The invention relates to a guide device for a drilling device, comprising a housing having deflection means for generating a side force, and a shaft rotatably supported within the housing, wherein the shaft comprises connection means at a first end for connecting to a drilling rod, and connection means at a second end for connecting to a drilling head, and wherein coupling means are provided for connecting the shaft to the housing in a rotationally fixed manner as needed.

The invention relates to a guiding device for a drilling device as well as to a drilling device having such a guiding device
From the state of the art drilling devices are known, with which a change of drilling direction during the drilling of the borehole is possible.
For example from the field of horizontal drilling technology, drilling devices are known, in which a drill head, which is connected via a drill rod to a drive unit located above ground, is propelled statically and/or dynamically into the soil by the drive unit. A steering function can be achieved in such drilling devices by providing the drill head with an asymmetrically slanted face surface to cause a lateral force to act on the drill head when being advanced through the soil, leading to a deviation of the drill head from the straight drilling direction. Advancing such a slanted drill head only statically or dynamically without rotating leads to an arched course of the drill inside the soil. Such a drilling device enables a straight drilling by advancing the slanted drill head not only under pressure but at the same time driven rotatingly so that lateral forces which cause a deviation are compensated over the course of a complete revolution of the slanted drill head and on average a straight drilling course results.
Such Drilling devices are suited well for a drilling in soils, which can be easily deformed because the drilling effect is essentially based on a radial displacement and compaction of the soil. Such drilling devices are, however, inadequate for use in a harder soil and in rock formation, because here it is necessary to first break down and then remove the rock from the borehole.
Essentially, two different designs of drilling devices exist, which are suitable for drilling in harder soil as well as in rock formation.
Drilling devices according to a first of these designs are based on an in-hole motor, i.e. a motor which is arranged in the region of the drill head of a drilling device and, together with the drill head, is propelled through the soil. The in-hole motor acts directly on and rotatingly drives the drill head. The pressure forces necessary for the propulsion of the drill head are transferred to the drill unit, comprised of the in-hole motor and the drill head, via a drill rod by a drive unit which is located above ground. So-called "mud-motors" are normally used as in-hole motors. These involve motors which operate according to the "Moineau"-principle or are based on turbines and driven hydraulically. The mud-motors are typically driven by a drilling fluid which is fed to the mud-motors under high pressure through the hollow drill rod or other feed pipe, after which the drilling fluid is discharged via respective outlet openings in the region of the drill head, to lubricate and cool the front of the drill head and to flush out the removed soil or rocks from the borehole.
A steering ability in this type of drilling devices can be achieved in that the housing of the in-hole motor, which is preferably located as close as possible to the drill head or a section of the rod assembly, is provided with deflection means, which generate a lateral force causing a respective deviation from the straight drilling course.
From the state of the art, it is known to use a so called deflection shoe as deflection means, which deflection shoe is fastened to one side of the housing of the in-hole motor or a section of the drill rod and thus causes the lateral deflection. As an alternative, the same effect can be achieved by forming the housing of the in-hole motor or a section of the drill rod asymmetrically. A third known possibility is to provide the housing of the in-hole motor or a section of the drill rod with a curvature or an angled course to achieve the desired deflection. Further, it is known to connect the drill head itself to a driveshaft of the in-hole motor such that the rotation axis of the drill head is not coaxial to the longitudinal axis of the in-hole motor and the section of the drill rod which is connected to it. A straight drilling course is achieved with these drilling devices by rotatingly driving the housing of the in-hole motor which comprises the deflection means and the rod assembly so that the lateral force action of the deflection means is compensated over the course of a complete revolution. For changing the drilling direction, the rotation of the housing and the drill rod is interrupted however until the desired drilling direction is achieved.
These drilling devices have the disadvantage that they require large amounts of drilling fluid under high pressure for driving the mud-motors, and therefore require the provision of large and expensive pumps. Also, a sufficiently great cross section has to be provided inside of the drill rod through which the drilling fluid can be transported to the mud-motor by a pump located at the surface, to prevent the flow resistances inside the drill rod from causing excessive pressure loss. With regard to the forces and torques that have to be transferred, the drill rod therefore has to be "overdimensioned". A further problem is that the disposal of the spent drilling fluid is elaborate and therefore expensive. Because significantly more drilling fluid is required for driving the mud-motors than would be needed for cooling, lubricating and flushing out the drillings, the cost of disposal of the drilling fluid also rises.
These drawbacks of drilling devices based on in-hole motors for hard soil and rock formation have led to the development of drilling devices that are independent of such an in-hole motor, but are still suitable for a drilling in hard soil or rock formation. These drilling devices are based on a double drill rod which includes an outer tube having a front end which faces the drilling ground and is normally provided with a ring-shaped annular bit, and an inner rod assembly which is rotatably supported inside the outer tube and has a front end on which the actual drill head is disposed. The double drill rod is advanced rotatingly as well as under pressure by a drive unit which is located above ground. Normally, the outer tube and the inner rod assembly are advanced in synchronism, while rotatingly driving the outer tube and the inner rod assembly independent of each other. The inner rod assembly is here driven with a rotational speed which is configured to achieve a most optimal removal of soil or rock. The outer tube which because of its direct contact with the inner wall of the already created borehole is subjected to significant friction with the inner wall is normally driven with lower rotational speeds to keep friction losses and resulting wear as low as possible.
The rotation of the outer tube rather has merely the purpose to achieve the desired steering function of the drilling device. For this, similar to the drilling devices with in-hole motor, the outer tube of the double rod assembly is provided with deflection means in the region of the drill head to generate a lateral force, causing an arched drilling course when a non-rotating outer tube is involved. For a straight drilling, the outer tube is rotated continuously according to the same principle as in the afore-mentioned alternative drilling devices so that on average a straight drilling course is established. The rotational speed of the outer tube which for this purpose rotates continuously can be significantly lower than a rotational speed that is appropriate for the inner rod assembly which carries the drill head. The major disadvantage of such devices with double drill rod is the elaborate and therefore expensive construction of the double drill rod itself.
Against the background of this state of the art, the invention was based on the object to provide a drilling device which is simple in structure and makes it possible to introduce boreholes in hard soil or rock formation.


An IP application service providing method enabling inbound communication in IP application communication intended between an internal node concealed from an outside network and belonging to an inside network and an external node belonging to the outside network through a gateway device set to permit only outbound communication, includes periodically transmitting a control packet aiming at notifying of a control channel port and at maintaining a communication permission entry of a control channel path to a connection support device on the outside network from the internal node subordinated to the gateway device; notifying the internal node of a connecting destination address/port pair associated with the external node via the control channel from the connection support device; and actively opening a data channel of an IP application to the notified connecting destination address/port pair.

The present invention relates generally to an IP (Internet Protocol) application service providing system, and more particularly to a connection support technology enabling a node, connected to an IP network such as the Internet, to easily perform IP application communication without depending on an existence/non-existence state of NAT/FW via a gateway device such as a network address translation (or translator) or a firewall (NAT/FW).
In an IPv4 network, the network address translation (NAT) is widely employed in terms of saving global IP addresses. The NAT, especially a device called NAPT (Network Address Port Translation), translates a private address and a source port of an in-office/home network into a global address and a source port according to the NAPT (a NAPT table) (see FIG. 1), thereby enabling accesses to an outside network ONW from a plurality of internal nodes A.
Further, in an IPv6 network, though an address starvation problem disappears, it is considered that there will be a continuous use of a firewall (FW) function (see FIG. 2) of permitting only a response of communication from the inside toward the outside in a way that conceals an in-office/home network from an outside network ONW in terms of security.
Thus, the NAT/FW is effective in outside trigger communication (outbound communication) from the inside but, in inside trigger communication (inbound communication) from the outside, has no entry permitting the inbound communication with the result that a packet does not reach a node and therefore encounters with a big obstacle in the case of operating a server application and a P2P (Peer-to-Peer) application on the nodes subordinated to the NAT/FW (see FIG. 3). This type of problem is generally called a [NAT-Traversal problem].
Considered as the conventional technologies for solving this problem are a technology (1) of setting up a static entry in the NAT (refer to Part 1: static NAT in FIG. 4), a technology (2) of controlling the entry on the basis of a protocol by using UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) (refer to Part 2: UPnP in FIG. 4) and a technology (3) of generating the entry that permits the inbound communication in a pseudo manner by predicting a post-transform NAT entry (refer to Part 3: UDP (User Datagram Protocol) Hole Punching), and so on.
In the technology (1) generally called static NAT, for instance, the NAT entry is set so that "192.168.1.1:80" (an inside private address/port pair) is uniquely translated into "22.214.171.124:80" (an outside global address/port pair), whereby a Web server appears to an external node B as if being opened at a global address "18.104.22.168". In fact, the Web server operates at the private address "192.168.1.1" subordinated to the NAT.
The conventional technology (2) is a scheme of automating the static NAT, wherein an UPnP protocol is operated between the node and the NAT, and the NAT is controlled from the node so as to map "192.168.1.1:80" to "18.104.22.168:80" by use of an AddPortMapping message, thereby setting up the same entry as by the static NAT.
The conventional technology (3) is a scheme in which the internal node A under the NAT predicts a post-translation global IP address/port pair by employing an STUN (Simple Traversal of UDP through NATs) protocol specified by RFC3489 (see FIGS. 9 and 10), generates the NAT entry using a dummy packet and notifies of a communication partner node of this NAT entry, and the external node B starts connecting to the post-translation IP address/port pair, thereby enabling the communication with the internal node A.
There arise, however, the following problems inherent in these conventional technologies. The conventional technology (1) requires detailed settings and knowledge about the NAT for every application, i.e., requires a large number of operation steps.
The conventional technology (2) requires support of the same protocol for both of the node and the NAT, and, if the node and the NAT are not within the same segment (namely, if the NATs are multi-staged and if a router is situated on a route up to the NAT), an UPnP packet (a multicast packet) is unable to reach the NAT, resulting in being uncontrollable.
In the conventional technology (3), there exist some NATs that can not be applied depending on their types (which will be explained later on), and, especially in the case of TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) communication, there are many cases of filtering an inbound TCP SYN packet (connection request) (a state full inspection function; see FIG. 13) though capable of generating the NAT entry itself, with the result that the conventional technology (3) can not be applied depending on an environment.
The NATs are roughly classified into two types such as Cone NAT and Symmetric NAT, wherein the Cone NAT is sub-classified into three types (see FIGS. 5-8), while the Symmetric NAT can not, because of allocating the different global port to every destination, be supported by the technology that predicts the post-translation port as by the STUN and the UDP Hole Punching (see FIGS. 11 and 12).
Further, all of the conventional technologies emphasize how the inbound communication toward the inside is started from the outside of the NAT/FW, there is consequently a case of being unable to perform the communications at an arbitrary timing (namely, the connection can not be established unless synchronizing with action from under the NAT), and, in the case of scheming to operate a server application provided at a well-known port, a port conflict (where a plurality of applications can be provided at the same global port because of being unable to share the global port) occurs between the nodes and the applications.
For example, even when trying to configure two Web servers under the NAT, the second Web server cannot be provided at a default port No.80. Precisely, this implies that though the Web server itself operates at the port No.80, since the mapping to "22.214.171.124:80" has already been consumed, for example, if trying to open the second Web server specified by "192.168.1.2:80" to the outside, there is no alternative but to map it to a port other than No.80 such as "22.214.171.124:81", but it is known to the external node B that this address/port pair "184.108.40.206:81" is previously provided at a different port, and a Web page can not be browsed unless [:http://188.8.131.52:81] etc is inputted. If provided at the port No.80, the port number can be omitted such as [http://22.214.171.124].
Thus, as compared with the case of having no existence of the NAT/FW, there is a large restraint on providing the applications, and, as the case may be, such a problem arises that the application operations themselves are required to be rearranged due to the existence of the NAT/FW.
The following is a related art to the present invention. [Patent document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No.2005-260715


A power tool such as an electric drill typically contains a gear train that couples the output spindle of the motor to the tool bit-receiving chuck. The control circuit for the power tool is operable in a ratcheting or pulse mode that causes the output spindle to rotate in discrete incremental amounts. Corresponding methods for controlling the operation of the electric motor of a power tool are also disclosed.

Electrical power tools, such as variable speed drills and power screwdrivers, typically include a motor control circuit that is adapted to control the speed of the output spindle of the tool by controlling the amount of current supplied to the motor. The desired motor speed is usually selected by the operator by varying the position of the trigger switch.
If the power tool is provided with an open loop motor control circuit, the speed of the output spindle of the tool will decrease as the tool is loaded and the current drawn by the motor will increase. Accordingly, if a relatively constant output speed is desired, the operator must manually compensate for the reduction in motor speed as the tool is loaded by further retracting the trigger switch to increase the power applied to the motor. If the power tool is provided with a closed loop motor control circuit, the control circuit is typically designed to automatically increase the amount of power supplied to the motor as the output spindle of the tool is loaded in order to maintain the desired speed.
Thus, when employed in a power screwdriver to drive a screw into a workpiece, for example, the current drawn by the motor will increase as the torque required to drive the screw increases, regardless of whether the control circuit provides open or closed loop control. This operation will continue until either the operator releases the trigger or the motor stalls as the increased torque required to drive the screw exceeds the torque capacity of the tool. Consequently, the effectiveness of many portable power tools, particularly power screw-drivers, is directly related to the tool's maximum torque output capacity. Obviously, the greater the output capacity of the tool, the more useful and versatile the tool. However, in order to significantly increase the torque output capacity of a tool, it is generally regarded as being necessary (assuming changes to the gear train are not an option) to increase the size of the motor and, consequently, the size, weight, and cost of the tool.
Accordingly, it is the primary object of the present invention to provide a portable electrical power tool having a motor speed control circuit that is able to substantially increase the effective torque output of a power tool for a given size motor and gear train.
In addition, it is an object of the present invention to provide a portable electric power tool, such as a power screwdriver having a motor control circuit, that enables the operator to better control the torque output of the tool, which is particularly beneficial when driving a screw into a workpiece.
The motor control circuit employed in the present invention is able to achieve these objectives by intermittently pulsing the motor for predetermined periods of time after a threshold current level is attained. More specifically, it has been found that if power to the motor of a power drill is reduced for a length of time sufficient to allow the gear train coupled to the motor to at least partially "relax", and then power is increased, the motor is able to build up potential energy before the looseness (i.e., backlash) is removed in the gear train. In effect, the motor is afforded a "running start" while the gear train is relaxed. When the backlash in the gear train is removed, the sudden impact of the motor torque on the gear train causes a sudden and high burst of torque to be imparted to the output spindle of the drill, and hence to the driving bit secured thereto. When this pulse control of the motor is repeated, the motor is able to provide a series of bursts of torque to the gear train which in turn can be used to better finish driving a wood screw into and below the surface of a workpiece. The present control scheme thus provides better user control due to the fact that the screw does not rotate too much when static friction is overcome. Rather, with each torque pulse, static friction is overcome and the screw is incremented a fraction of a turn.
While the pulsing operation described above has been found to be particularly helpful and effective when used to drive wood screws and other like implements into a work surface, it has also been found to be an effective means for "breaking loose" a screw or like fastener which is tightly seated in a workpiece, where other forms of power tools such as conventional variable speed drills are unable to do so. By reversing the action of the variable speed drill and applying the pulsing operation described above, the bursts of high torque applied by the motor have been found to be extremely effective in overcoming the high level of stiction force required to initiate removal of such fasteners.
Accordingly, it is a further object of the present invention to provide an electrically driven power tool, such as a variable speed power drill, which incorporates a control circuit for controlling a motor thereof such that the motor can be alternately pulsed fully on and then fully off at a predetermined cycle time during operation of the drill.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an electrically driven power tool having such a control circuit that further provides an operator of the power tool with a means for adjusting the point at which the alternating full-on and full-off operation is initiated.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an electrically driven power tool which automatically enters the alternating full-on and full-off mode of operation when the current through the motor exceeds an operator adjustable threshold level setting.
Additionally, it is an alternative object of the present invention to provide an electrically driven power tool that provides the operator with control over the magnitude of the torque bursts during the alternating phase of operation of the tool.
Finally, it is an object of the present invention to provide simplified versions of the present motor control circuit that are suitable for use in relatively low-cost power tools.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Electrical power tool having a motor control circuit for providing control over the torque output of the power tool


The disclosure provides an approach for in-place conversion of a virtual switch on a host. Techniques are provided for in-place conversion of a virtual switch from a first type of virtual switch to a destination type of virtual switch. A method includes rekeying, by a second manager agent, one or more uplink ports associated with one or more logical switches implemented by the virtual on the host with the unique identifier. The rekeying includes updating one or more existing uplink port identifiers assigned to the one or more uplink ports with the unique identifier associated with a first manager agent. The method includes removing, by the first manager agent, an association of the one or more uplink ports with the opaque network; and informing the first manager and the second manager that the virtual switch is of the destination type of virtual switch.

Software defined networking (SDN) may be used to create a software defined datacenter (SDDC). An SDDC involves a plurality of hosts in communication over a physical network infrastructure of a data center (e.g., on-premise data center or a cloud data center). Each host has one or more virtualized endpoints such as virtual machines (VMs), containers, or other virtual computing instances (VCIs). Though certain aspects are discussed herein with respect to VMs, it should be noted that the techniques may apply to other suitable VCIs as well.
Any arbitrary set of VMs in a datacenter may be placed in communication across a logical Layer 2 network by connecting them to a logical switch. A logical switch is collectively implemented by at least one virtual switch on each host that has a VM connected to the logical switch. Virtual switches provide packet forwarding and networking capabilities to virtual machines running on the host. The virtual switch on each host operates as a managed edge switch implemented in software by the hypervisor on each host.
There are several types of virtual switches that can be configured on a given hypervisor. For example, vendors may provide different virtual switches that have different capabilities, may be managed by different software solutions, may have different configuration parameters, correspond to different versions, etc.
For example, a first type of virtual switch may be managed by a first entity, such as a network manager described further herein. The first type of virtual switch may support one or more features that are not supported by a second type of virtual switch, such as an ability to implement an L2 broadcast domain using a network overlay. The L2 broadcast domain may correspond to a virtual network identifier (VNI) used to perform network segmentation. A second type of virtual switch may be managed by a second entity, such as a virtualization manager described further herein. The second type of virtual switch may support a second set of features, such as use of virtual local area network (VLAN) identifiers for network segmentation. The second type of virtual switch may be configured by the virtualization manager and the configuration is pushed to the hosts associated with the virtual switch.
In certain circumstances, such as when new virtual switch types become available, an administrator may migrate the datacenter from using one virtual switch type to a different (e.g., newer) virtual switch type. Migration of VMs from one virtual switch to another virtual switch, of the same or different type, is conventionally a tedious process that involves manual reconfiguration of all VMs along with configuration updates on the source and destination virtual switches. This reconfiguration and updating also causes network downtime.
In conventional network migration solutions, the host is first placed in a maintenance mode, which is a costly operation of migrating the VMs to destination hosts and can take up to several days for it to finish in scaled setups.
Accordingly, techniques are needed for migrating virtual switch configurations.

In-place conversion of a virtual switch on a host


Various embodiments of exhaust valves are described. In an example, an exhaust valve assembly includes a valve body having a cylinder, a piston disposed within the cylinder, and a sealing material disposed within a trough at the bottom of the cylinder. The selection of the sealing material may be based on an operational temperature that is above a melting point of the sealing material.

Various modern processes require the use of one-way valves. For example, in the processing and refining of various raw materials, the desired compounds or materials may be extracted, or undesired contaminants may be removed. One method of processing is by heating the material, causing a release of contaminants. Similarly, manufacturing processes such as sintering, may require the use of one-way valves to allow gas to escape during the heating process, which may also remove contaminants from the holding vessel and the starting materials.
For example, in manufacturing the cathode material of power batteries, the oxygen content in the atmosphere during the process of sintering lithium iron phosphate is preferably less than about 10 ppm. In conventional processes, the powder to be sintered into lithium iron phosphate is generally contained in an open-type container made of refractory material and the sintering device is preferably within an oxygen-free environment. This oxygen-free environment may cause various problems, such as instable quality and high operation cost. Alternatively, if the raw material is placed in an air-tight container for sintering, the presence of gases and other volatiles created during the pre-sintering process may contaminate the lithium iron phosphate. Information concerning the processing and properties of lithium iron phosphate may be found for example in Bewlay, S. L. et al., Conductivity improvements to spray produced LiFePO4 by addition of a carbon source, Materials Letters 58 (2004) 1788-1791, and Xie, Hui and Zhentao Zhou, Physical and electrochemical properties of mix-doped lithium iron phosphate as cathode material for lithium ion battery, Electrochimica Acta 51 (2006) 2063-2067.
At present, the research, development and production activities relating to lithium iron phosphate, as the cathode material for power batteries, are carried out on a large scale throughout the world. There is a consistent pursuit in the industry to reduce cost and ensure product quality. The sintering of lithium iron phosphate is one stage in the production process. The application of an air tight container in a common sintering furnace to sinter lithium iron phosphate is a recent development, whereby pure lithium iron phosphate emerges from the pre-sintering process without the emission of undesirable gases. The successful implementation of the technical process depends in part on the functional reliability of a one-way exhaust valve to maintain the purity of the lithium iron phosphate during the pre-sintering process.
Traditional one-way valves, or sealing valves typically rely on high geometric precision to ensure that the adjoining surfaces of the seal (or valve) closely coincide with each other, even under demanding conditions. For example, when a traditional one-way valve is configured to permit a flow of gas through the valve, the adjoining surfaces (or sealing faces) begin to wear once foreign material (e.g., dirt, pastes, viscous materials, etching/corrosive/acidic chemicals) passes through the valve along with the gas. In time, the continual wear will cause the seal to fail, rendering the one-way valve less effective. Further, traditional one-way valves use seals that may not survive harsh processing conditions, such as a high temperature environment.
Moreover, in applications with a strict sealing requirement, such as the processing of lithium iron phosphate (<10 ppm oxygen content), it may be very impractical and costly to use traditional one-way valves. First, due to the strict sealing requirement, the cost of the one-way valves may be high since the manufacturing of such a high precision and high performance valve is expensive. Second, as discussed above, foreign materials may still damage the valve and cause the valve to fail, which may require that a new valve be used for each pre-sintering run. Third, despite the strict sealing requirement, the one-way valve must still be responsive and flexible enough to allow proper gas flow, even when foreign materials become lodged or stuck within the sealing surfaces, obstructing the proper flow of gas, and also preventing a proper seal when the gas flow stops.


Creating a customized item cover comprises receiving customization data and creating at least one customization segment using the customization data. In addition, creating a customized item cover includes producing the customized item cover including the at least one customization segment. Producing the customized item cover may comprise printing the at least one customization segment on the customized item cover or embossing the at least one customization segment on the customized item cover.

The United States Postal Service (USPS) is an independent government agency that provides mail delivery and other services to the public. The USPS is widely recognized as a safe and reliable means for sending and receiving mail and other items. With the advent and steady growth of electronic mail and electronic commerce, the physical mail stream will increasingly be utilized for sending and receiving packages. In an effort to lower operating costs and increase value for their customer base, many delivery system operators attempt to create value for their present customers by creating valued-added services. In addition, value-added service can tend to attract new customers as well. Delivery system operator may realize an increase in profitability due to the increased revenue created by value added services. Therefore, there is a need for the United States Postal Service and many other organizations to efficiently provide value added services to their customer base.
One aspect of interest to customers of delivery systems is the appearance of the "covers," that is, the wrapper used to contain an item for-delivery. For example, there is a great interest in "first day covers," attractively printed envelopes bearing a postage stamp with a special cancellation, processed on the first day the stamp is issued.
In an increasingly competitive environment, it is desirable for a deliver system operator to provide an attractive and convenient service allowing users to produce and/or purchase personalized covers.


A new and distinct cultivar of Geranium plant named ‘Sil Linus’, characterized by in semi-double type, very light pink-colored flowers with medium purple red-colored spots, dark green-colored foliage, and low to moderately vigorous, upright, compact, and bushy growth habit.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Geranium plant botanically known as Pelargonium zonale and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name 'Sil Linus'.
The new cultivar originated in a controlled breeding program in Weener, Germany during Summer 2001. The objective of the breeding program was the development of Geranium cultivars that have unique flower coloration, dark green-colored foliage, and a vigorous, upright-mounded growth habit.
The new Geranium cultivar is the result of cross-pollination. The female (seed) parent of the new cultivar is 'Kitty', not patented, characterized by its semi-double type light violet-colored flowers with small medium red-colored spots, dark green-colored foliage, and low to very low vigor, compact, and upright growth habit. The male (pollen) parent of the new cultivar is 'Lady', not patented, characterized by its semi-double type light pink-colored flowers with bright medium red-colored spots, dark green-colored foliage, and very low vigor, compact, and upright growth habit. The new cultivar was discovered and selected as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the above stated cross-pollination during June 2002 in a controlled environment at Weener, Germany.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal stem cuttings since June 2002 at Weener, Germany and West Chicago, Ill. has demonstrated that the new cultivar reproduces true to type with all of the characteristics, as herein described, firmly fixed and retained through successive generations of such asexual propagation.


A passive safety device comprises a sensor unit for determining vehicle accelerations and decelerations, an evaluating unit for evaluating the output signal of the sensor unit, and a triggering unit for the activation of an occupant protection system upon the reception of a trigger signal, to protect the occupants from injuries. The individual units of the safety device are connected by way of optical lightguides, i.e. the communication among the individual units takes place through optical light signals. The sensor unit has an optical-mechanical acceleration sensor with at least one input lightguide, light being transmitted to the acceleration sensor by way of this lightguide. This light is transmitted within the acceleration sensor to at least one output lightguide. The optical system of the acceleration sensor arranged between the two lightguides is exposed to the accelerations to be detected and changes its optical properties in dependence on the magnitude of the acceleration forces. The output signal of the acceleration sensor, i.e. the light from the at least one output lightguide, is a measure for the effective acceleration and permits either quantitative information or qualitative information (larger than, larger than or equal to, smaller than, smaller than or equal to a predetermined threshold value) regarding the actual acceleration.

This invention relates to a passive safety device, especially an airbag system, for protecting the occupants of a vehicle, a land vehicle, rail vehicle or the like, from injuries during accidents, which is equipped with a sensor device or unit for detecting the vehicle accelerations and decelerations, an evaluating device or unit connected to the sensor device for evaluating the output signal of the sensor device, and a triggering device or unit connected to the evaluating device for the activation of an occupant protection system upon the reception of a trigger signal to protect the occupants from injuries. Furthermore, the invention concerns a method for triggering such a passive safety device. Finally, the invention also concerns optomechanical acceleration sensors for utilization, in particular, in a passive safety device of the above type and/or in a method for triggering such a safety device.
Passive restraints in automotive vehicles, airplanes and railroad vehicles, as well as methods for triggering such a safety device have been known. The airbag system in an automotive vehicle, for example, is such a passive restraint. In this safety system, upon the occurrence of a specific acceleration or deceleration, detected by a sensor device, the actual occupant safety unit is triggered; this being an airbag to be inflated within a specific predetermined time period. Passive restraints conventionally include the following functional or structural units: A sensor unit or means for detecting the vehicle acceleration and deceleration, an evaluating device unit or means connected to the sensor device for evaluation of the output signal of the sensor device, and a triggering unit or means connected to the evaluating unit for effecting activation of the (actual) occupant safety device to protect the occupants from injuries, upon the reception of a triggering signal. The above three units are sometimes mounted spatially separate in the corresponding vehicle. For example, in an automotive vehicle, the triggering unit is disposed together with the gas generator in the steering wheel or dashboard (glove compartment); whereas the evaluating unit together with the other electronic circuitry of the automotive vehicle is accommodated in a region readily accessible for the purpose of a simple exchange of individual modules, for example in the engine compartment. The sensor unit can be provided at a third location in the vehicle. All of these units are connected with one another by way of electrical cables the signal or data exchange among the individual units takes place electrically. A drawback in this arrangement resides in the susceptibility to failures inherent in the safety system on account of external electromagnetic interference pulses which can be coupled into the system via the electrical connecting lines and can bring about, in the most adverse case, an erroneous triggering of the occupant safety system. A weakening of the interference pulses can be obtained by complicated and expensive shielding measures, but such pulses cannot be prevented in every instance.
Furthermore, acceleration sensors are known in the art in a plurality of technical applications. Such acceleration sensors are utilized, inter alia, in the control of kinetic processes, or also as trigger elements for initiating certain processes upon the occurrence of accelerations higher than a predetermined threshold value. In the conventional acceleration sensors, an electrical switch is closed and/or opened (mechanical "spring acceleration sensor"), when a defined acceleration has been reached and/or exceeded, or alternatively, by the prevailing acceleration, an electrical signal is directly generated (acceleration sensor with piezocrystal). One disadvantage herein resides in that the sensor system is connected via electrical connecting lines herein to the total system into which the acceleration sensor is incorporated. Thereby, electromagnetic interference pulses can be coupled in, for example, which can lead to failures and, in the most adverse case, to an erroneous triggering.

Passive safety device using optical signals for controlling an airbag system of a vehicle, method for optically triggering the passive safety device, and optomechanical acceleration sensor


Fatty tissue involved in a liposuction procedure is treated with microwave energy (also known as RF). In a particular embodiment of the invention, the microwave energy is applied by means of a catheter including a suction lumen, an electromagnetic transmission line, and an antenna coupled to the distal end of the transmission line. A microwave generator coupled to the distal end of the transmission line causes radiation from the antenna into the fatty tissue adjacent to the distal suction port of the suction lumen, which tissue is thereby heated and softened. The softened fatty tissue is more readily detached from the adjacent tissue than in the absence of heat, and less mechanical force is required for removal. In another embodiment of the invention, the transmission line is formed so that the electromagnetic field extends into the suction lumen, so that the fatty tissue being removed therethrough continues to be heated. Saline solution or other liquid with polar molecules is injected into the region being treated to provide improved coupling of energy between the electromagnetic radiation and the fatty tissue. Microwave radiation may be applied to the region being treated by means of an external radiator. The heating effect of the radiation not only softens the tissue for ready removal, but also tends to sterilize the region for reducing infection.

This invention relates to medical procedures generally, and more specifically to microwave (a subset of radio-frequency) electromagnetic radiation used for aiding in liposuction.
Liposuction is a procedure by which fatty tissue is removed from portions of the body by percutaneous insertion of a tube catheter into the fatty tissue, and by application of suction to the proximal end of the tube. The distal end of the catheter is moved about through the fatty tissue, to mechanically loosen its attachment to adjacent tissue. Suction applied to the proximal end of the tube draws the loosened fatty tissue through the tube to a discharge container.
Liposuction treatment requires vigorous manipulation of the suction catheter to dislodge the fatty tissue, and gives rise to the possibility of undesired injury to other tissues of the patient. Also, the drawing of matter through the catheter tube from the interior of the body inevitably results in drawing of some microbial matter into the body as pressures equalize, thereby giving rise to the possibility of infection. An improved liposuction technique is desired.

Method and apparatus for microwave aided liposuction


The invention provides a method and system for scheduling tasks in an MP system, and provides parallel execution of those tasks while implicitly synchronizing access to resources used by that system. Tasks in the system are each assigned to a scheduling domain, thus associating those tasks with a set of resources controlled by that domain. A scheduler operating at each processor implicitly synchronizes those resources controlled by each domain, by scheduling only one task for each domain to execute concurrently in the system. Because each instance of the scheduler selects which task is next run independently of its processor, each domain can migrate from one processor to another; thus, each domain can have a task executing on any processor, so long as no domain has two tasks executing concurrently in the system. Thus, domains are not bound to any particular processor. Hence the method and system are symmetric.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to symmetric multiprocessor synchronization and implicit synchronization of resources using migrating scheduling domains, as described herein.
2. Related Art
In computer systems having multiple processors with concurrent execution, it is desirable to use as much of the parallelism as possible from the multiple processors. One problem with using the parallelism of multiple processors is that of designing software to make use of that parallelism. For example, software that was designed for use with a uniprocessor system often does not exploit the parallelism of a multiprocessor system to the fullest extent possible.
A first known method is to redesign or rewrite software originally designed for use with a uniprocessor system, so as to make use of the advantages of a multiprocessor system. While this known method does generally achieve the goal of using the advantages of a multiprocessor system, it is subject to several drawbacks. First, it is extremely expensive, in that it uses relatively large amounts of (human design and coding) resources for redesigning or rewriting program code. Second, it is sometimes then necessary to maintain two different code bases, one for uniprocessor systems and one for multiprocessor systems, also resulting in additional expense and use of human design and coding resources.
A second known method is to introduce (into software originally designed for use with a uniprocessor system) those explicit synchronization methods for maintaining integrity of resources to be shared among multiple processors. While this known method generally achieves the same goal with relatively less expense and consumption of resources than a complete redesign or rewrite of the software code base, it also suffers from several drawbacks. First, it introduces a relatively large amount of new code subject to possible error in coding. Second, it introduces additional processor and memory usage to implement known explicit synchronization methods (such as locking mechanisms), with resulting slowing of the system using those known explicit synchronization methods. The second drawback is particularly exacerbated for resources that are primarily used by only one software element, but find occasional use by a second software element; the first software element pays the price of known explicit synchronization methods for each use of the resource, even though contention for that resource might be relatively rare. Moreover, these drawbacks for this second known method are also applicable to the first known method, as a new design would likely employ explicit synchronization methods.
A third known method is to identify (within software originally designed for use with a uniprocessor system) those functional elements that can each independently operate without using known explicit synchronization methods. An example of this third known method is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,485,579; in that patent, each separated functional element is bound to a single processor in a multiprocessor system, so that the system can assure that each processor is performing functions that do not require known explicit synchronization methods. While this method generally achieves the goal of using the advantages of a multiprocessor system, it is subject to several drawbacks. First, the mapping between separated functional elements and processors is 1:1, so if the number of separated functional elements differs from the number of processors, the system will either underutilize at least some of the processors or underperform the functions of at least some of the separated functional elements. Second, there is no provision for load balancing among the multiple processors. Third, there is no useful technique for altering the code base so as to make use of greater parallelism, without resorting to the first known method described above.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide a technique for scheduling a set of tasks in a multiprocessor system that is not subject to drawbacks of the known art. In a preferred embodiment, this is achieved using a method and system for providing parallel execution of those tasks while implicitly synchronizing access to a set of resources (such as data structures or hardware devices) used by that system.

Symmetric multiprocessor synchronization using migrating scheduling domains


A drive unit for adjustable beds of the type which have movable head and leg sections, and adjustable height, comprises a unidirectional, rotary motor, and a drive shaft for each adjustable bed function. The driveshafts are selectively rotated in opposite directions by the motor. A pair of solenoids operably couple the motor with the driveshafts, interchangeably, or alternatively with a linear tracking gear, and thereby adjust the configuration of the bed.

A drive unit for adjustable beds, such as hospital beds and the like, of the type which have movable head and leg sections, and/or other adjustment functions, and comprises a unidirectional, rotary motor, and a drive shaft for each adjustable bed function. Gears are rotatably mounted on each of the drive shafts, and are rotated thereon in opposite directions by the motor. A pair of spring clutches are operably associated with their associated shafts to rotate the shafts, and thereby adjust the position and/or configuration of the bed.
For many years, hospital beds have had movable parts, such as an upper body support part movable between two positions in which it supports the patient in a sitting position and a prone position. Movement of these parts originally was effected manually by hospital personnel, for example by turning a crank provided on the bed.
Motorized operated hospital beds are conventional in which the head and leg sections of an articulated frame can be adjusted to a desired inclination by one or more motors. In this fashion, a patient's back or legs can be adjusted to a desired inclination. The actuating mechanism for the head section of the articulated mattress frame may include an electric motor which rotates an elongated threaded shaft. A nut is threadably mounted for longitudinal movement along the shaft and is fixed against rotation relative thereto. Thus, rotation of the shaft produces longitudinal travel of the nut. A linkage interconnects the nut and the head section of the articulated frame in such a way as to convert longitudinal motion of the hut into rotational movement of the head section, thereby altering the inclination of the latter. The motor can be deactivated at any time to hold the head section in a given position of adjustment.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,559,655 describes the conventional motorized hospital bed in which the head and leg sections of an articulated frame can be selectively raised and lowered by two or more electric motors. In this fashion, a patient's back and/or legs can be adjusted to a desired inclination. The actuating mechanism for the head section of the articulated mattress frame may include and electric motor which rotates an elongated threaded shaft. A nut is threadedly mounted for longitudinal movement along the shaft and is fixed against rotation relative thereto. Thus, rotation of the shaft produces longitudinal travel of the nut. A linkage interconnects the nut and the head section of the articulated frame in such a way as to convert longitudinal motion of the nut into rotational movement of the head section, thereby altering the inclination of the head section. The motor can be deactivated at any time to hold the head section in a given position of adjustment.
It is well known that hospital and home care and convalescent-type beds, having independently moveable articulated head, knee and leg sections are connected to independent drive mechanisms and motors. U.S. Pat. No. 4,970,737 teaches us that the adjustable hospital and nursing home bed, has a three-part support frame for mattresses, the head, middle and foot part of which are pivotably connected to one anther via pivot shafts and are supported in a suspension frame of a bed frame such that they are pivotable in height directly by means of a force provider via a lever linkage.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,317,769 teaches a hospital bed having two mechanical drive mechanisms connected between each end of a bed support frame and a base, each of which has a respective actuator. Selective operation of each of the drive mechanisms with the actuators permits either end of the bed support frame to be raised or lowered to a desired position.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,425,674 teaches a transmission for an adjustable hospital bed for positioning the bed in a plurality of different positions, the different parts of the bed moving independently and/or simultaneously, the transmission transmitting power to the adjustment mechanisms from a single common drive. The drive motor is stationary or fixed, however, increasing the complexity as well as the likelihood for mechanical failure of the resultant required apparatus.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,472,846 further teaches that different hospital bed functions or adjustments may be made by employing a single reversible motor to drive selected ones of a series of adjusting mechanisms. A bedside control unit for a hospital bed is operable from a position within the bed and also from a bedside chair, as found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,542,138.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,195,198 teaches a hospital bed which has a movable section, a selectively actuable drive arrangement for moving the section, a manually actuable control switch, and a control circuit coupled to the switch and drive arrangement. The control circuit includes a microprocessor having an input coupled to the control switch and having an output, and the program executed by the microprocessor selectively actuates the output of the microprocessor based on a function which takes into account the current state of a signal being applied to the microprocessor input.
Thus, as shown by the foregoing brief review of the prior art, each mode of adjustability, i.e., bed section function, is typically powered by a small, separate gear motor. Since these small motors are relatively expensive and have comparatively little actual running time during the effective life of the bed, such designs are expensive and inefficient. Multiple motors also increase the weight of such beds.
Typically, due to lowered reimbursement rates, guidelines and schedules established by the federal government, beds in use for home care and home convalescence, as well as beds used in hospitals, nursing facilities and other commercial facilities have only two motors, one for raising and lowering the head of the bed and one for raising and lowering the foot of the bed. A hand crank is used to raise and lower the overall height of the bed. As a result, it has been estimated that hundreds if not thousands of injuries occur nationwide on a yearly basis. Patients and their caregivers are injured attempting to move the patient from an improperly adjusted bed. Additional work is required of a caregivers to manually adjust the height of the bed prior to attempting to maneuver the patient, or have the patient move himself or herself. A third motor can also be used for adjusting the overall height of the bed, adding to cost, weight and gear complexity.


A shock absorber includes a piston which has at least one compression fluid passage and at least one rebound fluid passage. A compression valve assembly closes the at least one compression passage and a rebound valve assembly closes the at least one rebound passage. An interconnecting passage connects the at least one compression fluid passage and the at least one rebound fluid passage to define an open flow path through the piston.

The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Shock absorbers are used in conjunction with automotive suspension systems to absorb unwanted vibrations which occur during driving. To absorb these unwanted vibrations, shock absorbers are generally connected between the sprung portion (body) and the unsprung portion (wheels) of the automobile. A piston is located within a working chamber defined by a pressure tube of the shock absorber, with the piston being connected to the sprung portion of the automobile through a piston rod. The pressure tube is connected to the unsprung portion of the automobile by one of the methods known in the art. Because the piston is able, through valving, to limit the flow of damping fluid between opposite sides of the piston, when the shock absorber is compressed or extended, the shock absorber is able to produce a damping force which dampens the unwanted vibration which would otherwise be transmitted from the unsprung portion to the sprung portion of the automobile. In a dual tube shock absorber, a fluid reservoir is defined between the pressure tube and the reserve tube. When a full displacement piston valving system is used, the fluid reservoir is in direct communication with the lower portion of the working chamber defined by the pressure tube (the area below the piston). All damping forces produced by the shock absorber are the result of piston valving when a full displacement valving system is used. The greater the degree to which the flow of fluid within the shock absorber is restricted by the piston, the greater the damping forces which are generated by the shock absorber. Thus, a highly restricted flow of fluid would produce a firm ride while a less restricted flow of fluid would produce a soft ride.
In selecting the amount of damping that a shock absorber is to provide, at least three vehicle performance characteristics are considered. These three characteristics are ride comfort, vehicle handling and road holding ability. Ride comfort is often a function of the spring constant for the main springs of the vehicle as well as the spring constant for the seat and tires and the damping coefficient of the shock absorber. For optimum ride comfort, a relatively low damping force or a soft ride is preferred.
Vehicle handling is related to the variation in the vehicle's attitude (i.e., roll, pitch and yaw). For optimum vehicle handling, relatively large damping forces, or a firm ride, are required to avoid excessively rapid variations in the vehicle's attitude during cornering, acceleration and deceleration.
Finally, road holding ability is generally a function of the amount of contact between the tires and the ground. To optimize road handling ability, large damping forces, or a firm ride, are required when driving on irregular surfaces to prevent loss of contact between the wheel and the ground for excessive periods of time.
Various types of shock absorbers have been developed to generate the desired damping forces in relation to the various vehicle performance characteristics. Shock absorbers have been developed to provide different damping characteristics depending on the speed or acceleration of the piston within the pressure tube. Because of the exponential relation between pressure drop and flow rate, it is a difficult task to obtain a damping force at relatively low piston velocities, particularly at velocities near zero. Low speed damping force is important to vehicle handling since most vehicle handling events are controlled by low speed vehicle body velocities.
Various prior art systems for tuning shock absorbers during low speed movement of the piston create a fixed low speed bleed orifice which provides a bleed passage which is always open across the piston. This bleed orifice can be created by utilizing orifice notches positioned either on the flexible disc adjacent to the sealing land or by utilizing orifice notches directly in the sealing land itself. The limitations of these designs is that because the orifice is constant in cross-sectional area, the created damping force is not a function of the internal pressures of the shock absorber. In order to obtain the low speed control utilizing these open orifice notches, the orifice notches have to be small enough to create a restriction at relatively low velocities. When this is accomplished, the low speed fluid circuit of the valving system will operate over a very small range of velocity. Therefore, the secondary or high-speed stage valving is activated at a lower velocity than is desired. Activation of the secondary valving at relatively low velocities creates harshness because of the shape of the fixed orifice bleed circuit force velocity characteristic is totally different in configuration than the shape of the high-speed circuit.
Prior art attempts at overcoming the problems of fixed orifice bleed valving and thus eliminate harshness during low speed piston movements have included the incorporation of a variable orifice bleed valving circuit. As the velocity of the piston increases, the flow area of the variable orifice would also increase in order to smooth the transition to the secondary valving. These prior art variable orifice bleed valving circuits are typically located at the outer periphery of the flexible valve disc and thus they are dependent on the diameter of the disc to determine the rate at which the flow area increases. As the diameter of the flexible disc increases, it becomes more difficult to control the rate at which the flow area of the orifice increases. Since the flow area is increased by the deflection of the variable orifice bleed disc, a small deflection in a large diameter variable orifice bleed disc provides a rapid increase in the flow area of the bleed orifice. This rapid increase in the flow area complicates the tuning between the low speed valving circuit and the secondary or high-speed valving circuit.
Still other prior art systems have developed variable orifice bleed valving circuits which are integrated with the mid/high speed valving systems. The integration of the low speed circuit with the mid/high speed circuit creates a system where the tuning of the low speed circuit affects the mid/high speed circuit and the tuning of the mid/high speed circuit affects the low speed circuit.
The continued development of shock absorbers includes the development of a valving system which can provide a smooth transition between a low speed valving circuit and the secondary valving or high speed valving circuit. The smooth transition between these two circuits helps to reduce and/or eliminate any harshness during the transition. In addition to the smooth transition, the development of these systems has also been directed towards the separation of these two circuits in order to be able to independently tune each of these circuits.

Tenneco Automotive Operating Company Inc.


A computer readable medium has a browser-openable language file stored thereon. The language file includes a first description concerning a first object, a second description concerning a second object, the first and second descriptions being configured to set the first object with the second object specified as a link destination thereof and to display the second object in a display area of a browser in response to the first object being selected on the browser when the language file is opened with the browser, and a third description provided under the second description so as to display a third object with a vertical size substantially equal to or larger than a vertical size of the display area of the browser.

1. Technical Field
The following description relates to one or more technologies regarding a language file described with an object set with another object specified as a link destination thereof.
2. Related Art
An information processing device (hereinafter referred to as a PC) can display a language file described in a language such as HTML (HiperText Markup Language) and XML (Extensible Markup Language) as a page with application software (i.e., browser).
For example, it is possible to set a tag specifying a link destination  for an object (text, image, etc.) in a language file described in HTML (hereinafter referred to as an HTML file), and concurrently to set a tag  as the link destination for any other object in the same HTML file.
Thereby, when the HTML file is opened with a browser, even though the object of the link destination set with the tag  is not completely displayed in a browser display area, it is possible to display the object of the link destination at an upper end of the browser display area when a user of the PC selects the object of the link source set with the tag  (for example, see "HTML tag/link tag/set a link to an object on the same page—TAG index," [online], TAG index, [searched on May 11, 2007], Internet URL: http://www.tagindex.com/html_tag/link/a_name.html).

Computer readable medium, information processing device, and printing device


The present disclosure relates wireless power transfer. In some embodiments, DC power is received through one or more inductors and switched to provide alternating current through a TX coil with a pair of power FETs coupled between opposite sides of the TX coil and ground such that current flows through one of the pair of FETs at a time. In some embodiments, the pair of FETs can be driven in adaptive resonant mode to operate at a resonance. In some embodiments, the pair of FETs are driven at a particular frequency.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to wireless power transmission systems.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Most wireless power systems use voltage fed power stages, as is illustrated in FIG. 1. The present power processing stages that are used in the WPC qi standard as well as other standards are voltage fed architectures, with either half or full-bridge technologies. FIG. 1 illustrates a standard full-bridge wireless power transmitter (TX)/receiver (RX) system.
As is shown in FIG. 1, system 100 includes a transmitter (TX) 132 and a receiver (RX) 134. Transmitter 132, as shown in FIG. 1, includes a DC power source 102 that is coupled across a full bridge formed by transistors 104, 106, 110 and 112. The gates of transistors 104, 106, 110 and 112 are driven by a controller 134 such that transistors 104 (Q2) and 112 (Q3) are turned on when transistors 106 (Q1) and 110 (Q4) are turned off and transistors 106 (Q1) and 110 (Q4) are turned on when transistors 104 (Q2) and 112 (Q3) are turned off. The bridge formed by transistors 104, 106, 110 and 112 is driven at a frequency determined by controller 134, and may be at or near a set frequency. TX coil 114 transmits the power to a RX coil 118 in RX 134.
RX 134 is similarly configured to TX 132. Power received in RX 118 is rectified by the bridge circuit formed by transistors 120 (Q2r), 122 (Q1r), 126 (Q4r), and 128 (Q3r). The gates of transistors 120, 122, 126, and 128 are activated by controller 136 in order to produce DC voltage Vout across capacitor 130. As such, transistors 120 and 128 are turned on/off at the same time that transistors 122 and 126 are turned off/on and at a frequency that substantially matches the frequency set by controller 134.
Current path 134, which indicates both the resonant and load currents, includes the switching currents and consequently flows through two series connected switching field-effect transistors (FETs). Similarly, current path 132 flow through two series connected FETs as well. These, therefore, represent large "lossy" circulating currents through the switching FETs when near resonance operation, near full load, and/or during low TX/RX coupling characteristics. Further, controllers 134 and 136 represent may include highly complex gate drive circuitry. In some cases, the switching is further complicated such that zero voltage switching (ZVS) can be achieved.
Consequently, a large shortcoming in conventional wireless power transmission circuits is the circulation of the resonant currents of the TX coil 115 through the power FETs 104, 106, 110 and 112. At less than ideal transmitter-receiver (TX-RX) coupling placements, these currents can be very high, even at power transmissions of 5 W, and can produce large losses in the power FETs. These losses are proportional to the square of the root-mean-square (RMS) of the resonant currents. This results in very high losses in the power FETs. In addition, control circuitry can be very complex because the power FETs are not ground referenced. Additionally, even though the power FETs 104, 106, 110 and 112 are capable of being zero-voltage switched, special steps have to be taken and additional parts have to be used to exploit the beneficial properties of Zero Voltage Switching.
Therefore, there is a need for better transmitters and receivers to affect a wireless transmission system.


The present invention realizes accurate determination on marking without using an infrared sensor having high responsiveness and high precision. An infrared sensor is disposed such that a region of a predetermined range on the downstream side in the feed direction of an X-ray film with respect to a scan line, the region including the scan line as a laser beam irradiation position, becomes a detection region. Not only an infrared ray emitted from the laser beam irradiation position but also infrared rays emitted from a plurality of dots formed on the X-ray film irradiated with a laser beam can be also detected by the infrared sensor. Consequently, an output from the infrared sensor is stabilized and by comparing the output with a threshold, occurrence of erroneous printing, poor printing, and the like can be accurately detected.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to laser marking for irradiating a material to be printed such as a photosensitive material with a laser beam and forming a predetermined marking pattern such as a character, a sign, or the like by dots which can be visually recognized on the material to be printed. More particularly, the invention relates to a marking determining method and apparatus for determining a marking position and whether a marking pattern is proper or not.
2. Description of the Related Art
By using a laser beam, a marking pattern by dots can be formed on the surface of a material to be printed such as a photosensitive material. In the case of printing the material to be printed by using a laser beam, the material to be printed is irradiated with a laser beam oscillated by a laser oscillator and condensed to a spot. It causes thermal deformation or the like on the material to be printed, thereby forming a dot. By a scan of a laser beam, a dot matrix according to a character, a sign, or the like is formed.
On the other hand, in dot marking on the photosensitive material or the like with a laser beam, the laser beam is oscillated only at the time of forming a dot. The laser oscillation is stopped in a space on which the dot marking is not performed, thereby saving energy consumption and suppressing heat generation. In such a manner, occurrence of deterioration in quality such as a change in the photosensitive material as the material to be printed due to heat is prevented.
Consequently, the laser oscillator frequently repeats turn-on/turn-off (oscillation/stop oscillation) in extremely short time.
When the dot marking is performed with the laser beam oscillated by frequently repeating turn-on/turn-off in extremely short time, a marking dropout, marking at a wrong timing, or the like may occur due to a failure in an internal part, noises from the outside, and the like. To prevent such poor printing, an in-line test is required.
One of in-line test methods in a process using a laser beam or the like is a method of measuring temperature by detecting an infrared ray emitted from a laser beam irradiation position on a material to be processed at the time of irradiating the material to be processed such as a material to be printed with a laser beam (refer to, for example, Japanese Patent Application Publication (JP-B) No. 59-50434).
Another method is proposed such that, for example, at a time of opening a hole by using an energy beam such as a laser beam, an infrared ray or a thermo electron generated from a melted material around the processed hole are detected and a process state is determined from the intensity and a change in temporal response or thermo electrons (refer to, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 62-77195).
Further, a method of determining a process state at the time of processing a thin resin film such as an enveloping material with a laser by detecting the surface temperature of a material to be processed in an irradiation position of a laser beam has been proposed (refer to, for example, JP-A No. 10-305377).
However, at the time of performing dot marking by using a photosensitive material as a material to be printed and irradiating the photosensitive material with a laser beam, irradiation time of the laser beam for one dot is extremely short. Therefore, at a time of emitting a laser beam, emission energy from the irradiation position is also extremely small. To detect the emission energy from the laser beam irradiation position at a time of emitting the laser beam, a sensor having high sensitivity and responsiveness has to be used.
The sensitivity of a sensor can be improved by enhancing cooling of a sensor element. For this purpose, an increase in size is required for a detecting apparatus and it is difficult to realize it from the viewpoint of cost. A sensor having responsiveness on the order of 10 μsec is not obtained under present circumstances. It is substantially impossible to accurately detect the emission energy from a laser beam irradiation position at a time of emitting the laser beam.
On the other hand, as a marking evaluation method, there is a method of determining whether proper dot marking is performed or not by combining a CCD camera or the like with an imaging process.
However, when light in a visible range is used for a photosensitive material, a problem occurs such that the light deteriorates the product quality of the photosensitive material. Consequently, it cannot but depend on a sampling inspection or the like to determine the marking result when dot marking is performed on a photosensitive material with a laser beam.
In the sampling inspection, however, a marking result is tested after completion of marking of one long photosensitive material. Therefore, a problem occurs such that a large amount of the photosensitive material is wasted when a failure such as a marking drop is detected. When an inspection omission occurs, a problem arises such that a number of defective products are manufactured.

Marking determining method and marking determining apparatus


Roaming capability is provided to mobile computers within a standard network such as a Novell network. In a computer network running under a network operating system that provides for fault-tolerant internet routing of network communications between nodes and requires that network ID of a node remain constant for the duration of session, the nodes include multiple mobile computing devices wirelessly connected to the network. The mobile computing devices are provided with the capability to roam during a session by changing access points to the network. This capability is provided by programming the mobile computing devices so as to appear to the network as routers able to change access points during a session. The routers connect one sub-net to one other sub-net, the one sub-net being connected to a mobile computing device and having a fixed network ID and the other sub-net, through fault-tolerant internet routing being connected to a selectable access point and therefore having a variable network ID. The resulting workstation/routers may be termed virtual routers in that they connect a purely logical sub-net having a fixed network ID but no physical instantiation to exactly one other sub-net.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to computer networks and more particularly to computer networks in which mobile computers are wirelessly connected to the network.
2. State of the Art
In recent years, a powerful computing trend has been toward giving groups of computer users access to the power of shared resources, all linked together on a network, for example a local area network (LAN). Today, LANs are common in offices, enabling users of personal computers to share files and other resources. In a network, a "server" is a network resource that makes files and applications--and hardware, i.e. printers--available to network users. An "access point" is a node directly accessible to a server. A "router" is a device that enables several sub-networks to be linked together to form an encompassing internetwork. Routers are store-and-forward devices and are able to route packets around failed routers or congested sections of the network. Access points are provided using routers. A server may also function as a router.
Traditionally, networks have been linked together by wire cables. More recently, wireless LANs have been made available in which wire cables are replaced by radio links, enabling mobile computers to be networked together. A user equipped with such a mobile computer may move from place to place free of cabling constraints. By providing mobility within the computer network the utility of the network is greatly increased.
Computing devices connected together in a network run under a network operating system. A popular network operating system is NetWare.RTM. sold by Novell, Inc. NetWare is a mature network operating system, developed largely before the commercial development of wireless LANs. Therefore NetWare, despite being a very full-featured network operating system, does not readily support networked mobile computing. A desirable capability in a network mobile computing environment is that mobile computers be able to freely roam throughout the entire internetwork without interruption of communications and without the necessity of user intervention (i.e., "seamless" roaming).
NetWare presently does not allow roaming of the type described. Rather, NetWare, at the current time, requires that the network ID of a network entity (or node) remain constant for the duration of a session. NetWare uses the combination of the network number and physical address of a node as a network ID. If a network node were to attempt to switch access points by attaching to different router or server during a session, NetWare would require that the network number of the new connection be identical to that of the previous connection. If two NetWare subnets use the same network number, they must be connected on the same "cable" (or networking medium), else router errors will be generated. In a networked mobile computing environment, access points may not be able to communicate with each other, since they may be out of range of each other or on different radio channels or sub-channels. Therefore, the use of the same network number for all access points is not feasible.
What is needed, then, is a mechanism for providing roaming capability to mobile computers within a standard network such as a Novell network.

Providing roaming capability for mobile computers in a standard network


A substantially surface active agent-free foamable composition which includes short-chain alcohol, water, polymer, fatty alcohol or fatty acid or a combination of fatty alcohol and fatty acid and propellant. A substantially surface active agent-free foamable composition which includes, water, polymer, fatty alcohol or fatty acid and propellant. A method of treatment using a substantially surface active agent-free foamable compositions.

Foam compositions with high amounts of alcohol are known in the art. Alcohol-based compositions are useful because of the anti-microbial properties of alcohol and the ability for alcohol to dissolve certain active agents.
Foams and, in particular, single-phase foams are complicated systems which do not form under all circumstances. Slight shifts in foam composition, such as by the addition of active ingredients or the removal of any of the essential ingredients, may destabilize the foam.
The prior art teaches hydro-alcoholic foam compositions require significant amounts of short-chain alcohols (namely, ethanol, propanol, isopropanol, butanol, iso-butanol, t-butanol and pentanol), water, fatty alcohols, polymer and surfactant to form a foam. These compositions require various surfactants, such as, non-ionic surfactants, anionic, cationic, zwitterionic, amphoteric and ampholytic surfactants, as essential components.
Surfactants are known as essential ingredients in foam compositions because of their amphiphilic properties and because they are considered essential in forming a foam. However, many surfactants are known to be irritating when left on the skin, as they can extract lipids from the skin, thereby damaging skin barrier and exposing the skin to contact with pro-inflammatory factors. (See, Dermatitis, Vol. 33(4) 217-225, 11 Apr. 2006, John Wiley & Sons).
Lower alcohols are defatting agents. They are known to extract skin fats, thereby disrupting skin barrier function and causing irritation. They are known to cause skin to become dry and cracked (See, for example, Industrial Guide to Chemical and Drug Safety, by T. S. S. Dikshith, Prakash V. Diwan, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2003, p. 228-9).
Thus the combination of a short chain alcohol and a surfactant can have a doubly undesirable irritating and defatting effect, as well as the drawback of enhanced delivery of drugs through the skin, which results in increased systemic exposure (which is undesirable for topical treatment of the skin).
Hydro-alcoholic foams, as described in the prior art are inherently thermally unstable, and they will collapse upon exposure to the skin and body (at temperatures around 37° C.). They are therefore commonly termed "quick breaking" foams. Typically, when a quick breaking foam is applied to fingers (as is usually done in order to apply a drug to a target area), it melts and rapidly (on exposure to body temperature of about 37° C.) and collapses leaving behind a small pool of liquid. The thermal instability of the foam makes it difficult to apply to a large target area by first administering the foam to the hands and then spreading the foam onto the affected area.

Non surfactant hydro-alcoholic foamable compositions, breakable foams and their uses


The invention provides chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) that specifically bind to the T-cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain 1 (TIM-1) protein. The invention further relates to modified immune cells, e.g., T or NK cells, comprising such CARs, CAR-encoding nucleic acids, CAR-encoding vectors, and methods of making such compositions. The invention further relates to methods for therapeutic use of these CARs and modified immune cells for the treatment of a condition, disorder, or disease associated with cells expressing TIM-1 (e.g., cancer).

Ovarian cancer represents the deadliest gynecological malignancy with more than 22,000 women diagnosed and more than 14,000 killed in the United States each year (Siegel et al. CA Cancer J Clin 2016; 66(1):7-30). Five-year survival rates have improved little in the last 40 years, yet remain under 30% (at best) for patients with metastatic ovarian carcinoma, the stage at which most cases are diagnosed (Siegel et al. CA Cancer J Clin 2016; 66(1):7-30). Certain subtypes of ovarian cancer have even more dire prognoses. Ovarian clear cell carcinoma (OCCC) accounts for 5-25% of epithelial ovarian cancer cases depending on location, with Japan having a higher prevalence than the rest of the world (Okamoto et al. Int J Gynecol Cancer 2014 November; 24(9):S20-5.). OCCC carries a dismal prognosis in advanced stages with very low response rates to salvage therapy and a progression free survival duration of less than 6 months (Crotzer et al. Gynecol Oncol. 2007; 105:404-408; Mabuchi et al. J Gynecol Oncol. 2016; 27:e31; Takano et al. Int J Gynecol Cancer. 2008; 18:937-942). Therefore, in order to improve survival rates and pivot the treatment intent of this cancer towards one that is curative, orthogonal approaches to traditional ovarian cancer treatment practices are needed.
Renal Cell Carcinoma is another important malignancy, accounting for 3% of adult malignancies and 95% of renal tumors. In the European Union, approximately 85 new cases and 35 deaths per 100,000 were reported in 2012. The rates are comparable in the USA, with approximately 61,000 new cases in 2015 alone. Currently, complete surgical resection is the only curative treatment of renal cell carcinoma in patients with locally advanced RCC or limited metastatic disease. However, these patients carry a high risk of developing systemic progression, and options for fully metastatic disease are even more limited.
Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy represents an emerging type of immunotherapy whereby patient lymphocytes are genetically modified to express a receptor that allows recognition of a specific antigen. Upon antigen recognition, these modified T cells are activated via signaling domains converting them into potent cell killers. While this approach has shown curative potential in many patients with chemotherapy-refractive hematological malignancies (Kalos et al. Sci Transl Med. 2011; 3:95ra73; Maus et al. Cancer Immunol Res. 2013; 1:26-31; Porter et al. N Engl J Med. 2011; 365:725-733), similar successes in solid tumors have not been realized. Several reasons may account for this disparity in efficacy including: the presence of an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment; less tumor sensitivity to T-cell-mediated killing; and a lack of the tumor-selective targeting required to minimize on-target, off-tumor toxicity (Lamers et al. J Clin Oncol 2006; 24:e20-22).
The family of genes encoding T cell immunoglobulin domain and mucin domain (TIM) proteins (three in humans and eight in mice) has been described. Kuchroo et al., Nat Rev Immunol 3:454-462 (2003); McIntire et al., Nat Immunol 2:1109-1116 (2001). The TIM gene family members reside in chromosomal regions, 5q33.2 in human and 11B1.1 in mouse, and have been linked to allergy and autoimmune diseases. Shevach, Nat Rev Immunol 2:389-400 (2002); Wills-Karp et al., Nat Immunol 4:1050-1052 (2003).
One TIM family member, TIM-1, is also known as Hepatitis A virus cellular receptor (HAVcr-1) and was originally discovered as a receptor for Hepatitis A virus (HAV) (Kaplan et al, EMBO J 15(16):4282-96 (1996)). This gene was later cloned as kidney injury molecule 1 (KIM-1) (Ichimura et al., J Biol Chem 273:4135-4142 (1998); Han et al., Kidney Int 62:237-244 (2002)).
Kaplan et al. isolated the cellular receptor for hepatitis A virus from a cDNA library from a primary African Green Monkey Kidney (AGMK) cell line expressing the receptor. See U.S. Pat. No. 5,622,861. The human homolog, hHAVcr-1 (aka TIM-1), was described by Feigelstock et al., J Virology 72(8): 6621-6628 (1998). The same molecules were described in PCT Publication Nos: WO 97/44460 and WO 98/53071 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,664,385 as Kidney Injury-related Molecules (KIM) that were found to be upregulated in renal tissue after injury to the kidney.
TIM-1 is a type 1 membrane protein that contains a novel six-cysteine immunoglobulin-like domain and a mucin threonine/serine/proline-rich (T/S/P) domain. TIM-1 was originally identified in rat. TIM-1 has been found in mouse, African green monkey, and humans (Feigelstock et al., J Virol 72(8):6621-8 (1998). The African green monkey ortholog is most closely related to human TIM-1 showing 77.6% amino acid identity over 358 aligned amino acids. Rat and mouse orthologs exhibit 50% (155/310) and 45.6% (126/276) amino acid identity respectively, although over shorter segments of aligned sequence than for African green monkey. Monoclonal antibodies to the Ig-like domain of TIM-1 have been shown to be protective against Hepatitis A virus infection in vitro. Silberstein et al., J Virol 75(2):717-25 (2001). In addition, KIM-1 was shown to be expressed at low levels in normal kidney but its expression is increased dramatically in postischemic kidney. Ichimura et al., J Biol Chem 273(7):4135-42 (1998).
TIM-1 maps to a region of human chromosome 5 known as Tapr in the murine syntenic region that has been implicated in asthma. Tapr, a major T cell regulatory locus, controls the development of airway hyperreactivity. Wills-Karp, Nature Immunology 2:1095-1096 (2001); McIntire et al., Nature Immunology 2:1109-1116 (2001).

Chimeric antigen receptors targeting TIM-1


The present invention includes a method for testing a tire on a tire testing surface, the method comprising the steps of: providing a tire testing surface arranged along a tire testing device; providing a tire having a radially outer annular side comprising a road-engaging surface; engaging forcefully the tire against the tire testing surface, whereby the forceful engagement generates a tire footprint comprising an area of contact between the road-engaging surface of the tire and the tire testing surface; rotating the tire and along the tire testing surface while engaged according to the prior step; and, applying a particulate material along the footprint, the particulate material comprising kaolinite. In other embodiments, particulate material similar to kaolin or kaolinite is employed by such methods in lieu of kaolin or kaolinite.

This invention relates generally to the application of particulate material, and more specifically to the application of kaolinite or similar particulate material, along a tire footprint along a tire footprint during tire testing operations on a tire testing surface, such as a simulated road surface arranged along a road wheel or the like.

Method of applying particulate material along a tire footprint during tire testing on a tire testing surface

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