A vanity case which comprises a case body having a cavity, a lid coupled to the back section of the case body, an inner plate received in the cavity, and a slide piece housed in between the case body and the inner plate. The lid has an engaging claw piece formed hanging down on the front of its underside; the slide piece has an engaging arm protruding above and is always biased backwards. When the lid is closed, the engaging claw piece engages the engaging arm. A rear end wall in the rear of the case body is formed to be elastically deformable toward the front, and when the rear end wall is pushed toward the front, the slide piece whose rear end is opposite the rear end wall is moved forwards, thereby releasing the engagement between the engaging arm and the engaging claw piece and opening the lid.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vanity case for containing a cosmetic material that can improve appearance when its lid is closed against its case body and that can secure good operability with preventing the intrusion of dust into the case body.
2. Description of the Related Art
To date, a vanity case of which the lid is opened by operation at the rear of its case body has been known (refer to Japanese Examined Utility Model Application Publication No. S62-13530). This vanity case has a recess formed in the back of its case body, and the hinge blocks of a lid are received in and coupled to the recess thus allowing the lid to be openable/closable against the case body. Further, a guide groove is formed in the inside bottom surface of the case body, and a slide piece is disposed in the guide groove, which is slidable backwards and forwards in the case body and biased so as to be returnable to a predetermined back position. The slide piece has an upright portion, on the inward face of which a tab is formed opposite an engaging member protruding from the underside of the lid so as to detachably engage with it. The rear end of the slide piece protrudes into the recess of the case body without contacting the hinge blocks of the lid. An elastic member for biasing the lid toward opening is interposed in between the underside of the periphery of the lid and the top of the periphery of the case body. By pushing the rear end of the slide piece forwards, the engagement between the tab of the slide piece and the engaging member of the lid is released, thus opening the lid.
In the above vanity case, the rear end of the slide piece, which is pushed forwards when the lid is opened, protrudes into the recess of the case body, exposing itself to the outside. Hence, when the rear end of the slide piece is pushed forwards, the back face of the case body is partly recessed between the hinge blocks of the lid. Accordingly, there is the problem that the appearance is not good for a vanity case.
Further, because the recess is directly open to behind the case body, dust or the like is likely to intrude into the case body.
Yet further, because the width of the rear end of the slide piece is limited by the width of the recess, if the width of the recess is reduced to prevent the intrusion of dust or the like, the width of the rear end of the slide piece to be touched by a finger for push operation is also reduced, and thus, smooth operability cannot be secured. Conversely, if the width of the recess and thus the width of the rear end of the slide piece are increased, dust or the like is more likely to intrude into the case body.


A frictionless bearing chassis dynamometer including a pair of laterally spaced-apart rolls adapted to be engaged and driven by a pair of wheels of a vehicle. A power exchange unit is disposed between the rolls and includes an input shaft fixedly coupled to each of the rolls. The input shaft is supported at its opposite ends by bearing assemblies which each include inner and outer annular bearings and an inner/outer race member disposed therebetween, which forms an outer race for the inner annular bearing and an inner race for the outer annular bearing. Independent bearing motor drive assemblies are coupled to each of the inner/outer race members by independently drivable bearing drive hubs, pulleys and drive belts. Independent bearing motor drive assemblies drive the bearing drive hubs at speeds slightly above and below the rotational speed of the input shaft, to thereby drive the inner/outer race members of each bearing assembly at speeds either slightly below or slightly above the rotational speed of the input shaft. In a preferred embodiment one of the bearing drive hubs is driven slower than the speed of the input shaft while the other bearing drive hub is driven at a speed slightly faster than the input shaft, and the speeds at which the bearing drive hubs are caused to rotate are periodically swapped such that each drive hub is alternately driven at speeds slightly above and below the rotational speed of the input shaft, to thereby cancel frictional forces normally introduced by each of the inner annular bearings.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates to chassis dynamometers, and more particularly to a frictionless chassis dynamometer incorporating concentrically disposed inner and outer roller bearings operable to cancel or mask frictional forces introduced by the bearings during operation of the dynamometer.
2. Discussion
Chassis dynamometers are used in a wide variety of applications, and particularly in connection with the testing of motor vehicle engine emissions pursuant to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) emissions regulations for motor vehicles. Such dynamometers typically incorporate one or more "rolls" which are driven by one or more wheels of the vehicle under test. The rolls are typically coupled to an input shaft of some form of power absorption, or exchange, device which provides a controlled degree of rolling resistance to the rolls to simulate the road load and inertia forces normally encountered during vehicle operation.
The input shaft of the power absorption device and/or the rolls is typically supported by an annular roller bearing which is interposed between the input shaft of the power exchange device and a frame portion of the dynamometer. The bearing supports the input shaft and enables rotational movement of the input shaft relative to the fixed frame portion.
To compensate for the frictional forces introduced by the bearing on the input shaft, the dynamometer typically must be run for at least about twenty to thirty minutes to "warm-up" the bearings. It is then presumed that the friction of the bearings will vary with speed in accordance with known friction versus speed characteristics. These friction characteristics are stored in an external controller memory and then mathematically subtracted out from measurement data obtained by the dynamometer by an external controller by known friction compensation algorithms. The drawback with this approach, however, is that the friction of the bearings varies not only with speed but also with the temperature of the bearings, the loading on the bearings, and the duration of operating time intervals. These factors have proven difficult to accurately compensate for with correction algorithms. Moreover, friction compensation algorithms do not allow for variations in the degree of compensation being applied during an actual vehicle simulation test, only during execution of the compensation program itself. Accordingly, unaccounted for changes in vehicle loading or ambient room temperatures that occur during a vehicle simulation test would not be compensated for by conventional friction compensation algorithms.
Temperature, in particular, can prove especially difficult to determine and compensate for. More and more applications are requiring that dynamometers be operated in a cold testing facility (CTF) to enable carbon monoxide emissions to be measured at cold temperatures in accordance with EPA regulations. Since such "cold rooms" are also frequently used at significantly higher temperatures, the temperatures of the component parts of the dynamometer, and particularly the bearings, do not "settle" or become stable quickly. This is due in large part to the mass of the various components of the dynamometer, and the fact that many components, such as the rolls and bearings, are made from metal and thus form excellent paths for the transfer of heat and cold. Thus, while the ambient room temperature may stabilize quickly, the temperatures of the component parts of the dynamometer, and particularly the bearings, will not. Accordingly, bearing friction is particularly difficult, if not impossible, to accurately estimate and account for in test data, and stable bearings cannot be obtained until their temperatures stabilize.
Prior systems have attempted to alleviate this problem by providing means for heating the bearings such as by heated oil circulation systems or by closely regulating the temperature of the test cell in which the dynamometer is located. However, these systems have proven somewhat costly and unable to provide the degree of control necessary to accurately account for rapid ambient temperature changes.
With prior designs of chassis dynamometers, the bearings supporting the rolls and/or input shaft must also be selected with precision as a foremost consideration, rather than high durability. This usually means that high cost bearings must be used that introduce a minimum amount of friction, at the expense of lower cost bearings that have high durability but which introduce a greater amount of friction. Since higher precision, lower durability bearings are typically used, bearing maintenance and failure are higher than what would otherwise be experienced with high durability bearings. Moreover, periodic friction calibrations are typically required to compensate for variations in friction of the bearings resulting from wear.

Frictionless bearing chassis dynamometer


A retractable fitting assembly may include a cover that is rotatable around a first axis between closed and open positions, and a fitting that is rotatable around a second axis between closed and open positions. The first and second axes may be spaced apart and generally parallel. The direction of rotation of the fitting from the closed position to the open position may be opposite the direction of rotation of the cover from the closed position to the open position. In the closed position of the cover and the open position of the fitting, at least a portion of the cover abuts the fitting to thereby hinder rotation of the fitting.

Known methods for securing pallets and containers for transportation may be time-consuming. Hardware such as straps, chains, stanchions, and lumber for blocking and bracing may be required. Fittings incorporated into decks, floors, walls, bulkheads, trailer beds, railroad cars, pick-up trucks, warehouse floors, cargo areas, and the like are known, but many of these fittings may not be retractable. Retractable fittings may be desirable because, when the fittings are retracted, the fittings may not obstruct the surrounding surface.
The Joint Modular Intermodal Container (JMIC) is known, for example, from U.S. patent application publication 20070215015, published on Sep. 20, 2007, which is hereby expressly incorporated by reference. JMICs may be equipped with interface fittings located at each top corner and receivers located at each bottom corner. When JMICs are stacked on one another, the fittings of the lower JMIC may fit into the receivers of the top JMIC. The JMICs may be locked to each other utilizing a locking feature. The locking capability may be used to lock JMICs to a deck that is equipped with JMIC type interface fittings. JMIC type deck fittings may enable JMICs to be secured in place on any deck surface, whether stationary or moveable. The deck fitting may be required to lock in a vertical position to ensure proper JMIC interface and locking. The deck fitting may allow JMICs to be secured in position easily without tools or hardware, thereby eliminating stanchions, straps, or chains commonly used for securing loads.
Fittings incorporated into decks, platforms, and floors may be required to be retractable or removable so that pallets and containers other than JMICs may be placed without interference. In addition, retractable fittings may allow unobstructed access for forklift and pallet trucks, and may remove potential tripping hazards to personnel. An additional benefit of retractable fittings may be for use as a general tie-down for pallets and containers, other than JMIC. Retractable deck fittings may greatly increase the efficiency of securing cargo, compared to current methods, and may eliminate the need for additional hardware. Retractable fittings may be desirable anywhere an anchor point may be needed, such as, for example, a pick-up truck bed, an industrial plant, a piece of machinery, recreational equipment, and countless other areas.

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy


The invention provides flow batteries including an anthraquinone and methods of discharging the batteries that reduce loss of capacity. The loss of capacity of anthraquinones may be mitigated by controlling the state of charge and/or oxidizing the negolyte.

The cost of electricity generated from renewable sources such as the sun and wind has become competitive with electricity derived from fossil fuels. Nonetheless, the widespread adoption of intermittent renewable electricity requires new methods for the reliable storage and delivery of electricity over long periods when these sources are unavailable for generation. Redox flow batteries (RFBs), whose energy and power capabilities can be scaled independently, may enable cost-effective long-duration discharge.
The all-vanadium redox flow battery chemistry is currently the most technologically developed but may not access much of the grid storage market due to electrolyte cost constraints. Emerging organic electrolytes comprising cheaper earth-abundant elements may address this limitation. However, organic electrolytes are more prone to molecular decomposition, which can lead to a progressive loss of charge storage capacity. Although several studies have proposed decomposition pathways, such as Michael addition, nucleophilic substitution, electrophilic aromatic substitution, ring-opening, and disproportionation, none of these pathways have been linked quantitatively to capacity fade.

Extending the lifetime of organic flow batteries via redox state management

President and Fellows of Harvard College


A pet pocket bed/pad comprising of a hollow flexible shell, top wall, bottom wall, surrounding walls which interconnect the top and bottom wall, fill material is disposed inside, to create a pet bed/pad. Additional compartment is added underneath comprising of three side walls, bottom wall, interconnecting the bottom wall of the upper pet bed, to create a pocket compartment, which is equal or greater, with an opening on one end or side, to allow a solid planar flat surface to be inserted inside, working in combination with the bed/pad, secured with closure to keep the flat surface inside the pocket, which prevents bunching up. Padded inserts comprising of a top and bottom wall, surrounding walls interconnected, will create a pillow of similar size and perimeter, to be inserted inside the interior underneath pocket of the bed/pad, to customize the plushness for additional comfort.

The present invention relates to bedding/padding and more specifically, to bedding for a pet such as a dog. Traditional bedding for dogs is in the form of a cushion filled with fibrous material, which provides an interior cushioning to support the weight of the dog and provide comfort while the pet is laying down.
Pet beds have been around for years and come in all shapes and sizes to provide comfort for pets. Pets instinctively dig and bunch up their bedding to create a "nest" to lay down on as if they were in the wild. Pet owners are constantly flattening out their pets bedding so their pet can lay down comfortably on flat bedding.
Though different pet beds have been available in the marketplace, there has been a need for improvement. This new pet pocket bed design prevents bunching up of bedding and allows pet owners to customize the thickness and plushness of their pets bed to insure their comfort. The pet bed works in combination with a flat rigid surface to keep the bedding flat.
Pet crate beds currently on the market are placed in a pet's crate, on top of the included standard plastic tray pan, which the bed can easily slide and move by the pets movement within the crate, causing the owner to bend or "climb" uncomfortably into the crate to flatten out the bedding for their pet's comfort. This pet pocket bed will resolve this issue and keep the bedding flat.
This new pet pocket bed/pad prevents bedding from bunching up by inserting a flat rigid surface inside a compartment added underneath or inside the pet bed, which keeps the bedding flat and rigid, while allowing pet owners to add plush inserts to customize the plushness of their pets bed.
This Pocket Bed/Pad can also be used in any medical setting, made of one time use plastic with absorbent top, with and not limited to adhesive edges for closure to insure a tight custom fit, with perforated edges for easy tear away removal. The pocket pad will allow an exam table, surgical table, cage tray pan or crate tray to be inserted inside, to keep the pad flat and rigid to prevent bunching up which would keep the pad away from sutures or wounds and allow easy clean up after exams.

Pocket bed pad with padded inserts for customized plushness


An electronic element testing apparatus for use with a number of probes. Each probe has a lower pole and an upper pole. The apparatus includes: a first plate having a first side and a second side, the first side having an array of lower pole regions disposed thereabout, each lower pole region configured to receive a lower pole of a probe; and a plurality of signal conductor regions disposed proximate the array of lower pole regions, each signal conductor region arranged to provide a non-cable electrical path between a lower pole region and a switching circuit. The switching circuits are operable to sequentially connect each electronic element to a testing circuit via the upper and lower poles.

Aspects of this invention relate generally to testing of electronic elements, and more particularly to an apparatus and system for testing a number of electronic elements such as semiconductor devices using a number of probes, and to a method for sorting a number of electronic elements into a number of receptacles.
Electronic elements such as semiconductor devices typically undergo testing prior to various stages of packaging. FIG. 1 is a simplified diagram of a typical electronic element 100, such as a diode, which includes an active element 102 in chip form (typically silicon) doped with small amounts of boron, arsenic, phosphorus, zinc, germanium, or other elements. Active element 102 is in contact with terminal regions 104. Two terminal regions 104 are shown, although additional terminal regions are possible. Terminal regions 104 may take the form of thin layers of metals such as aluminum, gold or titanium prior to being bonded to a lead frame (not shown). After bonding to a lead frame, terminal regions 104 may take the form of gold or aluminum wires.
Prior to various stages of packaging electronic element 100, such as prior to attaching a lead frame thereto, and/or prior to enclosing electronic element 100 in a case of glass, plastic or metal, it is desirable to use terminal regions 104 to measure certain electrical characteristics of electronic element 100 using probes and a testing circuit—similar devices with satisfactory electrical characteristics may then be separated from devices with unsatisfactory electrical characteristics.
Probes are conductive elements that contact terminal regions 104 of an electronic element 100, and provide at least a portion of an electrical path to a testing circuit. As shown in FIG. 1, a probe 105 has an upper pole 106 in contact with one terminal region 104 of electronic element 100, and has a lower pole 108 in contact with another terminal region 104, although more than two terminal regions of electronic element 100 may be in contact with probes.
Examples of measured electrical characteristics of a diode include, but are not limited to, reverse current of the diode, forward voltage of the diode, and reverse breakdown voltage of the diode. A schematic diagram of a testing circuit 200 suitable for testing diode reverse current (IR) is shown in FIG. 2, and a schematic diagram of a testing circuit 300 suitable for testing diode forward voltage (VF) is shown in FIG. 3.
In one conventional testing technique, semiconductor devices are tested and sorted individually—one-by-one, devices are mechanically transferred to and from a testing station, where they are electrically connected to probes and testing circuits.
Another known testing technique involves testing several (usually less than ten) devices in a single cycle at a testing station. In the latter technique, probes are connected to switches using wire cable, and the switches are responsive to testing circuits. Switches and testing circuits are often integrated onto switching boards.
One factor that reduces the efficiency of manufacturing and/or assembly operations of semiconductor devices is the amount of time the devices spend being transferred to and from testing stations. One way to reduce device transfer time during testing is to increase the number of devices tested per cycle. The complexity of corresponding testing hardware and control generally increases, however, in proportion to the number of devices tested per cycle. In particular, (1) the volume and complexity of wire cables connecting probes with switching boards increases, making the testing hardware more difficult to maintain or re-configure, and (2) performing post-testing sorting operations, including the management of testing results, becomes more difficult. Maintenance, reconfiguration, and result management difficulties are further exacerbated when devices of different shapes, sizes and electrical characteristics are tested in the same cycle.
There are therefore needs for apparatuses, systems, and methods for testing electronic elements, which increase efficiency of testing processes, while enhancing serviceability and configurability of testing hardware.

Apparatus, system and method for testing electronic elements


When there is a call from outside while a conversation is being had between handsets through an extension line on the called side, a facsimile communication control module is connected with a communication line if a facsimile machine is set to a facsimile signal reception mode whereas users of the handsets are informed of arrival of a call from outside and one handset which is still off hooked after a predetermined period is connected with the communication line if the facsimile machine is set to another mode.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a facsimile apparatus which is connectable with a plurality of telephones (handsets) and which allows extension-line-communication between the telephones.
1. Background Art
For example, a conventional facsimile machine of the above-mentioned type is connected with a built-in handset and a second handset and allows extension-line-communication between these handsets. It would be convenient if an in-house handset user would be informed of the fact that a call comes from outside (e.g., a communication terminal) during the in-house or extension line communication. Generally, the conventional facsimile machine activates a buzzer, which is incorporated therein, to give notice of such a calling.
However, since the conventional facsimile machine only makes a buzzer sound, the in-house handset user cannot know whether it is a call from a person or a facsimile machine. Accordingly, the user on the called side should interrupt his/her conversation when he/she hears the buzzer, and then determine whether a voice or a facsimile signal is transmitted from outside. If a voice is heard, the user on the called side will talk with the calling person without any inconvenience. However, if it is a facsimile signal, the user should switch the connection of the line or trunk from the telephone to the facsimile machine to receive the facsimile signal. This is inconvenient and troublesome.
Another type of conventional facsimile apparatus has a facsimile communication control module connected with a communication line. (A branch telephone of the facsimile apparatus is also connected with the line.) In this arrangement, in order to detect on-hooking and off-hooking of the branch, telephone, the conventional facsimile apparatus generally includes a hook detector circuit which determines the hooking state of the branch telephone by comparing the voltage of the line with a reference voltage. When the branch telephone is off hooked, the voltage of the line generally drops, for example from 48 V to about 10 V. Taking advantage of this, an appropriate value between 10 V and 48 V is chosen as the reference voltage and it is compared with the voltage of the line. If the former is lower than the latter, the facsimile apparatus judges that the branch telephone is on-hooked. Otherwise, it is judged that the branch telephone is in an off-hook state. In short, the conventional facsimile apparatus employs an analog hook-state detecting circuit to determine the on/off hooking of the branch telephone.
If a second handset is further attached to the facsimile apparatus via a modular jack, it is necessary to detect dial pulses from the branch telephone and the second handset before a call from outside is transferred to the branch telephone or the second handset or when a user of one handset wants to talk to another user of the other handset. In this case, the conventional facsimile apparatus analogously processes the voltage of the line during generation (or transmission) of the dial pulses to detect the number of the dial pulses. Specifically, the number of the dial pulses is determined based on output from a photocoupler which detects an off-hooking of the telephone (or handset). The dial pulse originally has a rectangular or square waveform as illustrated in FIG. 10 of the accompanying drawings, but the waveform may have crackings as depicted in FIG. 11 for various reasons. If the dial pulse has such a waveform, it is not possible to correctly determine the number of the dial pulses.
This type of facsimile apparatus is desired to receive a facsimile signal from outside without making any sound (ringing or bell sound) at a built-in handset when a ringing signal is transmitted from a line switching device, for example, when the facsimile apparatus is in a dial-in mode (a mode for a direct inward dialing) or a telephone/facsimile mode. Conventionally, in order to perform such a no-ringing reception, a relay switch between the communication line and the built-in handset is turned off to disconnect the built-in handset from the communication line.
For this end, however, the conventional facsimile apparatus should include a relay switch to connect and disconnect the built-in handset with/from the communication line so that an additional cost for such a switch is required and a switching control for the switching operation is also necessary.
In addition, since the conventional facsimile apparatus turns off the relay switch to disconnect the built-in handset from the communication line, it is impossible to use various functions and elements incorporated in the built-in handset such as a speech network during the disconnected state.


An apparatus including a downhole tool for conveyance in a wellbore extending into a subterranean formation. The downhole tool includes a feature to physically interface a sidewall of the wellbore, and first and second setting pistons each extendable from the downhole tool opposite the feature. The downhole tool also includes a rigid member spanning and extendable with the first and second setting pistons, wherein a length of the rigid member is variable.

Some downhole tools (e.g., well logging tools) include one or more devices that measure various properties of the subterranean formations and/or perform certain mechanical acts on the formation. To accomplish the aforementioned operations, a seal may be created between a probe of the well logging tool and the sidewall of a wellbore. The inability, however, to centralize the well logging tool in the wellbore may result in an incomplete seal between a packer and the sidewall of the wellbore.

Extendable and elongating mechanism for centralizing a downhole tool within a subterranean wellbore


A control rod assembly is provided for moving a control surface of a flight vehicle. The control rod assembly includes a first connector for connecting to a first structure of vehicle, and a second connector for connecting to a second structure of the vehicle. A connecting rod may be operably coupled between the first and second connectors, and an actuator may be operably coupled to the connecting rod. The actuator may include a screw-and-nut assembly, and a motor that is configured to drive the screw-and-nut assembly. The actuator may be operable such that driving the screw-and-nut assembly via the motor causes the connecting rod to translate linearly along a longitudinal axis to thereby vary a distance between the first and second connectors. The actuators may be electromechanical actuators which may be controlled by a controller without pilot interaction. Two such actuators may be provided on opposite sides of the assembly.

Aircraft typically include a plurality of flight control surfaces that, when controllably positioned, guide movement of the aircraft through the air. The number and type of flight control surfaces included in an aircraft may vary, but typically both primary flight control surfaces and secondary flight control surfaces are included. The primary flight control surfaces are those that are used to control aircraft movement about the pitch, yaw and roll axes, and the secondary flight control surfaces are those that are used to influence the lift or drag (or both) of the aircraft.
Control rods are widely used in conventional (non-fly-by-wire) flight vehicles, such as fixed wing aircraft (e.g., airplanes) and rotating wing aircraft (e.g., helicopters), to move the control surfaces and guide movement of the flight vehicle. In conventional flight control systems, the control rod is a fixed length mechanical element that moves upon an action by the pilot.
For helicopters, in particular, the main rotor assembly typically includes a swash plate assembly having an upper swash plate and a lower swash plate through which the pilot communicates adjustments of the rotor blades via one or more control rods. The upper swash plate is connected to a rotor shaft which is rotated by the helicopter engine, thereby causing rotation of the upper swash plate and the rotor blades via a hub. Pitch control rods from the upper swash plate are coupled to the rotor blades to transfer movements of the upper swash plate to the blades. The lower swash plate is fixed in position, and ball bearings are interposed between the upper and lower swash plates to allow the upper swash plate to spin freely on top of the lower swash plate. Control rods attached to the lower swash plate connect to cyclic- and collective-pitch levers. When the pilot operates these levers, the pilot's inputs are transmitted via the control rods to the lower swash plate and then to the upper swash plate, thereby enabling the pilot to manipulate the swash plate assembly and control the helicopter's motion.

Electromechanically actuated control rod for flight vehicles


A platform for remotely installing an operating system on a client machine includes a builder engine, for instance running on a support server. The builder engine may interrogate a remote client, for instance a diskless thin client or a machine having a disk but malfunctioning, and receive a machine state image from that machine. The builder engine may then assemble a customized image or kernel of an operating system such as Microsoft Windows™ for transmission to the client. A file system may be initialized in electronic memory, or otherwise and the machine may commence operation, without having executed an operating system setup process. In embodiments, the client machine may then link to a complete image of an operating system to reinstall a comprehensive version of that system, or perform other tasks.

Computer networks of increasing size and complexity have resulted in corresponding challenges to network installation and maintenance. For instance, a company may deploy a large collection, from dozens to thousands or more, of personal computers or other client machines to support database, email or other services. Some of those machines may be thin network clients, lacking a hard drive or other mass storage medium. Others may contain a hard drive or other storage, but be prone to random hardware failures. In these cases and others, it may become difficult for a systems administrator or others to get a machine to boot into an operating system, such as the Microsoft Windows™ NT™, Windows™ 2000, Windows™ XP™ or other operating systems.
Remote installers designed to inject an operating system into a diskless or failed machine are commercially available. Those platforms typically transmit a small kernel of relatively primitive operating code, such as Microsoft DOS™, to a target machine to instigate file access and other operation. However, such platforms are not capable of installing a relatively comprehensive operating system, such as the aforementioned varieties of Microsoft Windows™, nor are they capable of detecting various types of installed hardware on the target machine, to customize the transmitted operating system accordingly. Other problems exist.

System and method for custom installation of an operating system on a remote client


Disclosed herein is a destacking device for dispensing planar food products, such as tortillas, from a stack bottom. In some embodiments of the invention, the device includes a frame and a carriage assembly configured for linear reciprocation with respect to the frame. The carriage assembly has a drum that rotates in response to linear reciprocation of the carriage assembly, and a suction lip is positioned proximal a wall of the drum. A stack of tortillas can be disposed on the suction lip, and a negative pressure is applied to close the suction lip and “suck” a bottommost tortilla against the lip. A movable arm has a leading edge for cooperating with the suction lip to separate the bottommost tortilla from a next bottommost tortilla. The drum rotates the suction lip and tortilla, and the vacuum is released to allow the tortilla to fall downwardly onto an endless belt.

Devices are known in the art for removing food product from the top of a stack thereof. However, because a stack needs to be replenished as product is removed from the top, such devices can present operational inefficiency, as it is difficult to replenish the stack while the machine engages the stack. More particularly, a user of a top-side destacker must often deactivate the top-side destacker before replenishing the stack, thereby resulting in device down-time What is needed in the art is a device for efficiently separating and dispensing planar food products, such as tortillas, from the bottom of a stack thereof.


A policy-controlled authorization system for managing tokens used to access services in a cloud based multi-tenant system. The policy-controlled authorization system includes a local application that executes on a client device, a policy component including a plurality of policies, and a mid-link server, coupled to the client device. A request for access to a service on a remote application running on a remote instance of a web server is provided by the local application. A token is required to access the service. A correlator correlates the token with the plurality of tokens for identifying a policy from the plurality of policies associated with the token. A token inspector authorizes the token for accessing the service based on the correlation. Based on the authorization, either the token is authorized for access to the service via the remote application, or the token is blocked when unauthorized to prevent access to the service.

This disclosure relates in general to token-based authorization systems and, but not by way of limitation, to policy-controlled authorization and management of tokens for secure access to services among other things.
Tokens are used by local applications on a user device to access services using remote applications of the services. For example, user application connects to another application, or an application connects to other application. Tokens are also used for cloud to cloud interactions and enterprises can identify the tokens either as brokers or by connecting into the cloud application managed by Information Technology (IT) professionals of the enterprise which provide the access. Monitoring the tokens is problematic especially when an organization desires to control the local applications that may access their cloud systems. The cloud systems being open accepts the tokens with an authorization from a user and therefore lacks an administrator control. The tokens may be malicious or unauthorized by the organization. Additionally, some tokens may be unidentifiable thereby causing difficulty in tracing the service associated with them. Moreover, usage of these tokens may pose a security threat for the organization leading to credibility and financial loss.
Tracking and inspection of the tokens is performed by an Information Technology (IT) staff of the organization. The malicious, compromised, nefarious, anonymous, and the unauthorized tokens are revoked by the IT staff after being authorized by the user. However, manual inspection of the tokens is time-consuming and is an inefficient way to address the malicious and the unauthorized tokens.


4-Substituted-1,4-dihydropyridines are prepared by a cycloaddition reaction in which the cyclization is driven to completion, after thermal reaction, by addition of an acid. Felodipine, a vasodilator, is prepared by a cycloaddition reaction of ethyl 3-aminocrotonate with a suitably substituted dichlorobenzylidine under reaction conditions whereby the product crystallizes out of the reaction solution and may be directly isolated by filtration.

Felodipine, the compound of Formula Ib, is a known vasodilator (Merck Index 11,3895 and references cited therein). Other phenyl-1,4-dihydro- pyridine compounds have also been disclosed which have therapeutic activity in the treatment of heart disease (see for example: U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,220,649; 4,705,797; 4,769,374; 4,806,544; 4,874,773; and EPO Appl. Nos. 0 089 167, 0 063 365 and 0 342 182). ##STR1##
The preparation of felodipine and related compounds typically involves a multistep synthesis, the last step of which usually involves formation of the dihydropyridine ring. Formation of the 4-aryl dihydropyridines has been accomplished by either simultaneous reaction of an aromatic aldehyde, an acetoacetate ester and a 3-aminocrotonic acid ester in an alcohol solvent (see for example U.S. Pat. No. 4,264,611) or a stepwise procedure of reacting an aromatic aldehyde with an acetoacetate ester and then reacting the resulting benzylidene with a 3-amino crotonic acid ester (see for example: EPO Appl. No. 0 319 814). Regardless of whether the sequence of reactions is a single step or two steps, the disclosed cycloadditions have always been thermally driven to completion. Thermal cycloaddition reactions have also been described which are carried out in the presence of an organic base or the acetic acid salt of an organic base (see for example U.S. Pat. No. 4,772,596 and EP-0 370 974). The two procedures are illustrated below. ##STR2##
EP - 0371492 discloses that when the latter reaction (R''=2-haloethyl) is carried out in the presence of a dehydrating agent such as molecular sieves, the desired aryldihydropyridine product is obtained in improved yields and with fewer by-products.
Other analogous processes for the preparation of felodipine are known in the art (see for example: Span. Appl. Nos. ES-536,229; 537,424; and 549,753).
In most of the disclosed syntheses of aryldihydropyridine diesters isolation of the product from the reaction mixture required an extractive workup that typically employed a halogenated solvent. Also because a low-molecular-weight alcohol is typically employed as a solvent in the cycloaddition reaction, such an extractive workup of the crude reaction requires that the solvent first be distilled away.
It is an object of the instant invention to provide a process, for the preparation of 4-substituted-1,4-dihydropyridines having shorter thermal reaction times, and, as a consequence, having lower weight percentages of undesirable impurities, than processes previously known in the art.
It has been surprisingly discovered that, under optimal reaction conditions designed to minimize the formation of impurities, the ring closure in the cycloaddition reaction of substituted 3-aminocrotonate and substituted benzylidine is not thermally driven to completion; rather, a strong acid can be added to the reaction mixture subsequent to the foreshortened heating period to catalyze and facilitate the complete cyclization to provide the 4-substituted-1,4-dihydropyridine.
It is also an object of the instant invention to provide an improved process for the preparation of felodipine having higher yields than processes previously known in the art.
It is further an object of the instant invention to provide a process for the preparation of felodipine wherein the crude felodipine is isolated by filtration of the reaction mixture, thereby eliminating the need for a more expensive and time-consuming extractive isolation procedure, which might employ environmentally harmful halogenated solvents.

Process for the preparation of 4-substituted-1,4-dihydropydrines


Integrated circuitry includes, a) a first array of electronic devices comprising a series of conductive runners extending outwardly of the memory array with adjacent runners having a device pitch of 0.6 micron or less in a pitch direction, b) a second array of electronic devices peripheral to the first array, the 0.6 pitch conductive runners of the first array extending into the second array, at least some of the conductive runners of the series having respective disjointed gaps therewithin within the second array, the gaps being aligned with one another in the second array, c) a cross running conductor extending substantially parallel with the pitch direction and over the aligned gaps within the second array, d) an insulating dielectric layer provided relative to the disjointed gaps within the second array; and e) a series of electrically conductive plugs provided within the insulating dielectric layer and running substantially perpendicular to the pitch direction within the second array, the conductive plugs respectively extending across the respective gaps between and electrically interconnecting the respective disjointed conductive runners within the second array, the cross running conductor extending elevationally over the conductive plugs. Memory integrated circuitry is also disclosed which incorporates electrically conductive plugs which electrically interconnect disjointed active area regions of different transistors in pitch cells.

Integrated circuits are chemically and physically integrated into a substrate, such as a silicon wafer, by patterning regions in the substrate and by patterning layers on the substrate. These regions and layers can be conductive for conductor and resistor fabrication. They can also be of different conductivity types, which is essential for transistor and diode fabrication.
Integrated circuit density continues to increase, thereby requiring tighter (smaller) device-to-device spacing. Semiconductor circuits are typically laid out in arrays of identical cells which provide a common function. For example with respect to memory integrated circuitry, a central array area provides an ordered arrangement of individual memory cells. Circuitry for reading and writing to the respective cells, is as well as accessing the respective cells, are typically provided peripherally relative to the memory array itself. One type of peripheral circuitry is classified as "pitch cells". These can constitute a number of different types of cells, such as: a) sense amps; b) row decoders; c) data pass devices; and d) column decoders. Each of these "pitch cells" constitutes multiple transistor devices. These devices typically have common active area diffusion regions formed within the substrate, as the pitch cell circuitry interconnection requires that certain specific active areas be interconnected with other active areas of other transistors.
FIG. 1 illustrates a portion of a prior art layout of peripheral pitch cells associated with a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) array. Specifically, a wafer fragment 10 includes an array of memory cells 12 and peripheral pitch cells 14. The example illustrated pitch cells comprise a series of outer p-sense amps, with one such sense amp being indicated by the depicted outline 16. P-sense amp 16 includes a series of six transistors 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 and 25. The illustrated broken outlines within outline 16 depict active area diffusion regions within the bulk substrate. As is apparent, the left illustrated active areas of transistors 21, 22 and 23 constitute a common interconnected diffusion region. Likewise, the left indicated diffusion regions of transistors 24 and 25 are also interconnected.
It would be desirable to improve upon such prior art constructions and arrays of pitch cells where adjacent conductive runner or line pitch falls below 0.6 micron.

Memory and other integrated circuitry having a conductive interconnect line pitch of less than 0.6 micron


Ultra-high-strength refractory silicon carbide fiber having a decomposition temperature of not less than about 1800K, a breaking strength of not less than about 5 GPa, and a modulus of elasticity of not less than about 300 GPa is disclosed, which is obtained by irradiating a precursor comprising organosilicon compound fiber with an ionizing radiation in a mixed carrier gas comprising a reactive gas and a first inert gas to render the precursor infusible and calcining the irradiated precursor in a second inert gas. Irradiation damage can be minimized, and no oxygen is incorporated into the fiber.

Silicon carbide fiber currently put into practical use includes silicon carbide fiber ("NICALON" produced by NIPPON CARBON) and titanium-containing silicon carbide fiber ("TYRANNO fiber" produced by UBE INDUSTRIES). These silicon carbide fibers are produced by rendering the precursor polycarbosilane fiber or polytitanocarbosilane fiber infusible by thermal oxidation, followed by calcination in an inert atmosphere (the treatment for rendering a precursor infusible will hereinafter be referred to as infusibilization). However, a large quantity of oxygen is introduced into the precursor during thermal oxidation for infusibilization. For example, NICALON and TYRANNO fibers have an oxygen content of about 10% by weight and about 18% by weight, respectively. Because of the high oxygen content, both and fiber undergo thermal decomposition when exposed to high temperatures exceeding about 1500K and suffer an abrupt reduction of strength. It is reported that the maximum strength of NICALON and TYRANNO fiber at temperatures below the respective thermal decomposition temperature is about 3 GPa and about 3.5 GPa, respectively.
In an attempt to improve the heat resistance of silicon carbide fiber, it has been proposed to conduct the infusibilization by means of an ionizing radiation to obtain a silicon carbide fiber having a reduced oxygen content and thereby having a thermal decomposition temperature of about 1800K or higher. The silicon carbide fiber obtained by such a process has a breaking strength of about 2.5 GPa even after heat treatment at about 1800K. It has also been proposed to conduct the ionizing irradiation for infusibilization in a reactive gas, such as acetylene, so as to reduce the requisite radiation dose. This technique is directed to increase the efficiency of radiation-induced crosslinking.
Taking advantage of infusibilization by irradiation, a process for infusibilizing silicon carbide fiber by radiation-induced oxidation to improve the strength has been developed. With this process, silicon carbide fiber having a breaking strength of about 5 GPa at the maximum can be produced. However, since the process involves introduction of oxygen into the silicon carbide fiber, the heat resistance of the resulting fiber is equal to or slightly higher than that reached by infusibilization by thermal oxidation.

Ultra-high-strength refractory silicon carbide fiber and process for producing same


A plug includes a plurality of plug contacts arranged in a row and a plug housing. The plurality of plug contacts each include first bending portion and the like. The first bending portions and the like are aligned in a direction where the plurality of plug contacts are arranged. The receptacle includes second metal parts and a receptacle housing. When the plug and the receptacle are mated, the plurality of plug contacts of the plug are brought into contact with the plurality of respective second metal parts of the receptacle. When the plug contacts are brought into contact with the respective second metal parts, each of the second metal parts exerts a resistance force against pull-out of the plug from the receptacle. An auxiliary metal fitting exerts a resistance force with different magnitude from the magnitude of the receptacle contact.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector.
2. Description of Related Art
As a technique of this type, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-163054 discloses a connector apparatus 102 including a connector 100 and a mating connector 101, as shown in FIG. 17 of the present invention. The connector 100 includes a plurality of contacts 103 arranged in two rows and an insulator 104 that holds the plurality of contacts 103. The mating connector 101 includes a plurality of mating contacts 105 arranged in two rows and a mating insulator 106 that holds the plurality of mating contacts 105. When the connector 100 and the mating connector 101 are mated, the plurality of contacts 103 and the plurality of respective mating contacts 105 are elastically brought into contact.
Locking means is formed to each contact 103 and the corresponding mating contact 105 against pull-out of the mating connector 101 from the connector 100 when the connector 100 and the mating connector 101 are in a mated state.

Japan Aviation Electronics Industry, Ltd.


A security gateway provides a secure connection among one or more networks and a protected resource network. One of the local networks may be connected to the remote private network via a VPN IPsec tunnel. The networks may be local networks that share resources without compromising the security of the protected resource network. The local networks may have access to an untrusted network such as the Internet, sharing a single connection through the security gateway. Dynamic source network address translation is used to permit access from the network connected to the protected resource network to other, less trusted networks while concealing the actual IP addresses of hosts within that network.

As consumers, small businesses, and telecommuting employees expand the use of high-speed networking connections (such as DSL service or cable-TV based data service) in their homes and offices, networked computers become inviting targets to network intruders. Typically, those computers are connected to a public network all or most of the time, yet are not maintained by professional administrators. There is therefore a need to provide secure and reliable, yet flexible and usable network security to such consumers.
One system directed to solving this problem is the first-generation Moat, a security gateway developed within AT&T Corporation primarily for providing a secure connection between a home network and a secure remote corporate network. See J. Denker, S. Bellovin, H. Daniel, N. Mintz, T. Killian & M. Plotnik; Moat: A Virtual Private Network Appliance and Services Platform; Proc. LISA '99: 13th Systems Administration Conference, USENIX Assoc. 1999, the contents of which is hereby incorporated by reference in this disclosure.
The term "remote network," as used herein, denotes a network that is accessed from a given location through a communications link such as the public switched telephone network or the open Internet. Conversely, a network that is "local" to a given location may be reached from that location without using a communications link. For example, a network reachable from a given location using Ethernet or another LAN technology is a local network at that location. The term "network" as used herein shall encompass connecting hardware such as cables routers and interfaces, as well as the connected hosts.
The first generation Moat utilizes a secure, IPsec-based VPN (virtual private network) tunnel to transmit data between the home network and the corporate network. The VPN tunnel provides a strong cryptographic, secure, private, and authenticated connection into a remote network, such as a corporate (firewall protected) network. See S. Kent & R. Atkinson, Security Architecture for the Internet Protocol, Request for Comments (Proposed Standard) 2401, Internet Engineering Task Force, November 1999, the contents of which is hereby incorporated by reference in this disclosure. In the case of Moat, the VPN tunnel gives some (or all) machines behind the Moat security gateway IP-level access to the resources on the corporate network, while all traffic between the corporate network and the home machines is encrypted and authenticated so it cannot be snooped or otherwise tampered with. The first generation Moat system, however, provides for only a single network on its protected side. Furthermore, all packets traveling into and out of the protected network traverse the tunnel and the corporate network, adding significant delay to simple Internet requests, and making those Internet requests dependent on the functioning of the corporate network. While this is arguably a simple configuration from a security standpoint, users demand more flexibility and efficiency.
Advanced packet routing capabilities have become available as part of the Linux operating system. Those capabilities allow flexible packet routing and network address and port translation. Source network address translation (SNAT) (or IP masquerading) refers to dynamically replacing the source address and/or port of packets with another IP address and/or port, as part of the routing process. Destination network address translation (DNAT) refers to dynamically replacing the destination address and/or port of packets with another IP address and/or port, also as part of the routing process.
In both cases (SNAT and DNAT), the Linux kernel automatically reverses the translation for reply packets. For example, a rule may be established to translate the source address (SNAT) of a client request bound for host A on the open Internet. Reply packets received from host A will contain a destination address that is the translated source address of the client request. That destination address will automatically be translated to the actual address of the client.
In addition to Moat, several other security products exist for providing a connection between a home machine and a secure corporate network. For example, Watchguard Corporation of Seattle, Wash. markets a Firebox® line (see http://www.watchguard.com/products/firebox.asp) that provides for a single home network connected to the Internet and to a secure corporate network through a VPN tunnel. Network address translation is used to hide the internal IP addresses from the external network and to allow internal hosts with unregistered IP addresses to function as Internet-reachable servers. No capability is provided for a separate home network.
There is therefore a need for a security gateway for the home or small business that can utilize a VPN IP tunnel to provide a secure connection from a work network of machines used for business purposes to a secure corporate network, while allowing that work network to share resources with a home network in a secure manner. The work network desirably also shares the same Internet connection with the home network without having access to the corporate network and without compromising the security of the corporate network. The work network may furthermore require access to two or more corporate networks without allowing access between the corporate networks. In homes where both spouses occasionally telecommute to different companies, there is a similar need to guarantee that there is no network connectivity between the two corporate networks introduced by a VPN solution. Where individuals or small businesses wish to host their own web sites or to host their email locally, there is furthermore a need to provide a secure and limited connection from the open Internet to a host residing behind the security gateway.

Method and apparatus for securely connecting a plurality of trust-group networks, a protected resource network and an untrusted network


A system for separating suspended and dissolved materials in a fluid having a pH offset from neutral is disclosed. It employs a plurality of stacked, generally flat treatment beds each having a surface angled downward for receiving the fluid. Since the fluid is spread over a large surface, its velocity slows causing suspended materials to drop out of the fluid as a sludge. A pH correction device may add an agent to the flowing fluid which will bring the pH closer to neutral thereby causing said dissolved materials to precipitate out and into the sludge. Atmospheric oxygen may also be used to effect the precipitation. Portions of the beds may be isolated and the sludge collected resulting in a fluid having substantially less suspended and dissolved materials at a pH and temperature closer to normal. Energy may be produced from the movement of liquid through the system or from the heat energy of the fluid. Magnetics may be utilized to improve the precipitation of solids. The effluent discharge outlet may be connected to polishing ponds and/or to a water treatment facility. This invention is especially useful for remediating acid mine drainage.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a system for separating suspended and dissolved materials from an acidic fluid, while normalizing the pH of the fluid.
2. Discussion of Related Art
An ecosystem is a balanced relationship between the environment and the living organisms. The living organisms include fish, birds, amphibians, plants, water vegetation, algae and other aquatic life. These all depend upon the water to survive. The ecosystem requires water which is substantially free of pollutants. When water is changed from its natural state it kills or significantly reduces elements of the ecosystem. By significantly reducing the population of an element of a balanced ecosystem, the entire ecosystem can fail, and lead to a lifeless wasteland.
The water may be changed by: 1) offsetting the natural acidity/alkalinity (pH), 2) by introducing significant amounts of dissolved solutes, 3) by reducing the amount of dissolved oxygen, 4) by suspending large amounts of materials that were not originally intended to be in this ecosystem, and/or 5) by significantly changing the temperature of areas of the ecosystem.
Each of these may change the environment and disturb the ecosystem enough to significantly diminish the population of algae, fish, aquatic wildlife, amphibian wildlife, birds and terrestrial animals, and plants which use the water.
Changes in the routes of flowing water changes may be induced by natural causes, such as re-routing of a stream and ground water that begins flowing through underground passageways.
Water changes may be partially induced by human action in conjunction with natural events. This occurs when ground water passes through underground mines dug by humans.
Water changes may also be induced entirely created by human actions, such as when waste water from factories is introduced into streams.
Secondary Considerations
Changes to the ecosystem introduce secondary considerations. After killing off the natural wildlife, pollution will cause rivers, streams and lakes to become unpleasant, and reduce the value of the adjacent land. Remediation of the water affects the adjoining land such that the resulting increase in value may offset the cost remediation.
These changes typically discolor the water, make it unattractive for various water sports, thereby causing a substantial loss of the quality of life around these bodies of water.
Prior Attempts
Attempts have been made to remediate water in the past. One prior art method disperses water intended to be remediated into flat open fields. As the water velocity slows, sediment drops out of the water.
This method reduces the amount of suspended materials; however, this will not affect solutes or change the pH of the water. If the device is used to evaporate the water, the solutes are left behind; however, this does not produce clean water.
Another problem with this method is that the suspended materials and solutes that are extracted from the water are left in the low-lying evaporation field near the water source. If a flood occurs, these materials are washed back into the river.
This method requires a large amount of space to function, and is not an effective long-term solution.
Water Treatment Plants
Water treatment plants are effective at remediating water, and providing a large amount of clean water, however, they are very costly. These are designed to remove many types of impurities. In many applications, the nature and types of the impurities are well documented. Removal of the few types of impurities would produce substantially clean water, and treatment for all types of impurities would incur useless costs and a waste of resources.
Filtering
Filtering has been used to clean water. This is effective at removing suspended matter but does not affect dissolved solutes nor does it correct pH offset. Another problem is that filters must be replaced when they are full. Therefore treating large volumes of water can become costly and impractical.
Boiling/Distilling
Boiling or distilling water will remove all solutes, suspensions, and correct the pH, however the amount of energy required makes this economically unfeasible for large amounts of water.
Currently there is a need for a water remediation device which handles a large amount of water, is not costly and brings water back to its natural state.


A method of performing alignment for printing with a printhead includes bidirectionally printing a plurality of rows of alignment blocks, wherein a bidirectional offset of a plurality of bidirectional offsets is different for each row of the alignment blocks; optically measuring each row to obtain measurement data; determining a statistical data value for each row based on the measurement data; and applying a respective bidirectional offset of the plurality of bidirectional offsets corresponding to a row having the lowest statistical data value of the plurality of rows to align the printhead for printing with the printhead.

1. Field of the Invention.
The present invention relates to imaging, and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for performing alignment for printing with a printhead.
2. Description of the Related Art.
Aligning a printhead is a significant factor in the resultant image quality of an inkjet imaging apparatus. Alignment is needed because of several factors such as mechanical tolerances in the printhead manufacturing process and the imaging apparatus manufacturing process as well as the differences in behavior of each of the ink drops from each of the different colorants relative to one another. Current methods of alignment measure distances between lines and feed that information to the software on the host computer and software resident in the imaging apparatus to make compensations on incoming print swath data to get the best image quality reproduction possible for the device. Although such methods may be suitable for printing text and business graphics, they may not provide suitable results for printing images such as photographs.
What is needed in the art is an improved method and apparatus for performing alignment for printing with a printhead

Method and apparatus for performing alignment for printing with a printhead


An entertainment system and method including controllable components dispersed among a plurality of locations and each having attributes associated therewith, a plurality of interconnections between the controllable components, a plurality of user interface devices, and a controller that generates graphical user interfaces for the user interface devices for controlling the plurality of controllable components. The graphical user interfaces include commands for operating the controllable components that vary among the graphical user interfaces based on the locations of the user interface devices, and the controllable component attributes, locations and interconnections. The controller also automatically creates schematic diagrams, lists, views and test plans for the controlled components and/or the interconnections therebetween based upon the identification of the controlled components, and their attributes, locations and interconnections, to the controller.

Today a homeowner that has a theater consisting of multiple entertainment components in a single room and/or a distributed audio system consisting of multiple entertainment components distributed through the house has 3 choices on how to control it: 1) use multiple individual remote controllers, 2) program and use a programmable remote controller, or 3) write a custom program for a touch screen display. Each of these methods has multiple problems. In addition, today, documentation and testing of entertainment systems are poorly implemented and very time consuming.
Many homeowners today have theater systems with at least the following components:
1. VCR player,
2. DVD player,
3. Satellite or Cable receiver,
4. Personal Video Recorder,
5. Surround sound receiver, and a
6. Television or projector or plasma display.
For this rather typical system, the homeowner now has six remote controllers—one for each of the above systems. Furthermore, some theater systems add:
7. Video processor,
8. CD jukebox,
9. Digital music player,
10. drop down screen,
11. remote controlled lighting, and
12. remote controlled window treatments
This set of additional components and devices requires even more remote controllers.
For the homeowner, just changing the channel requires finding the right controller and remembering which button to press, but turning the system on and off is much more difficult in that multiple devices need to be controlled in order to watch a particular AV source such as the DVD player. For example, in order to watch a DVD, the following commands must be executed:                1. Turn on the DVD player        2. Make sure the DVD player did turn on and then wait until it is powered up        3. Play the DVD        4. Turn on the Surround sound receiver        5. Make sure the Surround sound receiver did turn on and then wait until it is powered up        6. On the Surround sound receiver select the DVD input        7. Turn on the TV        8. Make sure the TV did turn on and then wait until it is powered up        9. Select the appropriate input and/or channel on the TV
Obviously, this situation is very complex for even the most knowledgeable users, and nearly impossible for anyone who hasn't been trained on how to use that particular theater system. Therefore, homeowners have tried two other methods to reduce the complexity of controlling their home theaters: programmable remote controllers and custom programs.
Today, there are a large number of programmable remote controllers on the market. With these remote controllers, the homeowner enters various codes into the remote controller and/or learns the IR codes directly from the existing remote controller that came with the audio/video component to be controlled so that the programmable remote controller can control each of the AV components above. The result is a single remote controller that can control some number of functions of each AV component when the remote control is pointed at that component.
The programmable remote controller can greatly reduce the number of controllers needed to control many operations of the home theater. However, it doesn't reduce the complexity. The homeowner, still needs to fully understand the whole system and how each component is interconnected with other components in order to turn the right components on and off at the appropriate times, and the homeowner must push additional buttons on the programmable remote controller to tell the programmable remote controller which AV component to control for each step of the process.
To try to reduce this last problem, many programmable remote controllers execute "macros". A macro is a group of commands that are executed together as a result of pushing one button on the programmable remote controller. Each macro must be programmed into the programmable remote controller one step at a time. This process and the end result still have many problems. First, programming the programmable remote controller takes a lot of trial and error to get the wait times correct. Second, the homeowner either ends up with more macros than he can assign to buttons that can be easily documented or he ends up with so few that important functions are left out. And, when using the macro, the user will often have to point the programmable remote controller in multiple directions (at each audio/video component) in sync with the execution of the macro because the IR beam that emits from the programmable remote controller is highly directional and must be pointing at the AV component to be controlled while the commands for that AV component are being emitted. More over, if one of the AV components gets out of sync then the homeowner must revert back to fully comprehending the exact state that each component must be in and then use the individual commands to recreate that state.
For many of these reasons, some homeowners have turned to custom programmed graphical user interfaces from vendors such as AMX and Crestron. The custom programmed graphical user interface can be programmed such that pushing a single well-labeled button on a touch screen display will execute the correct set of commands in the correct order. In addition, with some of these systems, the "power status" (i.e., whether the power of the component is on or off) of each AV component can be obtained by the program through the use of some additional hardware. Therefore, the programmer of a custom programmed graphical user interface can maintain synchronization of all of the AV components.
However, custom programmed graphical user interfaces suffer from a number of problems as well. First, these systems are expensive because each system needs to be individually programmed by a programmer who not only must know about software programming, but who also must know a lot about audio/video systems. Second, these systems may have a number of bugs in them in that this is a custom program that is generally not tested very well. Third, every time a new AV component is introduced in the market, a new program must be created for that component. Fourth, in addition to programming the behavior of the new AV component, every system that uses that component must have its program modified, as well. And, finally, the program to control the entertainment system is only part of the solution. Documentation and testing of the interconnection of all AV components is also needed, and, again, this documentation must be updated, and the testing procedure must be developed, with every new component that is added.
In addition to a theater as described above, many homeowners also want to distribute audio and video sources to multiple rooms of the house. In each room, the homeowner would then like to control which AV source is playing, the selection that is playing on that AV source, and other operations such as volume, balance, bass, treble, etc. This implies that multiple rooms in the house now have the same issues as the theater room described above. Taking this one step further, with distributed audio video systems it is usually possible for different users to try to use some or all of the audio/video path from one or more sources to one or more speakers or video displays. For example, one person may be in the kitchen watching a DVD player located in the family room when another person in the living room wants to watch the satellite receiver that is also located in the family room. It may be the case that these two sources try to travel over part of the same path in which case selecting one path may block the other path. These complex path problems are common in high end audio video systems.


A method of forming an electrode material includes: (1) loading an electrochemically active material onto graphene sheets; (2) combining the electrochemically active material-loaded graphene sheets with holey graphene oxide sheets to form a mixture; and (3) treating the mixture under reducing conditions to form a composite including a graphene framework loaded with the electrochemically active material.

With the growing demand for mobile energy supply from portable electronics to large-scale energy storage applications including electrical vehicles (EVs) and utility grids, extensive research efforts have been devoted to developing energy storage devices with both high energy and high power densities. In general, batteries and supercapacitors (SCs) represent two complementary energy storage technologies, with batteries offering a high energy density but a low power density, and SCs offering a superior power density and cycling endurance but poor energy density. It has been a long standing challenge to develop an energy storage device exhibiting both a high energy density (battery-like) and high power density (SC-like) at the same time. Although this gap has become narrower by continued improvement in the power density and cycle life in batteries, and enhanced energy density in SCs by employing various nanostructured electrode materials, considerable challenge remains to translate improved performance into practical devices. In particular, the improved performance metrics reported in such nanostructured materials to date are typically achieved in ultra-thin films with a rather low mass loading of active electrode materials (e.g., about 0.2-1.0 mg cm−2). These reported performance metrics do not provide proper evaluation of the true performance of practical devices. With the extremely low mass loading and high overhead from other passive components in practical devices (e.g., current collectors and separators, >about 10 mg cm−2), the improved performance achieved in an ultra-thin electrode often fails to hold up when all device components are included. Considering nearly constant areal specific overhead from current collectors and separators, areal specific performance metrics are desired for properly evaluating the practical significance of an electrode design. Despite considerable efforts along with various materials explored to date, the scaled areal capacity or current density rarely exceeds those of current Li-ion batteries (about 3 mAh cm−2, about 4 mA cm−2) by a large extent.
It is against this background that a need arose to develop the embodiments described herein.

Holey graphene framework composites for ultra-high rate energy storage and methods of preparing such composites

THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA


A magnetic head apparatus has a reduced thickness by preventing a jumping action of a magnetic head that can occur in a head-up state. A leaf spring has a first end and a second end opposite to the first end, and the leaf spring supporting the magnetic head at the first end, the leaf spring having a surface facing the magnetic medium. A mount member holds the leaf spring, the leaf spring being mounted to the mount member at the second end. A supporting portion extends from the mount member, and engages the surface of the leaf spring at a position between the magnetic head and the mount member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a magnetic head apparatus and, more particularly, to a magnetic head apparatus having a magnetic head which is supported by a support arm and contacts a recording medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
A magneto-optical disc apparatus has become popular as a disc apparatus which is capable of performing both recording and reproducing operations. The magneto-optical disc performs a high-density recording of information by using a laser beam and a disc provided with a magnetic thin-film thereon.
The magneto-optical disc apparatus projects a high-intensity laser beam to a surface of a magneto-optical disc (hereinafter referred to as a disc), when a recording operation is performed, so as to raise the temperature of the magnetic thin-film beyond a curie point or a temperature compensation point. A vertical magnetic field is applied from the opposite surface of the disc to reverse the direction of magnetization of the magnetic thin-film so as to record binary information on the disc. When a reproducing operation is performed, a laser beam, which does not affect the direction of magnetization of the magnetic thin-film, is projected on the disc so as to detect a rotational direction of a reflected laser beam from the disc. That is, the recorded binary information is reproduced by utilizing changes in the rotational direction of the reflected laser beam according to the direction of magnetization of the magnetic thin-film.
Such a magneto-optical disc apparatus is required to be a small size with a minimum thickness.
FIGS. 1A and 1B show a conventional magnetic head apparatus 21 provided in a magneto-optical disc apparatus. FIG. 1A is a plan view of the magnetic head apparatus 21, and FIG. 1B is a side view of the magnetic head apparatus 21.
The conventional magnetic head apparatus 21 comprises a magnetic head 22 which provides a recording magnetic field to a disc, a support arm 23 supporting the magnetic head 22, an operational unit 24 moving the magnetic head 22 up and down and a flexible print wiring board 25 electrically connecting the magnetic head 22 to an external device.
The magnetic head 22 includes a slider sliding on a surface of the disc. An E-shaped core and a coil are provided inside the slider. The coil is wound on a coil bobbin which is mounted on the core.
The support arm 23 is formed of a leaf spring material. A support portion 23a is formed on an extreme end of the support arm 23 to support the magnetic head 22. The opposite end of the support arm 23 is mounted to the operational unit 24 by welding and the like so that the magnetic head 22 is in contact with the disc.
The operational unit 24 is a rigid member to which the support arm 23 is mounted on an end portion thereof. The operational unit 24 is fixed, by means of screws, to a magnetic head apparatus mounting unit (not shown in the figures) which is movable in directions indicated by arrows A in FIG. 1B. A limiting portion 24a is integrally formed with the operational unit 24 at the end portion thereof so as to limit movement of the magnetic head 22 in a direction (indicated by an arrow B.sub.1 in FIG. 1B) opposite to the direction toward the disc.
The limiting portion 24a extends to a position where the magnetic head 22 is mounted. The limiting portion 24a contacts an upper surface of the magnetic head 22 so as to limit the moving position of the magnetic head 22 when a shock is applied to the magnetic head apparatus so that the magnetic head 22 is prevented from moving upwardly (in the direction indicated by the arrow B.sub.1) beyond the limiting portion 24a.
FIGS. 2A and 2B are views for explaining an operation of the conventional magnetic head apparatus 21. FIG. 2A shows a head-down state where the magnetic head 22 contacts a protective film of the disc. FIG. 2B shows a head-up state where the magnetic head 22 is lifted for loading or unloading the disc.
In the head-down state, the operational unit 24 is moved in a direction indicated by an arrow B.sub.2 of FIG. 2A by an operational lever 26 being moved downwardly. Thus, magnetic head 22 is pressed against the disc D by an elastic deformation force of the support arm 23.
In the head-up state, the operational lever 26 is moved upwardly in a direction indicated by an arrow B1 of FIG. 2B so that the magnetic head 22 is spaced away from the disc D. In the head-up state, since the support arm 23 is in a neutral position where the support arm 23 is not elastically deformed, the magnetic head 22 may swing up and down due to shocks applied to the magnetic head apparatus 21. In order to reduce the thickness of the entire apparatus provided with the magnetic head apparatus 21, a space above the magnetic head apparatus 21 must be minimized.
Accordingly, the magnetic head 22 contacts the limiting portion 24a, which is provided in a position where the upward movement of the magnetic head 22 is limited, so that the magnetic head 22 does not move upwardly beyond a predetermined height when it swings. That is, the limiting portion 24a limits a jumping action of the magnetic head 22.
In the apparatus provided with the conventional magnetic head apparatus 21, other component parts are provided above a height L.sub.1 shown in FIG. 2B. The height L.sub.1 is determined by adding a distance, which considers a terminal T protruding upwardly from the limiting portion 24a, to a height L.sub.0 which is a distance from the surface of the disc D to the uppermost end of the limit portion 24a. The terminal T is provided for electrically connecting the magnetic head 22 to the flexible print wiring board 25.
As mentioned above, in the conventional magnetic head apparatus, the limit portion 24a is provided to the operational unit 24, and the limit portion 24a contacts the upper surface of the magnetic head 22 so as to limit the upward jumping movement of the magnetic head 22 beyond the operational unit 24. Thus, the operational unit 24 extends to a position above the magnetic head 22, and the height (thickness) of the magnetic head apparatus 21 is defined by the limit portion 24a of the operational unit 24. Accordingly, the presence of the limit portion 24a is an obstacle to reduction of the height of the magnetic head apparatus 21.
Additionally, in the magnetic head apparatus 21, since the magnetic head 22 is supported at a single point on the end portion of the support arm 23, the end portion of the support arm 23 is elastically bent due to the weight of the magnetic head 22. The magnetic head 22 is inclined in a direction indicated by an arrow A.sub.1 in FIG. 2B so that the rear end of the magnetic head is lowered than the front end of the magnetic head 22. Thus, a leading end of the disc D being inserted in a direction indicated by an arrow C does not engage with the front end of the magnetic head 22, resulting in a smooth insertion of the disc D. The position of the rear end of the magnetic head 22 is determined by the flexible print wiring board 25 which is connected to the magnetic head 22 so that the magnetic head 22 is maintained at an angle .theta..sub.2.
As mentioned above, in the conventional magnetic head apparatus 21, the rear end of the magnetic head 22 is connected to the flexible print wiring board 25 so as to limit the downward movement of the magnetic head 22, the angle .theta..sub.2 of the magnetic head 22 is determined by arrangement of the flexible print wiring board 25. Thus, the lowermost end of the magnetic head cannot be well defined. Accordingly, a distance (height) H.sub.2 between the surface of the disc D and the rear end of the magnetic head 22 must include a tolerance, resulting in an obstacle to the reduction of the height (thickness) of the magnetic head apparatus 21.
Referring now to FIG. 1A, the conventional support arm 23 is formed to be an easily and elastically deformable structure by forming an opening 23b in a flat leaf spring member which substantially reduces the width of the leaf spring member. That is, the support arm 23 is elastically deformed at a portion provided with the opening 23b.
As mentioned above, in the head-up state, the operational lever 26 is moved upwardly to move the magnetic head 22 upwardly in the direction indicated by the arrow B.sub.1. In this state, the support arm 23 is held only by the operational unit 24 and, thus, the support arm 23 is easily and elastically bendable in the directions indicated by arrows B.sub.1 and B.sub.2. Thus, the distance H.sub.2 between the surface of the disc D and the magnetic head 22 is provided with a sufficient tolerance to absorb the swinging motion of the magnetic head 22 due to vibration when the disc D is inserted in the direction indicated by the arrow C.
Since the support arm 23 is formed from a leaf spring material, the support arm 23 is bendable in portions other than the portion provided with the opening 23b. Thus, the tolerance provided to the height H.sub.2 is further increased to absorb the amount of deformation due to shocks and vibration. Thus, the space defined by the height H.sub.2 is an obstacle to the reduction of the height of the magnetic head apparatus 21.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a connecting portion between the magnetic head 22 and the flexible print wiring board 25.
The connection between the magnetic head 22 and the flexible print wiring board 25 is performed by soldering connection pins 22b protruding from the coil bobbin 22a of the magnetic head 22 to the land portions 25a provided in the flexible print wiring board 25. First, ends of the coil wire wound on the coil bobbin 22a are engaged with the respective connection pins 22b. Thereafter, openings (not shown in the figure) formed in the land portions of the flexible print wiring board 25 are fit to the respective connection pins 22b. Then the land portions and connection pins 22b are soldered. Thus, the connection pins 22b protrude upwardly from the magnetic head 22.
FIG. 4 shows, similar to FIG. 2B, a head-up state where the magnetic head 22 is separated from the disc for loading and unloading the disc.
In the head-up state shown in FIG. 4, as mentioned above, the support arm 23 is limited by the limiting portion 24a provided to the operational unit 24. That is, when the magnetic head 22 is moved upwardly and the magnetic head 22 contacts the limiting portion 24a, further upward movement of the magnetic head 22 is limited by the limiting portion 24a. In this state, the connection pins protrude in a direction indicated by an arrow B.sub.1, the connection pins protrude upwardly (in the direction indicated by the arrow B.sub.1) beyond the limiting portion 24a. Accordingly, in order to prevent the pins 22 colliding with other component parts provided above the magnetic head apparatus 21, a predetermined distance d.sub.1 must be provided between the limiting portion 24a and other component parts provided above the magnetic head apparatus 21.
That is, in the conventional magnetic head apparatus 21, since the connection pins 22b protruding from the magnetic head 22 protrude beyond the limiting portion 24a when the magnetic head 22 jumps up, a space is required to avoid a collision of the connection pins 22b with the limiting portion 22b. This space may be an obstacle to the reduction of the height of the magnetic head apparatus 21.
In the magnetic head apparatus 21, since the flexible print wiring board 25 is placed on the support arm 23, bending of the flexible print wiring board 25 must be taken into consideration.
FIG. 5A is an illustration of a portion of the structure of support arm 23 and the flexible print wiring board 25 in the head-up state; FIG. 5B is an illustration of the portion of the structure shown in FIG. 5A in the head-down state.
In the head-up state, the flexible print wiring board 25 is arranged on the surface of the support arm 23 without space therebetween. However, in the head-down state, the support arm 23 is bent in a direction indicated by an arrow B.sub.1 as shown in FIG. 5B, and a length of the wiring path of the flexible print wiring board 25 is shortened. Thus, a bend is generated in the flexible print wiring board 25 in the upward direction (direction indicated by an arrow F in FIG. 5B). Thus, in the magnetic head apparatus 21, a space is provided above the support arm 23 so that the bend portion of the flexible print wiring board 25 does not contact other component parts provided above the magnetic head apparatus 21.
As mentioned above, in the conventional magnetic head apparatus 21, a space must be provided above the support arm 23 so as to avoid interference of the bent portion of the flexible print wiring board with other component parts. Thus, the space is an obstacle to the reduction of the height of the conventional magnetic head apparatus 21.

Magnetic head apparatus having a reduced thickness


The invention is a device for flushing or winterizing an inboard/outboard engine cooling system having an open basin for submerging cooling system intake portals in liquid. The basin is capable of being removably and sealably disposed about a stern drive housing and allowing the stern drive housing of the motor to pass through bottom of the basin. The device also has elements for selectively and directionally conducting liquid discharged from the cooling system exhaust ducts into or away from the basin.

1. The Field of the Invention
Many boat engines incorporate an engine cooling system which draws water from the body of water in which the boat is operated and pumps the water into the engine's cooling system. This cooling water is circulated through cavities and passageways within and about the engine and exhausted back into the body of water thereby cooling the engine. Typical boat engines withdraw cooling water from the body of water in which the boat is situated through intake portals in the stern drive portion of the drive mechanism. When the boat is resting in a body of water, the stern drive is below the water line and the intake portals are immersed in the water. Cooling water exits the cooling system through exhaust ducts which are typically found higher on the stern drive mechanism than the intake portals and not necessarily below the water line.
When a boat is removed from a body of water, some of this cooling water is retained within the cooling cavities and passageways of the engine. The presence of this retained water within the cooling system of the engine is typically not a problem when the boat is used frequently. However, when the boat is stored for a period of time, particularly in colder climates, this water can cause problems. Retained water within the engine cooling system can cause corrosion of engine parts and if allowed to freeze it can cause mechanical damage to the engine. Due to these risks, boat owners often replace the retained water by flushing out the retained water in the cooling system with fresh water and then winterize the boat engine. To winterize a boat engine means to replace the retained water in the cooling system with an anti-freeze/anti-corrosion lubricating solution.
2. The Relevant Technology
Several methods for flushing a boat engine's cooling system are known in the art. Most boat engines have drain plugs which can be removed, allowing the liquid in the cooling system to be drained out and be replaced. However, drain plugs are often difficult to remove while the engine is installed in a boat. Draining the cooling system in this manner also requires the removal of cooling system hoses. Even when the engine is drained in this manner, pockets of retained water often remain trapped within the cooling system chambers.
Another known method of replacing retained cooling water with antifreeze is immersing the stern drive portion of the engine in a large reservoir of antifreeze, completely submerging the intake portals, and running the engine until the cooling system is filled with antifreeze. However, this process is often impractical, requiring large amounts of antifreeze to fill bulky reservoirs or producing messy leaks that waste antifreeze and pollute the environment.
A third known method contemplates completely sealing off the intake portals and delivering antifreeze or liquid directly to the intake portals. This approach requires a complex device to deliver the liquid. Some devices deliver the liquid under pressure directly to the intake portals requiring a sufficiently liquid-tight seal be maintained around the intake portals. Maintaining the liquid-tight seal is difficult when the seal is under pressure and the seal often leaks profusely. If a non-pressurized delivery system is used to deliver the liquid directly to the intake portals, the supply of antifreeze to the intake portals is often inadequate and does not effectively and efficiently flush and winterize the engine's cooling system. Furthermore, if there is a need to change the kind of liquid being supplied to the system during the process, such as switching from water to antifreeze, this third method may require the user to shut off the engine or run the engine without any coolant while the source of liquid is changed.
Typically, once the antifreeze has been flushed through the cooling system using the methods described above, the antifreeze is discharged from exhaust ducts. Known methods of collecting the discharged antifreeze, such as placing a catch basin on the ground beneath the exhaust ducts, waste antifreeze, pollute the environment and require considerable clean up after use.
The present invention avoids the unnecessary waste and expense of the above mentioned methods by providing a practically-sized, open reservoir that fits with a waterproof seal around the stern drive to prevent leaks and pollution, submerges the intake portals and provides means for collecting and reusing antifreeze discharged from the exhaust ducts.

Inboard/outboard motor cooling system winterizer


A drive device for a movement unit of a machine tool includes a first toothed element driven by a drive motor and provided as a drive pinion including a first tooth arrangement and a second toothed element provided as a toothed rack including a second tooth arrangement. One of the first and second toothed elements is connected to a machine frame, and the other of the first and second toothed elements is connected to the movement unit. The first and second toothed elements are moved relative to each other along a movement axis of the first and second toothed elements by the drive motor via a meshing between the first and second tooth arrangements and via an engagement between the first and second tooth arrangements along an engagement axis that extends perpendicularly to the movement axis.

Punch-laser combination machines may include generic drive devices. For such machines, a machine table which acts as a support for metal sheets to be processed is moved on a C-shaped machine frame by a rack and pinion drive along a lower frame leg of the machine frame. The toothed rack of the rack and pinion drive is provided on the machine table and moves together therewith. The drive pinion which meshes with the rack is supported on the machine frame in a stationary manner. The drive pinion is pre-tensioned in the direction towards the rack and, in the direction of the engagement of the tooth arrangements of the rack and the drive pinion, can carry out compensation movements as needed, for example, owing to production and assembly tolerances and/or owing to thermal expansion on the rack and pinion drive.
The pre-tensioning of the drive pinion is produced by pre-tensioned spring assemblies which act on the drive pinion at the side remote from the rack. In order to prevent the drive pinion from tilting during compensation movements with respect to the rack about a rotation axis which extends parallel to the axis of the rack movement, the drive pinion is forcibly guided by linear guides in the direction of the compensation movements. Owing to undesirable tilting movements of the drive pinion, the mutual engagement of the tooth arrangements of the rack and the drive pinion may be affected. For example, there may be produced an irregular inclination of the tooth arrangement of the drive pinion with respect to the tooth arrangement of the rack, and together with this, an impairment of the force transmission between the drive pinion and the rack, and therefore increased wear on the tooth arrangements which mesh with each other.

Drive devices for movement units of machine tools and related machine tools


A data table transformer includes a data receiving module configured to receive a set of rows, each row with a set of attributes, as input data. The data receiving module is also configured to receive locations for at least some of the attributes as zero-based edges. Layers of the edge are presented from the slowest to the fastest varying layers. The data receiving module is further configured to receive a designation of data values that appear at intersections of edge attributes from the same row. The data table transformer is also configured to walk input data by row and for each edge attribute, to distribute the value of the edge attribute to an edge tree created for each zero-based edge location. The data table transformer is further configured to display the data with a multi-dimensional, crosstabular display.

Relational data may be displayed in tables as a set of rows and columns. For instance, the columns "Sales" and "Units" may have row values for a series of months. Calculations such as aggregates may be performed by a database application and presented by a software application with a Graphical User Interface ("GUI").

Transforming data tables into multi-dimensional projections with aggregations