The invention relates to a process for recovering heat from deodorized edible oils and stabilizing the same comprising: introducing or injecting non-condensible inert gas into hot deodorized edible oil as the hot deodorized edible oil is cooled by indirectly heat exchanging with crude oil to be deodorized.

Deodorized edible oils are commonly prepared by subjecting crude oils initially to chemical or physical refining and then to deodorization. Generally, chemical refining comprises degumming, neutralizing dewaxing, washing and filtrating. Physical refining, on the other hand, comprises degumming, decoloring and filtering. As these refining techniques leave different amounts of impurities in the crude oils, they may affect the subsequent deodorization conditions chosen. When, for example, the amount of impurities remaining in the oil to be deodorized is substantial due to using the physical refining technique, severe deodorization operating conditions may be necessary to obtain edible oils having the desired quality.
Deodorization basically involves the removal of, among other things, impurities that impart disagreeable odor and taste from crude oils. The impurities removed usually include free fatty acids; disagreeable odor and taste causing compounds, such as aldehydes, ketones, alcohols and hydrocarbons; and compounds formed by the heat decomposition of peroxides and pigments. These impurities should be sufficiently removed to impart the desired properties to the edible oils. For example, the fatty acids in the edible oils should be substantially reduced, to about 0.1 to 0.2%, to obtain the edible oil having the desired properties.
The deodorization of the crude oils is normally accomplished at a high temperature condition under high vacuum, in the presence of an inert stripping gas, such as steam or nitrogen. The high temperature condition promotes thermal decomposition of the undesired impurities as the inert stripping gas strips off the undesired impurities from the crude oils. The high vacuum prevents oxidative degradation of the crude oils during the deodorization.
Once the deodorization is completed, the resulting, hot deodorized edible oils are cooled. At a high temperature, the deodorized edible oils are known to be highly susceptible to oxidative degradation. Thus, by cooling, the susceptibility of deodorized edible oils to oxidation is minimized.
The cooling is usually carried out in a heat recovery unit when the hot, deodorized edible oils are provided under vacuum. The heat recovery unit, which may be or may not be an integral part of the deodorizer, is operated to recover the heat from the discharging, hot deodorized edible oils through using the incoming crude oils to be deodorized as an indirect cooling means. By utilizing the crude oils to recover heat, both the hot deodorized edible oils and the crude oils can simultaneously reach the desired temperatures which are suitable for storage and deodorization, respectively. Using a conventional tube and shell heat exchanger for the above purpose, however, is highly undesirable because an external mechanical pump, which is usually needed to overcome a pressure drop in the heat exchanger, may cause air leakage, thus oxidizing the hot deodorized edible oils under vacuum.
To improve the transfer of heat from the hot, deodorized edible oils to the crude oils, the use of mechanical agitators to agitate the hot deodorized edible oils in the heat recovery unit has been proposed. Agitation with the mechanical agitators could cause turbulent mixing of the hot deodorized edible oils, which in turn reduces the thermal boundary layer next to the cooling coil having the crude oils, thus increasing the heat transfer rate. However, the mechanical agitators do not impart sufficient agitation to cause the crude oils and hot deodorized edible oils to reach equilibrium temperature unless the heat recovery unit and its associated equipments can be made significantly large. Moreover, the mechanical agitators are difficult to employ in the heat recovery unit which needs to be sealed sufficiently to prevent oxidation of the hot, deodorized oils therein. Any leakage of air into the internal chamber of the heat recovery unit, as a result of employing the mechanical agitators, can cause severe oxidative degradation of the hot, deodorized edible oils.
To alleviate the problems associated with the mechanical agitators, steam, which is readily available in a deodorization plant, has been used to agitate or turbulently mix the hot, deodorized oils in the heat recovery unit. Injecting steam into the hot, deodorized edible oils, not only causes agitation sufficient to maximize the heat transfer rate, but also produces a positive pressure inside the heat recovery unit, thus reducing the potential for air leakage.
In spite of these advantages, the use of steam in the heat recovery unit is found to be difficult. Cooling the hot, deodorized edible oils, for instance, below 100.degree. C. is undesirable because steam condenses out as water. The presence of water in the cooled deodorized edible oils may promote bacterial growth and may cause, among other things, a cloudy emulsion or the formation of an immiscible layer. Hence, hot deodorized edible oils are usually cooled to above 100.degree. C. in the heat recovery unit and then further cooled to less than 100.degree. C. in a cooler. However, such a cooling technique is uneconomical because it increases the equipment and operating cost, without maximizing the heat recovery.
Also, steam deodorized edible oils cooled in the above manner are found to have higher tendencies to absorb air, i.e., highly susceptible to oxidative degradation.
It is, therefore, desirable to find ways to enhance the stability of the deodorized edible oils, i.e., less susceptible to oxidative degradation, and enhance the heat recovery from the hot, deodorized edible oils.

Method of recovering waste heat from edible oil deodorizer and improving product stability


A knowledge catalog includes a plurality of independent and parallel static ontologies to accurately represent a broad coverage of concepts that define knowledge. The actual configuration, structure and orientation of a particular static ontology is dependent upon the subject matter or field of the ontology in that each ontology contains a different point of view. The static ontologies store all senses for each word and concept. A knowledge classification system, that includes the knowledge catalog, is also disclosed. A knowledge catalog processor accesses the knowledge catalog to classify input terminology based on the knowledge concepts in the knowledge catalog. Furthermore, the knowledge catalog processor processes the input terminology prior to attachment in the knowledge catalog. The knowledge catalog further includes a dynamic level that includes dynamic hierarchies. The dynamic level adds details for the knowledge catalog by including additional words and terminology, arranged in a hierarchy, to permit a detailed and in-depth coverage of specific concepts contained in a particular discourse. The static and dynamic ontologies are relational such that the linking of one or more ontologies, or portions thereof, result in a very detailed organization of knowledge concepts.

Appendix A, entitled xe2x80x9cTheme Parser Codexe2x80x9d contains five microfiche with a total number of two hundred and eighty two (282) frames.
Appendix B, entitled xe2x80x9cCode Headingxe2x80x9d contains two microfiche with a total number of eighty five (85) frames.
Appendix C, entitled xe2x80x9cTheme Vector Codexe2x80x9d contains one microfiche with a total number of sixty three (63) frames.
Appendix D, entitled xe2x80x9cContent Indexing Codexe2x80x9d contains one microfiche with a total number of seventy one (71) frames.
Appendices A, B, C and D contain material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by any one of the Appendices as they appear in the United States Patent and Trademark patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
The present invention relates to the field of classification, and more particularly to a knowledge catalog system.
The ability to accurately define knowledge in terms of categories has a wide range of applications. For example, the ability to accurately classify documents based on the content of the document has application in document storage and retrieval systems. For example, the Library of Congress of the United States utilizes a document classification system to store and retrieve documents. Typically, such prior art classification systems are configured in fixed hierarchical structures. For such a system, a number of high level categories or subjects are defined. Beneath each of the high level categories are additional sub categories that break the high level category into more detailed categories. The more sub categories specified in the fixed hierarchical structure, then the more detailed the classification system becomes. A detailed prior art classification system may utilize up to ten hierarchical levels. For example, the Library of Congress classifies documents based on an average of nine or ten levels of sub categories within a particular area, topic or field of study.
In modern society, there is an increasing demand for use of vast amounts of information covering a wide range of topics. In order to best utilized the vast amounts of information, an accurate and detailed classification system is required for storage and retrieval of the information. However, due to the rigid nature and limitations in detail, prior art fixed hierarchical classification systems can not adequately classify vast amounts of information that covers a wide range of information. Therefore, a classification system that accurately classifies information in a wide range of topics is desirable. Furthermore, it is desirable to classify knowledge such that the classification system is independent of language and culture so that information derived from all parts of the world may be classified under a single system.
A knowledge catalog includes a plurality of independent and parallel static ontologies to accurately represent a broad coverage of concepts that define knowledge. Each static ontology contains a plurality of knowledge concepts for a particular area of knowledge. The knowledge concepts are arranged hierarchically such that knowledge concepts are organized from high level generalized concepts down to more specific concepts. The actual configuration, structure and orientation of a particular static ontology is dependent upon the subject matter or field of the ontology. Therefore, each ontology contains a different point of view. The static ontologies store all senses for each word and concept. In one embodiment, the static ontologies include, when applicable, a mass sense, a count sense, a noun form, and a nominal form. Although the static ontologies are broad to cover a wide range of knowledge concepts, they are not extremely detailed. In addition, the set of static ontologies do not contain concepts that are extremely volatile.
In one embodiment, the knowledge catalog further includes a dynamic level. The dynamic level adds details for the knowledge catalog by including additional words and terminology, arranged in a hierarchical structure, to permit a detailed and in-depth coverage of specific concepts contained in a particular discourse. Therefore, additional detailed concepts not contained in the static ontologies are included in the dynamic level. The static and dynamic ontologies are relational such that the linking of one or more ontologies, or portions thereof, result in a very detailed organization of knowledge concepts.
In one embodiment, the knowledge catalog has application for use in a knowledge classification system. A knowledge catalog processor accesses the knowledge catalog to classify input terminology based on the knowledge concepts in the knowledge catalog. Because the static ontologies store all senses for each concept, the knowledge catalog processor returns all concepts or categories associated with the input terminology, unless a specific sense of an ambiguous term is specified. Furthermore, the knowledge catalog processor processes the input terminology prior to attachment in the knowledge catalog.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the accompanying drawings, and from the detailed description that follows below.

Methods and apparatus for classifying terminology utilizing a knowledge catalog


The present invention relates to an improved method of removing and transporting empty, recyclable, aluminum and plastic beverage containers returned to redemption centers without requiring the redemption centers to sort the containers by distributor and then separate the containers into like materials for removal. The present invention also illuminates the burden imposed on the distributors from having to pick up the containers from the redemption centers, then shred or bale the materials, and then sell the materials to recyclers. The invention comprises the steps of collecting and depositing the aluminum and plastic containers into a single holding bin at the redemption center's facilities. Using a blower such as a centrifugal fan and chute to blow the contents of the holding bin into a transporter such as a semi-trailer or compactor. Transporting the transporter to a separating facility which automatically separates the aluminum and plastic containers into like materials. Then delivering to a recycling facility the separated beverage containers, thereby eliminating the need for the distributors to pick up their beverage containers from the redemption centers for delivery to recyclers.

1. Field of Application
The present invention relates to an improved method of collecting, removing and transporting aluminum and plastic beverage containers from a redemption center to a separating facility without requiring the redemption center to sort the beverage containers by specific beverage company or requiring the redemption center to separate the beverage containers into like materials. Additionally, the improved method relieves the beverage companies from the burden of having to remove the empty beverage containers from the redemption center
2. Description of Prior Art
Recyclable aluminum or plastic containers are used almost exclusively by beverage bottlers such as Coca Cola, Pepsi, Budweiser, etc. Many states, such as Iowa, Michigan, and others, have imposed statutory laws requiring the consumer to pay a deposit (usually five or ten cents) for each beverage container purchased from a dealer in order to encourage recycling of the containers. This deposit is then refunded when the consumer returns the recyclable container to a dealer or to a redemption center (both referred to hereinafter as redemption centers).
In states that impose this deposit requirement, the redemption centers are usually under a duty to accept the empty beverage containers and pay the amount of the refund value to the consumer upon return of the beverage containers. The distributors are then typically required to accept and pick up from the redemption centers any beverage containers of the kind, size and brand sold by the distributor and to reimburse the redemption centers for the containers collected. The distributors then shred and bale the empty beverage containers and sell the plastic and aluminum to recyclers.
Since the distributors are under a duty to accept and reimburse the redemption centers for only the kind, size and brand of the beverage containers which they sell, the redemption centers must sort the cans by distributor and by material type (i.e. aluminum or plastic). For example, the redemption centers must separate plastic Coke bottles from plastic Pepsi bottles and aluminum Coke cans from aluminum Pepsi cans. This imposition takes time and increases costs for the redemption centers.
In order to reduce costs and increase efficiency, the redemption centers have taken great measures to try to find ways of keeping track of each distributor's returned beverage containers as well as keeping the plastic and aluminum containers separate from the time they are returned by the consumer. One of the methods used by the redemption centers to keep the plastic and aluminum containers separate as well as track each distributor's returned beverage containers, is the use of reverse vending machines of the type disclosed in the patent issued to DeWoolfson et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,579,216 which is incorporated herein by reference.
Reverse vending machines are similar to beverage dispensing vending machines except that instead of depositing coins and receiving a bottle or can of soda, the user deposits his or her empty plastic or aluminum beverage containers into the machine in return for money in an amount equal to the deposit. Other reverse vending machines merely return a receipt or voucher which the user must tender to an employee of the redemption center to collect his or her deposit.
Most reverse vending machines count the containers as they are being deposited and also read a bar code on the containers to determine the distributor. Separate reverse vending machines are usually required, each receiving only plastic or aluminum containers ranging in size from large two-liter plastic bottles to smaller twelve ounce bottles or cans. The plastic bottles and aluminum cans are collected in hoppers housed within the separate reverse vending machines. The hoppers must be emptied periodically into larger holding bins where the plastic bottles and aluminum cans remain separate at all times. The distributors then periodically haul away an equivalent number of bottles and cans from the recycling depository rather than just hauling away their own brand of bottles and cans.
Although the reverse vending machines have eliminated the need for the redemption centers to manually sort the beverage containers by distributors, these reverse vending machines are relatively expensive and they impose a burden on the consumer who must insert the cans and bottles into separate reverse vending machines one at a time, wait for a receipt, and then take the receipt to a clerk at the redemption center to receive his or her deposit refund. Further, the distributors are still required to pick up an equivalent number of returned beverage containers from the redemption centers.
Therefore, there is a need for a more efficient way to eliminate the burden and costs imposed on consumers and redemption centers to sort the recyclable beverage containers by distributor and then separate the containers into like materials. Additionally, there is a need to eliminate the burden on the distributors from having to pick up the empty beverage containers from the redemption centers, who must then have to shred and bale the materials, and then try to sell the materials to recyclers at the best market price.

Methods of separating metal cans and plastic bottles


Disclosed is an electrode comprising a first organic/inorganic composite porous coating layer formed on its surface, wherein the first coating layer includes inorganic particles and a binder polymer for interconnecting and fixing the inorganic particles, and has micropores formed by interstitial volumes among the inorganic particles. An electrochemical device including the same electrode is also disclosed. Further, disclosed is a method for manufacturing an electrode having an organic/inorganic composite porous coating layer on the surface thereof, comprising the steps of: (a) coating a current collector with slurry containing an electrode active material and drying it to provide an electrode; and (b) coating the surface of electrode obtained from step (a) with a mixture of inorganic particles with a binder polymer. A lithium secondary battery including the electrode shows improved safety and minimized degradation in battery performance.

Recently, there is an increasing interest in energy storage technology. Batteries have been widely used as energy sources in portable phones, camcorders, notebook computers, PCs and electric cars, resulting in intensive research and development into them. In this regard, electrochemical devices are subjects of great interest. Particularly, development of rechargeable secondary batteries is the focus of attention. Recently, research and development into novel electrode and battery that can improve capacity density and specific energy have been made intensively in the field of secondary batteries.
Among currently used secondary batteries, lithium secondary batteries appearing in early 1990's have drive voltage and energy density higher than those of conventional batteries using aqueous electrolytes (such as Ni—MH batteries, Ni—Cd batteries, H2SO4—Pb batteries, etc). For these reasons, lithium secondary batteries are advantageously used. However, such lithium secondary batteries have disadvantages in that organic electrolytes used therein may cause safety-related problems resulting in ignition and explosion of the batteries and that processes for manufacturing such batteries are complicated.
It is very important to evaluate and secure the battery safety. The most important consideration is that batteries should not cause damages to users upon miss-operation of the batteries. For this purpose, safety of batteries is strictly restricted in terms of ignition and combustion in batteries by safety standards. Therefore, many attempts have been made to solve safety-related problems of batteries.
In order to prevent heat emission from batteries, various methods including use of a protection circuit, use of heat occlusion by a separator, etc., have been suggested. However, use of a protection circuit causes limitation in downsizing and cost reduction of a battery pack. A mechanism of heat occlusion by a separator often acts inefficiently, when heat emission is generated rapidly.
Recently, use of organic electrolyte additives has been also suggested to solve the above-mentioned problem. However, safety mechanisms based on electrolyte additives have disadvantages in that calorific values (J) may be varied depending on charging current or internal resistance of a battery and that timing is not uniform. Additionally, a device for interrupting electric current by using the internal pressure of a battery needs a space inside of a battery for housing it, and thus is not preferred in terms of high capacity. Moreover, the above conventional safety means are always followed by degradation of other battery qualities.
Korean Patent Publication Nos. 0326455, 0326457 and 0374010 disclose methods for coating inorganic particles on a cathode active material. However, such methods have a disadvantage in that they cause degradation in battery performance even if the battery safety may be improved, because the inorganic particles as coating agent have no lithium ion conductivity.
Meanwhile, electrochemical devices such as lithium ion batteries have problems related with currently used separator in addition to the above safety problems. For example, currently available lithium ion batteries and lithium ion polymer batteries use polyolefin-based separators in order to prevent short circuit between a cathode and an anode. However, such polyolefin-based separators have a disadvantage in that they can be shrunk into their original sizes by heating at high temperature due to the properties of the materials for separators such as melting of polyolefin-based materials at 200° C. or less, and processing characteristics such as stretching of the materials for controlling pore sizes and porosity. Therefore, when a battery is heated to high temperature by internal/external factors, there is a great possibility of short-circuit between a cathode and an anode caused by shrinking or melting of separators, resulting in accidents such as explosion of a battery caused by emission of electric energy. As a result, it is necessary to provide a separator that does not cause heat shrinking at high temperature.
To solve the above problems related with polyolefin-based separators, many attempts are made to develop an electrolyte using an inorganic material serving as a substitute for a conventional separator. Such electrolytes may be broadly classified into two types. The first type is a solid composite electrolyte obtained by mixing inorganic particles having no lithium ion conductivity with polymers having lithium ion conductivity. However, it is known that such composite electrolytes serving as a substitute for a conventional separator and liquid electrolyte are not advisable, because such composite electrolytes have low ion conductivity compared to liquid electrolytes, the interfacial resistance between the inorganic materials and the polymer is high while they are mixed, such composite electrolytes cannot be easily handled due to the brittleness thereof when an excessive amount of inorganic materials is introduced, and it is difficult to assemble batteries using such composite electrolytes. See, Japanese Laid-Open Patent No. 2003-022707, ["Solid State Ionics"-vol. 158, n. 3, p. 275, (2003)], ["Journal of Power Sources"-vol. 112, n. 1, p. 209, (2002)], ["Electrochimica Acta"-vol. 48, n. 14, p. 2003, (2003)], etc.
The second type is an electrolyte obtained by mixing inorganic particles with a gel polymer electrolyte formed of a polymer and liquid electrolyte. See, U.S. Pat. No. 6,544,689, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Nos. 2002-008724 and 1993-314995, PCT International Publication Nos. WO02/092638and WO00/038263, ["Journal of Electrochemical Society"-v. 147,p. 1251, (2000)], ["Solid State Ionics"-v. 159, n. 1, p. 111, (2003)], ["Journal of Power Sources"-v. 110, n. 1, p. 38,(2002)], ["Electrochimica Acta"-v. 48, n. 3, p. 227 (2002)], etc. However, the polymer used in such electrolytes has poor binding ability so that a great amount of inorganic materials cannot be used. Therefore, inorganic materials are introduced in a relatively small amount compared to the polymer and liquid electrolyte, and thus merely have a supplementary function to assist in lithium ion conduction made by the liquid electrolyte. Further, such gel type polymer electrolytes have low ion conductivity compared to liquid electrolytes, resulting in degradation of battery performance.
Particularly, most attempts made up to date are for developing an inorganic material-containing composite electrolyte in the form of a free standing film. However, it is practically difficult to apply such electrolyte in batteries due to poor mechanical properties such as high brittleness of the film.
In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 6,432,586 discloses a composite film comprising a polyolefin-based separator coated with silica so as to improve the mechanical properties such as brittleness of an organic/inorganic composite film. However, because such films still use a polyolefin-based separator, they have a disadvantage in that it is not possible to obtain a significant improvement in safety including prevention of heat shrinking at high temperature. Additionally, Creavis Gesellschaft (Germany) has developed an organic/inorganic composite separator comprising a non-woven polyester support coated with silica (SiO2) or alumina (Al2O3), etc. However, the Creavis's composite separator cannot provide excellent mechanical properties due to the basic characteristics of non-woven webs. Moreover, because the chemical structure of polyester is fragile to electrochemical reactions, the Creavis's composite separator is expected to have many difficulties in practical use in batteries ["Desalination"-vol. 146, p. 23 (2002)].
Accordingly, there is a continuous need for technological research and development into a separator capable of improving performance and safety of an electrochemical device.

Organic/inorganic composite porous layer-coated electrode and electrochemical device comprising the same


Card adapter modules and methods for connecting peripheral cards to computing systems are disclosed. The card adapter modules each include a card connector, a peripheral connector, and a housing that supports the card connector and peripheral connector. A peripheral card is connected to a computing system having a chassis with an input/output slot by inserting the peripheral card along a first insertion axis (y-axis) into a card connector of a card adapter module and inserting the card adapter module along a second insertion axis (x-axis) extending through the input/output slot to a platform connector of a computing platform within the computing system. The card connector is electrically connected to the peripheral connector.

Peripheral cards are printed circuit boards that connect to a motherboard of a computing system in order to expand the functionality of the computing system. To insert a peripheral card into the computing system or remove a peripheral card therefrom, the cover of a chassis containing the computing system must be removed. In the case of servers, this is difficult because there may be numerous cables connected to the server that need to be disconnected such that the server can be removed from a cabinet holding the server before the cover can be removed. Depending on the number and types of cables that need to be disconnected, this may be a time consuming operation.
Recently, there has also been a movement toward "hot swappable" peripheral cards. "Hot swappable" peripheral cards such as PCI Express (PCIe) cards allow such cards to be inserted or removed from a motherboard while the computing system is powered on. Several issues exist with current peripheral card design and the ease of hot swappable replacement. For example, with the cover removed from a computing system chassis in order to insert/remove/replace a peripheral card, there is reluctance to service a computer system that is powered on for fear of electrical shock or causing damage to the system. Thus, service technicians typically shut down the system to add or replace peripheral cards, thereby defeating the purpose of the "hot swappable" feature.
For the above reasons, there is a need for improved apparatus and methods for installing peripheral cards into computing systems. The present invention addresses this need among others.


An information processing apparatus for performing communication through a network, including a communication section to perform communication with a plurality of different information processing apparatuses which commonly use a predetermined space, a characteristic information acquisition section to acquire characteristic information of the different information processing apparatuses including position information and direction information in the predetermined space, connection requirement degree information which indicates a degree of connection requirement for each opposite party of communication, and directional information which indicates a degree of connection requirement for each azimuth, and a priority degree calculation section to calculate a connection priority degree for each of the different information processing apparatuses in the communication based on characteristic information of the information processing apparatus itself and the characteristic information of the different information processing apparatuses acquired by the characteristic information acquisition section.

This invention relates to an information processing method and apparatus, a recording medium and a program, and more particularly to an information processing method and apparatus, a recording medium and a program in which the communication balance between a plurality of nodes can be controlled optimally.
Various methods are known that a plurality of users communicate with each other, and one of such methods uses a virtual space. According to the method, a user can access a server through a network and use a common virtual space provided by the server to communicate with other users on the real-time basis. In the virtual space, the user sets the other self thereof called avatar such that such users chat with each other through the respective avatars.
For example, Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2001-160154 discloses a display apparatus which displays avatars where a plurality of users share a virtual space such that, when one of the users moves, a corresponding avatar moves in response to position information, direction information, and so forth of the user. Meanwhile, Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2001-154966 discloses a system in which an avatar in a virtual space uses a virtual portable telephone set to transmit or receive a message to or from another avatar who is in an another virtual space or another user who is in an actual space.
Incidentally, not only a communication system in related art that such a virtual space as described above is used to perform communication with a plurality of nodes but also another communication system in related art that an actual space is used for communication with a plurality of nodes have a problem in that, as the number of nodes used for communication increases, simultaneous establishment of circuits between a plurality of nodes becomes difficult from a limitation to communication channels.
As a countermeasure for the problem, methods are available that the communication balance is controlled by limiting those nodes from which information can be transmitted within a certain time zone through the same communication network. As one of such methods, for example, a PTT (Push to Talk) controlling method for controlling communication with a plurality of transceiver terminals is available.
Also another method is available that circuits between a plurality of nodes are established simultaneously like sound chat software by which a VoIP (Voice over IP) function or the like is used to perform communication with a plurality of persons through a network.

Information processing apparatus, method, and recording medium for communication through a network in a predetermined area


An image-transfer medium includes a transparent substrate and a transferable material formed on a first surface of the substrate. A selected portion of the transferable material can be transferred in an arbitrary shape to an article to form a personalized image by a cold transfer-printing operation. Moreover, the remaining hollowed portion after the removal of the selected portion, including the transparent substrate, can be adhered to the same or another article having a light-transmitting surface to exhibit special lightening effect.

Transfer-printing operation is widely used for printing images onto surfaces of selected articles such as cards, clothes, papers, cups or equipments. In general transfer-printing operations, a plurality of predetermined images are first printed onto a transparent film, and then desired images are selected to be transfer-printed onto the target article from the transparent film.
FIG. 1(a) illustrates a conventional image-transfer medium. The image-transfer medium 10 comprises a transparent film substrate 11 and a transferred material 12. The transferable layer 12 further comprises an ink layer 121 and a pressure-sensitive adhesive layer 122. The transferable layer 12 is laminated onto a surface 112 of the transparent film substrate 11, facing the target article (not shown).
Take an image-transfer medium with alphabetic letters for example. When an image "PRIMAX" is to be printed on a target article such as a card, the image-transfer medium 10 is put on the target article with the transferable layer 12 in contact with the surface of the target article. Then, the selected letters, i.e. P, R, I, M, A and X in the transferable layer of FIG. 1(b), are stripped from the image-transfer medium 10 and simultaneously adhered to the target article one by one by applying a depressing force to the other surface 111 the transparent film substrate 11 at each of the corresponding positions of the selected letters.
In the prior art, the images to be transfer-printed are predetermined by manufactures. Consequently, for transfer-printing a personalized image such as signatures, favorite signs or handwritings, the desirable image should be printed in advance by the manufacturers and included in the ink layer 121 of the transferable layer 12 of the image-transfer medium 10. Since people tend to like the new and loathe the old, the uniform image-transfer mediums are no longer satisfying.

Image transfer medium and process for producing same


A guitar includes fibers of lengths between 0.2 millimeters to 3 millimeters. The guitar further includes a guitar body, a headstock board, a soundboard, a fretboard, and a guitar bridge. Each of the guitar body, the headstock board, the soundboard, the fretboard, and the guitar bridge is a continuous and single structure. The disclosure also relates to a guitar and a method for manufacturing a guitar. The guitar is superior to the traditional acoustic guitars in terms of volume and mechanical performance, so that a service life of the guitar of the application can be increased by 2 to 3 times compared with traditional acoustic guitars and durable.

A guitar is a member of a stringed instrument family that produces sounds by plucking strings above the guitar. While playing, one hand plucks the strings and the fingers of the other hand press against a fretboard of the guitar. The fretboard is a metal strip covering a neck of the guitar. Sound played on the strings is enhanced by the guitar's resonance box.
According to structural characteristics, guitars can be divided into hollow wood guitars, hollow electric box guitars, semi-hollow electric box guitars, and solid electric guitars. An acoustic guitar relies on the resonance of the strings and the resonance box to produce natural and pleasing sounds, which is generally favored by players and audience. At present, most of the guitars on the market are acoustic guitars. An acoustic guitars can absorb moisture and/or be cracked easily, which will affect the life of the guitar. In addition, a volume of the guitar is generally small, which may affect the experience of the players, especially for players who have higher requirements for a texture of the guitar. Traditional acoustic guitars may not meet the requirement of the players.
In addition, conventional methods of manufacturing guitars, a series of processing steps such as adaptors, hot-pressing of a back side plate, head carving and sound beam cutting are required. Generally, the processing of traditional wood guitars requires nearly 200 procedures and processing techniques, which may be cumbersome, labor intensive and produce a lot of waste material, all result in an increased production cost of guitars. Therefore, a new design of a guitar is desired.


A tool connecting device includes a shaft having a non-circular socket opening for receiving a non-circular rotatable member of a tool member to allow the tool member to be selectively tilted relative to the shaft to different angular position. A protrusion is extended from the tool member for engaging with the shaft to anchor the rotatable member to the shaft and to prevent the tool member from being tilted relative to the shaft. A control ferrule may be slidably engaged onto the shaft to selectively retain the tool member in line with the shaft and to prevent the tool member from being tilted relative to the shaft, or to allow the tool member to be slanted and tilted relative to the shaft to different angular position.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tool connecting device, and more particularly to a tool connecting device for connecting a tool member or a fastener or a work piece or a driven member to a shaft to allow the tool member or the fastener or the work piece or the driven member to be selectively secured to the shaft and rotated in concert with the shaft or to be rotated or driven by the shaft or to be selectively tiltable or slantable relative to the shaft.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Typical tool connecting devices comprise a tool member or a tool bit or a fastener or a work piece secured to a mandrel with a split-ring and arranged to allow the tool bit to be selectively secured to the mandrel and rotated in concert with the mandrel or to be tiltable or slantable relative to the mandrel.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,918,512 to Habermehl et al. discloses one of the typical replaceable bit screwdriver assemblies also comprising a tool bit secured to a mandrel with a split-ring and arranged to allow the tool bit to be selectively secured to the mandrel and rotated in concert with the mandrel or to be tiltable relative to the mandrel. However, an additional lever tool is required to be engaged into the mandrel to selectively disengage the tool bit from the mandrel.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,290,606 to Hodson discloses another typical polygonal ball drive systems for earth auger and also comprising an earth auger selectively coupled or attached to a drive member with a number of balls. However, the earth auger may not be selectively and solidly coupled or attached to the drive member to allow the earth auger to be rotated in concert with or to be rotated or driven by the drive member.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,874,392 to Wu discloses a further typical connector of hand tool comprising an operating member selectively coupled or attached to a main body with a spring-biased ball. However, the operating member may not be selectively and solidly secured to the main body and may not be selectively and rotatably attached to the main body. The typical connectors may not be provided to rotate or drive the spark plugs that are normally engaged or located in the tiny spaces or the like in the engine chambers of the vehicles.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the afore-described disadvantages of the conventional tool connecting devices.


An approach is provided for acquiring and integrating data into external services. According to the approach, image and/or video data and identification data are received from a client device. The image and/or video data includes one or more images and/or video data of an object that are acquired by the client device and the identification data is data that uniquely identifies the object. Record data is generated and stored that includes the identification data and at least a reference to the image and/or video data. The image and/or video data and the identification data are transmitted to an external service. This identification data allows an external service to associate the image and/or video data with other data maintained by the external service.

The approaches described in this section are approaches that could be pursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, it should not be assumed that any of the approaches described in this section qualify as prior art merely by virtue of their inclusion in this section.
An increasing number of mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablet computers, are equipped with cameras. This makes them increasingly valuable to individuals and businesses. One of the issues with mobile devices that include cameras is that it can be difficult for business users to upload acquired images to external services, such as business applications. Users typically do not have the specialized knowledge or skills to access the interfaces provided by external services and therefore must rely upon dedicated applications executing on their mobile devices to be able to upload images from their mobile devices to external services. Even with such dedicated applications, it can be difficult for users to associate images with particular data records managed by the external services.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A rider surface maintenance vehicle with variable dynamic braking, in contrast to a mechanically-engaged braking system that uses a brake cable. A brake pedal engages a sensor that encodes the pedal position as an electronic signal. The electronic signal, along with the vehicle velocity, determines a machine deceleration rate, or braking rate, either by calculation, lookup table, or a combination of the two. The braking rate may be tuned so that the of the brake mimics or approximates the feel of a conventional mechanically-engaged brake that uses a brake cable. During stopping, once the vehicle passes below a threshold velocity, a parking brake is automatically engaged. The braking rate is converted to a duty cycle, and the braking is preferably accomplished by pulse width modulation (PWM) of an electrical load applied in parallel to the motor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to surface cleaning equipment, and more particularly to a braking mechanism for surface cleaning equipment.
2. Background
Surface maintenance vehicles and cleaning devices have a long history subject to gradual innovation and improvement toward improved and oftentimes automated performance in removing debris and contamination from floors. These vehicles and devices may be self-powered, towed, or pushed, and/or manually powered and may carry a human operator during cleaning operations. Such vehicles and devices include scrubbers, extractors, sweepers and vacuums, as well as combinations thereof, intended for cleaning, scrubbing, wiping and/or drying a portion of a substantially flat surface both indoors and outdoors.
A class of surface maintenance vehicles, known as riders, may contain an operator that drives the vehicle, using controls functionally similar to those in an automobile, including a steering wheel, an accelerator pedal and a brake pedal. As in an automobile, the accelerator and brake speed up and slow down the vehicle, but because the motor in a rider vehicle is typically electric, the methods by which the accelerator and brake function are usually quite different from those in an automobile.
The braking on a typical rider surface maintenance vehicle is generally accomplished in a mechanical manner, using a brake cable to transmit a force from the brake pedal to one or more brake pads. Although a mechanical brake assembly provides the operator with a comfortable "feel" for braking, it is relatively expensive. A significant cost savings would be realized if the mechanical braking assembly were eliminated. Note that for safety concerns, it is not feasible to eliminate the brake pedal on a rider surface maintenance vehicle. (In contrast, a walk-behind machine may function without an additional brake, because the speeds are much less and the machines may be much smaller.)
For safety reasons, a rider surface maintenance vehicle usually has a mechanical brake, typically in the form of a spring-loaded caliper brake pad, which is often referred to as a parking brake, which may or may not share a mechanism with the mechanical brake described above. Generally, the parking brake may be activated electronically by a solenoid, so that if the current to the solenoid is shut off, as may occur during a failure mechanism, then the parking brake is engaged. The use of a solenoid-activated spring-loaded caliper brake as a parking brake is well-known in the art. In addition, it is common to engage the parking brake when the accelerator pedal is released, when the vehicle velocity drops below a threshold value.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a braking mechanism that costs less than a mechanical assembly, but still provides the operator with a proper braking "feel", and stops the vehicle in the event of a malfunction. Thus, since most operators are already familiar with the feel of a mechanical braking system, designing an electrical system which proximates (mimics) that feel is highly desirable.

By wire control of braking and acceleration


A pull-on diaper includes a front waist region and a rear waist region joined together along joints defined by transversely opposite edges of these waist regions so as to form a waist-hole and a pair of leg-holes. The joints are adapted to be ruptured for disposal of the diaper which has been used. The front waist region and the rear waist region are joined together along the joints by means of joining members and each of the joining members is provided with a gripper formed integrally with this joining member and rupture guides extending from the gripper toward the waist-hole and the associated one of the leg-holes.

The present invention relates generally to a pull-on diaper and particularly to a disposable pull-on diaper having transversely opposite side edges adapted to be broken away after used for disposal.
Disposable pull-on diapers having transversely opposite side edges adapted to be broken away after used for disposal is well known. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-339772, para. 0013-0014, FIG. 3 (hereinafter referred to as "Reference"), discloses a disposable pull-on diaper comprising an absorbent component and an outer cover made of a nonwoven fabric or the like adapted to be folded back on itself in a longitudinal direction to define two halves which are then bonded together along transversely opposite edges of these two halves by a means such as heat sealing so as to form side seal patterns. This pull-on diaper is characterized in that each of the side seal patterns comprises a plurality of elements continuously or intermittently arranged in a vertical direction in which the two halves of the outer cover will be torn off from each other, these elements presenting a locus such that each of these elements has a width as measured in a transverse direction which is orthogonal to a direction extending from a start point of tearing off to an end-point of tearing off is gradually enlarged from the start point of tearing off to the maximum width whereupon this width is gradually reduced until the end-point of tearing off is reached.
According to the disclosure of Reference, the seal pattern is easily ruptured in the direction of tearing off and not easily ruptured in the direction orthogonal to this direction of tearing off. However, to tear off the transversely opposite edges of this pull-on diaper, one side of the waist-hole must be held by both hands and twisted to tear off this side edge and then the other side edge must be torn off in the same manner. Such operation takes a lot of trouble particularly when the transversely opposite edges of the pull-on diaper worn by an infant are ruptured and taken off from the wearer's body.


A Computer Telephony Integration environment has reduced risk of inadvertent or fraudulent registration of the association of a user's computer terminal with the wrong telephone, i.e. one other than the telephone adjacent to the computer terminal or the user's mobile telephone, a host computer instructs the user via a screen display to call a particular extension of a CTI-enabled communications switching system.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates to a method of associating a communications device with a computer terminal.
2. Related Art
Methods are known for remotely registering the association of a communications device such as a telephone terminal with a computer terminal over a distributed computer system, such as a Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) environment, so that a remote host can associate a particular computer terminal with a telephone terminal. These methods are used, for example, to enable a user to register their operation of a particular computer terminal and telephone terminal so that a remote host can redirect incoming communications at a remote site to the user.
The present exemplary embodiment seeks to simplify the registration process and to enable the association to be implemented using more cost effective technology by eliminating the need for an interactive voice response (IVR) system to be provided to assist in the association process. A known use of an interactive voice response system provided in a distributed computer system is to enable a user to remotely register via a telephone system the association of a telephone terminal and a computer terminal being operated by the user within the computer system. The terms "distributed computer system" and "distributed computer environment" are used herein to denote a client/server type computer system, for example in which each client may comprise a computer terminal capable of being associated with at least one telephone terminal.
CTI is particularly useful in call centres, and International Application Number PCT/GB96/00727 (Publication Number WO 96/31044, now also issued U.S. Pat. No. 5,991,390) in the name of BRITISH TELECOMMUNICATIONS public limited company (BT) discloses an Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) suite in a call centre such as BT's national telephone account management operation, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. International Application Number PCT/GB96/00727 (Publication Number WO 96/31044) describes a known ACD suite in a call centre, which is now described only briefly in respect of its component parts, and relevant operational characteristics with reference to FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawings.
In FIG. 1, a known ACD suite comprises a PABX 10, constituting a switching system of the present invention. The PABX 10 is associated with an ACD system 12 and connected to an Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) 14 by a primary rate ISDN link 16 having thirty 64 kbit/s channels.
Customers, represented by telephone terminal 18, can make calls to the call centre by dialling the published directory number (also referred to as a national number or a destination terminal number) of the call centre. These incoming calls are received at the PABX 10 and placed in a queue by the ACD system 12. The ACD system 12 in known manner allocates the call at the head of that queue to a selected one of a plurality of call centre agent positions 20 (also referred to as workstations), each comprising a telephone terminal 22 (also referred to as an ACD turret) and an associated computer terminal 24. The association of each agent's workstation to the agent's telephone terminal is indicated by the dashed boundary in FIG. 1.
The agent whose terminal 22 is selected to answer the call is normally the agent at the head of a queue of free agents. This queue contains the identities of the agents, but alternatively can contain the directory numbers associated with the agents. Similarly, tele-working agents, represented by remote workstation 21 comprising telephone terminal 36 and associated computer terminal 38, can make calls to the call centre by dialling a published directory number of the call centre over a telephone link 40. Telephone link 40 is capable of supporting voice and data communication over different channels, such as in an ISDN link. However, the publication of the number of the call centre means that it is possible to abuse the registration system which associates a particular agent with a computer terminal and telephone terminal.
Consider where each computer terminal 24 is constituted by a personal computer, commonly referred to as a PC, and is connected to a host computer 26 having an associated database 28 and connected to the PABX 10 via a CTI link 30. In the prior art, an interactive voice response system (IVR) 32 is connected to a port of the PABX 10 and to the host computer 26, and is arranged to obtain data from customers, and tele-working agents, and to pass this to the host computer 26 for processing as appropriate. In this way tele-working agents are able to be registered and customers are connected to agents in the call-centre or remote tele-working agents as appropriate.
In order to support tele-working, the ACD system 12 must still associate a tele-working agent's identity with the identity of what it deems to be an active terminal 22 in the call centre, and the manner in which this is achieved will now be described.
In a first situation, a tele-working agent will activate his or her computer terminal 38 which will autodial the directory number of the host computer 26. When a connection (using one of the B channels) has been established via the ISDN link 16, the tele-working agent will log on to the host computer 26 using an identification protocol including informing the host computer 26 of the directory number being currently used by the tele-working agent, and the host computer 26 will store the tele-working agent's directory number in association with the identity of tele-working agent. If the tele-working agent has a designated location or, for example, if the agent is not permitted to change location without prior consent of the company, the tele-working agent does not inform the host computer 26 of the identity of the remote terminal, and the host computer 26 will refer to its record and retrieve the appropriate data.
The host computer 26 will now select an available terminal 34 from its list of virtual turrets, associate the tele-working agent's identity with the identity of the selected terminal 34, and send them to the ACD system 12 via the CTI link 30. The host computer 26 now has a record associating the identity of the agent, the identity of the remote terminal 38, and the identity of the selected terminal 34 and can upon interrogation by the identity of a terminal 34 retrieve the identity of the corresponding remote terminal 38. The ACD system can then operate in a number of ways such as are described in more detail within International Application Number PCT/GB96/00727 (Publication Number WO 96/31044 and also now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 5,991,390).
U.S. Pat. No. 6,594,357 "Computer Telephone Integration", the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference, describes another known method of associating a computer terminal with a telephone terminal which is shown in FIG. 2. In FIG. 2, the PABX 10 has a further terminal 34′, identical with a terminal 34 but not forming part of the set of virtual terminals 34 used by the host computer 26 in association with the identities of tele-working agents, as described above.
The secure registration of telephone terminal/computer terminal according to the second example of the prior art is effected as follows. Consider first the situation of a local agent, i.e. one working at a workstation 20 whose telephone is directly connected to a port of the PABX 10. The host computer 26 is arranged to respond to initiation of a log on procedure by the agent via the keyboard of the computer terminal 24 at his workstation 20 to send to that computer terminal 24 data for a screen display containing a text message "Please dial extension XXXX. When the call is answered, please enter via your telephone keypad the codeword YYYY.".
The agent now responds to the message by dialling on his telephone 22, referred to herein as making a registration call, the extension XXXX, which is the extension number corresponding to the virtual terminal 34′, and the PABX 10 responds in normal manner by connecting ringing current to the corresponding port. The host computer 26 knows, via the CTI link 30, that the virtual terminal 34′ is "ringing", and instructs the PABX 10 to treat the call as answered by recording the corresponding line circuit as being in "off hook" condition, and to report any digits received at the PABX 10 for that call.
The PABX 10 is arranged, in a known manner, to collect digits dialled during the call. In a variant, the PABX 10 connects a digit collector, not shown, to the virtual terminal 34′. Upon receipt of a message from the PABX 10 containing the digits received from the agent, and the extension number of the telephone 22 from which they were sent, the host computer 26 compares these received digits with the code sent in the screen display information, and, if they match, stores the extension number in association with the identity of the computer terminal 24 and sends a further screen display to the computer terminal 24 containing the text message "Please hang up.". The agent has now been registered at the host computer 26 in association with his telephone terminal 22 and his computer terminal 24.
Known CTI systems such as are described by International Application Number PCT/GB96/00727 (Publication Number WO 96/31044), and U.S. Pat. No. 6,594,357 have the limitation that the method used to associate a computer terminal with a voice terminal requires an interactive voice response system (IVR). The IVR is connected to a port of a PABX 10 linked by a computer telephone integration link to a host computer and is arranged to obtain data from customers, and tele-working agents, and to pass this to the host computer 26 for processing as appropriate.
However, providing an IVR unit is costly and expensive. Each PABX in systems such as are described by the above prior art requires an associated IVR. This means that distributed ACD suites having a plurality of PABXs require a IVR unit for each PABX, which increases the cost of implementing such systems.

Method for remotely associating a communications device with a computer


A protective cup designed to protect the male genitalia from damage or injury that could result from blows to the pelvic area of a male wherein the protective cup is manufactured using a very high strength ballistic material for the primary protective cup structure and wherein the interior of the protective cup includes a resilient gel that provides additional cushioning to the male genitalia if the protective cup is subjected to heavy strikes from external sources.

This invention relates to an apparatus and method for manufacturing and using a protective cup that provides shielding for the crotch area of male users.
Males are often involved in activities that include heavy body contact or in other activities where there is a strong likelihood that certain areas of the male body will be subjected to heavy physical blows. As a result of the male anatomy, the pelvic area of a human male can be very susceptible to damage or injury from such heavy blows and fast-traveling projectiles. More specifically, the male genitals are located in the male pelvic area and, due to their essentially exposed and unprotected arrangement, can be damaged by even medium levels of contact with moving objects.
In the case of athletics, this can present a substantial problem for the male athlete. Because blows to the male genitals in the male pelvic area often occur, and because such blows can result in sometime incapacitating pain, various devices have been conceived that can be used to protect the male pelvic area from such injuries.
The most common from of protection is a concave device that can be worn by the male participant that generally covers the male genital area just below the abdomen and between the legs of the male. Such devices have become generically known as "athletic cups" and are extremely common in such sports as football, baseball, basketball, soccer, hockey, and any other sport that might cause the male genital area to receive heavy contact.
The vast majority of those athletic cups are made from some type of plastic material such as polypropylene or polyethylene. In such prior art athletic cups, the edges of the plastic material from which the primary structure for the athletic cup is made are often rimmed around the peripheral with a resilient material such as foam rubber. However, the normal prior art athletic cup has no super resilient material within the internal portion of the athletic cup to provide additional cushioning and protection for the male genitalia being stored within the protective cup.
Additionally, while past designs of athletic cups may be rigid enough to protect from certain blows to the male genital area, the standard athletic cup is not designed or made from a material that can protect against extremely severe blows that can be found in instances other than in general athletic competition. For example, law enforcement officers often find themselves in circumstances where belligerent offenders of the law have no qualm about attacking the law officer by kicking the law officer's genital area, or by striking the law officer's genital area with heavy blunt instruments and even sharp objects. The effects of such tactics can quickly result in the incapacitation of the law officer that could result in the escape of the offender and, in the most sever cases, even serious injury or death of the law officer.
Military personnel and others in the armed services often find themselves in situations similar to that of the law officers as described above. However, military personnel may become involved in combat that can also include attacks by small arms fire and by explosives that direct damaging, fast-moving shrapnel in the direction of the military personnel. If bullets and shrapnel contact the male genital area, the military personnel can be quickly disabled when the projectile strikes the genital area of the male military personnel.
As a result, the athlete, law officer, or military personnel in each of the above scenarios can readily benefit from a protective cup made from high level ballistic material than can offer added protection against blows from heavy objects, small arms fire, and shrapnel.


An optical touch panel 10 has means 20 for generating a signal to provide an operator with input operational feeling. The center of a light-emitting sided-core 17 is positioned lower than the center of a light-emitting sided-optical waveguide 14 and the center of a light-receiving sided-core 19 is positioned lower than the center of a light-receiving sided-optical waveguide 15, thereby light beams 22 are situated close to a transparent panel 21, and this enables to obtain natural input operational feeling having a minimal time lag between input operation and a signal generation to provide input operational feeling.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical touch panel which enables coordinate inputting by a finger or a pen and includes a coordinate input region composed of a display screen, such as a liquid crystal panel or the like, and a light-emitting element, a light-receiving element, and an optical waveguide which are provided around the coordinate input region.
2. Description of Related Art
Optical touch panels are widely used for bank ATM systems or railway ticket-vending machines and the like because the display screens are clear and excellent in reliability compared with resistive touch panels and capacitance-type touch panels. Optical touch panels in which a large number of light-emitting diodes and phototransistors are arranged around a coordinate input region, are known (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 11-232024 A). Further, optical touch panels in which optical waveguides and microlenses are provided around the coordinate input region are known (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2004-295644 A). Conventional optical touch panels have had, however, a problem with poor input operational feeling (click touch feeling), resulting in insufficient comfortableness in operation and certainty.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an optical touch panel which can obtain natural input operational feeling (click touch feeling) and has operation certainty.


A class of phosphonomethyl-imidazo[1,2-a]pyrimidine-2-carboxylic acid compounds is described for treatment to reduce neurotoxic injury associated with anoxia or ischemia which typically follows stroke, cardiac arrest, hypoglycemia or perinatal asphyxia. The treatment includes administration of a compound of this class alone or in a composition in an amount effective as an antagonist to inhibit excitotoxic actions at major neuronal excitatory amino acid receptor sites. Compounds of most interest are those of the formula: ##STR1## wherein each of R.sup.1, R.sup.2 and R.sup.6 is independently selected from hydrido, alkyl, allyl, cycloalkyl, cycloalkylalkyl, phenyl and benzyl; wherein Y.sub.m is --CH.sub.2 -- or --CH.sub.2 --CH.sub.2 --; where m is one; wherein x is one or more groups attachable at one or more of the 5-, 6- and 7-ring positions of the imidazo[1,2-a]pyrimidine ring system; wherein each x and T is independently selected from hydrido, halo, alkyl, cycloalkyl, cycloalkylalkyl, haloalkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, phenyl, benzyl, hydroxy, hydroxyalkyl, alkoxy, phenoxy, alkoxyalkyl, benzyloxy, cyano, alkanoyl, alkylthio, arylthio and amino; or a pharmaceutically-acceptable salt thereof.

Unlike other tissues which can survive extended periods of hypoxia, brain tissue is particularly sensitive to deprivation of oxygen or energy. Permanent damage to neurons can occur during brief periods of hypoxia, anoxia or ischemia. Neurotoxic injury is known to be caused or accelerated by certain excitatory amino acids (EAA) found naturally in the central nervous system (CNS). Glutamate (Glu) is an endogenous amino acid which has been characterized as a fast excitatory transmitter in the mammalian brain. Glutamate is also known as a powerful neurotoxin capable of killing CNS neurons under certain pathological conditions which accompany stroke and cardiac arrest. Normal glutamate concentrations are maintained within brain tissue by energy-consuming transport systems. Under low energy conditions which occur during conditions of hypoglycemia, hypoxia or ischemia, cells can release glutamate. Under such low energy conditions the cell is not able to take glutamate back into the cell. Initial glutamate release stimulates further release of glutamate which results in an extracellular glutamate accumulation and a cascade of neurotoxic injury.
It has been shown that the sensitivity of central neurons to hypoxia and ischemia can be reduced by either blockage of synaptic transmission or by the specific antagonism of postsynaptic glutamate receptors [see S. M. Rothman et al, Annals of Neurology, Vol. 19, No. 2 (1986)]. Glutamate is characterized as a broad spectrum agonist having activity at three neuronal excitatory amino acid receptor sites. These receptor sites are named after the amino acids which selectively excite them, namely: Kainate (KA), N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA or NMA) and quisqualate (QUIS). Glutamate is believed to be a mixed agonist capable of binding to and exciting all three receptor types.
Neurons which have EAA receptors on their dendritic or somal surfaces undergo acute excitotoxic degeneration when these receptors are excessively activated by glutamate. Thus, agents which selectively block or antagonize the action of glutamate at the EAA synaptic receptors of central neurons can prevent neurotoxic injury associated with anoxia, hypoxia or ischemia caused by stroke, cardiac arrest or perinatal asphyxia.
Aminophosphonic acids have been investigated as neurotransmitter blockers [see M. N. Perkins et al, Neuroscience Lett., 23, 333 (1981); and J. Davies et al, Neuroscience Lett., 21, 77 (1981)]. In particular, compounds such as 2-amino-4-(2-phosphonomethyl-phenyl)butyric acid and 2-(2-amino-2-carboxy)ethylphenylphosphonic acid have been synthesized for evaluation as antagonists in blocking the action of the neurotransmitter compounds L-glutamic acid and L-aspartic acid [K. Matoba et al, "Structural Modification of Bioactive Compounds II. Syntheses of Aminophosphonic Acids", Chem. Pharm. Bull., 32, (10) 3918-3925 (1984)].
An analogue of 2-amino-7-phosphonoheptanoic acid, namely 3-(2-carboxypiperazin-4-yl)propyl-1-phosphonic acid [CPP], has been reported as a potent and selective NMDA antagonist in an evaluation of CPP binding to rat brain hippocamal tissue [D. E. Murphy et al, J. Pharmacol, Exp. Ther., 240 (3), 778-784 (1987)].
U.S. Pat. No. 4,657,899 to Rzeszotarski et al, which issued, describes a class of w-[2-(phosphonoalkylenyl) phenyl]2-aminoalkanoic acids characterized as being selective excitatory amino acid neurotransmitter receptor blockers. These compounds are mentioned for use as anticonvulsants, antiepileptics, analgesics and cognition enhancers. Typical compounds of the class include 3-[2-phosphonomethylphenyl]-2-aminopropanoic acid and 3-[2-(2-phosphonoethyl)phenyl]-2-aminopropanoic acid.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,918,064 to Cordi et al, which issued 17 Apr. 1990, describes a class of phosphonomethylphenylglycine compounds for treatment to reduce neurotoxic injury associated with anoxia or ischemia which typically follows stroke, cardiac arrest or perinatal asphyxia.
Several classes of imidazopyrimidine compounds are known having various pharmaceutical uses. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,532,243 to Tully, which issued 30 Jul. 1985, describes a series of 5/7-alkylthio/alkoxy-imidazo [1,2-a]pyrimidines as anxiolytic agents. U.S. Pat. No. 4,636,502 to Spitzer, which issued 13 Jan. 1987, describes a series of 2-phenyl-imidazo[1,2-a]pyrimidines for use as inotropic agents and vasodilators.

Phosphonomethyl-imidazo[1,2-a]pyrimidine-2-carboxylic acid compounds for treatment of neurotoxic injury


A super-long thermal insulation steel jacket pipe and a machining process for making such a pipe are provided. The pipe is designed to exhibit good thermal insulation performance and corrosion resistance. An annular cavity of the pipe is in a vacuum state, and the pipe is internally provided with a support frame and filled with a phase change material. When the pipe is used for underground energy exploitation, temperature in a working steel pipe in the pipe can be effectively kept unaffected when external temperature decreases. The steel jacket pipe has long service life, and can greatly reduce costs of exploitation of petroleum and/or of an underground heat source, such as by reducing a heat loss in exploitation.

Currently, fire coal is used for heating in winter in most areas, and there is inevitably a loss of heating power during heating power transmission, and therefore consumption of fire coal increases sharply. With the continuous decrease of energy resources, reducing energy consumption has become one of problems to be resolved urgently.
Geothermal heat is heat energy contained in the earth. It has two different sources, one comes from an exterior of the earth, and the other comes from an interior of the earth. From the earth surface to the earth interior, impact of solar radiation gradually decreases, and to a specific depth, this impact disappears, temperature is unchanged all the year round, that is, the so-called "normal temperature layer" is reached. It can be seen from the normal temperature layer downwards that, impact of heat inside the earth on earth temperature gradually increases, and the heat energy from the earth interior is referred to as "internal heat." An increment of ground temperature when an underground depth is increased by 100 m or 1 km is referred to as a geothermal gradient. In view of development and utilization of geothermal energy resource, compared with other renewable energy sources, the geothermal energy resource has more development potential and is attracting increasing attention all over the world.
A geothermal resource is mainly applied to the following several aspects currently:                Geothermal power generation, which is a most direct manner of geothermal utilization. Principles of geothermal power generation and thermal power generation are the same, and they are that steam thermal energy in a turbine is transformed into mechanical energy, and then the mechanical energy drives a generator to generate electricity. A difference is that, unlike thermal power generation, geothermal power generation does not need a huge boiler and does not need to consume fuel, and energy used for geothermal power generation is geothermal energy. A process of geothermal power generation is a process in which underground heat energy is transformed into mechanical energy first and then the mechanical energy is transformed into electric energy. Currently, a heating medium that can be used by a geothermal power station is mainly natural steam and hot water underground.        Geothermal heating, which is a terrestrial heat utilization mode that ranks only second to geothermal power generation and in which geothermal energy is directly used for heating, supplying heat, and supplying hot water.        Application of geothermal energy in agriculture: geothermal water with suitable temperature is used to irrigate farmland, to make crops can early-mature and increase production of crops; geothermal water is used for fish-farming, fish fattening can be accelerated in 28° C. water, and a fish yield rate is increased; geothermal heat is used for greenhouse building, sprout cultivation, growing vegetables, and growing flowers; geothermal heat is used for heating a biogas digester, increasing a biogas yield, and the like.        Geothermal industrial utilization: geothermal water includes many valuable rare elements, radioactive elements, rare gases, and compounds such as bromine, iodine, boron, potassium, helium, heavy water, potassium salts, and the like, and is an indispensable raw material for national defense industry, atomic energy industry, chemical engineering industry, and agriculture.        Geothermal medical treatment and traveling: geothermal water has relatively high temperature, special chemical components, gas components, a small amount of biological active ions, radioactive substances, and the like, forms mineral mud in some geothermal areas, and has obvious medical treatment and health care effects on human body.
A geothermal energy resource has an extensive utilization value. To better use the geothermal resource, the following technical problems further need to be resolved: a low geothermal heat utilization, few exploitable geothermal resources, and high exploitation costs.
As a result of a limitation of current exploitation technologies, only shallow geothermal resources can be used. In an exploitation process, a thermal insulation effect of a tubular product is poor, which further reduces geothermal heat utilization and greatly affects exploitation and utilization of geothermal energy.
Similarly, during a process of underground petroleum exploitation, a thermal insulation effect of a pipe is poor, leading to an increase in difficulty in petroleum exploitation. Petroleum is also referred to as crude oil, which is brownish black combustible thick liquid exploited from deep underground. A freezing point of crude oil is approximately between −50° C. and 35° C. During an exploitation process, a thermal insulation effect of a pipe is poor, which easily leads to crude oil solidification in the exploitation pipe, and it is needed to timely heat the solidified crude oil to ensure smooth exploitation, which greatly increases costs and a period of petroleum exploitation. Therefore, during a petroleum exploitation process, a pipe with a good thermal insulation effect is also desired.
The Chinese Patent No. CN 2643136 Y (published on or about Sep. 22, 2004) describes a vacuum insulation pipe. An outer steel pipe is sleeved outside a working steel pipe. Several movable supports are fastened to the working steel pipe. Two ends of a fixed support are connected to the outer steel pipe and the working steel pipe, respectively. Thermal insulation cotton is filled between the working steel pipe and the outer steel pipe, and there is a vacuum state between the outer steel pipe and the working steel pipe. Vacuum thermal insulation improves thermal insulation performance of a tubular product. However, for a casing pipe with a relatively large length, the movable support cannot play support role well, and the outer steel pipe and the working steel pipe of this product are connected by relying on the fixed support. When the product is used for underground work at a depth of thousands of meters, deformation is easily caused, leading to a failure of the fixed support and seriously shortening a service life of the pipe.
The Chinese Utility Model No. CN 208090184 U (published on or about Nov. 13, 2018) describes an insulation steel jacket pipe, including a working steel pipe, a PPR pipe sleeved outside the working steel pipe, and a protecting steel pipe sleeved outside the PPR pipe, where an airtight cavity is formed between the working steel pipe and the PPR pipe; a support frame configured to make the working steel pipe and the PPR pipe keep coaxial is disposed between the working steel pipe and the PPR pipe; and a heating element is further disposed on an outer wall of the working steel pipe. A PPR pipe is further disposed in the middle of the insulation steel jacket pipe, and the heating element is disposed on the outer wall of the working steel pipe, so as to implement an thermal insulation effect of the insulation steel jacket pipe. The steel pipe cannot be applicable to underground heat source exploitation work, and the addition of the PPR pipe may improve the thermal insulation effect to a specific extent. However, in a working environment with relatively high geothermal temperature, the PPR pipe is heated and deformed, and consequently, the thermal insulation effect is rapidly reduced.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a super-long thermal insulation steel jacket pipe that can be used for exploitation and development of underground geothermal resources and petroleum resources, and that has a good thermal insulation effect and long service life.

Super-long thermal insulation steel jacket pipe and machining process thereof

SHINDA (TANGSHAN) CREATIVE OIL & GAS EQUIPMENT CO., LTD.


A method for manufacturing a sheet molded part by polymerization of lactams in a sheet mold includes the steps of placing a fiber composite material into a sheet mold having large plane surfaces and fixedly positioning the fiber composite material in the sheet mold. Subsequently, the lactams are introduced into the sheet mold and the lactams are polymerized.

The invention relates to a process for manufacturing molded parts by polymerization of lactams in molds with addition of fiber composite material. The invention relates furthermore to novel molded parts produced according to the inventive process.
The technical manufacture of molded parts from lactams, preferably by activated alkaline quick polymerization or block polymerization has been in use for approximately 30 years. The term molded parts in the context of the present invention refers to elements that can be produced with the known casting and polymerization techniques and which include semi-finished products, shaped elements etc.
In the field of machine and apparatus construction, for example, it has been attempted for many years to replace sheet metal with other materials that have technical and/or financial advantages in their manufacture and/or their application. As alternative materials, among others, plastic materials have found acceptance which have versatile properties and can be matched very precisely to respective requirements. However, to date no plastic material has been found with which can replace metals completely with respect to strength, stability, hardness, stiffness, tenacity, temperature resistance, behavior in fire etc. Insofar as individual plastic materials have at least partially reached the technological properties of metal or in some cases even surpass them, their use is, in general, not comparable to the use of metals with respect to economic considerations. It is thus still necessary to select for each application the respective optimal replacement plastic material from a great palette of possible variants in order to comply optimally with the respective profile of specifications.
Fields for the use of sheet plastic molded parts are the automobile industry and transportation. In these fields sheet molded parts are used which in the past have been made from sheet metal. In the recent past, these molded parts have been replaced in particular by thermosetting materials, whereby especially unsaturated polyester resins (UP resins), polyurethanes (PU resins), and epoxide resins (EP resins) have been popular. For mechanically minimally loaded parts, thermoplastic materials have been used more and more whereby mostly the mass-produced plastics polypropylene (PP), polycarbonate (PC), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), and different mixtures are being used.
The plurality of employed plastic materials, especially in the automobile industry, has been considered more and more as a disadvantage in comparison to the metallic materials because in the recent past a need for recycling and reuse of the discarded old apparatus has developed. While the metal recycling problem has been solved for years substantially by scrap metal treatment, plastic recycling is still in the start-up phase. It has been shown already that a sorting according to plastic types is very complicated and expensive. Instead, it seams to be more useful to employ from the beginning only a small number of plastic materials. These plastic materials should then be used for the respective applications in large quantities, in the automobile industry, for example, for bumpers, side panels, fenders, roofs, the underbody groups, engine compartment hood etc. In this context, it is desirable to provide only one plastic material for a large number of applications.
Important parameters for recycling of plastics is the required energy expenditure and the reworking degree of the remaining plastic to new plastic parts. Conventionally, the plastic parts are comminuted and foreign materials are cleaned off. The resulting raw material is, in general, available in granular form. When a thermoplastic material is provided it can be used completely in injection molding machines to produce new parts. However, thermosetting plastics do not melt under comparable conditions and can only be used partially as a filler material when new thermosetting parts are produced. Thus, the thermoplastic materials due to their complete recyclability have become more and more important in comparison to thermosetting materials so that more emphasis has been placed on the search for suitable thermoplastic replacement materials.
A known thermoplastic material with an especially balanced property spectrum is polyamide which is already being used for manufacturing high quality technical parts. Polyamides can be affected with respect to their technological properties so that they are interesting as a replacement for metals with respect to technical and economic considerations. However, thermoplastics could not be used in the past for producing sheet molded parts, i.e., parts that have thin walls relative to their surface area. Especially for supporting parts, which must withstand strong mechanical forces without breaking, thermosetting elements in addition to sheet metal still dominate.
Molded parts of polyamide can be produced, for example, by polymerization of lactams. The technical manufacture of molded parts from lactams, preferably by activated alkaline quick polymerization or block polymerization, has been used for approximately 30 years. The term sheet molded parts in the context of the present invention includes conventionally produced molded parts made of foil, sheet metal, or other large surface area materials which conventionally have a large surface area and a relative minimal thickness.
In general, molded parts of lactams are produced by polymerization of lactams in casting molds and, in comparison to conventional plastic elements, for example, also comprised of polyamide, are in general harder, stiffer, and more wear resistant. This is primarily a result of their higher crystallinity. By predetermining the method parameters such as temperature, residence time, etc., as well as by selecting the additives to be used and the post-treatment, the respective technological properties of the molded parts can be affected. Most of these aforementioned conditions, however, can only be maintained with very great economical and technical expenditure. The high crystallinity has primarily the effect that the shaped parts produced from lactams also have a high brittleness. Thus, the molded parts produced from lactams in conventional methods can be destroyed in an explosion-like fracture by suddenly occurring overloads due to a so-called cold flow. This can result in considerable damage in connection with constructive parts relevant to safety aspects.
Even though in the prior art the use of fiber glass-reinforced thermosetting resins cured from monomers in molds, these prior art methods cannot be simply transferred by a person skilled in the art. Thermosetting plastics, i.e., fiber glass plastics in the conventional sense, are produced by radical-induced polymerization. The manufacture of molded parts with polymerization of lactams relates to thermoplastic materials produced by anionic polymerization. This process concerns parameters that are of no consequence in radical polymerization. Thus, the transfer of methodological knowledge of the thermosetting plastic manufacture cannot be simply applied to the thermoplastic manufacture by lactam polymerization since the anionic polymerization is subject to its own rules. The rules for thermosetting plastic manufacture cannot be transferred.
Special problems for the anionic polymerization of lactams result, for example, from method parameters in regard to moisture and the sensitivity of the lactams to polar substances. For example, it is not possible to embed conventional fiber glass plastics into the lactams, but they must fulfill certain criteria in regard to the method parameters.
Methods for manufacturing molded parts by polymerization of lactams are, for example, known from DE 1 174 982 A1 and DE 1 910 175 A1. The first mentioned method discloses the manufacture of cast polyamide shaped bodies which are produced by rotational casting whereby the rotational forces may not surpass the gravitational forces. Even though the general possibility of introducing filler materials is disclosed, it is not recognized here with which measures defined technological properties can be produced. DE 1 910 175 A1 discloses also a method for producing polyamide cast parts whereby mats are introduced for increasing the stiffness of thin-walled molded parts. There is no disclosure in regard to the directed use of fibers or the use of a certain type of fibers.
In DE 2 050 572 A1, DE 1 214 865 A1, and DE 1 066 012 A1, rotational and spinning cast methods are disclosed which describe method details but no relation to the manufacture of molded parts fiber-reinforced in a directed manner.
It is an object of the present invention to improve a method for manufacturing molded parts by polymerization of lactams in molds such that the resistance of the inventively produced molded parts with respect to suddenly occurring load peaks is increased and the reproducibility of the defined technological properties of the inventively produced molded parts is improved.

Process for producing molded parts by polymerization of lactams in molds