A vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, using for vertical lift and lateral thrust a redundant plurality of essentially similar electrically-powered and electronically-controlled thrust units mounted in a mechanically static or fixed fashion relative to one another in a substantially horizontal plane. The thrust units are situated in this planar array in aerodynamically approximate pairs, such that a complete failure of a single thrust unit would not substantially compromise the ability of the aircraft to maintain flight.

Vertical Take Off and Landing (VTOL) aircraft have proven to be very useful transportation devices. In fact there are certain tasks, such as rough terrain rescue, where no other vehicle can approach the utility of a VTOL aircraft. If we are ever to realize the goal of universal personal aviation, easy-to-operate and inexpensive VTOL aircraft must be available.
The most common VTOL aircraft today is the single main rotor helicopter, usually equipped with a horizontal axis (yaw) tail rotor to counteract the torque produced by the main rotor shaft. Igor Sikorsky is generally credited with having invented this classic common helicopter. The first practical example, the Sikorsky model VS300, first flew in May 1940. Of all the VTOL aircraft based on conventional aircraft technology, the Sikorsky-inspired single main rotor, single tail rotor, or "classic helicopter" configuration has been the most widely adopted.
However, there are several pronounced drawbacks to the classic helicopter that many inventors have attempted to mitigate.
Classic helicopters are much more difficult to operate as compared to conventional aircraft. They require continuous, non-intuitive adjustments of power, pitch, roll, and anti-torque yaw forces.
Classic helicopters require a high degree of mechanical complexity in their control systems. Large drive and control forces must be applied to a large main rotor and simultaneously to a smaller tail rotor. These forces must be continuously variable, resulting in a myriad of rods, gears, bearings, and connection points. This complexity increases cost, making classic helicopters significantly more expensive to manufacture than conventional fixed-wing aircraft.
The main rotor of a classic helicopter must be made with enough mass so that it continues to rotate after an engine failure, allowing the pilot enough time to establish a windmill-style "glide" so the helicopter can be landed safely.
This procedure is referred to as "autorotation", and is the only way a classic helicopter can survive an engine failure in flight. This high rotor mass (100 Kg or more per blade), coupled with the fact that lateral thrust is obtained from the main rotor by continuously varying the pitch of the rotor blades as they traverse the arc of rotation (cyclic pitch), means the control forces required are very high. This places considerable stresses on control linkages, which in turn, leads to high maintenance costs and failure potential. This high blade mass also represents a greater impact energy hazard to ground personnel and structures during takeoff and landing.
Classic helicopters have a high degree of minimum complexity. In other words, virtually every component represents a single point of failure. If any part of a classic helicopter fails, the helicopter stops flying. There is no fault tolerance. In order to insure a modicum of reliability, even the smallest part in a classic helicopter must be manufactured from the finest materials to exacting tolerances. Again, this makes classic helicopters very expensive to produce.
Classic helicopters place very high stresses on single parts, and there is no redundancy. For example, a single main rotor shaft carries the entire weight of the fuselage and payload. Because of this, critical parts tend to wear out relatively quickly. Highly trained personnel must perform complex tasks according to rigorous maintenance schedules to insure a reasonable degree of safety. This significantly increases the operating costs above that required for conventional aircraft
In short, the trade offs for the immense utility of the classic helicopter have been high procurement and maintenance costs, coupled with a very high skill level demand upon the pilot.
Since the original Sikorsky flew, many attempts to improve upon the classic helicopter concept have been tried. Virtually all have failed, largely due to four main factors.
Many prior inventions attempt to mitigate high pilot skill requirements with higher drive unit mechanical complexity, leading to an increased failure probability and a higher cost.
Many prior inventions embody improper aerodynamic considerations, including rotor disk loading factors that are too high to be efficient or practical.
Prior inventions attempt to combine the utility of VTOL aircraft with the high forward speed attributes of fixed-wing aircraft, in the misguided assumption that the main drawback to the classic helicopter is a low forward speed capability. In the end, these manifestations of multiple articulating engine and/or lifting surfaces actually increase complexity and risk of catastrophic failure. Witness the fact that no tilt engine or tilt wing has ever achieved any commercial success except in esoteric military applications.
Some modest design variations on the classic helicopter configuration have enjoyed limited success, mainly due to elimination of the tail rotor component. Coaxial or "over under" main rotor designs have been employed to achieve a torque-effect cancellation (prior art Hiller 1944, Norris, U.S. Pat. No. 6,460,802, and others). VTOL aircraft employing multiple rotors predate Sikorsky, with quad rotors (prior art G. de Bothezat, 1922) or Side-by-side (Weir-Cierva, 1936; Madet, U.S. Pat. No. 3,889,902).
However, while some gains may have been made in reduction of piloting skill requirements, this came at the expense of multiplying the main rotor system complexity and associated costs.
Any single rotor or propeller VTOL aircraft must have some means of counteracting the torque produced by the mechanical twisting of the rotor shaft. This requires incorporating a lateral (yaw force-producing) thrusting means somewhere in the airframe. The now famous NOTAR (VanHorn, U.S. Pat. No. 4,948,068) system eliminates the classic helicopter tail rotor by deflecting some downwash from the single main rotor (combined with turbine exhaust gasses), but this configuration still requires a much more complex mechanical control system than a conventional fixed-wing aircraft. Virtually all other torque compensation systems require an additional thrusting power source directed laterally, increasing complexity and costs.
It is universally recognized that incorporating multiple, redundant power plants into an aircraft can improve reliability. While this does add complexity, it is more than compensated for by the added safety and reliability.
Witness the fact that virtually every commercial passenger aircraft is equipped with two or more engines. However, there have been scant few examples of multi-engine, multi-rotor helicopters in commercial use, and virtually none of those can remain in operation if one or more rotors fail.
An ideal solution to the problems associated with Classic Helicopters would to be VTOL aircraft with a redundant number of vertical thrusting propellers or rotors, each offsetting, dispersing, or canceling the torque of the other(s), while maintaining a simple, preferably non-mechanical, control system. This precludes the use of propeller or rotor "tilting" technology or elaborate pitch, length, or other rotor axis articulation means to accomplish the goal.
The avoidance of mechanical thrust vectoring means eliminating potential failure modes. For example, if a tilting drive unit failed to tilt properly, and at the appropriate time, a dangerously unstable flight condition would result.
What is needed is a multiple rotor VTOL aircraft with an electrical or "fly by wire" control system. Some inventors have recognized the promise afforded by the advent of modern power electronic control devices. There have been a few attempts to incorporate electrical control means to multi-rotor VTOL aircraft, but they have not been successful, mainly due to aerodynamic inefficiency. These newer electric power and/or control designs typically reflect a desire to have an aircraft with a "flying saucers" appearance, rather than addressing fundamental aerodynamic problems.
Milde, U.S. Pat. No. 6,179,247 and Bucher, U.S. Pat. No. 6,254,032 reveal attempts to utilize multiple engines and multiple rotors for VTOL aircraft, but neither seems to incorporate basic aerodynamic disk loading considerations. The aircraft weight versus thrust disk area ratio is simply too high for them to exhibit hover efficiencies anywhere close to a classic helicopter, if they could be made to fly at all. This high disk area loading is largely due to the fact that the fuselage is located in the rotor plane of rotation itself, subtracting from the available disk area.
This contrasts with a conventional Classic helicopter, where the main fuselage only minimally subtracts from the available rotor disk area and does so at the root of the rotor disk.
Wagner, et al. (USP Ap. 2003/0085319) depicts an attempt to mitigate these aerodynamic shortcomings of a multi-engine propeller VTOL by incorporating fixed wings. Still, when compared to the rotor disk area of the ubiquitous Classic helicopter, this craft could not operate in hover in an efficient or fault-tolerant manner. Also, the thrust units utilize a "tilt" feature that adds costly complexity, and represents an added hazardous point of failure.
The Wobben patent (U.S. Pat. No. 6,293,491) teaches multiple electric motors, but also uses fixed wings, as well as dissimilar thrusting and lifting rotors. This approach adds complexity and aerodynamic inefficiencies in another misguided attempt to combine fixed-wing aircraft attributes with standard helicopter maneuverability. It would seem unlikely that the practice of the Wobben patent could result in an efficient or cost-effective aircraft.
The Wobben approach also does not include any redundant pairing of thrust units to maintain a substantial aerodynamic consistency in the event of a thrust unit failure. It also does not use the multiple electric lifting thrust units for lateral thrusting, relying instead on standard horizontal thrusting in combination with regular aerodynamic control surfaces. This adds unnecessary complexity and cost.

Vertical takeoff and landing aircraft using a redundant array of independent rotors


A chaise lounge is provided having an integral misting system. More particularly, the misting system is disposed on the inner side of the chair frame and between the webbing of the chair. Four spray zones are provided, two on each side of the user when disposed in a reclining position. A "T" connector interattaches the ends of the misting hose loop and includes a threaded end for removable attachment thereto of a garden hose. A water flow control valve is preferably mounted to the "T" connector for operation by the user.

I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a chaise lounge having an integral misting system. More particularly, the present invention relates to a misting system mounted between the webbing of a chaise lounge. The misting system provides a fine spray over the body of the user.
II. Description of the Relevant Art
Perhaps more than anything else in our lives styles are susceptible to change. Specifically, styles with respect to clothing and appearance go through ebbs and tides according to time. For example, at one time, particularly in the last century, it was fashionable for proper ladies not to have any tanned color in their skins, as this coloring would suggest that the woman was exposed to the sun for a considerable amount of time and therefore must be a peasant or laborer. Accordingly, many people of both sexes went to great lengths to avoid the sun. Many persons powdered themselves so as to make their skin appear even more white than it was naturally.
If at that time white skin represented the upper gentry whose members had time only for relaxation and not for manual labor, then today the style pendulum with respect to tanned skin has swung in exactly the opposite direction. Many people seek to improve their tans by spending time out of doors at the beach, for example, and also going so far as to seek artificial ways to induce a tan. Such artificial measures include attending tanning salons or ingesting "tanning pills" which contain a residue to be absorbed into the fatty tissue of the user which, to the observer, appears to be a tan on the pill-user's skin.
Even after all of these artificial methods are undertaken, people still seek the more "natural" approach of acquiring a tan which is to expose themselves to the sun. This is often done at beaches and by swimming pools. This can also be done in the tan-seeker's backyard by resting upon either the ground or upon a lounge chair. Lying in the sun can be uncomfortable because the sun-seeker's skin does become awfully warm. Occasionally sunbathers will splash water upon themselves in an effort to cool their skin and also to increase the tanning effects of sunlight by taking advantage of the physical properties of water which act to magnify the radiant energy of the sun as it contacts the sunbather's skin. A preferred approach therefore is for the sunbather to have at his or her access a conveniently available source of spray or water. Some people prefer to expose themselves to water by lying out near a sprinkler system.
Other people have been more creative than simply setting up a sprinkler. Specifically, there have been in the past designs to attach misting systems to chaise lounges. Two particular such inventions are relevant to this point.
The first such system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,765,542 issued to Carlson in 1988. Carlson discloses a manually controlled, self-contained liquid misting attachment. The system of Carlson includes a water reservoir and a pumping system for spraying water through apertures defined in a tube attached to a sunbather's chair. The system of Carlson is an after-market attachment for the chair.
Another effort at providing a misting system for a chair was made in U.S. Pat. No. 4,548,357 to Schmidt issued in 1985. Schmidt utilizes a conventional lawn chair which has attached thereto a flexible hose which is closed at one end. Again, the misting system of Schmidt is attachable as an after-market device to a conventional and existing chair.
However, both Carlson and Schmidt suffer from the disadvantages commonly associated with after-market attachments. For example, such attachments usually become inoperable because they fail due to their poor method of attachment. Such attachment systems usually also provide unwanted bulk to the system and very often inhibit efficient folding and unfolding of the chair, thus seriously compromising the convenience and utility of the foldable chaise lounge.
Thus none of the known methods at providing a misting system for a chaise lounge overcomes the inherent disadvantages of after-market attachments.

Chaise lounge having integral misting system


The present invention relates to a method for treating liquids, comprising the steps of irradiating a flow of air and a flow of the liquid to be treated at the same time in order to create ozone in both the air and the liquid, mixing the ozone-containing air with the liquid to be treated up-streams the liquid irradiating point, irradiating the flow of liquid containing the in-mixed ozone in order to break down the ozone in the liquid for producing free radicals.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for purifying liquid, and in particular water, by oxidizing contaminants in the liquid.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is an ever increasing need for purifying liquids, and in particular water. There are a number of applications where water needs to be purified and decontaminated, and a few of these are swimming pools and recreational baths, green houses, animal farms, cooling towers, hospitals etc. The conventional technologies for purifying and decontaminating water for most applications include the use of chemicals that are mixed with the water. Due to environmental aspects and the impact that chemicals have on the environment, humans and animals, there is a strive to reduce the use of chemicals.
One approach to purify/decontaminate water has been to use ozone. Several methods have been developed in several countries for purifying water with ozone (O3) in drinking water installations and bathing facilities, and also ozone dissolved in water for cleaning, disinfection and sterilization of articles. A combination of ozone, oxygen, hydrogen peroxide and UV radiation means that the reaction proceeds much more quickly and more efficiently by virtue of the generation of more free radicals.
The inactivation of microorganisms with the aid of ozone and radicals is considered as an oxidation reaction. The membrane of the micro-organism is the first to be attacked. Within the membrane/cell wall, the ozone and the radicals destroy nuclear material inside the cell/virus/spore. The inactivation reaction in the case of most micro-organisms occurs within minutes, depending on the ozone dose and the amount of free radicals which are formed.
Despite its solubility in cold water, ozone is broken down (=consumed) quickly, as is the case in air, which gives a great many different radicals and more or less stable by-products such as aldehydes, bromate and carboxylic acids. The degree of breaking down depends on the pH, the substance which is exposed and the temperature. Certain substances are broken down easily by the ozone. However, the majority of substances and molecules are oxidized more efficiently by free radicals which are formed by ozone and the media treated by ozone.
One very efficient method of using free radicals in the oxidizing process is disclosed in the international patent application No. WO 96/20017. The method utilises UV-radiation to create ozone in air and liquid, radiates the ozone with certain wave-lengths in order to obtain free radicals, which oxidize the contaminants in the air or liquid. In order to increase the production of free radicals, catalysts are used, for example titanium oxides. The applicant of the above patent application has obtained very good results in purifying/decontaminating water in cooling towers, swimming pools, green houses, to name a few applications. The use of the patented method has enabled a complete removal of chemicals in those applications.
However, for certain applications, the device for purifying water or other liquids described in WO 96/20017 has capacity limitations as regards the amount to be treated per time period. Trials have been made to reduce the flow past the UV-radiation sources, to use the device also during periods when no consumption of water is taking place and to store the purified water in intermediate tanks. This has the drawback that additional space has to be available in order to accommodate the intermediate tanks. For some applications this might not be feasible and for some applications and large consumers it is not an optimal solution. There has also been a need from customers to be able to arrange the device so that minimal floor space is occupied.
Another application with specific problems is found in water systems in building. This is in connection with legionella bacteria, a water-based organism which causes infection when inhaled in an aerosol form, which is a huge problem all over the world, and is especially troublesome in hospitals, if already weak and sick people receive the bacteria via for example showers. If the tap-water is not hot enough the bacteria may thrive and multiply uncontrolled. The main solution to this problem has been to increase and to try to control the temperature of the water in order to prevent the occurrence of legionella bacteria. Chemicals that are able to kill these bacteria cannot usually be used for these applications since they may be harmful also to humans.
For certain applications, the above mentioned method has some shortcomings. If the liquid is heavily contaminated, the amount of ozone might not be sufficient to generate the amount of radicals needed for a complete removal of contaminants in the liquid. This may be due to that the radiating energy for creating ozone in the liquid either is absorbed or blocked by the contaminants or other particles/matter in the liquid. In for example treatment of salt water a lot of energy is absorbed by halogens. Thereby not enough ozone is created and thus not enough radicals for the purification process. There might also be the case that the amount of oxygen for creating ozone is insufficient.
In view of the above it would therefore be advantageous to increase the ozone content in a simple and economical way using the radicals as the primary purification oxidants. Regarding the application treating salt or brackish water it would be advantageous to use a continuous system.
There is thus a need for improvements in this technical area.

Method and apparatus for liquid purification


Disclosed herein is a method for concentrating gold contained in a leach residue obtained in a copper hydrometallurgical process for recovering copper from a copper sulfide mineral to efficiently separate and recover gold from the leach residue: a gold-bearing copper sulfide mineral is subjected to pressure leaching with sulfuric acid at a temperature higher than 102° C. and 112° C. or lower to obtain a leach residue, and the leach residue is subjected to flotation to separate it into a float fraction and a sink fraction; the float fraction obtained by flotation is desulfurized to obtain a desulfurized product; the desulfurized product is subjected to oxidative roasting to obtain an oxidatively-roasted product; the oxidatively-roasted product is dissolved in a sulfuric acid solution to obtain a copper solution, and a gold-bearing residue is separated and recovered from the copper solution.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for concentration and recovery of gold in a leach residue obtained by leaching copper from a gold-bearing copper sulfide mineral in a copper hydrometallurgical process for recovering copper from a copper sulfide mineral.
2. Description of the Related Art
Copper sulfide minerals used as raw materials for copper smelting contain copper-containing components such as chalcopyrite, bornite, and chalcocite, iron-containing components such as pyrite, gangue components containing silicon, calcium, etc., and noble metal components such as gold.
In a typical copper pyrometallurgical process, the copper sulfide mineral is concentrated to obtain a copper concentrate with high copper grade, and then the copper concentrate is smelted in a furnace in a smelting process. At this time, iron and sulfur are separated as a slag and a gas, and the copper concentrate is converted into blister copper. Then, the blister copper is processed into anode copper and electrolytically refined in an electrolysis process. In the electrolysis process, copper is separated from gold and other impurities, electrodeposited onto a cathode, and recovered as electrolytic copper.
Such a copper pyrometallurgical process is highly productive, but has problems that capital investment is very high, it takes much time, effort, and cost to treat generated gas and slag, and operational adjustment is difficult. For this reason, a copper hydrometallurgical process has been recently developed, which can be performed by more compact facilities than the copper pyrometallugrical process and can achieve operational adjustment with ease.
For example, Japanese Patent Kohyo No. 2004-504492 proposes a copper hydrometallurgical process including a step of subjecting a copper-containing material to pressure leaching at approximately 170 to 235° C. to obtain a leach residue and a copper-containing solution, a step of diluting the copper-containing solution with a diluent to prepare a dilute copper-containing solution, and a step of extracting copper from the dilute copper-containing solution with a solvent. According to this method, however, gold contained in the copper-containing material is dispersed throughout the leach residue obtained by pressure leaching. Therefore, it is necessary to treat the entire leach residue again to recover gold, which requires very high cost.
Japanese Patent Kohyo No. 2001-515145 proposes a process for leaching of copper from a sulfide ore, which includes oxidizing ores or concentrates under pressure in the presence of oxygen and an acidic solution containing a halide and sulfate ions to obtain a slurry, subjecting the slurry to solid-liquid separation to obtain a filtrate and a solid residue containing a basic metal sulfate, and subjecting the solid residue to leaching with an acidic sulfate solution. A leach solution is separated from the solid residue and subjected to solvent extraction to produce a metal-rich solution (pregnant liquor) and a metal-depleted raffinate (barren liquor). However, a leach residue obtained by this method is a mixture of iron oxide micro particles and sulfur micro particles, and therefore it is difficult to separate and recover gold from the leach residue.
As a method for separating iron oxide and sulfur from such a leach residue obtained by copper leaching, a method proposed in Japanese Patent Kokai No. 2002-053310 is known. This method includes subjecting a leach residue, which is obtained by subjecting a sulfur-containing material such as a zinc concentrate to leaching in a leaching step, to flotation to obtain a sulfur-rich float fraction, heating the float fraction to a temperature equal to or higher than the melting point of sulfur but lower than the boiling point of sulfur to produce sulfur vapor, and cooling a gas containing the sulfur vapor at a temperature lower than the melting point of sulfur to condense and recover sulfur. This method makes it possible to efficiently recover sulfur from a leach residue obtained by subjecting a zinc concentrate to leaching.
Japanese Patent Kokai No. 2005-042155 proposes a method for concentrating noble metals contained in a leach residue obtained by leaching copper from a copper ore or a copper mineral. According to this method, the leach residue is heated at a temperature of 550° C. of higher under a nonoxidative atmosphere to produce a calcined ore, and the calcined ore is again subjected to leaching with an acidic solution to obtain a leach residue containing sulfur and noble metals and a leach solution containing iron. However, gangue components contained in a copper mineral or a copper concentrate are often distributed in the same manner as noble metals. Therefore, in a case where a copper mineral or copper concentrate containing a large amount of gangue components is treated by this method, there is a problem that it takes much time and effort to separate noble metals from the gangue components.
As described above, in a copper hydrometallurgical process for recovering copper from a gold-bearing copper sulfide mineral, a leach residue obtained by leaching copper from the copper sulfide mineral contains gold, but it is very difficult to concentrate gold contained in the leach residue, thereby making it impossible to efficiently recover gold from the leach residue.

Method for concentration of gold in copper sulfide minerals


A system for cutting a bone at a desired location may include an image guided drill cylinder configured to receive either a drill bit to create a bore at a target location on the bone or a pin for insertion into the target location, and a cutting block having a plurality of adjustable guides, each defining a cutting path to guide a cutting instrument, a mounting location configured to attach to the bone at the target location, and a plurality of adjustors for adjusting the position of the guides relative to the target location. The system may further include a tracking instrument for providing image guidance of the adjustments to the positions of the guides.

As a result of many different physiological conditions, it is often necessary to replace joints in various parts of the body with prosthetic components. Surgical procedures for preparing bones to receive such components typically require precise shaping of portions of the bones. For example, during knee joint replacement surgery, precise resection of the ends of the femur and tibia is necessary to achieve a very close match between the surfaces remaining after removal of portions of the bones, and the mating surfaces of the prostheses. Without such precision mating, the reconstructed knee may result in misalignment (alignment that differs from optimal alignment corresponding to the patient's physical characteristics) of the femur and the tibia. Such misalignment may have a variety of undesirable consequences including discomfort to the patient, reduced mobility, and excessive wear on surfaces of the prostheses.
Cutting guides are commonly used to aid the surgeon by providing a surface across which a cutting instrument is moved to create a planar cut through a bone. Such guides permit the surgeon to achieve increased accuracy as compared to free hand bone shaping. The accuracy of the planar cut, however, is dependent upon accurate placement of the cutting guide. Therefore, it is desirable to provide a system for achieving highly accurate placement of a cutting guide to ensure precision mating between the planar cuts made through a bone and the corresponding surfaces of the prosthetic component.
The present method, apparatus, and system (hereinafter collectively referred to as "the present system") provides, in one embodiment, a drill cylinder having a body that defines a central bore, and an element configured to be detected by an image guidance system to permit image guidance of the drill cylinder to predetermined, target locations on the bone. Using the image guided drill cylinder, the surgeon may monitor on a display the current position and alignment of the drill cylinder body as compared to the target locations, and create bores into the bone at the target locations by inserting a drill bit through the central bore of the body. Alternatively, the surgeon may insert pins through the central bore into the bone at the target locations.
The present system further provides a cutting block having a frame, a guide adjustably connected to the frame, an adjustor connected to the frame, and mounting locations defined by the frame and configured to attach to the bone at the target locations. The mounting locations include either bores for receiving the pins that were inserted into the target locations, or pins for insertion into the bores that were created using the image guided drill cylinder. Accordingly, the cutting block can be accurately placed on the bone at the target locations, which in turn accurately places the guide.
The guide defines a cutting path through which a cutting instrument is passed to create a planar cut in the bone. The position of the guide (and the cutting path) relative to the mounting locations is adjustable using the adjustor. Depending upon the embodiment, actuation of the adjuster causes linear or angular adjustment of the position and/or orientation of the cutting path relative to the mounting locations.
Additionally, the present system may include a tracking instrument having an element configured to be detected by the image guidance system and an engagement portion configured to engage the cutting path to permit image guided adjustment of the cutting path. Thus, in addition to providing accurate placement of the cutting path using the image guide drill cylinder to locate the mounting locations of the cutting block, the present system enables the surgeon to achieve even greater accuracy by providing image guided adjustment of the cutting path when the cutting block is mounted to the bone.
Additional features of the present system will become apparent and be further understood upon reading the detailed description provided below with reference to the following drawings.

Method, apparatus, and system for image guided bone cutting


A method is provided for defining a metadata schema to facilitate passing data between an XML document and a hierarchical database. The invention includes a database accessor, a document accessor, and an association module. The database accessor accesses a database schema indicative of database field names and a hierarchical structure for a hierarchical database. The document accessor accesses a document schema that defines the hierarchical structure, content data syntax, and semantics of valid, well-formed, XML documents that can be passed into and out of the hierarchical database. The document schema also includes at least one XML element name that maps to a corresponding database field name in the database schema. The association module associates the database schema and the document schema to provide a metadata schema that enables data to be passed between an XML document and the hierarchical database.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to database systems. Specifically, the invention relates to methods for defining a metadata schema to facilitate passing data between an eXtensible Markup Language (XML) document and a hierarchical database.
2. Description of the Related Art
Today, business applications increasingly rely on XML documents to exchange data. Generally, modern software applications communicate with each other over the Internet using XML documents as a common data interchange language for Business to Business (B2B) and Business to Consumer (B2C) communications. Technologies such as webservers, servlets, web applications, web services, and the like generally rely on some fashion of data organized according to the eXtensible Markup Language Specification.
Typically, these same software applications then communicate the data in the XML document to database servers for storage in a database. Generally, before an XML document is stored in a database, the XML document is analyzed to ensure that the XML document is a "valid" XML document. An XML schema is used to validate an XML document. As used herein, references to "an XML document" mean that the XML document is a valid XML document according to a predefined XML schema. Because an XML document provides such flexibility in the organization and types of XML elements, XML documents are validated to ensure that they are organized as expected. An invalid XML document may lead to unpredictable or erroneous results in software modules using the invalid XML document.
An XML schema defines the structure, organization, and data types that are acceptable in all corresponding XML documents. The XML schema defines a set of XML elements, XML element attributes, and organization among the XML elements that is desired. The XML schema serves as a vocabulary for the XML elements. Consequently, the XML schema defines a superset of valid XML documents. The valid XML documents include one or more of the XML elements, XML attributes, and structure among the XML elements as defined in the XML schema.
Typically, prior to storing the XML document, the XML document is validated. Generally, two types of databases may store the data in the XML document, hierarchical or relational. Each type of database has different benefits and limitations, which will be discussed in more detail below.
Generally, the databases store the data of an XML document in two different formats. In one aspect, the raw data contained in the elements of the XML document are removed from the XML document and stored in the database. Data stored in this manner is referred to herein as "decomposed" data because the formatting of the XML document is removed to store only the raw data. In another aspect, the raw data including the formatting that comprises the XML document are stored in the database. When the XML document is stored in the database in this manner, this is referred to herein as storing the XML document "intact" because the formatting of the XML document or an XML sub-tree is preserved within the database.
To control costs, it is desirable that modern technologies such as XML documents be capable of readily interfacing with existing computer and information technology without significantly modifying the existing computer and information technology. For example, large corporations, governments, and other entities continue to use legacy applications, which are software programs designed, written, and maintained for large, mission-critical computers, such as mainframes. These entities have invested large amounts of work and money into developing and maintaining the legacy applications. In addition, these applications have been tested and refined to operate very efficiently and with minimal errors. Legacy applications continue to manage a high percentage of the everyday transactions and data for these businesses.
Similarly, many of these legacy applications continue to store and retrieve data using hierarchical databases, such as IBM's Information Management System (IMS), instead of common relational databases such as the Oracle database available from the Oracle corporation. To facilitate storing and retrieving data in XML documents (referred to herein as "XML data"), functionality for passing XML data between XML documents and relational databases has been developed. Generally, this functionality is integrated into the database servers for relational databases. Consequently, users' versions of the database servers must be updated to enable support for passing of data between an XML document and a relational database.
Unfortunately, no tools exist for passing XML documents and/or XML data between an XML document and a hierarchical DB, one example of which is IMS. Certain tools exist for passing XML data between an XML document and popular relational databases. These tools rely on schema information that relates the XML document to the relational database.
The schema information is stored in a proprietary format designed specifically to allow for passing of XML data between an XML document and the relational database. Often, a proprietary format is used because relational databases can vary considerably in how relationships are represented. Proprietary schema information requires that developers and users passing XML data to and from relational databases learn a new syntax and semantics. This learning curve may be steep. Often, the proprietary schema information is stored in binary format requiring special editors to create and modify the proprietary schema information.
In addition, the proprietary schema information generally must be revised or constantly modified in order to ensure that the proprietary schema information handles passing all the various kinds of desired valid XML documents. The XML language is a very flexible language which allows definition of unique XML elements to meet a particular need. The proprietary schema information must be specifically updated to handle cases of XML documents that include the unique XML elements. Consequently, the proprietary schema information is either constantly updated or once defined severely limits the set of XML documents that may be passed into and out of the relational database.
As mentioned, even proprietary schema information is not currently available that will enable passing XML data between XML documents and a hierarchical database. In addition, hierarchical databases such as IMS may include user-defined database views. These views may control not only what part of the database a user or user application may access, but also security and authentication features for protecting the data. Examples of such views and user-defined access features include the Program Status Block (PSB) and Program Control Block (PCB) provided by IMS. In order to properly store and retrieve XML data for the hierarchical database, the user-defined database view(s) needs to be identified. These views may be changed as needed by a database administrator. Proprietary schema information does not currently account for user-defined database views for either hierarchical or relational databases.
Accordingly, a need exists for a method for defining a metadata schema to facilitate passing data between an XML document and a hierarchical database. The method should define a metadata schema that complies with an accepted, text-based, industry standard such that the learning curve is minimized. In addition, the method should define a metadata schema that serves a dual purpose, one to define a set of valid, well-formed XML documents that may be passed into and out of a hierarchical database, and two to facilitate mapping data from a source XML document into and out of a particular hierarchical database. Further the method should define a metadata schema that accommodates user-defined database views of the hierarchical database and is readily modifiable to adjust to changes in the user-defined database views.

Method for defining a metadata schema to facilitate passing data between an extensible markup language document and a hierarchical database

International Business Machines Corporation


A seatbelt retractor has a spool. An energy absorption mechanism absorbs energy from the spool during seatbelt protraction. The energy absorption mechanism has at least a first portion for a relatively high rate of energy absorption and preferably a second portion for a relatively low rate of energy absorption. The seatbelt retractor has an outer sheath cast, molded, coated or otherwise bonded to and encircling a portion of the external surface of the first portion or the second portion which upon a sufficient exposure to rotational energy breaks the bond between the first portion or the second portion and the outer sheath.

A seatbelt for a motor vehicle typically has a seatbelt retractor that serves to retract the belt into a housing. The belt is wound upon a spool in the housing. When the belt is drawn or protracted, the spool winds a retraction spring, which later retracts the unused portion of the belt onto the spool.
In a crash the seatbelt retractor has a lock that limits the extension of the seatbelt from the housing. The lock may be actuated by an inertial sensor, which responds to changes in vehicle speed that occur in a crash. When a large deceleration is detected, the inertial sensor triggers the lock of the seatbelt retractor to secure the seatbelt in place or prevent further extraction of the seatbelt.
In a locked condition a conventional seatbelt system restrains the vehicle occupant from moving forward during a crash. Although the seatbelt has some give, the restraining force on the vehicle occupant can be significant. To reduce this force manufacturers may use an energy absorption mechanism, such as a torsion bar, to absorb energy from the forward movement of the vehicle occupant in a controlled manner. Generally, the spool is mounted on the torsion bar, which is mechanically linked to the spool. During a crash the torsion bar twists and deforms as the seatbelt is protracted. The deformation of the torsion bar absorbs energy from the seatbelt such that the vehicle occupant is stopped more gradually, rather than suddenly, during the crash.
The weight of the vehicle occupant can affect the rate at which the vehicle occupant is slowed by the restraining force of the seatbelt and torsion bar. Heavier vehicle occupants require a greater restraining force than lighter vehicle occupants. Therefore, it is desirable to use a higher rate of energy absorption for a heavyweight vehicle occupant than for a lightweight vehicle occupant.
Recently manufacturers began producing seatbelt retractors that absorb energy at different rates to accommodate differently weighing vehicle occupants. For example, when a small person is seated in the vehicle, the seatbelt retractor is set at a low rate of energy absorption such that the lighter weighing vehicle occupant is restrained with less restraining force than a heavier vehicle occupant. On the other hand, for a heavier vehicle occupant, a higher energy absorption rate is used to slow the heavier vehicle occupant with greater restraining force. A middleweight vehicle occupant may require a combination of restraining force rates during a crash. In this way a vehicle occupant receives a restraining force that better accommodates his weight.
In some situations a vehicle experiences successive crashes. It is desirable to continue to absorb energy at the same high rate for the heavyweight vehicle occupant in a second crash. However, for a lightweight vehicle occupant, it is preferable to absorb energy from the seatbelt spool initially at a low rate for the first crash, then at the higher rate for the second crash. Moreover, for a middleweight vehicle occupant, it is desirable to absorb energy at a high rate and then a low rate for the initial crash. For the second crash, a high rate of energy absorption is preferred. Conventional seatbelt retractors do not have such a feature. A need therefore exists for a multilevel energy absorbing retractor that solves the foregoing problem.


A shift register circuit includes first-type and second-type shift registers, each comprising a pull-down control circuit, a pull-down circuit, a key pull-down circuit, a 3D-mode pull-up circuit, and a 2D-mode pull-up circuit. The pull-down circuit is connected to the pull-down control circuit. The key pull-down circuit, connected to the pull-down circuit, pulls down a driving signal and a gate control signal. When the 2D-mode pull-up circuit operates, a first-type shift register generates a driving signal for a second-type shift register. When the 3D-mode pull-up circuit operates, a first-type shift register generates another driving signal for another first-type shift register.

As the technological advancement in the display panel industry becomes more demanding on display quality, it also moves towards reducing the size of panels. It is also desirable that the manufacturing cost can be as low as possible while achieving the same functionality in the product. Technology constantly evolves to meet these needs. To generate gate pulse signals and data pulse signals, the industry typically employs external driver integrated circuits, which are an extra step in the production process and a waste of resources. An engineering bypass would be incorporating, during manufacture, the shift register of the gate driver integrated circuit straight onto the glass panel, a technique often known as gate-driver-on-array (GOA).
Displays tend to become more versatile. Not only do manufacturers pursue higher scan rates, they also wish that two-dimension (2D) and three-dimension (3D) modes are inter-operable on the same panel. The circuitry has to be modified accordingly. For instance, a common display may only scan at a rate of 60 Hz, serviceable only in 2D mode, as shown in FIG. 1, where the next adjacent scan line is driven. The same conventional display circuit, which drives the next adjacent scan line, would not be applicable in 3D mode because the first-stage output and the second-stage output are of the same phase (see FIG. 2).
To employ such circuitry in 3D mode, three high-frequency signal widths of drift time might exist for a 60-Hz operating frequency, inviting electrical leakage or other signal interference. In other words, the driver circuit drives the next adjacent scan line once every period when the display operates in 2D mode, but in 3D mode the driver circuit has to idle for three periods to drive the fourth next scan line, rendering the output signal floating, unstable, and vulnerable to interference in a 60-Hz frame rate.


A monitor apparatus having a monitor main body, and a base member to support the monitor main body includes a stand member placed between the monitor main body and the base member, a base hinge to connect the stand member to the base member, so that the stand member is rotated relative to the base member and folded, and a rotation control unit to prevent and allow a rotation of the stand member relative to the base member. Thus, a package volume of the monitor apparatus is reduced, so that a cost to keep and move the monitor apparatus is saved, and an accident occurred when the stand member is suddenly rotated is prevented.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a monitor apparatus, and more particularly, to a monitor apparatus improved in a combining structure of a stand member and a base member to support a monitor main body.
2. Description of the Related Art
As shown in FIG. 1, a conventional monitor apparatus 101 includes a base member 105 to lay on a horizontal plane, a monitor main body 103 provided with a screen, a stand member 107 placed between the base member 105 and the monitor main body 103, to support the monitor main body 103 relative to the base member 105, and a monitor hinge 110 to combine the monitor main body 103 to the stand member 107, so that the monitor main body 103 is tilted relative to the base member 105.
The monitor hinge 110 tiltably combines a rear of the monitor main body 103 with an upper part of the stand member 107.
One side of the monitor hinge 110 is combined to a rear of the monitor main body 103, and the other side thereof is rotatably combined to the upper part of the stand member 107. Thus, the monitor main body 103 is tiltable relative to a tilting axis (not shown) of the stand member 107.
The base member 105 occupies a predetermined seating area to support the monitor main body 103 and the stand member 107, and is laid on a horizontal plane such as a table.
The stand member 107 is combined to a bottom of the base member 107 in an upright position, and a top thereof is combined to the monitor main body 103 by the monitor hinge 110.
In light of the above-described configuration, the conventional monitor apparatus 101 is laid on the horizontal plane such as the table by the base member 105 and the stand member 107, and a tilting angle of the monitor main body 103 is adjusted by the monitor hinge 110.
However, in the conventional monitor apparatus, the base member 105 and the stand member 107 are irrotatably combined, thereby causing a problem that a package volume increases, and thus a cost to keep and move the monitor apparatus increases.


A pitch break connector is provided. The pitch break connector has an outside and inside rigid member. Each member has a first generally U-shaped channel defined by a spine member between first and second legs. Each member has a first and a second pivot end portion. A hinge pivotally connects the inside and outside members through the pivot end portions in a generally longitudinally opposing position. In this configuration, the first and second end portions of the inside member can be pivotally accepted into a cavity defined by the generally U-shaped channel of the outside member when the members are pivoted about the hinge.

Steel truss systems are sought out as an alternative to conventional wooden truss systems because steel trusses have several desirable characteristics. For example, steel framing is not flammable. Steel framing allows increased roof spans typically from about 30 to 40 foot spans, and in some truss designs up to 70 feet Additionally, components made of steel are reusable and recyclable. Also, steel products are less expensive than lumber products in view of increasing lumber prices.
Framing systems come into two basic categories. The first category is heavy hot-rolled steel systems sections, typically used in the construction of pre-engineered metal buildings. The second category is light-gauge steel framing systems. Light-gauge components are designed for use in truss systems and cooperate with other common-construction systems such as brick, mortar and/or wood. Light-gauge systems are realizing increased interest over hot-rolled steel systems because in a large number of re-roof and new construction jobs post and beam style systems using hot-rolled steel do not make economic sense in comparison to the lower cost alternative provided by light-gauge steel.
But light-gauge steel chords typically have square cut ends that are not pre-coped to fit with each other at angles other than 180-degrees. Otherwise, a construction-framer must cope the ends with hand tools or with power tools to achieve the desired pitch angle. Regardless of the method used, labor costs are involved to cope the ends and at times are not precise, requiring additional refining cuts. Therefore, consumers and builders demand greater design flexibility with light-gauge components. Thus there exists a need for a pitch break connector that allows for greater structure variability.


A pyrotechnic device (UUT) is automatically tested for thermal response cacteristics using an automatically balanced Wheatstone bridge. One branch of the bridge is a series of relay connected resistances which are selectively connected to coursely balance the bridge using a voltage developed across the UUT. An FET in series with the series of resistances, in response to the bridge null currents, finely balances the bridge. A low constant current pulse is used to generate a voltage across the UUT and to balance the bridge. A second high constant current pulse is used to measure the transient thermal response of the UUT. The transient test current pulses are generated automatically or manually and whose amplitude and repetition rate are manually set. The pulses are generated by a D/A converter whose output is fed to a constant current generator coupled to a manually settable resistance range for setting the value of the high current transient test pulse amplitude. The lower value initial balance current pulse is separately settable by internal calibration switches and straps. The entire test is less than 40 ms.

Prior art thermal transient testers employ a manually balanced wheatstone bridge. This bridge comprises two fixed resistors in two branches; an electro-explosive device under test forming a third branch and a set of variable resistors forming a fourth branch. The electro-explosive device comprises a pyrotechnic device having a pair of terminals to which is connected a bridge wire of relatively low resistance. A pyrotechnic material encases the bridge wire. When an electric current pulse of sufficient amplitude is applied to the device terminals, the bridge wire is heated to a point where the ignition temperature of the pyrotechnic material is reached and the pyrotechnic material ignites. It is important to test these pyrotechnic devices for proper resistance values of the bridge wire and also for the thermal response characteristics of the bridge wire to ensure that the pyrotechnic material will in fact ignite when an ignition current pulse is applied to the device terminals. Otherwise failure of the device to ignite creates safety and other problems.
For these reasons the transient tester mentioned above is utilized in the prior art for determining both the resistance of the device and for testing the thermal response characteristics of the device to ensure the device meets its specified requirements so that it will in fact ignite in response to an appropriate ignition current signal applied thereto.
To test such devices for thermal transient response, the device is inserted as one arm or branch of the manually balanced bridge. The variable resistors are shifted in value for nulling the bridge. A current pulse is then applied to the bridge input nodes. The current pulse has an amplitude sufficient to heat the bridge wire of the electro-explosive device an amount sufficient to generate a thermal response in the bridge wire. The thermal response is then measured and observed on an oscilloscope for appropriate analysis. This approach is cumbersome and awkward and, further, the number of devices tested is limited to several per minute in response to the need for an operator to balance manually the bridge for each device, test the device, remove the device and insert a new device and rebalance the bridge for the new device.
The bridge is balanced or nulled in order to cancel the effect of the resistance value of the electro-explosive device under test. In this way, the thermal response characteristic curve of the device is a measure only of the thermal response of the device and does include the actual resistance of the device which may complicate the test result.
The present invention is directed to a need recognized by the present inventors for an automatic system for testing the electro-explosive device described above automatically and rapidly. This automatic testing of the device results in several problems including automatically measuring the device resistance and automatically balancing the bridge so as to achieve a null condition for applying a thermal transient current signal to the device.

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


A document processing system includes a feeder stage, a transport stage, and a retractable document handling mechanism cooperating with a portion of the document track. The mechanism includes an assertable member arranged with respect to the document track such that assertion of the member causes retraction of the opposed track walls in the cooperating portion of the document track by retracting a movable base member from a fixed base member. At least one pinch roller is affixed to the movable base member. The pinch roller engages the documents when the document handling mechanism is in the closed state, and the pinch roller is retracted to provide access to the document track when the document handling mechanism is in the retracted state.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to document handling equipment including systems for feeding and transporting documents.
2. Background Art
A typical system for feeding and transporting documents includes a feeder in the document feeding portion of the system, and a series of roller pairs or belts in the document transporting portion of the system. In the feeding portion of the system, the feeder acts to separate and feed documents singly, in order, from a stack. In the transporting portion of the system, the roller pairs and/or belts convey the documents, one at a time, through a track past other processing devices such as readers, printers, and sorters that perform operations on the documents. The feeder is typically a feed wheel, but may take other forms. Further, the components in the transporting portion of the system may take a variety of forms. An existing document feeder is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,199,854. That patent describes a document feeder with a variable speed separator.
In existing systems for feeding and transporting documents, operations that depend on the position of the document are generally performed in the transport stage, or transporting portion of the system. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,848,784 describes a document separation apparatus. That patent describes the downstream acceleration/deceleration of documents with pinch rollers to adjust document spacing. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,419,546; 5,437,375; 5,439,506; 5,509,648; 5,671,919; and 5,908,191 describe examples of other document operations.
Document sorting machinery, like check and letter sorters, is usually designed with a track and walls that guide documents down the track path. Drive rollers, with pinch rollers positioned opposite the drive rollers, usually drive the documents. The pinch rollers are usually spring loaded to provide force against the document, thus pushing the document against the drive rollers, propelling the documents down the path or track. Problems arise when documents jam or stops occur in the track due to a variety of reasons. The causes can be torn, damaged or mutilated documents, staples, folded edges, and other causes not related to the documents. For example, stops could be caused by a jam in a downstream module. When these jams and stoppages occur, operators are required to manually remove the documents from the track. This document clearing requires relieving the spring force of the pinch roller on the document against the drive roller.
Another problem of track accessibility occurs when the track has to be cleaned of paper debris and foreign matter like staples and rubber bands. Yet further problems occur when electronic devices positioned in or along the track require cleaning or maintenance or adjustments. The devices include, but are not limited to; magnetic read heads, pressure devices, optical and digital readers and cameras, bar code readers, printers, inkjets and other recognition devices. Drive and pinch rollers are usually in the same area as these devices to provide positive document drive. Drive and pinch rollers also require periodic cleaning due to ink and paper dust build-up on the document contact surfaces, again necessitating track accessibility.
Existing pinch roller retraction approaches in document handling equipment include levers, cams and other mechanisms that retract pinch rollers just enough to release the grip on the document. Other approaches include removable covers and lids, which expose the pinch rollers, and some may be retracted by hand, enough to relieve the spring pressure on the document. Yet other methods include manual track wall removal, when the pinch rollers are fastened to the track walls. The common problem with these approaches is that true and unrestricted access to the track and devices in and around the document track for document removal, cleaning, maintenance and adjustments is not provided. The existing approaches typically do not allow for true physical access, i.e., allowing an operator to reach his hand directly to the affected area, and also providing a visual line of sight to actually see the affected area. These existing approaches are time consuming, which directly has a negative impact on document throughput and productivity.
Additional background information may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,630,815.
For the foregoing reasons, there is a need for an improved mechanism for providing access to the track in a document processing system.

Pinch roller retraction apparatus for a document processing system


A litter for animals includes a plurality of granular materials including a high-bulk density granular material and a low-bulk density granular material at a ratio by mass of 60:40-40:60. The high-bulk density granular material contains bentonite as a main component, and the low-bulk density granular material is configured of a core layer and a skin layer, the skin layer coating the surface of the core layer and containing a binder by which grains of the plurality of granular materials are bound to each other.

In the prior art, toilets for animals such as dogs and cats have been known which have a toilet spreading material (litter) composed of granules with a water absorbing property, housed in a resin-formed toilet container. When litter used in such animal toilets absorbs liquid excreta such as urine that has been excreted by an animal, it generally forms a clump of multiple granules as the granules adhere to each other due to swelling and increased viscosity. The granule clump formed in this manner is removed from the toilet container by the owner.
Litter wherein the granule clump formed after absorption of urine is shallow in the depthwise direction of the toilet container, is also being studied. Examples of such litter include the animal litter proposed in PTL 1, which includes large-sized granules and small-sized granules composed mainly of a bentonite starting material, in a prescribed mixing ratio.
When the litter is formed by granules composed mainly of bentonite, as the animal litter disclosed in PTL 1, an advantage is provided in that the clump that is formed by absorption of urine tends to have higher strength and shallower depth.


An American football, which is made by vulcanization a rubber piece with two fabric linings, is strong enough to provide a more durable American football with better supporting but lower manufacturing cost. The American football includes a ball cover having a valve hole thereon and an inflatable bladder disposed within the ball cover for propping up the ball cover after inflation. The inflatable bladder has a predetermined shape and a valve stem mounted thereon and extended through the valve hole of the ball cover. The ball cover includes four elliptical cover pieces sewn edge to edge together. Each of the cover pieces includes an outer elliptical cover skin and an inner elliptical construction liner which is overlappedly attached on an inside of the cover skin for supporting the cover skin and enclosing the inflatable bladder. Each of the construction liners has a rubber piece of predetermined thickness vulcanizing with at least a fabric lining to form an integral liner piece having a size and shape at least equal to the outer cover skin.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to American football, and more particularly to a more durable American football which is supported with construction liner for better supporting with lower manufacturing cost.
2. Description of Related Arts
American football is one of the most popular sports in United States. The conventional American football generally comprises a hollow outer ball carcass and an inflatable bladder disposed within the ball carcass for propping up the ball carcass after inflation. The inflatable bladder can be made of rubber or polyurethane when leather made ball carcass is used. The ball carcass of the American football comprises a plurality of cover pieces sewn edge to edge together to form an ellipsoidal shape. Each of the cover pieces comprises an outer cover skin and an inner liner for supporting between the outer cover and the inflatable rubber bladder. One of the most common materials of the outer cover skin is leather. Synthetic leather, such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or polyurethane (PU), is another common material for the outer cover skin because of its toughness nature that is more suitable for sewing. Besides, padded cover pieces are suggested in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,462,590 and 4,660,831.
Generally speaking, if the ball carcass is made of leather, no backing is required. However, for polyvinyl chloride made ball carcass, woven fabric backing is attached on its inner surface for reinforcing and supporting. Also, for polyurethane made ball carcass, non-woven fabric is attached on its inner surface for reinforcing and supporting.
The liner of all the conventional American football can be of woven fabric, such as twilled nylon, cotton or other mixing material such as TC, TR, is preferably about 0.038 cm thick. To produce the conventional liner, a polyvinyl chloride or polyurethane layer and at least two lining layers are pressed to adhere on both sides of the polyvinyl chloride or polyurethane layer by feeding through a pair of pressing rollers to form a bolt of lining cloth. Pieces of inner liner with elliptical shape are cut from this lining cloth.
However, it is well known that the conventional American football is quite stiff to grip, catch and hold. It is because the inner liner, made of polyurethane and woven fabric layers adhered with each other, must be strong enough to support the softer outer cover skin to tolerate impact and to retain the ellipsoidal shape of the American football.
It is a main object of the present invention to provide an American football supported with improved construction liner which is made by vulcanization layers of rubber and fabric lining and is strong enough to provide a more durable American football with better supporting but lower manufacturing cost.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an American football wherein the stiffness and softness of the football can be designated by adjusting the thickness of the rubber piece of the construction liner thereof and/or the number of layers of the rubber piece and the fabric lining, so that different types of American football with different levels of softness and stiffness can easily be made for fitting different types of playground and different ages of players. For example, the American football for junior players may have softer ball carcass and the American football for professional players may have stiffer ball carcass.
In order to accomplish the above objects, the present invention provides an American football supported with construction liner, comprising a ball cover having a valve hole thereon and an inflatable bladder disposed within the ball cover for propping up the ball cover after inflation.
The inflatable bladder has a predetermined shape and a valve stem mounted hereon and extended through the valve hole of the ball cover. The ball cover comprises our elliptical cover pieces sewn edge to edge together. Each of the cover pieces comprises an outer elliptical cover skin made of leather or synthetic leather, such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or polyurethane (PU), and an inner elliptical construction liner which is overlappedly attached on an inside of the cover skin for supporting the cover skin and enclosing the inflatable bladder.
Each of the construction liners comprises a rubber piece of predetermined thickness vulcanizing with at least a fabric lining to form an integral liner piece having a size and shape at least equal to the outer cover skin.
The construction liner of each cover pieces of the ball cover of the American football according to the present invention is made by a specific method comprising the steps of:
(a) cutting a rubber sheet material into elliptical rubber pieces of a predetermined size;
(b) cutting a fabric sheet material into elliptical fabric linings having a same size of the rubber piece;
(c) compressing and vulcanizing each of the rubber pieces with one of the fabric linings together in a press mold, so as to firmly united the rubber piece with the fabric lining integrally to form a rubber-based fabric liner; and
(d) cutting each of the rubber-based fabric liners to a predetermined size.


A tool sensor calibration system and tool calibration method are disclosed herein. A tool sensor calibration system (200) comprises a flow pipe (206), an isolation cell (214) in fluid communication with the flow pipe, a sensor (210) positioned proximate to the isolation cell, a fluid chamber (213) containing a reference fluid (212) with a known property value, and a first valve (222a) coupled to the fluid chamber that provides selective fluid communication between the fluid chamber and the flow pipe. A tool calibration method comprises introducing a first fluid (208) into a flow pipe, introducing a reference fluid into the flow pipe from a fluid chamber in fluid communication with the flow pipe through a valve, wherein the first fluid and the reference fluid mix to form a composite fluid, and detecting a property of the composite fluid at an isolation cell in fluid communication with the flow pipe.

This disclosure relates generally to tools located in a wellbore, and more particularly concerns a system and method of calibrating tools used to detect fluids and gases, and components thereof, in a downhole environment.
It is often desirable to monitor the properties of hydrocarbons retrieved from a subterranean formation in-situ. For instance, with respect to petroleum, it may be desirable to monitor a number of physical qualities, such as, for example: phase (oil, water, gas, solids), density, viscosity, bubble point, petroleum formation factor, and reservoir continuity. Other important fluid chemical properties that may be monitored in reservoir fluids include, for example: concentrations of methane, ethane, propane, butane, pentane, oxygen, CO2, H2S; GOR (gas oil ratio); saturate, aromatic, resin and asphaltene (SARA) composition; water content and chemistry (ions and pH); and other contaminants (e.g., mud filtrate).
However, the tools used to monitor hydrocarbons in a well are often not calibrated adequately to be able to make accurate measurements. This may be, for example, because the fluid or gas in the sample may not be at a concentration high enough to be measured, the fluid or gas in the measured sample may be below the limit of detection by the tool, or there may be contamination (e.g., from drilling fluid in the wellbore) in the sample that interferes with the instruments' detection method. Additionally, tools that are calibrated may need to be recalibrated once positioned downhole, to account for instrumental drift due to changes in temperature and pressure at which the tool must operate in the wellbore. Accordingly, it is desirable to be able to calibrate a tool in-situ to take measurements of a sample without needing to raise it to the surface.
The disclosure may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the disclosure being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.


A method of manufacturing a hybrid contact lens having a substantially rigid center portion and a substantially flexible outer portion, comprising forming the substantially rigid center portion, treating the substantially rigid center portion to form a coating on the perimeter of the substantially rigid portion, forming the substantially flexible outer portion around the substantially rigid center portion and chemically bonding the substantially flexible portion to the substantially rigid portion. Hybrid lenses comprising a substantially rigid center portion and a substantially flexible outer portion joined at junction comprising a first segment and a second segment are also provided.

Vision correction is on the verge of a revolution. New technologies to measure the aberrations or distortions in the optics of the eye will soon be available to the public. These new wavefront measurement techniques such as Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensing or Talbot Interferometry can precisely measure the eye's aberrations so that vision may be corrected up to 20/10. Wavefront sensing is the method for rapidly, and very accurately, assessing the aberrations in an individual's eye to create a customized prescription for correction.
However, once the eye's aberrations have been measured, either by conventional methods or by wavefront sensing, these measurements must then be transferred into a vision correction system, such as eye surgery, spectacles, or contact lenses. Recent advances in laser refractive surgery techniques such as LASIK and photorefractive keratectomy, as well as improvements in spectacle lens manufacturing now enable the creation of highly accurate corrective prescriptions for individuals.
However, this is not the case with contact lenses. Popular soft contact lenses cannot achieve the same result as spectacles or laser refractive surgery because of dimensional variations in fabrication. Hard contact lenses, which may provide the platform to achieve the results of spectacles, are not as comfortable as soft contacts and lack the necessary positional stability on the eye.
Hybrid hard-soft contact lenses comprising a hard center portion and a relatively soft outer skirt have been developed to provide a platform for a corrective prescription and also provide the comfort of soft contact lenses. One drawback associate with such hybrid hard-soft contact lenses concerns a lack of a smooth transition between the soft and hard portions. Another drawback involves a lack of bonding strength between the soft and hard portions.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a hybrid contact lens having a junction that provides a smooth transition between the soft and hard portions as well as sufficient bonding strength between the soft and hard portions for an improved surface. There also exists a need for methods of manufacturing such a lens


An incubator stand for holding a plurality of incubators in a stacked arrangement, the incubator stand comprising: a stand base; a shaft element upstanding from the stand base; and a plurality of incubator bases rotatably received on the shaft element, each incubator base forming a support for or forming part of an incubator. A stop element is also provided which prevents or limits angular displacement of each incubator base, so that each incubator base can be pivoted out from a stack of said incubator bases to in use access an incubator associated therewith without causing the stack to topple. An incubator docking system and incubator system for transferring incubators between different environmental conditions are also provided.

Incubators are widely used in laboratories around the world for applications requiring a carefully controlled environment, controlling for variables such as temperature, gas composition and humidity. Often, laboratories will have a plurality of operational incubators with the aim of creating and monitoring several environments simultaneously.
Typically, incubators are formed as large temperature-controlled units into which a sample to be incubated is directly insertable, in order to maintain environmental conditions therein. Such incubators typically require regular checking and may be provided with an optical inspection portion through which the user can view the sample therein. Not only are these incubators bulky, taking a large amount of physical area on a laboratory bench, but the need to provide optical access of the samples prevents the incubators from being stacked on top of one another, notwithstanding the physical challenge in doing so.
Furthermore, incubators may require a fluid supply and/or electrical wiring in order to maintain a specific gas composition, humidity or similar. If multiple incubators are stacked, each with separate conduits, the conduits may become entangled causing confusion or there may be insufficient space to accommodate all of the conduits. Similarly, the incubators may require an electrical-wiring loom in order to provide an electricity supply for heating, lighting or similar. If multiple incubators are stacked, each with separate electrical wiring looms, the looms may become entangled causing confusion or there may be insufficient space to accommodate all of the looms.

Incubator stand and incubator docking system


A facility management apparatus includes a display unit for designating a facility system and selectively displaying a corresponding individual facility system screen. The individual facility system screen includes a point display section and an associated screen pull-down section. The point display section is used to designate each control monitor point in the facility system and to display detailed information of the designated point on a screen upon a pull-down operation. The associated screen pull-down section is used to designate an associated menu in the facility system and to display detailed information of the designated menu on the screen upon a pull-down operation.

The present invention relates to a facility management apparatus for displaying detailed information on a screen and managing various types of facilities.
In a multistory building, a housing complex, a hospital, a factory, and the like, various types of facilities are arranged, e.g., air conditioning facilities, electric power facilities, crime preventing facilities, fire preventing facilities, and heat source facilities. These facility systems include a large number of various types of devices as equipment.
According to a conventional apparatus, the respective items in such facilities are managed as follows. First, the following lists are independently displayed on a screen: a point list indicating a control monitor point (point) in a given facility system; an associated graph list including various types of graphs indicating histories in the facility system; and an associated control program list including various types of programs enabling set control operations in the facility system. A desired point, a desired associated graph menu, and a desired associated control program menu are then selected from the displayed lists to be designated, thus displaying detailed information thereof on the screen upon a pull-down operation.
In such a conventional facility management method, however, detailed information of a desired point, a desired associated graph menu, and a desired associated graph menu cannot be displayed on the screen upon a pull-down operation unless the point list, the associated graph list, and the associated control program list are selected and displayed on the screen one by one. This undesirably increases the number of operator actions.
In addition, since the point list, the associated graph list, and the associated control program list, which are displayed on the screen, are formed as lists common to all the facility systems, each displayed list includes unnecessary information for different operators in the respective facility systems. For this reason, a cumbersome operation is required to select a desired point or menu from a displayed list, further burdening each operator.

Facility management apparatus having touch responsive display screens


A method of forming an isolating region of a semiconductor device including the steps of: forming first insulating layers which vary in width on a substrate; forming trenches which vary in width on the substrate by using the first insulating layers as a mask; forming second insulating layers on the trenches and the first insulating layers; exposing the predetermined portions of the first insulating layers by etching the second insulating layers; and wet-etching the first insulating layers and the non-etched portions of the second insulating layers. In the present invention, an isolating region in the narrow trench is formed without voids by regulating the deposition/etching ratio during the formation of an insulating layer in a trench.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of forming an isolating region of a semiconductor device and, more particularly to a method of forming the isolating region of a semiconductor device, for forming an isolating layer having no void in a trench, after the formation of the trench, that will provide a device isolating region for 1 Gb, and also provide for planarization of the device.
2. Discussion of Related Art
With the higher integration of a semiconductor device, there are suggested a variety of methods of forming an isolating region of the semiconductor device and a forming region, namely, an active region, in a smaller size. LOCOS (Local Oxidation of Silicon) is a prevailing technique used in forming an isolating region of a semiconductor device due to its simplicity and excellent reproductivity. It is known however that the LOCOS is not suitable for a DRAM of above 64 MB, because of the bird's beaking phenomenon, which is characteristic of an isolating region formed through LOCOS which occurs at the edge of the isolating oxide layer and is extended to the active region, wherein the active region is decreased. Therefore, an advanced LOCOS is employed in the fabrication of a DRAM with 64 MB or 256 MB, so as to reduce the isolating region but increase the active region by preventing the occurrence of the birds' beaking phenomenon or removing the bird's beaking phenomenon itself. But, this advanced LOCOS method still presents some problems of deterioration of the characteristic of the isolating region for a DRAM of above the 1 Gb level which requires a cell region to be 0.2 .mu.m.sup.2 in area. One of the above problems is the extremely large size of the isolating region and another problem is the leakage of current, which results from the formation of a field oxide layer in the interface with the silicon substrate through the LOCOS and thus a decreased concentration of the silicon substrate. For this reason, there is suggested a new method in forming the isolating region for a DRAM of above the 1 Gb level by using a trench having an easily regulated thickness for the purpose of promoting an isolating effect.
FIGS. 1a-1f are sectional views illustrating a conventional process for forming the isolating region of a semiconductor device.
As shown in FIG. 1a, a pad oxide layer 2 and a polysilicon layer 3 are sequentially formed on a substrate 1, and thereafter divided into patterns which vary in width and space by selective patterning through photolithography and etching. The substrate 1 is then etched to a predetermined depth using the divided polysilicon layer 3 and pad oxide layer 2 as masks so as to form trenches 4 which vary in width.
Referring to FIG. 1b, there is formed a thermal oxide layer 5 along the surface of the trenches 4, and a CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) oxide layer 6 is formed on the whole surface of the trench 4 by using an ECR (Electron-Cyclotron-Resonance) apparatus. According to the deposition of the CVD oxide layer 6 with the ECR apparatus, the oxide layer is formed from SiH.sub.4 /N.sub.2 O gas in an ECR plasma system.
In FIG. 1c, the CVD oxide layer 6 is laterally etched. As a result, the CVD oxide layer 6 formed in the trenches 4 are not etched, but the top edge of the polysilicon layer 3 is exposed, decreasing the width of the CVD oxide layer 6 formed thereon. Further, the CVD oxide layer 6 on the narrow polysilicon layer 3 is completely removed by lateral etching.
In FIG. 1d, after forming a photoresist PR on the whole surface of the polysilicon layer 3 and the CDV oxide layer 6, the CVD oxide layer 6 which was not etched can be selectively exposed by exposure and development. In this process, the top edge of the polysilicon layer 3 formed beneath the CVD oxide layer 6 is partially exposed.
Referring to FIG. 1e, the exposed CVD oxide layer 6 is selectively removed by using the photoresist PR as a mask, which is then also removed.
Finally, in FIG. 1f, the polysilicon layer 3 and the pad oxide layer 2 are removed in sequence as the last step of the conventional process for forming the isolating layer of a semiconductor device.
The problems of the conventional method of forming the isolating layer may be summarized as follows.
First, the process is too complicated. After the CVD oxide layer is formed in the trenches, the process for removing the CVD oxide layer on the polysilicon layer other than the trenches requires lateral etching and patterning, using a photoresist as a mask through photolithography and etching.
Second, if the CVD oxide layer formed in the trench is higher than the upper surface of the polysilicon layer in the deposition of the CVD oxide layer so as to bury the trench, a lateral etching is required for the removal of the CVD oxide layer, and further the CVD oxide layer on the edge of the polysilicon layer is incompletely removed because the edge of the polysilicon layer is masked by the photoresist. The edge of the polysilicon layer is therefore masked by the CVD oxide layer which was incompletely removed, and thus the polysilicon layer beneath the CVD oxide layer may not be etched out during the removal of the polysilicon layer. For this reason, an additional process is required to completely remove the CVD oxide layer and the polysilicon layer beneath the CVD oxide layer, which leads to a reduction in productivity and an increase in production cost.


An asynchronous time-hopping multiple access "(ATHMA") protocol and a simplex mode communication system utilizing the same requires no synchronization between transmitting stations, no handshaking between transmitters and receivers and no system manager to coordinate data message transmission. The ATHMA protocol ensures that for an n-channel asynchronous simplex mode communication system, each transmitter repeatedly sends each unique data message n successive times according to its own time-hopping schedule. In the preferred embodiment the time-hopping schedules are coordinated such that at least one duplication of each unique message will not collide with any other messages over a given period. Thus, at most n-1 transmissions out of the total n transmissions of each unique data message will be collided and lost. The ATHMA protocol and communication system of the present invention is ideally suited for applications requiring a low throughput rate and channel capacity. The ATHMA protocol can be applied to various transmissions media such as radio, infrared optics and wired media with little or no modification.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to the field of multiple access communications systems. More particularly, the present invention is directed to asynchronous multiple access simplex mode communications systems and methods therefor. Accordingly, the general objects of the present invention are to provide novel and improved methods and apparatus of such character.
2. Description of the Related Art
In simplex mode communication systems of the related art, information can be transferred in only one direction, i.e. from one or more transmitters to one or more receivers. Some examples of such simplex mode communications systems include radio-controlled toy cars, remote data-collection systems and remote-controlled joysticks. In applications such as these, where multiple transmitters may be attempting to communicate with one of a plurality of receivers within close proximity to one another, differentiation between the various transmitter signals at the receivers is necessary to avoid signal collision and loss. Such differentiation has conventionally been accomplished, for example, by frequency division multiple access schemes wherein each transmitter/receiver pair is assigned a unique communication channel of a particular frequency band. Dividing the frequency spectrum in this manner reduces the possibility of signal confusion when two or more transmitter/receiver pairs are utilized in close proximity to each other and share a common transmission medium.
However, among other things, such frequency division multiple access schemes suffer from the deficiency that unique electronic circuitry, corresponding to the unique frequency band for each product, must be employed in each product in order to allow the products to operate at different frequencies. Naturally, this increases the cost of such products and complicates the manufacturing process by unnecessarily complicating inventory control and production flow during manufacturing, etc. Furthermore, when such products are mass produced it is simply impossible to ensure that a unique communication channel has been assigned to every one of the products because of the limited frequency range which has been allocated to such uses. Accordingly, while steps can be taken to minimize the risk of signal confusion, some frequency channel duplication inevitably occurs. Naturally, this gives rise to the possibility that users of a given product will interfere with one another. All of these deficiencies limit the use of frequency division multiple access schemes in simplex mode communication systems.
In contexts other than simplex mode communication systems time division multiple access schemes have also been employed with some degree of success. Time division multiple access schemes are often used in conjunction with frequency division multiple access schemes to further reduce the possibility of conflicts between users of a given product. Time division multiple access schemes, however, avoid some of the above-described deficiencies of frequency division multiple access schemes by ensuring that transmitted messages are separated in time. Restated, time division multiple access schemes allow multiple transmitter/receiver pairs to utilize unique time slots for the transfer of information, even if the transmitter/receiver pairs operate in the same frequency band.
Some of the time division schemes currently in use include time division multiple access ("TDMA"), ALOHA (either pure or slotted) and carrier-sense multiple access with collision-detection ("CSMA/CD"). Each of the schemes has a number of variations. However, all of these multiple access schemes have proven to be difficult and costly, and in some cases impossible, to implement in simplex mode communication systems. For example, TDMA allows for communication between multiple transmitter/receivers over a shared frequency band of a transmission medium by allocating synchronized time frames to each of the transmitter/receiver pairs. Thus, in a TDMA system, a given time frame is divided into individual time-slots and each transmitter is pre-assigned unique time-slots in which to transmit information to its receiver. However, it is necessary for the various receivers and transmitters of the system to be synchronized with one another for the system to operate effectively. Thus, TDMA requires a centralized system manager to pre-assign time-slots, communicate those assignments to the various transmitter/receivers and monitor the synchronization between the various components of the system during operation. This, naturally, leads to an undesirable increase in network complexity and expense. Alternatively, known handshaking techniques can be used to coordinate message transmission between transmitter/receiver pairs. However, such a system cannot be implemented in a simplex mode communication system because it requires the transfer of information between transmitter/receiver pairs in both directions.
A pure ALOHA multiple access protocol avoids the need for a system manager by allowing transmitters to transfer information to respective receivers at random times regardless of whether or not other transmitters are attempting to do the same. Using ALOHA, however, each transmitter must monitor the transmission medium for signal collisions between its own signal transmissions and signal transmissions from other transmitters. When such collisions occur, the transmitters must wait a random period of time and retransmit the collided messages while, again, monitoring the transmission medium for another signal collision. This process is repeated until transmission of the messages is successfully completed, i.e. no collision between these messages and any other messages occurs. However, since the pure ALOHA protocol does not even attempt to avoid signal collisions, there is no guarantee that any given signal will be successfully transmitted. Further, the pure ALOHA protocol suffers from the deficiencies of low throughput rates and instability. To overcome these deficiencies a variation of the pure ALOHA protocol known as slotted ALOHA has been developed. However, the slotted ALOHA protocol cannot be implemented in an asynchronous simplex mode communication system because the receivers of a slotted ALOHA system must send message-reception acknowledgments to the transmitters (i.e., handshaking) and because the transmitters must be synchronized with one another.
Yet another attempt to improve the related art time division multiple access schemes is CSMA/CD. CSMA/CD attempts to avoid signal collisions by allowing transmitters to transmit data messages only after monitoring the transmission medium to ensure that the transmission medium is not currently in use by another transmitter. If the transmission medium is in use, the transmitter must wait until the transmission medium is clear before transmitting a message. However, one major deficiency of CSMA/CD systems is that, between the time that a transmitter finishes checking whether the transmission medium is free, and the time that it begins transmitting, another transmitter can begin transmitting another message. The result is a collision of the two transmitted signals. If such a collision occurs, the transmitters broadcasting the colliding signals stop transmitting immediately and wait a random time period before attempting retransmission. This process is repeated until both of the transmissions are successfully completed. One of the primary deficiencies of the CSMA/CD protocol is that the signal-collision detection and back-off algorithms utilized to effectuate signal transmissions necessarily results in a significant increase in the cost and hardware complexity of the system. Additionally, the various transmitters of a given system must be synchronized with one another to operate effectively.
Therefore, there remains a need in the art for a multiple access protocol for use in simplex communication systems which overcomes the aforementioned deficiencies of the related art by dispensing with the need for synchronization between the transmitters of a multiple-transmitter system while guaranteeing successful reception of all transmitted data messages.
There remains an additional need in the art for a multiple access protocol for use in simplex mode communication systems which overcomes the aforementioned deficiencies of the related art by avoiding the need to synchronize the various components of the system while reducing the complexity of the hardware needed to implement the protocol.
There remains a further need in the art for a multiple-access protocol for use with simplex mode communication systems which overcomes the aforementioned deficiencies of the prior art by accommodating a significant number of transmitter/receiver pairs on a single frequency band while offering a significant throughput rate and eliminating the possibility of signal collision among the various transmitters of the system.

Multiple access simplex mode communication systems and methods therefor

Telecom Technology Centre Company Limited