A paper backed transparency includes a transparency, a paper backing for the transparency and a first adhesive along a leading edge of the paper backed transparency. A second adhesive along a trailing edge of the paper backed transparency is disclosed to limit movement between the transparency and the paper backing during duplexing.

Because of sensors used in copying or printing equipment to detect the medium being imaged, a paper must be attached to a transparency before the transparency can be used with copying or printing equipment. However, conventional paper backed transparencies are only designed to be used with single sided copying or printing equipment.
Conventional paper backed transparencies are adhered at one edge only, typically on the lead edge when placed in a sheet-fed printing device. Because conventional paper backed transparencies are adhered on one edge only, the paper backed transparencies cannot be fed through a mechanical duplex paper path. The duplex paper path cannot transport the paper backed transparencies successfully in inverting transports.
The paper backing on the conventional paper backed transparencies separates from the transparency and jam during transport within a printing duplex transport mechanism. Conventional paper backed transparencies allow for relative motion between the plastic transparency and the paper backing sheet. The relative motion at the trailing edge causes unsatisfactory wrinkling in the paper path nips and fuser, leading to image disturbances.
FIG. 1 shows a conventional paper backed transparency 100.
In particular, FIG. 1 shows a conventional paper backed transparency 100 that includes a transparency 110, a paper backing 120 and an adhesive strip 130. The transparency 110 is attached to the paper backing 120 at the leading edge 140 of the conventional paper backed transparency 100 with the adhesive strip 130. The adhesive strip 130 allows for easy separation of the transparency 110 from the paper backing 120 without damaging the transparency 110.
Conventionally, the paper backing 120 is not imaged and thus serves no purpose post imaging of the transparency 110. The paper backing 120 is conventionally peeled away from the transparency 110 and discarded.
During transport in a single sided copying or printing transport mechanism, the conventional paper backed transparency 100 is not subjected to the movements through the copying or printing transport mechanism that a paper is subjected to during duplexing. Thus, the conventional paper backed transparency 100 is adequate for use with a conventional copying or printing transport mechanism. However, when the conventional paper backed transparency 100 is used with a duplexing copying or printing transport mechanism the conventional paper backed transparency 100 allows for relative motion at the trailing edge 160 between the transparency 110 and the paper backing 120. The relative motion at the trailing edge 160 between the transparency 110 and the paper backing 120 causes unsatisfactory wrinkling in the paper path nips and fuser, leading to image disturbances.
Accordingly, the present teachings solve these and other problems of the prior art's conventional paper backed transparencies.

Duplex capable paper backed transparencies


The present invention provides a system and method for improving the quality of real-time multimedia sessions wherein each endpoint of a real-time packet stream transmits (1) feedback reports that describe the quality of the stream received by the endpoint and (2) forward reports that are based on the feedback reports received by the endpoint and that describe the quality of the stream received by the other, remote endpoint. The forward reports are used by routers to re-route packets around problems in the network that are located between the router and the remote endpoint.

Real-time multimedia sessions such as Voice over IP calls and videoconferences are highly dependant on the quality of the underlying packet transport network. Problems such as network congestion can materially impact the quality of the voice or video call and lead to dissatisfied users. The present invention provides a means by which the quality of real-time multimedia sessions may be improved.
Real-time multimedia traffic is typically carried in the form of RTP (Real-Time Transport Protocol-IETF RFC3550) frames encapsulated in UDP and IP packets. Some performance feedback is provided by the RTCP (Real-Time Transport Control Protocol-IETF RFC3550) protocol, notably the Receiver Report (RR-IETF RFC3550) and eXtended Report (XR-IETF RFC3611) report types.
In conventional systems, the quality of an RTP stream is measured by receiving system Y and reported using RTCP RR or XR reports to sending system X. These reports are inserted into the packet stream sent from Y to X. A real-time multimedia packet stream therefore comprises a stream of RTP frames from one endpoint system to a second endpoint system into which are inserted reports of the quality of the stream from the second endpoint system to the first.
For example, if RTP(X,Y) denotes an RTP frame being sent from X to Y and RTCP(X,Y) denotes an RTCP report describing the quality of the stream from X to Y then typical streams would resemble:
From X to Y:
RTP(X,Y)- - - RTP(X,Y)- - - RTCP(Y,X)- - - RTP(X,Y)- - - RTP(X,Y)- - - RTP(X,Y)
From Y to X:
RTP(Y,X)- - - RTP(Y,X)- - - RTCP(X,Y)- - - RTP(Y,X)- - - RTP(Y,X)- - - RTP(Y,X)
This is a normal and customary use of the RTP (RFC3550) protocol.
The path taken by the packet stream from X to Y and from Y to X is independently determined by the router within the packet network. This means that the path may, and often is, different for each packet stream. For example, FIG. 1 shows one path 2 a packet may take from endpoint M to endpoint N in a network 8 that includes a plurality of nodes O, P, Q, R, S, and T. A different path 4 is shown from endpoint N to endpoint M.
It is desirable for the routing function to be aware of problems related to congestion as it may affect routing decisions, and may be used to trigger re-routing of calls. This does raise a problem as the router is generally unaware of problems occurring between the router and the receiving endpoint. For instance, node R, a router located between endpoint M and endpoint N in the network 8 depicted in FIG. 1, would be unaware of a network congestion problem at node P because node P is located between node R and endpoint N on the path 2. If node R were aware of the network congestion problem at node P, node F could use a different route for packets to avoid node P, such as path 6 shown in FIG. 2, thereby improving the quality of the multimedia stream. One solution would be for router R to examine performance reports coming from endpoint N, however this is both complex to implement and may be impractical if the packet stream from endpoint N to endpoint M follows a different route than that from endpoint M to endpoint N.
Prior art solutions to this problem include the FECN (Forward Explicit Congestion Notification) and BECN (Backward Explicit Congestion Notification) bits within a Frame Relay frame header, which can be used to throttle traffic based on switch congestion. These are "binary" in operation and are intended only to signal back to a source of packets that it should restrict its output. This would not work in most multimedia applications for several reasons: (a) the packet rate must stay constant in order to meet the delivery requirements of voice or real-time video, (b) in multimedia applications the corrective action is to trigger re-routing or a change in prioritization.
A need therefore exists for an improved solution to this problem that is scaleable to very large networks.

System and method for improving the quality of real time multimedia sessions


A round baler has an overshot secondary rotor located behind an undershot precutter rotor. The round baler has a relatively wide swath crop pick-up and a baling chamber with a significantly more narrow inlet. The precutter rotor has a central region supporting a plurality of rotatable crop conveying members interleaved by both a set of relatively fixed cutting blades and a set of relatively fixed strippers for urging cut crop away from the rotor, and end regions supporting rotatable helically disposed bands for receiving wide swath crop from the pick-up arrangement and urging the received crop toward the central region. The secondary rotor creates an S-shaped or serpentine crop path with minimal dead space and is a positive feeder for bale starting. Stationary strippers for the secondary rotor prevent crop from exiting the baler behind the secondary rotor.

Large generally cylindrical rolls of hay or similar crop material are familiar late summer sights in farm fields. Such bales are typically formed by a tractor drawn harvesting machine including near its leading edge a pick-up device in the form of a rotor having a plurality of outwardly extending tines. Rotor rotation serves to pick the crop upwardly over the rotor and rearwardly (opposite the longitudinal direction of harvester travel) for further processing. A comb-like array of fixed elements strip the crop from the tines at an appropriate location to prevent the crop from being returned to the ground. A pick-up or take-up device with a wide swath is desirable to minimize the number of harvester passes necessary to clear a field, however, directly feeding the crop from such a wide swath to a baling chamber would result in an inordinately long and difficult to handle cylindrical roll. Some type of converging arrangement for narrowing the width of the crop entering the baling chamber is typically employed to avoid this problem.
Known large round balers and rectangular balers receive the crop to be baled from a take-up device of great width that delivers it to a transverse conveyor, such as a screw conveyor, that conducts it in turn selectively into a cutter head from which it reaches a baling chamber. In these balers, condensed and compressed crop to be baled can bring about jams in the cutter head. An example of such a baler is disclosed in DE 198 06 630.
An undershot precutter rotor (crop passing beneath the rotor) feeding an overshot floor rotor has become an industry standard. The floor rotor with raised bars welded to the tube provides a passive counter-rotation to the bale to aid in the bale starting to roll its core. Since the floor roller is not a positive feeder of crop, poor bale starting remains a problem. Significant crop loss often occurs behind the floor roller in front of the belts of the lower gate roller.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,910,325 B2 there is disclosed a large round baler equipped with a plurality of components for delivering crop to an inlet of a baling chamber of the large round baler. These components have a width which is substantially wider than the baling chamber inlet and include a crop take-up device and a crop processing arrangement, such as a cutter head, that receives crop from the crop take-up device. The crop processing arrangement delivers the processed crop to a transverse conveyor, which narrows the stream of crop to the width of the baling chamber inlet.

Secondary feeder rotor behind undershot precutter


An apparatus for plating a wire material is provided in which a range of the plated layer where the temperature is high and flowability is large, thus, easily generating thickness deviation, and a range of the plated layer where the temperature is low and the flowability is small, thus generating thickness deviation only with difficulty are allowed to cool in an appropriate manner, respectively, whereby a plated wire material whose thickness deviation is not more than 2.0 can be produced with high productivity in a stable manner.

In the case where thick-plating is applied on a wire material in an applied amount of not less than 400 g/m2 through molten zinc plating or molten zinc-aluminum alloy plating, it is difficult to obtain a plated wire material with good outward appearance having a uniform thick plated layer, due to the movement of the applied plated layer through the vibration generated during the course of transferring the wire material itself before coagulation. This leads to a thickness deviation ratio, which is a value obtained by dividing the maximum thickness of the plated layer by the minimum thick layer) arriving at from 3 to 5, causing a problem in terms of insufficient linear/diameter tolerance, deterioration of anti-corrosion properties and the like.
We have developed apparatuses for plating a wire material disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-60615 and No. 11-323524, and have conducted improvements where adhered molten plated layer is allowed to cool down by a forcibly cooling device in the same apparatus to decrease the flowability, whereby a plated wire having a uniform thick plated layer and good outward appearance can be obtained.
As a result, the use of such apparatuses makes it possible to improve a thickness deviation ratio of 2.0 or less. However, it has been difficult to produce a plated wire having a thickness deviation ratio of 2.0 or less in a stable manner.
In addition, the forcibly cooling device described above can only pass one wire, resulting in poor productivity. Further, at the time of the breakage, a lot of loss is caused during the course of again passing the wire, and at the time of detaching the cooling device, there is a problem in terms of workability such as cutting off the plated wire.

Abstract: In an apparatus for plating a wire material having an air cooling device provided on an upper portion of a plate-squeezing portion on a plating bath surface so that the wire material is standing up from the plating bath via the plate-squeezing portion, the air cooling device comprising an air compressor portion, a lower cooling portion below the air compressor portion, and an upper cooling portion above the air compressor potion; the wire material passing through the air cooling device is air-cooled in two stages by a main cooling air flowing from an air injection hole of the air compressor portion into the upper cooling portion then flowing out from the upper cooling portion from an exit at an upper end and by a secondary cooling air, being sucked into the main cooling air, flowing from an inlet of the lower cooling portion at the lower end thereof into the lower cooling portion and then being jointed to the main cooling air.


A method of transmitting communication information employing a coding scheme being defined by a character set. The characters of the character set are encoded into codewords of a sequence of bits, the codewords being of varying length. The characters are divided into at least two categories. The categories may be a first category of shifted characters and a second category of unshifted characters. Where a shifted character is encountered during encoding a shift codeword is inserted in the sequence of bits. This allows each category to use overlapping codewords. Then the sequence is converted to ASCII characters to be transmitted.

Satellites in a geosynchronous orbit, located approximately 22,000 miles above the equator, may be used to provide one-way or two-way communications with a widely dispersed remote terminal population, some of which may be affixed to mobile assets. Communications transmissions from a central hub via satellite to the remote terminals are referred to as the forward link, while communications transmissions from the remote terminals via satellite to a central hub are referred to as the return link.
The amount of data that can be transmitted through a communication channel is limited by the bandwidth of the channel. Therefore, data compression methods and systems are useful for storing and transmitting large quantities of data. The more data is compressed, the greater the quantity of data can be transmitted over a communication channel. For example, the time required to transmit data is reduced when compression is used to decrease the number of bits of data to be transmitted, especially on communication channels with narrow bandwidth. Accordingly, data compression systems aim to effect savings in memory required to store the data or the amount of time (bandwidth) required to transmit the data. By decreasing the required memory for data storage or the required time for data transmission, compression results in monetary savings.
Data compression methods that compress data signals and decompress the compressed data signals back into the original data are known. For example, a conventional text data compression method is the Huffman Coding technique. In the Huffman Coding data compression technique, frequently used characters are assigned smaller codes than characters that are less frequently used. Since it is not possible to determine when one codeword ends and another starts, no complete code for any character can be the beginning of the code for another character. This leads to some quite long codewords for low probability characters. The Huffman method typically results in long coding sequences and is not suitable for satellite communication.

Forward link text compression in satellite messaging


A radio receiver and a method of amplifying a signal in the receiver comprise a receiving system which receives a radio signal according to plural types of radio communication modes. The receiving system is provided with amplifiers adapted for amplifying plural types of received signals to amplify received signals according to the corresponding radio communication modes to carry out an optimal amplifying process of the signal for each radio communication mode. As a result, the power consumption may be reduced.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a radio receiver and a signal amplifying method in radio receiver and, in particular, to a radio receiver which is capable of receiving the electric waves (radio signals) according to plural types of radio communication modes (systems) and a method of amplifying signals for use in the same.
(2) Description of the Related Art
In the field of the radio communication technique, in particular, the mobile communication technique as in the personal handy phone system, a radio communication system called Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) system has been well known in which the frequency band dealt with by a single base station is divided to be allocated to a plurality of mobile equipment (mobile terminals) so that they may simultaneously make access to the single base station for communication. Incidentally, in this FDMA system, in general, the FM communication adapted system(analog communication system) has been in which the carrier wave is modulated in frequency for transmission.
On the other hand, in recent years, a communication system called Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) system has been noted. This CDMA system is a digital radio communication system in which a transmitted signal after a primary modulation [desired wave: See FIG. 8(a)] is subjected to a spread spectrum process (secondary modulation) at each mobile terminal by using a different code series to allow the signals (channels) of the same frequency which are transmitted from each mobile terminal to be separated and distinguished from each other, and is also called a Spread Spectrum Multiple Access (SSMA) system because, due to the above-mentioned secondary modulation, the spectrum of the transmitted signal is greatly spread.
This CDMA system (hereinafter referred to simply as "CDMA") has a disadvantage that, because the frequency band covered by the base station is simultaneously occupied by a plurality of mobile terminals, the utilizing factor of the band is very low. However, on the other hand, since the transmitted signal after the spectrum has been spread is low in power density, it has an advantage that the secret function is extremely high, which has found use in the specific applications such as military communication and the like.
However, in recent years, there has been a trend that this CDMA system is proposed as a communication system for the private mobile communication service, and its service has already been under way in some overseas areas such as USA or Korea. Also in Japan, its service is scheduled to put into operation in the very near future. As described above, if the service utilizing the CDMA system is realized, since its coexistence with the service utilizing other existing service such as the FDMA system is required, it is required also of the mobile terminals that they can receive either signals of CDMA and FDMA (FM) system (dual reception mode) while, at the same time, allowing either signals to be appropriately amplified.
To meet such a demand, in order to achieve such a mobile terminal with dual reception mode (hereinafter referred to as dual mode terminal), as illustrated in, for instance, FIG. 9, in a receiving system (receiving front end) 100, at the side of the output of an amplifier (IF amp) 105 for the intermediate frequency (IF) band, a distribution switch 106 is provided to switch 106 its output according to the communication system (CDMA mode or FM mode) of the received signal so that the output of the IF amplifier 105 may be outputted to one of the CDMA receiving (demodulating) process system 107A and the FM receiving (demodulating) process system 107B.
Incidentally, referring to FIG. 9, reference numeral 101 denotes a low noise signal amplifier (LNA) for amplifying the received radio frequency (RF), 102 a bandpass filter (BPF) for removing the noise signal component of the received RF signal, and 103 a mixer (down-converter) for mixing the received RF signal and a signal from a synthesizer (Phase Locked Loop circuit:PLL) 104 to down-convert the received RF signal to the IF signal.
With such a construction, according to the receiving system 100 of the dual mode terminal shown in FIG. 9, the received RF signal is down-converted to the IF signal by means of the mixer 103, and the IF signal, after amplified by the IF amplifier 105, is outputted to either one of the CDMA receiving process system 107A or FM receiving process system 107B because the output of the distribution switch 106 is switched according to the mode switching signal.
In the CDMA receiving process system 107A, the input IF signal is subjected to the spectrum despreading process and the demodulation process for demodulating a receiving signal of CDMA system while, in the FM receiving process system 107B, the input IF signal is subjected to the frequency demodulation process for demodulating a receiving signal of FM system.
Incidentally, the above-mentioned mode switching signal is generated by CPU's (not shown) detection of whether it is in the CDMA service area (receiving the signal from the base station for CDMA)) or in the FM service area (receiving the signal from the base station for FM).
By the way, with such dual mode terminal, if the CDMA service area and the already existing FM service area overlie geographically and in frequency, in view of the CDMA performance, in order to avoid the interference problem which may be caused by the FM service carrier signals, a high "tertiary input intercept point (IIP3)" is required, during the CDMA mode operation, of the receiving front end 100 (to be concrete, IF amplifier 105).
Here, this IIP3 is a parameter showing a suppression degree of the noise signal (tertiary distortion) occurring to a received signal in a radio communication system of its own (CDMA, for example) due to the tertiary harmonic component of a received signal (interference wave signal) in a different radio communication system. Assuming, for instance, that the IF amplifier 105 exhibits an input/output characteristic (straight line 111 with approximately "1" of gradient) as shown in FIG. 10, it can be represented by the input level (dB) of its intersection 113 (IIP3) with the input/output characteristic of the tertiary distortion indicated by the straight line 112 of approximately "3" of gradient.
Inconsequence, in order to achieve the high IIP3, it will be necessary to shift the intersection 113 (straight line 112) of FIG. 10 in the rightward direction of the sheet, i.e., to reduce the generation of the tertiary distortion on the same input level. Why, during the CDMA mode operation, the high IIP3 is required is that, as described above with reference to FIG. 8(b), in the CDMA system, the power density of the spectrum of the transmitted signal is extremely low as compared with that of the FM system and that if the tertiary distortion caused by the tertiary harmonic wave signal of the FM system carrier signal (interference signal) takes place greatly to the frequency area of this spectrum for interference, then the S/N ratio of the CDMA signal can be greatly degraded resulting its abnormal reception.
Therefore, with the receiving front end 100 shown in FIG. 9, the bias current amount of, for example, the IF amplifier 105 is previously adjusted large so as to adapt itself to the CDMA mode so that the point (saturation point) 114 where the linear input/output characteristic of the IF amplifier 105 begins to deteriorate in the form of a curve is shifted in the rightward direction of the sheet (the linear portion is made wider: See sign 114′) with the result that the performance of the IF amplifier 105 is improved and the above-mentioned generation of the tertiary distortion is suppressed.
As a result, the foregoing IF amplifier 105, whether it is operating in the CDMA or FM mode, may operate with the bias current amount for the CDMA mode which calls for a high IIP3. However, during the FM mode operation, since it does not call for such a high IIP3, if the IF amplifier 105 is used in common with the CDMA and FM modes, then, as compared with the existing receiving front end dedicated to the FM mode, the current amount consumption can become too much resulting in a great increase of power consumption.

Radio receiver and signal amplifying method in radio receiver


Skin cholesterol is measured by applying an adhesive tape onto a selected area of the skin to adhere the tape to the selected skin area and stripping the tape off the selected skin area to obtain a sample representative of the outer stratum corneum layer of the skin, the sample adhering to the tape so as to have exposed skin constituents. The sample is assayed using a detector reagent that specifically binds to cholesterol and in addition has an indicator component that allows quantitation of the amount of cholesterol present in the exposed skin constituents.

The present invention relates to a method of measuring skin cholesterol. More particularly, the invention pertains to a method for the direct assay of cholesterol in skin samples removed by tape stripping, with a view to identifying individuals at risk of having atherosclerosis as well as those at risk of developing atherosclerosis and similar diseases associated with and attributable to high cholesterol levels.
Numerous studies have shown that atherosclerosis and its complications, such as heart attacks and strokes, are major causes of morbidity and mortality in almost all countries of the world.
Cost effective prevention of atherosclerosis requires the identification of individuals at risk, thereby allowing their medical treatment and change of life style. A desired goal is identifying those individuals belonging to the high-risk group but there are difficulties in selecting optimum methods for discriminating individuals at risk.
A widely used method for identifying individuals at risk of having atherosclerosis is based on the measurement of total cholesterol levels in venous blood plasma (Consensus Conference on Lowering Blood Cholesterol to Prevent Heart Disease, JAMA, 1985, 253, pg. 2080). Patients are considered to be at high-risk if their cholesterol level is over 240 mg/dL and there have been recent moves to lower this threshold level to lower values.
However, total cholesterol levels alone do not accurately predict a patient's risk level. A better prediction can be made by analyzing blood plasma lipoproteins; in particular, measurement of low density and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels is advantageous (Total and High Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol in the Serum and Risk of Mortality, British Medical Journal, 1985, 290, pg. 1239-1243).
Despite their advantage, use of the above methods requires blood sampling after a period of fasting. Additionally, the sampling is uncomfortable, poses a risk of infection and the required analysis of plasma lipoproteins and cholesterol is complicated and expensive. Moreover, studies have shown that blood plasma analysis may not entirely reflect the process of cholesterol accumulation in the arterial wall and other tissues. In many cases, neither plasma cholesterol levels nor even complete lipid profiles correlate with the severity of atherosclerosis.
Significant levels of cholesterol occur in tissue as well as in plasma and it has been shown that tissue cholesterol plays a leading role in development of atherosclerosis. Tissues, including skin, have been identified which accumulate cholesterol in the same way as the arterial wall and studies have demonstrated a close correlation between cholesterol content in the arterial wall and the skin. For example, cholesterol was extracted from lyophilized skin samples and measured using traditional chemical and biochemical techniques. (Nikitin Y. P., Gordienko I. A., Dolgov A. V., Filimonova T. A. "Cholesterol content in the skin and its correlation with lipid quotient in the serum in normals and in patients with ischemic cardiac disease", Cardiology, 1987, II, No. 10, P.48-51). While useful, this method is too complicated and painful to be employed for large scale population screening.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,458,686 describes a method of quantifying various compounds in the blood directly under the skin or on its surface. The method is based on measuring oxygen concentration changes electrochemically, for instance, via polarography. In the case of non-volatile substances that do not diffuse through the skin, it is necessary to implant enzymes under the skin to effect oxygen changes at the skin surface. This patent also discloses the potential of using such methods to quantify the amount of cholesterol using cholesterol oxidase. The complex instrumentation and procedures needed require the services of highly skilled personnel for making measurements, thus limiting the usefulness of the method for screening large numbers of people.
Determination of the cholesterol content in skin gives a measure of the extent of atherosclerosis and can be obtained through standard laboratory analysis of skin biopsy specimens. However, there is considerable pain involved in taking a skin sample and a risk of infection at the sampling site. In addition, this method has other disadvantages because the thick skin specimens incorporate several skin layers, including the outermost horny layer (stratum corneum), epidermis and dermis. Since the dermal layer is highly vascularized, skin biopsy samples contain blood vessels and blood elements. They may also contain sweat and sebaceous glands and the secretions contained therein. Additionally, subcutaneous fat is located directly under the derma and may also contaminate specimens. Therefore, skin biopsy specimens are heterogeneous and their analysis may give false data on cholesterol content in the skin.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,489,510 describes a non-invasive method for the visual identification of cholesterol on skin using a reagent having a specific cholesterol binding component in combination with a reagent having an indicator component to provide a visual color change corresponding to the presence of the component bound to cholesterol of the skin. The method overcomes many of the objections of earlier procedures and meets many of the desired goals required for a simple mass screening to identify individuals at risk of having atherosclerosis. The procedure is done directly on the palmar skin and, while it is quick and simple, it requires all individuals to be tested to be present at a doctor's office or clinic where the test is conducted. This of course limits effective large scale screening.
Molar ratios of the lipids, including cholesterol, in stratum corneum have been determined on samples obtained by direct, solvent extraction of skin (Norlen L., et al. J. Invest. Dermatology 72-77, 112, 1999). High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and gas liquid chromatography in conjunction with mass spectrometry were used to separate and analyze the lipids. The analytical methods are complex, but more importantly, the use of corrosive and irritant organic solvent systems to extract human skin for routine determinations is not practical.
The lipid profile of the stratum corneum layer of skin has been determined using a tape stripping method as described by A. Weerheim and M. Ponec (Arch. Dermatol. Res., 191-199, 293, 2001). In this study, lipids, including cholesterol, were solvent extracted from stratum corneum after tape stripping of skin. The resultant lipid extract was separated by high performance thin-layer chromatography. This method is very laborious. It requires three consecutive solvent systems to effect the separation of the lipids, a staining and charring method to visualize the components and a densitometry step to determine the relative amounts of the lipids. The method does not lend itself to the simple and rapid determination of cholesterol levels in large numbers of samples.

Direct assay of cholesterol in skin samples removed by tape stripping

IMI International Medical Innovations, Inc.


For the production of a heat storage means, more particularly in the form of latent heat storage means, for vehicle heating systems run on heat from the engine, comprising a housing, which is made up of an outer container and in inner container arranged in spaced relationship to the outer container so as to include an insulating zone between them, a heat storage core arranged in the inner container and having at least one chamber for a storage medium in it, said chamber being separated by a partition wall from at least one flow path for a heat transfer medium, and an inlet duct and outlet duct for the heat transfer medium, such ducts being connected with the flow path and extending outwards through the insulating zone, a high quality insulation may be produced without thermal damage in a substantially shorter period of time, which is economically acceptable and the insulation may be sufficiently long lasting for use in automobiles, if after the insulating zone has been heated after the production of the housing for degassing and has been evacuated, the bake out is performed at a temperature which is substantially above the operational temperature of the core and said components of the heat storage core are then protected against any temperature-dependent damage to the heat storage core.

The invention relates to a method for the production of a heat storage means, more particularly in the form of a latent heat storage means, for vehicle heating systems run on heat from the engine, comprising a housing, which is made up of an outer container and in inner container arranged in spaced relationship to the outer container so as to include an insulating zone between them, a heat storage core arranged in the inner container and having at least one chamber for a storage medium in it, said chamber being separated by a partition wall from at least one flow path for a heat transfer medium, and an inlet duct and outlet duct for the heat transfer medium, such ducts being connected with the flow path and extending outwards through the insulating zone, the insulating zone having been baked out after the production of the housing for degassing and having been evacuated, and to a heat storage means for performing the method.
In the case of vehicle heating systems there is the general aim of being able to store heat overnight so that when starting up in the morning there is sufficient stored heat until the engine cooling water has attained its operating temperature. Taking into account the normal requirements in vehicle construction as regards low weight and a low overall size, the quality of the insulation desired in the heat storage means may only be attained by having a double-walled housing, which encloses the storage core on all sides and has an insulating vacuum in its double walling. In this respect it may be a question of a high vacuum or of insulation in the form of microporous materials as for instance powders or fibers, the space between them being additionally evacuated. Therefore housings comprising an outer container and an inner container are utilized, an insulating zone being present between, through which the inlet duct and the outlet duct extend for the heat transfer medium. Therefore thermal losses may be caused by convection and thermal conduction in the heat transfer medium, for instance in the form of the engine cooling water or of the engine exhaust gas. A heat storage means with such insulation is described in the German patent publication 3,614,318 A for instance.
The effectiveness of the insulation of such heat storage means is dependent on the one hand on the use of vacuum technology, which has long been known, and on the other hand on the sealed design of the insulating vessel with its inner and outer containers so that the thermal conduction by solid structures is limited to the inlet and outlet ducts and to the means supporting the inner container in the outer container. The conduction of heat via the inlet and outlet ducts with a small cross section and long paths may be kept relatively low.
After the mechanical part of the production of such a heat storage housing the desired insulating effect is able to be achieved by evacuation of air from the insulating zone within a few minutes. This insulating effect is however not permanent, because it is possible for materials to be absorbed on the surfaces, which delimit the insulating zone, of the outer and inner containers, of any radiation shields positioned in the insulating zone, on microscopic insulating materials and also on the essential fittings in the insulating zone, that is to say the inlet and outlet ducts and on the means supporting the inner container, such materials evaporating in the course of time so that the pressure in the insulating zone is increased and the insulating effect of the vacuum is reduced.
For this reason vacuum-insulated vessels are degassed for a prolonged period of time after the mechanical production of the equipment, the insulating zone being continually evacuated. In order to reduce the degassing time to for instance 24 hours the insulating vessel is heated to an elevated temperature during evacuation, this being termed baking out. Experience has shown that an increase in the temperature of 10.degree. C. results in halving the degassing time.
It is furthermore known that a significant source of contamination in vacuum vessels is water adsorbed on the walls. For the removal of the water three distinct temperature stages are possible that is to say approximately 120.degree. C. with low rates of evaporation, 180.degree. C. with very evaporation rates and approximately 360.degree. C. with a practically 100% evaporation.
It is also known that during the degassing the long term effect is dependent on the minimum temperature which is reached on the surfaces in the insulating zone. It follows from this that for a given long term effect all surfaces defining the insulating zone will have to reach the minimum temperature or to exceed it.
For the full scale application to automobile construction a long term effect of the vacuum is necessary, which requires a baking out in the second stage range at 180.degree. C. The operational temperature of heat storage means of this type is however at 90.degree. C. and the maximum temperature necessary is 125.degree. C. The bake out temperature necessary for the production of a good vacuum is consequently substantially above the operational temperature which is later to be expected. The result of this is that there is the problem of thermal damage to the heat storage means during the process of production, as for instance owing to increased vapor pressure of the heat storage media employed, or owing to degradation of the supporting parts in the heat storage core, for instance synthetic resins, due to thermal expansion.

Method for the production of a heat storage means and a heat storage means adapted for the method


A low friction non-gaussian surface is disclosed which has a positive skewness value and a kurtosis value of three or greater which minimizes static and kinetic friction and resultant wear in any instance of at least two surfaces in moving contact, including machine and computer components, magnetic media, and read/write heads which contact magnetic media. In a preferred embodiment, a magnetic media having an optimal non-gaussian surface roughness and method of surface parameter selection utilizes non-gaussian probability density functions in a contact model which accounts for the effects of roughness distribution and liquid film meniscus forces to determine optimum skewness and kurtosis values which minimize static and kinetic friction. The invention provides a magnetic media or other article of manufacture with a surface which has a positive skewness value and as high a kurtosis value as possible which minimizes or reduces static and kinetic friction and wear upon contact with another surface which may also be surface configured in accordance with the invention.

Tribology, the study of contacting solid surfaces in relative motion, is applicable to every mechanical device and operation. Examples of productive wear are writing with a pencil, machining, and polishing. Examples of productive friction are brakes, clutches, driving wheels on trains and automobiles, bolts and nuts. Examples of unproductive friction and wear are internal combustion and aircraft engines, gears, cams, bearings and seals. According to some estimates, losses resulting from ignorance of tribology amount to roughly 6% of the U.S. gross national product, and approximately one-third of the world's energy resources in present use represent friction in one form or another. The science of tribology therefore seeks to minimize and eliminate losses resulting from friction and wear at all levels of technology involving moving contacting surfaces.
Magnetic recording is one area of modern technology which suffers from unproductive friction and wear. Magnetic recording is extensively used in audio, video, and digital applications in the form of tapes and disks. The industry is expected to grow by a factor of five or more in the next decade. This growth will be accompanied by dramatic improvements in the technology, and the potential exists for magnetic-recording densities to improve by at least one order of magnitude. Magnetic-recording is accomplished by relative motion between a magnetic head and a magnetic medium. Types of magnetic media for digital recording are: flexible media (tapes and floppy disks) and rigid disks. Physical contact between head and medium occurs during starts and stops ind hydrodynamic air films develops at high speeds. Flying heights (mean separation between head and medium) are on the order of 0.1 micrometer comparable to surface roughness of the mating members. The need for higher and higher recording densities requires that media surfaces be as smooth as possible and flying heights be as low as possible. Smoother surfaces lead to increased static and kinetic friction and wear. In the case of heads used in conjunction with rigid disks, the dynamics of a head are very critical in maintaining head-disk separation. All magnetic media have to be lubricated sufficiently to minimize head and magnetic-medium wear. The lubrication is carried out either topically or in bulk. Disk/head interface tribology is the limiting factor in achieving maximum data storage density.
High magnetic storage density in modern disk drives is achieved by the use of very smooth thin-film rigid disks that allow ultra-low flying of read/write head sliders over the disk surface. However, smooth surfaces result in stiction (high static friction) during rest and high stiction/friction during the contact start/stop (CSS) operation, especially with the presence of a thin film of liquid lubricant or aidsorbed water vapor at the head-disk interface. Disk surfaces are therefore textured to minimize stiction/friction. There is a critical h/.sigma. (total liquid film thickness/standard deviation of surface heights) above which stiction increases rapidly with an increase in the liquid film thickness. Distribution of local roughness plays an important role in friction/stiction and wear. Thus optimization of roughness distribution on the disk surface is required. In most models, surface height distribution is assumed to follow a gaussian distribution. However, engineering surfaces are frequently non-gaussian with the degree of non-gaussian characteristics dependent upon materials and surface finishing processes used. For example, magnetic rigid disk surfaces used in the magnetic storage industry are highly non-gaussian. The use of a gaussian analysis in such cases can lead to erroneous results.
Contact of two rough surfaces at an interface occurs at a small fraction of the nominal area of contact. Real area of contact and interfacial adhesion primarily control the friction of an interface. With the presence of a thin film of liquid lubricant or adsorbed water layer at the interface, menisci form around the contacting and near-contacting asperities. The meniscus formation results in stiction problems in the head-medium interfaces. Stiction in rigid disk drives is intimately related to the ratio of the liquid film thickness (h) and the composite standard deviation of the surface heights of disk and head surfaces (.sigma.). For the same liquid film thickness, rougher disks (having a higher .sigma.) exhibit a lower stiction than smoother disks (Bhushan, 1990). Normally in disk drives, the stiction induced with meniscus bridges is a more serious problem than the kinetic friction during sliding. CSS operations result in wear of surface making surfaces smoother which increases stiction after use. There is a need therefore for a magnetic media surface which has optimum roughness which minimizes friction and stiction to reduce wear and prolong the life of the recording media.
Based on classical theory of friction (Bowden and Tabor, 1950) the kinetic friction is proportional to the real area of contact which is high for smoother surfaces (Greenwood and Williamson, 1966). For partially wet contacts, menisci bridges are formed at the interface which result in intrinsic attractive (meniscus) force leading to high static friction. The number of bridges and asperities increase for smoother surfaces leading to high static friction. Thus minimum kinetic and static friction occurs for two rough surfaces, viz. a rough slider against a rough disk. This however does riot satisfy the objective of achieving a high recording density, which is obtained by the use of smooth surfaces for the head and the disk. Thus optimization of the roughness distribution of head and disk surfaces is required in order to satisfy both objectives. Optimization of surface roughness also reduces wear.

Surfaces having optimized skewness and kurtosis parameters for reduced static and kinetic friction


A phase change material for maintaining a food product at a temperature of less than 0.degree. F. The phase change material includes a mixture of an organic alcohol, a salt, and water. The organic alcohol has a concentration of between about 2 and 25 percent by weight. The salt has a concentration of between about 15 and 25 percent by weight.

The present invention is a phase change material more particularly, the present invention is a phase change material for maintaining a food product in a frozen state.
During the distribution of frozen food products, such as ice cream, it is essential to maintain the food products at a sufficiently low temperature so that the food products remain frozen prior to consumption. For example, home delivery services have been developed to deliver various food products to a consumer's home and thereby eliminate the need for the consumer to go to a store to purchase the food products.
It is not always possible to store food products in a mechanically cooled freezer compartment during the distribution of the frozen food product. This is particularly true with home delivered frozen food products where it is not always possible for the consumer to be at home when the frozen food products are delivered.
For these types of situations, the delivery company typically provides an insulated container at the consumer's home. The insulated container holds the frozen food products until the consumer arrives back at home and is able to put the frozen food products in a mechanically cooled freezer compartment within the consumer's home.
It is frequently necessary to place cooling aids in the insulated container to maintain the frozen food products at a sufficiently low temperature so that the food products remain frozen until the food products are removed from the insulated container. Because these cooling aids are ancillary to the purchase of the frozen food products, it is desirable to make the cooling aids as inexpensively as possible. Examples of cooling aids are ice, dry ice, and coolant pouches.
To ensure that the food products remain frozen until removed from the container, it is desirable for the cooling aids to be frozen to a temperature that is at least 5.degree. F. less than the melting temperature of the frozen food products. At the same time, it is desirable to use a cooling aid where the frozen temperature of the cooling aid is not substantially below the frozen food product because of the cost associated with purchasing the cooling aid becomes progressively larger as lower temperatures are used. Additionally, using a cooling aid that has a temperature significantly below the frozen food product increases the likelihood that the cooling aid will cause freezer bum on the frozen food product.
It is also desirable for the cooling aids to have a melting temperature that is at least 5.degree. F. less than the temperature of the frozen food product. If the cooling aid has a melting temperature that is within this range, a maximum amount of energy is extracted from the cooling aid.
While ice is plentiful and relatively inexpensive to produce, the is melting temperature of ice is greater than the melting temperature of many frozen food products. As such, ice is not a desirable choice for maintaining foods products at a sufficiently low temperature that the food products remain frozen.
Dry ice has a substantially lower melting temperature than most food products. However, the extremely low temperature of dry ice makes it likely that the dry ice will produce freezer burn on the food products. Additionally, the extremely low temperature of dry ice makes handling dry ice hazardous and it is not possible to reuse dry ice.
Prior art coolant pouches containing phase change materials while being reusable have melting temperatures that are not at least 5.degree. F. lower than the melting point of the food products. As a result, the prior art coolant pouches are not very effective at maintaining the food products in a frozen state.
Cooling aids with these properties are commonly referred to as phase change materials because they are designed to change phase from a solid to a liquid while the cooling aid is used. It is also desirable for the cooling aid to be easily formulated from food-grade ingredients and readily change phases without the use of nucleating agents.


Disclosed is an atomizer producing a superfine spray which is assembled mainly from a base, an interconnection member, and a cock, and is connected to a union connecting two water pipes. The base has filter material disposed therein, the interconnection member has an elastic stopper means disposed therein, and the cock has a spin element disposed therein. A high-pressure water flow is transferred via water pipes and enters the base of the atomizer when it passes the union. The high-pressure water is filtered in the base and pushes away the elastic stopper means to enter into the cock via the interconnection member. High-pressure water entering the cock fiercely flushes and rotates the spin element in the cock. The rotating spin element in turn swirls and splashes the water to produce a superfine spray which is forced into open air via a pin hole on the cock and can be dissolved in the air to effectively lower the ambient temperature.

The present invention relates to an atomizer producing a superfine spray.
There are two ways currently adopted to lower the temperature in an animal shed. The first way is to sprinkle water to wet the ground in the shed. And, the second way is to spray water through the air in the shed. In the first way of lowering temperature in the shed by sprinkling water, the water will then directly contact with dropping and sewage on the ground and promotes production and release of hazardous substance and gas when the soiled water being heated under high temperature. This will, of course, have adverse influences on the animals in the shed. On the other hand, the second way of lowering temperature in the shed by spraying water shall moisten and cool the air in the shed with atomized water directly dissolved in the air. However, there are chances that the water is not sufficiently atomized and form oversized drops which fall to reach the ground before they are vaporized in the air, and constantly wet the ground in the shed, causing the same hazards as that caused by the above mentioned first way. That is, both the two currently adopted ways to lower temperature in a shed will produce bad and improper humidity in the shed. Therefore, it is desirable to develop an improved way to achieve the purpose of lowering temperature in an animal shed.


Roll stabilizer for the chassis of a motor vehicle having an actuator (3) arranged between stabilizer halves (1, 2) and rotating them relative to one another around a rotational axis, when necessary. The actuator (3) is provided with a failsafe device (34), which connects the two stabilizer halves (1, 2) in a torque proof manner, when necessary.

The present invention relates to a roll stabilizer for the chassis of a motor vehicle. The purpose of these stabilizers is to reduce the tendency for the chassis to roll when driving through turns and to influence the behavior when driving through turns, i.e. to improve driving safety. In general, the stabilizer remains without any effect during equilateral suspension.
From DE 100 02 455 A1, for example, a vehicle roll stabilizer has been known with its actuator comprising two actuator components, each of which are mounted in a torque proof manner to a stabilizer half. Via an actuating drive and a secondary transmission, a rotation of the two actuator components around the rotational axis can occur in order to rotate the stabilizer halves in relation to one another. In the known roll stabilizer, the two actuator components form curved path carriers provided with curved paths as parts of a cam drive. Electromechanical or hydraulic actuating drives may be provided. When engaging the actuating drive, the controlling torque is created, which counteracts any vehicle rolling moment, thus improving driving safety.

Roll stabilizer with failsafe device for the chassis of a motor vehicle


In a method according to the invention for the manufacture of tear notches (22) in can lids (11), the can lid (11) is subjected in the press tool (10) to a laser engraving during which the desired tear notch (22) is generated. The laser ablation process occurs preferably, with the press tool (10) closed, within a time period of less than 30 ms. During this time, the focal spot (27) of the laser beam (26) is moved over the whole desired contour of the tear notch (22) so that an uninterrupted groove-like cavity is formed. With the use of laser engraving in the press tool, the mechanical wear of the press tool and of the press molds can be minimized and in this way the tool operating life can be increased. In particular, the manufacture of can lids with consistently high quality is ensured.

The invention resides in an arrangement and a method for the manufacture of can covers, in particular beverage can lids. Typically beverage cans and also other food cans are covered at their top by a lid which can easily be ripped open by hand along a tear notch. The tear notch is formed during the manufacture of the can lid by material displacement, for example, during a stamping step. The respective tear notch has still a strength sufficient to safely prevent unintended opening of the lid. On the other hand, a local tension concentration is generated when a butt strap attached to the lid is lifted and the lid is pulled away thereby. The tear notch forms a desired breaking path along which the lid can be opened with a relatively low force.
The stamping of tear notches in can lids requires high-quality tools which are provided with highly precise sharp ribs formed thereon for the stamping of the tear notch. The rib, however, has a limited operating life. With increasing wear of the stamping rib the quality of the stamping rib deteriorates and so does the quality of the tear notch of the can lid manufactured thereby until it becomes unacceptable.
It is the object of the invention to provide an improved method for manufacture of can lids as well as a suitable arrangement for performing the method.

Arrangement and method for manufacturing can lids


For the at least partial separation of aliphatic paraffins into at least one effluent comprising the least branched paraffins and at least one effluent comprising the most branched paraffins, use is made of at least one adsorbent bed comprising at least one grafted microporous solid. A preferred use of the invention relates to the treatment of a charge obtained from an isomerization zone, whereby at least one adsorbent bed makes it possible to separate the charge into a first effluent comprising the normal paraffins and a second effluent, and at least one adsorbent bed on which passes the second effluent, comprising at least one grafted microporous solid, making it possible to obtain a third effluent comprising the monomethyl branched paraffins and a fourth effluent comprising the polymethyl branched paraffins.

One of the preferred uses of the invention is in the field of isomerizing gasoline so as to improve the octane number thereof. From the octane number standpoint, it is desirable for the hydrocarbons constituting the gasoline to be as branched as possible. For example, dimethyl butanes have a higher octane number than methyl pentanes. In order to increase the level of polymethyl branched paraffins in the charge from the isomerization zone, it is possible to use molecular sieves selective with respect to the size of the accessible pores and recycle to the isomerization process both the normal paraffins and the monobranched paraffins. Thus, the process according to the invention permitting the at least partial separation of the paraffins from the isomerization process, optionally combined with a recycling to the isomerization process of normal and/or monomethyl branched paraffins, makes it possible to improve the gasoline octane number.
The previously described processes involve the partial or total isomerization of normal paraffins. These processes described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,210,771 (Holcombe), U.S. Pat. No. 3,755,144 (Asselin) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,476,345 (Gray), use zeolites which, due to the diameter of their pores, adsorb the normal paraffins, but not the branched or cyclic products. The most frequently used zeolite is the 5A zeolite, which is a A zeolite, whose substitution cation is calcium, the diameter of its pores being between 3 and 5 .ANG.. It adsorbs normal paraffins, but it does not absorb branched paraffins, not even monomethyl branched paraffin.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,804,802 leads to an improvement to the extent that it describes the use of another molecular sieve permitting the recycling to the isomerization process not only of normal paraffins, but also monomethyl branched paraffins.
The principle of U.S. Pat. No. 4,804,802 is to treat the isomerized hydrocarbon fraction on a molecular sieve bed, whose pores have a diameter equal to or smaller than 4.5 .ANG. and which only adsorbs normal paraffins, allowing the monomethyl branched and obviously the more branched paraffins to percolate. The second molecular sieve bed is constituted by a zeolite, whose pore diameter is between 4.5 and 5.5 .ANG.. This bed adsorbs the monomethyl branched paraffins, whereas the more branched paraffins are not retained and constitute the isomerized fraction with the improved octane number. The first molecular sieve bed described in this patent can be a 5A sieve substituted with calcium, but it is also possible to use other molecular sieves, such as R or T zeolites or even natural zeolites such as chabazite or erionite.
The molecular sieve of the second bed described in the above patent must have a pore size intermediate between that of the calcium 5A zeolite and that of the ZSM5 zeolite, i.e. the pore size is between 4.5 .ANG..times.4.5 .ANG. and 5.5 .ANG..times.5.5 .ANG.. The zeolite recommended in U.S. Pat. No. 4,804,802 is ferrierite, which e.g. adsorbs monomethyl pentanes. Ferrierite can be used in hydrogen form, but preference is generally given to the form substituted by an alkali metal, an alkaline earth metal or a transition metal. Other adsorbents can be used and are claimed in the above patent and are in particular constituted by aluminophosphates, silicoaluminophosphates and borosilicares. All these adsorbents retain monomethyl branched paraffins and exclude dimethyl branched and polymethyl branched paraffins.
Ferrierite and also the other adsorbents with a pore size between 4.5 .ANG..times.4.5 .ANG. and 5.5 .ANG..times.5.5 .ANG. have two major disadvantages, namely the small diameter of the pores, necessary for obtaining a selectivity, which necessarily limits the adsorption capacity, as well as the adsorption and desorption kinetics, and the diameter of the pores, which is fixed once and for all for a given adsorbent type, is not of an optimum nature and does not permit a total separation between the monomethyl branched and dimethyl branched paraffin hydrocarbons. Moreover, in the case of ferrierite, it is virtually obligatory from a technical standpoint to use a synthetic ferrierite having far fewer structural defects than natural ferrierite.

Separation of aliphatic paraffins by adsorption


An exercise bike includes a frame, a driving member, two sun gears, two swing arms, two planet gears, and two cranks. The driving member is assembled to the frame and has a shaft extending from two sides of the frame. The two sun gears, the two swing arms, the two planet gears, and the two cranks are respectively assembled to the two sides of the frame. For each set, the crank drives the planet gear to rotate so as to drive the swing arm to rotate the shaft, and the planet gear is rotated around the sun gear. Accordingly, a pedal connected to each of the cranks moves around the axis of the corresponding planet gear.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an exercise bike, and more particularly to an exercise equipment capable of performing cycling.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As shown in FIG. 8, a frame 94 of a conventional exercise bike mainly includes a base 91, a seat 92, and a handlebar 93. The frame 94 is connected to a rotating shaft 96 via a rotating plate 95. The rotating shaft 96 is connected to two cranks 97. An end portion of each of the cranks 97 is assembled to a pedal 971. The rotating plate 95 drives a passive wheel 98 to rotate. For operation, a user sits on the seat 92 with his/her hands holding the handlebar 93 and his/her two legs treading on the pedals 971 to drive the rotating shaft 96 via the cranks 97 so as to rotate the rotating plate 95. Since the passive wheel 98 has a certain weight, when the user rotates the passive wheel 98 under loading of the passive wheel 98 by treading on the pedals 971, the user do exercise to strength his/her body by the conventional exercise bike.
However, the rotation of the rotating plate 95 uses the rotating shaft 96 as the rotating center. That is, when the two legs of the user are treading on the pedals 971, the pedals 971 are simply cycling around the rotating shaft 95. As a result, the movement of the pedals 971 is monotone, and the number of muscles used to perform the exercise is insufficient to meet user requirements.
The present invention is, therefore, arisen to obviate or at least mitigate the above mentioned disadvantages.


A wheel hub/universal joint assembly having a wheel hub with a wheel flange for connecting a wheel and with a sleeve portion for receiving a wheel bearing. A constant velocity universal joint is provided with an outer joint part, an inner joint part and torque transmitting elements. The outer joint part has a first face toothing with first teeth and wherein the sleeve portion has a second face toothing with second teeth, wherein the two sets of face toothings engage one another for torque transmitting purposes. Clamping means is also provided for axially clamping the wheel hub to the outer joint part, the clamping means being axially supported on the wheel hub and on the outer joint part 22. At least one of the two face toothings is provided such that the first and second teeth, when clamping together the assembly, contact one another first on the radial outside and, as the clamping operation progresses, also on the radial inside.

From DE 103 38 172 B3 there is known a wheel hub/universal joint assembly wherein the outer joint part comprises a base with a formed-on journal. The journal is a short journal and extends only along part of the length of the bore of the wheel hub. For torque transmitting purposes, the bore comprises inner teeth which are engaged in a rotationally fixed way by the journal with corresponding outer teeth. For axial clamping purposes, there is provided a bolt which is centrally threaded into the journal and which is axially supported against a radial face of the wheel hub. The wheel bearing is axially pretensioned by the bolt. In the assembly with the short journal, the journal diameter of the universal joint, which journal diameter is dimensioned to ensure the required strength, determines the inner diameter of the bore of the wheel hub and thus indirectly the inner diameter of the wheel bearing.

Wheel hub/universal joint assembly with end teeth


A rotor disk includes a rim with axially spaced apart forward and aft ends, with the aft end having a larger diameter than the forward end. The rim includes a plurality of straight dovetail slots defining dovetail posts therebetween. Each dovetail post includes a pair of lobes, a neck, and first and second pressure faces facing radially inwardly from the lobes. The first and second pressure faces vary in radial height therebetween from a first magnitude at the rim aft end to a second and smaller magnitude at the rim forward end to shift a portion of the bending loads from the dovetail post at the rim forward end to the dovetail post at the larger rim aft end.

A conventional gas turbine engine includes various rotor blades in the fan, compressor, and turbine sections thereof which are removably mounted to respective rotor disks. Each of the rotor blades includes a retention dovetail at the radially inner end thereof which may either be an axial-entry dovetail or a circumferential-entry dovetail. In axial-entry dovetails, the rotor disk includes a plurality of circumferentially spaced apart, axially extending dovetail slots for slidably receiving the blade dovetails for retention therein. And, for the circumferential-entry dovetails, the rotor disk includes a single circumferentially extending dovetail slot which circumferentially slidably receives the complementary dovetails for retention therein. In the axial-entry rotor disk the dovetail slots define a plurality of circumferentially spaced apart dovetail posts which carry the centrifugal loads from the blades; and in the circumferential-entry rotor disk only two axially spaced apart and annular dovetail posts are defined by the circumferentially extending single dovetail slot therebetween.
In view of the structural differences in axial dovetails and circumferential dovetails, the corresponding rotor disks are designed differently. Axial dovetails in one of their simplest configurations include a pair of lobes in a symmetrical dovetail configuration which is straight in the axial direction and configured for retention in a complementary dovetail slot in the rotor disk which is disposed parallel to the axial centerline or rotation axis of the rotor disk without slope in a vertical plane extending radially through the axial centerline axis, and parallel to the centerline axis without skew in a top or plan view looking along the circumference of the rotor disk.
In another conventional configuration, the dovetail slots in the rotor disk may be skewed or inclined relative to the centerline axis of the rotor disk in the top, plan view which is referred to as skew, while also being parallel to the centerline axis in the vertical view without slope. The dovetail slot is again straight, and the blade dovetail is similarly straight and configured for retention therein.
And, in yet another configuration, the dovetail slots in the rotor disk are both skewed and sloped, with inclination thereof both in the plan view along the circumference of the rotor disk, i.e. skew, and in the vertical sectional view, i.e. slope, relative to the centerline axis. The corresponding blade dovetail is again straight and configured for retention in the skewed and sloped dovetail slots. This configuration is primarily used in gas turbine engine compressors at the stage-one position thereof with a relatively high axial slope of the outer rim of the rotor disk for improved aerodynamic performance. The blade dovetails typically have corresponding slope in order to be axially retained therein without excess weight. And dovetail skew is provided in order to better align the twisted airfoil with its dovetail to reduce the stresses therein due to centrifugal force of the blades during operation.
More specifically, a typical rotor disk includes an outer rim which contains the dovetail slots for retaining the rotor blades thereto, with an integral and thinner annular web extending radially inwardly therefrom, followed in turn radially inwardly by an axially thicker hub. This provides a relatively low weight and structurally efficient rotor disk effective for carrying the substantial centrifugally generated loads from the blades within acceptable stress limits for providing a useful life of the disk during operation. Axially sloping the disk rim provides a smaller circumference at the forward end of the rim which has a smaller diameter, with a relatively larger circumference at the aft end of the rim which has a larger diameter. In high solidity compressor blade configurations, the number of compressor blades on the disk is made as large as possible for aerodynamic reasons. However, since the forward end of the blade rim has a smaller circumference than the aft end thereof, the blades are spaced closer together at the forward end than at the aft end, with the dovetail posts in the blade rim defined by the dovetail slots being circumferentially thinner at the rim forward end than at the rim aft end. The centrifugal loads generated by the blades during operation therefore create higher reaction stresses in the dovetail posts at the forward end thereof than at the aft end thereof.
Furthermore, since typical blade dovetails are straight for allowing economical fabrication of the corresponding dovetail slots by using linearly translated manufacturing cutting broaches, such broaches when used to form the skewed dovetail slots in the disk rim necessarily vary the radial configuration of the dovetail posts. This is better appreciated by recognizing that a straight dovetail slot extending axially through a disk rim without either slope or skew results in a constant configuration dovetail post. However, by skewing the dovetail slot it necessarily extends also circumferentially around the circumference or curvature of the rim which therefore varies the configuration of the corresponding dovetail posts. With the addition of slope to the dovetail slot, the configuration of the resulting dovetail posts is yet further affected.
Accordingly, in a skewed-only or skewed and sloped dovetail slot configuration, the resulting reaction stresses in the dovetail posts becomes a more complex design problem which must be resolved in order to obtain acceptable levels of centrifugally induced stresses with a suitable useful life of the rotor disk.
For example, in a rotor disk design without slope or skew the reaction forces carried through each dovetail post from the corresponding blade dovetails are symmetrical and intersect each other along the radial centerline axis of the dovetail posts and therefore create primarily tensile stresses in the neck portion of the dovetail post without bending stresses therein.
However, in the skewed design without slope, only the axial center section of the rotor disk experiences no bending of the disk post necks. Both axially forwardly and axially rearwardly from the center section, the angles of inclination of the resultant reaction forces acting on the opposing lobes of each dovetail post are no longer symmetrical but intersect each other to either circumferential side of the radial centerline axis of the dovetail post thus effecting a bending moment which induces bending stress in the dovetail post neck. However, the direction of the reaction bending moment has one sense axially forward from the center of the disk, and an opposite or negative sense relative thereto in the axially rearward direction from the center of the disk rim which effectively balance each other out with substantially equal maximum values of bending stress in the respective portions of the disk post neck.
In the skewed and sloped configuration, the resultant reaction loads carried by the opposing lobes of each dovetail post are again not symmetrical and therefore induce bending stresses in the dovetail post necks, and are not symmetrical without bending at the center of the disk rim as in the skewed-only configuration which therefore results in an unbalanced configuration with a maximum bending stress occurring in the dovetail posts adjacent the forward end of the disk rim having the minimum diameter, with reduced bending stresses occurring at the aft end of the disk rim having the largest diameter. Since the forward, smaller diameter end of the disk rim as compared to the aft, larger diameter end of the disk rim has less material for carrying the centrifugal loads, the stresses thereat are increased which decreases the useful life of the rotor disk.

Asymmetric axial dovetail and rotor disk


A linking assembly is provided for an electrical switching apparatus, such as a circuit breaker. The linking assembly includes a hatchet having first and second edges and an arcuate portion extending therebetween. The hatchet moves between a latched position in which the first edge engages a D-shaft, and an unlatched position in which the hatchet pivots with respect to the D-shaft to unlatch the linking assembly. A cradle includes first and second opposing ends and an intermediate portion disposed therebetween. A latch plate, which is pivotally coupled to the housing, includes a protrusion that cooperates with the hatchet. A latch link is disposed between and is pivotally coupled to the cradle and the latch plate. A toggle assembly includes first and second linking elements coupled between the circuit breaker poleshaft and the cradle.

1. Field
The disclosed concept relates generally to electrical switching apparatus and, more particularly, to electrical switching apparatus, such as circuit breakers. The disclosed concept also relates to linking assemblies for electrical switching apparatus.
2. Background Information
Electrical switching apparatus, such as circuit breakers, provide protection for electrical systems from electrical fault conditions such as, for example, current overloads, short circuits, abnormal voltage and other fault conditions. Typically, circuit breakers include an operating mechanism which opens electrical contact assemblies to interrupt the flow of current through the conductors of an electrical system in response to such fault conditions as detected, for example, by a trip unit.
FIGS. 1A-1D show one non-limiting example of a circuit breaker 1 (partially shown) including an operating mechanism 3 (shown in simplified form in FIG. 1A) having a linking assembly 5 that cooperates with a poleshaft 7 to open (e.g., separate) and/or close (e.g., electrically connect) the separable contacts 17 (shown in simplified form in FIG. 1A) of the circuit breaker 1. In the example of FIGS. 1A-1D, the linking assembly 5 cooperates with a spring charging assembly 9, although it will be appreciated that such linking assemblies (e.g., 5) can also be employed in a wide variety of different electrical switching apparatus (not shown), with or without such a charging mechanism.
Among other functions, the linking assembly 5 is intended to reduce the amount of force that is required to be exerted by the accessories (not shown) of the circuit breaker 1 to effectuate the desired circuit breaker tripping reaction. For example and without limitation, such an accessory might be employed under certain circumstances to pivot a D-shaft 19, thereby releasing a hatchet 21 of the linking assembly 5, or to otherwise actuate (e.g., move) one or more linking elements 21,23,25,27,29 of the linking assembly 5 and/or a corresponding portion of the circuit breaker operating mechanism 3 (FIG. 1A).
As shown in FIGS. 1C and 1D, in addition to the aforementioned hatchet 21, the example linking assembly 5 includes linking elements 23,25,27,29, resulting in three stages (e.g., labeled stage 1, stage 2 and stage 3 in FIGS. 1C and 1D) of force reduction. While this is sufficient for relatively large accessories capable of exerting substantial force, it is desirable to provide further force reduction so that existing, readily available and relatively small accessories can be employed. Providing such a force reduction is a significant design challenge as it generally requires unacceptable, unreliable or impossible toggle angles (e.g., angles between linking elements 23,25,27,29 of the linking assembly) in order to provide the desired motion among the hatchet 21, cradle 25 and linking elements 23,27,29.
There is, therefore, room for improvement in electrical switching apparatus, such as circuit breakers, and in linking assemblies therefor.

Electrical switching apparatus and linking assembly therefor


An organic light emitting device having a repair line connected to an organic light emitting element of a bad pixel. A first capacitor stores a voltage corresponding to a data voltage of the bad pixel, and a driving transistor outputs a current corresponding to the voltage stored in the first capacitor to an output terminal. A first transistor is connected between the output terminal of the driving transistor and the repair line, and is turned on or turned off in response to a first signal. A second transistor is connected between the repair line and a node, and is configured to be turned on or turned off in response to a second signal. A third transistor is connected between a node and a first voltage line for supplying a first voltage, and is turned on or turned off in response to a third signal.

1. Field
The described technology relates generally to a display device and a repairing method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
An organic light emitting diode (OLED) display is a self-light emitting display device that does not require a separate light source. As such, it has low power consumption and excellent response speed, viewing angle, and contrast ratio.
The organic light emitting diode (OLED) display includes a plurality of pixels such as red pixels, blue pixels, green pixels, and white pixels, and may express full colors by combining the pixels. Each pixel includes a light emitting element, and a plurality of thin film transistors for driving the light emitting element.
The light emitting element of the organic light emitting diode (OLED) display includes a pixel electrode, a common electrode, and an emission layer positioned between the two electrodes. One of the pixel electrode and the common electrode is an anode and the other is a cathode. Electrons injected from the cathode and holes injected from the anode combine with each other in the light emitting layer to form excitons, and the excitons emit light while discharging energy. The common electrode is formed throughout a plurality of pixels to transmit a predetermined common voltage.
The organic light emitting device may be produced with a bad pixel during a manufacturing process because of complexity of a pixel circuit and difficulty in the manufacturing process. Therefore, a repairing process for using the bad pixel that is created during the manufacturing process as a normal pixel is desirable so as to increase the yield.

Display device and repairing method thereof


Atomic force microscope system is provided which is designed to be incorporated into or attachable to an objective lens which can be mounted on a lens turret of an optical microscope such that simultaneous atomic force microscopy and optical viewing of a sample through the objective lens can be performed. In one embodiment, the atomic force microscope (AFM) is designed to be removably attached to a standard objective lens of an optical microscope. In another embodiment, the AFM system is designed to be removably attached to an optical microscope and includes integrated optics for providing an optical view. In both embodiments, the optics are used solely for generating an optical view and/or other optical contrast mechanisms and are not used in conjunction with a detection mechanism of the AFM.

Devices are needed which can provide both quantitative information about the topography of a sample through atomic force microscopy and optical image information.
Atomic force microscopes have been designed which attach directly to the lens turret of a standard optical microscope. For example, the DUALSCOPE.TM., manufactured by DME (Danish Micro Engineering) is an AFM with a built-in objective lens. The DUALSCOPE.TM. mounts directly onto a lens turret of an optical microscope.
The DUALSCOPE.TM. uses an optical beam bounce detection system. A significant disadvantage of coupling an AFM which uses an optical beam bounce detection system to an optical microscope, such as the DUALSCOPE.TM., is that the laser beam obscures and distorts the optical view. Laser light from the detection system scatters light both from the cantilever and the sample which distorts the field of view.
A further disadvantage of using an optical beam bounce detection system is the use of the lenses for optical imaging to also focus laser light onto the back of the cantilever. Laser light in an AFM is typically red light of a specific wavelength, whereas an optical microscope is designed to focus white light. Two different focal lengths are therefore required, one for the red light which is focused onto the back of the cantilever, and another for white light which must be focused onto the sample which is about 2 to 4 .mu.m below the cantilever due to its thickness and the length of the tip. If the optics used in the AFM are designed primarily to focus the laser light, the optical clarity of the optical view is degraded. If the optics are designed primarily to provide a high quality optical view, the degree that the laser light is focused on the cantilever is compromised. As a result, the spot on the cantilever is larger and more diffuse. The unfocused laser spot leads to greater laser light scattering from the cantilever which degrades the optical view. In addition, there is greater laser light scattering from the sample, which is not distinguishable from light reflected from the cantilever. As a result, the photodetector detects both sources of scattered light, leading to interference and other noise in the SPM image.
In the case of the DUALSCOPE.TM., the optical view is focused at infinity, also referred to as "infinity corrected." This allows the device to be installed on different standard optical microscopes. However, by focusing the optical view at an image at infinity, both the red laser light and white light for the optical view are focused at the same point. This inherently requires that the optical view and/or the laser focus be degraded.
The DUALSCOPE.TM. provides simultaneous SPM and optical viewing by incorporating optics within a piezoelectric tube scanner. Because the optics are positioned in the piezoelectric tube scanner, the optics are scanned with the SPM. This design also severely compromises the optical quality of the optical view that is provided. For example, the DUALSCOPE.TM. does not allow simultaneous use of all optical modes of an optical microscope, including other optical contrast techniques such as confocal microscopy, phase contrast microscopy, differential interference contrast microscopy, and Hoffman/modulation contrast microscopy.
Positioning the optics within the scanner tube, as in the DUALSCOPE.TM., also limits the types and quality of lenses which may be used. A scanner tube is too long to allow the AFM to be mounted below a standard working distance objective lens. The longest standardly available working distance objectives which mount on standard optical microscope turrets typically have working distances on the order of 1" and a 10-20.times. magnification (limited by the Rayleigh criterion, i.e., diffraction limited) and are very expensive. Therefore on-axis optics must be placed within or below the scanner tube and must also be scanned. These constraints limit the diameter of the lenses which then limit the numerical aperture of the lens. By limiting the numerical aperture of the lens, the resolving power of the optics and the depth of focus are limited which leads to more spherical aberrations in the image. Having to position the optics within the tube scanner also limits how heavy the lens can be which affects the resonant frequency of the AFM, which is preferably high. The quality of the lenses which may be used is also limited by the constraint of having to position the optics within the tube scanner. For example, for a given field of view, the resolution, depth of focus, and severity of spherical aberration all are worse with smaller diameter lenses. In addition, needing to position the optics within the tube scanner as opposed to using optics which are already being used on the optical microscope increase the costs associated with the device.
Another disadvantage associated with positioning the optics within the scanner tube is the degree of magnification which the optics provide. For example, the degree of total magnification provided by the series of optics used in combination with the DUALSCOPE.TM. is specified as 25.times.. A higher level of magnification is needed for many applications. For example, semiconductor defect inspection systems and defect review systems require a lateral resolution of 1 .mu.m or less which requires 400-1000.times. magnification. Current semiconductor defects, and even the semiconductor devices themselves, can be 1 .mu.m or less in size. The optical resolution provided by an AFM such as the DUALSCOPE.TM. which uses optical beam bounce can be on the order of greater than 5 .mu.m. With an optical resolution on the order of 5-10 .mu.m, these devices poorly resolve the cantilever itself, let alone the sample.
A further disadvantage of positioning the optics within the scanner tube is that the optical view tracks the motion of the probe. As a result, the probe remains fixed in the field of view. Hence, it is not possible to scan a probe within a stationary optical field of view. This limitation makes probe positioning difficult.
Another AFM which has been developed for use in combination with an optical microscope is the ULTRA OBJECTIVE.TM., manufactured by Surface Imaging Systems. The ULTRA OBJECTIVE.TM. does not include a built-in objective lens which mounts directly onto a lens turret. As a result, the ULTRA OBJECTIVE.TM. does not enable simultaneous SPM and optical imaging. Instead, it is necessary to switch between the AFM and an objective lens.
The ULTRA OBJECTIVE.TM. uses laser interferometry to detect cantilever deflection and is designed to be compatible with only Zeiss optical microscopes.
Given the large number of instruments in existence with optical microscopy capabilities, a need also exists for a device which can introduce atomic force microscopy into these existing instruments in order to avoid the capital costs associated with purchasing a new instrument having combined atomic force microscopy and optical microscopy capabilities. The device should rapid switching between atomic force microscopy and optical imaging and should preferably enable simultaneous atomic force microscopy and optical imaging. The device should also preserve the optical clarity, functionality, and resolution that is provided by the instrument.
These and other advantages are provided by the AFMs of the present invention.

Atomic force microscope for attachment to optical microscope