A hybrid rotor may comprise a rotor disk having a peripheral rim, a plurality of solid rotor blades extending outwardly from the rotor disk, and a plurality of hollow rotor blades extending outwardly from the rotor disk in a blade array with the plurality of solid rotor blades. In various embodiments, the plurality of solid rotor blades may be integrally coupled to the rotor disk. In various embodiments, the plurality of hollow rotor blades may be mechanically retained in the rotor disk.

Gas turbine engines (such as those used in electrical power generation or used in modern aircraft) typically include a compressor, a combustor section, and a turbine. The compressor and the turbine typically include a series of alternating rotors and stators. A rotor generally comprises a rotor disk and a plurality of blades. The rotor may be an integrally bladed rotor ("IBR") or a mechanically bladed rotor.
The rotor disk and blades in the IBR are one piece (i.e., integral) with the blades spaced around the circumference of the rotor disk. Conventional IBRs may be formed using a variety of technical methods including integral casting, machining from a solid billet, or by welding or bonding the blades to the rotor disk. Conventional IBRs may include mistuned blades that respond differently at an engine stability pinch point. The "engine stability pinch point" is the engine operating point at which the remaining stability margin (available stability margin less the stability margin consumed by the sum of the external and internal destabilizing factors) is a relative medium. By making the blades have different responses because of their mistuning, the magnitude of a non-integral vibratory response (e.g., flutter) may be lessened. However, mistuned blades may reduce aerodynamic efficiency of the IBR. In addition, machining of an IBR may be difficult because of limited space between blades. For example, as engine cores (e.g., compressors and turbines) get smaller, the space between blades of an IBR shrinks, and the tooling does not shrink, so it is harder to machine the blades of IBRs as a machining head cannot fit between the blades.
Mechanically bladed rotors also have disadvantages. For example, the blades in a mechanically bladed fan rotor of a gas turbine engine may suffer from greater fan blade pull load because there is less rotor disk material to carry the pull load. Greater fan blade pull load increases stress levels on the rotor disk and thus on the rotor and potentially limits rotor life.

Rotary machines including a hybrid rotor with hollow and solid rotor blade sets


An optical filter device includes a variable wavelength interference filter having a stationary substrate, a movable substrate, a stationary reflecting film, and a movable reflecting film, and a housing adapted to house the variable wavelength interference filter therein. The housing has a base substrate, a lid bonded to the base substrate, and forming an internal space between the base substrate and the lid, and a lid-side glass substrate adapted to block a light passage hole provided to the lid. Further, the lid-side glass substrate has a substrate edge located outside the outer peripheral edge of the light passage hole, and is bonded to the lid in an area extending from the outer peripheral edge of the light passage hole to the substrate edge.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an optical filter device, an optical module, and an electronic apparatus.
2. Related Art
In the past, there has been known an interference filter having reflecting films respectively disposed on surfaces of a pair of substrates so as to be opposed to each other across a predetermined gap, the surfaces being opposed to each other. Further, there is known an optical filter device having such an interference filter housed in a housing (see, e.g., JP-A-2008-70163).
The optical filter device described in JP-A-2008-70163 is provided with a package (a housing) having a plate-like pedestal and a cylindrical cap. The housing has a peripheral edge portion of the pedestal and one end portion of the cylinder of the cap connected to each other by welding or bonding, and a space for housing the interference filter is disposed between the pedestal and the cap. Further, the cap is provided with a hole disposed on the upper surface opposed to the pedestal, and the hole is provided with a window section for allowing light to pass therethrough.
Although JP-A-2008-70163 discloses (e.g., FIG. 6) the configuration in which the window section is fitted in the hole in the upper surface of the cap regarding the method of providing the window section, it fails to disclose other specific configurations. In the configuration disclosed in FIG. 6 of JP-A-2008-70163, there is a problem that it is not possible to sufficiently assure the airtightness of the seal between the window section and the hole. Thus, for example, if the inside of the package is desired to be kept at a reduced-pressure, air may enter the inside through a gap between the window section and the hole to thereby make it impossible to maintain the reduced-pressure state. Further, the probability that foreign matter such as electrically-charged particles or water particles enter the inside through, for example, the gap between the window section and the hole is also raised.

Optical filter device, optical module, and electronic apparatus


A method for controllably linking propulsion units in a vehicle consist includes transmitting a linking signal having an identity of a lead propulsion unit. A remote propulsion unit is remotely controlled by the lead unit when the identity matches a designated identity stored onboard the remote unit. A de-linking signal is transmitted from the lead unit when the lead unit is to be decoupled from the vehicle consist. The de-linking signal includes a replacement identity of a replacement propulsion unit. A replacement linking signal is transmitted from a second lead unit. The remote propulsion unit allows the second lead propulsion unit to remotely control the operations of the remote propulsion unit when replacement identity stored onboard the remote propulsion unit matches an identity that is communicated in the replacement linking signal.

Trains with distributed power systems can be operated in different modes. One mode is where all locomotives in the train operate at the same notch command. For example, if a lead locomotive is commanding motoring at notch 8 ("N8"), all units in the train will be commanded to generate motoring at N8 power. Another mode of operation is "independent" control. In this mode, locomotives or sets of locomotives distributed throughout the train can be operated at different motoring or braking powers. For example, as a train crests a mountaintop, the lead locomotives (on the down slope of mountain) may be placed in braking, while the locomotives in the middle or at the end of the train (on the up slope of mountain) may be in motoring. This is done to minimize tensile forces on the mechanical couplers that connect the railcars and locomotives.
When operating in distributed power, an operator, usually located in the lead locomotive, can control operating functions of remote locomotives in the remote consists via a control system, such as a distributed power control element. Thus, when operating in distributed power, the operator can command each locomotive consist to operate at a different notch power level (or one consist could be in motoring and other could be in braking), or each individual locomotive in the locomotive consist operates at the same notch power.
Currently, a train having locomotives that may operate in distributed power are set up manually, usually at a rail yard. Operators must physically enter each locomotive to enter data into the distributed power system aboard the locomotive to enable "linking" of the locomotives so that distributed power operations may commence. For example, suppose locomotives are included in a train where the locomotives may be facing different directions, meaning that some may be facing forward whereas others may be facing backward. The operator must physically enter each locomotive and select the direction the locomotive should motor. The operator must also initiate and attempt to complete the linking process prior to any unforeseen problems with equipment or systems in the train being detected. Train operators and owners may realize a financial savings and reduction in manpower from remotely setting up, linking, and testing distributed power operations of a train.
Additionally, if the lead locomotive experiences one or more faults (e.g., in communication with the other locomotives that are linked with the lead locomotive in a distributed power arrangement), the lead locomotive may need to be decoupled from the train and replaced with another lead locomotive. In order to do this, the replacement lead locomotive is coupled to the train and an operator may need to manually enter each remote locomotive along the length of the train to manually input the change in lead locomotive into control systems of the remote locomotives so that these control systems know to receive commands from the replacement lead locomotive, and not the previous lead locomotive that has been removed. For relatively long trains and/or trains having several remote locomotives, this process can consume a significant amount of time.

System and method for automated establishment of a vehicle consist


Methods and apparatus are presented for distance measurement using laser pulses in which at least one of an attenuation function and an offset of the attenuation function relative to the send pulse is variable to accommodate differing measurement needs. In some embodiments, at least one of an attenuation function and an offset of the attenuation function is fixed relative to the send pulse for some number of measurement cycles and information derived from the result is used to modify either or both of the attenuation function and offset of the attenuation function relative to the send pulse for subsequent measurement.

In time-of-flight distance measurement, the time delay between emission and reception of a laser pulse allows for distance calculation. The emitted pulse travels to a reflector and back to a detector where it is received. The time delay is proportional to the pulse travel distance. For a given reflector, the power level of the received pulse is assumed to be inversely proportional to the square of the pulse travel time (and the pulse travel distance) within a range of interest. The dynamic range of the power level of received pulses thus can be quite large. To accommodate this dynamic range, prior art systems apply an attenuation function such that detection sensitivity increases over time following emission of a send pulse.
However, typical prior art systems use an attenuation function based on a fixed function which has a fixed timing relative to the send pulse.
A consequence of this is a lack of adaptability to various measurement scenarios.

Distance measurement methods and apparatus


A toner fill plug for a toner cartridge within an image forming device. The cartridge includes a toner reservoir having a port through which toner is input. The plug is sized to fit within the port and prevent toner leakage. The plug includes a reflector which aligns with an adjacently-positioned toner level sensor for determining the amount of toner remaining within the reservoir. The plug is removable to allow the user to refill the reservoir with new toner.

Cartridges used in image forming devices include toner to form an image on a media sheet. A number of different sensing mechanisms have been used for detecting the amount of toner remaining within the cartridge. One detection method includes detecting the amount of torque applied to an agitating member that rotates through the toner. The torque on the agitating member can be sensed to determine the remaining amount of toner.
Another method includes optical detecting using an optical sensor that radiates a light beam through a transparent window in the cartridge. In one embodiment, an emitter directs a light beam through an opening in the cartridge. The light beam reflects off a surface within the cartridge and is detected by a sensor positioned next to the emitter. The amount of reflected light determines the remaining amount of toner. In another embodiment, a second opening is positioned in the cartridge opposite from the first opening. The sensor is positioned at the second opening to receive the light beam directly from the emitter. Again, the amount of detected light determines the remaining amount of toner.
The cartridge may be used in the image forming device until the toner is exhausted. The cartridge is then removed from the device and replaced with a new cartridge. The exhausted cartridge is then either discarded, or refilled with new toner. The cartridge should have some manner of gaining access to the interior to allow for new toner to be refilled and used again within the image forming device. The refilling mechanism should provide a durable seal to prevent toner from leaking during the image formation process. The access point should also be positioned at a location on the cartridge to not interfere with the other cartridge mechanisms.

Toner housing plug with toner level sensor


A capacitive probe for inspecting and measuring the diameter of a bore and thus the amount of wear in the bore formed of an electrically insulated housing containing two levels of conductive plates to measure distance between the plates and the rifling grooves and lands of a bore.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a capacitive probe for inspecting and measuring the amount of wear in a bore at specific locations along the axis of the bore, and specifically a capacitive probe for inspecting and measuring the wear of the rifle lands in relation to the grooves in a bore.
2. Prior Art
The bore of a gun barrel is machined so that the inner surface of the bore is grooved. These grooves are further machined spirally so as to impart an axial rotating motion to a projectile when discharged from the weapon. When so designed, the grooves carve out lands, the raised sections between grooves. When viewed in cross section, the grooves and lands are typically of equal height and number.
The dimensions and structural integrity of the spiral rifling, comprising the grooves and the lands, of a gun barrel are critical to maintaining accurate and precise operation of the weapon and projection of the projectile. However, through prolonged and hard use, the lands may become worn due to friction, erosion, dirt, exposure to the elements, etc. These problems are particularly of concern with automatic-fire weapons. When the lands become worn, the effectiveness and safety of the weapon are compromised. For example, axial rotation imparted to the projectile is decreased, causing the projectile to travel more slowly or to "knuckle-ball". In fighter aircraft, this may create a major problem, as the aircraft may be traveling faster than the projectile, catch up to the projectile, and damage itself.
At present, there is no fast, convenient, accurate, and precise means of assessing the amount of wear in a gun barrel bore. Visual inspection of the gun barrel is one means of assessing the amount of bore wear. However, a significant amount of wear may occur before one is able to visually detect bore wear, for example, by the presence of slick spots in the bore. Actual weapon operation provides another means of determining the potential presence of worn lands. However, this approach, at best, only alerts one to the possibility of worn lands.
An inner micrometer or other measurement gauge provides the best currently available means of measuring the diameter of a gun barrel bore at various points along the axis of the bore. However, this mechanical measurement technique is limited in accuracy due to the necessity of human input to properly align the gauge.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,168,465 to Prince teaches the use of capacitive probes for inspection and measuring defects in fastener holes, namely a tapered capacitive probe for detecting irregular flaws in metal holes. However, that invention is directed to objects which have a relatively smooth surface and is not capable of accurately measuring the amount of wear in a grooved surface. That is, it is incapable of accurately measuring the land-groove disparity.


In an embodiment, an image element having a thermally sensitive coating on at least a first side thereof is provided. The image element may further include an adhesive for attaching to an object such as a pharmaceutical container. Information about the object may be thermally printed on the image element.

Two, or dual-sided, direct thermal printing of documents such as transaction documents and receipts is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,784,906 and 6,759,366. In dual-sided direct thermal printing, the printers are configured to allow concurrent printing on both sides of thermal media or image elements moving along a feed path through the printer. In such printers a direct thermal print head is disposed on each side of the media along the feed path. In operation each thermal print head faces an opposing platen across the media from the respective print head.
In direct thermal printing, a print head selectively applies heat to paper or other media comprising a substrate with a thermally sensitive coating. The coating changes color when heat is applied, by which "printing" is provided on the coated substrate. For dual-sided direct thermal printing, the sheet media substrate may be coated on both sides.
In various industries, there is a plethora of information that is either desired or required to accompany an object such as a product or container thereof. For example, in the pharmaceutical industry, there is a plethora of information that must be dispensed with pharmaceuticals when such pharmaceuticals are delivered to a patient. Some of that information is printed on a label that is attached directly to the container for the pharmaceutical. In many instances, the size of the container is dictated more by the amount of information on the label than by the volume of the pharmaceutical. Likewise, additional information desired or required to accompany an object, such as a pharmaceutical, may be separately printed from a label accompanying the object requiring additional resources, and increasing the potential for misdelivery.


In one embodiment, an apparatus may include a processor circuit and a keyframe indexing module that is operative on the processor circuit to map sensor data from a first sensor to a set of video data, where the sensor data and video data correspond to an event. The keyframe indexing module may be further operative on the processor circuit to identify one or more key portions of the set of sensor data, index the one or more key portions to respective mapped one or more video frames of the video data, and generate a first keyframe index to identify the one or more video frames.

The ability to edit video is currently supported by a wide variety of video editor programs. One important aspect of video editing is the ability to identify key frames (instances) in a video and to index those key moments. This provides a convenient basis for a user or viewer to navigate quickly through a video when viewing or editing the video. However, the ability to automatically identify these key frames is difficult, and if performed manually, presents a very laborious process for the user.
Many present day editors provide classification of a video into segments ("scenes") based upon changes in the video stream of the video being edited. For example, a transition between one scene and another may be determined based on the identification of a significant change in the video stream. However, such segmentation of a video into scenes based upon significant changes does not attempt to identify interesting or important moments in a video, which may not necessarily be correlated with the change in the video stream that triggers the delineation of a scene. Consequently, after the editor has segmented the video into multiple scenes, one or more scenes may have multiple interesting moments or none at all.
Other schemes have been proposed in which audio may be used to assist in the identification of key moments in an audio track that may be used to determine keyframes in a video. However, such methods may still be limited in their ability to determine keyframes in a video.
Accordingly, there may be a need for improved techniques and apparatus to solve these and other problems.


A multi-display device includes an image-display-light emitting backlight which includes a light emitting element arranged in each of a plurality of areas to emit light to form planar light; and a light emission controller configured or programmed to generate emission luminance data, for each of the areas, to drive the light emitting element. The light emission controller includes a luminance correcting controller configured or programmed to correct the emission luminance data on the basis of installation directions of image display devices and connection information that is information on connection positions thereof.

In recent years, in a place where a lot of people gather, such as an event site, a station, or an airport, a multi-display device in which a plurality of liquid crystal displays are arranged vertically or horizontally, or vertically and horizontally has been installed to display a large amount of information. In the multi-display device, the liquid crystal displays display images corresponding to their installation places to display a large-screen image.
A typical multi-display device employs liquid crystal displays having the same luminance of images, but in practice, the luminance of images for the liquid crystal displays may vary due to individual differences which cause luminance unevenness. In such a multi-display device, if variance occurs in the luminance of images displayed on the respective liquid crystal displays, continuity between the images is deteriorated, which may cause inconvenience to an observer.
In order to suppress such luminance unevenness, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2009-169196 discloses a technique in which a backlight unit for forming images in a plurality of image display sections includes a plurality of light sources and the brightness of the light sources of the backlight unit is controlled to suppress the occurrence of luminance unevenness.
Further, as a liquid crystal display that constitutes the multi-display device, there is a device in which an image display region is divided into a plurality of areas (regions) and a backlight unit that controls, for each area, light emission of a light emitting element provided in each area (which may be hereinafter referred to as an "area-drive backlight unit") is used. In the liquid crystal display provided with such an area-drive backlight unit, the brightness of the backlight is adjusted in accordance with an image displayed in the image display region.
Further, in the area-drive backlight unit, control is performed for decreasing the luminance of light emitting elements in areas corresponding to a peripheral part of the image display region to a degree that an observer cannot recognize decrease in the brightness. By performing such control, it is possible to reduce power consumption without the observer recognizing decrease in contrast.

Multi-display device and image display device


An exhaust gas sensor for a motorcycle that is protected against sprayed mud and flying stones without a dedicated protective cover. The exhaust gas sensor is inclined inward to the inside of the motorcycle body relative to a vertical line passing through a sensor attachment part formed on an upper part of an exhaust pipe on the inside of a main frame. The exhaust gas sensor is positioned above a pivot shaft of a seat cushion, in front of a shock absorber, and in front of a mud flap in front of a rear wheel. The exhaust gas sensor is protected by the exhaust pipe at a lower portion of the sensor. A front portion of the exhaust gas sensor is surrounded and protected by parts around the handlebars and parts around the engine. Both sides of the exhaust gas sensor are surrounded and protected by the main frame, the engine, the parts around the engine, and various parts engaging the shock absorber. A rear portion of the exhaust gas sensor is protected by the mud flap.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a motorcycle with an exhaust gas sensor.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, increasingly stricter exhaust gas restrictions have been imposed on vehicles worldwide. To cope with such restrictions, vehicles use catalysts to purify exhaust gas in the exhaust pipe. In addition, vehicles must be equipped with an exhaust gas sensor for detecting the concentration of oxygen and the concentration of unburned gas in the exhaust pipe, thereby checking the actual air-fuel ratio of the engine to control the supply of fuel.
A structure for arranging or attaching an exhaust gas sensor for a motorcycle has been proposed. In the proposed structure, an exhaust gas sensor is arranged in a cylinder head of an internal combustion engine. In the cylinder head, an intake valve and an exhaust valve are arranged in a V-configuration at the top of the internal combustion engine. An exhaust port extends to curve from an axial direction of the exhaust valve in a direction opposite to the intake valve which intersects an axis of a cylinder. A downstream end of the exhaust port has a flange to which a member of an exhaust system is attached.
With this structure, the exhaust gas sensor is positioned around the flange of the exhaust port to be inclined relative to the axis of the cylinder, being located at the outside of the exhaust port. Accordingly, no large space is needed for the arrangement of the exhaust gas sensor, and no additional protector for the exhaust gas sensor is needed (see JP-A-2004-316430, Abstract and FIG. 4, for example).
Another structure for arranging an exhaust gas sensor for a motorcycle has been proposed. In a motorcycle including this structure, an engine with a bottom projection, such as an oil pan, is positioned between a front wheel and a rear wheel. An exhaust pipe extends from the engine rearward through the bottom side of the bottom projection. An exhaust gas sensor is attached vertically to a sensor attachment part on the upper part of the exhaust pipe and at a position separated rearward by a certain distance from the rear of the bottom projection.
With this structure, the exhaust gas sensor can be protected by the bottom projection and the exhaust pipe against flying stones. Thus, the need for a protective cover can be obviated, effecting a reduction in cost of design and production (see JP-A-Hei 11-343895, Abstract and FIG. 2, for example).
JP-A-2004-316430 is directed to the structure of arranging an exhaust gas sensor for a scooter-type motorcycle. JP-A-Hei 11-343895 is directed to the structure for arranging an exhaust gas sensor for a large motorcycle having an oil pan at the bottom of an engine.
The scooter-type motorcycle described in JP-A-2004-316430 has a large cover covering the engine and parts around the engine and connected to a rider's seat. Thus, if the motorcycle only has the structure for preventing the exhaust gas sensor against stones flying from below, no additional protection against flying stones is needed for the exhaust gas sensor.
In the large motorcycle described in JP-A-Hei 11-343895, the exhaust gas sensor can be protected against flying stones by the bottom projection and the exhaust pipe. However, it is unsatisfactory that no consideration is given to foreign matter coming from the lateral sides.
Generally, most large motorcycles manufactured by Japanese motorcycle manufacturers are models shipped to Europe that are compatible with European exhaust gas restrictions stricter than Japanese exhaust gas restrictions.
Meanwhile, many motorcycles available in the Japanese market are small. Among others, on and off-road motorcycles (designed for running on both paved public roads and unpaved roads or roadless ground) have gained increasing popularity lately.
On and off-road motorcycles must typically have a lightweight structure. For this reason, covers and other similar parts are made as small as possible or omitted other than the minimum required. When an exhaust gas sensor is attached to an exhaust pipe of an on and off-road motorcycle, attachment of a protective cover causes problems related to weight which contradicts the requirements above.
In addition, an on and off-road motorcycle may often fall. Thus, protective measures must be taken against damage to various parts of the motorcycle in case of a fall.
Exhaust-gas sensors, especially O2 sensors, generally use oxygen extracted from the atmosphere to detect exhaust gas components in the exhaust pipe (detect the air-fuel ratio). Thus, if an ambient air inlet of the exhaust gas sensor is covered with foreign matter such as mud, ambient air will not be introduced smoothly, and the detection function of the sensor will be significantly damaged.
On and off-road motorcycles may run on bad roads having conditions such as slush, as well as in cities. Thus, the exhaust gas sensor must be protected against sprayed mud as well as flying stones.
More specifically, in commonly available motorcycles, the protection against flying stones only aims at preventing breakage of the exhaust gas sensor. The protection against sprayed mud aims at preventing the detection function of the sensor from being reduced.
However, the idea of protecting the exhaust gas sensor against sprayed mud as described above is not disclosed in JP-A-2004-316430 or in JP-A-Hei 11-343895. In addition, on and off-road motorcycles often undergo model changeovers. Installation of exhaust gas sensors will be indispensable for future new models of one and off motorcycles.


The invention features a substantially pure DNA which includes a sequence encoding a novel steroid receptor co-activator which is overexpressed in breast cancer cells, diagnostic assays for steroid hormone-responsive cancers, and screening assays to identify compounds which inhibit an interaction of the co-activator with the steroid hormone.

Breast cancer arises from estrogen-responsive breast epithelial cells. Estrogen activity is thought to promote the development of breast cancer, and many breast cancers are initially dependent on estrogen at the time of diagnosis. Anti-estrogen compositions have therefore been used to treat breast cancer.
A frequent mechanism of increased gene expression in human cancers is amplification, i.e., the copy number of a DNA sequence is increased, in a cancer cell compared to a non-cancerous cell. In breast cancer, commonly amplified regions are derived from 17q21, 8q24, and 11q13 which encode erbB-2, c-myc, and cyclic D1 respectively (Devilee et al., 1994, Crit. Rev. Oncog. 5:247–270). Recently, molecular cytogenetic studies have revealed the occurrence in breast cancers of additional regions of increased DNA copy number (Isola et al., Am. J. Pathol. 147:905–911, 1995; Kallioniemi et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 91:2156–2160, 1994; Muleris et al., Genes Chromo. Cancer 10:160–170, 1994; Tanner et al., Cancer Research 54:4257–4260, 1994; Guan et al., Nat. Genet. 8:155–161, 1994).
Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in American women, and it is estimated that an American woman has at least a 10% cumulative lifetime risk of developing this disease. Early diagnosis is an important factor in breast cancer prognosis and affects not only survival rate, but the range of therapeutic options available to the patient. For instance, if diagnosed early, a "lumpectomy" may be performed, whereas later diagnosis tends to be associated with more invasive and traumatic surgical treatments such as radical mastectomy. The treatment of other cancers likewise is benefitted by early diagnosis, for instance the prognosis in the treatment of lung cancer, colorectal cancer and prostate cancers is greatly improved by early diagnosis. There is a need for a simple and reliable method of diagnosis of cancers in general and of breast cancer in particular. There is a need for a method of screening for compounds that inhibit the interaction between an estrogen receptor ER and an ER-dependent nuclear receptor co-activator molecule in order to identify molecules useful in research diagnosis and treatment of cancer. There is also a need for a method for identifying tamoxifen-sensitive cancer patients in order to better manage treatment. A solution to these needs would improve cancer treatment and research and would save lives.

AIB1, a novel steroid receptor co-activator

The United States of America as represented by the Department of Health and Human Services


Embodiments of the present invention disclose a gateway for remote control and system as well as a method for implementing remote control. The user side calls a telephone number to which the gateway for remote control corresponds, and the gateway for remote control puts through the call and controls a controlled device according to the information from the user side. It is possible to know and control the controlled device of the local network through the gateway for remote control that need not be online all the time. The voice prompt is defined by the own internal device of the local network, so as to enhance the expansibility and compatibility of the gateway. The user can directly control the device of the network through dialing a phone number. Embodiments of the invention are not restricted by the area, and the expense thereof is very low.

Along with rapid development of digital information technology, the digital information technology goes beyond the traditional commercial limit, and electronic products of the consumption field and office equipment of enterprises have been generally digitalized. There are more and more digital entertainment devices and digitalized domestic electrical appliances in common homes. These devices are connected in a wire or wireless mode constituting a LAN (Local Area Network) within the home, so as to share the contents or the access to the Internet, or control each other conveniently, which is the concept of digital home network that the industry is conceiving and pulling off.
In the near future, the home network connecting to the Internet through a home gateway will enter a remote control application phase, so that people can remotely know and control a device within the home network while being outside the home network, for example people may remotely switch on the air-conditioner in their houses and learn in advance while being in office how much food is left in the refrigerator and remotely examine the operation of home security system.
There are two methods of implementing the digital home network in the prior art.
The first method of implementing the digital home network is that directly and remotely controlling the home network by logging on the network. The method is as the following.
The user logs on the home gateway that is a master device of the home network from the Internet in the manner of Internet Protocol (IP) addressing or domain name addressing, or through visiting the web page provided by the service provider.
The home gateway calls the corresponding application to read the current state information of various devices within the home network through a certain medium, and conducts the correlative processing and generates interface data. For example the information of each device can be collected by using the UPnP (Universal Plug and Play)/IGRS (Intelligent Grouping & Resource Sharing) protocol.
The home gateway sends the interface data to the user through the Internet. The user can see the state information of various devices in his house through a browser and control the devices by clicking various buttons to which the devices within the home network relates on the browser page.
The pages may be generated by a server of the service provider according to the data provided by the home gateway, may be organized and generated by the home gateway itself or generated and pushed to the user browser by the device itself within the home network.
The browser of the user may be a personal computer (PC), a mobile phone or other terminals with a display interface.
There are various control protocols, for example the UPnP/IGRS protocol can be used for control.
The drawbacks of the above scheme include that the user needs to pay the added surfing expenses because the home gateway has to be on-line all the time, and the terminal that can visit the Internet with a display interface is required, for example a PC, a mobile phone with a browser function.
The above leads to higher cost of remote control, for example, it is required to purchase a computer or a slap-up mobile phone. In addition, the expense is high if people surf in the Internet by using a mobile phone.
Moreover, the above two preconditions do not exist in some cases, for example, when the user goes to tour in a mountainous area which is not covered by signals, he can not surf in the Internet by using a mobile phone and can not know the operation of devices within the home network, even though it is necessary to perform the remote control at this time.
Furthermore, the mode of using the browser requires that the users have enough technical knowledge.
The second method of implementing the digital home network is that indirectly and remotely controlling the digital home network by logging on the network to receive and transmitting an E-Mail. The second method is as the following.
A user writes an E-Mail having the contents that the user wants to check and control in a special format and sends the E-Mail to a particular mail box.
A home gateway logs on the Internet periodically, visits the mail box and reads the E-Mail mentioned above.
The home gateway analyzes the content of the E-Mail, calls the corresponding application according to demands of the E-Mail, reads the current state information of various devices within the home network through a certain medium, conducts the corresponding processing and generates the interface data. For example the information of each device can be collected by using the UPnP/IGRS protocol.
The home gateway sends these data to the user by an E-Mail. The user can see the state information of various devices within the home network by browsing the E-Mail and control these devices by the interaction with the E-Mail.
The drawbacks of this method include the followings.
The response speed is low.
A terminal that can visit the E-Mail mail box on the Internet with a display interface is required, for example a PC or a mobile phone with the browser function.
The above leads to higher cost of remote control, for example, it is required to purchase a computer or a slap-up mobile phone. In addition, the expense is high if people surf in the Internet by using a mobile phone.
Moreover, the above two preconditions may not exist in some cases, for example, when the user goes to tour in a mountainous area which is not covered by the signal, he can not surf in the Internet by using the mobile phone and can not know the operation of devices within the home network, even though it is necessary to perform the remote control at this time.
Furthermore, the mode of using the browser requires that the users have enough technical knowledge.
Thus, a system and a method for remotely controlling the home network devices are needed, so as to control the device of the network directly without support of a special device or the area restriction, and with low expense.

Gateway for remote control and system and method for implementing remote control


A portable auxiliary door lock includes a lock cylinder slidable upon a bar having toothed edges to engage the locking means within the cylinder. The device differs from such locks for sliding panels, as it provides for temporary attachment between the edge of an arcuately hinged door and the adjacent door jamb to secure the door when it is closed. One end of the bar is bent at a 90 degree angle to insert into the latch recess of the striker plate. However, rather than using the lock cylinder to abut against the door and thereby at least partially blocking access to the lock cylinder for actuation due to the adjacent door knob assembly, the cylinder faces away from the knob assembly and an additional stop plate is used to retain the door. Other improvements are provided, such as adjustment for the spacing between the door and the jamb and additional security to preclude the forced removal of the lock cylinder from the bar.

People who travel must rely upon the security measures provided by the lodging or other facility at which they are staying while away from home. While fine hotels have traditionally provided safe storage for the valuables of patrons, access to such storage is inconvenient at best and is not universally offered, particularly by less expensive and less luxurious accommodations. Moreover, with the increasing miniaturization of electronic devices, many more such devices are routinely carried by persons on their travels. It is not uncommon for persons to take not only still cameras on their travels, but also video recorders, personal computers with associated modems and other peripherals, etc. The need for security for these articles is obvious.
While locks are universally provided by commercial accommodations, such locks are also operable by a universal master key system for access for cleaning and the like. Should such a master key fall into the wrong hands, rooms and their entire contents would be accessible to the holder of the key. In addition, personal violent crime has generally been on the increase, and violent criminal acts against patrons of commercial lodging establishments are not at all unheard of. Even when the occupant is in the room, it is relatively easy for another person who has access to enter the room and quickly abscond with any valuables which may be in the room, if the occupant is sleeping or otherwise indisposed. While positive latches operable from the inside of the room are common in such establishments, they are generally not particularly sturdy and are known quantities to persons intent upon entering a room; means have been devised to circumvent many, if not most of these auxiliary securing means, if they are installed at all in the first place. In addition to the above, many homes and other structures do not have supplementary locking means installed over and above a single lock and latch assembly, and the installation of a permanently installed supplemental lock assembly would entail a relatively large amount of work, perhaps by a professional at some expense.
The need arises for a portable, quickly and easily installable and removable auxiliary locking means which is temporarily installable from the inside of a hinged door having the standard latch pin or bolt and associated striker plate assembly. The portable auxiliary locking means must be relatively small and light weight, and adaptable to doors and door jambs having variable spacing therebetween. No special skills should be required for the installation and removal of such a portable lock, enabling virtually anyone having need of such a lock to make use of it. Finally, the auxiliary lock must be relatively inexpensive in order to encourage individuals who have need of such a device to purchase the device, and must also be relatively sturdy and durable in order to provide the security expected of such a device.


A liquid filter with a composite medium that has a nanoweb adjacent to and optionally bonded to a microporous membrane. The membrane is characterized by an LRV value of 3.7 at a rated particle size, and the nanoweb has a fractional filtration efficiency of greater than 0.1 at the rated particle size of the membrane. The nanoweb also has a thickness efficiency ratio of greater than 0.0002 at that efficiency. The nanoweb acts to provide depth filtration to the membrane, prefilters particles and extends the lifetime of the membrane.

Membrane filters are broadly used in the area of submicron filtration. They typically offer very high filtration efficiencies, and at a specified level can become absolute. Additionally, membranes allow for significant fluid flow through their structures, enabling high per unit throughputs. One drawback of membranes when used in a direct flow through application is that they have very limited filtrate holding capacity. To compensate for this deficiency, separate prefilters can be used to extend the usable life of the membrane. These additional prefilters typically are used to separate out items which are at a larger size than the rating of the membrane, allowing the membrane to apply its limited filtrate holding capacity to the tightest size range at which the filtration operation is occurring.
Membrane laminate filter media have gained increasing recognition for their improved filtering performance. No primary cake is needed to reduce emissions to near zero levels, and nearly all the dust that is collected is removed with every shaking cycle, which helps maintain a consistently low pressure drop across the laminate throughout the life of the bag. Two layer laminates of porous expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) membranes and a variety of different backings have been used. A few examples are: in high temperature pulse jet applications fiberglass backings have been used, in low temperature pulse jet applications polyester felt backings have been used. Felted acrylic or felted PTFE backings have also been used in pulse jet applications where hydrolysis could be a potential problem. In low energy cleaning filtration systems (shakers and reverse air) woven polyester fabric has been used as a backing.
In order for these prefilters to approach the same general level of filtration size as the membrane, they must be processed so as to close their inherent pore size (e.g. by calendering in the case of typical nonwoven or meltblown materials). This additional processing step typically results in a reduction of the flow rate capability of the prefilter, frequently reducing it below the flow rate capability of the membrane, resulting in additional prefilters being required in parallel to accommodate the desired flow rate. Reducing the basis weight and or thickness of the prefilter to improve its flow rate results in a reduction of its filtrate holding capacity.
It would be desirable to have a microfiltration prefilter that could be directly combined with a microporous filtration membrane, that would provide a significant filtration level at the membrane target filtration level without significantly reducing the flow capability of the membrane, and significantly improving the membranes use life by removing a large percentage of the targeted filtrate size and larger items and having significant filtrate holding capacity.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A resonant switched power converter having switching frequency controlled in response to an output voltage thereof achieves over-current protection such as at start-up or under short circuit conditions using a resonant tank circuit which provides a notch filter in addition to a band pass filter. A additional band pass filter provided in the resonant tank circuit achieves increased power transfer to a load and reduced circulating resonant currents and conduction losses. The inductances of the preferred LCLCL tank circuit or other tank circuit with two pass band filters and a notch filter may be integrated into a single electrical component.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to power supply systems and voltage converters and, more particularly, to resonant DC/DC converters and power supplies having four or more resonating elements to achieve both increased efficiency and other desired characteristics such as start-up and short-circuit over-current protection.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many currently available and foreseeable commercial electronic products provide for operation from DC power sources such as rechargeable batteries but also provide for obtaining power from commonly available AC distribution systems. Many such devices include digital logic circuitry which may be of a wide range of complexity and which may include technologically advanced components with stringent tolerances for voltage and current requirements including widely varying current demands at very low voltages such as are encountered in providing power to microprocessors. At the same time, there is a growing demand for both energy savings/high efficiency and simplicity and size reduction for economy of manufacture and convenience when placed in service.
To achieve high efficiency, switching converters have been employed as an alternative to analog voltage regulator circuits. To achieve high power density (e.g. the capability to deliver high power per unit volume) with switching converters, it has been found most effective to increase the switching frequency so that the size of passive components such as filter capacitor and inductor elements may be reduced since such element occupy a major portion of the volume of a switching converter of a given design and electrical specifications.
So-called hard-switching pulse width modulating (PWM) converters essentially regulate voltage for varying current load by altering the duty cycle of input of a generally higher voltage to a converter which may be of any of a number of known topologies functioning as a filter and can achieve efficiencies well above those of analog voltage regulator circuits which regulate voltage by developing a voltage drop across them, thus dissipating substantial power. However, the efficiency which can be achieved by hard-switching converters is limited by the switching losses which become especially severe as switching frequencies are increased.
So-called soft switching PWM converters such as a full bridge phase shift PWM converter or asymmetrical half bridge PWM converter are widely applied for front-end DC/DC conversion. Soft switching PWM converters which include a resonant circuit which is resonant near the switching frequency can achieve zero-voltage-switching (ZVS) since the resonant circuit reduces the voltage to zero or near-zero at the times switching must occur. Therefore, lower switching loss and higher frequency switching with improved efficiency can be accomplished compared with hard switching converters. However, the resonant circuit causes large currents to circulate within the converter, particularly at harmonics of the switching frequency, and conduction losses can be significant. Moreover, holdup time specifications require the converter to maintain output voltage more than 20 mS after AC input line drops. Therefore, bulky capacitors are used to provide energy during the holdup time. Thus the capacity of the holdup time capacitor is wholly determined by required energy during holdup time and severely limits the capability for increasing increased power density even though increasing the operating range can extract more power from the holdup capacitor and allow a capacitor of somewhat reduce value to be employed. Unfortunately, sacrifice of a significant degree of efficiency is required to extend the operating range in order to do so through known techniques. While some arrangements have been proposed for extending operational range and extending holdup time for a given capacitance, they are complex and difficult to control.
LLC resonant converters have also been proposed and have been extensively studied. While LLC converters can achieve zero voltage switching (ZVS) and zero current switching (ZCS) together with high voltage gain capability suitable for reducing the holdup capacitance requirement, currents during start up and short circuit conditions excessively stresses internal components, compromising reliability. Further, the magnitude of circulating resonant currents is aggravated; imposing an increased limitation of efficiency.

Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties, Inc.


A cleaning apparatus includes a blade, a screw, a toner crushing member, and a casing. The toner crushing member is located in contact with the screw. The toner crushing member is provided in association with the screw and configured to crush toner accumulated between the screw and the blade, by being swung by the screw rotating. The casing houses the screw and the toner crushing member. The screw rotates in the direction reverse to the rotational direction of the photoreceptor drum. The toner crushing member is configured having a first part and a second part, with a base-end side of the first part being secured to the casing, and the second part being folded back along a distal-end side of the first part, such that a distal-end side of the second part swings between the blade and the screw, in association with the rotation of the screw.

Unless otherwise indicated herein, the description in this section is not prior art to the claims in this application and is not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
For example, an image forming apparatus, such as a laser printer and a multi-functional peripheral, includes a cleaning apparatus that removes remaining toner from an outer peripheral surface of a photoreceptor drum.
There is a cleaning apparatus that includes a blade, a screw, and a casing. The blade is slidably in contact with the outer peripheral surface of the photoreceptor drum in contact with the brush and separates the remaining toner from the outer peripheral surface of the photoreceptor drum. The screw conveys the toner separated from the photoreceptor drum. The casing houses the screw.
Usually, the blade and the screw are arranged separated from one another. Therefore, the toner separated from the photoreceptor drum is likely to accumulate between the blade and the screw. If the accumulated toner hardens, a flow of the toner heading from the blade to the screw is inhibited.
Therefore, the above-described cleaning apparatus includes a toner crushing member that crushes the toner accumulated between the blade and the screw. The toner crushing member is constituted of an elastic sheet material keeping in contact with the rotating screw. A base end side of the toner crushing member is secured to the casing while a distal end side of the toner crushing member is arranged between the blade and the screw.
Thus, the rotation of the screw swings the distal end portion of the toner crushing member. Accordingly, the toner accumulated between the blade and the screw is crushed with the distal end portion of the toner crushing member.
Here, in the cleaning apparatus, a rotation direction of the photoreceptor drum is the same as the rotation direction of the screw. Accordingly, the screw is in contact with the toner crushing member from the base end side to the distal end side, thus ensuring stable swing of the sheet-shaped toner crushing member.

Cleaning apparatus, image forming apparatus, and toner crushing member


The invention relates to an operating device (1) for operating at least one electric device (2) that has one, two, or more functional parameter(s) (3), said operating device (1) comprising a touchscreen (4) and a mechanical operating element (5). The operating device (1) is designed to assign control over the functional parameter(s) (3) to the mechanical operating element (5) by means of a selection on the touchscreen (4).

The invention relates to an operating device for operating at least one electric device that has one, two or more functional parameters, said operating device comprising a touchscreen and a mechanical operating element.
Operating devices for electric devices are known for numerous applications, for example for the operation of devices in motor vehicles or for audio applications. In motor vehicles, particularly different functional parameters of a radio unit, air conditioning system and/or a navigation device can be actuated and controlled by means of the operating device. The functional parameters of the air conditioning system include, for example, the temperature and the fan speed. With regard to the audio applications, functional parameters such as, for example, values of treble and bass and the dynamics of one or a plurality of instruments can be adjusted on so-called mixing consoles.
The German patent publication DE 10 2006 000 637 A1, which probably constitutes the prior art closest to the invention, describes a display device which has a contactless, sensitive surface. Because the display device allows for a capacitive as well as resistive interpretability, said device is designed to operate one or a plurality of electric devices by contact with or approach to symbols which are displayed on the surface.

Operating device for operating at least one electric device


The invention relates to a shock absorber (100), in particular for use as an additional irreversible shock-absorbing stage together with a component for transferring force. In order to achieve the reliable dissipating of high impact energies, a shock absorber (100) comprising the following is indicated in accordance with the invention: a base plate (1); a force-transferring element (3) having a tensioning element (4); an energy-absorbing element in the form of a deformation tube (5) which is connected by a first end section to the base plate (1); and a connecting element (6) for the disengageable connecting of the force-transferring element (3) to a second end section of the deformation tube (5), wherein the connecting element (6) is pressed against the tensioning element (4) such that the deformation tube (5) is braced between the tensioning element (4) and the base plate (1) without play.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a shock absorber, including for use as an additional irreversible shock-absorbing stage together with a component for transferring force.
2. Description of the Related Art
To protect the outer hull of a ship against damage when maneuvering in a port or when anchoring at a wharf, it is known to make use of so-called fenders. Normally, a fender acting as a protective body is thereby positioned between the ship and the wharf such that it serves as a shock absorber on the one hand and, on the other, as a spacer so that the hull is not chafed. Independently devised fenders are usually used for larger ships, these being a component of the wharfage facility. Such fenders designed as components of a wharfage installation can have a certain degree of elasticity so that up to a certain extent they can also act along with the ship's movements when docking or in swells.
When the elastic damping capacity of fenders employed as such is exceeded, however, the risk arises of the ship's hull being damaged since when a ship for example strikes undamped against a wharf, the resultant impact energy acts undampened on the ship's hull. In order to prevent damage to the hull of the ship in this scenario, it is conceivable to provide an irreversibly-designed shock absorber which is activated when the damping capacity of the fender employed is exceeded and then absorbs at least a portion of the resulting impact energy, respectively converts it into the work of deformation and heat.
The damping of impact forces and the effective absorbing of impact energy resulting from an impact is a general problem, particularly with moving objects, when due to the mass of the object, high kinetic energies which are to be absorbed in a defined manner pursuant a predictable sequence of events need to be factored in.
This applies not only to ships such as oil tankers, for which wharfage facilities provide specific impact protection components, but also railborne vehicles. Buffer stops are known from rail technology, for example, which serve to terminate a track or a dead-end track of a railroad line with the intention of preventing a rail vehicle or a railcar from traveling beyond the end of the track. Buffers stops are usually configured so as to absorb as much energy from the moving rail vehicle as possible so that the rail vehicle remains as undamaged as possible. In the process, a buffer stop can be deformed or destroyed.
Shock absorbers can, however, also take the form of bumpers. These relate to structural elements on vehicles which, upon a collision or crash with a hard obstacle, absorb energy and thereby prevent damage to the vehicle or its cargo. Bumpers are particularly used on railborne vehicles (also referred to as "buffers" or "bumper bars"), whereby at least one or two constructional elements affixed to the front end are used which have the purpose of absorbing external compressive forces acting horizontally on the rail vehicle in its longitudinal direction. In line with this principle, rail vehicles can make use of two types of bumpers as shock absorbers, namely the so-called "single buffer" or "central buffer," in which the shock absorber is mounted in the longitudinal axis of the vehicle such that only one buffer is in each case centrally provided at the front end front beam of the rail vehicle, or the so-called "dual buffer" or "side buffer," in which two buffers are provided at the front end of the rail vehicle.
It is therefore known from the field of rail vehicle technology, for example, in the case of a multi-member railway vehicle, to equip the individual car bodies with so-called side buffers or UIC buffers when the car bodies are not connected together by a bogie and thus, the distance between the two coupled car bodies can vary during normal vehicle operation. These side buffers thereby serve to absorb and dampen impacts occurring during normal vehicle operation, for example when braking or bringing up to speed.
A telescoped structure can be used for a side buffer utilized on a rail vehicle which includes a buffer housing, a force-transferring member accommodated therein and a damping element, for example in the form of a spring or an elastomer body. With this type of structure, the buffer housing serves as a longitudinal guide and for the supporting of transverse forces while the damping element accommodated in the buffer housing serves in transferring force in the longitudinal direction.
With respect to the overall length as well as the buffer stroke; i.e., the spring travel of the damping element, this is standardized for certain vehicle categories by European regulations (e.g., the UIC 526 and 528 leaflets). The buffer stroke for a standardized UIC buffer, for example, is within a range of from 100 to 110 mm. After reaching maximum buffer stroke, the damping characteristic of the side buffer is exhausted, in consequence of which impact forces which exceed the characteristic operating load of the side buffer are routed to the vehicle undercarriage undampened.
While the impact forces which occur during normal operation of the vehicle, for example between individual car bodies of a multi-member vehicle, are absorbed by the regeneratively-designed damping element integrated in the side buffer, when the operating load of the side buffer is exceeded, however, for instance when the vehicle collides with an obstacle or when the vehicle is abruptly braked, the damping element integrated in the side buffer is usually unable to absorb the total resulting energy. The shock absorbance provided by the side buffer is thus, no longer integrated into the energy-absorbing concept of the vehicle as a whole such that the resulting impact forces are transmitted directly to the vehicle undercarriage. This subjects same to extreme loads with the potential to damage or even destroy same.
With the goal of preventing such damage, it is generally known in rail vehicle technology to design the guiding members of the plunger buffer such that after the maximum buffer stroke has been exhausted; i.e., after the guiding members of the side buffer (buffer sleeve and buffer rod) strike defined arresters, there is an additional contracting possibility by means of controlled deformation.
For example, the WO 2005/11 58 18 A1 printed publication describes a plunger buffer in which after the energy absorption provided by the regeneratively-designed damping element has been exhausted, predetermined break joints break away so as to thus increase the contracting length of the buffer. This increased contracting length allows the plastic deformation of the buffer housing upon overload so that this solution enables a destructive conversion of impact energy into the work of deformation and heat. The resulting deformation of the buffer housing which occurs upon overload thus, provides an additional protection against impacts to the shock absorbance provided by the side buffer.
Even if the side buffer known from this art can protect the vehicle undercarriage up to a certain degree from damage upon severe collisions, it is thereby not possible to adapt the additional shock absorber to specific applications. To do so would require commensurately designing the force-path characteristic for the deformation of the buffer housing so as to enable a predictable, defined absorption of energy. In particular, the known solution is unsuited for many applications since the maximum energy absorption achievable with the deformation of the buffer housing is often too low.
A further disadvantage can be seen in the fact that after the additional shock absorber has been activated, the entire side buffer needs to be replaced since the shock absorber is integrated into the side buffer and because due to the deformation of the buffer housing, the side buffer can no longer be used in normal vehicle operation.
The problem described above not only applies to shock absorbers designed in the form of a bumper; i.e., as a structural element mounted to the front end of a rail vehicle. In fact, a parallel can also be drawn between the disadvantages exemplified above with reference to a side buffer and shock absorbers which are a component of e.g., a buffer stop or a wharfage installation.


The invention relates to the control of multistage fluid separation processes and systems. The processes and systems employ at least one recycle compressor or pump in conjunction with their associated controlling system to separate a fluid mixture in an efficient manner during off demand or turndown conditions. The operation of at least one recycle compressor or pump is controlled so as to maintain the pressure in the permeate side or sides at a set value, thus maintaining the desired pressure ratio across the multistage membrane and obtain the desired, reduced power consumption during off demand or turn-down conditions.

Permeable membrane systems have been increasingly employed in various fluid separation process. In such separation processes, a fluid mixture is brought into contact with the surface of the membrane in order to permeate the more readily permeable component of the fluid mixture through the membrane. As the more readily permeable component is withdrawn as a permeate stream, the less readily permeable component of the fluid mixture is recovered or removed as a non-permeate stream.
Significant factors in the design and overall efficiency of membrane systems are the total membrane surface area required for a given fluid separation and the partial pressure difference across the membrane that is required to obtain a desired product quantity and quality, which reflect the membrane's permeability and selectivity (or separation factor) characteristics respectively. The design of practical membrane systems requires optimization of the trade-offs between membrane surface area and said partial pressure differences. Thus, the grater the partial pressure difference, or driving force, across the membrane, the less is the membrane surface area required for a given fluid separation. This necessitates the use of more expensive pumping equipment and higher pump operating costs, but enables membrane equipment costs to be kept relatively low. If, on the other hand, a lower driving force is employed, more membrane surface area is required, and the relative costs of the various aspects of the overall system and operation would change accordingly.
Membrane systems are usually designed and optimized for full capacity, steady constant flow conditions, i.e., design conditions, that are not always fully utilized in practice. Under operating conditions other than the design conditions, different combinations of optimum operating conditions will prevail with respect to membrane area versus partial pressure differences because fluid separation applications for which membrane systems are desirable typically do not run under steady flow conditions. The demand from the membrane system will often vary in terms of product quantity and/or quality. For example, product demand for nitrogen gas from an air separation membrane system can vary significantly in a twenty-four hour period in terms of nitrogen flow rate and/or purity required. This varying product demand dictates that the membrane systems be designed to operate efficiently during off demand or turn-down conditions.
Several techniques have been used or proposed in attempt to operate membrane systems efficiently during the off demand or turn-down conditions. U.S. Pat. No. 4,806,132 discusses a number of techniques, which have been previously employed to operate membrane systems during off demand or turn-down conditions. These previous techniques involve reducing the flow of a non-permeate product stream by increasing the permeation of a greater amount of a fluid feed mixture, by shutting down a portion of the available membrane surface area or by using a surge tank to unload the membrane system. Due to their inefficient use of the available membrane surface area and power, however, this patent decides to reduce the flow of a feed stream during the off demand or turn-down conditions to operate membrane systems efficiently. The flow of a feed stream into the membrane system is controlled by adjusting the operation of a feed compressor located at the inlet line of the membrane system with controlling means.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,857,082 discusses in columns 1 and 2, inter alia, U.S. Pat. No. 4,397,662 which discloses a technique for operating a membrane system under turn-down conditions. The technique is indicated to involve removing membrane area by automatically valving off a portion of the membrane modules at predetermined production levels. To achieve this result, the membrane system is indicated to utilize a complex design involving additional valves, piping, instrumentation, etc. This design is indicated to be capital intensive due to the use of several smaller modular membrane units in parallel. Thus, the intent of U.S. Pat. No. 4,857,082 is to use a series of valves and control units located around membrane units to effectively control the differential pressure across the membrane to follow the changes in product demand or feed flow. This scheme is particularly adaptable to processes where the permeate gas is the desired product.
None of the techniques discussed above, however, is directed to control systems and processes useful for multi-stage membrane systems having at least three membrane stages and at least one recycle compressor, which are capable of recovering a high purity non-permeate product stream. Such multi-stage membrane systems are becoming increasingly important since they could produce, for example, high purity nitrogen without employing a deoxo unit. Therefore, there is a genuine need for control systems and processes which are useful for operating multi-stage membrane systems having at least three membrane stages and at least one recycle compressor during off demand or turn-down conditions.

Multistage membrane control system and process


The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method of fabricating the apparatus for dispensing a sample for subsequent analysis by mass spectrometry. The apparatus comprises a polymer substrate (1), in which a covered microchannel (3) has been etched, a wall of the microchannel comprising an electrically conductive material (2) for applying a voltage allowing the sample to be sprayed into a mass spectrometer from the open end (4) of the microchannel. The present application also discloses various applications of the apparatus.

The present invention relates to apparatus for dispensing a sample for subsequent analysis by mass spectrometry, and to a method of fabricating such apparatus.
Mass spectrometry is a performant analytical technique, which provides information about the chemical nature of analyzed molecules. The application domain of mass spectrometry analysis has grown in the past few years with the development of technologies which allow the injection of a broad range of molecules. Among the different feeding processes, the electrospray or nanospray is a method of choice, where the sample is diluted in a solvent and sprayed from a flow of solution under a high voltage ionization.
Recent developments have allowed the automation of the feeding of samples to a mass spectrometer (MS) in order to enhance the throughput of the analysis. Indeed, mass spectrometry analysis is a rapid technique that can work with a scan rate of more that 10 kHz. On the other hand, more and more performant informatic tools allow the rapid treatment of data for example with new software that is able to compare the obtained data with a full database in a very short time. Therefore, the need for fast and automated sampling systems is growing.
Different designs have been presented for fabricating a nanospray. The more common way is to pull a capillary and to metallize its external surface. The capillary is then connected to a nanospray tip and placed in front of a mass spectrometer. This method is convenient but difficult to fabricate in a reproducible way. Such a system is however easier to fabricate in a planar microchip, also called a microfluidic device as used in the present invention.
A standard electrospray is composed of a capillary end that is surrounded by a metallic substrate to apply the high voltage, while sheath liquid and sheath flow are provided to enhance the performances of the ionization and evaporation of the solvent. More recently, various approaches have been investigated to provide sheathless electrospray systems where a capillary with small enough dimensions insures an efficient spray (see Wahl J H et al, Electrophoresis, 1993, vol. 14, p 448). Alternatively, WO 98/35226 describes inserting a platinum wire inside the capillary and gluing it with epoxy in order to apply the high voltage at the exit of the capillary.
Microfluidic devices are composed of a plate or a film with covered microchannel networks and are principally developed for electrophoretic separations. These systems are coupled to a mass spectrometer in an ever-growing number of cases. Such a coupling is ensured by a nanospray interface, which is able to work with a slow flow rate (typically 1 to 500 nL/min). Several approaches have been shown to reach this goal, mainly glass chips being coupled to an MS through a liquid junction (Figues et al, Analytical Chemistry, 1998 vol. 70 p 3728) or by adjusting a nano-tip at the end of the microchip (Li et al, Analytical Chemistry, 1999 vol. 71 p 3065). In an alternative system described by Ramsey et al, Analytical Chemistry, 1997, vol. 69 p 1174, the microchannel end has been directly coupled to an MS, by applying the potential from a side capillary. An interface between a polymer-based microchip in PDMS and a capillary for the nanospray coupling has also been suggested by Chan et al, Analytical Chemistry, 1999 vol. 71 p 4437. An interesting point is that this configuration allows the multiplexing of capillaries and opens the way to multiple analyses in a minimum of time. In another concept described by Xu et al, Analytical Chemistry, 1998 vol. 70 p 17, the solution is pumped through a membrane cut-off and the solution is driven to a metallized spray tip to the MS. In WO 98/35376, an electrospray nozzle has a filter structure that is integrated between the sample inlet and the channel tip outlet. The concept of multiplexing a nanospray is presented in U.S. Pat. No. 5,872,010, in which a covered microchannel array is used for feeding the mass spectrometer. The high voltage is applied in a sample or buffer reservoir and not by a conductive region inside the covered microchannels. Numerous methods have been described in which microchips have been coupled to an MS, through more or less direct interfaces.
In another format, a polycarbonate chip was fabricated by mechanically machining a cone in a polymer block, and using a laser to etch a capillary system in one of the polymer blocks that ended in an electrospray nozzle. (Wen et al. Electrophoresis 2000, 21, 191–197). This format necessitates the etching of a polymer by machining in order to remove material to form a tip shape more suited for electrospraying.
In another work, Kim et al. (Kim et al. Electrophoresis 2001, 22, 3993–3999) presented a way of fabricating arrays of electrospray in PDMS by casting that can be directly interfaced to the MS. Nevertheless, because of the fairly thick polymer they use for stability, they have to assist the flow with nitrogen in order to generate a stable spray. Otherwise, some authors (WO 00/15321) presented a way of fabricating nanospray nozzles in silicone that can be further interfaced with glass or plastic chips. Nevertheless, in this work, the authors did not mention machining a plastics chip to form the nozzle.
The integration of microelectrodes, microholes and microionodes (i.e. composite ion permeable membranes) has been achieved recently by photoablation or by plasma etching, for the electrochemical detection of electroactive or ion species as well as for decoupling two electrical fields in a capillary electrophoresis column and an electrochemical detector.

Apparatus and method for dispensing a sample

Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne


The invention is a data transmission medium and a method of data transmission. A data transmission system in accordance with the invention includes a plurality of modems; a transmission medium coupled to each of the modems with data transmissions between the modems being transmitted by the transmission medium with a data transmission protocol; a plurality of processors which use a common processor data protocol, each processor being coupled to one of the modems; a plurality of devices, each device receiving and/or transmitting data transmissions with a device data protocol and being coupled to a processor; and a plurality of digital devices, coupled to the transmission medium, which perform at least one of transmitting digital data to the transmission medium for transmission by the transmission medium to another digital device and receiving digital data from another digital device transmitted by the transmission medium.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to data transmission over a transmission medium, such as a power bus or digital data bus of a system, between devices of the system such as the transmission of data between at least one new device added to an airframe and other devices of the airframe.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is known that the power bus of a system, such as a vehicle, may be used to transmit information between components of the system by transmitting a modulated carrier over the bus, which contains information to be transmitted between the components. See U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,438,519, 4,641,322 and 6,127,939.
FIG. 1 illustrates a prior art connector 200 used in airframes. The connector 200 has a female connector 202, which is connected to a power bus of the airframe and a male connector 204 which is connected to a device (not illustrated) in the airframe, such as avionics, line replaceable units (LRUs) or munitions. The connector 200 may be a MIL-STD-1553 connector or a MIL-STD-1760. Electrical power may be provided to the device through the mated connectors 202 and 204.
The male connector 204 has a series of pins 207 which are connected to conductors (not illustrated) which enter through back plane 206 which is part of a device connector. The pins 207 project from an insulative insert 208, which is held in metallic ring 209. The insert may be rubberized and flexible. The insert 208 has a series of through holes 210 which provide a pass through for conductors (not illustrated), which do not mate with the sockets 213 of the female connector 202.
The female connector 202 also has a rubberized insulative insert 211 held in a metallic ring 212. The insulative insert 211 has the sockets 213 aligned with and receiving the pins 207. However, the number of sockets 213 may be larger in number than the number of pins. The sockets 213, which receive one of the pins 207, contain a metallic receptacle (not illustrated) electrically contacting the pin. The sockets 213 are electrically connected to conductors (not illustrated) extending out of the back side and individually are contained in the wiring bundle 214. Through holes 216 are aligned with through holes 210 of the male connector to complete the pass through of conductors (not illustrated).
The retrofitting of an aircraft to add new equipment, LRUs and/or munitions, including new wiring, is a complex process, which can require many months of modification time and involve substantial expense. When new digital devices are added to after market military or commercial aircraft, the addition thereof typically requires new bus wiring or an expanded load on the already heavily loaded aircraft wiring cockpit applications. New devices, that may only require minutes to install, often require an entire airframe to be nearly disassembled to allow new wiring runs to the new devices. Furthermore, the new wiring adds weight to the aircraft and takes up space which is always disadvantageous in any airframe design and is especially so with high performance airframes in which maneuverability is important.
Furthermore, new equipment, such as LRUs or munitions, which are retrofitted to an airframe often require high bandwidth data links between the new equipment to points in the airframe where control or monitoring is performed. High bandwidth communications between state of the art digital equipments are necessary.

Information transmission system and method of data transmission


A shaft sealing arrangement includes a first seal and a second seal, wherein the first seal is designed in the form of a lip seal and the second seal is designed in the form of a mechanical seal. When the shaft is at a standstill, the lip seal performs the sealing action and, when the shaft is rotating, the mechanical seal performs the sealing action.

Shaft seals are required, in particular, in turbomachines, for example in gas turbines, steam turbines or compressors. All of these turbomachines have in common that a flow medium which is present in the turbomachine has to be prevented from escaping from the turbomachine. The turbomachines has a rotatably mounted shaft, which is usually enclosed by a stator, for example a turbine housing. The rotatable shaft and the stator usually have between them a gap through which the flow medium can flow, it being necessary for this to be prevented or at least minimized.
Use is therefore made of different types of shaft-sealing arrangement in order to prevent flow medium from flowing out. Labyrinth seals, brush seals or mechanical seals are known in this context. Other types of shaft-sealing arrangement are also known. A comprehensive listing of the various shaft-sealing arrangements has not been included here.
In relation to the labyrinth seals, which are of comparatively straightforward construction, the modern dry gas seals are comparatively challenging as far as the operating conditions are concerned. Reliable operation of dry gas seals is possible only when a sliding film of dry gas between the two sealing rings is constantly supplied with gas which has been treated to a high quality. The gas for supplying the gas film between the sealing rings, on the one hand, has to have been dried to a sufficient extent and, on the other hand, also has to be comparatively free of foreign bodies. The amount of space, and the investment costs, required by the auxiliary systems, for example of a process-gas compressor, which are necessary for the gas treatment must be taken into account.
There are known operating conditions in which the sealing action of a shaft-sealing arrangement has to meet different requirements. It can thus be the case that, in the standstill state, i.e. when the shaft is not rotating, the sealing action required for the shaft seal is different to that required during operation, i.e. when the shaft is rotating, it being possible for this rotation to take place, for example, at nominal speed. There are operating conditions which require the best possible sealing action in the standstill state and require the sealing action to decrease during operation, i.e., for this operating condition, a flow of a medium between the rotating shaft and the stator is very much desirable.
For example lip seals, as illustrated in FIG. 1, are known. FIG. 1 therefore illustrates a known lip seal according to the prior art.
A shaft 2 here, which is mounted in a rotatable manner about an axis of rotation 1, is arranged in a position opposite a stator 3. A lip seal 5 is arranged in a recess 4 in the stator. The lip seal 5 forms a V shape, as seen in cross section. The lip seal 5 here is formed around the entire circumference 6. The lip seal 5 is formed here such that there is slight contact with an inner surface 7 of the recess 4. Contact likewise takes place between the lip seal 5 and a surface 8 of the shaft 2. The lip seal 5 here has an upper limb 9 and a lower limb 10. The upper limb 9 is in contact with the surface 7 of the recess 4 of the stator. The lower limb 10 is in contact with the surface 8 of the shaft 2. At high rotational speeds, this contact results in a temperature increase and wear. The lip seals are therefore formed rather more for lower rotational speeds. For higher speeds, use is made rather more of contactless seals, e.g. labyrinth seals. However, these types of seal are less effective at lower rotational speeds.


An X-ray CT apparatus includes a perfusion data acquisition unit, a perfusion parameter calculating unit and a perfusion parameter display unit. The perfusion data acquisition unit generate perfusion data by exposing an X-ray to the object with injecting contrast medium. The perfusion parameter calculating unit calculates perfusion parameters corresponding to ROIs based on time variations in density of the contrast medium for the ROIs. The perfusion parameter display unit divides a period to be a calculation target of the time variations into plural time ranges and sequentially displays images each including the ROIs. The images correspond to the time ranges and mutually different time phases respectively and are masked so as to make only ROIs at which the perfusion parameters show values displayed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an X-ray CT apparatus, and a medical image processing apparatus and a medical image processing method that generate and display information with time showing a result of blood flow perfusion analysis acquired from an object.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a perfusion analysis of a blood flow in various organs of an object is performed using an image diagnostic apparatus such as an X-ray CT (computed tomography) apparatus, an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) apparatus or a nuclear medicine diagnostic apparatus (see, for example, Japanese Publication of Patent Application No. 2006-247388). The conventional perfusion analysis is performed using data obtained with injecting a contrast medium or a tracer into an object. The perfusion analysis allows observing a dynamic state of a blood flow.
A color map is more often used as a display method of a result of the perfusion analysis. Observation that uses the color map is aggressively used in diagnosis of a blood flow dynamic state and a location of ischemia. Especially, the perfusion analysis in a vessel of a head or a tissue such as the heart or the liver sustained from vessels is a very significant analysis for understanding the function of the tissue.
FIG. 1 shows conventional graphs indicating TDCs (time density curves) of contrast medium obtained as a result of perfusion analysis. FIG. 2 is an image showing a method of displaying a perfusion analysis result obtained as the TDCs as shown in FIG. 1.
In each graph in FIG. 1, the ordinate axis denotes a CT value (HU: Hounsfield Unit) corresponding to a density of contrast medium injected into an object and the abscissa axis denotes time. The respective curves in FIG. 1 represent TDCs in respective ROIs (regions of interest) (ROI1, ROI2, ROI3, . . . ).
In the conventional perfusion analysis, a TDC of each ROI as shown in FIG. 1 is produced from pieces of X-ray CT data for plural ROIs obtained by injecting a contrast medium or a tracer. Then, perfusion parameters of the respective ROIs are calculated by various algorithms based on the produced TDCs.
The perfusion parameters obtained as a result of the perfusion analysis are separated by colors according to the data values and displayed as a color map as shown in FIG. 2.
However, the color map that is a conventional display method of a result of the perfusion analysis is to display a result including pieces of perfusion data at all time phases non-dynamically. That is, the color map displays a result of overlapping all pieces of the perfusion data obtained from an object in the time axis direction.
Therefore, there is a problem that it becomes difficult to understand a blood flow dynamic state intuitively since information in the perfusion data such as how from which direction blood flow flows cannot be observed over time.

X-ray CT apparatus, medical image processing apparatus and medical image processing method


A camera for use with a compact film cartridge having a battery arranged in the front end portion of a grip portion, and a cartridge chamber in which a compact film cartridge is stored is arranged at the boundary between the grip portion and a camera body. A motor is arranged between the battery and the cartridge chamber. A main capacitor for causing an electronic flash to emit light is horizontally arranged above the cartridge chambers and motor. In the camera arranged as described above, although the camera body and a lens barrel are smaller than those of a conventional camera in order to achieve miniaturization commensurate with miniaturization of the film, the grip portion has a size and height which are equal to those of the grip portion of the conventional camera. Accordingly, in the camera, of the present invention a release operation can be easily performed, and a shape having good holding properties can be obtained.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a camera and, more particularly, a camera in which components arranged inside the camera are optimally arranged to cope with miniaturization of the camera.
2. Description of the Related Art
At present, a film popularly used in a camera is a 35-mm film having a width of 35 mm and stored in a 135-format cartridge.
In recent years, however, with progress having been made in film techniques, there have been proposed a lot of compact films on which photographic information or the like can be magnetically recorded.
For example, a technique associated with a small-format color negative film is disclosed in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 5-165166, and a compact film cartridge associated with a technique of easily confirming a trimming area on a film is disclosed in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 5-142641.
When such a film is used, a compact and lightweight camera can be realized, and a zoom lens at a high magnification can be easily used.
However, when an overall camera is miniaturized without changing the conventional component arrangement inside the camera to cope with the miniaturization of the a film, the holding properties related to the gripping properties and operability of the camera are degraded to cause camera shake.
In addition, when the position of a release button is lowered to cope with miniaturization of the camera, the release button is not easily operated, and a camera shake easily occurs.
For this reason, it has been difficult to increase the magnification of the photographic lens in compact cameras, and more particularly, to perform telephotography by changing the photographic lens into a zoom lens.

Camera for use with a compact film cartridge