A container includes two container halves and a hinge connecting the two container halves so that the two container halves can be pivoted between a folded up position and a folded down position. In the folded up position the container includes a bottom, four side walls and an upper filling opening and is stackable on another like container in the folded up position, and in the folded down position the container is nestable with another like container in the folded down position.

The invention concerns a container with a bottom and four side walls and an upper filling opening for use, in particular, for transport of magazines or newspapers, e.g. from a shipping department to a retail shop.
Printed products and in particular daily newspapers and magazines must be transported from the shipping department directly to the retail areas or external distribution centers. Up to now, printed products were wrapped in a foil and tied together for transport. This procedure is not environmentally friendly. In addition, even foil-covered printed products are protected only marginally against damage during the transport.
A container designed to avoid the above-mentioned disadvantages has been suggested in which, with the aid of a filling machine, the container is filled in the shipping department with a predetermined number of printed products. These remain in the container until they reach the retail shop or external distribution center. Since the printed products do not have to be covered with foil and tied together and the container can be used repeatedly, it would represent an improvement from an ecological point of view. In addition, it would protect the printed products better against damage. The shipment with such a container would on the whole be more economical, cost-saving and efficient. However, in practical operations this container did not prevail.

Container for transport of printed products


A system includes one or more point of sale systems and processing circuitry. The processing circuitry is configured to receive purchase data for a plurality of purchases made by a purchaser via the one or more point of sale systems over a time period, wherein the purchase data includes an identifier of the purchaser, a timestamp, and a type of good. The processing circuitry is configured to determine a frequency with which the purchaser purchased a type of good over the time period based on the purchase data, determine a target time at which the purchaser should next purchase the type of good based on the purchase data and the frequency, and instruct output of a notification in response to receipt of an indication that the purchaser is attempting to purchase the type of good using the one or more point of sale systems prior to the target time.

This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present disclosure, which are described below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
A point of sale (POS) is generally understood to reference a place and/or a point in time where a transaction (e.g., a retail or service transaction) is performed. Traditionally, at the point of sale, a provider (e.g., a merchant or service provider) coordinates with a purchaser (e.g., a customer) to exchange goods and/or services for payment. As a specific example, a purchaser may identify a desired purchase (e.g., a particular item of merchandise or a particular service), and the provider may then determine and/or request payment of an amount owed by the purchaser for the desired purchase. Upon review of the amount, the purchaser may then pay the provider the amount via a payment method.

United Services Automobile Association (USAA)


Disclosed is an anodeless-type all-solid-state battery. The all-solid-state battery includes a plurality of recesses formed in an electrolyte layer and to be depressed from a surface of the electrolyte layer contacting an anode collector and thus serve as spaces for lithium to reversibly precipitate.

Rechargeable secondary batteries have been used not only for small-sized electronic devices such as mobile phones, laptop computers and the like but also for large-sized transport vehicles such as hybrid vehicles, electric vehicles and the like. Accordingly, there is a need to develop secondary batteries having higher stability and energy density.
Conventional secondary batteries are mostly configured such that cells are formed using an organic solvent (organic liquid electrolyte), and thus limitations are imposed on the extent to which the stability and energy density thereof may be improved.
Meanwhile, an all-solid-state battery using an inorganic solid electrolyte without using an organic solvent has been receiving great attention these days and thus a cell may be manufactured in a safer and simpler manner.
However, the all-solid-state battery is problematic in that the energy density and power output performance thereof are inferior to those of conventional lithium-ion batteries using a liquid electrolyte. With the goal of solving the above problem, thorough research into improving the electrodes of all-solid-state batteries is ongoing.
In particular, the anode for an all-solid-state battery is mostly formed of graphite. In this case, in order to ensure ionic conductivity, an excess of a solid electrolyte, having a large specific gravity, is added along with the graphite, and thus the energy density per unit weight is very low compared to lithium-ion batteries. Moreover, when lithium metal is used for the anode, there are technical limitations in terms of price competitiveness and large-scale implementation.
Thorough research is currently ongoing into all-solid-state batteries having high energy density, one of which is an anodeless-type all-solid-state battery. The anodeless-type all-solid-state battery is a battery in which lithium is precipitated on an anode current collector instead of using an anode active material such as graphite or lithium metal.
However, the conventional anodeless-type all-solid-state battery has a limitation in that the utilization of lithium is low due to, for example, lithium being unevenly grown in dendritic phase or isolated in the form of moss. Moreover, there is not enough space for lithium to precipitate between the electrolyte layer and the anode current collector, and thus lithium is unevenly precipitated, and there is also a problem in that the dissociation reaction of lithium occurs non-uniformly because the pressure applied by the precipitated lithium varies in a position-dependent manner.

All-solid-state battery comprising electrolyte layer having recess pattern


One or more specified system calls of a running process are trapped in kernel space from user space. While the process is stopped, information associated with the process is read and a security analysis is performed on the information to determine whether malicious code activity is detected, such as a buffer overflow. If malicious code activity is detected, protective action is taken, such as killing the specified system call. Otherwise, if malicious code activity is not detected, the specified system call is restarted.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the protection of computer systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method for intercepting calls in a running process from user space to allow security analysis to be performed.
2. Description of Related Art
Most operating systems currently provide debugging support, such as through special debugging APIs (Application Program Interfaces). Typically, a debugging API allows a software developer to halt the execution of a running program from user space and to examine the state of the process, such as the variables and the stack, in order to identify and correct programming errors in the program code.

Method for intercepting specific system calls in a specific application from applications space for security


A flexible backplane assembly is provided wherein removable backplane modules are mounted in a platform in a manner such that the backplane modules may be removed and replaced to accommodate different types of circuit modules. Coacting guides are provided on the platform and the backplane modules to define a travel path for module insertion and removal which prevents contact with adjacent circuit and backplane modules and maneuvers around platform structural members. Connectors at the rear of each backplane module for mating withy circuit module connectors may be electrically connected to I/O boards at the front of the module to permit wiring of the backplane modules from the front of the platform.

Electronic backplanes are utilized in circuit platforms for telephony, computer and other electronic systems to permit various circuit boards, cards or other circuit modules to be interconnected or to be connected to external circuitry. In the following, a circuit platform or platforms will be considered to be a backplane and associated card cage or other circuit module support elements. In some instances, the term may also encompass the circuit modules mounted in the support. A platform may accommodate a varying number of circuit modules depending on application.
Typically, such backplanes have one or more connectors for each circuit module, each connector having a plurality of terminals which on one side mate with matching terminals on the corresponding circuit board and which are hard-wired on the other side to terminals in the backplane or through other connectors to external circuitry. Multiple connectors may be provided for each circuit module. A runner in the platform facilitates insertion and removal of the circuit modules, the connector(s) of the circuit module mating with the backplane connector(s) when the circuit module is fully inserted.
Platforms of this type are useful for permitting circuit modules of a particular type to be easily removed and replaced for preventive maintenance, to replace a defective circuit module, or to replace an existing module with an updated or improved module. However, such backplane platforms offer little flexibility where it is desired or required to use circuit modules of different types, having circuitry interconnects which are sufficiently different so as to require different connectors and different wiring on the backplane. In particular, where the circuit modules are switching circuits which are part of a central office telephone switching system, the I/O connections for the circuits may use T1 cable with 56 connections per cable and two cables per module, each cable being formed of twisted pair 22 gauge wire, may use DS3 signal cables which involve six coaxial cables per module, may utilize fiber optic cables with, for example, six fiber optic cables per module, or may utilize some other type of connector and wiring. Further, it may be desired, to have mixed circuit modules on a single platform, with some modules being of one type and some of another type.
In any event, when changes are to be made, it is preferable that it be possible to effect such changes on line without causing an interruption in service for other modules on the same platform. However, it is very difficult to change the backplane wiring for a hard-wired backplane because of space limitations in both the front and the rear of the platform, and it is virtually impossible to change to a different type of I/O connector. Performing such backplane rewiring in the field without interrupting service on adjacent circuits is also very difficult, but is desirable since any contact with adjacent circuits could cause failures in such circuits and might also result in shock, burns or other injuries to a person doing such replacement.
Heretofore, the difficulty of running new cables of a different type into a backplane once the backplane has been installed has been dealt with in some instances by running cables of different types into the backplane, connecting the cables to be utilized, and tying off the remaining cables until such time as their use may be required. However, this procedure only partially simplifies the field replacement problem and results in a significantly more expensive and time-consuming initial installation, both in terms of labor and materials. Further, too many unterminated lines in a backplane may degrade signals and thus performance. There are also space limitations in a backplane which may make installation of extra cables difficult and complicate working on the backplane with the extra cables. Finally, since platforms may be used for many years, frequently in excess of ten years, desired cables, for example fiber optic cable, may not have existed at the time the backplane was installed.
A need, therefore, exists for a more flexible backplane system which permits connectors to be easily replaced in the field to accommodate different types of circuit modules, and which permits any rewiring to be done from the front of the platform where wires can be gotten at easily and without danger of damaging adjacent circuits or of injury to a person doing the installation. Such a technique should permit the path for any replaceable backplane elements or modules to be carefully controlled so as not to cause damage to adjacent circuit modules which are in use, while assuring that replacement components maneuver around structural portions of the platform and that replacement backplane modules are accurately positioned when fully installed.


Catalysts and processes for producing catalysts for neopentane production are provided herein. A process includes reducing a catalyst precursor comprising a transition metal and an inorganic support at a temperature less than 500° C. to produce a catalyst. Also provided herein are processes to produce neopentane using the catalysts described herein and neopentane compositions produced therefrom.

Neopentane is a unique nonpolar hydrocarbon molecule that has found industrial use in the form of an inert condensing agent for gas-phase reactions. See, for instance, U.S. Pat. No. 6,262,192. Other potential industrial uses for neopentane include use as a heat removal agent, a blowing agent, and a gasoline blend component due to its relatively high octane numbers. For instance, neopentane has a Research Octane Number (RON) of 85.5 and a Motor Octane Number (MON) of 80.2.
Many conventional processes for producing neopentane have proven unsatisfactory for application on a commercial scale. For example, typical existing processes for synthesizing neopentane utilize stoichiometric reactions of t-butylchloride and a Grignard reagent, methyl aluminum dichloride, dimethyl aluminum chloride, or trimethyl aluminum. See, for instance, U.S. Pat. No. 3,585,252. Such stoichiometric reactions generate large amounts of metal halides and are difficult to scale up to produce neopentane at commercial quantities. Likewise, though neopentane may be synthesized by hydrogenation of neopentanoic acid under high pressure and at high temperature, e.g., as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,593,147, such processes are expensive due to the neopentanoic acid feedstock and suffer from a combination of demanding reaction conditions and low selectivity.
Other proposed processes for producing neopentane involve demethylation of higher carbon-number branched paraffins. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,940,829 and 2,422,675 each relate to the preparation of neopentane via catalytic demethylation of neohexane. However, these higher carbon-number branched paraffins are not readily available in high concentrations suitable as feedstock that could be utilized on a commercial scale.
Alternatively, a process for producing neopentane by hydrogenating an isobutylene polymer and selectively cracking the hydrogenation product is described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,394,743. However, in addition to producing neopentane, this process also produces large amounts of heavier hydrocarbon components.
The production of neopentane by processes that include the demethylation of higher carbon-number hydrocarbons have recently be disclosed in related applications. For instance, WO 2018/044591 discloses a process that includes dimerizing isobutylene to produce diisobutylene, hydrogenating the diisobutylene to yield isooctane, and demethylating to the isooctane to produce neopentane. Further, WO 2018/044592 discloses a process that includes isomerizing C6 and/or C7 paraffins to produce neohexane and/or neoheptane and demethylating the neohexane and/or neoheptane to produce neopentane. Further still, WO 2018/044596 discloses a process that includes contacting isobutane and butylene under alkylation conditions to produce isooctane and demethylating the isooctane to produce neopentane. Each of these processes is reliant upon a suitable catalyst for the demethylation of the higher carbon-number hydrocarbons to produce the neopentane.
Thus, there is a need for improved catalysts for demethylating higher carbon-number alkanes to produce neopentane. Such catalysts could economically produce neopentane in commercial quantities.
Other references of interest include: "The Preparation and Activity for Alkane Reactions of Aerosil-Supported Rhodium-Copper Clusters," Clarke et al., 111 Journal of Catalysis, 374-82 (1988); "Selective Demethylation of Paraffin Hydrocarbons: Preparation of Triptane and Neopentane," Haensel et al., 39 Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, 853-57 (1947); "Skeletal Reactions of Hydrocarbons over Supported Iridium-Gold Catalysts," Foger et al., 64 Journal of Catalysis, 448-63 (1980); "Reactions of 2,2-Dimethylbutane on Iridium: The Role of Surface Carbonaceous Layers and Metal Particle Size," Vogelzang et al., 111 Journal of Catalysis, 77-87 (1988); "Hydrogenolysis of 2,2-Dimethylbutane and n-Hexane over Supported Ruthenium, Nickel, Cobalt, and Iron," Machiels et al., 58 Journal of Catalysis, 268-75 (1979); "Hydrogenolysis of Saturated Hydrocarbons: Influence of Hydrocarbon Structures on the Activity and Selectivity of Nickel on Silica," Leclercq et al., 99 Journal of Catalysis, 1-11; GB 574694; U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,422,670; 2,436,923; "STRATCO Effluent Refrigerated H2SO4 Alkylation Process," in Handbook of Petroleum Refining Processes, Third Edition, Graves, ch. 1.2 (2004); "UOP Alkylene™ Process for Motor Fuel," in Handbook of Petroleum Refining Processes, Third Edition, Roeseler, ch. 1.3 (2004); and "UOP HF Alkylation Technology," in Handbook of Petroleum Refining Processes, Third Edition, Himes et al., ch. 1.2 (2004); "Contrast between nickel and platinum catalysts in hydrogenolysis of saturated hydrocarbons," Matsumoto et al., 19(2) Journal of Catalysis, 101 (1970); "The classification of metal catalysts in hydrogenolysis of hexane isomers," Matsumoto et al., 22 Journal of Catalysis, 182-192 (1971); "Reaction of hexane isomers on Ni-Copper alloys," Ponec et al., Proceedings of the Fifth International Congress on Catalysis, 645 (1972); and "On the pattern of hydrogenolysis of hexane isomers over four Group VIIIB metals," Paál et al, 12(2) Reaction Kinetics and Catalysis Letters, 131-37 (1979).

Catalysts and processes for making catalysts for producing neopentane


A plasma arc torch is provided that includes a torch body and a torch height controller. The torch height controller includes a movable part mounted to the torch body and a fixed part connected to a robotic arm. The movable part and the torch body are biased toward a workpiece and are translational relative to the fixed part.

The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Plasma arc torches, also known as electric arc torches, are commonly used for cutting, marking, gouging, and welding metal workpieces by directing a high energy plasma stream consisting of ionized gas particles toward the workpiece. In a typical plasma arc torch, the gas to be ionized is supplied to a distal end of the torch and flows past an electrode before exiting through an orifice in the tip, or nozzle, of the plasma arc torch. The electrode has a relatively negative potential and operates as a cathode. Conversely, the torch tip constitutes a relatively positive potential and operates as an anode during piloting. Further, the electrode is in a spaced relationship with the tip, thereby creating a gap, at the distal end of the torch. In operation, a pilot arc is created in the gap between the electrode and the tip, often referred to as the plasma arc chamber, wherein the pilot arc heats and ionizes the gas. The ionized gas is blown out of the torch and appears as a plasma stream that extends distally off the tip. As the distal end of the torch is moved to a position close to the workpiece, the arc jumps or transfers from the torch tip to the workpiece with the aid of a switching circuit activated by the power supply. Accordingly, the workpiece serves as the anode, and the plasma arc torch is operated in a "transferred arc" mode.
The plasma arc torch is generally maintained at a predetermined torch height during operation for optimum cut quality. For manual operation, a welder can adjust the torch height based on the arc voltage between the torch tip and the workpiece even for cutting a workpiece with varied height or thickness. For automated plasma arc torches controlled by robots, however, the torch height control becomes difficult or slow based on the arc voltage. Therefore, the robot-controlled plasma arc torches are generally pre-programmed with a fixed torch height. As such, the robot-controlled plasma arc torches can be used to cut limited types of workpieces, such as small workpieces which are more dimensionally stable during cutting or thicker workpieces which are less sensitive to height variations of the workpiece. The robot-controlled plasma arc troches are not suitable for cutting workpieces with height variations.
Moreover, using robotic-controlled plasma arc torches to cut large thin materials poses another challenge in that the large thin materials may have a dimensional tolerance that is greater than the torch height (in the range of 0.020 to 0.150 inches). In other words, the height variations in the workpiece may be greater than the torch height. The large thin materials may have deformed due to heat or residual stress generated during prior operations such as stamping. Without the ability to adjust the torch height during operation, the automated plasma arc torches would not achieve optimum cut quality or may be damaged by the workpiece.

Translational torch height controller for a plasma arc torch


The present invention relates to a transmission (1), in particular for an adjustment drive, comprising a housing (2), a worm shaft (3) which is rotatably mounted in the housing (2) and which can be driven, a worm wheel (4) which is rotatably mounted in the housing (2) and which meshes with the worm shaft (3), an encircling first wedge surface (5) which is formed on the worm wheel (4) or fixedly connected to the worm wheel (4), a brake element (6) which is arranged so as to be rotationally conjoint with respect to the worm wheel (4) and which has a second wedge surface (7), wherein the first wedge surface (5) bears areally against the second wedge surface (7).

The present invention relates to a gear mechanism, in particular for an adjustment drive, and to an adjustment drive, in particular for a motor vehicle seat, comprising at least one gear mechanism.
DE 10 2004 013 543 A1 presents an adjustment drive having a gear mechanism. The gear mechanism comprises a worm gear mechanism stage and an eccentric mechanism stage. In particular in the case of such self-braking movement gear mechanisms, so-called "chatter vibrations" can occur in particular during a lowering operation as part of a seat height adjustment. In particular in the case of gear mechanisms for seat height adjustment in a motor vehicle, this leads to disturbing noises being generated during the lowering of the seat.

Transmission, in particular for an adjustment drive


A cart for transporting and supporting electronic equipment such as musical instrument amplifiers includes a wheeled open frame which defines an amplifier-receiving space therein. The frame rotatably supports an amplifier support chassis so that the support chassis is pivotable about a pivot axis for varying the angular orientation of a piece of equipment supported on the support chassis. The support chassis includes inner and outer members telescopingly interconnected for adjusting the depth of the support chassis. A fulcrum bar rotatably supported by the frame is affixed to the support chassis for providing the pivotal capability to the support chassis. A locking mechanism is provided for fixing the support chassis in a selected orientation, and a restraint is attached to the frame for encircling and restraining a piece of equipment supported in the cart.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an improvement in mobile transport carts which are used to transport and position musical instrument amplifiers. The amplifier cart of the present invention functions by encapsulating the amplifier in a protective tubular superstructure; minimizing the risk of damage when being transported. Wheels mounted on the bottom facilitates the ability of the cart to roll. The cart also includes apparatus for directing the angle of the amplifier's speakers in order to improve sound projection.
2. Description of Prior Art
A long standing problem for musicians has been the need to transport heavy musical instrument amplification devices from place to place. These amplification devices customarily weigh in excess of 70 pounds and include integral loud speakers on one side of the device. Since these amplifiers are bulky with high centers of gravity; they tend to topple off ordinary flat bed carts, especially when the cart is moved on and off a bandstand or stage on which the musician is performing.
A further problem is that the angle of the amplifier's speakers (with respect to the bed or carrying surface of the cart) must often be varied to accommodate different stage conditions. Thus, it is often necessary for the musician to tilt the amplifier's speaker cabinet (up or down) in order to afford the best sound projection for a particular theater, club or other venue for performing.
To date the problem with prior amplifier stands includes the fact that the amplifier could easily fall off while being transported. Prior amplifier stands do little or nothing to protect the amplifier from damage during movement from location to location. To date, no piece of equipment solves the needs of a musician utilizing a musical instrument amplifier with the intent to transport that amplifier from one location to another as well as providing a tilting mechanism in which the amplifier is housed, thereby better enhancing the projection of sound. The inherent weight of a typical amplifier is such that it is difficult to readily transport it from one location to another. The combined weight of the amplifier and its physical dimensions greatly impedes the ability for one individual to readily move it.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,190,254 to Maguire discloses an amplifier stand which provides no method to facilitate transportation of the equipment. The '254 device does not provide means for changing the angle for sound projection enhancement. Further, the structure of the '254 device has no provision to hold additional equipment typically incorporated into the musician's sound system. The invention provides no method of protecting the amplifier from possible damage. Additionally, the stand is made to fold up. This method used for manufacture reduces the inherent safe load capacity needed to safely support heavy amplifiers.
The device in U.S. Pat. No. 4,321,874 to Cenna III has an intended purpose of supporting a keyboard instrument and cannot serve to support a musical instrument amplifier. What is needed is an amplifier stand that holds musical equipment during transport and which includes means for adjusting the angle of the amplifier's speakers.
The device in U.S. Pat. No. 5,024,407 to Bartley does not have sufficient stability to safely contain the speaker cabinet. The center of gravity of the device in relation to the speaker cabinet placement provides minimal stability if accidently hit or bumped from the side. Within the scope of this device nothing has been provided to protect the amplifier from possible damage.

Transportable musical instrument amplifier cart and stand


Lens antenna equipment including a hemispherical Luneberg lens made of dielectric, a reflector which has a size larger than the lens diameter and which is to be provided on a face equivalent to a cross-section made by halving a globular shape of the lens, a primary feed to be arranged at a focus part of the lens, and an arm for holding the primary feed, all of which are unitarily assembled together, wherein the holder of the arm can be turned about an axis that is a perpendicular line passing the center of the lens when the reflector is attached to its installation position in a substantially perpendicular manner with respect to the ground surface, and wherein the primary feed can be moved along the surface of the lens, on a plane that is perpendicular to the axis passing the center of the lens, and on a semicircle centering the axis.

Generally, parabolic antennas have been used for communication with geostationary satellites. Basically, however, a parabolic antenna is capable of corresponding to electromagnetic waves from only one direction. Therefore, the setting of the parabolic antenna is very difficult because three axes of a vertical direction (elevation angle), a transverse direction (azimuth angle), and an inward direction of antenna face must be adjusted for its installation. In addition, the parabolic antenna is inferior with respect to electrical and mechanical durability against a strong wind since a mast must support against the wind loading during a strong wind that blows against the dish face, and thereby it may occasionally suffer from electromagnetic interference because of bending of the mast. Also, if a firm mast is to be installed, it is susceptible to problems in terms of cost and view and to installation regulations in Europe and America as well as in Japan.
In order to solve these problems, the wall type lens antenna equipment disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2003-110350 and Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2003-110352 has a reflector which has a diameter larger than the lens diameter of a hemispherical Luneberg lens made of dielectric and which is provided on the cross-section made by halving a globular shape of the hemispherical Luneberg lens, wherein the reflector is to be attached to a wall or the like substantially perpendicularly.
The above-mentioned lens antenna equipment has a mechanism in which the adjustment of positioning a primary feed at the time of installation is simplified. However, the mechanism was yet to be further improved since its performance for positioning adjustment was unsatisfactory in the case of communication with a geostationary satellite, particularly in the case of a plurality of geostationary satellites.
That is, in the case of the antenna equipment which is installed combining a hemispherical Luneberg lens and a reflector in a vertical arrangement, it is necessary to obtain information on the directions of a wall, a verandah, a fence, etc. where it is to be installed. However, it is not easy to judge them on the spot. If such a wall or the like where the antenna equipment is to be installed is located straightly facing equipment with which communication is to be established, it is convenient, but otherwise it is necessary to adjust the positioning of the primary feed, depending on the differences in the direction with respect to the equipment to be communicated with.
The antenna equipment disclosed in the above-mentioned patent applications is structured such that the position of a primary feed is determined at the focus of the lens by separately adjusting the longitude, latitude, and direction thereof, respectively. Thus, it takes time to achieve such adjustment. Particularly, when it is necessary to make the adjustment corresponding to a plurality of geostationary satellites, it is difficult to accomplish the adjustment of the positioning because the respective positions of focus of the geostationary satellites must be searched for at the site since the direction of the wall or the like is obscure.


An ignition coil includes a center core, a secondary coil, a primary coil, and an outer core. The secondary coil and the primary coil are substantially coaxially arranged on the outer circumferential side of the center core. The secondary coil includes a secondary winding that is wound around a secondary spool. The secondary spool has a high voltage bracket that includes a secondary terminal. The primary coil includes a primary winding that is wound around a primary spool. The outer core is arranged on the outer circumferential side in the ignition coil. The secondary terminal includes a first connecting portion, which is in a bulb shape, in the tip end. The first connecting portion connects with an end portion of the secondary winding. The first connecting portion is covered with an electrically insulative resin.

An ignition coil is used for igniting an ignition plug of an internal combustion engine. The ignition coil includes a center core, a primary coil, and a secondary coil. The primary coil includes a primary winding that is wound around a primary spool. The secondary coil includes a secondary winding that is wound around a secondary spool. Current, which is supplied to the primary coil, is shut, so that high voltage is generated in the secondary coil. Both ends of the primary winding and the secondary winding are respectively connected with predetermined terminals by welding. The number of turns of the secondary winding is much greater than the number of turns of the primary winding. The diameter of the secondary winding is much smaller than the diameter of the primary winding. Accordingly, the secondary winding, which is significantly small in diameter, is difficult to be connected with a small-diameter secondary terminal arranged on the high-voltage side.
A conventional connecting method of a coil wire, which is disclosed in JP-A-2003-45735, includes three processes.
As shown in FIGS. 8A, 8B, 9, a coil wire 81, which has an electrically insulative sheath, is wound around a secondary spool 80, and a wire end of the coil wire 81 is wound around a coil terminal 82, to which air is supplied from air nozzles 87 in the first process.
Arc is generated between the coil terminal 82 and an electrode 86 of a torch 85, so that heat is generated in the coil terminal 82, and the electrically insulative sheath is flashed from the coil wire 81 of a winding portion 83 in the first heating step of the second process.
Arc is generated between the coil terminal 82 and the electrode 86 of the torch 85, so that the coil terminal 82 is welded, and the coil terminal 82 is connected with the coil wire 81 of the winding portion 83 in the second heating step of the third process.
The object of the conventional connecting method is to remove the electrically insulative sheath and to connect the coil wire 81 with the coil terminal 82 using a simple method, in which the coil terminal 82 is heated in twice. The electrically insulative sheath is removed from the coil wire 81 in the first heating step, i.e., second process. The coil terminal 82 is welded in the second heating step, i.e., third process after removing the electrically insulative sheath of the coil wire 81.
When, a secondary wire is wound to a secondary terminal for a significantly large number of turns such as 20000 turns, the secondary terminal becomes thin. In this case, the diameter of the secondary wire becomes significantly small, such as 50 μm. The conventional connecting method may be applied to the thin secondary terminal, to which the secondary wire of significantly small-diameter is wound for a significantly large number of turns. In this case, degree of electric field increases, and stress concentration arises due to acute shape of the connecting portion, in which the secondary terminal and the secondary wire are welded. Accordingly, an electric tree may be formed and cracking may be caused in an electrically insulative resin located around the connecting portion, as thermal cycles, in which the secondary coil assembly is heated and cooled, is repeated.
In the conventional connecting method, the tip end of the connecting portion is in a bulb-shape, however, increase of electric field and cracking of the electrically insulative resin are not described. Besides, the number of turns of the secondary winding, the diameter of the secondary winding, and the electrically insulative resin around the connecting portion are not described. In the conventional connecting method, the number of turns of the secondary winding may be small, and the diameter of the secondary winding may be large according to the description of the structure. In this structure, the secondary terminal may be thick, and increase of electric field in the tip end of the connecting portion may not be a serious problem. However, voltage generated in the secondary coil may be low, when the number of the winding of the secondary coil is low. Besides, the heating process is divided into two processes in the conventional connecting method. Accordingly, the connecting process takes long, and manufacturing cost may be increased in the conventional connecting process.

Ignition coil having secondary coil assembly and connecting method for the same


A fused ring system compound is disclosed that contains an epoxide group on one side of the fused rings and an enediyne macrocyclic ring on the other side of the fused rings. The compounds have DNA-cleaving, antimicrobial and tumor growth-inhibiting properties. Chimeric compounds having the fused ring system compound as an aglycone bonded to (i) a sugar moiety as the oligosaccharide portion or (ii) a monoclonal antibody or antibody combining site portion thereof that immunoreacts with target tumor cells are also disclosed. Compositions containing a compound or a chimer are disclosed, as are methods of preparing a compound.

Dynemicin A (Compound 1 shown below), ##STR1## where Me is methyl, is a potent antibacterial and anticancer agent recently isolated from Micromonospora chersina [(a) Konishi et. al, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 112:3715-3716 (1990); (b) Konishi et al., J. Antibiot., 42:1449-1452 (1989)]. Its striking molecular structure combines characteristics of both the enediyne [Golik et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 109:3461-3462 (1987); Golik et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 109:3462-2464 (1987); Lee et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 109:3464-3466 (1987); Ellestad et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 109:3466-3468 (1987)] and the anthracycline ["Anthracycline Antibiotics", H. S. El Khadem, ed., Academic Press, New York (1982) and "Recent Aspects in Anthracyclinone Chemistry", Tetrahedron Symposia-in-Print No. 17, T. R. Kelly, ed., Tetrahedron; 40:4537-4794 (1984)] classes of antibiotics, and presents a considerable challenge to organic synthesis as well as a unique opportunity for the development of new synthetic technology and therapeutic agents.
The calicheamicin and esperamicin derivatives are perhaps the best known of the enediyne compounds. For a key paper describing the first synthesis of calicheamicinone, see: (a) Cabal et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 112:3253 (1990). For other selected studies of model systems in the area of calicheamicins-esperamicins, see: (b) Nicolaou et al, J. Am. Chem., Soc., 110:4866-4868 (1988); (c) Nicolaou et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 110:7247-7248 (1988); (d) Schoenen et al., Tetrahedron Lett., 30:3765-3768 (1989); (e) Magnus et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 110:6921-6923 (1988); (f) Kende et al., Tetrahedron Lett., 29:4217-4220 (1988).

Dynemicin analogs: syntheses, methods of preparation and use


An in-well aeration device which includes a water pumping section disposed within the well for drawing water from the well, an aerating section operatively connected to the water pumping section for drawing air into the well and subsequently injecting the air into the well water above the level of the water pumping section, and a motor operatively connected to the water pumping section and the aerating section for operating both sections simultaneously.

1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention is directed to a device for aerating water within a well, and more particularly, to a well pump having an integral air injection system for aerating well water to effectively remove objectionable contaminants therefrom.
2. Background of the Related Art
In many areas of the country, well water contains objectionable impurities such as dissolved iron, manganese or hydrogen sulfide. For example, if the water contains dissolved iron it will tend to oxidize when exposed to air, which causes the iron to precipitate out of solution. These precipitates cause rust-colored stains, which are difficult to remove from porcelain surfaces such as toilet bowls, sinks and tubs. The hydrogen sulfide is disagreeable because of its characteristic rotten egg odor.
Homeowners have typically eliminated objectionable contaminants from water using a softener and filtration system, but such units are not effective to remove moderate to high levels of dissolved iron and hydrogen sulfide. Aeration systems have also been used to oxidize dissolved solids before they enter the household plumbing. Such systems have been installed within the home in conjunction with a pressure tank and within the well itself. These aeration systems are designed to cause dissolved solids to precipitate out of the water. In the case of an in-home aeration system, the oxidized solids must be filtered from the water.
In-home aeration systems tend to be far more expensive than in-well aeration systems and require a relatively large space to accommodate the filtration equipment. In contrast, with an in-well aeration system, oxidized solids tend to settle at the bottom of the well, and subsequent filtration of the water prior to use is generally not required. However, in-well aeration systems use an air compressor that is typically located in the home remote from the well pump, requiring additional space in a location already occupied by the water storage tank and possibly a water softening system.
Another problem associated with well water is radon, a naturally occurring, water soluble radioactive gas that results from the breakdown of uranium in soil, rock and water. Radon has been reported to be the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States. There are two known methods of treating water contaminated by radon gas, namely, aeration and activated carbon filtration. The aeration method involves introducing air into the water supply to increase the gas-liquid interface, thereby allowing the radon gas dissolved in the water to diffuse into the gas phase, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,287,369 to Osmond. The air/radon gas mixture is then vented from the water supply and the water is delivered for use. Radon removal systems are typically complex and thus relatively expensive to install and maintain.
Clearly a need exists for an improved in-well aeration system that overcomes the deficiencies of the prior art. More particularly, there is a need in the art for an inexpensive and energy efficient in-well aeration device for removing or otherwise releasing dissolved contaminants from well water.


A disposable sterile sleeve is provided which is removably attachable to a video camera of an arthroscope. The sleeve comprises a flexible elongate tubular shroud and a rigid annular mounting collar. The shroud is open ended with the collar rotatably attached to one open end by a connector member providing independent rotation of the collar relative to the shroud. A pull tab is attached to the opposite open end of the shroud to facilitate extension of the shroud over the camera. The sleeve may be compacted for storage prior to use by tightly scrunching the shroud together, thereby folding it onto itself. To attach the sleeve to the camera, the video camera is inserted through the compacted shroud until it engages the collar. A male thread provided on the camera is threaded into a female thread provided on the collar and the shroud is then extended over the camera by pulling on the tab to draw out the folds in the shroud.

In the field of medicine, modern techniques have been developed for diagnosing damage to the interior structure of a living body. One such technique is arthroscopy, which is most commonly used to examine the interior structure of bone joints, such as the knee joint, and to determine the existence and extent of any damage in the joint. A significant advantage of arthroscopy is that it permits internal viewing of the body joint without requiring conventional invasive surgery to externally expose the joint. Furthermore, if joint damage is discovered during the examination, relatively non-invasive corrective surgery can be performed in conjunction with the arthroscopic examination thereby repairing the joint damage.
Arthroscopic examination employs a device termed an arthroscope which typically includes a probe, an imaging device and a video display. In operation, the probe is inserted into the joint being examined. The probe is connected to the imaging device which in turn is connected to a video display, thereby generating a picture of the interior structure of the joint. Consequently, the operator of the arthroscope is able to view, real-time, the interior structure of the joint while the probe is in place in the joint. This enables rapid diagnosis of any damage to the joint and the prescription of appropriate treatment.
Despite the relatively non-invasiveness of arthroscopic procedures, insertion of the probe into the patient places the patient at some risk of infection. Accordingly, it is desirable to perform arthroscopic procedures under strict hygienic conditions to minimize this risk. Sterilizing the probe is the most obvious measure for avoiding contamination. This can be accomplished by employing reusable probes which are sterilized before each use. Alternatively and preferably, prepackaged sterile disposable probes can be employed which are discarded after use.
Although it is clearly critical to maintain the sterility of the probe during an arthroscopic procedure, it is also very desirable to prevent contamination by other arthroscope components which may come into contact with the patient or the probe. In particular, it is desirable that the imaging device, which is typically a hand-held video camera, and the line feeding the image from the imaging device to the video display be isolated. This is because the camera and line are immediately adjacent to the probe and near the probe's point of entry into the patient. The isolation of these components is of great importance because, unlike the disposable sterile probe, they are reused in subsequent procedures. This unfortunately increases the risk of infection from contamination transmitted from a previous procedure.
As can be appreciated, it is extremely difficult to sterilize sensitive electronic equipment that cannot stand up to the harsh conditions of a sterilization autoclave. Moreover, sterilizing liquids may damage the equipment or may not be totally effective. Accordingly, a need exists for adequate means of performing hygienic arthroscopic procedures. Specifically, a need exists for assuring the sterility of arthroscope components without subjecting them to the harshness of conventional sterilization procedures. Further, a need exists for a cost-effective means of achieving this result.
In light of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a disposable sterile barrier for arthroscopic cameras. It is another object of the present invention to provide a barrier which when installed still allows manipulation of the arthroscopic camera controls. Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a barrier which can be used on existing cameras. Still another object of the present invention is to provide a barrier which is easy to install and use and which does not significantly increase preparation times for arthroscopic procedures. And yet another object of the present invention is to provide a barrier which is relatively easy to manufacture and is comparatively economical.

Sleeve for maintaining the sterility of an arthroscopic procedure


Threaded shafts engage threaded fittings at the top and bottom of a pilot's ejection seat. A motorized gear train selectively rotates the threaded shafts so as to adjust the fore-aft position of a seat while maintaining it behind a pre-designed emergency ejection path from a cockpit.

In conventional military aircraft, a pilot ejection seat is normally adjustable in vertical height only. With the advent of female aviators flying combat aircraft, it is necessary to accommodate a greater range of human dimensions.
A simple slide mechanism for fore-aft displacement must be accomplished while maintaining the seat well behind the ejection path. Further, the ejection seat must include means for absorbing most of the ejection loads exerted upon the seat during an emergency pilot ejection.

Fore and aft articulation adjustment of pilot ejection seat


Methods and apparatus are described for improving convergence time of a reference signal-to-interference (SIR) value calculated in outer loop power control for use in inner loop power control. Instead of considering only error rate information for each transport channel individually, other information, such as quality information from other transport channels and block rate information for the channel, is also considered to determine the reference SIR. By considering such other information, an improved outer loop power control is achieved, thus reducing the power needed for the physical channel and increasing the capacity of the communication system.

The invention relates to the control of power levels of transmitted signals in telecommunication systems, in particular cellular spread spectrum systems.
Digital communication systems include time-division multiple access (TDMA) systems, such as cellular radio telephone systems that comply with the GSM telecommunication standard and its enhancements like GSM/EDGE, and code-division multiple access (CDMA) systems, such as cellular radio telephone systems that comply with the IS-95, cdma2000, and WCDMA telecommunication standards. Digital communication systems also include "blended" TDMA and CDMA systems, such as cellular radio telephone systems that comply with the universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) standard, which specifies a third generation (3G) mobile system being developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) within the International Telecommunication Union's (ITU's) IMT-2000 framework. The Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) promulgates the UMTS standard. This application focuses on WCDMA systems for simplicity, but it will be understood that the principles described in this application can be implemented in other digital communication systems.
WCDMA is based on direct-sequence spread-spectrum techniques. Two different codes are used for separating base stations and physical channels in the downlink (base-to-terminal) direction. Scrambling codes are pseudo-noise (pn) sequences that are mainly used for separating the base stations or cells from each other. Channelization codes are orthogonal sequences that are used for separating different physical channels (terminals or users) in each cell or under each scrambling code. Since all users share the same radio resource in CDMA systems, it is important that each physical channel does not use more power than necessary. This is achieved by a transmit power control mechanism in which the terminal estimates the signal-to-interference ratio (SIR) for its dedicated physical channel (DPCH), compares the estimated SIR against a reference value, and informs the base station to adjust the base station's transmitted DPCH power to an appropriate level. WCDMA terminology is used here, but it will be appreciated that other systems have corresponding terminology.
The 3GPP is working on an evolution of WCDMA known as high speed downlink packet data access (HSDPA). This enhancement to prior systems increases capacity, reduces round-trip delay, and increases peak data rates up to 8-10 Mbit/s.
Generally speaking, transport channels are used for carrying user data via a dedicated or common physical channel. For HSDPA, the transport channel is a high-speed downlink shared channel (HS-DSCH). A corresponding physical channel is denoted by high speed physical downlink shared channel (HS-PDSCH). The HS-DSCH code resources include one or more channelization codes with a fixed spreading factor of 16. In order to leave sufficient room for other required control and data bearers, up to 15 such codes can be allocated. The available code resources are primarily shared in the time domain. For example, they may be allocated to one user at a time. Alternatively, the code resources may be shared using code multiplexing. In this case, two to four users share the code resources within a same transmission time interval (TTI).
In addition to user data, it is also necessary to transmit control signaling to notify the next user equipment (UE), such as a mobile station, personal digital assistant (PDA), or other receiver, to be scheduled. This signaling is conducted on a high-speed shared control channel (HS-SCCH), which is common to all users. The HSDPA concept also calls for an additional high-speed dedicated physical control channel (HS-DPCCH) in the uplink for carrying the Channel Quality Indicator (CQI) information in addition to the H-ARQ acknowledgements.
FIG. 1 depicts a communication system, such as a WCDMA system, that includes a base station (BS) 100 handling connections with four UEs 1, 2, 3, 4 that each uses downlink (i.e., base-to-UE or forward) and uplink (i.e., UE-to-base or reverse) channels. In the downlink, BS 100 transmits to each UE at a respective power level, and the signals transmitted by BS 100 are spread using orthogonal code words. In the uplink, UE 1-UE 4 transmit to BS 100 at respective power levels. Although not shown, BS 100 also communicates with a radio network controller (RNC), which in turn communicates with a public switched telephone network (PSTN).
The signals transmitted in the exemplary WCDMA system depicted in FIG. 1 can be formed as follows. An information data stream to be transmitted is first multiplied with a channelization code and then the result is multiplied with a scrambling code. The multiplications are usually carried out by exclusive-OR operations, and the information data stream and the scrambling code can have the same or different bit rates. Each information data stream or channel is allocated a unique channelization code, and a plurality of coded information signals simultaneously modulate a radio-frequency carrier signal. At a UE (or other receiver), the modulated carrier signal is processed to produce an estimate of the original information data stream intended for the receiver. This process is known as demodulation.
Good transmit power control methods are important for WCDMA (and other) communication systems having many transmitters that transmit simultaneously to minimize the mutual interference of such transmitters while assuring high system capacity. Depending upon the system characteristics, power control in such systems can be important for transmission in the uplink, the downlink, or both. To achieve reliable reception of a signal at each UE, the SIR of the received signal should exceed a prescribed threshold for each UE. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, consider the case in which the UEs receive, respectively, four signals on a common WCDMA communication channel. Each of the signals has a corresponding energy level associated with it, namely energy levels E1, E2, E3, and E4, respectively. Also present on the communication channel is a certain level of noise (N). For a given UE 1 to properly receive its intended signal, the ratio between E1 and the aggregate levels of E2, E3, E4, and N must be above the given UE's prescribed threshold SIR.
To improve the SIR of a received signal, the power of the transmitted signal may be increased, depending on the SIR measured at the receiver. Power, however, is an important resource in a WCDMA system. Since different channels are transmitting simultaneously at the same frequency, it is important to keep the power level on each physical channel as low as possible while still maintaining an acceptable error rate of the received blocks of user data on the transport channel, i.e., block error rate (BLER).
Downlink power control can be logically divided into an "inner loop" and an "outer loop," where the inner loop controls the SIR by sending transmission power control (TPC) commands to the base station and the outer loop controls the quality, in terms of BLER, by providing SIR references to the inner loop.
Conventional power control techniques compute one SIR reference for each transport channel, based on the BLER and the BLER reference for that transport channel, and the maximum of these SIR references is used by the inner loop. A conventional power control system is illustrated by the block diagram of FIG. 2. Each transport channel 201, 202, etc., communicating via a physical channel of the system 200 has an associated BLER controller 211, 212, etc., that determines the current BLER and compares it to a target BLER (also referred to as a BLER reference) BLERref for the channel to produce an SIR reference, SIRref, for the associated channel. The SIRref represents a target SIR for the channel. The BLERref for a channel is established by the system according to quality requirements for the data being transported over the channel, and other parameters. For example, voice data may have a higher quality requirement than text data. These quality requirements are typically signaled on a higher layer communication. A maximum one of the SIR references is determined 220 and forwarded to the SIR controller 230. The SIR controller 230 generates the inner loop power control commands 240 based on SIRref and the current SIR.
The objective of outer loop power control is to keep the BLER on each transport channel below their BLER reference while minimizing the power demands. The BLER control 211, 212, etc., for each transport channel includes a BLER estimator and controls the respective SIRref to keep the estimated BLER close to, but below the BLER reference value, BLERref, for the channel. The current BLER is estimated based on a cyclic redundancy check (CRC) of the respective transport channel, which is typically either a "1" when an incorrect block is received or a "0" when a correct block is received. The BLER can therefore be simply determined based on the ratio of incorrect blocks (having a CRC of "1") to the overall number of blocks received. Each controller 211, 212, etc., computes a corresponding SIRref, which is updated as each new block is received. The SIRref for a given channel increases as the BLER increases, since increasing the SIR reference value results in a demand for a higher SIR of the current signal. The SIRref having the highest value among the ones from the transport channels 201, 202, etc., is compared by the SIR controller 230 to the current SIR for the physical channel of the system 200 to produce the inner loop power control commands 240 to adjust power on the physical channel. The highest SIRref is used since it corresponds to the transport channel having the highest BLER, i.e., needing the most attention in terms of increasing the SIR.
The Association of Radio Industries and Businesses' (ARIB) "Specifications of Air-Interface for 3G Mobile System" specifies a simple method for outer loop control using an algorithm referred to as a "jump algorithm." In the jump algorithm, the BLER is represented by a CRC. The error e is the difference between the CRC and the BLER reference, as shown in Equation (1), which is integrated to obtain the SIR reference according to Equation (2).e=CRC−BLERref   (1)SIRref(k+1)=SIRref(k)+Ke(k)   (2)where K is gain applied.
The jump algorithm is updated each time a new block is received on the transport channel. The SIRref "jumps" to a higher value each time a given TTI contains a block error. The SIR reference provided by the conventional jump algorithm results in large variations. Consequently, as can be appreciated from FIG. 2, the power will have large variations. Smaller power variations can be obtained if the CRC information is filtered to produce a BLER estimate, BLERest, before being used by the controller, in which case Equation (1) becomes Equation (3). A BLER estimate can be obtained according to Equation (4).e=BLERest−BLERref.   (3)BLERest(k+1)=α·BLERest(k)+(1α−β)*CRC(k)+β·CRC(k+1)   (4)where α and β are constants, α determining the time constant of the filter chosen based on the BLERref according to, for example, α=10−0.1 BLERref, so that the estimates of the BLER are based on roughly the same number of block errors.
The problem with the conventional power control methods today, such as the jump algorithm, is that the convergence of the SIR reference is slow when the number of received blocks over a given TTI, i.e., the block rate (BLR), on the transport channel is low. This occurs because the controller is updated less and less frequently as the BLR decreases, resulting in slower convergence. This is illustrated in the graph of FIG. 3, where a jump algorithm-based controller is used to generate an SIR reference at three different BLRs, a 100% BLR 320, a 10% BLR 310, and a 1% BLR 300. As can be appreciated from the graph, as the BLR decreases, the convergence takes longer.
Slow convergence results in poor channel quality or higher than necessary power demands. It is especially problematic when the SIR reference is far from the correct level, since either the BLER or the power level will remain too high over an extended period of time, thus reducing system capacity. A typical situation where the SIR reference is too high is at initialization, where a high SIR reference is used to guarantee reception of the first data blocks. Accordingly, there is a need for innovative power control techniques that improve convergence time and thereby reduce the power level required by a physical channel.

Method and system for outer loop power control


A method and apparatus for producing a nickel shape or shell employs nickel vapor deposition onto the inside surface of a closed, multi-part mandrel. The closed multi-part mandrel eliminates the need for a separate deposition chamber and the nickel vapor deposition creates a nickel shell in the shape of the complete or multi-part partial mandrel internal surface resulting in a hollow or partially hollow nickel product.

It is known to produce nickel components, such as shells or other shapes using nickel vapor deposition (NVD). Usually this involves the use of a deposition chamber, with a mandrel or deposition master being placed in the chamber. The mandrel is heated and nickel vapor in the form of nickel carbonyl gas is passed over the heated mandrel. As the nickel carbonyl gas contacts the hot mandrel surface, it decomposes to form a hard and dense nickel deposit on the mandrel. The deposited nickel forms a layer that accurately reproduces the surface details of the mandrel on which it is deposited.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,007,634 issued to Reinhart Weber et al, shows such a deposition chamber for producing nickel products.
A difficulty with the prior art NVD methods and apparatus employing deposition chambers, however, is that prior to the introduction of the nickel carbonyl vapor into the chamber, the total inner chamber has to be purged of any oxygen. This procedure takes in most cases, depending on chamber size, between 4 and 6 hours. A similar purging procedure has to be repeated after the deposition process is completed before the deposition chamber can be opened.

Hollow nickel shapes by vapor deposition


A graphic drawing processing system has a frame memory including a drawing data area for holding data for drawing on a display, and an offscreen area for holding source data for a specified pattern which is not displayed on the display. The system further includes a coordinate convertor for obtaining pattern data corresponding to picture elements to be drawn, based on pattern source data in the offscreen area, and a memory for storing one portion of the pattern source data in the offscreen area.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a graphic drawing processing device (processor) and a graphic drawing processing system using the processor for drawing three-dimensional graphics and the like, and, in particular, to a graphic drawing processing system and device with a structure realized by a comparatively inexpensive cost whereby it is possible to perform high speed texture mapping by using a part of empty area (or unused area) in a frame memory for texture patterns during the texture mapping.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Because difficult or complicated coordinate calculations are required in texture mapping the process is normally carried out using software. However, there are cases where functions for simple coordinate conversions and the like are performed by hardware in order to implement the process at high speed.
FIG. 1 is a configuration drawing for a conventional graphic drawing processing device (processor) used in such cases. A graphic drawing processing device 100 of this conventional embodiment is provided with a texture mapping function. In FIG. 1, the graphic drawing processing device 100 has an interface section 11 for interfacing with a host CPU 3, a first and second digital differential analysis section 113 (the first differential analysis section for calculating paint-out with colors and the second digital differential analysis section for making regional decisions), an operation section 15 for performing pixel unit operations, a memory interface section 17 for controlling memory operation for a frame memory 5, and a coordinate conversion section 119 for converting coordinates in a drawing space to coordinates in a source space for texture patterns.
FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a structure for a graphic drawing system 200 using the graphic drawing processing device 100 shown in FIG. 1.
This graphic drawing system 200 is provided with a frame memory 5 formed as a Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM). For the data in the frame memory 5, one pixel in a display 9 uses several bits of data in the frame memory 5. In addition, in the frame memory 5 there is a data area (offscreen area) for data which is not displayed on the display 9. Two-dimensional coordinates (x, y) on the display 9 and an address `address` for the frame memory 5 are used to correspond to the pixels on the display 9 and the frame memory 5 so that they satisfy the following equation. In addition, the correspondence of the two-dimensional address and the frame memory 5 on the display 9 is shown in FIG. 3, EQU address=B+y.times.MW+x (1)
where B=base address, MW=the number of columns in the frame memory 5. PA1 a frame memory comprising: PA1 coordinate conversion means for obtaining pattern data corresponding to picture elements (or pixel) to be drawn, based on pattern source data in the offscreen area; and PA1 memory means for storing one portion of the pattern source data in the offscreen area. PA1 the memory means stores source data patterns corresponding to a desired area in the offscreen area of the frame memory, in graphic units, PA1 the coordinate conversion means obtains an address for the pattern source data corresponding to all the picture elements which form the desired graphics when writing into the drawing data area of the frame memory, and PA1 the graphic drawing processing system reads out, from the offscreen area, the desired pattern source data corresponding to all the picture elements which form the desired graphics, stores this data in the memory means, and then writes the data into the drawing data area, while referring to the memory means. PA1 a data area for storing, in n picture element units (where n is an optional positive integer), a plurality of source data units for patterns corresponding to a desired region in the offscreen area of the frame memory; and PA1 an address area for storing addresses in the frame memory for data corresponding to the data area, PA1 the coordinate conversion means obtains an address for the pattern source data corresponding to the picture elements when writing into the drawing data area of the frame memory, and PA1 the graphic drawing processing system comprises: PA1 wherein the memory means comprises: PA1 the coordinate conversion means obtains an address for the pattern source data corresponding to the picture elements when writing into the drawing data area of the frame memory, PA1 the graphic drawing processing system comprises: PA1 wherein the read-out of the pattern source data from the offscreen area in the frame memory and the write-in of the pattern source data to the memory means is performed in n picture element units. PA1 wherein the memory means is made up of memories associated in m ways (where m is an integer, 2 or greater); PA1 the graphic drawing processing device has a selection means for selecting the output from the pattern source data corresponding to a common address, from the results of the comparison by the comparison means. PA1 wherein the frame memory is formed from a plurality of banks and is controlled by an interleaved control method whereby the pattern source data inside each bank is accessed alternately. PA1 the graphic drawing processing system reads out the desired table data from the offscreen area and rewrites this data in the color look-up table, as required.
In addition, the data area (namely, the offscreen area), data in which is not shown on the display 9, in a part of the frame memory 5 is provided in this system and texture patterns to be drawn are set in the offscreen area. In general, an empty area in the frame memory 5, or one buffer, when a double buffer structure is provided and a single buffer used, is allotted as the offscreen area.
Next, two operations and for performing graphic drawing of a triangle will now be explained using the conventional graphic drawing processing device 100 with this type of structure described above when texture mapping is not performed (A) and performed (B).
Here, parameters and a starting point for drawing used by each digital differential analysis section 113 are provided in advance. (A) In a case where texture mapping is not performed
As shown in FIG. 3, starting from the initial drawing point on the two dimensional coordinates, the input of data from the frame memory 5 is displayed while the pixels are increased one by one in the x direction, and a one pixel offset is increased in the y-direction if being outside of the triangle.
The memory access at this time is carried out continuously while the drawing expands in the x-direction, therefore a high speed page mode write-in is possible. When changing to the y-direction, the memory access is carried out in a random mode because a page break occurs. (B) In a case where texture mapping is performed
On the other hand, when the triangle is drawn with texture mapping, the operation is as follows. From the two-dimensional coordinates for the drawn pixels, pixel coordinates (u, v) corresponding to texture space (a region with a texture pattern) are obtained (reverse conversion of coordinates), and pixels corresponding to texture source space are written in. Subsequently, the degree of brightness for drawing is added with the pixels and a drawing is made in the frame memory 5. This operation is implemented at each pixel in sequence along arrow directions as shown in FIG. 4 for the entire drawing area.
However, the following two types of problems are seen in the system which uses the conventional graphic drawing processing device 100 when the texture source space is used in common with the space for drawing in the frame memory 5.

Graphic drawing processing device and graphic drawing processing system using thereof


Provided is a superior, novel heterocyclic compound with improved solubility in oil such as sesame oil and benzyl benzoate, which has a broader treatment spectrum, causes less side effects, and is superior in tolerability and safety, and use thereof. A heterocyclic compound represented by the formula (I) wherein each symbol is as defined in the specification, or a salt thereof.

As a compound having a broad treatment spectrum for central neurological diseases such as schizophrenia and the like, for example, a compound represented by the following formula (1) (hereinafter compound (1)) has been reported (patent document 1).
wherein each symbol is as defined in patent document 1.
The above-mentioned compound (1) is an antipsychotic agent having a broader treatment spectrum as compared to conventional typical antipsychotic agents and atypical antipsychotic agents, causing less side effects, and superior in tolerability and safety. However, this compound is associated with problems in that its application to oil injections is limited and the like, since it is poorly soluble in oil such as sesame oil and benzyl benzoate. Oil injections are useful as compared to aqueous suspensions from the aspects of imparted blood concentration sustainability (control of diffusion in administration site by oily base), shortened liquid preparation time when in use (unnecessitated mixing and shaking), secured sterilization by filtration (oily base filtration), avoidance of physical stimulation at administration site (oily base stability), improved accuracy of filling into injection container (container filled with oily base) and the like.

Piperazine-substituted benzothiophene derivatives as antipsychotic agents


An apparatus for preventing a door from opening. The apparatus preferably comprises a pair of anchors which are mounted to a floor. The anchors are located beyond both edges of the door on the side toward which the door opens. Each of the anchors has a slot in it so that it can accept an end of a cross bar to form a connection. The anchors are oriented so that the slot in each anchor aligns with the slot in the other anchor when the door is in a closed position and the apparatus is engaged. A cross bar is placed between the anchors to prevent the door from opening. The cross bar is connected to the anchor on the edge of the door which is on the same edge of the door as the hinge of the door by a pin which allows the cross bar to be rotated upwardly. The anchor with the hinge is connected to the floor in such a manner as to allow the anchor to rotate on an axis which is perpendicular to the floor. This rotation allows the cross bar to swing with the door when the cross bar is disengaged from the floor anchor nearest to the opening edge of the door. The cross bar can be disengaged from the anchor nearest to the opening edge of the door by being lifted upwardly by means of linkages connecting the cross bar to a locking device which can be operated either from the inside or from the outside of the door.

This invention relates to the securing of doors, specifically to the securing of a door with an apparatus that utilizes the securing strength available through connection to the floor, but without leaving parts of the securing apparatus in the pathway of the door.
Forced entry through doors supposedly designed to provide privacy and security to occupants behind the doors is a problem that has long been worrisome to occupants. Simple knobs can only serve to prevent a person from entering who is not willing to turn the knob and enter. A locking device that prevents the knob from turning when locked is an answer to that problem. Forcefully entering any locked door is, however, only limited by the amount of force a person trying to enter is willing to apply to the door. The purpose of an apparatus designed to secure a door is to make the force required to enter a locked door greater than is practically available to a perpetrator. A method of forcing open a door would not be practically available if it was either physically beyond the capability of a perpetrator or demanded adequate time and energy for the perpetrator to be discovered by the authorities.
As a failure mechanism, a door assembly may yield through three main modes. First, the door itself may rupture. Most doors are significant enough that if adequate force is applied to the door to rupture the door, there will be a great deal of noise associated. U.S. Pat. No. 5,154,461 provides a bar along the middle section of a door that it claims would strengthen that portion of the door. That invention claims that such a strengthening would be especially significant in adding support to "hollow-core" doors. That claim does seem reasonable, but hollow-core doors are typically not used where security is a main function of the door. Even where such a door might be used for security, destruction of the hollow-core door by brute force would create a significant disturbance and would be likely to require greater force than other means of entry.
The second failure mode would be for the door latch bolt or hinges to fail. Shearing of the bolt or hinges is very unlikely because of the relative strengths of the metal of which the bolt or hinge is made compared to the wood to which the bolt or hinge is typically connected. If the door jam were constructed of metal, a determination of where the failure would occur would be a closer question. With all metal construction, however, the force required to force open the door would be quite significant and would be likely to be beyond the capability of most perpetrators. Those that could force entry would be more noticeable in their efforts. Very little in the prior art is directed to the strengthening of the door latch bolt or the hinge pins. This is logical since the bolt and hinges connect directly to the weakest link in the door locking mechanism.
The weakest link in the door locking mechanism is the door jamb at the latch bolt. This, along with tear-out of the connection devices that hold the hinges in place, is the third mode of failure. Failure at the latch bolt is more likely than failure at the hinges because the hinges are far apart, typically have more connectors, and would be hard to strike simultaneously. It is evident why a door jamb in a residence is likely to be the typical failure element when the jamb's characteristics are considered. The typical residential door jamb is constructed of wood. The wood is oriented such that a force applied to the door latch bolt will be transferred to the wood perpendicular to the grain of the wood and relatively near to the edge of the wood. Wood has very poor tensile strength perpendicular to the grain. Therefore, when relatively little force is applied to the jamb through the latch bolt, the jamb is split and the door swings open. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,154,461 and 5,199,759 both recognize this problem specifically. The '461 patent attempts to strengthen the connection at the jamb by putting more and longer screws into the jamb through the striker plate to which the latch bolt connects. This must help some, but only provides limited additional strength since the wood in the jamb or a stud behind the jamb is still being loaded in tension perpendicular to the grain.
The '759 patent approaches the problem in a different way. Because of the limitations of the jamb, this patent looks for strength from the floor to provide security. The floor is essentially an enormous plate held in place by the weight of the building. If a secure connection can be made to the floor, a door can be held firmly in place. The '759 patent as well as U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,348,879, 4,673,203, 4,676,536, and 5,163,308 all rely on this principle to secure doors. Each of these, however, is limited in ways the present invention is not.
The '203 and '536 patents rely on jamming a member at an acute angle between the door and the floor. Such a member is, however, subject to slippage along the floor. The '879 and '308 patents require recesses to be created in the floor. This creates a problem because the recesses tend to fill up with dirt. The recesses tend to fill up because they are below a pathway. Such devices become inoperable unless they are cleaned out regularly. The '759 patent is not limited by either of these problems, but does create a practical problem. The anchor piece listed in each of its embodiments must be in the pathway of the door. Consequently, it must also be in the pathway of the persons using the door. The anchor piece is a tripping hazard. Further, in the second embodiment, the door sill anchors the wedge that holds the door. The sill is visible from the other side of the door and is subject to being manipulated from the outside.
Of all of the prior patents listed above, only the '461 patent allows for operation from outside of the building. This means that unless the occupants are inside the building, or leave the building from some other exit, the security of the supplementary device cannot be utilized. If the occupants were to leave by some other exit that did not have a supplementary security device, it is likely that the other exit could be manipulated for entry and thus the security of the supplementary device would be defeated. Though the '461 patent does provide operation from outside of the building, it does not connect to the floor and is therefore limited in strength by the strength of the door jamb. The present invention can be configured to operate from outside of the building through a locking device and linkages which can engage and disengage the cross bar.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for securing a door which is connected directly to the floor.
It is further an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for securing a door which is located above floor level and requires little or no maintenance.
It is further an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for securing a door which is outside of the pathway unless the door is in the secured position.
It is further an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for securing a door which is beyond the reach of manipulation from the other side of the door.
It is further an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for securing a door which can be operated from either side of the door and thus allows for use of the securing device when a building is not occupied.


A crop header has generally horizontal flail disks mounted for driven rotation about generally upright axes of a cutter bar. A tilting system is provided for tilting the cutter bar about an axis transverse to the machine so as to tilt the cutting plane from a generally horizontal position forwardly and rearwardly. A sensor is provided which is responsive to upward and downward floating movement of the cutter bar relative to the support frame and is arranged to analyze changes in the signal to determine times when the cutter bar is moving upwardly when the cutter bar is tilted rearwardly, times when the cutter bar is moving downwardly when the cutter bar is tilted forwardly and times when the cutter bar is remaining at a constant height.

Crop harvesting headers which use rotary cutters in replacement for the more conventional sickle knife systems have been available for many years. It is well known that such rotary cutters include a cutter bar or gear train which provides the main structural and drive communication components of the cutter. The cutter bar provides a series of longitudinally spaced vertical drive members each of which drives a respective one of a plurality of cutting disks at spaced positions along the cutter bar. The disks are mounted for rotation about a vertical axis standing upwardly from the cutter bar. The disks carry at a point on their outer edge a plurality, generally two, of flail type blades which rotate with the disk around the vertical axis in a cutting action.
The construction of the cutter bar itself including the suitable gear train is well known and a number of different designs are available which can be used by a person skilled in this art.
Examples of such rotary type cutters are shown in the following documents assigned to the present applicants:
U.S. Pat. No. 7,340,876 issued Mar. 11, 2008 which corresponds to U.S. Published Application 2008/0066440 filed Sep. 15, 2006 and published Mar. 23, 2008 and to Canadian application 2,559,353 discloses an arrangement which provides impellers of an hour glass shape arranged at the outer cutter disks.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,454,888 issued Nov. 25, 2008 which corresponds to U.S. Published Application 2008/0066441 filed Sep. 15, 2006 and published Mar. 23, 2008 and to Canadian application 2,559,217 discloses an arrangement which provides a transfer roller between the cutter disks and the conditioning rollers where the transfer roller is of the same diameter as the bottom roll and carries high ribs preferably forwardly inclined for an aggressive action on the crop. The roller is mounted with its axis above the cutting plane and its uppermost edge of the ribs at or above the axis of the bottom roll. The disclosure of this document may be referenced for further detail.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,015,784 issued Sep. 13, 2011 and originally published Mar. 23, 2009 which corresponds to Canadian application 2,639,032 discloses an arrangement where a swath converging apparatus is mounted in the mouth of the opening and is formed by two pairs of upstanding cylindrical rollers rotatable about their axes in a direction to carry the crop inwardly of the discharge opening. The pairs are mounted on respective top and bottom plates which pivot about the axis of the outer roller with the latter extending forwardly to overlap a floor plate of the cutter bar. The disclosure of this document may be referenced for further detail.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,006,469 issued Aug. 30, 2011 and originally published Mar. 19, 2009 discloses an arrangement where a swath converging apparatus is mounted behind impellers on the end cutter disks to carry the crop to the discharge opening.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,308,947 issued Dec. 18, 2007 discloses a construction of a pull type apparatus using rotary cutters.
The disclosure of each of the above document is hereby incorporated by reference or may be referred to for further details not disclosed herein.
In many cases the discharge opening contains a conditioner for engaging and breaking or fracturing the crop to improve drying action as the swath is left in the field. Such conditioners can be of a number of different types but one common type uses a pair of fluted rollers which form a nip so that the crop is bent as it passes between the flutes.
In some cases rotary cutters of this type are transported on a pull type frame carried on ground wheels and towed by a utility tractor. In other cases the frame of the rotary cutter is supported at the forward end of a dedicated swather tractor as a self-propelled system and the present invention can be directed to either type of system.
In many cases the cutter bar carrying the rotary cutters is held by the support system of the transporting vehicle, whether that be a pull type of self-propelled, so that it remains generally horizontal during the cutting action. The so-called self-propelled system provides on the tractor some ability to tilt the header forwardly and rearwardly so that the angle of the cutter bar to the ground changes.
In German DE 40 07 735 of Claas published Sep. 12, 1991 there is disclosed a four bar support linkage for the cutter bar which allows a floating action. The linkage is arranged such that the cutter bar initially tilts so that its front edge is raised as the whole cutter bar is raised on the linkage during the floating action. As the cutter bar moves yet higher in the floating action the cutter bar moves back to the original flat or un-tilted condition. The linkage then reverse in action as the cutter bar falls from the elevated position back to the original position. Thus during the downward movement the cutter bar again tilts so that its front edge is raised.

Rotary crop harvesting machine with cutter bar tilt control


The present invention provides a communication system, signal pre-processing apparatus and signal receiving apparatus thereof. The signal pre-processing apparatus is used for pre-processing signals before they are transmitted by a plurality of antennas. The apparatus includes a serial-to-parallel converter, L compensation processors and L beam formation processors. First of all, the serial-to-parallel converter converts a digital signal into N divided signals. Each of the compensation processors pre-compensates the N divided signals and outputs a compensated signal. Each of the beam formation processors intensifies the compensated signal and outputs an intensified signal. Each of the antennas combines L intensified signals into a particular signal, and meanwhile, upconverts the particular signal into a RF (radio-frequency) signal for transmission.

The communication infrastructure of future wireless services will involve high-speed networks, central base stations, and various nomadic mobile units of different complexity that must interoperate seamlessly. In addition to standard issues such as capability and affordability, a mobile wireless network also emphasizes survivability against fading and interference, system flexibility and robustness, and fast access. To achieve the above targets, the complexity of signal access apparatuses and the cost of production have risen sharply.
Therefore, a signal access apparatus that reduces cost and apparatus complexity is required.

Communication system, signal pre-processing apparatus and signal receiving apparatus thereof