An adjustable, pivoting paper tray that enhances the feeding of a full ream of shorter than standard size paper by a feed roll from the paper tray without encountering stack normal force relief impediments includes a half ream sized adjustable backstop. The backstop has floating or articulating fingers resting on the ream of paper in the paper tray that slide downward as each sheet is feed from the paper tray. This movement of fingers allows every sheet to be fed from the sheet stack.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an adjustable paper feed tray suitable for use in a desktop-size printing machine.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Generally, commercially available electrophotographic desk-top printers, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,553,528 which are available at low cost are designed to output letter size pages. Of course, these printers have been used to make documents much smaller than a full-page size, such as, from about one-third to one-half the size of a full page. For example, some insurance applications require sending special 8 inch.times.7 inch mailer forms through a printer. As shown in FIG. 1, a prerequisite for feeding forms of this type from a full ream paper tray configuration which pivots at one end to a set of feed rollers or a feedhead at the other through the printer is to correctly stage a stack of these small preprinted forms by moving the backstop 52 of paper tray 18 to the right. However, since the tray is pivoted at pivot point 12, as paper tray 18 empties, backstop 52 will rotate up into the paper tray cavity and contact a frame member 53 thereby making the feeder inoperative for further feeding because the normal force supplied by spring 57 has been relieved between roller 56 and mailer forms 11. A conventional solution, as shown in FIG. 2, is to lower the top edge of a backstop 15 in order to clear the top of the tray. But, the problem with this solution is that lowering the top of the backstop reduces proportionately the paper supply stack height which in turn diminishes operator satisfaction since the operator is forced to replenish the paper supply twice as frequently. Therefore, the need remains for a simple device that facilitates the loading of a full ream of shorter than standard sized paper without encountering the above-mentioned problems.

Paper feed tray with articulating fingers to accommodate small sized papers


This invention relates to a biopsy method comprising automated moving of at least part of a biopsy sampler within a biopsy volume, to perform a biopsy in a zone of interest in a body, wherein said automated moving is preceded by variable positioning of said biopsy volume.

The biopsy method technical problem and associated solution will be described in relation to breast biopsy in order to be more concrete and clearer. However, these biopsy method technical problem and solution may be used for other organs of a human body. They will be all the more interesting than the considered organ can be of a broadly varying size and all the more interesting than the considered organ can lead to many different patient positions depending on the part of the organ to be accessed by the biopsy device.
According to a first prior art, it is known to provide for paddles with different biopsy volumes for a two dimensional (2D) localization associated to biopsy sampler moved manually and directly by the practitioner within the biopsy volume. This completely manual biopsy method moving manually the biopsy sampler does provide neither for sufficient precision nor for repeatability. Here, the biopsy volume is simply an indication of a zone where the lesion should be, and not really a biopsy volume within which the moving of the biopsy sampler would be automatically delimited, let alone automated.
According to a second prior art, it is known to use a fixed paddle with a unique fixed biopsy volume for three dimensional (3D) localization associated to automated biopsy sampler moving within said biopsy volume. However, the unique fixed position of the biopsy volume relative to the breast support implies several constraints, at least part of them being relatively hard to get rid of.
A first problem of this second prior art deals with the fact that the fixed position of the biopsy volume leads to many breast manipulations by radiologist in order to check that the lesion is on the one side within the biopsy volume and on the other side at a place where the biopsy sampler can easily reach the lesion and perform the biopsy in the lesion. The current biopsy volume is centered in X direction which is the direction parallel to the length of the chest wall of the detector. Therefore, the radiologist has to manipulate the breast in order to position the lesion correctly in the biopsy volume. This task is not easy and may become particularly difficult depending on the type of breast and on the place of the lesion within the breast. So, in a nutshell, first in order to position the patient and second to position the lesion inside this biopsy volume, the radiologist has to manipulate a lot the breast of the patient. It is indeed the patient who must adapt herself to the apparatus.
A second problem of this second prior art deals with the extreme size of some breast which leads first to uncomfortable position of breast patient and/or second to a breast position which is not well maintained in the case of a breast lesion located near the nipple. To be more precise, for small breasts with a lesion near the nipple, there is not enough breast tissue to compress it correctly between paddle and breast support, so it hurts the patient and the breast slips away. For large breasts, an important part of the breast is hanging out of the breast support. A partial but still uncomfortable solution to adapt for large breasts would require having a biopsy paddle with a larger hole. Anyway, the biopsy volume is still centered in direction X and near the chest wall of the detector, thereby limiting patient positioning. Therefore, for large breasts, the radiologist is putting her hands to support the part of the breast hanging out the breast support.
A third problem of this second prior art deals with an extreme position of the lesion within the breast leading to uncomfortable position of patient, not only for large or small breasts, but also for usual breasts. When the lesion is in the vicinity of the very upper part of the breast or in the vicinity of the very lower part of the breast, positioning of the patient will be uncomfortable too, whatever the size of the breast.
A fourth problem of this second prior art deals with the lateral approach of the needle which may be required for some breast lesions close to the chest wall of the detector and which needs some accessories to be performed correctly and to avoid collisions. For the lateral approach, when the gun risks colliding with the detector, the radiologist puts a box playing the part of a chock under the breast, to cancel such collision risk. However, this is not practical for the radiologist and anyway rather uncomfortable for the patient.

Biopsy method and associated biopsy device


An electrical lock for a moving part prevents the part from moving unless a device controlled by the part is in a safe mode. The invention may find a use in many different environments. The specific example here described is a set of reverse thruster doors on a jet engine. The lock prevents a throttle from applying or removing power unless the reverse thruster doors are properly set for such application or removal of power. The lock is removed when the doors reach full deployment or retraction, respectively, which is appropriate for the direction in which said throttle is moved. These functions are provided under the control of a single solenoid.

The invention may find use in almost any place where it is necessary to lock a mechanical part in an immobile position until it is safe for that part to move. In particular, the invention is especially useful when size and weight are serious constraints. For example, every ounce that is added to an airplane demands seven or more additional ounces for support, fuel, engine power, etc. Therefore, the inventive safety lock should be as light and as small as it reasonably can be considering the task which it is designed to perform.
However, to give a concrete example of one place where the invention may find special utility, reference may be made to operation of the reverse thrusters on a jet aircraft and to the deployment and retraction of doors behind the jet engine for reverse thrust. For example, when the jet plane is coming in for a landing, many sensors detect things such as weight on the wheels on touch down, the rotational speed of the wheels, and the like. After touchdown, the pilot wants to initiate deployment of thrust reversing doors behind the engine and increase thrust in order to slow the airplane to assist braking on the runway. Also, in the event of a "touch and go" type go around (taking off again after touching down), he wants to be certain that the doors are fully retracted, before he goes to full throttle (forward thrust).
When the pilot moves the levers backward for power with reverse thrust, it is necessary to block movement of the levers until the reverse thrust doors are fully deployed. Otherwise, he might cause power to be applied at a point where the applied force could override the thrust reverse doors and inadvertently apply forward thrust at a critical stage when available runway is running out. Likewise, after the touch down and full deployment of the thrust reverse doors, the pilot might see something on the runway and move to full throttle in order to abort the landing and take off. The full throttle power cannot be allowed to take effect until the thrust reverse doors are stowed. Otherwise, instead of taking off inadvertent reverse thrust would be applied.
Of course, the invention is equally applicable to almost any similar situation where a mechanical part must be restrained from immediate operation, and yet be enabled for an immediate response as soon as it is safe or desirable to do so. One can easily imagine many other examples of situations where a part is locked until sensors of various sorts signal the ability of a mechanical part to move.
In each of these and similar situations, it is necessary to lock the moving part against motions in either of opposite directions of its possible excursion until such motion is safe or desirable. There are many sensors, that respond to such things as the deployment or retraction of the thrust reverse doors, which may be connected to remove the lock upon the movable part as soon as it is safe to do so. The invention should be able to work with most of these sensors.

Bi-directional, dual acting, electric safety lock


A CT collimator comprising: a first gate and a second gate arranged in parallel on a slide rail, the first gate being fixed to a support rack of the CT collimator via elastic members; an electromagnet system arranged on one of the first gate and the second gate; and a metal plate arranged on the other side of the one of the first gate and the second gate relative to the electromagnet system, one end of the metal plate being fixed on the other of the first gate and the second gate and the other end of the metal plate extending to below the electromagnet system, wherein the electromagnet system is configured to engage the first gate and the second gate via the metal plate when the electromagnet system is triggered.

At present, radiograph CT systems such as X-ray CT system are widely used in various medical institutions for three-dimensional imaging of the regions of interest of the subjects to assist the clinicians to achieve an accurate medical diagnosis of the subjects.
In a radiograph CT system, a radiation source generating cone-shaped radiation beams and a radiation detector arranged on the other side of a subject relative to the radiation source and detecting the radiation beams rotate around a rotation center between the radiation source and the radiation detector. Projection data generated by the radiation beams transmitting through the subject are collected; based on the collected projection data, an image of the region of interest of the subject is reconstructed; and then the reconstructed CT image is displayed on an image display device.
In a radiograph CT system, a collimator is generally provided between the radiation source and the subject to be detected. By adjusting a width of the aperture of the collimator, the width of the radiation beams in a direction parallel to the subject is controlled so as to control a thickness of the scan slice.
A conventional collimator generally has at least two different motor drive systems to meet the requirements of multi-slot opening and Z tracking. Such a collimator comprises at least two gates or cams, which are driven by at least two different motor drive systems, and hence have higher cost, despite the fact that excellent performance is ensured by using at least two motor drive systems.
Some newly developed collimators use a single-motor drive system to meet the requirements of opening and Z tracking. Typically, such type of collimator comprises a plate or a star-shaped rotor having a plurality of slots driven by a single-motor drive system. Each slot corresponds to a collimator aperture of a different width. Said type of collimator can only show apertures of a fixed number and width; and during its rotation, the star-shaped rotor for Z tracking will include a different amplitude coefficient, due to a difference in distance from the two beam guiding edges to the curved surface detector.

Collimator and CT system comprising the same

GE MEDICAL SYSTEMS GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY COMPANY, LLC


An apparatus for mounting on the back of a dump truck or the like to distribute material discharged from said truck to a variably selected position is disclosed wherein a chute assembly is connectable to the tailgate of the dump truck and provides a range of movement of the apparatus in a vertical direction through pivotal movement about a horizontal axis and a range of movement of the apparatus in a horizontal direction through a swing ring. The apparatus incorporates an endless conveyor having a downwardly deflected portion to receive material from the chute assembly and convey the material to a discharge opening for projection to a selected location. A constraining member restricts the material to the central portion of the conveyor to minimize the spreading of the material being discharged from the conveyor. A deflector panel positioned at the discharge opening of the apparatus to engage the stream of material being discharged provides greater flexibility for the direction of the material to a desired location.

This invention relates generally to material distributing mechanisms and, more particularly, to a conveyor attachment mountable to the back of a dump truck to receive material such as stone therefrom and project the material to a desired location remote from the truck.
It has been found desirable to deposit flowable material, such as stone or sand, at a location remote from the location from which a truck bearing such material can reach. For example, a truck carrying stone to be spread around the floor base of a foundation prior to having concrete poured for the floor may only be able to reach one location close to the foundation, whereas the stone must be uniformly spread throughout the foundation base. Rather than carry the stone throughout the foundation to be spread manually, it would be desirable to have an apparatus to receive the stone from the truck and distribute the stone throughout the foundation from the single point of discharge from the truck.
Conveying mechanisms have been developed to accomplish this desired task, such as can be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 5,044,867, issued to M. J. Pettijohn on Sep. 3, 1991. This particularly conveying device suffers from the problem of being too large and bulky. Even though the Pettijohn conveying mechanism collapses into a transport position, the mechanism commands a significant amount of room behind the vehicle and adds a significant amount of weight to the rear of the truck. Furthermore, the Pettijohn apparatus is limited in flexibility in usage because of the support required for the end of the conveyor and the large amount of room required for utilization. For example, depositing materials close to the truck would be difficult.
Other dispensing mechanisms are known in the art, such as the conveyor disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,018,908, issued to H. C. Wilton on Jan. 30, 1962. It is noted that such conveying mechanisms are generally used to discharge material laterally of the truck, although other unloading mechanisms, such as the conveyor disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,448,835, issued to A. W. Egger on Mar. 20, 1923, are intended to be used to deposit material either rearwardly or laterally of the vehicle.
Each of these known unloading or conveying mechanisms are rather large and bulky in nature and have a limited range of use. Most of these mechanisms use a belt conveyor which has a maximum speed of operation due to the tendency of the belt to slip from underneath the material being conveyed thereon, thereby limiting the range at which the material can be discharged from the apparatus. While the contact on the material with the conveyor belt can be improved by extending the length of the conveyor belt, as is taught in the aforementioned prior art references, any lengthening of the apparatus results in a direct loss of flexibility in use and compactness for transport.
It would, therefore, be desirable to provide a material distributing mechanism cooperable with a mobile vehicle that would be sufficiently compact to permit an unobtrusive positioning for an inoperative transport, while providing an apparatus that has great flexibility in use to deposit material dispensed from the vehicle along a large range of locations.


A method, apparatus, and system for separating and distributing food product bits provided in bulk form from a supply source to a packager. The present invention is particularly suitable for a combination weighing machine, such that the apparatus includes an inlet chute, a dispersion table, a driving mechanism, and a plurality of batch handling units. The inlet chute directs a stream of food product bits from the supply source to the dispersion table. The driving mechanism is coupled to the inlet chute for raising and lowering the inlet chute relative to the dispersion table, for example, in response to a controller-supplied signal. The plurality of batch handling units receive, accumulate, and selectively dispense charges of the food product bits from the dispersion table to the packager. During use, the inlet chute is directed to a lowered position to facilitate food product bit accumulation on the dispersion table. In this regard, the inlet chute can include a skirt forming a plurality of flexible tabs for effectuating food product bit accumulation. Over time, the food product bits are relatively uniformly dispersed on the dispersion table. The inlet chute is then maneuvered to a raised position, whereby the food product bits flow to all of the product batch handling units. With this method and apparatus, a wide variety of food product bits, including relatively sticky products such as gelatin-based fruit snacks, are consistently and optimally processed and packaged.

The present invention relates to a combination weighing machine for distributing a flow of food product bits to a packaging device. More particularly, the invention is an improvement upon known combination weighing machines and methods that facilitates rapid, consistent distribution of relatively sticky food product bits, for example, gelatin-based food products.
A wide variety of food products are produced and provided to consumers as multiple pieces or bits, usually in xe2x80x9cbite-sizexe2x80x9d form. Examples of this food product category include potato chips, pretzels, candy, cereal, etc. From a manufacturer""s standpoint, a desired quantity or weight of the food product bits are packaged into a single bag, and then made available for purchase by consumers.
Mass production of packaged food product bits generally entails separating a bulk supply of the food product into small quantities (or xe2x80x9cchargesxe2x80x9d), and subsequently delivering or distributing one or more of the charges to a packager in a controlled fashion. The packager, in turn, contains the charge(s) within an appropriately sized bag. To facilitate rapid packaging, the food product bits are not individually counted during the separation process, but instead are randomly grouped and weighed. Once a charge or charges of food product bits achieve or exceed a predetermined weight value, the quantity is distributed to the packager.
A widely employed device for separating a supply of food product bits by weight and distributing to a packager is a combination weighing machine. In general terms, a combination weighing machine includes an inlet chute, a dispersion table, a plurality of radial troughs, a plurality of pool hoppers, a plurality of weigh hoppers, and a discharge chute. The inlet chute directs the bulk supply of food product bits onto the dispersion table. The dispersion table is typically circular and generally convex so as to direct the food product bits (via gravity and auxiliary vibration) to the radial troughs located about a perimeter thereof. The radial troughs, in turn, direct the food product bits to respective ones of the pool hoppers. The food product bits accumulate within the various pool hoppers. The weigh hoppers are associated with respective ones of the pool hoppers. When signaled by a controller, a pool hopper discharges (i.e., gravity feeds) its accumulated food product bits into the associated weigh hopper. The food products bits (or charge) contained within each weigh hopper are weighed. Based upon predefined package weight specifications, the controller selects an optimum combination of weigh hoppers for product discharge. For example, where the pre-selected package weight is to be 8 ounces, the controller may sense a food product bit weight of 2 ounces in a first weigh hopper, 2.5 ounces in a second weigh hopper, and 3.5 ounces in a third weigh hopper. Because this combination satisfies the predefined specifications, the controller selects and causes the first, second and third weigh hoppers to discharge the accumulated food product bit charges to the discharge chute, and thus to the packager. Once emptied, the selected weigh hoppers are closed and the food product bits that have accumulated within the associated pool hoppers are once again gravity fed into the respective weigh hoppers. Thus, by providing a relatively large number of pool/weigh hoppers, a virtually continuous supply of appropriately weighted food product bits is available and can be provided to the packager.
As should be evident from the above discussion, the rapid cycle time of a combination weighing machine is premised on a relatively uniform supply of food product bits to all of the radial troughs, and thus, all of the pool and weigh hoppers. In this regard, by forming the dispersion table to assume a convex, circular shape, relatively uniform distribution to the radial troughs is normally realized. However, inherent characteristics of certain food products and/or the operation environment may impede desired uniform distribution from the dispersion table. For example, gelatin-based food product items, such as fruit snack bits, tend to be relatively tacky or sticky. This is especially true in an elevated temperature and/or humidity operating environment. This adhesive-like characteristic causes the individual bits to adhere or stick to one another, as well as to the various surfaces comprising the combination weighing machine. Due to this relatively sticky attribute, the gelatin-based food product bits may not be able to xe2x80x9cnaturallyxe2x80x9d achieve uniform distribution from the dispersion table. Instead, groupings of two or more adhered bits will be directed to a single one of the radial troughs. Additionally, because the sticky food product bits are not uniformly flowable, the food product bits may consistently flow to only a few of the radial troughs. Regardless of the cause, when the food product bits are not relatively uniformly or evenly distributed by the dispersion table to all of the radial troughs, an available cycle time of the combination weighing machine is negatively affected. That is to say, where the controller only has a few of the available weigh hoppers to select from, delays in food product bit accumulation will be experienced, thereby causing the combination weighing machine to operate less than optimally.
Combination weighing machines continue to be highly viable devices for use in the mass production of packaged food product bits. Certain deficiencies associated with particular food product items (such as inherently tacky or sticky products) have been identified, yet remain unresolved. Therefore, a need exists for a combination weighing machine, and related system and method, configured to optimally process a wide variety of food product items, including gelatin-based food product bits.
One aspect of the present invention relates to an apparatus for separating and distributing food product bits provided in bulk form from a supply source to a packager. The apparatus includes an inlet chute, a dispersion table, a driving mechanism, a plurality of radial troughs, a plurality of pool hoppers, a plurality of weigh hoppers and a discharge chute. The inlet chute is provided to receive a stream of food product bits and defines an upstream end and a downstream end. The dispersion table is positioned below the downstream end of the inlet chute. The driving mechanism is coupled to the inlet chute. In this regard, the driving mechanism is configured to selectively raise and lower the inlet chute relative to the dispersion table. The plurality of radial troughs are equidistantly spaced along a perimeter of the dispersion table for receiving food product bits from the dispersion table. The plurality of pool hoppers are associated with respective ones of the plurality of radial troughs. To this end, the pool hoppers accumulate food product bits delivered by the respective radial troughs. The plurality of weigh hoppers are similarly associated with respective ones of the plurality of pool hoppers. The weigh hoppers accumulate and weigh food product bits delivered from the pool hopper. Finally, the discharge chute is associated with the plurality of weigh hoppers and is provided to distribute food product bits from the weigh hoppers to the packager.
During use, the driving mechanism maneuvers the inlet chute to a lowered position whereby food product bits delivered via the inlet chute are forced to accumulate on the dispersion table. In one preferred embodiment, the inlet chute includes a skirt having flexible tabs extending from the downstream end for promoting food product bit accumulation in the lowered position. Over time, the so-accumulated food product bits will distribute themselves over a substantial entirety of the dispersion table, especially adjacent a perimeter thereof. Following this accumulation, the driving mechanism raises the inlet chute, thereby releasing the food product bits from the dispersion table. Because the food product bits are effectively forced to cover virtually an entire perimeter or circumference of the dispersion table, each of the radial troughs will receive at least some of the food product bits. A remainder of the apparatus then operates in accordance with the known combination weighing devices, whereby food product bits supplied to the weigh hoppers, via the pool hoppers and radial troughs, are selectively distributed to the discharge chute, and thus the packager.
Another aspect of the present invention relates to a food product bit distribution system. The system includes an inlet chute, a dispersion table, product batch handling units, a discharge chute, and a controller. The inlet chute receives a stream of food product bits and defines an upstream end and a downstream end. The dispersion table is positioned below the inlet chute to receive food product bits therefrom. In this regard, the inlet chute is vertically moveable relative to the dispersion table. The product batch handling units receive, accumulate, and selectively dispense food product bits from the dispersion table. The discharge chute directs food product bit from the product batch handling units to a packager. Finally, the controller controls a vertical position of the downstream end of the inlet chute relative to the dispersion table. In this regard, the controller maneuvers the inlet chute between a lowered position in which distribution of food product bits from the dispersion table are impeded, and raised position in which food product bits flow freely from the dispersion table. With this configuration, during operation, the controller places the inlet chute in the lowered position to facilitate or force food product bit accumulation on the dispersion table. This forced accumulation results in a relatively uniform distribution of the food product bits along the dispersion table. Subsequently, the controller maneuvers the inlet chute to the raised position, such that the food product bits flow to each of the product batch handling units. In one preferred embodiment, a conveyer supplies the stream of food product bits to the inlet chute and the controller further controls activation/deactivation of the conveyor based upon a vertical position of the inlet chute relative to the dispersion table. In another preferred embodiment, a weight sensor is associated with the dispersion table for sensing a weight of food product bits on the dispersion table, and the controller dictates a position of the inlet chute based upon a weight of the food product bits on the dispersion table.
Yet another aspect of the present invention relates to a method of distributing a stream of food product bits to a packager with a product handler. In this regard, the product handler includes an inlet chute, a dispersion table, a plurality of batch handling units, and a discharge chute. The inlet chute receives the stream of food product bits. The dispersion table is positioned below the inlet chute. The plurality of batch handling units receive, accumulate, weigh, and selectively dispense food product bits from the dispersion table. Finally, the discharge chute directs food product bits from the batch handling units to the packager. With this in mind, the method includes movably associating the inlet chute relative to the dispersion table such that the inlet chute is movable between a lowered position and a raised position. In the lowered position, dispersion of food product bits from the dispersion table is impeded. Conversely, in the raised position, the food product bits are freely released from the dispersion table. The inlet chute is maneuvered to the lowered position. Food product bits are then accumulated on the dispersion table. The inlet chute is then maneuvered to the raised position so as to release the food product bits. Finally, the food product bits are selectively processed through the batch handling units and the discharge chute and directed to the packager. In one preferred embodiment, the inlet chute is maintained in the lowered position until a predetermined food product bit weight on the dispersion table is achieved.

Method and apparatus for distributing food product bits to a packager, especially gelatin-based product bits


A centrifugal blower includes a centrifugal fan and a separation cylinder. The centrifugal fan has a separation plate. The separation cylinder is disposed inward of the blades in the radial direction of the centrifugal fan. The separation plate has an inner end surface extending from the one side to the other side in the axial direction at a position of an inner end in the radial direction. The separation cylinder has a separation cylinder end surface extending from the one side to the other side in the axial direction at a position of an end on the other side in the axial direction. A height of one of the separation cylinder end surface and the inner end surface in the axial direction is larger than a height of the other of the separation cylinder end surface and the inner end surface in the axial direction.

A centrifugal blower is capable of separately drawing two air flows from one side together. The centrifugal blower includes a centrifugal fan that rotates about the fan axis, and a fan case housing the centrifugal fan. The centrifugal blower includes a separation cylinder, a separation plate, and a partition plate to separate the two air flows.


The present invention provides compositions and methods for treating and preventing cancer. The invention comprises an inhibitor of epigenetic regulators, including MLL1, MLL2, MOZ, menin, WDR5, or a combination thereof. In one embodiment, the invention provides a personalized method of treating a cancer as dependent upon its epigenetic signature.

Mutations in p53 occur in more than 50% of all human tumors. The majority of p53 mutations are missense point mutations, where single codons are mutated. The result of the majority of the missense mutations is the expression of full-length, but mutated, p53 protein. Many missense mutations fall within the so-called "hot spot" regions; regions within the p53 genomic sequence that are commonly mutated. Most hot spot mutations fall within the DNA binding domain of p53 protein. p53 is often thought to play a role in tumor suppression, however there has recently been accumulating evidence that some hot spot p53 mutations not only abolishes wild-type p53 tumor suppressive function, but also induces "gain-of-function." This gain of function is thought to promote tumor development or progression, suggesting that certain p53 mutations (p53 GOF mutations) may result in the formation or growth of tumors. However, the mechanism of how p53 GOF mutations induce tumor growth at the level of gene expression is not understood. One potential mechanism involves p53 GOF mutant directly binding to inappropriate DNA sequences and spuriously activating gene expression. Another mechanism involves p53 GOF mutants that completely lose the ability to bind DNA. Instead, p53 GOF can interact with other DNA binding factors and promote spurious activation of transcription, leading to tumorigenesis.
Thus, there is a need in the art for compositions and methods for treating tumors harboring p53 GOF mutations. The present invention satisfies this unmet need.

Tailored combinatorial epigenetic therapies for P53 gain-of-function tumors

The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania


An apparatus for implanting macromolecules such as genes, DNA or pharmaceuticals into a preselected surface tissue region of of a patient. An applicator having a plurality of electrodes is provided for contacting a surface tissue region of a patient. A mechanism associated with the applicator delivers a predetermined quantity of a fluid medium carrying the preselected macromolecules. A signal generator is provided for generating a predetermined electric signal. The electrodes of the applicator are connected to the signal generator for applying an electric field in the surface tissue region. The field has a predetermined strength and duration in order to make the walls of a plurality of cells in the surface tissue region transiently permeable to permit the macromolecules to enter said preselected cells without damaging said cells. This enhances the uptake of macromolecules and thus enhances the therapeutic effect achieved.

The present invention relates to the treatment of ailments in humans and other mammals, and more particularly, to apparatus for delivering pharmaceutical compounds and genes into live cells of a patient.
Somatic cell gene therapy is being pursued in many laboratories. It is known that DNA can be directly injected into certain tissues to cause production of the protein it encodes. This technique may allow physicians to treat human diseases with therapeutic genes. The injected genes may cause the tissues to produce the desired proteins for as long as several months. Most of the current research is focused on the use of marrow stem cells. However, another tissue being considered as a vehicle for gene therapy is the epidermis which is composed mainly of keratinocytes. These cells primarily serve a protective function. However, there is evidence that they may secrete a variety of cytokines and growth factors. See "Prospects for Epithelial Gene Therapy, in: DNA Damage and Repair in Human Tissues", Edited by Sutherland and Woodhead, Plenum Press, New York, 1990, pages 215-223. It appears possible to utilize genetically transformed epithelial cells to treat diseases in distant sites in the body.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,019,034 of Weaver et al. entitled CONTROL OF TRANSPORT OF MOLECULES ACROSS TISSUE USING ELECTROPORATION discloses a method of transporting molecules across tissue which comprises the steps of applying at least one electrical pulse in order to cause electroporation in a region and utilizing a driving force to move molecules across the region. In the specification "driving force" is defined as including iontopheresis, pressure gradients and concentration gradients. The Weaver et al. patent also discloses a method of temporarily increasing the permeability of tissue which comprises applying at least one electrical pulse of sufficient voltage and duration to a region of tissue to cause a reversible electrical breakdown in an electroporated region and wherein the electroporated region is used as a site of molecular transport. The examples given in the Weaver et al. patent all appear to deal with enhanced permeability of samples of skin. Weaver et al. provides only a diagrammatic illustration of an apparatus comprising three inverted U-shaped electrodes 16 in contact with the surface of tissue 22.

Applicator for the electroporation of drugs and genes into surface cells


The present invention relates to a motor controller for air conditioner including a converter having at least one switching element for converter, the converter converting AC utility power into DC power by a switching operation of the switching element; an inverter having at least one switching element for inverter, the inverter converting the DC power into prescribed AC power by a switching operation of the switching element and driving a three-phase motor; a microcomputer outputting a converter switching control signal that controls the switching element for converter; and a dc terminal signal generator detecting a dc terminal voltage that is applied across an dc terminal of the converter to sequentially generate a pulse type dc terminal signal, and insulating the dc terminal from the microcomputer. The present invention may sequentially generate a dc terminal signal and simultaneously insulate the dc terminal from the microcomputer, thus making it possible to improve the stability of the motor controller.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a motor controller for an air conditioner, and more specifically to a motor controller which sequentially generates a dc terminal signal and simultaneously insulates a dc terminal from a microcomputer.
2. Background Art
Air conditioners are generally arranged in a certain space, such as rooms, living rooms, offices, and stores, to adjust the temperature, moisture, clearness, and air flow to maintain inner environment clean and fresh.
An air conditioner may be commonly classified into an integral type and a stand-alone type. Both types are the same in their functions. In the integral type air conditioner, however, a cooling function has been integrated with a heating function, and the air conditioner is mounted on the wall or window. On the contrary, the stand-alone type air conditioner includes an indoor unit and an outdoor unit that are provided separately from each other. The indoor unit is located indoors for providing heating and cooling. The outdoor unit is located outdoors for heat dissipation and compression. The indoor unit is coupled with the outdoor unit via a refrigerant pipe.
An air conditioner includes a motor used for a compressor or fan, and a motor controller for driving the motor. A typical motor controller controls driving of such a motor by converting AC utility power into DC power and then converting the DC power into prescribed AC utility power with a prescribed voltage using an inverter.
A malfunction of the motor controller may damage circuit elements included in the motor. Therefore, a number of approaches have been considered to prevent such a malfunction.


Process for prolonging the effectiveness of a pyrolytic cracking tube which has been treated with an antifoulant for inhibiting the formation of coke during the cracking of hydrocarbons. The benefits of such treatment are enhanced by the desulfurization of a sulfur-containing feedstock prior to charging it to the treated pyrolytic cracking tube.

The present invention generally relates to processes for the thermal cracking of hydrocarbons and, specifically, to a method for prolonging the effectiveness of a treated pyrolytic cracking tube in inhibiting the formation of coke during pyrolytic cracking of hydrocarbons.
In a process for producing olefin compounds, a fluid stream containing a saturated hydrocarbon such as ethane, propane, butane, pentane, naphtha, or mixtures of two or more thereof is fed into a thermal (or pyrolytic) cracking furnace. A diluent fluid such as steam is usually combined with the hydrocarbon feed material being introduced into the cracking furnace.
Within the cracking furnace, the saturated hydrocarbons are converted into olefinic compounds. For example, an ethane stream is introduced into the cracking furnace wherein it is converted into ethylene and appreciable amounts of other hydrocarbons. A propane stream is introduced into the cracking furnace wherein it is converted to ethylene and propylene, and appreciable amounts of other hydrocarbons. Similarly, a mixture of saturated hydrocarbons containing ethane, propane, butane, pentane and naphtha is converted to a mixture of olefinic compounds containing ethylene, propylene, butenes, pentenes, and naphthalene. Olefinic compounds are an important class of industrial chemicals. For example, ethylene is a monomer or comonomer for making polyethylene. Other uses of olefinic compounds are well known to those skilled in the art.
A semi-pure carbon which is termed xe2x80x9ccokexe2x80x9d is formed in the cracking furnace as a result of the furnace cracking operation. Coke is also formed in the heat exchangers used to cool the gaseous mixture flowing as an effluent from the cracking furnace. Coke formation generally results from a combination of a homogeneous thermal reaction in the gas phase (thermal coking) and a heterogeneous catalytic reaction between the hydrocarbon in the gas phase and the metals in the walls of the cracking tubes or heat exchangers (catalytic coking).
Coke generally forms on the metal surfaces of the cracking tubes which are contacted with the feed stream and on the metal surfaces of the heat exchangers which are contacted with the gaseous effluent from the cracking furnace. However, it should be recognized that coke may also form on connecting conduits and other metal surfaces which are exposed to hydrocarbons at high temperatures. Thus, the term xe2x80x9cMetalsxe2x80x9d will be used hereinafter to refer to all metal surfaces of the equipment in a cracking process system which are exposed to hydrocarbons and which are subject to coke deposition.
A normal operating procedure for a cracking furnace is to periodically shut down the furnace in order to burn out the deposits of coke. This downtime results in a substantial loss of production. In addition, coke is an excellent thermal insulator. Thus, as coke is deposited, higher furnace temperatures are required to maintain the gas temperature in the cracking zone at a desired level. Such higher temperatures increase fuel consumption and will eventually result in shorter tube life.
There are certain methods known by those skilled in the art for inhibiting or reducing the formation of coke on Metals. For instance, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,692,234 a method for reducing the formation of coke on the metal surfaces of a cracking process system is described whereby such metal surfaces are treated with an Antifoulant containing tin and silicon.
One phenomenon associated with the utilization of a tin and silicon antifoulant has been the loss of effectiveness of a treatment of the metal surfaces of cracking tubes during their use. While the treatment of cracking tubes with an antifoulant is observed to beneficially reduce the coking rate when the tubes are used to thermally crack hydrocarbons, it has also been observed that the treatment loses its effectiveness during such use. It was not until the discovery of the cause of this rapid loss in treatment effectiveness that a solution was obtainable.
It is, thus, an object of this invention to provide a method for prolonging the effectiveness of treated cracking tubes in resisting the formation of coke during the cracking of hydrocarbons.
The present invention is a method for cracking hydrocarbons using a cracking tube treated for the resistance of coke formation. A cracking tube, which has been treated with a tin and silicon antifoulant material to thereby deposit upon the surfaces thereof tin and silicon, is operated under cracking conditions while passing a desulfurized hydrocarbon feed through such treated tube. The use of a desulfurized or low sulfur feed in the treated tube reduces the rate in the loss of the effectiveness of the antifoulant treatment.
Another embodiment of this invention includes a method for prolonging the effectiveness in resisting coke formation of a pyrolytic cracking tube, treated for the resistance of coke formation, when the treated pyrolytic cracking tube is utilized in cracking hydrocarbons. The method includes desulfurizing a hydrocarbon feed containing a concentration of sulfur to remove at least a portion of the concentration of sulfur to provide a desulfurized hydrocarbon feed. The desulfurized hydrocarbon feed is then passed through the treated pyrolytic cracking tube, having deposited on the surface thereof tin and silicon, operated under suitable cracking conditions.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the detailed description of the invention and the claims.
It is been discovered that the presence of sulfur compounds in a pyrolytic cracking unit feed has a negative impact upon the effectiveness of a treated pyrolytic cracking tube to resist coke formation during its use. Specifically, it has been found that the sulfur in the pyrolytic cracking unit feed interacts with the tin, deposited by a treatment method on the surface of the pyrolytic cracking tubes, so as to strip the tin from the surface of the treated pyrolytic cracking tubes. The stripping of the tin from the treated pyrolytic cracking tube surface results in reducing the effectiveness of the treated pyrolytic cracking tube in resisting the formation of coke during cracking operation. The discovery of this previously unknown mechanism allows the inventors hereof to develop a solution to the problem of sulfur stripping of the tin deposited on the pyrolytic cracking tube surface by an antifoulant treatment method.
The treated pyrolytic cracking tube of the inventive method is a standard pyrolytic cracking furnace tube treated with an antifoulant material, or antifoulant, selected from a group consisting of tin, silicon and mixtures of tin and silicon. Any form of silicon and tin can be utilized as antifoulant material. Elemental silicon, inorganic silicon compounds and organic silicon compounds as well as mixtures of two or more thereof arc suitable sources of silicon. The term xe2x80x9csiliconxe2x80x9d as used herein refers to any one of these silicon sources, but the preferred silicon source is organic silicon (organosilicon) compounds. Elemental tin, inorganic tin compounds and organic tin compounds as well as mixtures of two or more thereof are suitable sources of tin. The term xe2x80x9ctinxe2x80x9d as used herein refers to any one of these tin sources, but the preferred tin source is organic tin (organotin) compounds.
Examples of organic silicon (organosilicon) compounds that may be used include compounds of the formula
wherein R1, R2, R3, and R4 are selected independently from the group consisting of hydrogen, halogen, hydrocarbyl, and oxyhydrocarbyl and wherein the compound""s bonding may be either ionic or covalent. The hydrocarbyl and oxyhydrocarbyl radicals can have from 1-20 carbon atoms which may be substituted with halogen, nitrogen, phosphorus, or sulfur. Exemplary hydrocarbyl radicals are alkyl, alkenyl, cycloalkyl, aryl, and combinations thereof, such as alkylaryl or alkylcycloalkyl. Exemplary oxyhydrocarbyl radicals are alkoxide, phenoxide, carboxylate, ketocarboxylate and diketone (dione).
Suitable organic silicon compounds include trimethylsilane, tetramethylsilane, tetraethylsilane, triethylchlorosilane, phenyltrimethylsilane, tetraphenylsilane, ethyltrimethoxysilane, propyltriethoxysilane, dodecyltrihexoxysilane, vinyltriethyoxysilane, tetramethoxyorthosilicate, tetraethoxyorthosilicate, polydimethylsiloxane, polydiethylsiloxane, polydihexylsiloxane, polycyclohexylsiloxane, polydiphenylsiloxane, polyphenylmethylsiloxane, 3-chloropropyltrimethoxysilane, and 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane. At present hexamethyldisiloxane is preferred.
Examples of organic tin (organotin) compounds which may be used include tin carboxylates such as stannous formate, stannous acetate, stannous butyrate, stannous octoate, stannous decanoate, stannous oxalate, stannous benzoate, and stannous cyclohexanecarboxylate; tin thiocarboxylates such as stannous thioacetate and stannous dithioacetate; dihydrocarbyltin bis(hydrocarbyl mercaptoalkanoates) such as dibutyltin bis(isoocylmercaptoacetate) and dipropyltin bis(butyl mercaptoacetate); tin thiocarbonates such as stannous O-ethyl dithiocarbonate; tin carbonates such as stannous propyl carbonate; tetrahydrocarbyltin compounds such as tetrabutyltin, tetraoctyltin, tetradodecyltin, and tetraphenyltin; dihydrocarbyltin oxides such as dipropyltin oxide; dibutyltin oxide, dioctyltin oxide, and diphenyltin oxide; dihydrocarbyltin bis(hydrocarbyl mercaptide)s such as dibutyltin bis(dodecyl mercaptide); tin salts of phenolic compounds such as stannous thiophenoxide; tin sulfonates such as stannous benzenesulfonate and stannous-p-toluenesulfonate; tin carbamates such as stannous diethyl carbamate; tin thiocarbamates such as stannous propylthio carbamate and stannous diethyl dithiocarbamate; tin phosphites such as stannous diphenyl phosphite; tin phosphates such as stannous dipropyl phosphate; tin thiophosphates such as stannous O,O-dipropyl thiophosphate, stannous O,O-dipropyl dithiophosphate and stannic O,O-dipropyl dithiophosphate, dihydrocarbyltin bis(O,O-dihydrocarbyl thiophosphate)s such as dibutyltin bis(O,O-dipropyl dithiophosphate); and the like. At present tetrabutyltin is preferred.
To prepare a treated tube of a pyrolytic cracking furnace, its metal surface is contacted with the antifoulant material under conditions suitable for depositing tin or silicon, or both, upon the metal surface of the tube. The metal surfaces of the cracking process system equipment, specifically, the cracking tubes, generally define a reaction zone wherein cracking reactions occur. The antifoulant material is injected into the reaction zone for the purpose of depositing tin and silicon upon the surfaces which define such reaction zone. Thus, temperature and pressure conditions necessary for the cracking of hydrocarbons and for the cracking tubes referred to herein will be those within the reaction zone defined by the cracking process system equipment.
The antifoulant material is contacted with surfaces of the cracking tubes either by pretreating the cracking tubes with the antifoulant material prior to charging the tubes with a hydrocarbon feed or by adding the antifoulant material to the hydrocarbon feed in an amount effective for providing a treated tube having coke formation inhibiting properties.
Any method can be used which suitably treats the tubes of a cracking furnace by contacting such tubes with the antifoulant material under suitable treatment conditions to thereby provide treated tubes. The treated tubes have properties which inhibit the rate of coke formation during the pyrolytic cracking of hydrocarbons within such tubes.
The preferred procedure for pretreating the tubes of the cracking furnace, includes charging to the inlet of the cracking furnace tubes a saturated or slightly superheated steam having a temperature in the range of from about 300xc2x0 F. to about 500xc2x0 F. The cracking furnace is fired while charging the tubes with the steam so as to provide a superheated steam which exits the tubes at a temperature exceeding that of the steam introduced into the inlet of the tubes. Generally, the steam effluent will have a temperature upwardly to about 2000xc2x0 F. Thus, the treating temperature can be in the range of from about 300xc2x0 F. to about 2000xc2x0 F., preferably, from about 400xc2x0 F. to about 1800xc2x0 F. and, most preferably, from 500xc2x0 F. to 1600xc2x0 F. It is desirable for the steam to be charged to the convection section of the cracking furnace therefore first passing through the convection section tubes followed by passing through the radiant section tubes.
The antifoulant material can then be admixed with the steam being charged to the cracker tubes. The antifoulant material can be admixed with the steam as either a neat liquid or as a mixture of the antifoulant material with an inert diluent. It is preferred, however, to first vaporize either the neat liquid or the mixture prior to its introduction into or admixing with the steam. The amount of antifoulant material admixed with the steam can be such as to provide a concentration of the antifoulant material in the steam in the range of from about 1 ppmw to about 10,000 ppmw, preferably, from about 10 ppmw to about 1000 ppmw and, most preferably, from 20 to 200 ppmw.
The admixture of steam and antifoulant material is contacted with or charged to the cracker tubes for a period of time sufficient to provide for treated tubes effective in inhibiting the rate of coke formation during cracking of hydrocarbons. Such time period for pretreating the cracker tubes is influenced by the specific geometry of the cracking furnace including its tubes; but, generally, the pretreating time period can range upwardly to about 12 hours, and longer if required. But, preferably, the period of time for the pretreating can be in the range of from about 0.1 hours to about 12 hours and, most preferably, from 0.5 hours to 10 hours.
In the case where the antifoulant material is directly admixed with the hydrocarbon cracker feed, it can be added in such an amount to be effective in treating the tubes so as to provide for the inhibition of the rate of coke formation during operation. Due to the memory effect resulting from the application of the antifoulant material, the mixing with the hydrocarbon cracker feed is conducted intermittently as required but, preferably, for periods up to about 12 hours. The concentration of the antifoulant material in the hydrocarbon cracker feed during treating of the cracker tubes can be in the range of from about 1 ppmw to about 10,000 ppmw, preferably, from about 10 ppmw to about 1000 ppmw and, most preferably, from 20 to 200 ppmw.
A critical aspect of the invention is the requirement that the hydrocarbon feed be desulfurized prior to it being charged to the treated pyrolytic cracking tube operated under cracking conditions. The critical nature of such prior desulfurization has been addressed elsewhere herein where it is indicated that the sulfur in a non-desulfurized feed interacts with the antifoulant material that is deposited on the treated tube surfaces so as to strip from such surfaces the antifoulant material. The stripping of the deposited antifoulant has the effect of impairing the effectiveness of the antifoulant thereby causing the rate of coke formation to increase. By desulfurizing the hydrocarbon feed prior to charging the treated pyrolytic cracking tubes, the effectiveness of the treated tubes in inhibiting or resisting coke formation is prolonged.
Any suitable method can be used to desulfurize a hydrocarbon feed stream containing a sulfur concentration; provided, the sulfur concentration of such hydrocarbon feed stream is reduced to less than about 50 parts per million moles (ppmm) prior to charging the treated pyrolytic cracking tube. To achieve the greatest benefit from the use of a desulfurized hydrocarbon feed, it is best to minimize the sulfur concentration; since, it has been found that the rate of antifoulant treatment deactivation is dependent upon the concentration level of the sulfur in the hydrocarbon feed. Thus, it is best to charge a desulfurized hydrocarbon feed to the treated pyrolytic cracker tubes having a concentration of sulfur less than about 10 ppmm. Preferably, the concentration of sulfur in the desulfurized hydrocarbon feed is less than about 5 ppmm, most preferably less than 1 ppmm.
A non-desulfurized hydrocarbon feed generally is a hydrocarbon feed having a concentration of sulfur exceeding about 50 ppmm. When referring herein to the sulfur concentration of a hydrocarbon feed, the term xe2x80x9csulfurxe2x80x9d means those sulfur compounds that are generally found to be naturally occurring in typical hydrocarbon feedstocks. Most commonly, the sulfur compounds are organic sulfur compounds, but they are not limited to organic sulfur compounds. The sulfur can be removed from the non-desulfurized feed by any known and suitable method. Most common of such methods include hydrodesulfurization, adsorption and absorption processes. The concentration of sulfur in the non-desulfurized hydrocarbon feed that can suitably be removed by such desulfurization processes can range from about 50 ppmm to about 3 mole percent. Preferably, however, the concentration of the sulfur in the non-desulfurized desulfurized feed can range from 100 ppmm to 3 mole percent, most preferably, the sulfur concentration can range from 500 ppmm to 3 mole percent.

Method for prolonging the effectiveness of a pyrolytic cracking tube treated for the inhibition of coke formation during cracking


An improved method for the preparation of tris(4-hydroxyphenyl) compounds is provided. In particular, an improved method for preparing 1, 1, 1-tris(4'-hydroxyphenyl)ethane is provided which comprises heating a mixture comprising phenol and 4-hydroxy acetophenone in the presence of effective amounts of an ion exchange catalyst and a mercaptan as a copromoter such that the resulting 1, 1, 1-tris(4'-hydroxyphenyl)ethane is substantially free of various reaction impurities.

This invention relates to an improved process for making tris(hydroxyphenyl) compounds using ion exchange resins. More particularly, this invention relates to the preparation of 1, 1, 1-tris(4'-hydroxyphenyl)ethane that is substantially free of various impurities from phenol and 4-hydroxyacetophenone.
The condensation of phenol and 4-hydroxyacetophenone into 1, 1, 1-tris(4'-hydroxyphenyl)ethane (hereafter referred to as THPE) has generally been accomplished using mineral acids as catalysts. Examples of these reaction can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,579,542 (Meyer et al), 3,692,914 (Meyer et al), and 4,992,598 (Strutz, et al.). These preparation conditions typically require extended reaction times and lead to substantial amounts of various side products and relatively low yields of THPE.
THPE, having the general chemical structure as shown in Formula (I): ##STR1## is used as a hardener for epoxy resins and as a branching agent in thermoplastic resins, such as polycarbonate and polyester resins. As such, it is important that the material be pure and free of various possible isomers and impurities in order to fully obtain the desired properties in the final product. Recrystallization techniques have been developed for purifying THPE but are not quantitative for material recovery from the reaction mixture. An example of a crystallization technique for THPE can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,992,598 (Strutz, et al).
Other condensation reactions, for example, the conversion of various phenols and ketones into bis-phenols, have been accomplished with mineral acids or ion exchange resins as catalysts. In these condensation reactions for the production of bis-phenols using acids or ion exchange resins, elimination of the water by-product from the reaction mixture is not critical and conversions in excess of 90% to the desired bis-phenol are typical without removal of the water of reaction. Such reactions for the preparation of bis-phenols can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,049,568, 3,049,569 and 3,153,001 (Apel, et al) and 3,221,061 (Grover), among other references. During the condensation reactions for the production of bis-phenols using ion exchange resins, significant amounts of isomeric impurities, in addition to other unidentified impurities, are formed. As a result of the formation of undesirable contaminants, extensive efforts also have to be taken to purify the desired reaction product from the reaction mixture before it can be used in various polymerization reactions. The use of ion exchange catalysts for the preparation of tris-(hydroxyphenyl) compounds, for example THPE, is unknown.
Due to the costs and efforts associated with the conversion and subsequent purification of tris-(hydroxyphenyl) compounds and in particular THPE prepared using mineral acids to catalyze the condensation reactions, it is apparent that a need exists for improved methods for the preparation of these materials.

Method for making tris(hydroxyphenyl) compounds using ion exchange resins


A method is for operating a three-phase cage motor on a multiphase electrical grid via a soft starter, with which one or more grid phases of the grid being respectively switchable by firing thyristors. Apart from a grid-related firing criterion, a rotor-flux-related firing criterion is taken into account.

In the European patent application EP20176295.2 with the filing date May 25, 2020, which comes under Article 54 (3) EPC, and in the conference paper Nannen, Hauke; Zatocil, Heiko; Griepentrog, Gerd: Novel predictive start-up algorithm for soft starter driven induction motors, IECON 2020, 46th Annual Conference of the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society (IES), Oct. 18-21, 2020, Singapore, which is referred to hereinafter as "Nannen et al.", a description is given of a model-predictive control method for asynchronous machines on the soft starter, with which motor and thyristor losses can be lowered. On the basis of measured and/or calculated state variables such as the grid voltage, grid frequency, rotor speed and rotor flux, a prediction of current and torque profiles is made for all possible thyristor firing combinations by way of a real-time simulation. These profiles are assessed on the basis of decision criteria in order to identify usable firing possibilities. One disadvantage of this method is that predicting the behavior of the motor in real time requires high computational power; this leads to significant extra costs for the processor or microcontroller.

Method to operate a three-phase cage motor


A method and system for generating by a server, a recommendation for a venue or an event of interest proximally located to an inferred current location of a user of a portable media player device. In an embodiment, a server may determine one or more media preferences for a user based at least in part on media stored on or accessed using the portable media player device of the user. The server may generate information related to the current location or a recommendation for a venue or an event of interest to the user based at least in part on the one or more media preferences and the inferred current location of the user. Once generated, the server then may communicate the recommendation (or the information) to the user, e.g. the portable media player device. Other embodiments may also be described and claimed.

Portable media player devices are increasing in popularity. A portable media player device is a transportable device that plays one or more media file types, including text, audio, video, graphics, interactive, and other media file types. Portable media player devices are usually handheld devices (also referred to as palm-sized device) capable of displaying and/or playing media files. The hardware and/or software components embodied in the device for the displaying and playing of media files are collectively referred to as a "media player," a "mobile device," and/or the like. Examples of portable media player devices include the iPod available from Apple Computer of Cupertino, Calif.; the Zune available from Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash.; the Ibiza™ Rhapsody® from Varia Mobil of Seattle, Wash., and other like devices. For purposes of this disclosure, a portable media player device may include devices specifically tailored to play media, or could include laptop computers, smartphones, tablet computers, wearable devices, in-vehicle computing systems (e.g., a dash mounted devices, infortainment system, and/or the like).
Media may be stored on a portable media player device (e.g., by downloading media such as music to the portable media player device), accessed via a portable media player device from a network site (e.g., by streaming from a network site), or acquired by a user via a portable media player device in one or more ways (e.g., by the purchase and installation of a flash memory card containing media). With the advance of storage technology, the amount of media that can be stored in a portable media player device has grown exponentially. Couple that with the advance of telecommunications and networking technology, the number of sites offering media and other media-rich environments to provide new and/or replacement media content for portable media player devices have also grown exponentially. As a result, portable media player devices are increasingly "connected", and users almost never travel (leave home) without their personal portable media player devices.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Venue and event recommendations for a user of a portable media player device


A user can selectively replay portions of a computer program execution, so that the entire program need not be run again to support further test and debug. A run-time instrumented version of the program is created by inserting special instructions into the original program. The run-time instrumented version is executed to create trace files of memory accesses and system calls, as well as identification of interrupts. During execution of the run-time instrumented version, a state of each accessed memory location is monitored and updated to determine which memory accesses should be traced and when. This monitoring and updating is performed in a manner which minimizes interference with the execution. A user then may select a desired portion of the original computer program for replay and, in response, appropriate data is stored in corresponding memory locations so that the desired portion of the program may be replayed accurately.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a method and apparatus for debugging and testing computer software and, more particularly, to a technique that allows a user to selectively replay portions of a previously executed computer program.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
During the development of a computer program, it often is desirable to test the computer program by providing test data, and then executing the computer program to generate test results. A user then may evaluate the test results and modify the computer program based upon the results. During this process, the user may desire to run at least a portion of the computer program several times to assist, for example, in isolating the suspected cause of an error. When, however, a computer program is very large or has a very long execution time, it may be impractical to replay the entire program for evaluation and debugging. Therefore, a technique called incremental replay was developed which allows a user to select and replay only a portion of the computer program's execution.
To provide effective support for debugging and testing computer programs, a replay apparatus must incur low setup and replay times, it must interfere with and slow down the program's execution as little as possible, and it must not require large amounts of data to be stored. Setup time is the time required to prepare for replay after an original program has been executed at least once. Replay time is the time required to actually re-execute the instructions associated with the desired portion of the computer program. Some approaches minimize setup time while other approaches minimize replay time. During the setup time, variables or memory locations typically are set to values that are accurate for the portion of the computer program that is to be replayed. Typically, this practice includes providing, during or prior to replay, the same values to the memory locations that were present during the initial execution of the program.
Interference with the original (first executed) program often is caused by inserting instrumentation instructions into the original program to facilitate replay. If there are too many of such instrumentation instructions or if such instructions are too intrusive, then the original program may be slowed down too much during the initial execution or during the replay.
Because replay generally involves some storage during an initial execution of a program, as mentioned above, another consideration is the amount of data to be stored. Although enough data should be stored to accurately replay the desired portions of the original program execution, too much stored data will require excess storage resources as well as unnecessary overhead functions to manage the stored data.
One approach to incremental replay is described by Stuart I. Feldman and Channing B. Brown in, "IGOR: A System for Program Debugging via Reversible Execution", Proceedings of the SIGPLAN/SIGOPS Workshop on Parallel and Distributed Debugging, Madison Wis. (May 1988). The IGOR system described uses a virtual memory system of a computer to periodically trace, at fixed time intervals, the pages of the virtual memory system that were modified by a computer program since a previous checkpoint of the computer program. The term "trace," as used herein, refers to storing data in a memory so that such data is available for later use such as resetting variables and memory locations. To restart the program's execution from an intermediate point requires that a replay tool search the stored trace to find the most recent trace of each page. Because checkpoints are taken at fixed time intervals, the IGOR system bounds replay time, i.e. the amount of time required to replay up to a desired portion of the original program execution. However, setting up the state for the replay may require searching through an entire trace file, which may involve significant time and resources. Although this approach is adaptive in that it traces only pages that have been recently written to, tracing the entire contents of pages that have been written to since the last checkpoint can require large amounts of storage.
Another approach to tracing is described by Barton P. Miller and Jong-Deok Choi in, "A Mechanism for Efficient Debugging of Parallel Programs," SIGPLAN Conference on Programming Language Design and Implementation, Atlanta Ga., (June 1988). With such a Parallel Program Debugger (PPD) as described in this and other publications, an analysis is performed at compile-time of a program to determine what and when to trace. In particular, the PPD writes a prelog on the entry of each procedure, with the prelog containing the values of the variables that the procedure might possibly read. The prelog allows a procedure to be replayed alone since the prelog contains all variables necessary for the instructions of the procedure to properly execute. A postlog is written upon exit from the procedure, with the postlog containing the values of the variables that the procedure might have modified. The postlog allows the procedure to be skipped during replay since the postlog includes changes that the procedure might make.
A system such as PPD may result in storing much more data than is actually required to facilitate replay, because the analysis performed at compile-time must be conservative to assure that any replay will be accurate. Additionally, tracing only at procedure entry and exit may incur a large amount of intrusion during the initial execution of the program, and does not guarantee that replay up to a desired portion of the execution will be attainable in a predetermined amount of time. For example, a loop that is iterated several times and includes a procedure call may result in many needless traces. Conversely, a very long procedure call may not be traced often enough to replay any part of the procedure within time constraints that are acceptable to a user.
Another system, referred to as Spyder, is described by Hiralal Agrawal, Richard A DeMillo, and Eugene H. Spafford in, "An Execution-Backtracking Approach to Debugging," i IEEE Software, pp. 21-26 (May 1991). The Spyder system traces a "change set" before each statement or group of statements. The change set includes the values of the variables which might be modified by the statement or group of statements. A debugger then can backup execution over a statement by restoring the state from the associated change set. To bound the trace size, it is possible to store only the most recent change set for each statement. The Spyder system statically computes the change sets, and for programs that use pointers and arrays, the system must trace each such access. The Spyder system does not bound the time required to perform a replay, since it requires backing up to an instruction that is prior to the desired interval, and then progressing forward to perform the desired interval. A system such as Spyder also is limited by its static nature, in that it may have to trace every array or pointer reference for example.
A technique referred to as Demonic Memory is described by Paul Wilson and Thomas G. Hoher in, "Demonic Memory for Process Histories," Process of the SIGPLAN '89 PLDI Conference, pp. 330-343 (June 1989). Such a technique maintains a hierarchy of checkpoints, each checkpoint taken at successively larger time granularities, so that recent states can be reproduced relatively quickly while older states incur more delay. The Demonic Memory technique also includes a virtual snapshot as an approach to checkpointing, in which only the elements of a checkpoint that differ from a previous checkpoint are saved.
Previous techniques for checkpointing and replay are limited by their static nature, in that decisions are made at compile-time regarding what to trace, when to trace, or both. As a result, such techniques often trace more that what is necessary, and may also incur significant delays in replaying a desired portion of the computer program. It would be desirable to provide an approach that adaptively determines what information to trace and when to trace such information, and which minimizes interference with the computer program. It also would be desirable to allow a user to determine the amount of delay time to be incurred prior to a replay.

Method and apparatus for selective replay of computer programs


A packet encapsulator includes a filter module that identifies one or more carousel packets from a plurality of received packets. These one or more carousel packets are then stored in a packet buffer. The packet encapsulator also includes a channel queue for enqueuing packets for transmission across a broadcast transmission medium. For instance, the channel queue also receives the forwarding packets from the filter module. The channel queue also receives the one or more carousel packets from the packet buffer when at least a predetermined amount of available bandwidth exists in the broadcast transmission medium. The broadcast transmission medium may be a digital broadcast network such as a DVB handheld (DVB-H) network or a DVB terrestrial (DVB-T) network. Alternatively, the broadcast transmission medium may be a cable network.

Delivering multimedia content, such as audio and/or video, to terminal devices in digital format is becoming increasingly commonplace. Such content may include audio, video, and other content delivered over broadcast transmission media. Due to their nature, the bitrate of a multimedia (audio/video) stream may vary over time. Typical bit rates are 128-384 kilobits per second (kbps). Recent advances in video and audio compression accentuate this effect because relative bit rate variations are now greater than with older compression technologies.
A broadcast channel, such as a digital video broadcast handheld (DVB-H) has a fixed total capacity. The channel's exact capacity depends on the employed modulation parameters. For DVB-H, capacity is typically between 5 and 15 megabits per second (Mbps) for mobile and indoor reception. In DVB-H, this total bandwidth is divided into a number of timeslice channels that each have a static bit rate to facilitate mobility and handover.
For each multimedia stream, a certain amount of bandwidth is typically allocated to the corresponding broadcast channel (e.g., to the corresponding DVB-H timeslice). Ideally (but not necessary), a DVB-H timeslice channel contains only a single multimedia stream to lower power consumption in terminal devices.
Such bandwidth constraints can be enforced for a broadcast channel. This enforcement may involve buffering to flatten out bit rate variations. However, excessive buffering may introduce delays. Thus, an approach to ensure that delays do not become excessive involves allocating more broadcast channel bandwidth than the long term average of the stream bit rate. For DVB-H timeslice channels, this means that there will typically be leftover or spare bandwidth.
Bandwidth is a precious resource. Therefore, it is desirable to reduce the amount of wasted bandwidth.

Techniques for utilization of spare bandwidth


An improved lighting apparatus for providing uniform illumination to the surface of an object, primarily surfaces with data in code or alphanumeric format, includes an area diffused light source mounted interior to a light-shielding canopy. The area diffused light source includes at least one electroluminiscent panel. The light-shielding canopy blocks out external sources of light, and has an interior surface that reflects light emitted by the electroluminiscent panel. In operation, the light-shielding canopy completely covers the surface of an object while diffuse, uniform light emanating directly from the electroluminiscent panel or reflected off the interior surface of the light-shielding canopy illuminates the surface of the object.

This invention relates to a lighting apparatus for the computer imaging or optical scanning of a surface, particularly a surface having information contained thereon in either a code or alphanumeric format, and in particular, to a lighting apparatus having a lighting source disposed in a light-shielding canopy.
Computer imaging/optical scanning devices were developed to electronically recreate an image of the surface of an object. The electronic image is created by holding the imaging/scanning device directly over the surface to be imaged/scanned. Typically, appropriate lensing focuses the image on a CCD array. The image on the surface is then converted to an electronic signal. Electronic image information is then stored or transmitted to an appropriate data processing apparatus.
To expedite the processing of routine information, computer imaging/optical scanning devices are used to retrieve data or information printed on or affixed to the surface of an object in code or alphanumeric format. A common example is a bar code label affixed to the surface of a package. The bar code label contains information about the package's origin, destination, order number, and the like. To retrieve the information from the bar code label, a computer imaging/optical scanning device electronically recreates a digitized image of the bar code label and transfers that image to a processing computer. The processing computer then deciphers the desired information from the digitized image. Computer imaging/optical scanning devices can be either machine mounted or hand-held. Portable hand-held devices are especially useful when processing is required at remote locations.
The ability to retrieve data or information from the surface of an object depends largely on the quality of the digital image obtained by the computer imaging/optical scanning device. Glare, shadows, non-uniformity in illumination, and interference by ambient light on the surface during the imaging/scanning process can result in degradation of the digital image. A poor digital image leads to loss of data. Uniform illumination over an area is especially important when reading information on an alphanumeric label or in a two-dimensional encoded format. For example, it may be desired to obtain an electronic image of an address label for transmission to optical character recognition devices.
Known computer imaging/optical scanning devices seek to reduce non-uniformity in illumination by using an internal light source to illuminate the surface under review while blocking or masking out interference from ambient light. Such devices, as represented by the patents discussed below, use point light sources in a variety of wavelengths to illuminate the surface to be imaged/scanned. The patents discussed below also disclose the use of a shroud over the surface to block out external light, or the use of light sensors which detect light only in the wavelength generated by the point light source, thereby masking out ambient light during the imaging/scanning process.
Examples of these various computer imaging/optical scanning devices include U.S. Pat. No. 3,996,476 entitled "Low Noise Photoelectric Detector Apparatus," issued to Lazarra on Dec. 7, 1976; U.S. Pat. No. 4,737,653 entitled "Image Sensor with Auxiliary Light Source," issued to Nakagawa, et al. on Apr. 12, 1988; U.S. Pat. No. 4,488,679 entitled "Code and Reading System, " issued to Bockholt, et al. on Dec. 18, 1984; U.S. Pat. No. 4,818,847 entitled "Apparatus for Optically Reading Printed Information" issued to Hara, et al. on Apr. 4, 1989; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,027,418 entitled "Electro-Optical Inspection Apparatus for Printed-Circuit Boards with Components Mounted Thereon," issued to Ikegaya, et al. on Jun. 25, 1991. These patents all disclose the use of point light sources to illuminate the surface to be imaged or scanned. Only U.S. Pat. No. 4,488,679 discloses the use of an exterior enclosure to block out ambient light.
Point light sources, however, do not provide uniform illumination across a surface. Because of their radiation pattern, point light sources can frequently produce glare and/or shadows on the surface resulting in loss of data during the computer imaging/optical scanning process. Furthermore, only U.S. Pat. No. 4,488,679 discloses the use of an exterior hood to prevent ambient light from interfering with the illumination provided by the point light sources.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a computer imaging/optical scanning device that provides uniform illumination of the surface to be imaged or scanned.
Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the detailed description of a preferred embodiment set forth below.

Lighting apparatus for the computer imaging of a surface


A method of driving a display device includes outputting an upper data signal array of a (n+1)th frame to an upper display area of a display panel during a first frame period; and, outputting a lower data signal array of a nth frame to a lower display area of the display panel during the first frame period is provided. The display panel has at least an upper display area and a lower display area which may be independently operable, the display areas communicating with a memory device storing and outputting a signal data array of a (n+1)th frame to an upper display area of a display panel during a first frame period; and, outputting a lower data signal array of a nth frame to a lower display area of the display panel during the first frame period.

Display devices have employed cathode-ray tubes (CRT) to display images. However, various types of flat panel displays, such as liquid crystal display (LCD) devices, plasma display panel (PDP) devices, field emission display (FED) devices, and electro-luminescent display (ELD) devices, are currently being developed as substitutes for the CRT. Among these various types of flat panel displays, LCD devices have advantages of thin profile and low power consumption, but have disadvantages of using a backlight unit because they are non-luminescent display devices. However, as organic electroluminescent display (OELD) devices are self-luminescent display devices, they are operated at low voltages and have a thin profile. Further, the OELD devices have advantages of fast response time, high brightness and wide viewing angles.
In a related art OLED shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of gate lines G1, G2, . . . , and Gm are extended along a first direction, and a plurality of data lines D1, D2, . . . , and Dn are extended along a second direction perpendicular to the first direction. The gate and data lines define respective pixel regions arranged in a matrix form. In each pixel region, a switching thin film transistor P1, a storage capacitor C1, a driving thin film transistor P2 and an organic electroluminescent diode OED are disposed. The switching and driving thin film transistors P1 and P2 include p-type thin film transistors.
Gate electrodes of the switching thin film transistors P1 are connected to the respective gate lines G1, G2, . . . , and Gm, and the source electrodes of the switching thin film transistors P1 are connected to the respective data lines D1, D2, . . . , and Dn. A first electrode of the storage capacitor C1 is connected to a drain electrode of the switching thin film transistor P1, and a second electrode of the storage electrode C1 is connected to a power terminal Vdd. Source electrodes of the driving thin film transistor P2 are connected to the power terminal Vdd, the gate electrodes of the driving thin film transistors P2 are connected to the respective drain electrodes of the switching thin film transistors P1, and drain electrodes of the driving thin film transistors P2 are connected to the respective first electrodes of the organic electroluminescent diodes OED. The second electrode of the organic electroluminescent diode OED is connected to a ground terminal.
An "on" gate signal is applied to a selected gate line GS1, G2, . . . , or Gm, and the switching thin film transistor P1 connected to the selected gate line G1, G2, . . . , or Gm is turned on. When the switching thin film transistor P1 is turned on, a data signal is charged on the storage capacitor C1. The charged data signal is applied to the gate electrode of the driving thin film transistor P2 and adjusts an "on" current in the driving thin film transistor P2. In response to the "on" current, the organic electroluminescent diode OED emits light. In this manner, the respective organic electroluminescent diodes "OED" emit light when the respective gate lines G1, G2, . . . , and Gm are sequentially selected.
As the size of the OELD device increases, the gate and data lines have longer paths. Accordingly, a resistance-capacitance (RC) delay of the signal lines having long paths increases, and distortion of display images occurs.
One means of solving the problem of distortion of the display images, where the display area is subdivided and each of the subdivided areas is operated by a separate driving circuit, has been suggested.
FIG. 2 is a conceptual view of an OELD device having a subdivided display area. A display area is divided into a first to a sixth six sub-area, S1-S6. The first to sixth sub-areas are operated independently from one another by using corresponding data driving circuits S1-DATA through S6-DATA and corresponding gate driving circuits S1-SCAN through S6-SCAN. Although not shown in FIG. 2, gate driving circuits for the second and fifth sub-areas S2 and S5 are also provided.
A driving circuit control portion (not shown) controls the driving circuits S1-DATA through S6-DATA and S1-SCAN through S6-SCAN. Data signals are supplied to the driving circuit control portion having a memory device, and the memory device stores the data signals. Data signals of one frame for one display image are divided into six arrays corresponding to the six sub-areas S1 through S6. The driving circuit control portion outputs each array of the data signals to the corresponding data driving circuits S1-DATA through S6-DATA. Each data driving circuit S1-DATA through S6-DATA simultaneously outputs the corresponding array of the data signals of one frame to the corresponding sub-areas S1 through S6. In each of the sub-areas S1 through S6, the data signals are applied to pixel regions along the data line sequentially according to scanning the gate lines of each sub-area S1 through S6 by each gate driving circuit S1-SCAN to S6-SCAN, resulting in the display of an image.
This method of driving a subdivided display area is applicable to an LCD device, but problematic for an OELD device having a fast response time. In particular, method is problematic for the large sized OELD device, as a display image is displayed discontinuously at boundary portions between an upper sub-area and a lower sub-area.
FIG. 3 is a progressive view illustrating a method of driving a bifurcated display area of an OELD device, and FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a transfer flow of data signals in a driving circuit control portion of an OELD device of FIG. 3.
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a display area of the OELD device includes an upper sub-area U and a lower sub-area L. A moving image moves from a first position A to a second position B. In FIG. 3, movement of the moving image is shown sequentially with four steps, ST1 through ST4. Although not shown in FIG. 3, the upper sub-area U is operated by an upper data driving circuit and an upper gate driving circuit, and the lower sub-area L is operated by a lower data driving circuit and a lower gate driving circuit. Each of the sub-areas is scanned from the top to the bottom thereof.
A driving circuit control portion 10 is supplied with data signals of one frame and simultaneously outputs divided upper and lower data signal arrays of one frame into corresponding upper and lower data driving circuits.
In detail, the driving circuit control portion 10 is supplied with data signals of a (n−1)th frame, and the data signals of the (n−1)th frame are divided into an upper data signal array and an lower data signal array. The upper and lower data signal arrays of the (n−1)th frame are outputted to the upper and lower data driving circuits and supplied to the upper and lower sub-areas U and L, respectively. Subsequently, data signals of a next frame, i.e., a nth frame, are supplied to the driving circuit control potion 10, divided and outputted to the upper and lower sub-areas U and L.
The moving image of the first position A is displayed when the upper and lower data arrays of the (n−1)th frame are written on the entire upper and lower sub-areas U and L, respectively. Then, in the first step ST1 corresponding to a first quarter of the nth frame period, an upper portion of the moving image of the lower sub-area L moves to the second position B, but the other portions of the moving image do not yet move. Then, in the second step ST2, between the first quarter and a second quarter of the nth frame period, a lower portion of the moving image of the lower sub-area L moves to the second position B. Then, in the third step ST3, the second quarter and a third quarter of the nth frame period, an upper portion of the moving image of the upper sub-area U moves to the second position B. Then, in the fourth step ST4, during the third quarter and a fourth quarter of the nth frame period, a lower portion of the moving image of the upper sub-area U moves to the second position B.
When the display area is divided into the upper and lower sub-areas and the two sub-areas are operated simultaneously with the data signals of the same frame and independently from each other, the moving image displayed across the boundary portion between the upper and lower sub-areas moves unnaturally because of the fast response time of the OELD device. Therefore, an observer perceives an unnatural movement of the moving image across the boundary, as if the display image of the present frame overlaps that of the previous frame.

Organic electroluminescent display device including upper and lower display areas and driving method thereof


A hybrid powertrain includes a hybrid transmission that has an input member operatively connectable to an engine crankshaft, at least one motor/generator, a gearing arrangement, and an output member operatively connectable to both the input member and said at least one motor/generator. An input brake has a first and a second brake shoe, a selectively energizable solenoid, and a mechanical biasing mechanism. The solenoid is operatively connected to the brake shoes via the mechanical biasing mechanism so that both brake shoes are operatively connected with the input member when the solenoid is energized. When the solenoid is deenergized, the first brake shoe remains operatively connected with and resists rotation of the input member when clockwise torque is applied to the input member and the second brake shoe remains operatively connected with and resists rotation of the input member when counterclockwise torque is applied to the input member.

Hybrid powertrains may improve vehicle fuel economy in a variety of ways. For instance, in some hybrid powertrains, the engine may be turned off at idle, during periods of deceleration and braking, and during periods of low speed or light load operation to eliminate efficiency losses due to engine drag. Tractive torque for propulsion is provided only by one or more motor/generators in an electric-only operating mode. The motor/generators are able to capture vehicle kinetic energy during braking, which is used to keep the engine off longer, supplement engine torque or power and/or operate at a lower engine speed, or supplement accessory power supplies. Additionally, the motor/generators are very efficient in accessory power generation and electric power from the battery serves as an available torque reserve allowing operation at a relatively low transmission numerical speed ratio. The hybrid powertrain must be designed to perform when vehicle operating conditions require high output torque. Relying on torque from the motor/generators to do so may necessitate the use of relatively large motor/generators and/or a large energy storage device.


An aircraft and a control yoke for operating the aircraft. The control yoke includes a base, a handle for manual operation of the aircraft, and a graphical communication device centered at the base for receiving a command from an operator and autonomously operating the aircraft according to the received command.

The embodiments disclosed herein relate to a method and apparatus for controlling operation of an aircraft with an advanced autopilot or autonomous features, and in particular to an interactive control device for communicating commands to and from the aircraft with an advanced autopilot or autonomous features.
Pilots use a control yoke in order to control operation of the airplane by for example, controlling altitude, attitude, pitch, roll, etc. The control yoke is well-designed for manual control of the aircraft as it allows the pilot to securely grip the device and pull or rotate as needed to input flight commands into the aircraft. However, a control yoke is insufficient for allowing the pilot to interact with an autonomous system. In current systems, the control yoke serves as an input device only and the pilot cannot enter certain commands used and needed in autonomous control of the aircraft.

Advanced mission interaction control yoke for advanced autopilots or autonomous aircraft