A circuit breaker movable actuator locking apparatus, means and system for use with a circuit breaker assembly, where the circuit breaker assembly has a movable actuator that is movable at least between at least a first position and a second position for actuating the circuit breaker to at least a first state and a second state, the circuit breaker movable actuator locking apparatus including: a main frame member, wherein the main frame member comprises a main frame fastening member that is adapted to fasten the main frame member with respect to the movable actuator; a first sub-frame member, wherein the first sub-frame member is adapted to be movably associated with the main frame member, and wherein the first sub-frame member comprises at least one first sub-frame fastening member that is adapted to fasten the main frame member with respect to the movable actuator; a second sub-frame member, wherein the second sub-frame member is adapted to be movably associated with the main frame member, and wherein the second sub-frame member has a blocking member that is adapted to block substantial movement of the movable actuator at least between its at least first and second positions.

1. Field of the Invention
The inventions described in this application relate to an apparatus, means, system and method for blocking and locking or otherwise securing, without the use of tools, tamper-resistant screws or other fasteners, a circuit breaker movable actuator, such as an operating or toggle handle, so as to better prevent the intentional or unintentional substantial displacement or movement of the circuit breaker movable actuator at least between its at least two positions, such as its ON or OFF positions, so as to prevent the circuit breaker from being switched at least between its at least two operating states, such as its ON and OFF states. The circuit breaker movable actuator blocking and securing apparatus or means may use at least up to four padlocks or any other suitably appropriate locking or securing apparatus or device.
Thus, the inventions are believed to provide a relatively elegant, cost effective and reliable apparatus, means, system and method for blocking and locking or otherwise securing, without the use of tools, tamper-resistant screws or other fasteners, a circuit breaker movable actuator so as to better prevent the intentional or unintentional substantial displacement or movement of the circuit breaker movable actuator at least between its at least two positions, such as its ON or OFF positions.
2. Background
In certain industrial applications, circuit breakers may be locked in the OFF position to allow for electrical or mechanical repairs so as to better prevent the circuit breaker being set from its OFF state to its ON state. Electric utility companies may lock circuit breakers in the OFF state to prevent the unauthorized use of power.
One known device includes that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,260,861, which is entitled "Handle Locking Means For Circuit Breaker" ("the '861 patent"). This device may be described as using a "scissor" type locking arrangement. When the circuit breaker operating or toggle handle locking device is attached to a circuit breaker, its removal is generally prevented by two tamper resistant screws 81 and 82 as shown in FIG. 2 of the '861 patent. The circuit breaker operating or toggle handle may be locked by sliding a blocking member 50 between side members of frame members 10 and 30, all of which are components of the handle locking device of the '861 patent, until holes 63 and 64 are aligned respectively with holes 23, 43 and 24, 44. To prevent the circuit breaker operating or toggle handle from being moved from its OFF position to its ON position, a padlock bail 80 may then be inserted as follows: though holes 23, 43 and 63; through holes 24, 44 and 64; or if the padlock bail is sufficiently long, through holes 23, 43, 63, 24, 44 and 64. To prevent the circuit breaker operating or toggle handle being moved from its ON position to its OFF position, however, pilot holes 83 and 84 must be enlarged, such as by drilling, to the diameter of holes 85 and 86 so that a padlock bail 80 may be inserted therethrough.
Some potential limitations of the above approach are as follows. The above approach may not allow for the use of circuit breaker operating or toggle handle extensions.
Also, special tools for the tamper resistant screws may be required to install and remove the handle locking device referred to above. Further, to padlock the circuit breaker operating or toggle handle in its ON position, the pilot holes must be enlarged, such as by drilling, so that a padlock bail may be inserted therethrough. Finally, if the padlock bail is not sufficiently large, the circuit breaker operating or toggle handle locking device may not be sufficiently secure.

Circuit breaker movable actuator blocking and securing apparatus, means and system


A valve assembly including a valve body having a bore and a port extending to the bore, an orifice member received in the bore and having an end wall and a side wall, and wherein the end wall defines an orifice providing fluid communication with the port of the body. A valve member is received in the orifice member and is movable along an axis with respect to the orifice, and a flat spring is secured to the side wall of the orifice member and has arms secured to the valve member. A valve seat is secured to the end wall and defines an opening over the orifice, and a plug is secured to an end of the valve member opposite the valve seat such that, when the valve member is moved along the axis towards the orifice, the plug contacts the seat to seal the opening.

Fluid valves exist in a wide variety of forms and sizes, serving a multitude of purposes, handling flowable materials whose characters range from light gaseous to heavy slurries and near-solids, and operable at various speeds under controls as diverse as simple binary (ON-OFF), proportional, direct-manual and remote-electrical. Those which are capable of responding quickly to govern even relatively large flows with precision, and with expenditure of little electrical power, are of special interest in certain industrial processing, such as the automatic regulation of gases in semiconductor and integrated-circuit manufacturing. Mass flow controllers, for example, are widely used in semiconductor and integrated-circuit manufacturing to control the delivery of process gases, and the mass flow controllers include such valves.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,796,854, 5,727,769, and 6,505,812, which are all assigned to the assignee of the present disclosure, show examples of solenoid proportioning valve assemblies. The disclosed valve assemblies all include movable valve members positioned by an armature to open and close a valve orifice.
The valve assemblies may use metals seals or elastomeric seals. The use of metal sealing, or seating, surfaces eliminates permeation from the atmosphere and the outgassing and particle generation inherent to elastomeric seals. Other materials, such as glass, sapphire, or ceramic, may be used as the seating surfaces to avoid chemical degradation from the particular fluid being controlled by the valve assembly, and/or degradation due to temperatures and pressures, for example.
It is often preferable to use sapphire in place of metal in the seating surfaces of valve assemblies. In high accuracy valve assemblies used for the precise delivery of gases, metal seating surfaces may require a hand-lapping final operation to customize orifice surfaces to provide suitable sealing. Such lapping operations however, are labor intensive and increase the manufacturing costs of the valve assemblies. In addition, metal-lapped surfaces can be attacked at high temperatures by corrosive fluids, which degrades sealing over time. Sapphire, which is a very hard material that can be made flat and smooth, is less susceptible to such degradation.
Other valves may incorporate a ceramic ball that seats in a conical stainless steel orifice. Such an arrangement, however, may not provide smooth control between 2% and 100% of full scale flow.
What is still desired is a new and improved valve assembly. The valve assembly will preferably provide improved cut-off sealing, eliminate the need for hand-crafted metal parts and allow the use of impervious non-metal material for seating surfaces, and provide stable long term control valve shut-off capability. The new and improved valve assembly will also preferably provide smooth control between 2% and 100% of full scale flow, over multiple full scale ranges.

Valve assembly having rigid seating surfaces


The present invention provides a lamp head assembly with positioning structures for combining with a lamp base. The lamp head assembly includes a conducting head and a supporting barrel. The conducting head has an insulating seat, a first conducting plate and a second conducting plate and a conduction piece. The conduction piece is electrically connected with the first conducting plate. A portion of the second conducting plate is protruded out of the insulating seat, and an end of the insulating seat is formed with a inserting plate. The supporting barrel includes a supporting section connected and an assembling section; wherein, the supporting barrel is assembled on the conducting head through a positioning of the inserting plate and the slot.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a lamp head assembly and, in particular to a lamp head assembly used in an LED bulb.
2. Description of Related Art
Because LEDs have characteristics of quick response, small size and low pollution etc., LEDs are gradually replaced incandescent lamps for saving energy and protecting environment.
Commercially available LED bulb has a lamp base and a lamp head connecting with the lamp base. There is an LED assembly disposed in the lamp base, and a conducting threaded section and an electrically bump are provided on the lamp head. Moreover, two wires are accommodated in the lamp base. An end of one wire is soldered on the circuit board, and the other end is soldered on a conducting threaded section. Besides, an end of the other wire is soldered on the circuit board and the other end is soldered on the electrically bump for configuring as a circuit loop.
However, an electrically connection of the above LED bulb is achieved through a soldering process. According to the soldering process is complicated, the operating time and the assembly cost will be increased. Furthermore, the soldering joints for the electrically connection will be detached easily, and an electrically connection will not be completed when the LED bulb shakes or vibrates. As LED bulbs have a variety of models, then various kinds of structures of lamp bases and lamp heads are performed. Therefore, a long development time and the high cost of the product are resulted.
In view of the above drawbacks, the Inventor proposes the present invention based on his expert knowledge and elaborate researches in order to solve the problems of related art.

LED bulb and lamp head assembly with positioning structures


The invention relates to a system for reducing fuel consumption in vehicles. According to the invention, fuel consumption is reduced by minimizing the aerodynamic resistances generated as the vehicle moves forward. The inventive system conveys air to the rear or stern of the vehicle where a depression is known to form. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the air is conveyed using a tubular casing which is fixed to the rear part of the vehicle roof and which bends slightly towards the rear end. The air is channeled from the upper part of the forward-moving vehicle and is released at the low-pressure stern area, the depression serving as a suction device which facilitates the passage of the air. The outlet is oriented towards, but does not extend to the top of the rear doors.

I. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a system for reducing fuel consumption in vehicles, which includes a new process for achieving the purpose being sought, by the reduction of aerodynamic resistance at the depression that is caused in the rear part of the vehicle in its movement forward.
The basic operating principle lies in the fact of collecting air from the surroundings of the vehicle and adequately channeling it to the desired area, in the rear part, in order to counteract the depression created during movement.
II. Description of Related Art
Systems for reducing fuel consumption in vehicles are basically devised to minimize the aerodynamic resistance that is imparted on the front surfaces during the forward movement of the vehicle, offering noteworthy resistance to the air flow. Therefore, the rear and the front of the vehicle are occupied and there are basically deflectors that are placed on the casing, as well as side and bottom flaps placed thereon. The results that are obtained are noteworthy since about 10% of the fuel is saved, as long as the system is used adequately.
Other methods currently existing to reduce fuel consumption include a dismountable body that takes up a large part of the space where the depression is formed and that can be placed on the rear of the vehicle. These methods have several serious inconveniences, among which are:                They are weak, fragile and not very secure.        They are hardly efficient in the terms of saving fuel (<4%).        They are extremely difficult to put in place or replace.        They extremely hamper the opening of the rear doors and the work of the truck driver. It is necessary to dismount the device in order to open the doors.        They are not fixed systems.
Systems that place flaps in the side of the vehicle or the body or trailers are also known for the same purpose, but they also have the inconvenience of being fragile, easy to break and not very secure.

System for reducing fuel consumption in vehicles


A gearbox assembly for a gas turbine engine includes a planetary gear set comprising a sun gear, a planet gear, and a ring gear, the sun gear configured for connection to a first drive shaft of the gas turbine engine and the ring gear configured for connection to a second drive shaft of the gas turbine engine, and an electric machine assembly comprising an input and an electric machine. The electric machine comprising a rotor coupled to the input and a stator fixedly positioned within the gearbox assembly, the input of the electric machine assembly coupled to one of the sun gear, the ring gear, or the planet gear of the planetary gear set.

Typical aircraft propulsion systems include one or more gas turbine engines. For certain propulsion systems, the gas turbine engines generally include a fan and a core arranged in flow communication with one another. Additionally, the core of the gas turbine engine general includes, in serial flow order, a compressor section, a combustion section, a turbine section, and an exhaust section. In operation, air is provided from the fan to an inlet of the compressor section where one or more axial compressors progressively compress the air until it reaches the combustion section. Fuel is mixed with the compressed air and burned within the combustion section to provide combustion gases. The combustion gases are routed from the combustion section to the turbine section. The flow of combustion gasses through the turbine section drives the turbine section and is then routed through the exhaust section, e.g., to atmosphere.
Typically, a high pressure turbine of the turbine section drives a high pressure compressor through a high pressure shaft, and a low pressure turbine drives a low pressure compressor through a low pressure shaft. The fan section may also be driven by the low pressure shaft. In this flow path transmission scheme can be added an electric motor, mechanically connected to the engine shaft aft of the turbine section. The electric machine may add hybrid functions to the gas turbine engine.
In certain operations, the electric machine may be operated in a generator mode whereby the electric machine produces electric energy to be stored in battery. In certain other operations, the electric machine may be operated in a motor mode to add mechanical torque at the engine shaft. Further, in still other operations, the electric machine may be operated in an auxiliary mode defined to add special function mode, e.g., as an ETS (Engine Turning System).
However, an electric machine coupled to the engine shaft may not operate as desired across all operation modes. Accordingly, assemblies for providing improved operations would be useful.

Hybrid transmission on propeller gearbox


A method for rapid peer-to-peer link establishment among a set of mobile devices includes operating a first second device, advertising system attributes in a wireless beacon by the second device, receiving the system attributes from the wireless beacon at the first device, comparing the system attributes to a service needed by the first device, and, if the second device is compatible based on the comparing, establishing a wireless link by the first device to the second device. A system and wireless device for rapid peer-to-peer link establishment among a set of mobile devices are also described.

Wireless communication systems and methods are ubiquitous. In an exemplary embodiment, wireless communications are used for mission critical public safety applications (e.g., first responders including police, fire, emergency medical personnel, etc.). Wireless communication systems have defined wireless coverage, and wireless devices outside of such wireless coverage cannot communicate. Lack of coverage is especially disadvantageous in mission critical applications such as public safety. If there are proximate wireless devices with coverage, it could be possible for collaboration with wireless devices out of coverage to enable such devices to communicate through wireless devices with coverage. For example, Digital Vehicular Repeater System (DVRS) (from Futurecom, Concord, ON, Canada) is a collaboration system using a high power Land Mobile Radio (LMR) device as a proxy for a low power LMR device that cannot access an LMR system directly. This is an example of homogeneous system collaboration, i.e., one LMR device collaborating with another LMR device. Heterogeneous systems include disparate devices, e.g., an LMR device and a broadband device (3G, 4G, LTE, WLAN, etc.) operating together is a heterogeneous system. Accordingly, there is a need for collaboration systems and methods across heterogeneous systems that are secure, rapid, etc. and that can beneficially be applied to mission critical applications such as public safety (LMR).
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.
The apparatus and method components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein

Secure AD HOC communication systems and methods across heterogeneous systems


A laser level is adapted to direct a laser path against a working surface. The level comprises a base, the base comprising at least one pair of opposing edges, the base adapted to be positioned relative to the working surface such that each of the opposing edges is adjacent to the working surface. The level comprises an adhesive layer, the adhesive layer being situated on the base so as to removably affix the base on the working surface without damaging the working surface. The level comprising an activating switch, the switch being located on the level at a location offset from the laser path.

Alignment of surfaces is a concern in a variety of fields, ranging from construction to interior decorating. Alignment is necessary for walls that should be perpendicular to a floor, or otherwise plumb. Vertical or horizontal alignment is especially important for pictures and other wall ornamentation.
Many mechanical alignment devices are available. Some of these alignment products are cumbersome, others are impractical. Chalk reels, for instance, are readily portable and create reliable alignment markings. However, chalk lines leave imprints on walls and produce chalk dust, both of which are undesirable in a finished room. Plumb bobs are also readily portable, but require anchoring of a string and the bob must come to rest before being relied upon for alignment purposes.
The problems with mechanical alignment devices have been addressed with the advent of portable laser levels. One example of a portable laser level is U.S. Publication No. 20020178596 to Malard, titled "Laser Line Generating Device," the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. The Malard device has several problems. A first problem concerns the way the laser is activated. To activate the laser, a cover must be pivoted away from the laser projector. During the process, the finger used for pivoting the cover is radiated by the laser source. However, in the manufactured form of the Malard device, embodied in the Laser Level by Strait-Line Corporation, an advisory located adjacent to the same cover reads "DANGER, Avoid Direct Exposure to the Beam."
A second problem with the Malard device concerns the method in which the laser apparatus connects to a solid surface. The Malard apparatus requires the use of retractable pins. In use, the pin damages the surface being connected to the apparatus.
In the manufactured version of the Malard device, the problem with the retractable pins has been addressed. The Malard apparatus uses Command Strips manufactured by 3M Corporation for positioning the apparatus on a surface. The Command Strips enable the Malard apparatus to adhere to a surface without damaging the surface. However, the Command Strips contain deficiencies.
The Command Strips consist of a plurality of small porous openings that act as suction-cups when placed against a smooth surface. Accordingly, the Command Strips have problems inherent with suction-cups. If the receiving surface contains any irregularities, the porous opening will fail to grip and the Malard apparatus will fail to adhere to the surface. However, such irregularities are common to surfaces on which the laser is be applied, such as with textured paint or various forms of wall board or wall paper.
Another problem exists when applying the Command Strips against the base of the Malard device. The strips displace the base of the Malard device from the working surface by the thickness of the strips. The displaced device is caused to wobble against the surface due to the compressibility of the strips. The wobbling is incurable because edges of the base are incapable of contacting the working surface due to the strips.
In light of the deficiencies of the prior art, a portable laser level is needed that is capable of being activated without the placement of a finger in the path of the laser. The apparatus should be capable of placement against a textured surface using a reusable adhesive. The base of the device should also be capable of entirely contacting a working surface during the application of the adhesive.


A digital signal cross-connect module has a dielectric faceplate with a plurality of ports. The plurality of ports includes at least two linear arrays of ports each including a monitor jack port and two access ports. The arrays are positioned vertically and parallel to one another. The ports are divided into three transverse fields. All monitor ports are positioned in a first transverse field. The access ports are positioned in second and third transverse fields with the second and third transverse fields vertically offset from each other to increase a horizontal density of ports within the module.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to jack modules for use in the telecommunications industry. More particularly, this invention pertains to a jack module for digital signal cross connect (DSX) applications.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Digital signal cross-connect modules (DSX) are well known in the telecommunications industry. An example of such may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,078,624 to Burroughs. et al. dated Jan. 7, 1992. FIG. 1 of that patent shows a module having a jack field located on the right hand side of the module and consisting of six columns of jack ports associated with individual Bantam jacks. The cross-connect field is located on a side of the module. FIGS. 4 and 5 show an alternative embodiment where the Bantam jacks are replaced with individual modules with jack assemblies such as those shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,840,568. Each of the Bantam jacks or jack assemblies includes three ports--one of which is conventionally referred to as an IN port and the other is referred to as an OUT port. Further, the jack includes a monitor port for accessing a signal.
As discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,078,624, density is an important design consideration in digital signal cross-connect modules. In the aforementioned '624 patent, the modules are arranged for the jacks to have a horizontal axis as opposed to the vertical axis of previous designs.
The '624 patent shows a module where a cabinet contains a plurality of circuit elements. DSX designs are also known where a cabinet contains a plurality of individual modules each containing a dedicated circuit. Examples of such are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,199,878 and 5,393,249.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,975,087 to Williams et al. dated Dec. 4, 1990 teaches a DSX module to enhance horizontal density of vertical-axis Bantam jacks within a cabinet. The '087 patent forms flattened areas on barrels of the Bantam jacks to permit closer spacing of Bantam jacks. Achieving enhanced horizontal density is desirable since circuits including DSX jacks will include multiples of such jacks and is desirable that all such multiples be contained within a common cabinet.


A guiding catheter for use in coronary angioplasty and other cardiovascular interventions which incorporates a plurality of segment of selected flexural modulus in the shaft of the device. The segments which have a different flexibility than the sections immediately proximal and distal to them, creating zones in the catheter shaft which are either more or less flexible than other zones of the shaft. The flexibility and length of the shaft in a given zone is then matched to its clinical function and role. A mid-shaft zone is significantly softer than a proximal shaft or distal secondary curve to better traverse the aortic arch shape without storing too much energy. A secondary zone section is designed to have maximum stiffness to provide optimum backup support and stability.

The use of intravascular catheters for the treatment of cardiovascular disease is well known in the field of medicine. The need for a greater variety of devices to treat different types of circumstances has grown tremendously as the techniques for the use of such devices has progressed.
Prior art guiding catheters are generally comprised of a shaft which is hollow, defining an inner lumen. The shaft is generally comprised of two tubes congruent to each other with a support member therebetween. A hub is connected to the proximal end of the shaft to provide a means for connecting another device such as a syringe to inject fluids, or for providing a means to direct the device in order to place it within the vessel. A tip of a desired shape is provided at the distal end of the shaft.
An example of a prior art guide catheter as described above is located in PCT publication No. WO 92/15356, published Sep. 17, 1992, to Nita et al., for CARDIOVASCULAR CATHETER HAVING DISCRETE REGIONS OF VARYING FLEXIBILITY, which teaches a guide catheter that has varying flexibilities along its length.
In order for the physician to place the catheter at the correct location in the vessel, the physician must apply longitudinal and rotational forces. In order for the catheter to transmit these forces from the proximal end to the distal end, the catheter must be rigid enough to push through the blood vessel, but yet flexible enough to navigate the bends in the blood vessel. The catheter must also be torsionally rigid to transmit the applied torque. To accomplish this balance between longitudinal rigidity, torsional rigidity, and flexibility, there is often a support member added to the shaft. This support member is often comprised of a metal braid or coil embedded in the shaft. This support wire is often embedded in the shaft between the two layers of tubing that comprise the shaft.
A guiding catheter is guided through the aorta over the aortic arch and down to the ostium of the vessel which is to be treated. It is preferable to have a soft tip or flexible section engage the ostium. Therefore, it is advantageous to have the proximal section be rigid to transmit the forces applied, but to have the distal end more flexible to allow for better placement of the guide catheter. Having the distal section more flexible also creates a less traumatic section to the blood vessel. The distal end of the catheter is rotated, through the transmission of torque from the proximal end, until the tip of the guiding catheter is in the desired position. With the variations of different bend shapes available on the distal ends of these devices and with variations in patient anatomy, each device may need to be torqued more or less in order to correctly place it.
One problem that has surfaced is that as more flexible distal sections are placed on these catheters, the incidence of guide catheter back-out is increased. Guide catheter back-out occurs when the guide disengages from its preferred positioning (e.g., coronary ostium), thereby creating the need for the physician to reposition the guiding catheter. Many different guide catheter curve shapes have been designed to overcome this problem, with each giving different levels of support. However, as the flexibility of the distal most section is increased, the tendency for back-out again increases.
It is possible to construct a device that is very rigid to obtain the correct amount of back-out support. However, the resulting device would be very traumatic to the patient's arteries due to its rigidity. Similarly, it is possible to construct a very flexible device to limit the trauma the device imparts to the blood vessels. However, the device then becomes too flexible and does not provide any back-out support.
Another problem that is seen in current devices is that devices are constructed such that they are equally flexible in all planes. That feature is not always desired.

Guide catheter having selected flexural modulus segments


A method of making a metal slab with a non-uniform cross-sectional shape including providing a spray casting apparatus including a substrate and a plurality of spaced atomization nozzles, the nozzles having a discharge opening and introducing molten metal into the nozzles. The method then includes atomizing the molten metal as it is discharged from the nozzles through the discharge openings by subjecting the discharged molten metal to jets of an atomizing gas in order to form metal droplets for deposition onto the substrate. The deposition of the metal droplets onto the substrate is controlled in order to form the metal slab having a non-uniform cross-sectional shape. A method of making an integrally stiffened metal structure as well as metal and aluminum products made by the above methods are also provided.

This invention relates to a method of making a metal slab with a non-uniform cross-sectional shape and an associated integrally stiffened metal structure using spray casting.
Metal products for use as fuselages for aircrafts, reinforced skins for space vehicles, integrally stiffened sheet for trains or transportation vehicles and heat exchangers can have a flat portion with ribs extending from the flat portion. These metal products can be made by attaching the upstanding ribs to a flat rolled product by a variety of joining methods such as riveting, fastening, bonding or welding. However, a disadvantage of this process is that joining places are sources of failure. A further disadvantage is that this process requires a separate joining operation and the need for inspection.
There are known methods of making an integrally stiffened structure. One known method involves extrusion. Another known method involves machining a metal piece to form the integrally stiffened structure. Both of these methods have inherent disadvantages, the most prominent of which is the high cost of producing the integrally stiffened structure.
Thus, there remains a need for making a metal slab with a non-uniform cross-sectional shape which can then be worked, such as by shaped hot rolling, into an integrally stiffened metal structure. The method should produce a metal structure having excellent structural characteristics while at the same time reducing the costs and inefficiencies associated with known prior art methods.

Method of making a metal slab with a non-uniform cross-sectional shape and an associated integrally stiffened metal structure using spray casting


A subscriber, who logs into a visited communication network (VPMN), in particular a mobile network, by means of his communication terminal (2) and his identification module (SIM) connected thereto, is transmitted, automatically or upon request, (S1) a subscriber identification (IMSI-P) from the number range of the visited communication network (VPMN) (S2). The received subscriber identification (IMSI-P) from the number range of the visited communication network (VPMN) is stored and activated in the identification module (SIM) of the subscriber. The subscriber can afterwards log into the visited communication network (VPMN) as a local subscriber.

In the field of mobile radio telephony, understood by the term "roaming" is the operation of a mobile communication terminal, for example a mobile radio telephone or a portable computer with corresponding mobile radio components, outside the home network. Roaming is used for instance between different GSM networks (Global System for Mobile Communication) or UMTS networks (Universal Mobile Telephone System), but also between mobile radio networks which work according to different standards. To enable the direct roaming of a subscriber between two mobile radio networks, roaming agreements have to be concluded between the respective operators of the mobile radio networks. In a visited mobile radio network (Visited Public Mobile Network, VPMN), a subscriber is registered in a visitor register (Visitor Location Register, VLR) using his subscriber identification (International Mobile Subscriber Identity, IMSI) from the number range of his home mobile radio network (Home Public Mobile Network, HPMN), and his location is stored in a home register (Home Location Register, HLR) of the home mobile radio network, i.e. a so-called location update is carried out.
Described in the patent application WO 98/10614 is a telecommunication method for indirect roaming enabling a subscriber of a home mobile radio network to connect to a visited mobile radio network without a roaming agreement with the home mobile radio network, the connection being achieved through means, for example a subscriber identification (IMSI) and a call number (MSISDN=Mobile Subscriber Integrated Services Digital Network), which are made available by a partner network having a roaming agreement, on the one hand, with the home mobile radio network and, on the other hand, with the visited mobile radio network.
In the method described in WO 98/10614, each identification module of the subscriber of the home mobile radio network contains two permanently stored subscriber identifications. A different call number is assigned to each subscriber identification. The first subscriber identification belongs to the number range of the home mobile radio network, the second to the number range of the partner network. In order to register in a visited network that does not have any roaming agreement with the home mobile radio network, the subscriber can deactivate the first subscriber identification from the home mobile radio network and activate the second subscriber identification from the partner network, and is thereby regarded in the visited network as a subscriber of the partner network; thus a roaming process for the visited network can be carried out via the partner network.
Since in the method according to WO 98/10614 each subscriber identification is assigned another, different call number, the calls with the first number for the subscriber have to be redirected with a complex and time-consuming mechanism. Subscriber-specific data, for example redirections of calls, additional numbers, etc. are moreover assigned to the subscriber identification in a completely conventional way and are thus only available in the home mobile radio network or in visited mobile radio networks having a roaming agreement with the home mobile radio network.
Described in the patent publication EP 0 990 364 is a telecommunication method for indirect roaming similar to that in WO 98/10614. According to EP 0 990 364, however, a common call number is assigned to the first subscriber identification of the home mobile radio network and to the second subscriber identification of the partner network.
Both the conventional standardized method for direct roaming as well as the above-described method for indirect roaming have the disadvantage that the subscriber is logged into the visited mobile radio network as a foreign subscriber and has to pay significantly higher connection fees than a local subscriber. Additional costs can also arise in particular when two subscribers from the same home mobile radio network who are located in a common visited mobile radio network communicate with each other and the connection thereby is generated via the home mobile radio network.

Method for telecommunication, identification module and computerized service unit


The object of the system according to the present invention is to relieve the user from the burden of printing and storing image data from a digital camera and to effectively utilize the image data. The system comprises a plurality of printing stations with functions to read digital image data, to print the data by performing necessary image processing and to transmit or receive the image data, a management system connected to each printing station via a network and used for identifying management data of each printing station and for distributing necessary data to each printing station, and a server for turning the image data being transmitted from each printing station to the management system to database and to store the data.

The present invention relates to a management system for effectively storing, outputting and utilizing image data photographed by means such as a digital camera.
In recent years, digital cameras have been rapidly propagated, and an image produced by a heat sublimation transfer printer has picture quality as high as a picture obtained by silver salt photography. On the other hand, personal computers have been propagated and are now generally used in each private home, and it is now possible for users to incorporate data from the digital camera into the personal computer and to print out the image by themselves. However, the printers to provide images of high quality are expensive, and many of the users are not yet fully familiarized with the operation of personal computers. Under such circumstances, there have appeared specialty stores for providing services to print out from the media where data from digital camera are stored, or there are also unmanned self-service printing stations. A new type of such printing station has been proposed (Japanese Patent Publication Laid-Open 10-341303), which has the functions to settle the charge paid in cash or using card. When a predetermined amount of money is paid, image data are read from a medium where data from the digital camera are stored or directly from the digital camera, and the data are displayed on a monitor. Then, necessary image data are specified and printed out, or when it is necessary to have an image of high quality, the image data are transmitted to the specialty store via a network, and the obtained prints are sent to the users by a commercial delivery service.
In the conventional type printing station of the patent as described above, it is disclosed that the image data from the digital camera are read and are printed out, while there is no description on such features that the read image data are placed under management and are effectively utilized. Many of the users who have a digital camera not only cannot print out the images by themselves but also cannot perform good management for the data of the photographed image.
To solve the problems as described above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a system, by which it is possible to relieve the user from the burden to print and store image data of the digital camera and to effectively utilize the image data.
The image data management system according to the present invention comprises a plurality of printing stations with functions to read digital image data, to print the data by performing necessary image processing and to transmit or receive the image data, a management system connected to each printing station via a network and used for identifying management data of each printing station and for distributing necessary data to each printing station, and a server for turning the image data (being transmitted from each printing station to the management system) to a database and for storing the data.
Further, the present invention provides an image data management system as described above, wherein the image data turned to a database has image categories as attribute information.
Also, the present invention provides an image data management system as described above, wherein the image data turned to a database contains information for public disclosure of the image as attribute information.
Further, the present invention provides an image data management system as described above, wherein the management system performs remote-controlled maintenance on each printing station based on a management data.
Also, the present invention provides an image data management system as described above, wherein, in the printing station, the user can specify an image to be printed as well as an image to be transferred to and stored in the management system from the images displayed on a monitor screen.
Further, the present invention provides an image data management system as described above, wherein the printing station comprises a photographing equipment and a photograph for certification purposes can be prepared.

Image data management system for image processing


The fuel cell cartridge including: an external casing; a fuel cell body (stack), which is accommodated in the external casing and which includes at least a fuel electrode, an oxidizer electrode, and an ion conductor; and a fuel tank for storing a fuel, wherein the external casing has a penetration hole, which penetrates an inner portion of the external casing and which is in communication with outside air, and wherein an inner wall of the penetration hole is provided with at least an opening communicating with the oxidizer electrode. The fuel cell cartridge is detachably attached to an electric apparatus, and an inlet of the penetration hole of the fuel cell cartridge is situated at a position corresponding to an outside-air communicating port, which is provided in the electric apparatus and which is in communication with outside air.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fuel cell cartridge, an electric apparatus using the same, and an electric apparatus having a built-in fuel cell.
2. Related Background Art
A fuel cell converts chemical energy, which is obtained by chemically reacting a fuel, such as hydrogen or methanol, with oxygen, directly into electric energy. Thus, high electric power generation efficiency can be attained from the fuel cell. Since a small number of mechanical drive portions are provided in the fuel cell, noise generated therein is extremely small. Also, the fuel cell can be miniaturized.
As a small-sized fuel cell, there is exemplified a polymer electrolyte fuel cell. The polymer electrolyte fuel cell is devised for use in an electric power source for a portable device like a laptop personal computer or a mobile phone. The polymer electrolyte fuel cell is used as a substitute for a primary battery such as an alkaline battery or a secondary battery such as a nickel ion battery; the polymer electrolyte fuel cell can be installed in an electric apparatus for use.
For example, regarding the use of a fuel cell in an electric apparatus, it is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-032154 that a fuel cell is used for an electric power source for a laptop personal computer or the like. The fuel cell is externally attached to the laptop personal computer to prevent water generated in a fuel cell body due to an electric power generating reaction from seeping into the laptop personal computer.
In addition, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H9-213359 discloses a laptop personal computer having a built-in fuel cell.
Incidentally, the fuel cell differs from the primary battery or the secondary battery in that electricity is generated through a chemical reaction between hydrogen, methanol, or the like, functioning as a fuel, and oxygen (hereinafter, referred to as "electric power generating reaction"). When the fuel cell is attached to the electric apparatus, attention should be paid to that oxygen necessary for the electric power generating reaction is efficiently supplied to the fuel cell body, precise handling is conducted so that moisture and heat resulting from the electric power generating reaction do not adversely affect the electric apparatus, and so forth.
According to a structure disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-032154, the laptop personal computer and the fuel cell are not integrated but separated from each other. Therefore, moisture and heat resulting from the electric power generating reaction do not adversely affect the laptop personal computer that is an electric apparatus, but portability is poor.
In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H9-213359, the laptop personal computer is adapted to have a built-in fuel cell, so portability is acceptable; it is however necessary to supply oxygen necessary for the electric power generating reaction to the fuel cell body with improved efficiency and conduct precise handling so that the moisture and heat resulting from the electric power generating reaction do not adversely affect the electric apparatus.

Fuel cells cartridge and electric apparatus having built-in fuel cell


An electrical system comprises a module (3), an immovable element (2) defining a space for receiving the module and an ejecting mechanism assembled between the immovable element and the module. The ejecting mechanism comprises a guiding frame (6), a groove frame (5) and a first spring element (7) for urging the module to withdraw out of the immovable element. The guiding frame comprises a swing element (63) being rotatable around a pivot pin thereof and a second spring element (62) attached to the swing element. The swing element defines a guiding pin and a balance line. The groove frame defines a continuous groove for guiding the guiding pin. The second spring clement can prevent the guiding pin from being moved along a direction opposite to a predetermined direction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical system, and particularly to an electrical system having an ejecting mechanism.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, a disk drive apparatus such as a floppy disk driver, a CD (Compact Disc) driver as an external memory of a computer has an ejecting device for ejecting a disk. The ejecting device has a holder for positioning a floppy disk to a drive position. This holder is pivotally mounted on a base of a floppy disk drive device and can be interlocked with a door disposed to freely close/open a floppy disk insertion port of the drive device. The holder has a clamper. While the door is closed, the holder is held at the first position. In this position, the damper of the holder cooperates with a spindle mounted on the base to clamp the floppy disk. When the door is opened, the holder is pivoted to the second position to separate the damper from the spindle. When the floppy disk is inserted through the insertion hole and is placed on the spindle, and the door is closed, the holder is pivoted to the first position, so that the floppy disk is clamped between the spindle and the damper and is placed in the driven position. However, the loading/ejecting device of the disk drive apparatus is too complicated to manufacture. Hence, a disk drive apparatus with a simple loading/ejecting device is desired.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,558,527 disclose another ejecting mechanism equipped on a card connector in which even with the PC card mounted therein, a push button for the withdrawal of the PC card is retained in the same position as it is in a not-mounted state; and the push button is projected only when the PC card is withdrawn.
The ejecting mechanism basically includes an operation rod having a push button at an outer end section and spring-urged outwardly, a drive rod for driving a PC card withdrawal plate through a lever, an intermediate member driven under an action of a cam and allowing a connection or disconnection to be made between an outer operation rod and an inner drive rod, and a casing for slidably guiding the operation rod and the drive rod. A substantially heart-like cam groove is formed in the bottom wall of the casing with its projecting end side outward and the recessed side inward. The cam groove is formed as a continuous groove configuration, and comprises a drive section, a latching section, and a curved return section which extends from the latching section. A cam follower pin projected from the operation rod is moved in the cam groove along the given direction together with the movement of the push rod. An inclination section is provided at a transition area from the drive section to the latching section and at a transition area from the return section to the drive section so as to prevent the cam follower pin from being moved in a direction opposite to the given direction.
However, the ejecting mechanism disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,558,527 provided in the electrical connector comprises a number of elements cooperated with each other to eject the electrical card, thereby complicating the configuration of the electrical card connector and increasing the difficulty of manufacture. Furthermore, the inclination section is required to be provided in the cam groove, thereby increasing the molded difficulty of the earn groove.
Hence, an improved ejecting mechanism is desired to overcome the disadvantage of the prior art.

Electrical system with an improved ejecting mechanism


Relating to chromatographic processes and ion-exchange and affinity matrices, a spatial installation method for a bifunctional reagent that crosslinks and/or activates a polymer matrix is disclosed, with inside-outside installation of a bifunctional reagent on and within a polymer matrix. The polymer matrix is cellulose, agarose, or chitosan particles. The installation may be followed by inside-outside ligand attachment, by further reacting the matrix with a ligand or ionic group so that a higher concentration of ligand or ionic moiety occurs on the intra-particle volume than the outer matrix surface.

Ion-exchange and affinity matrices function based on adsorptive purification processes where the matrix selectively binds a target molecule with greater avidity than other molecules present in the same mixture. Such matrices are used to purify and concentrate proteins and other targets from complex, natural, synthetic, and biosynthetic mixtures. These matrices typically consist of polymeric particles (such as cellulose beads) consisting of a packed bed of particles having void spaces through which liquid can flow. A target molecule solution which is to be purified from solution is passed through the packed bed. Binding sites in the particles constituting the packed bed react with materials to be removed from the complex mixture. Upon passing a washing solution through the column, the eluant leaving the column is a purified target solution. The higher the target binding activity, the higher the purification capacity of the packed bed.
Such ion-exchange and affinity matrices may be constructed from a polymeric hydrogel. A polymeric hydrogel consists of an aqueous part (hence the name "hydro-") and a polymer backbone. Generally, a hydrogel has a low-solids content and is very water-like.
Certain features are peculiar to ion-exchange and affinity matrices, respectively, as set forth below.
When a polymeric hydrogel is to be used as an ion-exchange matrix, the matrix is derivatized to make the matrix ionic. The ionic character of the matrix poses a particular problem, as the matrix tends to dissolve over time and become unusable. Generally, a conventional solution to the dissolution problem has been to crosslink the matrix using conventional crosslinking methods which utilize batch chemistry.
Such conventional methods and matrices suffer from certain disadvantages, discussed further below.
The size (diameter) of the cellulose particles used in constructing the hydrogel influences the properties and performance of the hydrogel. Cellulose particles on the order of 450-600 .mu.m are considered large.
Hydrogels for use on a bench scale (i.e., a small scale) have been available. However, there has been an unsatisfied demand for hydrogels that function on to a larger, commercial scale. For use on such a scale, high through-put is important, that is, the highest possible flow rate for each of the steps in column chromatographic processing when operated at the tallest possible column height (i.e., about 1 m versus 0.1 m). These steps comprise loading (adsorption of target molecules to both surface and intraparticle volume), washing of non-target molecules from the media (matrix), elution of target molecules from the matrix, and cleaning (or regeneration) of the matrix.
Designing large scale adsorption media generally calls into play four considerations, namely, (1) void space pressure driven flow; (2) intraparticle transport; (3) site installation; and (4) media stability.
Void space pressure driven flow refers to the pressure needed to sustain a given flow rate in a packed bed chromatographic column.
Intraparticle transport refers to diffusional and/or convective transport of molecules within the hydrogel particle.
Site installation refers to placing certain pre-ordained structures, so that the sites are not too densely packed and are installed at the desired location within the matrix.
Media stability refers to whether the hydrogel dissolves and/or becomes disintiguous over time, so that it has an acceptable shelf-life or easily deforms under ordinary flow rates used in chromatographic processing.
Traditionally, modifying or designing ion-exchange matrices to be useable on a larger scale than bench-scale, such as for commercial production, has posed difficulties that come from the four aspects mentioned above that often are competing. That is, achieving improved performance on one aspect typically disadvantageously has compromised at least one other aspect. Thus, there is a need for a hydrogel for large-scale use which has satisfactory performance optimized in all four aspects.
The stability problem associated with hydrogels has been addressed by chemical crosslinking, to impart chemical and mechanical robustness and to prevent leaching of polymer backbone into the purified product. However, conventional crosslinking procedures improve stability but at the expense of other aspects of the hydrogel.
Particularly, conventional crosslinking methods are known, whereby, using a crosslinking reagent that generally is a bifunctional molecule, a hydrogel that is "outside-in" crosslinked is produced. In conventional chromatographic hydrogels (e.g. Pharmacia Sepharose Fast-Flow ("FF") crosslinked by the conventional "outside-in" crosslinking procedure, extensive crosslinking occurs near the bead surface before crosslinking occurs in the interior of the bead due to installation by batch chemistry.
Conventional crosslinking molecules (e.g., epichlorhydrin) are insoluble in water, which is the solvent used in the conventional "outside-in" procedure. The conventional water-solvent crosslinking process relies on partitioning the crosslinker into the aqueous phase of the hydrogel, and subsequent reaction with the hydrogel polymer backbone. Such phase partitioning is an inefficient mass transfer operation, and results in little penetration of the crosslinking and/or activating molecule into the interior of the bead prior to the reaction of the cross-linker or activating molecule with the matrix.
As a result, "outside-in" crosslinked hydrogels have a higher degree of crosslinking in the outer strata of the particles, and lower crosslinking in the interior of the particles. Excessive crosslinking at the matrix surface can lessen the accessibility to the interior of the bead, i.e., about 70% of the interior volume becomes inaccessible.
Despite the disadvantages of conventional outside-in crosslinking, abandoning crosslinking is not an acceptable solution, because without crosslinking, the matrix becomes not useable because the matrix dissolves or becomes disintiguous over time (because the polymer becomes soluble when stored or operating in aqueous because the matrix is highly ionic) and/or becomes easily deformed when operated in a chromatographic mode. Shelf-life is an important consideration for ion exchange applications of hydrogels. Hydrogels with shelf-lives on the order of many months or years, rather than weeks as conventional hydrogels provide, are desired.
Conventional designs of chromatographic matrices emphasized small particle sizes, so as to reduce intraparticle diffusional mass transfer resistance.
Small particle diameters correspond to higher pressure drops, with the use of low L/D (i.e., length-to-diameter) columns to achieve throughout, which is a disadvantage. For the small particles of the conventional hydrogels, high crosslinking becomes necessary because the pressure necessarily will be so high that otherwise the chromatographic media would be deformed. Overall, considerably less crosslinking is needed for large particles in order to provide resistance to deformation while operated under high flow rates and/or tall columns. There is a need for methods to make larger particles usable in hydrogels, because, generally, larger crosslinked-cellulose particles may have certain practical advantages relative to small particles, such as (1) very low pressure at very high linear velocities; (2) allowing for a process with partially clarified, partially filtered feeds; (3) high throughput at large-scale capacity; and, (4) robustness to sanitization. All of the above should be able to occur in a tall bed height without significant pressure drop.
The sanitization point noted above becomes important because most matrices typically are re-used.
Between purification cycles, matrices typically are cleaned with an NaOH solution with pH of about 12-13 at 45.degree. C. for about 2 to 3 hours, which are relatively harsh conditions. The cleaning (and other chemical treatments) can affect the stability of a matrix, by the reagents disrupting hydrogen bonding.
Also, the need for making larger particles usable in hydrogels further corresponds to the relative advantages of manufacturing large compared to smaller particles, of allowing for (1) continuous processing; (2) simplified classification at high yields; (3) ease of manufacturing; and (4) simple manufacturing for product diversity (e.g., crosslinked DEAE (diethyl amino-ethane) cellulose particles; crosslinked Q cellulose particles; affinity-ligand cellulose particles). However, in the conventional methods, the resulting large particles are outside-in crosslinked and correspondingly suffer from certain disadvantages such as (1) lack of accessibility of submacromolecular species to the interior volume of particles by diffusional and convective transport mechanisms due to molecular exclusion or sieving effects (of these submacromolecular species, i.e., proteins, peptides, etc.); and (2) lack of appropriate site installation into accessible intraparticle domains. Thus, there is a need to overcome the disadvantages associated with large conventionally-crosslinked cellulose particles, without giving up any of the advantages that such conventional particles may provide.
The high degree of crosslinking in the art for all particles, small and large, has particularly made large particles unsuitable for ion-exchange and affinity applications at large-scale (i.e., 1 m tall or higher operated at 1 cm/min or greater linear velocity).
For example, the high degree of crosslinking in the outer strata of the conventional large-bead hydrogels results in minimal intraparticle penetration of average sized protein molecules (such as albumin, 66 kDa) at typical large scale processing linear velocities of 1 cm per minute. Thus, less adsorptive capacity in proteins is seen in large particles crosslinked with classical outside-in methods as applied to small particles (i.e., there is a lack of adsorptive surface area where large particles are used). With large beads, overall less surface area is provided, therefore the need to use the bead interior is increased.
Accordingly, in view of the competing considerations discussed above and not satisfactorily addressed by conventional crosslinking and conventional outside-in crosslinked hydrogels, a crosslinking procedure is needed that gives the stability advantages of conventional outside-in crosslinking methods without at the same time suffering from the disadvantages associated with conventional outside-in crosslinking.
In attempting to scale-up ion-exchange matrices (i.e., to design the matrices for larger scale use), one approach has been to use dimensionless group analysis. Dimensionless group analysis uses the governing physics to generate normalized processing parameters which are dimensionless but scale the relative importance of different phenomena to the process (i.e. the ratio of spatial diffusion to a site to the spatial adsorption of the target molecule once that molecule reaches the site). See R. D. Whitley, K. E. Van Cott, and N. H. L. Wang, Ind. End. Chem. Res. (1993) 32: 149-159. The Whitley paradigm identified the rate limitations in kinetic and mass transfer steps and allowed for rational scale-up of chromatographic processes based on dimensionless ratios of these rates. Whitley et al. (1993) identified the effects of slow sorption kinetics in multi-component systems.
Intraparticle transport and adsorption kinetics are not well characterized or optimized for most commercially available DEAE matrices. Significant intraparticle transport of proteins at processing scale velocities is absent in commercially-available ion exchange matrices. Void-flow convection and/or surface adsorption kinetics has been identified as the rate limiting mass transfer step for many beaded matrices. Thus, the most important dimensionless group for sorptive (i.e., adsorptive) processes is the adsorption number, N.sub.+i, defined by the ratio of sorption kinetic rates to the convection rate. That is, ##EQU1## where L is the column length; C.sub.i is the concentration of species i; k.sub.+i is the adsorption rate coefficient of i; and u.sub.o is the average linear velocity of the fluid in the void space.
Considering the processing variables which affect the N+i expression, it can be seen that column length (L) and linear velocity (u.sub.o, which normalizes volumetric processing rates to the column length to bead and column contacting times) are important in scaling up a chromatographic process from the lab bench to production scale.
Benefits of long column lengths have been recognized. Particularly, with long column length, constant pattern behavior (i.e., steady state plug flow) can be approached. Under conditions of constant pattern the highest possible concentration driving force for adsorptive or desorptive processes occurs. In practical terms, that translates into efficient adsorption and higher capacity; sharper concentration fronts; increased eluted product concentration; less elution and wash volumes; and increased productivity when operated in a long column.
Numerical simulations have shown that for N.sub.+i .gtoreq.10, the system can be considered nearly at equilibrium, according to Whitley et al. Under these conditions, the sorption kinetics are not rate limiting and there will be little product loss due to inefficient adsorption or peak spreading. Thus, efficient chromatographic processes should have high N.sub.+i numbers (high ratios of L to u.sub.o) for the adsorption step.
It has been shown experimentally that the N.sub.+i variable is the key design variable.
Previously, the present inventors have found that a certain phenomenon governs processing goals and that to optimize scale-up, resolution, and product yields, as well as to develop novel matrices for the isolation of "troublesome proteins", chromatographic processes may be tailored to take advantage of "N". Particularly,
N.sub.+i .gtoreq.10 for column loading step PA1 N.sub.-i <<10 for column washing step PA1 N.sub.-i .gtoreq.10 for column elusion step
In the above, i represents any given species (molecule) to be adsorbed, with "+" meaning "adsorption", and "-" meaning "desorption".
Putting the adsorption number theory to work has posed difficulties, because hydrogel matrices for anion exchange adsorption chromatography of proteins frequently incorporate small particles (<100 .mu.m mean particle size) that have a short path length for diffusional transport of target proteins. As a result, high pressure drops, low flow rates, and low L/D column dimensions usually accompany this design emphasis. Thus, there is little room to manipulate N.sub..+-.i when doing process scale-up (i.e. increasing column length at constant processing velocity so as to increase N.sub..+-.i). Large diameter particles (.about.600 .mu.m) engineered to have minimal intraparticle transport limitations provide the flexibility of high L to u.sub.o and thus maximal N.sub.+i.
A model for optimizing affinity media was demonstrated using large diameter (500-700 .mu.m) cellulose particles with relatively low solids contents (Kaster et al., 1994). That optimization yielded an adsorptive media which provided: (i) low pressure drops at high flow rates in a high L/D column mode operation; and, (ii) rapid transport to adsorption sites.
A high L/D column, coupled with the wide range of flow rates available due to minimal pressure drop, allow the user to manipulate the N.sub.+i number to a greater extent than for commercially available matrices, would allow for the design of more efficient and productive chromatographic processes. See Whitley et al. (1993); see also J. A. Kaster, W. Oliveira, W. G. Glasser and W. H. Velander, Optimization of pressure-flow limits, strength, intra-particle transport and dynamic capacity by hydrogel solids content and beads size in cellulose immunosorbents, J. Chromatography 79-90 (1993).
Thus, a need remains for further methods to optimize hydrogel matrices for large scale protein purification.
Also, conventional matrices would benefit from methods for enhancing ion exchange performance, including methods for exploiting relative rates of mass transfer and sorption kinetics (sorption number N.sub..+-.i).
Particularly, there is a need for a method of improving the shelf life and deformability of large crosslinked cellulose particles to be used in ion-exchange matrices, especially to bring the shelf-life to the order of many months or years rather than weeks as is the shelf-life for conventionally crosslinked or uncrosslinked ion exchange cellulose particles.
In the case of affinity applications for cellulose particles, there is a need to improve ligand spacing in the cellulose particles.
In affinity applications, getting to the core of the bead is even more important than in the case of ion-exchange matrices, because of the relative number of sites. Sites must be functional. If sites are installed too close together, they will be dysfunctional.
Thus, to summarize the above, there have been many needs for an improved hydrogel and for improved methods of producing hydrogels, particularly for installation of crosslinking or activation chemistries (used to attach affinity ligands).
Additionally, at the same time, in the context of products containing large macromolecular complexes (i.e. particles larger than about 10 nm hydrodynamic radius) such as viruses and other pathogens (e.g., large viral particles such as HIV, Hepatitis B and C) there has been a need for improved methods for selectively removing such pathogens from feedstreams. Existing methods have suffered from various shortcomings, such as loss of valuable feedstream components having hydrodynamic radii of about 5 nm or less (therapeutic proteins).

Inside-out crosslinked and commercial-scale hydrogels, and sub-macromolecular selective purification using the hyrdogels

Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties, Inc


Methods, devices, and systems for a memory management system within an electronic device are disclosed, such as those wherein the memory management system is external to and compatible with architectures of currently existing operating systems. One such memory management system may include a power savings manager configured to be invoked by a memory allocation manager. The power savings manager may also be configured to determine whether physical memory blocks should be active or inactive. Furthermore, the memory management system may include a driver configured to activate or deactivate a memory block in response to a system call from the power savings manager.

Electronic devices have become increasingly popular in recent years. Electronic devices may include, for example, personal digital assistants (PDAs), cellular telephones, portable media players, digital cameras, or personal computers. Such electronic devices are typically microprocessor-based, equipped with one or more operating systems, and frequently include one or more types of memory resources, such as volatile and non-volatile memories. Although extremely useful, electronic devices often come with related disadvantages, including limited computing power, limited memory resources, and a finite power life. Power life may depend not only on the type and/or size of battery used in a particular device, but also on particular power management and memory management systems utilized in an electronic device.
Conventionally, computer memory is managed in blocks and segments. A memory block may refer to a partition of memory, wherein given a specific memory device, a memory block size is fixed. A memory segment may refer to a partition of memory having an unfixed size that may, depending on the system hardware, be dynamically generated and allocated for use by a computer program or application. A memory segment starts at a given physical memory address and has a certain partition length. For example, each memory block within a computer system may include a plurality of memory segments or one memory segment may be spread out over multiple memory blocks.
Applications, such as a user application or an operating system application, need memory resources to execute or store data. Since memory resources in an electronic device are limited, memory segments are allocated to each application, as the application requires. Embedded processors, as well as other processors, generally use a memory manager to manage memory resources. When an application needs additional memory resources, the application makes a memory allocation request to the memory manager. Thereafter, the memory manager locates a segment of free memory that is typically larger than that of the request, and allocates the requested memory to the application. When the application is finished, or the application no longer needs the memory, the application informs the memory manager that the memory segment may be de-allocated. In response, the memory manager then places the memory segment back in the memory pool where it becomes available for a future allocation.
Volatile memories, such as dynamic random access memories (DRAMs) or static random access memories (SRAMs), are commonly used in electronic devices. Unlike non-volatile memories, volatile memories need continuous refreshing and, thus, require power for maintaining data stored in the memory. However, in portable electronic devices, such as PDAs, cellular telephones, laptops and other portable computing devices, it is desirable to reduce power consumption as much as possible to maximize the available "on time" for the electronic device. Therefore, some memory devices, such as low-power DRAMs and cellular random access memories (CRAMs) may include partial array refresh (PAR) functionality. PAR is a hardware feature that may allow for the disablement of the refresh functionality of particular memory blocks. Using a PAR implementation, only memory blocks containing data are refreshed. Memory blocks that do not contain data are not refreshed and, as a result, power consumption of the memory device may be reduced. Currently, PAR is a complex hardware feature that is not automatically compatible with existing commercial operating systems.
FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional system memory 110 within an electronic device. As known in the art, system memory 110 may include system resources, such as a code area 102, a stack area 104, and a system heap 106. System heap 106 includes all of the unallocated memory segments within system memory 110 that remain after an operating system 112 has been initialized. System memory 110 also includes a memory allocation manager 114 and a memory allocation table 116, both of which may be configured as modules of operating system 112. Memory allocation manager 114 may control system heap 106 and may allocate memory segments within system heap 106 for use by an application in order to perform a task. Upon completion of a task, memory allocation manager 114 may de-allocate the memory segment used for the task and the de-allocated memory segment may then be returned to system heap 106. In order to track and assist in the allocation and de-allocation of memory resources, memory allocation table 116 may include a listing of the memory blocks within a memory device, all existing memory segments, the size of each memory segment, the starting address, and the status of the memory segments, such as "available" or "in use." In a conventional system memory, memory allocation manager 114 has no knowledge of the memory blocks within a memory device and, therefore, memory allocation manager 114 cannot enable or disable a memory block's refresh functionality. As a result, each memory block within the memory device, independent of whether the memory block includes allocated memory segments, remains "on" at all times during operation of the electronic device and, therefore, continuously consumes power whether or not the memory block is being utilized.
FIG. 2 illustrates a conventional memory management system 200 within an electronic device. Memory management system 200 includes one or more application programs 204, operating system 112, memory allocation manager 114, memory allocation table 116, and memory devices 206. As mentioned above, memory allocation table 116 includes an entry for each memory block and memory segment within memory devices 206. Furthermore, in order for memory allocation table 116 to provide the starting address, size, and status of each memory segment, each memory segment entry in memory allocation table 116 may be dynamically mapped (shown by arrows 210) to one or more physical memory segments (206(1) . . . 206(n)) within memory devices 206. Although memory devices 206 may include PAR functionality, conventional memory management system 200 is not automatically compatible with a PAR feature and, therefore, all memory blocks within memory devices 206 remain active at all times.
During operation of conventional memory management system 200, at least one application of application programs 204 may initiate a system call to memory allocation manager 114 to acquire additional memory resources from system heap 106 (see FIG. 1). Upon receiving the system call for memory acquisition, memory allocation manager 114 may search memory allocation table 116 to find a memory portion to satisfy the memory request. Upon finding a memory portion, memory allocation manager 114 allocates available memory segments 206(1) . . . 206(n) to the application requesting the memory resources. Additionally, at least one application of application programs 204 may initiate a system call to memory allocation manager 114 to release memory segments 206(1) . . . 206(n) being utilized by the application. Upon receiving the memory release system call, memory allocation manager 114 may de-allocate the memory segments from the application and the memory segments 206(1) . . . 206(n) may be returned to system heap 106.
There is a need for methods, systems, and devices to enhance the memory management of an electronic device, such as to allow for enhanced power savings. Specifically, there is a need for a memory management system that is compatible with currently available operating systems and which may allow for the reduction of power consumption by activating and deactivating memory blocks dependent on whether the memory blocks are being utilized by an electronic device.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Methods, systems, and devices for management of a memory system


Methods, systems, and computer program products for providing access to shared storage by a plurality of nodes are disclosed. According to one method, at a node of a plurality of nodes sharing access to a disk array, an application input/output (I/O) operation and whether sufficient space in the disk array has been mapped at the node for the I/O operation are detected. In response to detecting that sufficient space in the disk array has not been mapped at the node for the I/O operation, a map for the I/O operation including physical disk access information is requested and obtained from a server. The physical disk access information included within the map for the application I/O operation obtained from the server is used to perform the I/O operation by accessing the disk array without intervention by the server.

Sharing of access to physical disk storage and virtualization of input/output (I/O) address space is commonly addressed by distributed logical volume managers which provide a logical view of the physical disk address space that is shared. Such volume managers require a means of maintaining a common definition of the logical-to-physical address mapping. This maintenance of a common definition typically requires some form of distributed locking and metadata communication among the cooperating nodes. Such locking and metadata communication has proven difficult to provide in a high performance manner for environments with large node counts and heterogeneous shared storage.
Data management services, such as creation of point-in-time copies, data migration, and data replication on shared access volumes, represent another area of concern in shared access environments. Providing these data management services becomes increasingly difficult to implement and maintain in a shared access environment using distributed logical volumes.
Another approach to maintenance of a common definition of a logical-to-physical address mapping has been the use of inline virtualizing appliances. While inline virtualizing appliances do not require communication among the client nodes that are sharing access to the shared storage to provide a shared definition of the logical storage address space, they introduce an additional processing hop between the client nodes and the physical storage subsystems. This hop produces extra I/O latency and does not scale well for large numbers of nodes sharing access through the appliance to the same shared storage. Because these inline virtualizing appliances are directly in the I/O path, they must communicate between themselves to maintain a consistent I/O addressing translation across a set of appliances. Accordingly, these appliances do not scale well to very large node counts because of the communication overhead required to maintain the consistent I/O addressing translation. When such appliances implement data mobility functions, they typically require an external agency to coordinate I/O actions, introducing an additional communication latency for I/O operations which require mobility services. This latter scaling and performance issue is not resolved by appliances which use hardware-based acceleration (HBA) devices to alleviate the dual hop I/O latency problems.
Inline appliances also restrict I/O to those storage devices which have been qualified for the appliances I/O drivers and HBA hardware. The burden of qualifying such hardware and software for the broad range of available storage devices is costly and time consuming.
Accordingly, in light of these difficulties associated with conventional access to shared storage there exists a need for improved methods, systems, and computer program products for providing access to shared storage by computing grids and clusters with large numbers of nodes.

Methods, systems, and computer program products for providing access to shared storage by computing grids and clusters with large numbers of nodes


An arrangement for storing a data set in an ECU in a vehicle control system, wherein the arrangement includes a computer connected to the vehicle, where the computer is adapted to execute an access application, where the access application includes vehicle specific information and service action specific information, and where the information is encrypted, where the arrangement is adapted to decrypt the vehicle specific information and the service action specific information, to unlock the vehicle ECU by sending a password from the computer to the ECU, to perform a service action by storing service action specific information in the ECU, to lock the ECU by sending a lock command to the ECU from the computer, and to corrupt the access application software such that it cannot be used again.

The present invention relates to an arrangement and method for storing a data set in an ECU in a vehicle control system according to the preamble of claim 1. The invention further relates to a computer program adapted to perform a method for storing a data set in an ECU in a vehicle control system when said program is run on a computer, and a computer program product comprising such program code means stored on a computer readable medium. The arrangement is suitable for workshops working with vehicles of different kinds, both passenger vehicles and heavy vehicles.
In a work shop for repairing vehicles, computers are used more and more both for diagnostics of faults on the vehicle and for updates of the vehicle control system. Normally, each vehicle manufacturer uses their own specific computer equipped instruments for diagnostic purposes and also their own computer based system for updating the control system of the vehicle. The vehicle control system comprises several Electronic Control Units (ECU) connected to each other through one or more buss systems, where each ECU comprises a specific software adapted for that specific ECU and the functions controlled by the ECU.
By connecting the workshop update system for updating the software in one or more ECUs in the vehicle, a handshake routine is performed between the workshop update system and the ECU in order to prepare the ECU for the update and to make sure that the workshop system is authorized to update the ECU. When the handshake is successfully finished, the new software or data can be uploaded to the ECU and stored in a memory in the ECU. When the update is completed, the ECU is returned to a working condition.
In order to ensure that only authorized workshops can update software in the control system of the vehicle, the initial handshake between the workshop update system and the ECU will normally comprise an unlock procedure in which the workshop update system sends a password to the ECU in order to unlock the ECU and to make sure that the workshop update system is authorized to update the ECU. When the update is completed, the ECU is locked again such that no unauthorised personal can access the ECU. This unlock procedure is manufacturer specific and is normally integrated in the specific workshop update system provided by a manufacturer. The use of such a system is normally only allowed for approved and appointed retailers and distributors and their workshops.
Coming legislation will force the vehicle manufacturers to provide information regarding diagnostics and updates of the vehicle control system both to independent workshops and to external tool vendors. In this way, independent workshops will be able to diagnose and update vehicles from different manufacturers by using the same protocols as the official workshops of a specific manufacturer. External tool vendors will be able to offer computerized tools for both diagnostics and for updating data in vehicles of different manufacturers.
The purpose of the new legislation is to prevent manufacturers to stop independent workshops from repairing vehicles from that manufacturer. A further purpose is to allow independent tool vendors to provide tools to independent workshops that can communicate with vehicles from different manufacturers. In this way, it will be easier for an independent workshop to afford the tools required for repairs of a vehicle from a specific manufacturer. The specific original tools offered by the manufacturer have historically been too expensive for most independent workshops, especially considering when a workshop needs tools form several different manufacturers. Sometimes, a specific tool is required for each vehicle model. This situation has lead to the fact that some repairs on a vehicle has only been possible to do at manufacturer-approved workshops.
Because of this, the manufacturer must be able to ensure that their vehicles are safe to be used in traffic and that they have not been manipulated with by a third party. If a workshop accidentally or on purpose updates the wrong data or changes the wrong software, the consequence may be that the vehicle no longer behaves as expected. This in turn will lead to insecurity for the user, concerning who is responsible for the performance and specifications of the vehicle. Several cases are already known, where the manufacturer of a vehicle has had to justify the performance and specifications of a vehicle involved in an accident, on which vehicle an independent workshop had made modifications which were not approved by the manufacturer. These modifications did not involve any data update in the vehicle control system. When every workshop has the possibility to update data in the vehicle control system, it will be impossible for a manufacturer to guarantee the road safety of their vehicles without any type of authorization to perform the update.
At the same time, the manufacturer must also be able to guarantee the specifications of a vehicle, e.g. when it comes to carbon dioxide emissions or the power of the engine. There is a possibility that unscrupulous workshops or mechanics use the possibility to modify data in order to manipulate the specifications of the vehicle such that the specifications no longer conform to the specifications of the original vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,551,986 describes a system for distributing software to a vehicle. A program distribution system having a vehicle type table is used to distribute vehicle-specific software using an in-vehicle gateway. The program distributing system can also use an identifier to control that no alterations has been made to the software during the distribution. This solution may solve the problem of distributing software to a vehicle in a secure way, but does not mention the problem of updating data in the vehicle.
There is thus room for improvements.
It is desirable to provide an improved arrangement for storing a data set in an ECU in a vehicle control system. It is also desirable to provide an improved method for storing a data set in an ECU in a vehicle control system.
In an arrangement for storing a data set in an ECU in a vehicle control system, wherein the arrangement comprises a computer means connected to the vehicle, where the computer means is adapted to execute an access application, where the access application comprises vehicle specific information and service action specific information, and where the information is encrypted, where the arrangement is adapted to decrypt the vehicle specific information and the service action specific information, to unlock the vehicle ECU by sending a password from the computer means to the ECU, to perform a service action by storing service action specific information in the ECU and to lock the ECU by sending a lock command to the ECU from the computer means, the arrangement is adapted to corrupt the access application software after the service action specific information is stored in the ECU such that it cannot be used again.
By this first embodiment of the arrangement for storing a data set in an ECU in a vehicle control system, an arrangement with which an independent workshop can be allowed to update a vehicle in a secure manner is obtained. In the inventive arrangement, the independent workshop receives a specific access application from the manufacturer, which corresponds to the exact needs of the workshop for that specific repair action. When the access application is ordered by the workshop, the workshop specifies the exact vehicle, e.g. by supplying the serial number of the vehicle, and the repair action that is to be performed. A central database of the manufacturer will then compile the access application for that specific repair action. The access application will comprise all the necessary code and data that will be required to access and update the vehicle control system. The data will be encrypted such that unauthorized access to the data itself is prohibited. The access application will further comprise a function that will corrupt the access application when the repair action is completed, such that the access application cannot be used more than once. In this way, the manufacturer can allow any independent workshop to perform repair actions requiring software updates in a secure and controlled manner, without the risk that a third party will be able to retrieve secret information.
In an advantageous development of the inventive arrangement, the access application is adapted to be used for a predefined number of vehicles, and the corruption of the access application software is performed after the access application has been used the predefined number of times. In this way, it is possible for a work shop to order an access application that can be used for several similar vehicles, where at least the specification for the specific component is the same. This may e.g. be the case for a general component that is used on several different types of cars, and where the access application only contains specific information regarding that specific component, e.g. calibration data or data that identifies that specific component. Such data may e.g. be data identifying a specific type of brake pads used to set the brake parameters of the vehicle or calibration data for a specific sensor used on different car models. This may be advantageous for fleet owners that owns several similar or identical vehicles, or for workshops performing a campaign when several identical components are replaced.
In an advantageous development of the inventive arrangement, the arrangement is adapted to update one or more data parameters corresponding to a vehicle component. In this way, it is possible to update an ECU of the vehicle control system with new parameters corresponding to a specific vehicle component, e.g. calibration data for a replaced component. It is also possible to recalibrate an existing vehicle component, e.g. due to drift or to adapt it to another replaced vehicle component. Since the source code or the original access code must not be supplied to the workshop in question, the manufacturer can allow independent workshops to replace vehicle components that require a software update of the vehicle control system.
It is also possible to update one or more data parameters corresponding to different vehicle components at the same time. In this way, more than one ECU of the vehicle control system may be updated with new parameters corresponding to the different vehicle components by using the same access application.
In an advantageous development of the inventive arrangement, the arrangement is adapted to add a software module to existing software in the ECU. This will allow independent workshops to add functions to the vehicle control system, both dedicated software functions and software functions associated with a new vehicle component that is added to the vehicle.
In an advantageous development of the inventive arrangement, the access application is compiled by the manufacturer of the specific vehicle. In this way, it is ensured that the access application is adapted to the specific vehicle. Since the data of the manufacturer regarding a specific vehicle is always up to date, compatibility issues are reduced as much as possible.
In an advantageous development of the inventive arrangement, the access application comprises information that will unlock more than one ECU in the vehicle. In this way, updates in the vehicle control system can be performed for vehicle parameters that are stored in more than one location.
In an advantageous development of the inventive arrangement, the access application for a specific vehicle is compiled by the manufacturer of the vehicle when a workshop demands it. This is of advantage for vehicle data that relies on other vehicle systems that in turn may be updated. In this way, it is ensured that the latest vehicle data is always used.
In an advantageous development of the inventive arrangement, the access application that comprises data corresponding to a specific hardware part is compiled when the hardware part is produced. In this way, the specific parameter, e.g. calibration parameters, for a component can be retrieved in an easy way. The access application may be linked to the hardware part by a unique number, which enables the access application to be retrieved by sending the unique number to the manufacturer of the hardware part and/or to the manufacturer of the vehicle. In this way, the workshop can obtain the access application without the need of supplying the vehicle specifications.
In a method for storing a data set in an ECU in a vehicle control system, the steps of executing an access application on a computer connected to the vehicle, where the access application comprises vehicle specific information and service action specific information, where the information is encrypted, decrypting the vehicle specific information and the service action specific information by the access application, unlocking the vehicle ECU by sending a password from the access application to the ECU, performing a service action by storing service action specific information in the ECU, locking the ECU by sending a lock command to the ECU from the access application, and corrupting the access application software such that it cannot be used again are comprised.
With the inventive method, a safe and secure way to update and store a data set in a vehicle control system is obtained. Since all important information required for performing the update is included in the access application, which is decrypted, independent workshops can be entrusted to perform software updates on vehicles from a specific manufacturer. The inventive method further allows independent tool vendors to supply update tools for different vehicles, without the need to provide the tool vendor with manufacturer specific data, such as passwords to the vehicle control system. The manufacturer of a vehicle will thus be able to ensure the specifications of a vehicle even when a component requiring a data update has been replaced by an independent workshop. The method further ensures that the correct data parameters are used for the update, since the access application is compiled by the manufacturer.
In an advantageous development of the inventive method, the service action comprises an update of data parameters corresponding to a vehicle component. The advantage is that the vehicle control system can be updated or recalibrated with new parameters corresponding to a specific vehicle component, e.g. calibration data for a replaced component, in an easy and secure manner. Since the source code or the original access code must not be supplied to the workshop in question, the manufacturer can allow independent workshops to replace vehicle components that require a software update of the vehicle control system.
In an advantageous development of the inventive method, the service action comprises adding a software module to existing software in the ECU. In this way, a software function can be added to the vehicle control system, both a dedicated software function and a software function associated with a new vehicle component that is to be mounted to the vehicle. This allows independent workshops to update vehicles with software functions in a secure and controlled manner.
In an advantageous development of the inventive method, the access application is compiled by the manufacturer of the specific vehicle. In this way, it is ensured that also independent workshops use the proper vehicle parameters.