate part of the system in which it is detected and initiates another information processing function.
Similarly, electrically pumped lasing devices are of interest in which an electrically stimulated gain medium is incorporated into an optical feedback structure to achieve coherent light generation of well-defined wavelength by stimulating the emission of the gain medium. Electrically pumped lasers using organic semiconductors have not been realized yet, although optically pumped lasing has been achieved in a number of systems (Samuel, Chem. Rev. 107, 1272 (2007)). The reasons for this are related to additional optical losses that arc present when electrical pumping is used, due to presence of electrodes (losses due to absorption of light in electrodes), charge-carrier induced absorptions as well as presence of triplet states. At present no device architecture has been proven to be suitable realization of an electrically pumped organic semiconductor laser.
A common architecture for optically pumped organic lasers are distributed feedback (DFB) structures (Samuel, Chem. Rev. 107, 1272 (2007)), in which a 1-D or 2D periodic grating structure is integrated together with a film of an organic gain medium. Most DFB lasers reported in the literature so far are mostly etched into the glass substrate, and their feedback thus relies on the index contrast between the glass and the organic gain material deposited on top. A promising alternative approach is to include a thin layer of a material with a large refractive index (e.g, tantalum pentoxide Ta2O5, n=2.07) comprising the required feedback pattern, onto which the organic material is deposited (Harbers, Appl. Phys. Letters 87, 151 121 (2005)).
However, the aforementioned are limited and there exists a need in the art for additional improvements.


An electrical conducting wire for providing high visibility. The conducting wire is coated with a conducting, colored paint which improves the wires visibility. The conducting wire can be used in electric fencing of livestock or high-tension power lines commonly seen around airports.

Coating electrical wires has gained wide acceptance as a way of insulating and protecting electrical wires. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,959,266 issued Sep. 25, 1990 to Keiji Ueno provides a urethane-resin jacket system for electrical wires which can be formed by extrusion coating without causing deformation of previous coatings on the conducting wires. In addition to insulation coatings, conducting wires have been covered with visibility enhancement means for increased visibility to both humans and livestock, especially at dusk or dawn when thin electrical wires are difficult to see.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,973,029 issued Nov. 29, 1990 to Edward S. Robbins III shows an electrically conductive wire for use in an electric fence where the wire has three layers: a core comprised of a metal conductor, an intermediate sheath of plastic imbued with carbon to make it conductive, and an outer sheath of plastic thin enough to permit a current to pass therethrough. The outer sheath is preferably white to enhance the visibility of the fence.
U.S. Pat No. 4,819,914 issued on Apr. 11, 1989 to Richard A. Moore shows an electrical fence for livestock having an inner conductive core of braided cable and an outer layer also braided, of synthetic fiber having contrasting colors to provide increased visibility. The outer braiding can be made with gaps such that when livestock contact the fence will receive a shock.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,895,740 issued on Jan. 23, 1990 to Masahiro Hiromori and Toshimi Nakahara shows a process for manufacturing colored, stainless steel wires for springs. The wire is coated with an enamel and baked before it is drawn out to the desired diameter.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,383,644 issued May 17, 1983 to Albertus C. Spanjersberg et al discloses a process and apparatus for the electrostatic spraying of electrically conductive paint onto a surface such as a motor car body, as an aid for propelling paint to the surface.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.


A differential amplifier circuit which amplifies a signal developed by a signal generating device when coupled between first and second input nodes and provides an amplified differential signal at first and second output nodes. First and second current sources source first and second current levels to the first input node and the first output node, respectively. First and second current sinks sink the first and second current levels from the second input node and the second output node, respectively. A first current amplifier controls current between the first output node and the second input node to maintain the second input node at a first bias voltage level. A second current amplifier controls current between the first input node and the second output node to maintain the first input node at a second bias voltage level. An optional feedback circuit senses a DC offset and adjusts current to compensate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to audio circuits and amplifiers, and more particularly to a true differential microphone amplifier that amplifies weak signals from a microphone while rejecting common mode noise.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many handheld and portable consumer electronic devices, such as cell phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), digital cameras, laptop computers, etc., use a microphone. A common microphone configuration for such electronic devices comprises an electret condenser having a diaphragm which performs sound to voltage conversion. The electret condenser is coupled to the gate of a junction field-effect transistor (JFET) device used as a buffer inside the microphone. The gate of the JFET detects audio signals converted by the electret condenser and the drain and source of the JFET are used as the two-wire interface to an amplifier or preamplifier to amplify the audio signal provided as a current signal. Although the present invention is illustrated for an electret condenser type microphone, other types of signal generating devices are contemplated.
Some amplifier solutions are single-ended in which one terminal of the two-wire interface of the microphone is coupled to ground. Other solutions that do not ground a microphone pin often include a "microphone bias" pin, which increases the pin count on the preamplifier integrated circuit (IC) or chip. Most solutions require external support devices, such as bias resistors and/or coupling capacitors. Differential voltage solutions are known but suffer from distortion problems. Current mode solutions are known but are usually single-ended.
It is desired to provide a cost effective amplifier circuit for the microphone which meets noise, distortion and power supply rejection (PSR) specifications for electronic devices. It is desired to provide a solution that amplifies weak signals from the microphone while rejecting the common mode noise. It is desired to provide a differential solution that connects directly to the two interface terminals of the JFET microphone without the need for external components.


An interface controller for a communications network port that includes support for an efficient client/server protocol for exchanging data between client computers and target mass storage devices. The interface controller includes support to allow a server computer to forward a read or write command from a client computer to a target mass storage device containing the identification of a client computer as the source of the read or write command. Interface controller support also allows a clients computer to receive response to messages elicited by a read and write command transmitted to a server computer directly from a target mass storage device by copying the identification of the mass storage target device into a data structure within the interface controller to which subsequent identifications within subsequent data and status messages received from the target mass storage device are compared. The client/server protocol eliminates redundant data transfers and eliminates storing and forwarding of data by a server computer.

The present invention relates to the implementation of client/server data transfer protocols, and, in particular, to a method and system that allows a server computer to accept data transfer requests from a client computer, authorize those requests and map them to target devices, and then direct the target devices to directly respond to the client computer, thereby eliminating unnecessary data traffic in a communications network.
The fibre channel (xe2x80x9cFCxe2x80x9d) is an architecture and protocol for a data communication network for interconnecting a number of different combinations of computers and peripheral devices. The FC supports a variety of upper-level protocols, including the small computer systems interface (xe2x80x9cSCSIxe2x80x9d) protocol. A computer or peripheral device is linked to the network through an FC port and copper wires or optical fibres. An FC port includes a transceiver and an interface controller, and the computer peripheral device in which the FC port is contained is called a xe2x80x9chost.xe2x80x9d The FC port exchanges data with the host via a local data bus, such as a peripheral computer interface (xe2x80x9cPCIxe2x80x9d) bus. The interface controller conducts lower-level protocol exchanges between the fibre channel and the computer or peripheral device in which the FC port resides.
A popular paradigm for accessing remote data in computer networks is the client/server architecture. According to this architecture, a client computer sends a request to read or write data to a server computer. The server computer processes the request by checking that the client server has authorization and permission to read or write the data, by mapping the requested read or write operation to a particular mass storage device, and by serving as an intermediary in the transfer of data from the client computer to the mass storage device, in case of a write operation, or from the mass storage device to the client, in case of a read operation.
In common, currently-available and previously-available communication network architectures, the server computer communicates with the client computer through a local area network (xe2x80x9cLANxe2x80x9d) and the server computer communicates with a number of mass storage devices over a local bus, such as a SCSI bus. In such systems, the server is required to store and forward the data transferred as a result of the read or write operation because the server represents a bridge between two dissimilar communications media.
With the advent of the FC, client computers, server computers, and mass storage devices may all be symmetrically interconnected by a single communications medium. The traditional client/server architecture is commonly ported to the FC using the same type of client/server protocols as are used in the LAN and SCSI networks discussed above. Implementing a client/server architecture using these client/server protocols introduces significant inefficiencies in data transfer with concomitant increases in I/O latency and loss of fibre channel throughput. Designers and manufacturers of fibre channel ports that are used to interconnect mass storage devices, client computers and server computers, have recognized the need for designing new client/server protocols that are better suited to take advantage of the FC.
The present invention provides a fibre channel (xe2x80x9cFCxe2x80x9d) interface controller that supports, in hardware, efficient client/server data transfer protocols, and provides a method for implementing the efficient data transfer protocols. The interface controller of the present invention supports the forwarding of a read or write command from a server computer to a mass storage device such that the identification contained in the forwarded data transfer command is that of the client computer, rather than the server computer that forwards the data transfer command. The interface controller also supports copying of the source identification contained in data and status messages sent by a mass storage device to a client computer in response to the data transfer command automatically into the data structure that is used by the interface controller to check correspondence between the destination identification associated with a data transfer command issued by the client computer and the source identification of data messages and status messages received back by the client computer in response to the data transfer command. These two features of the interface controller enable the data transfer protocol of the present invention. In the data transfer protocol, a server computer, in response to receiving a read command from a client computer, forwards the read command to a target mass storage device, which, in turn, transmits the data requested by the read command and a final status message directly back to the requesting client computer. In response to a write command received by a server computer from a client computer, the server computer forwards the write command to a target mass storage device. The target mass storage device sends a transfer ready status message directly to the client computer, receives, directly from the client computer, the data to be written to the mass storage device, and finally sends a status message directly back to the client computer. This improved data transfer protocol eliminates unnecessary storing and forwarding of data by the server computer and eliminates the transfer of redundant data messages and status messages within the communications network.

Command forwarding: a method for optimizing I/O latency and throughput in fibre channel client/server/target mass storage architectures


A method for monitoring global crude oil quality. The method includes the steps of obtaining samples of a crude oil having a quality, generating characterization data from measurements of samples of the crude oil, determining values of properties of an assay of the crude oil using the data of step a), storing the values of the properties of the assay in a database, determining deviations of the values of the properties of the assay from the values of the properties of a recommended assay having a quality, determining a statistical significance of the deviations of the values of the properties of the assay from the values of the properties of the recommended assay to determine if the crude oil quality is different from the quality of the recommended assay, and determining if the statistical significance indicates a change in the economic valuation between the assay and the recommended assay.

Within the petrochemical industry, there are many instances where a very detailed analyses of a process feed or product is needed for the purpose of making business decisions, planning, controlling and optimizing operations, and certifying products. Such a detailed analysis is referred to as an assay, a crude assay being one example thereof.
Traditionally, when a crude oil is assayed, it is distilled in two steps. A method such as ASTM D2892 (see Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Volumes 5.01-5.03, American Society for Testing and Materials, Philadelphia, Pa.) is used to isolate distillate cuts boiling below approximately 650° F. (343° C.). The residue from this distillation is further distilled using a method such as ASTM D5236 to produce distillate cuts covering the range from 650° F. to approximately 1000-1054° F. (343° C. to approximately 538-568° C.) and a vacuum residue cut. At a minimum, cuts corresponding to typical products or unit feeds are typically isolated, including LPG (Initial Boiling Point to 68° F.), LSR (68-155° F.), naphtha (155-350° F.), kerosene (350-500° F.), diesel (500-650° F.), vacuum gas oil (650° F. to 1000-1054° F.), and vacuum residue (1000-1054° F.+). Each distillate cut is then analyzed for elemental, molecular, physical and/or performance properties. The specific analyses conducted depend on the typical disposition of the cut. The data derived from these analyses will typically be stored in an electronic database where it can be mathematically manipulated to estimate crude qualities for any desired distillation range. For example, commercial crude assay libraries are available from Haverly Systems Inc., and HPI Consultants Inc., both of which provide tools for manipulating the data, as does Aspentech Inc. Assay data is published by Crude Quality Inc., by Shell Oil Company, and by Statoil. The property versus distillation temperature data is typically fit to smooth curves that can then be used to estimate the property for any desired distillation cut. Crude assays that are generated via the distillation of the crude oil are herein referred to as "wet" crude assays to distinguish them from assay generated by other means.
The intent of the crude assay is to generate data representative of current crude oil quality for use in making business decisions, planning, controlling and optimizing operations, and certifying products. This representative assay is herein referred to as a Recommended Assay. These Recommended Assays are utilized to determine appropriate product slates for a given crude oil and identify refineries that are suitable for processing such crude oils.
Crude oil is not a homogenous entity. Physical and chemical characteristics of a crude oil change during the production life of the field. These characteristics may also change based upon the location of the crude oil within the field. In addition, crude oils from different fields are often blended together to produce a particular grade of crude oil that is commercially offered for sale. Changes in production volumes, field maintenance, new wells being brought onstream, or changes in a given fields crude oil quality over time can have an additional and often dramatic impact on the quality of a given crude oil grade. When such changes occur, the Recommended Assay may no longer be representative of the current crude oil quality.
Historically, crude oil monitoring has usually limited to a handful of easily and quickly measured properties including API gravity, sediment and water, (BS&W), salt and sulfur. These properties are usually referred to as Inspection Properties. Frequently, the only measurements made are API gravity and water, which are required to properly determine the amount of oil being sold. While these two properties can provide some indication of changes in crude oil quality, these two properties are extremely limited and more detailed monitoring and tracking of crude oil is desirable to make informed crude oil purchase and refining business decisions. More detailed characterizations have typically involved a laboratory distillation based assay which is relatively expensive, and can take several weeks to months to complete. Performing an assay of this type on cargo purchases to monitor and value crude oil quality changes would be impractical due to the time delay in obtaining the data. Real time monitoring and valuation of crude oil is desirable to make informed crude purchase and refining business decisions.
A given crude oil grade may not exhibit changes in API gravity even when the yield structure may vary dramatically. API gravity changes are typically accompanied by a shift in yields, such that a lower API gravity typically indicates an increase of heavier boiling materials. However, situations can occur where yield structure changes do not exhibit associated changes in the gravity. An example would be where naphtha boiling range components (68-375° F.) may decrease, with an associated increase in diesel range material (375-530° F.), accompanied by a shift of resid material boiling in the 1050+° F. range decreasing with an increase in gas oil material (530-1050° F.). While the overall yield structure resulting from these yield changes would be significantly different, the API gravities may not exhibit large changes. Yield changes could have a material impact on crude oil value that in this case would not be evident from the API gravity measurement. As such, additional evaluation of other properties is needed to determine whether or not a particular crude oil is appropriate for the production of the desired product slate or the processing in a particular refinery.
Properties in addition to gravity are also used to evaluate whether a given crude oil is economically attractive or whether it can be processed in a given refinery. Sulfur, neutralization number, or metals are examples of properties that may vary with time and can impact the ability of a given refinery to process a crude oil. For example, not all refineries are capable of processing crude oils that have a high sulfur content. Similarly, not all refineries are capable of processing heavy crude oils. API gravity provides no indication of a change in these qualities, but changes in these values would affect the crude oil's economic value.
Presently, there are well over 1000 unique commercially available crude oil grades. This presents a logistical issue with monitoring crude oil quality, detecting significant deviations from expected quality, and properly evaluating these changes. It is desirable to have the ability to quickly and efficiently obtain a more detailed characterization of the crude oil and monitor the properties in an organized manner in order to provide more insight for crude oil valuation. There is a need for an automated system that generates the characterization data, detects quality deviations, and triggers notifications for follow-up actions to ensure that changes in crude oil properties are identified and reflected in business decisions is desirable such that suitable crude oils are used to produce desired product slates and processed in the desired refinery.
The current state of the art for monitoring crude oil quality varies from simple plots of time series data of easily measured inspection properties as gravity, to application of correlative techniques to laboratory measurements. These time series data are tracked on a large number of crude oils which have commercial interest and are available globally through an internal company intranet website. Many of the laboratory tests are very time consuming taking weeks or longer to generate useful results.

Global crude oil quality monitoring using direct measurement and advanced analytic techniques for raw material valuation

ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company