An ostomy appliance comprising a base plate, said base plate having a first hole for receiving a stoma, ureter, or catheter and an adhesive wafer having a first surface to be attached to the wearer's abdomen back, or chest; a receiving member or bag releasably attached to the base plate, said bag having a second hole for receiving wastes exiting the stoma, ureter or catheter; and a disposable inner bag liner forming a second bag inside the receiving member and being releasably attachable to the base plate in a first coupling area by first coupling means, said disposable inner bag liner having a third hole for receiving wastes exiting the stoma, ureter or catheter and the receiving wastes exiting the stoma, ureter or catheter and the receiving member being releasably attachable to the base plate by second coupling means wherein the first coupling means is in the form of an adhesive flange projecting from the rim of the third hole and having a surface for releasable sealing against a second surface of the base plate facing away from the user provides an ostomy appliance combining the advantages of using a separate, flushable inner bags with an easy, safe, hygienic and discreet management of the collected waste with maximum safety against soiling parts of the appliance not to be substituted when substituting the inner bag, which inner bag may be used directly together with existing ostomy devices.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ostomy appliance comprising a receiving bag and a disposable bag liner and optionally a body side member, a disposable bag liner for use together with an ostomy appliance, and a method for applying such an ostomy appliance.
In connection with surgery for a number of diseases in the gastro-intestinal or urinary tract a consequence is, in many cases, that the colon, the ileum or the ureter has been exposed surgically and the patient is left with an abdominal stoma, or, in nephrostomy or ureterostomy, the ureter or a catheter is exposed in the back or the chest region or abdominal region, and the effluents or waste products of the body, which are conveyed through these organs, are discharged through the artificial orifice or opening and are collected in a collection bag, which is usually adhered to the skin by means of an adhesive wafer or plate having an inlet opening for accommodating the stoma/ureter/catheter. Also in connection with a fistula, the patient will have to rely on an appliance to collect the bodily material emerging from such opening.
Ostomy appliances are well known. Such appliances may be two-piece or one-piece appliances. In both types of appliances, an adhesive barrier member (or base plate) is attached to the wearer's abdomen/back/chest. In case of a one-piece appliance, a receiving member or bag is attached to the base plate. In case of a two-piece appliance, the adhesive base plate forms part of a body side member and a receiving member or bag is attached releasably to the body side member for receiving exudates from the stoma.
When using one-piece appliances, the whole appliance, including the adhesive skin barrier securing the appliance to the skin is normally removed and replaced by a fresh appliance. When using two-piece appliances, the body side ostomy member is left in place up to several days, and only the receiving member or bag attached to the body side member is replaced. The attachment means for attaching an ostomy receiving bag may be a system known per se comprising matching coupling rings or matching flanges and adhesive surfaces engaging with and sealing against a flange area of the body side member.
A known major problem with receiving bags is that it can be difficult to dispose of the used bag in a convenient and hygienic manner. Some ostomates will cut the used bags open, e.g. by cutting off an edge thereof and depositing the contents into a WC for flushing away and disposing or depositing the empty bag in a waste bin. Such disposal of used bags and the contents therein is indeed unhygienic and undesirable for the user, especially in public rest rooms, and in view of this a number of proposals have been made for ostomy bags which may be flushed down e.g. a WC.
2. Description of the Related Art
Thus, U.S. Pat. No. 5,423,782 (Wolrich) discloses a disposable ostomy bag liner apparatus including a unitary flexible bag having a main body portion, a tapered 20 portion and a flange portion in which the tapered portion is disposed adjacent the main body portion and together, the main body portion and tapered portion define an interior portion of the bag for receiving and hold intestinal waste material. The patent discloses a bag liner for use by colostomy and some ileostomy patients which is easy to install in a conventional ostomy bag, which has provisions to allow for escape of gas admitted into the liner and which is relatively inexpensive to produce.
EP Patent No. 0 768 848 (Welland Medical Limited) discloses a biodegradable, flushable ostomy bag liner comprising inner walls formed from polyvinylacetate/polyvinylalcohol film of a grade which disintegrates within 60 seconds in water at 50° C. but retains its structural integrity in water at 25° C. for at least two days, outer walls formed from a non-woven fabric which disintegrates in water at 25° C., means defining an opening in the inner and outer walls for receiving bodily waste from the stoma patient, an adhesive flange being secured to at least an inner wall of the liner and surrounding the said opening, wherein the walls of the inner and outer bags are unconnected and form a non-laminar arrangement over the greater part of their area, but are connected around their peripheral margins and in the region of the adhesive flange.
EP Patent No. 0 703 762 (Welland Medical Limited) forms basis for the invention disclosed in EP Patent No. 0 768 848 above and discloses a drainage bag for receiving bodily waste, the drainage bag containing an outer bag, a water-impermeable inner bag enclosed within the outer bag, the inner bag being of a structure which is weakened upon immersion in a WC bowl such that it becomes limp and is less buoyant thereby enabling it to be flushed away easily, and means defining an orifice to enable bodily waste to be received by the inner bag in which the outer bag is water-impermeable and is formed from a material which acts as a barrier to flatus gases. The outer bag is provided with a flatus filter, the inner bag is permeable to flatus gases, and the outer and inner bags are detachably secured together in the region of the orifice.
GB Patent Application No. 2 306 889 (Alcare Co Ltd) discloses a body waste receiving appliance comprising an adhesive plate with an opening to a wastes discharge hole or opening formed on the surface of a human body, a first flange secured to the non-adhesive side of said adhesive plate and having an opening corresponding to the opening of said adhesive plate, a second flange detachably mounted at the opposite side, with reference to said adhesive plate, of said first flange and having an opening corresponding to the opening of said first flange, an outer pouch secured at the opposite side, with reference to the adhesive plate, of said second flange and having an opening corresponding to the respective openings of said adhesive plate, said first flange and said second flange, and an inner pouch for receiving the body wastes through the respective openings of said adhesive plate and said first flange, said inner pouch being housed inside the outer pouch in such a manner as to be separable therefrom, said outer pouch being formed of a non-water-soluble film, while said inner pouch being formed of a water-soluble film which is dissolved or disintegrated in water, said inner pouch being replaceable.
EP Patent Application No. 0 821 925 (Quacquarella) discloses an ostomy appliance comprising a reusable outer bag and a disposable inner bag, means for securing the two bags together and to the stoma, means for inserting and removing the inner bag from the outer bag, and means for closing the outer bag once the inner bag is in place.
In applicants own WO publication 01/82846 is disclosed an ostomy appliance comprising an adhesive barrier member (or base plate), said barrier member having a hole for receiving a stoma, ureter, or catheter and barrier wafer to be attached to the wearers abdomen, back, or chest; an outer receiving member or bag releasably attached to the adhesive barrier member, said bag having a hole for receiving wastes exiting the stoma, ureter or catheter; and a disposable inner bag liner releasably attached to the adhesive barrier member wherein the disposable inner bag liner having a hole for receiving wastes exiting the stoma, ureter or catheter is attached releasably to the adhesive barrier member in a first coupling area by first coupling means and the outer receiving member is attached releasably to the adhesive barrier member by second coupling means, in which the first and second coupling areas are in the form of one or more coupling rings and the first and second coupling means are in the form of matching coupling rings and wherein the outer diameter of the first coupling means is smaller than the inner diameter of the second coupling means.
The purpose of the present invention is to provide an ostomy appliance combining the advantages of using a separate, flushable inner bags with an easy, safe, hygienic and discreet management of the collected waste with maximum safety against soiling parts of the appliance not to be substituted when substituting the inner bag, which inner bag may be used directly together with existing ostomy devices.


A prosthesis for implanting in an eye has a lens member and a double interface member which is coupled to the periphery of the lens member. The double interface member is comprised of a more superficial branch and a deeper branch which project out from the lens member. The double interface member has a plurality of pores for permitting the ingrowth of tissue to anchor the prosthesis to the eye. The double interface member also has an anatomical structure into which eye tissue is inserted, so as to become an immediate anchor to the eye and an immediate barrier to external pathogens.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to prostheses and, in particular, to ocular prostheses for replacing, for example, diseased or damaged corneas or portions of corneas.
2. Description of Related Art
Several attempts have been made to provide prostheses for the replacement of diseased or injured corneas. One such prosthesis is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,865,601, which is intended to lie deep in an intra-lamellar stromal pocket and to be anchored in place by a fibrous ingrowth of tissue into an annular porous skirt of the prosthesis. The implant is anchored beneath the conjunctiva, which is sewn together in a flap over the eye, allowing for support for the six to eight weeks needed for the implant to root. The conjunctiva flaps open gradually between the sixth and eighth week during which time sight is gradually regained.
The prosthesis used in U.S. Pat. No. 4,865,601 includes an optical element made from polyurethane, which is surrounded by a porous annular skirt made from polytetrafluoroethylene ("Goretex"). The porous skirt is intended to permit the fibrous ingrowth of tissue. The optical element is bonded to the annular skirt by introducing a polymerization mixture into the area where the optical element and skirt overlap, to bond the two different materials together.
A problem in the art of prostheses for implantation in the eye involves breach of the barrier which protects the internal parts of the eye, thereby allowing for invasion by external pathogens and resultant infections. Previous attempts to alleviate this problem have used prostheses, or parts thereof, made of a porous material into which eye tissue can grow to create a barrier. Such a barrier, however, is dependent on sufficient ingrowth of tissue into the porous material and can take from weeks to months to develop.
Protective measures, such as the surgical creation of the conjunctival flap discussed above, must be taken during the corneal fibroblast ingrowth in the pores for two main reasons: (1) to protect the eye from external pathogens during this period, and (2) to prevent the epithelial downgrowth of the conjunctival cells in between the wound edges, by directing them on top of the inert synthetic material of the prosthesis where they have no chance to be anchored and, therefore, no chance of reaching the wound before the healing process performed by the ingrowth of the corneal fibroblast in the pores of the peripheral prosthesis occurs. In the case of conjunctival flaps, the patient does not regain vision until at least six to eight weeks after surgery.
Another related problem with the background art relating to ocular protheses is that specific surgical procedures, such as the creation and sewing together of the conjunctival flaps, must be performed after a broad dissection of the conjunctiva which will not feed into the inert material of the prosthesis.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a corneal implant which enables the patient to see immediately after surgery.
Another object is to provide an ocular prosthesis which permits the use of eye tissue, such as the conjunctiva, as a means of immediately anchoring the prosthesis to the eye during surgery.
Another object is to provide an ocular prosthesis wherein eye tissue, such as conjunctiva tissue, may be actively directed to an anatomical synthetic for its insertion in a way to prevent epithelial down growth and to create an anatomical and clearly limited barrier against any external pathogens.
A further object is to provide a simpler surgical procedure for implanting an artificial cornea, resembling that which is used for corneal transplants.


A system and associated method for managing data. Each pointer of at least one pointer is stored in a metadata object. The pointer resides in a first repository, each unique file resides in a second repository, and the metadata object resides in third repository. Each pointer is deleted from the first repository. Upon receipt from the first repository of an event indicating both a unique file and a pointer no longer resides in the first repository, the pointer is searched for in each metadata object residing in the third repository pertaining to a hierarchical metadata management system (HMMS). After searching and locating the pointer in a metadata object in the third repository, the pointer is restored to the first repository. A hierarchical storage management system (HSM) is notified that the pointer currently resides in the first repository thus allowing the HSM to retrieve the unique file from the second repository.

The present invention relates generally to hierarchical management systems and more particularly to reducing the overhead associated with maintaining hierarchical management systems.
Conventional hierarchical storage management (HSM) systems manage objects residing in an online-accessible repository as well as an offline repository. Reasons for moving objects from the online-accessible repository to the offline repository may be, inter alia, the object is out of date, the object is currently of limited value, there is a finite amount of space in the online-accessible repository, etc. However, there usually is a chance the moved object will be requested at least once in the future. Therefore, a pointer is placed in the online-accessible repository pointing to the moved object residing in the offline repository. The pointer allows for access to the object without storing said object in the finite space of the online-accessible repository.
Due to the ever-increasing production of data, the number of objects stored in an online accessible repository such as a file systems also grows. While one million files were rarely seen on file systems merely ten (10) years ago, today HSM systems manage tens of millions of files with a trend towards billions of files. As a result current HSM systems require an ever increasing number of pointers to accommodate the influx of data.

System and method for managing data using a hierarchical metadata management system

International Business Machines Corporation


An optical pick-up apparatus includes: a semiconductor laser light source that generates an optical beam; a diffraction grating that divides the optical beam into a main beam and side beams; an optical element that guides the main beam and the side beams that are generated by the diffraction grating onto an optical information medium; and a photodetector that detects a signal from reflected light reflected from the optical information medium. The semiconductor laser light source is configured with a 2-wavelength semiconductor laser device in which a semiconductor laser chip that generates an optical beam having a wavelength of λ1 and a semiconductor laser chip that generates an optical beam having a wavelength of λ2 are integrated into one chip or are arranged in proximity to each other. The diffraction grating has one grating period Λ by which each of the optical beams having the wavelength λ1 and the optical beam having the wavelength λ2, which are generated by the 2-wavelength semiconductor laser device, is divided into a main beam and side beams. The apparatus is applicable to two kinds of optical information media having different track pitches.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical pick-up apparatus that is a key component of an optical disc drive apparatus. More particularly, the present invention relates to an optical pick-up apparatus for recording, reproducing and erasing information with respect to both of a group of discs including CD, CD-ROM, CD-R and CD-RW (hereinafter called "CD group disc") and a group of discs including DVD, DVD-ROM, DVD-RAM, DVD-R and DVD-RW (hereinafter called "DVD group disc"), which have different track pitches from each other.
2. Related Background Art
A configuration and an operation of a conventional optical pick-up apparatus will be described below, with reference to FIG. 3. This apparatus enables information to be recorded, reproduced and erased with respect to a CD group disc 110 and a DVD group disc 111. Although FIG. 3 shows both of the CD group disc 110 and the DVD group disc 111 for the purpose of illustration, as a practical matter, only one of these discs is loaded thereon. The CD group disc 110 or the DVD group disc 111 is placed on a common plane P facing an objective lens 109. On the reverse side of the plane P, recording surfaces 110a and 111a are provided. Since the CD group disc 110 has a thickness larger than that of the DVD group disc 111, the recording surface 110a of the CD group disc 110 is positioned further from the objective lens 109 than the recording surface 111a of the DVD group disc 111.
This apparatus has an infrared semiconductor laser device 101 and a red semiconductor laser device 102. In optical paths between the laser devices 101 and 102 and the discs 110 and 111, 3-beam generating diffraction gratings 103 and 104, a beam splitter 105, a collimator lens 106, a beam splitter 107, a condenser lens 112, a photodetector 113, a mirror 108 and the objective lens 109 are arranged. The 3-beam generating diffraction gratings 103 and 104 form three beams from optical beams emitted from the infrared semiconductor laser device 101 and the red semiconductor laser device 102, respectively. The beam splitter 105 guides the beams that have passed through the 3-beam generating diffraction gratings 103 and 104 onto the common optical axis. The collimator lens 106, the objective lens 109 and the condenser lens 112 function as a light-gathering device. The beam splitter 107 divides the reflected light from the disc 110 or 111.
This optical pick-up apparatus operates as follows: when recording, reproducing or erasing information with respect to the CD group disc 110, the infrared semiconductor laser device 101 operates. An optical beam emitted from the infrared semiconductor laser device 101, which is indicated by a solid line, is diffracted by the 3-beam generating diffraction grating 103 so as to be divided into three optical beams (a main beam as zero-order diffracted light and side beams as±first-order diffracted light). These three optical beams pass through the beam splitter 105, then are converted from the divergent beams to parallel beams by the collimator lens 106, and enter into the objective lens 109 via the mirror 108 to be focused onto the CD group disc 110. Reflected light from the CD group disc 110 passes through the objective lens 109 and the mirror 108, is directed to a different direction by the beam splitter 107, and is focused onto the photodetector 113 by the condenser lens 112. From the main beam and side beams incident on the photodetector 113, an RF signal, a focus error signal and a tracking error signal are detected.
Meanwhile, when recording, reproducing or erasing information with respect to the DVD group disc 111, the red semiconductor laser device 102 operates. An optical beam emitted from the red semiconductor laser device 102, which is indicated by a dashed line, is diffracted by the 3-beam generating diffraction grating 104 so as to be divided into three optical beams (a main beam as zero-order diffracted light and side beams as±first-order diffracted light). These three optical beams are directed to a different direction by the beam splitter 105, then are converted from the divergent beams to parallel beams by the collimator lens 106, and enter into the objective lens 109 via the mirror 108 to be focused onto the DVD group disc 111. Reflected light from the DVD group disc 111 passes through the objective lens 109 and the mirror 108, is directed to a different direction by the beam splitter 107, and is focused onto the photodetector 113 by the condenser lens 112. From the main beam and side beams incident on the photodetector 113, an RF signal, a focus error signal and a tracking error signal are detected.
The conventional optical pick-up apparatus shown in FIG. 3, however, requires the two semiconductor laser devices, the two diffraction gratings and the beam splitter 105 for guiding the emitted light from the two semiconductor laser devices to the common optical axis in order to be compatible with the CD group disc 110 and the DVD group disc 111. Therefore, it is difficult to downsize the optical pick-up apparatus. In addition, since a large number of optical components are required, which complicates the positional adjustment among the respective optical components, the cost required for components and for adjusting the components increases significantly as compared with an optical pick-up apparatus dealing with a single type of disc.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A bilayer transmission diffraction grating having antireflection lines having rectangular cross-section over grating lines having trapezoidal cross-section is described. The process-dependent grating line profile is accounted for by characterizing the grating line profile and performing electromagnetic wave diffraction simulations, whereby a grating duty cycle is selected that results in an improvement of overall diffraction efficiency and/or reducing polarization dependent loss of a diffraction grating having the characterized grating line profile. Grooves in the substrate between the grating lines further improve diffraction efficiency and reduce polarization dependent loss. The entire grating line profile, including the antireflection line, the grating line, and the groove in the substrate between the grating lines, can be defined using a single etch mask, which reduces process and equipment related manufacturing costs.

A diffraction grating is a collection of reflecting or transmitting elements separated by a distance comparable to a wavelength of light. It may be thought of as a collection of diffracting elements, such as a pattern of transparent slits or apertures in an opaque screen, or a collection of reflecting grooves on a substrate. A reflection diffraction grating consists of reflecting grating elements disposed on a surface, whereas a transmission diffraction grating consists of transmitting grating elements disposed on a transparent surface or within a transparent slab of material. Light incident on a diffraction grating will diffract and, upon diffraction, will have an electric field amplitude or phase, or both, modified in a predictable manner, so that light at different wavelengths will propagate at different directions. This wavelength separating property of a diffraction grating is used to build spectrometers, wavelength selective optical switches, ultrashort laser pulse compressors, and other wavelength-selective optical devices.
In optical devices based on transmission diffraction gratings, the optical paths of incident and diffracted light are separated. This allows for a greater freedom in positioning of optical elements used in redirecting and collimating the incident and the diffracted light beams. Today's transmission diffraction gratings are usually free of absorptive materials such as metals, which reduces light absorption and makes the gratings usable in high-power laser applications. Furthermore, modern transmission diffraction gratings can be made entirely out of inorganic materials. Lack of organic materials results in improved environmental stability and reliability of the gratings. High environmental stability is particularly important in wavelength-selective optical switch applications of the gratings. Most of the transmission gratings based on inorganic materials are surface-relief gratings, in which the transmitting grating elements are transparent grating lines or grooves running parallel to each other on a grating surface. In a high-efficiency transmission diffraction grating, the grating lines or grooves modify only the optical phase distribution of an incoming light wave, whereby high diffraction efficiency becomes achievable. Herein, the term "diffraction efficiency" is defined as a proportion of the optical power of the diffracted light in the optical power of the incoming light.
A high-efficiency surface-relief transmission diffraction grating can be obtained by etching a groove pattern in a transparent overlayer on a glass or fused silica substrate, or in the substrate itself. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,907,436 by Perry et al. discloses a transmission diffraction grating obtained by etching a binary groove pattern in a top layer of a multilayer dielectric stack deposited on a transparent substrate. Further, U.S. Pat. No. 7,142,363 by Sato et al. teaches a transmission diffraction grating obtained by etching a trapezoidal groove pattern in a bilayer dielectric stack deposited on a transparent substrate. Both diffraction gratings of Perry and Sato provide a high diffraction efficiency at an oblique angle of incidence, the grating period being smaller than the wavelength of incoming light, but larger than one half of the wavelength of the incoming light. At these conditions sometimes referred to as "Bragg conditions", only one diffraction direction, or non-zero diffraction order, is possible. A high efficiency of diffraction in that order can be achieved by properly selecting the diffraction grating period and duty cycle of the grating lines.
Referring to FIG. 1, a prior-art surface-relief bilayer transmission diffraction grating 10 is shown in a cross-sectional view. The grating 10 has a grating layer 13 consisting of grating lines 14 formed on a transparent substrate 12. An antireflective layer 15 consists of antireflective lines 16 formed on top of the grating lines 14. Both the grating lines 14 and the antireflection lines 16 have rectangular cross-sections. In other words, the grating 10 has a so-called binary profile. The rectangular cross-sections are typically achieved by selecting a highly anisotropic etch process for etching through the antireflective layer 15, followed by etching through the grating layer 13 using another highly anisotropic etch process. A diffraction efficiency modeling is used to determine a duty cycle of the grating structure, defined as a ratio of the air gap to the grating period, that gives maximum diffraction efficiency at a given grating line density. For example, to achieve a diffraction efficiency of >90% within a so-called telecommunications C band having a wavelength range of 1.52 to 1.56 microns, a grating structure of FIG. 1 having silicon dioxide (SiO2) antireflective layer 15 and tantalum oxide (Ta2O5) grating layer 13 should have a grating line density of approximately 900 lines per mm and a duty cycle of about 0.44. A different duty cycle will be required for a different value of grating line density.
Although efficient and reliable, surface-relief transmission diffraction gratings of the prior art have not yet found a widespread use due to their high cost. The high cost is related to the multitude of the process steps used in manufacturing transmission diffraction gratings, as well as to difficulties associated with maintaining high diffraction efficiency and low polarization dependence for different grating batches, as well as across a single grating; the latter is especially true for gratings having large surface area. The manufacturing difficulties result from sensitivity of the diffraction efficiency of the transmission surface relief diffraction gratings to the manufacturing process tolerances. Even at tight tolerances, parameters of the grating lines may vary, which leads to variations of the diffraction efficiency.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a low-cost surface-relief transmission diffraction grating that can be manufactured using a reduced number of process steps. Advantageously, a diffraction grating of the present invention has a high enough diffraction efficiency, so that the requirements for process tolerances can be relaxed, resulting in further cost reduction. It is another object of the present invention to provide a corresponding etch mask parameters selection method and a general manufacturing method of a transmission diffraction grating.


A system for tracing wire includes an electrical exciter adapted to apply a voltage to a ground-laid wire to generate a corona at an outer surface of the ground laid wire, at least a portion of the corona including ultraviolet c-band radiation, and an ultraviolet c-band detector to detect the ultraviolet c-band radiation to trace at least a portion of the path of the ground-laid wire.

As is known in the art, Ultraviolet (UV) light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength shorter than that of visible light, but longer than x-rays. UV light includes wavelengths in the range of 100 to 400 nanometers (nm) and energies from 3 to 124 electron-volts. UV light is emitted by the Sun, electric arcs, and artificial light sources such as black lights. As an ionizing radiation, UV sources can cause chemical reactions that cause many substances to glow or fluoresce. Although UV light is beyond visible light, most people are aware of the effects of UV radiation through sunburn. However, the UV spectrum has many other effects, both beneficial and damaging, on human health.
UV radiation can be classified in a number of ways, including as bands of radiation separated into the following:
UV A-band: 400-320 nm.
UV B-band: 320-280 nm.
UV C-band: 280-200 nm.
The Sun emits UV A, UV B, and UV C-band radiation; however, the Earth atmosphere's ozone layer absorbs about 98.7% of this radiation, primarily in the UV B and UV C-bands. Other natural sources of UV radiation include lightning and fires.
As is also know in the art, ordinary glass is partially transparent to UV A-band radiation, but is opaque to shorter UV wavelengths in the UV B and UV C-bands. Silica or Quartz glass, depending on quality of materials, can be transparent to even UV C-band radiation, while window glass passes about 90% of UV light above 350 nm, but blocks over 90% of UV light below 300 nm.
UV radiation can be an effective viricide and bactericide and is used in wastewater treatment. However, it is only beginning to find usage in drinking water sterilization. UV lamps are used to sterilize workspaces and tools used in biology laboratories and medical facilities. In particular, UV light can be an effective germicide because it can prohibit reproduction by damaging cellular DNA, even though it may not kill a host organism.
As is also known in the art, UV C-band radiation is invisible to humans and to ordinary cameras, video gear, and night vision systems. Existing UV detectors generally include either solid-state devices, such as a silicon carbide or aluminum nitride device, or gas-filled tubes as sensing elements. UV detectors are primary used for detecting artificial light. For example, the petrochemical industry uses UV detectors to monitor burning hydrogen flames which radiate strongly in the 185-260 nm range. UV detectors are sensitive to burning compounds, such as hydrocarbons, metals, sulfur, hydrogen, hydrazine, and ammonia. Industrial safety applications employ UV detectors to effectively detect arc-welding, electrical arcs, lighting, and X-rays.
UV C-band detectors are solar blind, since the Earth's atmosphere blocks solar UV C-band radiation, which makes them useful for both indoor and outdoor applications. Furthermore, UV C-band detectors are generally unaffected by night, rain, fog, and dusty environments. Another useful feature is that UV C-band radiation reflects well off soil, pavement, and other manmade surfaces, as well as water. One type of UV C-band detector is a UV C-band camera that includes components such as an image intensifier tube and charge-coupled device (CCD). The tube intensifies electromagnetic energy by converting photons into electrons that dislodge other electrons to produce "intensified" energy captured by the CCD.

Detection of ground-laid wire using ultraviolet C-band radiation


A method and system for managing transmission resources in a wireless communications network includes receiving a plurality of packets and determining a time duration for transmission of each packet. A power level for transmission of each packet over the time duration is further determined. Based on the time duration and the power level determined for each packet, a wireless resource impact is determined for each packet. Transmission resources are allocated to each packet based on the wireless resource impact determined for each packet.

Wireline and wireless Internet protocol (IP) networks have traditionally supported a best effort delivery of all traffic. To support enhanced services, multiple types, or classes, of services have been established and assigned certain quality of service (QoS)
parameters that manage queues for each service type. The QoS parameters include delay, jitter, error rates, and throughput. The QoS parameters can be provisioned on a per IP connection or per flow basis through mechanisms such as resource reservation protocol (RSVP) or can be provisioned on aggregate flow which are classified into service classes. Internet service providers (ISPs) can utilize the service classes, their associate QoS behavior and QoS provisioning to provide multiple service offerings to their business and consumer customers.
The IP-QoS architecture provides congestion control tools that work closely with traffic shaping, admission control and coordinated policing tools to control and shape the traffic of various IP flows and to insure QoS behavior for each class of service. The goal of congestion control is to adapt the sending rate of data at its source to match the bandwidth available at a network node. Thus, as the bandwidth availability or the demand for bandwidth changes in a network, the data sources are controlled to adapt their sending rate to the bandwidth changes.
Traffic shaping and policing are performed at the network nodes. Traffic shaping is typically implemented using a token, or leaky bucket. The token bucket is sized in accordance with a burst rate of the traffic and is filled with tokens at a long-term average rate of the available supply or bandwidth. Traffic is policed by requiring packets to check-out tokens from the bucket for transmission.
To support flows having disparate QoS parameters, multiple token buckets have been used in a network node to police and control the disparate QoS flows. Each token bucket is sized and configured at a rate corresponding to the QoS parameters of an associated flow. While the use of multiple token buckets supports disparate flow types, the token buckets are not sensitive to the characteristics of the radio frequency (RF) wireless environment in which different flow types have different impact on the media/physical layer and have a different interference impact based on location of the flow.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and system for managing transmission resources in a wireless communications network


A template and method of installation of an in-the-room gas fireplace and associated cabinetry. The template coordinates the initial positioning of the gas fireplace unit, and additionally ensures that subsequently-installed plumbing and electrical connections will not obstruct or interfere with the associated cabinetry.

The present invention relates to a fireplace system and, more particularly, to the installation of a gas fireplace, and associated cabinetry.
Conventional woodburning fireplaces have been used in homes throughout the years. Although these fireplaces are not usually the primary heating source in todays homes, such fireplaces remain quite popular due to their aesthetic value and charm. Conventional woodburning fireplaces, of course, require some type of chimney for venting of the combustion products. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, conventional fireplaces are typically built with an outside masonry chimney. Prefabricated woodburning fireplaces typically have metal chimneys that are installed in an outside chimney chase. In newer construction, these chimneys are often framed, and thereafter covered by siding.
In recent years, there has been a trend towards the installation of gas fireplaces. These gas fireplaces typically burn cleaner, can be turned on and off with the push of a button, eliminate the need for buying, chopping and storing wood and require little or no maintenance and/or cleaning. Such gas fireplaces were originally installed in similar fashion to conventional woodburning fireplaces, i.e., they were typically installed in outside chases. However, newer gas fireplace technology allows the fireplace to be moved into the room, rather than being enclosed in an outside chimney chase. These newer fireplaces include both direct vent and vent free models.
However, the introduction of these "in-the-room" fireplaces has introduced a number of installation problems. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the installation of a gas fireplace in a home under construction requires the interaction of multiple tradesmen, who are commonly unknown to one another and often work during non-overlapping periods of time during the construction process. Inasmuch as a gas fireplace must be bolted to the floor prior to any of the plumbing or electrical connections, and prior to any of the finishing work such as drywall and cabinetry, installation problems are common. By way of example, installation problems include improperly located fireplaces, improperly located gas lines, improperly located vent lines, damage to gas/vent lines during subsequent construction and/or improper fit of finishing materials and/or cabinetry.
There is therefore a need in the art for a fireplace system and installation method therefor which encompasses the complete installation of a gas fireplace from the initial positioning of such fireplace on the floor of the home to the final installation of the finished cabinetry or other millwork.


A patient support device which can be connected to patient placement devices of medical examination or treatment equipment, for example an MRI device, an X-ray machine, or of ambulances. The patient support device supports a patient during medical examination and treatment. The patient support device has a structural rigidity that is less than a minimal rigidity that enables the patient support device to be self-supporting while the patient is resting thereon. Such a patient support device can be designed in a simple manner in such a way that it can be used in MRI devices, as well as in devices of other types, and can be transferred between the devices without repositioning of the patient on different support devices.

Patients can be examined or treated by means of various types of medical equipment. For example, image-providing equipment for computer tomography (CT), MRI tomography (MRI), positron emission tomography (PET) or X-ray methods is available for examinations. For such examinations or treatments, electron-ray, lithotripsy or radiation therapy equipment, or simple operating tables may be employed. A patient who is to be treated or examined by means of such equipment is placed onto the patient placement device. The patient placement device can be fixedly connected with the respective equipment and in general consists of a patient support tabletop and a patient support device, on which the patient can be positioned and moved into the equipment. The patient support tabletop may also be a cot, stretcher, or the like. The patient is placed on a different support device while being transported to the patient placement device of the equipment or away from it, which can be moved from one location to another, for example from one type of equipment to another, by means of a patient transporting device, a so-called gurney.
A transfer of a patient, who may possibly be severely injured, between the patient support devices of the ambulance and the examination or treatment equipment can be potentially very hard on the patient and painful. Moreover, the transfer of the patient also places the involved medical personnel under a large bodily stress. Finally, such patient transfer can require the assistance of several people and uses up additional work time.
In order to avoid the transfer of a patient from one patient supporting device to another, it is known from DE 101 11 801 to employ a system consisting of several different types of medical equipment, as well as a single patient support device, wherein the patient support device can be separated from the respective patient placement device and can be connected to every other patient placement device. A board or a support plate, for example, can be provided as the patient support device, via which the patient can be placed while being prone.
The free interchange of the patient support device with the various types of examination/treatment equipment demands that the patient support device and the equipment be appropriately constructed in various ways. However, this results in difficulties in connection with MRI tomography. In general, the manufacturing materials which are normally used for producing patient support devices are not suitable for usage in MRI examination equipment. Instead, these patient support devices are mainly produced and designed for use in connection with other equipment, for example for X-ray procedures, and are made of carbon fiber materials. They typically must have a substantially high degree of transparency to X-rays for use in X-ray procedures. Other specific materials are usually employed for use with MRI equipment than for nearly all other examination or treatment equipment. MRI compatible materials must be non-conducting and completely non-magnetic, but may not be transparent to X-rays. Further, it is customary to place special signal-recording coils on the patient support device for MRI tomography on which the patient is placed in the same way as on cushions. These coils remain on the device when the MRI device is disconnected from the patient support table and may lead to disruptive image interferences when the device is connected to the table of a different examination device.
Up to now, patient support devices, which are intended to be used with both MRI equipment and other examination or treatment equipment, had to be developed from highly specialized materials as well as in the form of highly specialized support device structures. For example, X-ray patient support devices must not have any structural parts which would create interference shadows at defined X-ray entry angles, for example. However, this patient support device structural limitation makes it difficult to flexibly and adaptively address other demands made on the patient support device, for example opportunities for securing body parts of the patient in place or for attaching medical accessories.


A speed change mechanism (1) constructed by connecting in tandem a hydraulic type speed change unit (17) having a plurality of hydraulic clutches (57, 58, 59) to be alternatively engaged and a hydraulic type speed change unit (20) having a plurality of hydraulic clutches (66, 67, 68) to be alternatively engaged, wherein a time-varying region (common slip region) is secured in which the two clutches slip in common such that during speed change, when the working hydraulic pressure in a clutch to be engaged is on its way to gradual increase, the working hydraulic pressure in a clutch to be disengaged lowers. This common slip region is made smaller during shift-down than during shift-up by a change in time-difference between the pressure increase start time for the clutch to be engaged and the pressure decrease start time for the clutch to be disengaged or by a change in the pressure decrease property of the clutch to be disengaged, and is maintained constant irrespective of whether one or two hydraulic clutches are engaged and disengaged during speed change respectively or irrespective of a difference in engine rpm.

The present invention relates to a method of controlling hydraulic pressures in a speed changing mechanism having a plurality of hydraulic clutches, that is, a hydraulic power shift speed change mechanism. Particularly, the invention relates to a method of controlling hydraulic pressures in a multistep-speed-type speed change mechanism constituted such that a plurality of hydraulic type speed change units are connected in tandem, wherein each of the hydraulic type speed change units is constituted of a plurality of transmission trains, and a hydraulic clutch is provided in each of the transmission trains.
Conventionally, there is publicly known a so-called hydraulic power shift speed change mechanism configured of a plurality of hydraulic clutches (fluid-operated multidisc clutches). Particularly, there is publicly known a multistep-speed-change-type speed change mechanism constituted such that a plurality of hydraulic type speed change units are connected in tandem, wherein each of the hydraulic type speed change units is constituted of a plurality of transmission trains, and a hydraulic clutch is provided in each of the transmission trains. In vehicles including the speed change mechanism, such as an agricultural and other work tractors, speed-changing for the number of steps obtained by multiplying the numbers of transmission trains provided in individual speed change units. Suppose a speed change mechanism configured of two hydraulic type speed change units, in which two transmission trains are provided in one of the hydraulic type speed change units, and three transmission trains are provided in the other hydraulic type speed change unit. In this case, 2xc3x973 steps are obtained; that is, totally, six-step speed changes can be performed.
Conventionally, to perform input/output control for engagement/disengagement operating fluid for individual hydraulic clutches in the above-described speed change mechanism, electromagnetic-type selector valves are used.
In connection with the conventional hydraulic-pressure control for the hydraulic clutches at the time of speed-changing, first of all, the relationship in time between engagement-objective clutches and disengagement-objective clutches will be described below. Essential things regarding speed-changing include the prevention from a case where double transmission trains are operated to be in transmission states. Specifically, in the above-described multistep-speed-change-type speed change mechanism configured by combining the plurality of hydraulic type speed change units, it is essential to avoid a case where two clutches are operated in an engaged state in each of the speed change units. Therefore, conventionally, a disengagement-objective clutch is first disengaged substantially completely; and after a nontransmission state is once made in the speed change mechanism, the engagement of the engagement-objective clutch is then started. However, a high load is imposed during a nontransmission state, the vehicle is likely stopped. In addition, since a hydraulic pressure begins to rise from the nontransmission state when the engagement-objective clutch starts engagement, there remain problems which cannot be solved in that great shocks occur, thereby causing an operator to feel uncomfortable.
In view of the above, as described below in the xe2x80x9cDisclosure of Inventionxe2x80x9d and in other portions, even when the transmission efficiency is reduced to the lowest level during speed-changing, at least either the disengagement-objective clutches or the engagement-objective clutches are controlled to be in slip states. Specifically, operating timing and a time-transitional hydraulic pressure property for the individual disengagement-objective clutch and the individual engagement-objective clutch are set so that a region representing a slip state (the region will hereinbelow be referred to as a xe2x80x9ccommon slip regionxe2x80x9d) for the two clutches can be secured.
Hereinbelow, a brief description will be made regarding clutch hydraulic pressures in the slip state. The pressure for a disengaged clutch in a fluid chamber is substantially 0, and a piston for operating a clutch disc is in a free state. To engage the disengaged clutch, first, fluid is fed to a fluid chamber therefor to be filled out, and the filled out fluid must be used to increase the pressure to hold the piston. When a hydraulic pressure having a value that is sufficiently high to hold at least the piston is set to a piston-holding pressure, the hydraulic piston is brought to a slip state at an operating hydraulic pressure that is higher than the piston-holding pressure.
However, different from the above-described conventional hydraulic-pressure control for which the relationship between the individual hydraulic pressure states for the disengagement-objective clutch and the engagement-objective clutch need not be taken into account, in the hydraulic-pressure control of the present invention, when the individual time-transitional hydraulic pressure properties for the engagement-objective clutch and the disengagement-objective clutch are fixed as have been set under specific conditions where, for example, the engine is operated at a rated revolution frequency, there occurs cases wherein no common slip region can be secured because of the conditional variations.
For example, in a speed change mechanism configured of two hydraulic type speed change units, there are two speed-changes. One of the speed changes is performed such that in one of the hydraulic type speed change units, clutches remain held in engaged states; and in the other hydraulic type speed change unit, one engaged clutch is disengaged, and a different clutch is newly engaged (one-objective-based hydraulic clutches are disengaged/engaged). The other speed change is performed such that, in each of the hydraulic type speed change units, one engaged clutch is disengaged, and a different clutch is newly engaged; that is, in the overall speed change mechanism, totally, two clutches are disengaged, and two clutches are engaged (two-objective-based hydraulic clutches are disengaged/engaged). As described above, before an engagement-objective clutch is controlled to be in a slip state, wait time is required until the pressure increases up to the level of the piston-holding pressure after the fluid is injected into the fluid chamber of the clutch. For two-objective-based hydraulic clutches to be disengaged/engaged, aforementioned time is required substantially twice as much as that in the case where one-objective-based hydraulic clutches are disengaged/engaged. Therefore, when clutch-timing and a time-transitional hydraulic pressure property are set to secure a common slip region according to the case where the one-objective-based hydraulic clutches are disengaged/engaged, they are not suitable to the case where the two-objective-based hydraulic clutches are disengaged/engaged.
When the engine revolution frequency is reduced, time required for filling out the fluid in the clutch fluid chamber is increased. Therefore, for example, hydraulic-pressure control is set to obtain a common slip region during a rated revolution. However, problems similar to the above can arise during idle revolution.
In comparison between a speed-changing operation at a shifting-up time and a speed-changing operation at a shifting-down time, in the former case, since the relative revolution speed of a secondary-side rotation shaft with respect to that on a primary side of an engaged/disengaged is increased, a common-slip-region period needs to be set to be relatively long. On the other hand, in the latter case, the speed-changing is performed to reduce the relative revolution speed of the same secondary-side rotation shaft, and rotational inertia at a time of preshift operation is imposed on the secondary-side rotation shaft. Therefore, the common-slip-region period may be short; and when it is long, smooth speed-changing is impaired.
As in the conventional case, in speed-changing in which an engagement-objective clutch is engaged after a disengagement-objective clutch is disengaged, detection is performed by using a pressure sensor or the like for the state of engagement of the disengagement-objective clutch that is supposed to have been engaged. Checking is thereby performed for abnormality (such as entrance of foreign substances). Thereafter, engagement of the engagement-objective clutch is interrupted, thereby allowing double transmission to be avoided. As in the case of the present invention, in the speed-changing in which a common slip region is secured, disengaging operations and engaging operations of clutches are overlapped. Therefore, there can be caused a case where a disengagement-objective clutch is not disengaged, while an engagement-objective clutch is engaged. That is, there can be caused double transmission that can cause damage in the transmission mechanism. Therefore, an abnormality-detecting method suitable to the present invention is demanded.
Pressure-increase properties required for the engagement-objective clutches at the time of speed-changing are different depending on the traveling mode of a work vehicle employing the speed change mechanism; that is, the properties differ depending on whether the vehicle is engaged in normal (on-the-road) traveling or tractional traveling. In a tractional travel time, the hydraulic pressure at a rising time needs to be set high, and the clutch needs to be quickly engaged. Otherwise, the transmission efficiency is not sufficient to catch up with the load, thereby causing engine failure. To reduce shock that can be caused in a normal travel time, rising pressure is preferably controlled as low as possible.
Conventionally, to overcome these problems, in a hydraulic-pressure control system for hydraulic clutches, two types of pressure-increase properties, one for normal traveling and another for tractional traveling so as to be alternatively selected by an operator are stored.
However, problems still remain pending resolution. With a control method that is dependent on operator""s switching operation, when erroneous operation is performed, there occurs hydraulic-pressure increase that does not correspond to practical requirements, causing problems such as engine failure and shock generation. To cope with these problems, the control is preferably arranged such that the load state is automatically can be detected, and one of the hydraulic-pressure-increase properties can be selected according to the result of the detection.
In addition, as described above, the variety of conditions varies the requirements regarding, for example, hydraulic-clutch engagement/disengagement operations at the time of speed-changing, i.e., the time-transitional hydraulic-pressure-increase properties for engagement-objective clutches, time-transitional hydraulic-pressure-decrease properties, and the operational timing. To comply with these requirements, it is preferable that input/output hydraulic pressures for clutches be controlled to be variable; that is, it is preferable that the capacity of an individual clutch-operating valve be variable.
The present invention relates to a speed change mechanism (so-called hydraulic power shift speed change mechanism) having a plurality of speed-changing hydraulic clutches, each of which is engaged according to hydraulic-pressure-increase effects and is disengaged according to hydraulic-pressure-decrease effects. A primary object of the invention is to avoid a nontransmission state that can occur at a time of speed-changing with the speed change mechanism.
To achieve the object, according to the present invention, at a time of speed-changing operation, an operating hydraulic pressure for a clutch to be engaged from a disengaged state is gradually increased in a time transition, and an operating hydraulic pressure for the clutch to be disengaged from an engaged state is reduced during the gradual pressure increase. Preferably, during the speed-changing operation, an operating-hydraulic-pressure-decrease start time for the disengagement-objective clutch is set to be later than an operating-hydraulic-pressure-increase start time at which a fluid chamber of the engagement-objective clutch becomes full of fluid, and the pressure thereof rises to a piston-holding pressure. Thereby, a time-transitional pressure region (common slip region) where an engagement-objective clutch and a disengagement-objective clutch commonly slip at the time of speed-changing operation is secured.
Also, in connection with the aforementioned object, in order to allow the common slip region to be constantly secured at all times regardless of various conditional variations, at least one of a time difference between the operating-hydraulic-pressure-increase start time for the engagement-objective clutch and the operating-hydraulic-pressure-decrease start time for the disengagement-objective clutch and a time-transitional decrease property in the operating pressure for the disengagement-objective clutch is controlled to vary corresponding to engine revolution frequencies.
In this case, the various conditions include engine revolution frequency. Corresponding to the property that a fluid-chamber filling-out time for the engagement-objective clutch increases in proportion to reduction in the engine revolution frequency, when the time difference is controlled to vary, the aforementioned time difference is set longer in proportion to reduction in the engine revolution frequency or in a case where the engine revolution frequency is equal to or lower than a specific level so as to decrease slower in proportion to reduction in the engine revolution frequency or in a case where the engine revolution frequency is equal to or lower than a specific level.
In the speed change mechanism (so-called multistep-speed-change-type speed change mechanism) configured by classifying the aforementioned plurality of speed-changing hydraulic clutches to allocate them to a plurality of hydraulic type speed change units, the hydraulic clutches are alternatively engaged in each of the hydraulic type speed change unit to thereby form one speed step. In this configuration, as described above, in order to secure the time-transitional pressure region (common slip region) where the engagement-objective clutch and the disengagement-objective clutch at the time of speed-changing commonly slip, when the hydraulic-pressure control in which the operating hydraulic pressure for the clutch to be engaged from a disengaged state is gradually increased in the time transition, and an operating hydraulic pressure for the clutch to be disengaged from an engaged state is reduced during the gradual pressure increase at the time of speed-changing is employed, the number of clutches to be engaged/disengaged is included as one of the aforementioned various conditions. Therefore, when the time difference is controlled to vary, the time difference is set relatively long at a time of speed-changing when the number of the clutches to be engaged/disengaged is large, and the time-transitional decrease property is controlled to vary, the time-transitional decrease property is set to be reduced slower at a time of speed-changing when the number of the clutches to be engaged/disengaged is large.
Considering that a rotational inertia is imposed at a time of shifting-down operation compared to a case at a time of the shifting-up operation, in order to reduce the area of a common slip region at the time of the shifting-down operation to be narrower than that at the time of shifting-up operation, at least one of a time difference between the operating-hydraulic-pressure-increase start time for the engagement-objective clutch and the operating-hydraulic-pressure-decrease start time for the disengagement-objective clutch and a time-transitional decrease property in the operating pressure for the disengagement-objective clutch is controlled to vary depending on whether the speed-changing operation is a shifting-up operation or a shifting-down operation. For example, the time difference is set to be relatively short.
In this case, it is preferable that, during speed-changing, regardless of variations in the time difference and the time-transitional decrease property that have been set to meet the aforementioned individual conditions, the operating-hydraulic-pressure-decrease start time for the disengagement-objective clutch be set to be later than the operating-hydraulic-pressure-increase start time at which the fluid chamber of the engagement-objective clutch becomes full of fluid, and the pressure thereof rises to the piston-holding pressure.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an appropriate method to detect an abnormal clutch to prevent the occurrence of a double-transmission state in the hydraulic power shift speed change mechanism for which the hydraulic-pressure control is performed as described above.
To achieve this object, a pressure-detecting means is provided to detect an operating hydraulic pressure for each of the hydraulic clutches, and when the number of the pressure-detecting means for detecting hydraulic pressures higher than a specific pressure value is greater than the number of the hydraulic clutches to be engaged at the time of speed-changing operation (in the speed change unit configured of the plurality of hydraulic type speed change units that are connected to in tandem, when two or more units of the detecting means each detect a pressure higher than a specific pressure value in at least in one of the hydraulic type speed change units), one of two hydraulic-pressure control operations is performed, one hydraulic-pressure control operation being performed to engage only those of the hydraulic clutches which have immediate-previously been disengaged, and the other one hydraulic-pressure control operation being performed to disengage all the hydraulic clutches.
The individual pressure-detecting means may be configured such that the individual means constitute switches each turning ON or OFF with respect to the border of the specific pressure value, and when the number of the pressure-detecting means for detecting hydraulic pressures higher than a specific pressure value is greater than the number of the hydraulic clutches to be engaged at the time of speed-changing operation (in the speed change unit configured of the plurality of hydraulic type speed change units that are connected to in tandem, when two or more units of the detecting means each detect a pressure higher than a specific pressure value in at least in one of the hydraulic type speed change units), one of two hydraulic-pressure control operations is performed, one hydraulic-pressure control operation being performed to engage only those of the hydraulic clutches which have immediate-previously been disengaged, and the other one hydraulic-pressure control operation being performed to disengage all the hydraulic clutches.
Still another object of the present invention is to detect whether a load is imposed on a vehicle by using appropriate detecting means, not by relying on operator-performing switch operations. This allows operating hydraulic pressures for the individual hydraulic clutches to be appropriately increased without failure.
To achieve this object, in the present invention tractional-load detecting means is provided in a vehicle employing the speed change mechanism to thereby modify a time-transitional increase property in the operating pressure for the hydraulic clutch to be engaged at the time of speed-changing and a time-transitional decrease property in the operating pressure for the hydraulic clutch to be disengaged at the time of speed-changing depending on whether or not the tractional-load detecting means detects a tractional load. Alternatively, when a governor mechanism capable of performing control of an engine revolution frequency according to detection of an engine load is provided in the vehicle employing the speed change mechanism, the governor is used to modify a time-transitional increase property in the operating pressure for the hydraulic clutch to be engaged at the time of speed-changing depending on whether or not the governor mechanism detects an engine load equal to or higher than a specific level.
The above load detection may be used to modify a time-transitional decrease property in the operating pressure for the hydraulic clutch to be disengaged at the time of speed-changing.
As summarized above, the speed change mechanism comprising hydraulic clutch according to the present invention, corresponding to the various conditions modifies the time difference between the operating-hydraulic-pressure-increase start time for the engagement-objective clutch, the operating-hydraulic-pressure-decrease start time for the disengagement-objective clutch, and the time-transitional decrease property in the operating pressure for the disengagement-objective clutch at the time of speed-changing operation. Therefore, in order to allow input/output pressures of operating fluid fed to each of the hydraulic clutches to be adjustable, the individual hydraulic clutch is controlled by means of an electromagnetic pressure proportion valve provided for each of the hydraulic clutches.
The above and other objects, configurations, and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description thereof taken in conjugation with the accompanying drawings.

Method of controlling hydraulic pressure in speed change mechanism having hydraulic clutch


A functional fluid comprising a base oil with a high viscosity index, wherein the functional fluid has a kinematic viscosity at 100° C. between 2.5 and 5.0 mm2/s, a low Brookfield viscosity, a high aniline point, and excellent air release. Shock absorber fluids with improved performance, comprising a particular base oil, wherein the improved performance includes high viscosity index, low Brookfield viscosity, high aniline point, excellent air release and high flash point.

Functional fluids are lubricants used in enclosed systems to transmit power. Examples of systems where functional fluids are used include shock absorbers, hydraulic systems, power steering systems, and transmissions. Shock absorber fluids are low viscosity oils that must operate at a wide temperature range, especially high temperature. Current oils often fail due to high temperature and may even get so hot that they melt the paint on the shock absorbers. Current shock absorber fluids are made using a petroleum derived base oil that is a pale oil spindle oil, and the shock absorber fluids have a viscosity index of less than 130, a Brookfield viscosity at −30° C. of 1000 mPa·s, an air release after 1 minute by DIN 51831 of greater than 1.0 vol %, and an aniline point less than 95° C.
Improvements in functional fluids, and specifically shock absorber fluids are needed, without having to use highly expensive synthetic base oils.


Network devices, systems, and methods, including executable instructions and/or logic thereon to achieve fiber channel one for N (1:N) redundancy. A network device includes a processing resource coupled to a memory. The memory includes program instructions executed by the processing resource to group a number of switches in a 1:N cluster and provide each switch with a (virtual) A_Port link to all members of the 1:N cluster. If a failure of a fiber channel over ethernet forwarder (FCF) occurs, the program instructions execute to re-establish or redirect a connection over an alternate path through a redundant FCF without having to synchronize a connection state across all switches in the cluster.

Computing networks can include multiple network devices including network devices such as routers, switches, hubs, and computing devices such as servers, desktop PCs, laptops, workstations, mobile devices and peripheral devices, e.g., printers, facsimile devices, and scanners, networked together across wired and/or wireless local and/or wide area network (LANs/WANs).
High Availability (HA) is a mode of operation for networks where redundant components are used to reduce service outage. In current blade server/switch environments networks are used having Fiber Channels (FCs) and/or Fiber Channels over Ethernet (FCoE) connections according to existing backbone 5 (BB5) standard and backbone 6 (BB6) draft standards currently under development, e.g., compliant converged network adapters and control plane software. Currently the cost of high availability in FC/FCoE networks, measured in terms of the number of nodes, increases linearly with the number of switches (e.g. "N") in an HA cluster.

HEWLETT PACKARD ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT LP


In one embodiment, a stateful computing entity in a computer network determines underlying network information (physical and/or optical) for the computer network, and also determines topologies (Internet Protocol (IP) and/or Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS)) for the computer network and associated resource information. Further, the stateful computing entity determines label switched path (LSP) state information for the computer network. The stateful computing entity may then build network state knowledge by aggregating the underlying network information, the topologies and associated resource information, and the LSP state information, and establishes communication within a dynamic network of other stateful computing entities sharing network state knowledge for parallel computation performance. Accordingly, the stateful computing entity may perform network computation based on the network state knowledge.

Software-defined networking (SDN) builds computer networking equipment and software that separates and abstracts elements of these systems (e.g., the control plane and the data plane), to allow network administrators to manage network services more easily through abstraction of lower level functionality into virtual services. This replaces having to manually configure hardware, an important feature for network virtualization. In an SDN architecture, however, there is currently no complete view of the network infrastructure (from physical/optical layers to application layers), and no efficient multi-layer computation.

Multi-layer stateful path computation element architecture


Described herein is technology for replicating data from a source database to one or more target databases at different points in time. The system receives a request to replicate a data set stored in a source database. The system stores a copy of a first subset of the data set from the source database to a target database at a first time. The system stores a copy of a second subset of the data set from the source database to the target database at a second time.

Database replication services can be used for copying data from a source database to a target database. For example, the database replication service may connect to the source database, read the source data, copy the source data, and load the target data into the target database to replicate the data.


A sliding pipe plug for working on and testing pipes is presented. The sliding pipe plug includes a center portion and a gasket disposed about the central portion. When towed through the pipe, the sliding pipe plug maintains a substantial seal against water flowing through the pipe. In some embodiments, a flexible gasket can be utilized to allow for substantial sealing while the sliding pipe plug is traversing obstacles in the pipe. The sliding pipe plug according to the present invention can be utilized in pipes where conventional plugs are inconvenient. For example, in FELL testing a sewage line, a sliding pipe plug can be attached to a sonde cable and the testing can proceed without plugging and surcharging all of the section of pipe to be tested. In some embodiments, the sliding pipe plug includes a break-away section that allows the seal against water flowing through the pipe to be broken when the sliding pipe plug is pulled in a direction opposite the towing direction. In some embodiments, the sliding pipe plug includes a centering section that keeps the sliding pipe plug essentially in the center of the pipe.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to testing of pipes and, in particular, to a plug system for restricting the water flow through a pipe.
2. Description of Related Art
Pipes that carry water and other liquids are prone to wear and damage. Sewer pipes, for example, may be prone to intrusion by tree roots or damage by ground movement. Testing can be routinely performed on the pipes in order to ascertain if the pipe is damaged and leaking. Additionally, testing may be performed on pipes to locate leaks in order to facilitate repairs.
One method for testing pipes is with the use of a Focused Electrode Leak Locater (FELL) system. The FELL system locates defects by checking the electrical continuity through the walls of a pipe. Most sewer pipes consist of electrically insulating materials; however, a defect in the pipe that leaks sewage or other electrically conductive liquids will also leak electrical current. For a constant applied voltage, the larger the defect in the pipe wall, the greater the electrical current that will pass through it. A FELL test is carried out by pulling an electrode, called a sonde, through the pipe and measuring the variation of electric current flow through the wall of the pipe, then through the ground to an electrode on the surface. The electrode on the surface can be a metal stake driven into the ground. The sonde may be specially constructed such that the electric current only flows through the pipe radially from a narrow band located at the center of the sonde. The sonde may also contain a microprocessor that controls the voltage applied to the sonde, measures the current flow through defects in the pipe wall, records the position of the sonde in the pipe and discloses the data to a user. The resulting data may be displayed as, for example, a trace of current versus sonde position.
A usual requirement of FELL testing is that the pipe be full of water in the immediate vicinity of the sonde to provide electrical contact between the sonde and the pipe wall. At present, this requires that the pipe section to be tested be blocked just outside of an access port or manhole downstream from the test section. Once the section of pipe to be tested is isolated in this fashion, the isolated section is completely filled with water (surcharged), until the upstream end of the crown of the pipe section to be tested is covered with water. This may also involve blocking the upstream end of the test section just above another access port. In some cases, access ports may be separated by several tens of meters, for example 100 m.
Surcharging a pipe can cause backflow into residences and is considered an unwarranted risk by sewer maintenance supervisors. A significant percentage of sewer pipe section cannot be FELL tested using this method to fill the pipe sections with water because they have a high gradient (i.e., deviation from the horizontal) and cannot be fully surcharged because the top of the downstream manhole may be lower than the crown of the pipe at the upstream manhole. In addition, surcharging the pipe consumes a lot of time, in some instances more than half of the time required to carry out the test.
Presently FELL testing is carried out by stringing a haul line between manholes of the pipe section to be tested, pulling the FELL sonde through the pipe with the haul line from one manhole to the next, filling the test section with water, activating the sonde recording system, pulling the sonde back to the entry manhole while recording the variation of the current flow through the walls of the pipe, and emptying the sewer pipe. From 70% to 90% of the time to carry out a FELL test is occupied stringing the haul line and filling and emptying the sewer.
Another sewer pipe maintenance operation is water jet cleaning. Sewer pipe water jet cleaning is carried out by inserting a hose into a sewer pipe at a manhole and pumping water through the hose at high pressure. The nozzle at the end of the hose produces high pressure jets of water that clean the pipe and propel the hose end through the pipe. The process is usually carried out in the upstream direction between two manholes. Once the nozzle reaches the upstream manhole the hose is retracted from the pipe.
There are further additional operations that are routinely performed on pipes (sewage or otherwise) where blockage of the pipe, at least temporarily, is required. Therefore, there is a need for methods of blocking a pipe in order to perform operations in the pipe in a quick and efficient manner.


According to the present invention there is provided a method for obtaining a high quality printing plate by spraying a spray solution on a receiving surface of grained and anodized aluminum, characterized in that the spray factor (SF) is between 48 and 70 10 mN/m, wherein

The present invention relates to a method for preparing a heat sensitive element by spray coating.
Lithography is the process of printing from specially prepared surfaces, some areas of which are capable of accepting lithographic ink, whereas other areas, when moistened with water, will not accept the ink. The areas that accept ink form the printing image areas and the ink-rejecting areas form the background areas.
In the art of photolithography, a photographic material is made image-wise receptive to oily or greasy ink in the photo-exposed (negative working) or in the non-exposed areas (positive working) on a hydrophilic background.
In the production of common lithographic plates, also called surface litho plates or planographic printing plates, a support that has affinity to water or obtains such affinity by chemical treatment is coated with a thin layer of a photosensitive composition. Coatings for that purpose include light-sensitive polymer layers containing diazo compounds, dichromate-sensitized hydrophilic colloids and a large variety of synthetic photopolymers. Particularly diazo-sensitized systems are widely used.
Upon image-wise exposure of the light-sensitive layer the exposed image areas become insoluble and the unexposed areas remain soluble. The plate is then developed with a suitable liquid to remove the diazonium salt or diazo resin in the unexposed areas.
On the other hand, methods are known for making printing plates involving the use of imaging elements that are heat sensitive rather than photosensitive. A particular disadvantage of photosensitive imaging elements such as described above for making a printing plate is that they have to be shielded from the light. Furthermore they have a problem of sensitivity in view of the storage stability and they show a lower resolution. The trend towards heat sensitive printing plate precursors is clearly seen on the market.
For example, Research Disclosure no. 33303 of Jan. 1992 discloses a heat sensitive imaging element comprising on a support a cross-linked hydrophilic layer containing thermoplastic polymer particles and an infrared absorbing pigment such as e.g. carbon black. By image-wise exposure to an infrared laser, the thermoplastic polymer particles are image-wise coagulated thereby rendering the surface of the imaging element at these areas ink acceptant without any further development. A disadvantage of this method is that the printing plate obtained is easily damaged since the non-printing areas may become ink accepting when some pressure is applied thereto. Moreover, under critical conditions, the lithographic performance of such a printing plate may be poor and accordingly such printing plate has little lithographic printing latitude.
EP-A-514 145 discloses a heat sensitive imaging element including a coating comprising core-shell particles having a water insoluble heat softenable core component and a shell component which is soluble or swellable in aqueous alkaline medium. Red or infrared laser light directed image-wise at said imaging element causes selected particles to coalesce, at least partially, to form an image and the non-coalesced particles are then selectively removed by means of an aqueous alkaline developer. Afterwards a baking step is performed. However the printing endurance of a so obtained printing plate is low.
EP-A-599 510 discloses a heat sensitive imaging element which comprises a substrate coated with (i) a layer which comprises (1) a disperse phase comprising a water-insoluble heat softenable component A and (2) a binder or continuous phase consisting of a component B which is soluble or swellable in aqueous, preferably aqueous alkaline medium, at least one of components A and B including a reactive Croup or precursor therefor, such that insolubilization of the layer occurs at elevated temperature and/or on exposure to actinic radiation, and (ii) a substance capable of strongly absorbing radiation and transferring the energy thus obtained as heat to the disperse phase so that at least partial coalescence of the coating occurs. After image-wise irradiation of the imaging element and developing the image-wise irradiated plate, said plate is heated and/or subjected to actinic irradiation to effect insolubilization. However the printing endurance of a so obtained printing plate is low.
EP-A-625 728 discloses an imaging element comprising a layer which is sensitive to UV- and IR-irradiation and which can be positive or negative working. This layer comprises a resole resin, a novolac resin, a latent Bronsted acid and an IR-absorbing substance. The printing results of a lithographic plate obtained by irradiating and developing said imaging element are poor.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,340,699 is almost identical with EP-A-625 728 but discloses the method for obtaining a negative working IR-laser recording imaging element. The IR-sensitive layer comprises a resole resin, a novolac resin, a latent Bronsted acid and an IR-absorbing substance. The printing results of a lithographic plate obtained by irradiating and developing said imaging element are poor.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,708, 925 discloses a positive working imaging element including a photosensitive composition comprising an alkali-soluble novolac resin and an onium-salt. This composition can optionally contain an IR-sensitizer. After image-wise exposing said imaging element to UVxe2x80x94visiblexe2x80x94or eventually IR-radiation followed by a development step with an aqueous alkali liquid there is obtained a positive working printing plate. The printing results of a lithographic plate obtained by irradiating and developing said imaging element are poor.
EP-A-96 200 972.6 discloses a heat sensitive imaging element comprising on a hydrophilic surface of a lithographic base an image forming layer comprising hydrophobic thermoplastic polymer particles dispersed in a water insoluble alkali soluble or swellable resin and a compound capable of converting light into heat, said compound being present in said image forming layer or a layer adjacent thereto, wherein said alkali swellable or soluble resin comprises phenolic hydroxy groups and/or carboxyl groups. However by exposure with short pixel times of said heat-sensitive imaging element there occurs ablation on the exposed areas resulting in an insufficient ink acceptance.
Analogous imaging elements comprising on a hydrophilic surface of a lithographic base an image forming layer comprising hydrophobic thermoplastic polymer particles dispersed in a water or alkali soluble or swellable resin and a compound capable of converting light into heat, said compound being present in said image forming layer or a layer adjacent thereto are disclosed in e.g. EP-A-770 494, EP-A-770 495, EP-A-770 496, EP-A-770 497, EP-A-773 112, EP-A-773 113, EP-A-774 364, EP-A-800 928, EP-A-96 202 685, EP-A-96 203 003, EP-A-96 203 004 and EP-A-96 203 633. In most of these applications poly(meth)acrylate latices are used as thermoplastic polymer particles and no specific hydrophilic resin is mentioned In most cases carbon black or an IR-dye are mentioned as the compound capable of converting light into heat.
In order to prepare an imaging element as described above, that is processable on the press, preferably IR-dyes should be used. Carbon black causes indeed a soiling on the press when removing the unexposed areas. On the other hand when using IR-dyes the unexposed areas are not completely dissolved when developing on the press resulting in scumming.
The appliance of the coatings which are used at the preparation of lithographic precursor plates happens mostly with coating techniques such as dipcoating, cascade coating and curtain coating. The use of spray techniques for applying lithographic layers fails usually at the attainable level of cosmetic quality of the end product. The conditions for high qualitative lithographic materials (thermal printing plates well or not processable on press) whereat high resolution, sensitivity and reproducing characteristics are required, are very high with relation with the cosmetic quality of said printing plate. This cosmetic quality can be translated as the presence of lines, the general evenness and the presence of a mottle pattern. This mottle pattern appears at the slightest presence clearly in the printing process of large screen planes.
It is an object of the present invention to provide the necessary parameters for obtaining a spray-coated layer with excellent cosmetic quality.
According to the present invention there is provided a method for obtaining a high quality printing plate by spraying a spray solution on a receiving surface of grained and anodized aluminum, characterized in that the spray factor (SF) is between 48 and 70 mN/m, wherein
SF=(P/dxc3x97"sgr")
SF: Spray Factor (mN/m)
P: Spray Profile (mm)
d: distance between spray head and receiving surface (mm)
"sgr": surface tension (nN/m).
To define the spray profile, under well-defined settings from solution and hardware , during 1 pass of the rotating drum, a line is sprayed without transverse movement of the spray head. To obtain the right spray pattern, as substrate a well swelling receiving layer, comprising gelatin, polyvinylpyrrolidone and polyethylene glycol ( Agfajet Photograde paper HP Glossy 165(trademark), commercially available from Agfa-Gevaert) was used. This results in an immediate freezing of the spray pattern without the possibility of transverse flowing of the spray solution over the receiving surface. From this line, with the use of microdensitometry, the density profile of the line is measured. In the next step, the width at half height of this profile is divided by the total height (the maximum density) of the profile. This value is referred as profile value (P).
This profile value is determined by the air pressure of the spraying head, by the flow rate of the spraying head and by the nature of the receiving surface.
This value lies preferably between 50 and 220 mm although this value has to be considered in the context of the given equation. The surface tension of the spray solution lies preferably between 22 mN/m and 60 mN/m.
The distance between the spray head and the receiving member lies preferably between 25 and 100 mm.
The spray solution is preferably an aqueous solution, which may comprises surfactants, preferably fluorosurfactants. The viscosity of the spraying solution is preferably at least 1.5 mPa.s.
The receiving surface can be a drum with a hydrophilic surface, which can be incorporated in a printing machine.
The receiving surface can be a lithographic surface mounted on a drum.
The following spray settings results in optimum coating quality:
Drum speed: 200-240 rpm
Distance spray head: 60-100 mm
Flow rate: 6-8 ml/min
Air pressure: 5.17xc3x97105-7.24xc3x97105 Pa
Number of coatings : 5-7
Speed of spray head 1-2m/min
Drying temperature: 700xc2x0C.
Type spray head: air assisted SUJ1
A preferred spraying solution is a dispersion of hydrophobic thermoplastic polymer particles in a hydrophilic binder. Said solution preferably includes thermoplastic particles of a homopolymer or a copolymer of styrene and a hydrophilic polymer containing carboxyl groups, and further a compound capable of converting light into heat. Such solutions, suitable for spraying heat sensitive imaging elements are described with their exposure and development in EP-A-98 200 187.
The receiving element is a lithographic base with a hydrophilic support, namely an anodized roughened aluminum support.
The imaging element, obtained by spraying the spray solution on the receiving element can after exposure to an IR-laser be developed by rinsing the element with an aqueous solution. Preferably the exposed imaging element is mounted directly on the press.
The following examples illustrate the present invention without limiting it thereto. All parts and percentages are by weight unless otherwise specified.
Preparation of Spray Solution
Spray Solution A
A 2.61 wt solution in water was prepared by mixing polystyrene latex, dye I and a hydrophilic binder. After spraying and drying, the resulting layer contained 75%W/W of the polystyrene latex, 10% of the dye A and 15% W/W of Glascol E 15(trademark). Glascol E 15 is a polyacrylic acid, commercially available at N.V. Allied Colloids Belgium.
The structure of Dye I is as follows.
Spray Solution B
To spray solution A, 5 ml of a fluorosurfactant was added.
Spray Solution C
To spray solution A, 10 ml of a fluorosurfactant was added.

Method for obtaining a heat sensitive element by spray-coating

Abstract: SF: Spray Factor (mN/m)

Abstract: P: Spray Profile (mm)

Abstract: "sgr": surface tension (mN/m)

Abstract: and wherein the spray solution comprises hydrophobic thermoplastic polymer particles and a compound capable of converting light into heat.


A method and a device for detecting object properties using electro-optically modulated surface plasmon resonance (SPR) based on phase detection is disclosed. In the case of a surface plasmon resonance sensing device according to the present invention, the voltage is applied on the sensing device made of an electro-optic material to modulate the surface plasmon resonance condition by varying the wavevector of the incident lightwave. The relation between the phase of output optical wave and the applied voltage is measured, and the solution concentration or the material property is obtained by using the slope of a regression straight line of this relations. The invention can be used in the experimental arrangements of the attenuated-total-reflection (ATR) structure and the optical waveguide structure, and has advantages of high sensitivity, high stability, small bulk, low equipment cost, etc.

The present invention provides a technology of electro-optically modulated surface plasmon resonance (SPR) based on phase detection, which can be utilized to sense material characteristics, concentration of biochemical matter, and interaction intensity of biochemical molecules. Moreover, design and manufacture of sensing layers can develop applications of electro-optically modulated SPR, such as sensing drug concentration, sensing affinity of drug and serum albumin, sensing chemical compositions, sensing environmental contamination, and so on. Objections of the invention are increasing sensitivity of SPR, developing system stability, reducing measurement cost, reducing system bulk, and so on.
The SPR is an optical detecting technology, and has advantages of label-free, a real time analysis, specificity, a high sensitivity, an ability of mass parallel detection, and so on. When the incidence light beam inputs an interface between metal and medium, if the component of wave vector of the incidence light beam is equal to the wave vector of the surface plasma wave, the energy transfer from the incidence light beam occurs such that the surface plasma waves is excited on the interface between metal and medium, which is named as SPR. The SPR can evidently change the intensity and the phase of the output optical wave. Property changes of medium on the metal surface can be sensed by detecting changes of the intensity or the phase of the output optical wave.
Currently, methods for modulating the wave vector of the incidence light beam mainly include two kinds: one is modulating the incidence angle of the incidence light beam, and the other is modulating the wavelength of the incidence light beam. The method of modulating the incidence angle of the input light beam utilizes a mechanical device to rotate a prism, and the detection resolution is limited by the resolution and the stability of the mechanical device rotation. Furthermore, the mechanical device has a huge bulk, and is hardly moved and arranged. The method of modulating the wavelength of the incidence light beam utilizes a stable broadband light source and a high resolution spectrometer to detect the spectrum change of the output light beam. The method of modulating the wavelength of the incidence light beam has a high equipment cost and requires a high environmental stability, and therefore, the method is hardly used in outdoors detection.
In TW patent no. I273231, inventors of the present invention provided a method for modulating the wave vector of incidence light beam using the electro-optical effect, which can detect the property changes of medium on metal surface by measuring the slope of a regression straight line of the relation between the intensity of the output light beam and the applied voltage. The method using the electro-optically modulated SPR can reduce interferences from outer noises, system bulk, and system cost. However, because environmental noises heavily interfere the detection of the intensity of optical wave, the detection resolution can not be further improved. Moreover, the phase shift caused by the SPR will acutely changes with the property changes of an under-testing object.
What is needed is a testing method for using electro-optically modulated surface plasmon resonance based on phase detection, which can effectively reduce noises, and improve a detection sensitivity and a detection resolution.

Method and device for characterizing analyte using electro-optically modulated surface plasmon resonance based on phase detection


A child resistant container includes a first component having a first coupling mechanism, and a second component having a second coupling mechanism slidably coupled to the first coupling mechanism. The container is configured to move between a FIRST position and a SECOND position. When the container is in the FIRST position, the first and second components form a compartment configured to contain at least one product. When the container moves from the FIRST position toward the SECOND position, the first component slides relative to the second component, thereby providing an opening into the compartment.

Medication (e.g., without limitation, prescription and non-prescription pills) is often stored in containers. While known containers provide a reliable mechanism to store medication, they suffer from a number of disadvantages. Among those is the fact that many of the containers are not particularly difficult to open. Why this is problematic is that if the containers can be opened too readily, then children might be able to inadvertently open them and gain access to the medication inside. Ingestion of the medication in even small doses by a child not intended to be the recipient of that medication could cause physical harm and even death. As such, there is a need for an improved child resistant container.

Slidably openable child resistant container