A circuit for applications such as electrical impedance tomography includes a voltage-to-current converter having an input for receiving a voltage waveform and an output for outputting a current waveform to a load at an output resistance for the voltage-to-current converter. The voltage-to-current converter includes resistance control means for adjusting the output resistance of the voltage-to-current converter under computer control. The circuit of the present invention also includes an inductance control circuit operatively connected to the voltage-to-current converter for synthesizing a selected inductance. The inductance control circuit includes inductance control means for adjusting the value of the selected inductance by computer control. The operative connection between the voltage-to-current converter and the inductance control circuit causes application of the selected inductance to the output of the voltage-to-current converter so that an overall output impedance of the current source at the load is both high and controllable.

The present invention relates generally to the field of electrical impedance tomography (EIT), and in particular to new and useful circuits and calibration algorithms or techniques which permit highly precise current waveforms to be produced and introduced to various loads.
This invention was developed for use in electrical impedance imaging (also called electrical impedance tomography and electrical impedance spectroscopy) where the generation of current waveforms is needed for the purpose of diagnosing breast cancer and other disease.
It should be noted that other applications in electrical impedance imaging exist such as defect detection, geological imaging, and process monitoring. Likewise, the invention may be useful for applications other than electrical impedance imaging.
To obtain the data needed to reconstruct an electrical impedance image, current waveforms are applied to a load through electrodes, the voltages that appear on the electrodes are measured, and these data are processed by a reconstruction algorithm to generate a two or three-dimensional image of the interior conductivity and/or permittivity. The current waveforms are typically sinusoids with a frequency in the range of 100 Hz to 10 MHz. In a 32-electrode system, as many as 32 current sources may be used to apply currents to all the electrodes simultaneously. Each set of applied currents is called a current pattern.
The patterns of current that are applied (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,920,490; 5,588,429; 5,381,333; 5,272,624), methods by which voltages are measured (U.S. Pat. No. 5,544,662) and the algorithms which reconstruct the images (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,920,490; 5,284,142; 5,351,697; 5,390,110) have been previously described.
The quality of the images produced in impedance imaging depends greatly on the precision of the applied currents. Precision can be defined as the reciprocal of the fractional change in current resulting from a change in load impedance. High precision reflects little change in current while low precision reflects large change in current. The current sources must be able to provide the desired current over the range of load impedances presented by the electrodes. To achieve this precision, the current sources should have an output impedance that is much higher than the load impedances. Here, a new current source is described which improves the precision of the applied currents and expands the frequency range over which currents may be generated. To our knowledge, no current source presently exists which is capable of producing an output over the range of 100 Hz and 1 MHz with output impedances in the tens to hundreds of Megohms. This level of output impedance is required in order to achieve the level of precision necessary in an optimized, applied current, impedance imaging system.


The disclosure provides a creep resistant alloy having an overall composition comprised of iron, chromium, molybdenum, carbon, manganese, silicon, nickel, vanadium, niobium, nitrogen, tungsten, cobalt, tantalum, boron, copper, and potentially additional elements. In an embodiment, the creep resistant alloy has a molybdenum equivalent Mo(eq) from 1.475 to 1.700 wt. % and a quantity (C+N) from 0.145 to 0.205. The overall composition ameliorates sources of microstructural instability such as coarsening of M23C6carbides and MX precipitates, and mitigates or eliminates Laves and Z-phase formation. A creep resistant martensitic steel may be fabricated by preparing a melt comprised of the overall composition followed by at least austenizing and tempering. The creep resistant alloy exhibits improved high-temperature creep strength in the temperature environment of around 650° C.

Creep behavior and degradation of creep properties of high-temperature materials are phenomena of major practical relevance, often limiting the lives of components and structures designed to operate for long periods under stress at elevated temperatures. In ultra supercritical steam turbines operating at temperatures up to 600° C., the rotors, airfoils, rotor casing, valve chest and other ancillary components are generally composed of high Cr (9-12%) martensitic steel. High Cr (9-12%) martensitic steel are generally comprised of iron with between 9-12 weight % (wt. %) chromium, relatively low carbon contents, and additions of alloying elements such as molybdenum, tungsten, cobalt, vanadium, niobium, nitrogen, and others.
Creep is a time-dependent deformation of a material under an applied lead which most often occurs at elevated temperature. Physical models of creep behavior in creep-resistant steels such as high Cr (9-12%) martensitic steel rely on a stable microstructure built from martensitic laths and organized into blocks, packets and prior austentite grains and stabilized by M23C6 carbides, which assume resistance to increments in creep strain depending on barriers to dislocation movement through climb and glide, where a dense dislocation network, fine particle dispersions, and elastic strain fields in the matrix are generally considered to present effective barriers to dislocation movement. Changes in the effectiveness of these barriers lead to changes in creep behavior of materials. Structural changes in the material usually accelerate the creep, which in turn accelerates the rate of appearance of intergranular creep damage. Creep terminates in rupture when unabated and has a significant impact on component lifetime.
In high Cr (9-12%) martensitic steels, structural changes usually accelerate the creep, which in turn accelerates the rate of appearance of intergranular creep damage. Correspondingly, microstructural stability during service is of great importance. The structural features generally expected to exert an influence on the creep rupture properties in high Cr (9-12%) martensitic steels include the martensitic lath and associated hierarchical structure (blocks and packets), the prior austenite grain structure, the formation of a three-dimensional network of M23C6 carbides associated with such structures, the dislocation density within the martensite laths, the polygonization conditions of the subgrains, the presence of fine, uniformly dispersed MX, nitrides, and carbonitrides within the martensitic lath structure, and the solid solution strengthening of the martensitic lath matrix by elements such as molybdenum, tungsten and cobalt. The high Cr (9-12%) martensitic steels are typically strengthened by a combination of matrix solute strengthening agents such as cobalt, molybdenum, and tungsten, matrix transformation to martensite with heat treatments, and MX matrix precipitate and M23C6 particle formation on prior austenite/packet/block/lath/subgrain boundaries. Creep strength is generally achieved by a high dislocation density and the combination of frictional drag on dislocations from solute in the matrix and also MX precipitate formation impeding dislocation movement as discrete obstacles during creep. As is understood, the term MX particle denotes a nitride or carbonitride particle such as (Nb, V)(N, C), where M represents metal atoms such as titanium, niobium, tantalum, zirconium, hafnium, and others, and X represents interstitial atoms. The conditions under which different metal atoms form MX particles vary with the compositions or steel alloys. Similarly, as is understood, M23C6 indicates a carbide such as (Cr, FE, Mo, W)23C6, where M is the carbide forming element such as chromium, iron, molybdenum, tungsten, and others. The M23C6 carbides primarily form at prior austenite boundaries, packet, block and lath boundaries while MX carbonitrides precipitate in the ferrite matrix, typically during the tempering process.
The standard heat treatments for high Cr (9-12%) martensitic steels generally involve austenization and/or normalizing and tempering. The austenization is usually carried out at high temperatures above the Ac1 temperature in order to dissolve most carbides and nitrides and obtain a fully austenitic microstructure. After cooling to room temperature, the microstructure generally becomes martensitic, with a relatively high dislocation density. The martensite is a distorted tetragonal form of the ferrite bcc crystal structure. Normally air cooling of 9-12% Cr steels is sufficient for martensitic transformation, because the high levels of chromium retard the diffusion of carbon and mitigates the formation of ferrite. This is typically followed by tempering in order to recover ductility.
The creep resistant high temperature martensitic steels may be produced through both wrought or cast manufacturing methods. Wrought manufacturing primarily comprising the steps of alloy design, melt processing, homogenization, thermomechanical processing, and heat treatment. In cast manufacturing, the thermo-mechanical processing is largely eliminated, leaving limited ability to develop strength in the alloy body except through alloy design and heat treatment. Where previous alloys had not displayed a comparative strength in cast manufactured versus wrought, the present alloys show at least equal performance. The performance of the a cast alloy is illustrated in FIG. 1, which illustrates duplicate tests of cast CPJ-7 alloy in both equiaxed and columnar solidification zones of a cast ingot to show the relative property equivalence of the two solidification zones.
During an exemplary cast production of the alloy, once alloy formulation is established, the alloy is melted in a vacuum induction furnace with close attention to melt stock purity, the loading/timing of additions, and the tight control of minor elements such as C, N, Cu, and B. The newly melted ingot is then subjected to a computationally optimized homogenization heat treatment. One characteristic of this class of alloy is it starts to solidify as BCC up to about 80% with the remaining liquid solidifying with a matrix of FCC phase. Thus, in order to properly treat the homogenization of a 9% Cr steel matrix, the chemical segregation in both the BCC and FCC regions requires further treatment. This is done by determining the incremental solid chemistry from that of the liquid, regardless of what phase(s) are forming during solidification. Fortunately, during a standard heat treatment the structure of the matrix is FCC (which also gives a more conservative estimate of the homogenization since diffusion in the FCC phase is slower than that in the BCC phase). After each heat treatment increment, the incipient melt temperature is interrogated as before and the heat treatment temperature is adjusted to take account for and take advantage of the increased homogeneity, and thus the change in incipient melt temperature. To assess the degree of homogeneity of the alloy after the computationally designed homogenization cycle, the minimum and maximum values of each of each element of interest is compared to the element chemistry nominal value. It is preferred that the residual inhomogencity be less than 10% overall, with 5% being better and 1% being desirable. What is meant by this is demonstrated in the following example: if the nominal chemistry value for Cr is 9.75 by weight percent, and after the homogenization cycle the Cr is estimated to range from 9.58 to 9.74 or 98-100% of the aim (accounting for 99.1% of the solid). Thus, in this example, with respect to Cr, the homogenization of the CPJ-7 steel is deemed to be one of the best results possible. The preferred formulation for CPJ-7 cast steel is as follows (all values in weight percent):Fe-0.012B-0.15C-1.5Co-0.025Cu-9.75Cr-0.4Mn-1.25Mo-0.022N-0.05Nb-0.20Ni-0.1Si-0.2Ta-0.2V-0.50W
The CPJ-7 steel casting is homogenized suitably dependent upon the section size, preferred residual inhomogeneity (1% being the most desirable) and maximum furnace temperature capability as outlined in Table 1. Thus, for castings with a 4 inch section thickness, <1% residual inhomogeneity and furnace capability of above 1300° C., the castings were homogenized in the following manner: 1130° C. for 1 hour followed by 1250° C. for an additional 8 hours. The casting is then slow cooled to room temperature in the furnace. At this point the casting is austenitized at 1150° C. for 30 minutes, or an appropriate time commensurate with the as-cast article dimensions, followed by air cooling of the cast article to below the martensite start temperature at which time the cast article is tempered at 700° C. for 60 minutes (or at temperatures for times commensurate with the thickest dimensions of the article and its desired tensile properties) before cooling it in air to room temperature.
The intent of this approach was to have the 0.2% yield strength (YS) be higher than that of other commercial cast steels so that it would be more appropriate for the steam turbine rotor casing or main steam valve chest. Heat treatment during the post austenization tempering stage can be adjusted to either raise, or lower, the 0.2% YS depending upon the desired degree of ductility or impact toughness by changing either the tempering temperature and/or the number of tempering cycles.
With the necessary emphasis on creep behaviors at higher temperatures, heat resistant alloys providing improved creep performance provide obvious advantage. Correspondingly, presented here is a creep resistant alloy comprised of at least iron (Fe), chromium (Cr), molybdenum (Mo), carbon (C), manganese (Mn), silicon (Si), nickel (Ni), vanadium (V), niobium (Nb), nitrogen (N), tungsten (W), cobalt (Co), tantalum (Ta), boron (B), copper (Cu), and potentially additional elements. The overall composition strengthens the matrix with solute additions and precipitates, stabilizes the various grain and sub-grain structures using carbides, and engenders a high density of dislocations with thermo-mechanical processing (TMP) and heat treatment. The overall composition ameliorates sources of microstructural instability such as coarsening of M23C6carbides and MX precipitates, and mitigates or eliminates Laves and Z-phase formation by positional control of composition. In an embodiment, the creep resistant alloy exhibits significantly unproved high-temperature creep strength in the temperature environment of around 650° C. as compared to other creep resistant martensitic steels, such as COST FB2, COST E, and COST B2 steels.
Additional objects, aspects, and advantages of the present disclosure will become better understood with reference to the accompanying description and claims.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Creep resistant high temperature martensitic steel


A semiconductor device of an embodiment includes a seed generator circuit configured to generate a seed from inputted data by using first random number sequence data generated by an XorShift circuit; and a random number generator circuit configured to receive the seed as input to generate second random number sequence data by a second XorShift circuit.

A semiconductor device may be equipped with a random number generator circuit. For example, in a nonvolatile memory, such as a NAND flash memory, to improve reliability of data read from a memory cell, user data, being a write target, are randomized by using random numbers and, thereafter, are written into the memory cell. The user data are randomized with the random numbers to form uniform random numbers and hence, reliability against various defective modes of the memory cell is improved.
However, the conventional random number generator circuit has a limitation of the data size of random number sequence data to be generated, and has a large circuit scale.

Semiconductor device and semiconductor storage device


A brush for suede shoes, or any other object made of napped material, hasving a one-piece molded plastic handle having a hollow interior with a planar outwardly-facing bristle-mounting surface, a collar extending annularly about the bristle-mounting surface and a gripping portion extending centrally from the collar transversely oppositely of the bristle-mounting surface. Bristles are embedded in and extend outwardly from the bristle-mounting surface. A hollow removable erasing rubber sleeve is configured for essentially complemental fitting over the gripping portion. Paired apertures and protrusions fit together to retain the hollow removable erasing rubber sleeve in complemental contact overlying the gripping portion of the handle of the brush.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to brushes and to brushes for cleaning mud and debris from suede, more particularly, the invention relates to brushes to clean shoes made, in part or in whole, of suede.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The shoe brush art and the suede brush art are both well-developed. Numerous United States patents have been issued for various brushes, some of which are for suede, while others of which are for shoes. Known to applicant are U.S. Pat. Nos. D281,035; D289,109; D305,480; D307,216; D355,734. D364,275; D372,585; D389,318; D413,445; D425,707; D433,817; D439,414; U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,399,580; 5,213,430; 5,437,075; 5,596,785; 5,865,554; 5,978,999 and 6,032,316.


A fuel introduction system introduces fuel to an internal combustion engine operating on a six-stroke combustion cycle including a first compression stroke, a first power stroke, a second compression stroke, and a second power stroke. The fuel introduction system includes a first orifice set for introducing a first fuel charge to a combustion chamber of the engine during the first compression stroke and/or power stroke and a second orifice set for introducing a second fuel charge to the combustion chamber during the second compression stroke and/or power stroke. Combustion of the second fuel charge can assist in burning particulate matter left in the combustion chamber from combusting the first fuel charge. The first and second orifice sets can be configured to differentiate the first and second fuel charges by, for example, fuel quantity or spray pattern.

Internal combustion engines operating on a six-stroke cycle are generally known in the art. In a six-stroke cycle, a piston reciprocally disposed in a cylinder moves through an intake stroke from a top dead center (TDC) position to a bottom dead center (BDC) position to admit air, an air/fuel mixture, and/or an air/exhaust gas mixture into the cylinder. During a compression stroke, the piston moves towards the TDC position to compress the air or the air/fuel/exhaust gas mixture. During this process, an initial or additional fuel charge may be introduced to the cylinder by an injector. Ignition of the compressed mixture increases the pressure in the cylinder and forces the piston towards the BDC position during a first power stroke. In accordance with the six-stroke cycle, the piston performs a second compression stroke in which it recompresses the combustion products remaining in the cylinder after the first combustion or power stroke. During this recompression, any exhaust valves associated with the cylinder remain generally closed to assist cylinder recompression. Optionally, a second fuel charge may be introduced into the cylinder during recompression to assist igniting the residual combustion products and produce a second power stroke. Following the second power stroke, the cylinder undergoes an exhaust stroke with the exhaust valve or valves open to substantially evacuate combustion products from the cylinder. One example of an internal combustion engine configured to operate on a six-stroke cycle can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 7,418,928. This disclosure relates to a method of operating an engine that includes compressing part of the combustion gas after a first combustion stroke of the piston as well as an additional combustion stroke during a six-stroke cycle of the engine.
Some possible advantages of the six-stroke cycle over the more common four-stroke cycle can include reduced emissions and improved fuel efficiency. For example, the second combustion event and second power stroke can provide for a more complete combustion of soot and/or fuel that may remain in the cylinder after the first combustion event. However, the additional piston strokes and fuel charges may increase the complexity of the internal combustion engine and its operation. The present disclosure is directed to addressing the increased complexity of the engine.

Six-stroke combustion cycle engine and process


Disclosed is a device and method to aid in the monitoring of the health of an amputee's limb. The device employs a socket preferably including a liner. The liner may be constructed of an inner layer and an outer layer. The inner layer is configured to hold a plurality of sensors able to monitor the physiological health of the enclosed limb. The inner layer further employs a transmission device able to receive data from the sensors and send such data to an end user; the end user being a computer, the amputee, or a doctor. Through receipt of such data, the end user is aided in monitoring the health of the limb.

1. Field of the Invention
The field relates generally to a device and method for monitoring of the health of a person's limbs. More specifically, some embodiments relate to the analysis of data affecting the health of an amputee's limb. Some embodiments are targeted towards monitoring a limb through the use of a socket liner.
2. Description of the Related Art
Through the use of ever improving technology, amputees are finding more ways to function through the use of prosthetic devices. Often an amputee uses a socket placed over a limb which is thereby attached to the prosthetic device. The prosthesis may function as a leg, arm, foot, or hand for the amputee.
Use of sockets, however, may cause irritation, volumetric shrinkage and other adverse reactions to the user. Often liners, socks, sleeves, and other limb coverings are used to aid in the prevention of injury to the limb while the socket is in place. Damage to the limb may still occur despite the protection that a liner may provide.
There exists a need for new devices and methods that provide additional functionality to an amputee who uses a socket.

Socket liner incorporating sensors to monitor amputee progress


There is provided a screen capable of sufficiently reducing speckles. A screen for displaying an image by being irradiated with a light beam from a projector, is provided with a plurality of particles each including a first part and a second part different in dielectric constant, a particle layer having the plurality of particles, and electrodes which form an electric field for driving the particles of the particle layer by applying a voltage to the particle layer.

As disclosed in, for example, an International Publication 2012/033174 pamphlet and Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication Number 2008-310260, a projector using a coherent light source is widely used. As a coherent light beam, typically, a laser light beam oscillated by a laser light source is used. When a coherent light beam is used as an image light beam from the projector, speckles are observed on screen irradiated with the image light beam. The speckles are perceived as a spotted pattern to degrade displayed image quality. In the International Publication 2012/033174 pamphlet, for the purpose of reducing the speckles, the incidence angle of an image light beam incident on respective positions on a screen varies with time. As a result, scattering patterns having no correlation are overlapped on the screen to reduce the speckles.

Screen, display apparatus, screen use method, particle, particle layer, particle sheet, and light control sheet


A method and computing device for managing models. The method and computing device receive a spreadsheet model, receive template management instructions on how to manage evaluations, create, from the spreadsheet model and the template management instructions, a model template, and deploy, in response to user action, an instance of the model template into a model relationship structure relating one or more spreadsheet model instances.

People in organizations often conduct evaluations and analysis using models in one of two basic ways. The first method is to create spreadsheet models (usually in Microsoft® Excel®), store them in file structures (on the computer or server or web), and transmit them back and forth (typically via email or using shared spreadsheets like Google® Docs) with collaborators. This method does not scale, as it quickly becomes complicated and creates significant communication and maintenance costs for models. Version control, comparing analyses, aggregating results across models and tracking the sources of information are difficult. The second method is to create a database, defining fields in a tabular format and conducting evaluations through database queries. This method provides for better web access, comparison and aggregation, but greatly restricts the flexibility and power of the modeling. For example, a programmer typically has to be employed to change the database fields or structure.

Systems and methods for managing spreadsheet models


A method for easy holding of a trash bag in a container: It consists of at least one retainer set and a container having an open end. Each retainer set consists of at least two magnetically coupled pieces which can engage or disengage with each other, with one of the two pieces attached rigidly to an outside portion of the container. Place a portion of a trash bag inside the container with the outside portion of the trash bag folded down along the trash can wall. Engage the two magnetically coupled pieces to fold part of the trash bag around them. The folding(s) reduces the force needed to hold the trash bag in place at the coupling portion of the two retainer pieces. The apparatus can be easily operated with one hand.

As is often desired, one needs to attach a sheet to a solid structure so that the sheet, or a portion of it, does not move with respect to the solid structure. An example is the attachment of a trash bag to a trash can. To keep a trash can clean and for easy trash removal, a trash bag is typically used inside a trash can. Trash bags are notoriously known for easily falling into a trash can when material is placed inside of them. As a result, the material may fall outside of the trash bag and into the space between the trash bag and the trash can, which makes it difficult to pick the material up. When the material is trash, it can also make the trash can dirty.
Many trash bag and retainer designs have been introduced in the past in order to solve the problem of a trash bag falling into a trash can. Prior arts include many different designs to hold the trash bag in place, for example, tabs inside a trash can (U.S. Pat. No. 3,825,150); an elastic band (U.S. Pat. No. 4,338,979); elastic band with protruding structures (U.S. Pat. No. 7,055,224); handles on a trash bag attached to holders on a trash can (U.S. Pat. No. 4,437,634); a wire frame (U.S. Pat. No. 4,623,111); side bars for supporting handled trash bags (U.S. Pat. No. 5,054,724); interlocked rings (U.S. Pat. No. 5,062,533); clips (U.S. Pat. No. 5,645,186); two handles (U.S. Pat. No. 5,671,861); clamps designed into a trashcan (U.S. Pat. No. 6,484,374). These inventions and others have advanced the art, but are still not convenient enough. The object of the invention is to device a design so that the attachment of a sheet to a solid structure, such as the attachment of a trash bag to a trash can, can be easily made.


A method and machine for filling capsules with at least one product, whereby the bottom shell of each capsule is fed along a given path in time with a relative metering device having a metering chamber for transferring a given quantity of product from a tank into the bottom shell; the metering chamber having a weighing device for weighing the product contained in the metering chamber.

In the pharmaceutical industry, a machine for filling capsules with a pharmaceutical product in granules is known comprising a conveyor device movable continuously along a given path and having a number of pockets, each for receiving a respective bottom shell of a capsule; at least one tank containing the product; and a metering wheel mounted to rotate continuously about its substantially vertical longitudinal axis.
The metering wheel has a number of metering devices, each of which travels with the metering wheel along a portion of the path of the bottom shells, in time with a respective bottom shell, to transfer a given quantity of product from the tank into the bottom shell.
Each metering device comprises a substantially cylindrical metering chamber for receiving the product from the tank; an unloading chute for unloading the product from the metering chamber into the relative bottom shell; and a piston, which defines the bottom of the metering chamber, and is moved along the metering chamber, by a cam follower roller engaging a cam associated with the metering wheel, to and from a feed position to feed the product to the unloading chute and, therefore, into the bottom shell.
Each pocket on the conveyor device is defined by a shaped bush with a capacitive transducer, which provides for weighing the respective empty bottom shell, weighing the respective bottom shell containing the product, and calculating the weight of the product in the respective bottom shell as the difference between the two weights.
Known machines of the type described above have various drawbacks, mainly due to the fact that, though amply tried and tested, the method used to calculate the weight of the product in each bottom shell fails to prevent a possible error in the weight of the bottom shell from impairing calculation of the weight of the product in the bottom shell, particularly in view of the high dielectric constant of the material of the bottom shell with respect to the dielectric constant of the product inside the bottom shell.

Method and machine for filling capsules or similar with at least one product, in particular a pharmaceutical product in granules


Observation is performed at a more appropriate sensitivity without reducing an image quality. Provided is a fluorescence observation device (1) including: an excitation light source (3) that emits excitation light to be radiated onto a subject (A); a fluorescence-image acquiring section (21) provided with an imaging element (18) that acquires a fluorescence image (G2) by imaging fluorescence produced in the subject (A) when the excitation light emitted from the excitation light source (3) is radiated onto the subject (A); and a sensitivity adjusting section (22) that adjusts, based on luminance information of the fluorescence image (G2) acquired by the imaging element (18) of the fluorescence-image acquiring section (21), a number of pixels for binning summing (B) and/or an exposure time (t) in the imaging element (18) such that a SN ratio of the fluorescence image (G2) is equal to or larger than a predetermined threshold.

In fluorescence observation devices, such as fluorescence endoscopes, there are known conventional techniques in which a number of pixels for binning summing or an exposure time is changed according to the brightness of an image in order to detect weak fluorescence from a subject, and, if the amount of fluorescence is low, the number of pixels for binning summing is increased, or the exposure time is lengthened, thereby increasing the sensitivity for observation (for example, see PTL 1).


Provided is process for the synthesis of at least one functionalized organic polysulfide.

Organic polysulfides are used in numerous applications. This is because, depending on the functional groups which they carry, they can be used as additives in lubrication, as antiwear agent, extreme-pressure agent or antioxidant. They are also used during the presulfidation of catalysts for the hydrotreating of petroleum cuts or vulcanization. They can also participate in the composition of lubricating formulations, for example for gearboxes or for the machining of materials. Furthermore, they can be used in the manufacture of cement, concrete or asphalt. Finally, they can participate in the composition of some medicaments for combating radiation or for other therapeutic uses.
Consequently, depending on the organic polysulfides desired, there exist numerous processes for the synthesis of these compounds.
For example, in industry, organic polysulfides are commonly synthesized by a process of reaction between a mercaptan, sulfur and a basic catalyst. They can also be prepared by a process of reaction between an olefin of petroleum or renewable origin with sulfur and hydrogen sulfide. However, these processes for obtaining organic polysulfides require high temperature and/or pressure conditions in order to be effective.
It will be easily understood that, due to the multitude of the possible applications of functionalized organic polysulfides, there still exists a need to provide processes for the synthesis of the latter.
It will also be understood that there also exists a need for syntheses of functionalized organic polysulfides with processes which can be described as enduring, that is to say can be carried out with mild temperature and pressure conditions, in aqueous solution with pH values close to neutrality, and with starting materials of renewable origin, and the yields of which are greater than those obtained with the pre-existing processes, and more generally according to processes which are more environmentally friendly.

Functionalised polysulphide synthesis method


A method of configuring a power meter may include comparing a maximum power measurable by the power meter to a pulse output power comprising a pulse having an initial pulse weight and an initial pulse duration. The power meter may change at least one of the pulse weight and the pulse duration until the pulse output power is at least equal to the maximum power measurable by the power meter.

The present invention relates to power and energy meters and, more particularly, to a simplified method of configuring a digital power or energy meter.
The total power consumption of a building or other facility is monitored by the electric utility with a power meter located between the utility's distribution transformer and the facility's power distribution panel. However, in many instances it is desirable to sub-meter or attribute the facility's power or energy usage and cost to different occupancies, buildings, departments, or cost centers within the facility or to monitor the power consumption of individual loads or groups of loads, such as motors, lighting, heating units, cooling units, etc. These single phase or multi-phase electrical loads are typically connected to one or more of the branch circuits that extend from the facility's power distribution panel.
Flexibility has favored adoption of digital power and energy meters incorporating data processing systems that can monitor one or more circuits and determine a number of parameters related to electricity consumption. A digital power or energy meter for measuring electricity consumption typically comprises one or more voltage and current transducers that are periodically read by the meter's data processing unit which, in a typical digital meter, comprises one or more microprocessors or digital signal processors (DSP). The data processing unit periodically reads and stores the outputs of the transducers quantifying the magnitudes of current and voltage samples and, using that data, calculates the current, voltage, power, and other electrical parameters, such as active power, apparent power and reactive power that quantify electricity distribution and consumption. The calculated parameters are typically output to a display for immediate viewing or transmitted from the meter's communications interface to another data processing system, such as a building management computer for remote display or further processing, for example formulating instructions to automated building equipment.
The voltage transducers of digital power and energy meters commonly comprise a voltage divider network that is connected to a conductor in which the voltage will be measured. The power distribution panel provides a convenient location for connecting the voltage transducers because typically each phase of the power is delivered to the power distribution panel on a separate bus bar and the voltage and phase is the same for all loads attached to the respective bus bar. Interconnection of a voltage transducer and the facility's wiring is facilitated by wiring connections in the power distribution panel, however, the voltage transducer(s) can be interconnected anywhere in the wiring that connects the supply and a load, including at the load's terminals.
The current transducers of digital power and energy meters typically comprise current transformers that encircle the respective power cables that connect the monitored circuit to the bus bar(s) of the distribution panel. A current transformer typically comprises multiple turns of wire wrapped around the cross-section of a toroidal core. The power cable conducting the load current is passed through the aperture in the center of the toroidal core and constitutes the primary winding of the transformer and the wire wrapped around the cross-section of the core comprises the transformer's secondary winding. Current flowing in the primary winding (primary current) induces a secondary voltage and current in the secondary winding which is quantitatively related to the current in the primary winding. The secondary winding is typically connected to a resistor network and the magnitude of the primary current is determined from the amplitude of the voltage at the output of the resistor network. To measure the power consumed by a load, a current transformer must be installed encircling each conductor in which the current will be measured.
While flexibility has made digital power and energy meters attractive, the ability to monitor a plurality of circuit arrangements conducting widely varying levels of energy complicates meter configuration increasing the time required for meter commissioning and the possibility of errors. What is desired, therefore, is a simplified method for configuring a power and energy meter.


A suspension rack includes a suspension plate having a first side, a second side, and two end portions each defining a hole and an L-shaped cavity located adjacent to the hole. A U-shaped supporting bracket is mounted on the first side of the suspension plate and includes a vertical arm, two side arms each extending from the vertical arm to the suspension plate, and two extensions each extending from an associated side arm to abut on the first side of the suspension plate. Two snapping members each include an enlarged head abutting on an associated extension, a shank slidably received in a bore defined in each of the two extensions and in the hole of an associated end portion of the suspension plate, and an enlarged abutting edge abutting on the second side of the suspension plate. Two L-shaped resilient hook portions each extend from an associated extension and are each detachably received in the L-shaped cavity of the suspension plate.

A conventional wrench suspension rack can be used in a retail outlet such as a hardware store for displaying a plurality of wrenches to be chosen by consumers. However, by such an arrangement, a person can steal the wrenches by freely detaching them from the wrench suspension rack.
Very often, anti-theft magnetic bar codes can only be printed on the wrench suspension rack, and cannot be printed on the wrenches whose surfaces are smooth, thus, sensors co-operating with the magnetic bar codes cannot detect the wrenches when they are detached from the wrench suspension rack. Therefore, the wrench suspension rack cannot be used for deterring theft.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate disadvantages of the conventional wrench suspension rack.


A computer network for high-speed data communication, has a data transmission cable with a root and at least one leaf node wherein the upstream transmission is synchronized by information received on a downstream channel. Each client station receives data on a first frequency band, and transmits data on a second frequency band according to synchronization signals received on the first frequency band. The client station's transmission packets may include requests for reserved slots on the second frequency band for subsequent transmissions, and the SCS has a scheduler operable to determine a start time for requested reserved slots, and transmits the start time for the requested reserved slots. The client stations are operable to wait to continue transmission after waiting for the start time.

Formerly, computer networks were in the province of academia, large research communities, corporations, and governmental agencies. Over time, these networks have evolved to contain many more computer users and uses within their domains. Furthermore, the networks have to a large extent become connected ("internetworked") to form a world wide network of computers known as the Internet and new types of computer networks have become available. Thus, it has become more likely than not that a computer is connected to some type of computer network.
A consequence of this ever increasing connectivity of computers is that the amount of information available "on-line" has become huge. For example, as of August, 1995, one popular search tool of information available on the Internet (Lycos, http:.backslash..backslash.www.lycos.com) contained an index of 5.6 million web-pages. Similarly, the on-line services, such as America Online, Compuserve, and Prodigy, compete based on the amount of information available through their particular services.
While information distribution is an important use of computer networks, computer connectivity provides many other valuable services. One example is electronic mail. Another is electronic commerce.
For all these reasons, it has become generally recognized that while in the past it was true that being connected to a network or an on-line service could provide a competitive advantage, in modern business and for the sake of education, it has become a necessity.
Many users of on-line services and the Internet connect to these networks via modems and conventional telephone lines. While this is adequate for some uses, it is undesirable for others. It has the advantage of providing a dedicated connection between amuser and a computer to which that user is connected. And it makes use of a connection line, the telephone line, which most households and offices are already connected to. By providing a dedicated connection to the user, there is no need for resolving collisions between users who attempt to access the network simultaneously. All such conflicts are resolved at the computer to which the multiple users are connected. (Of course, if that computer is connected to other computers on shared lines, conflicts between these computers must be resolved).
However, telephone lines are a less than ideal way of connecting computers. First, there is the obvious drawback that in a home-computing environment, a home may be equipped with only one telephone line. Thus, extended on-line use would tie-up the telephone line, which might be needed for other uses. There are also technical problems with telephone lines. These lines are intended for voice communication having a transmission band-width limited to 3.2 KHz. As a consequence, digital communication over telephone lines is of a relatively low bit rate. Typically, a modern modem connecting a personal computer to a telephone line is limited to 28.8 kbps.
It is therefore desirable to provide alternative technologies for connecting home computers to computer networks.
One type of technology that increases the band-width for connections of home computers and small-office computers to computer networks is ISDN lines. These are dedicated lines intended for digital communication between computers. ISDN has much higher band-width than telephone lines. However, most homes and small-offices are not equipped with ISDN lines and few are prepared to take on the expense of having ISDN installed.
A technology that has made its way to most homes and small-offices is cable tv networks. Unlike telephone networks, which provide dedicated lines to each home, in cable tv systems all subscribers in a neighborhood share the cable. However, there is much greater band-width available, as compared to telephone lines, on the cables used by most cable tv systems.
For these reasons it is desirable to provide two-way data communication between home/small-office computers and computer networks over existing cable tv systems.
Because all the cable tv subscribers in one neighborhood share one cable, there is a possibility that multiple computers connected to such a network would simultaneously transmit data on that cable. Such concurrent transmission would result in garbled data and neither transmitter's message would be successfully received by the intended recipient, unless there is a mechanism for avoiding or resolving such contention problems.
The problem of avoiding contentions on shared computer networks have been addressed in a variety of ways. One early approach is known as the ALOHA system. ALOHA originated at the University of Hawaii and was initially primarily used for communication using broadcast radio. The communication over a shared cable is also a broadcasting system in that all stations attached to the cable receive any signal that is transmitted over that cable.
ALOHA's basic principle is to allow every user who shares the common channel to broadcast a message at any given point in time. The transmitting user then listens to the channel for its own message. If the message is not received (by the user who sent it), the user knows that the message must for some reason have become destroyed. Very likely, the message was destroyed by another message simultaneously sent by another user. To resolve this contention for the common channel both users "back-off" a random amount of time before resending the message. Thus, if two users attempt to send a message at time t, their respective messages would become destroyed. By backing off random amounts of time, the first user would resend its message at t+r1 and the second user its message at t+r2. If r1 and r2 are different (which they should usually be if they are truly randomly selected), there should be no conflict between the two messages the second time they are sent.
A drawback to ALOHA is that the likelihood of contention is very high. The channel efficiency rate for ALOHA is a mere 18%.
One improvement of ALOHA is slotted-ALOHA. In slotted-ALOHA, time is divided into specified intervals and messages may only be sent during these intervals, i.e., no message is allowed to span over interval boundaries. The channel efficiency of slotted-ALOHA is 38%.
For a discussion of ALOHA, slotted-ALOHA and the derivation of the channel efficiency rates see, Tanenbaum, Andrew, Computer Networks, second edition, Prentice-Hall, pp. 121-124.
Current solutions for data communication on Cable TV systems include LANMCN-AT of Zenith Corporation and LCP of LANcity Corporation, Andover, Mass. These products share a common design philosophy. In both, the upstream data, i.e., the data transmitted from the end-user to the cable system head-end, is transmitted through the lower band of the broadcast spectrum (below the frequency bands dedicated for downstream data). This upstream data is manipulated in one of two ways. The first alternative is to frequency translate to a higher band of the spectrum, and the second is to demodulate the data. The manipulated data is then re-transmitted on the high-band. All modems, including the modem at the head-end site, transmit on the low band. The transmitted data is either frequency translated or demodulated. All modems, then, receive on the high band.
The upstream data and downstream data have the same bandwidth and data rate. In fact, because the modem at the head-end is treated like all other modems in the system, there is no distinction between upstream and downstream data.
There are several problems with this type of solution for digital data communication on a cable TV cable. First, the transmission characteristics of the downstream band differs from that of the upstream band. The upstream band (low band) is much noisier than the downstream band. To achieve the same data rate in both bands, the downstream band is made to conform to the upstream band. Thus, the method fails to achieve the full data rate potential of the downstream band.
Second, in most cases the upstream data is intended for a remote server and not for a peer end-user. Therefore, retransmitting the data on the downstream band wastes downstream band width.
Therefore it would be desirable to provide a high-speed data communication system, with a high efficiency rate, that utilize a shared cable, and that fully utilizes the available bandwidth of the transmission cable.
Other advantages and features of the invention will be made apparent in connection with the following detailed description.

Communications system including synchronization information for timing upstream transmission of data and ability to vary slot duration


Techniques are provided for generating downlink beamforming weighting vectors by using channel information about one or more uplink sub-channels in a wireless communications network in the case of frequency mismatch between downlink channels and uplink channels for a specific user. The method comprises calculating an average channel covariance matrix of one or more uplink sub-channels assigned to a specific user, dividing a sector of a cell into a plurality of sub-sectors, transforming the average channel covariance matrix into a plurality of average sub-sector channel covariance matrices and obtaining an average uplink beamforming weighting vector group corresponding to the plurality of sub-sectors, selecting direction of arrival (DOA) sub-sectors from the plurality of sub-sectors by using the plurality of average sub-sector channel covariance matrices, and computing a time delay sequence for the DOA sub-sectors, and generating downlink beamforming weighting vectors by using the average uplink beamforming weighting vectors corresponding to the DOA sub-sectors and the information derived from the time delay sequence.

Data are transmitted via a broadband channel in broadband wireless communications networks employing multiple access methods such as time division duplex (TDD) Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and TDD Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA). A broadband channel can be divided into a plurality of sub-channels, each of which comprises a frequency band with distinct channel characteristics.
In a TDD CDMA or OFDMA network, the channel characteristics of downlink channels may be different from those of uplink channels. One of the reasons is that downlink channels and uplink channels are assigned in different frequency bands for a specific user. Another reason is that there is frequency mismatch between downlink channels and uplink channels. As a result, a base transceiver station (BTS) has no means to retrieve downlink channel information from messages transmitted via uplink channels. More specifically, it is difficult for a BTS to generate downlink beamforming weighting vectors for downlink channels without explicitly receiving channel information about the downlink channels. However, it is undesirable for a BTS to explicitly send channel information about downlink channels as the transmission of channel information consumes bandwidth. Therefore, it is crucial for a wireless communications network to be able to employ a method that can generate downlink beamforming weighting vectors in the case of frequency mismatch between downlink channels and uplink channels for a specific user.
In a TDD network, an uplink channel coefficient matrix is strongly correlated with a downlink channel coefficient matrix. Therefore, an uplink channel coefficient matrix can be transformed into a downlink channel coefficient matrix using the correlation between the two matrices. Specifically, downlink beamforming weighting vectors can be generated by using the uplink channel coefficient matrix.

Method for generating downlink beamforming weighting vectors


A clipboard comprising a pair of clamping members arranged substantially parallel one above the other and connected to each other via an intermediate connecting member having a spring loaded hinge connection at each of its elongated ends for securely clamping articles, such as paper sheets, between one of the two clamping members and a board. The lower clamping member is used to hold an existing bundle of paper sheets on the board while disengaging the upper clamping member to add extra paper sheets to said existing bundle of paper sheets. The clamping members are positioned substantially parallel to each other and the lower clamping member extends through a slot formed at the center of a back portion of the first clamping member.

The present invention relates to a clipboard and more particularly to a clipboard having two clamping members spaced substantially parallel to each other for securely clamping articles, such as paper sheets, between one of the two clamping members and a board, wherein the lower clamping member is used to hold an existing bundle of paper sheets on the board while disengaging the upper clamping member to add extra paper sheets to said existing bundle of paper sheets.
There have been known in the art devices, such as clipboards, for clamping together a plurality of loose paper sheets. Since the first patented clipboard, many modifications have been proposed to improve the clamping action of the clamping member on a bundle of paper sheets placed on the board.
The most common kind of clipboard used, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,500,032, granted Mar. 7, 1950 to V. C. Helberg, involves a board, a supporting base fixed to said board via any suitable connecting means such as rivets, a clamping member pivotably mounted on said supporting base with the aid of a torsional spring at a pivotal axle. The clamping member is made of a metal plate which is bent into a downwardly concaving arc. The rear end of the clamping member is provided with an extension at its central portion for use as an actuating lever to pivot the clamping member between opened and closed positions to receive and grip the paper sheets.
A modification of the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 2,500,032 is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,783,062, granted Feb. 26, 1957 to the same applicant. It discloses a clipboard having a clip tiltably mounted on a board by means of a single unitary connecting member formed from spring sheet metal so as to provide a yieldable connection which is entirely devoid of the pivotal axle, torsional spring and other expensive features inherent in the previous structure.
Another kind of clipboard is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,989,298, granted Feb. 5, 1991 to B.-J. Wang. Disclosed is a paper clip which comprises a pressure bar to drive a clamp plate to clamp on a base plate by means of the operation of a torsional spring. The clamp plate is movably mounted to the base plate by two crank levers. The crank levers have each two conical portions at two opposite ends thereof and respectively made in an extended size so that they can be conveniently fastened in the fixing holes on the base plate and the positioning holes on the clamp plate to firmly secure the clamp plate to the base plate.
When using the known clipboards, such as those disclosed in the above references, a user must use one hand to bias the clamping member to the extent that paper sheets can be readily inserted into the interspace between the clamping member and the board while inserting new paper sheets and holding the previously clamped paper sheets with its other hand in order to prevent them from falling. Such clipboards are not useful for persons such as construction contractors, truckers and cops who work outside most of the time. They have to completely free their hands from any other articles in order to hold the previously clamped paper sheets to prevent them from falling. The same problem occurs in the case where the clipboard is removably fixed to a wall. Obviously, the only way to prevent a user from holding the previously clamped paper sheets is to hold the clipboard horizontally where there is no wind.


A dynamic posture chair is disclosed which is capable of use in a range of sit/stand positions. The chair includes a mobile base that is selectively movable by the user and the chair member that is mounted to the base with a tilt mechanism that enables the chair member to be selectively and infinitely tilted over a predetermined of tilt positions while resistively restraining the chair member in the selected tilt position. The chair member includes seat and back members that relatively subtend an angle in the range of about 120 degrees to 135 degrees. The chair member has a uniquely shaped fixed seat/back contour that instantly supports in comfort the back, buttocks and thighs of the user in its lowest and highest vertical positions, and in all positions in between. The tilt mechanism prevents the chair member to be pivotally tilted over an angular range of not greater than about 30 degrees, enabling the user to fully sit on the chair in the rearward most tilt position, and to rest his/her feet at least partially on the floor in the forward most tilt position.

The invention broadly relates to seated body support and is specifically directed to chair devices in which a chair member may be tilted or otherwise moved relative to a chair support.
One of the most difficult problems in chair design is achieving long term comfort, whether task or audience seating is involved. It has been found that maintaining substantially equal pressure distribution throughout the surface area of the body that is in contact with the chair results in the greater comfort, but the human body often becomes uncomfortable, tired and fatigued if the same posture in the chair is maintained over a long period of time. It is now well established that to sustain long term comfort, a dynamic posture function is necessary; i.e., one which permits the chair member to be tilted or otherwise moved by the user relative to its support or base.
There are many types of chairs that provide a dynamic posture function, but virtually all such chairs encounter practical or economic problems. From the economic standpoint, enabling the chair member to move relative to its base necessarily involves some type of pivot mechanism that increases chair cost. This generally means that the dynamic posture function cannot be incorporated into lower cost chairs, such as stacking chairs sold to office product markets and audience seating markets.
Where mechanical movement has been included as a chair function, the mechanism generally is spring loaded and constantly seeks to return the chair to its upright position. This feature imposes added pressure on the body surface contact with the chair unless the chair can be locked in position. While a mechanical feature may be incorporated that enables the user to periodically move the chair into a desired tilt angle, this not only increases the cost of the chair but also requires periodic manual adjustment by the user.
We have found that this problem can be practically and economically solved with a tilt mechanism that permits an infinitely variable tilt over a predetermined range of movement as the result of normal body movement, and which remains in the position chosen by the user. The tilt mechanism has a built-in resistance which is frictional in the preferred embodiment, and operates on a substantially inertia free basis. The user may simply move his or her body forward or rearward, and the chair member follows in a smooth and flowing manner that is analogous to high viscosity fluid motion. When the desired position is reached, the user simply ceases his/her body movement, and the chair is thereafter retained in the desired position.
The tilt mechanism is relatively inexpensive, and both economically and efficiently provides a dynamic posture function to maintain substantially equal pressure distribution and body comfort over relatively long periods of time.
The broad invention of incorporating the unique tilt mechanism to accomplish the dynamic posture function finds application in a broad range of seating applications, and in particular in a sit/stand chair usable by persons who normally must remain on their feet during a particular job or task. An example is a grocery checkout clerk, who generally stands in a single, confined area. The grocery checkout task can be quite intense for the checkout clerk, involving long periods of standing (e.g., 4-8 hours) with relatively severe body strain.
An attempt has been made to solve the problem of discomfort by incorporating lean stands at the checkout counter, but such devices cannot provide a continuous body support function without the user experiencing discomfort. In particular, lean stands cannot distribute upper weight evenly over that part of the body that contacts the stand, resulting in point pressure that leads to discomfort. Further, a lean stand obviously cannot provide a dynamic posture function, requiring the clerk to move periodically to a more comfortable position.
The inventive chair which is disclosed solves these problems through the combination of a friction controlled tilt mechanism, a unique chair member and a selectively movable mobile base. The chair member has seat and back members that are relatively disposed at an open angle that is much larger than a conventional chair, and the seat member is uniquely configured for a straddle type support. With the chair in its forward tilt position, the user has substantial contact with both the seat and back members, but his/her feet may remain on the floor in a balanced position. As such, the chair is in essence leaned on by the user, but full body support is offered.
The user may also tilt the chair rearwardly over a range of positions through the use of the friction controlled mechanical pivot mechanism, and progressively greater support is transferred from the user's feet to the chair member. Whatever the desired tilt position, the unique chair provides support to the user's buttocks, thigh/pelvic area and lower back, and distributes weight in a manner which greater enhances the user's comfort.
The pivot mechanism uniquely incorporates friction disk brake elements formed from ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWP). Unlike most substances, UHMWP has static and dynamic coefficients of friction that are almost identical. The utilization of this material between interfacing elements of dissimilar materials (e.g., plated steel or anodized aluminum) results in a frictional interface that is substantially linear (similar to a hydraulic pump) as pressure is applied by the user to tilt the chair member. The chair member thus moves from one desired tilt position to another with little effort on the part of the user, and it is retained in any desired tilt position without any effort on the part of the user.
The chair member itself has been uniquely designed and sized to accommodate the vast majority of potential users. The publication Basic Design Measurements for Sitting by Clara A. Ritter, published by the University of Arkansas in 1959, includes seated body size contour data that facilitates the design of conventional chairs to accommodate body sizes from the 5th percentile female to the 95th percentile male. This data has been uniquely translated to the open angled sit/stand chair to likewise accommodate this broad percentile range.
The mobile base for the chair is designed to be maintained in an immobile position when it is in use, but it otherwise can be easily moved to a different floor location. In the preferred embodiment, this is accomplished through the use of a large pedestal base the diameter of which is sufficient to resist tipping throughout the range of tasks. The pedestal base is supported at three points by cylindrical rollers that are mounted in a fixed position and in relative opposition to one another. As such, the sit/stand chair will not easily roll to another position, although a simple lifting of the chair member at a single point will place primary support on a single roller, the chair to be easily moved.
In an alternative embodiment, the chair base includes a relatively large circular housing and three spring loaded casters that are normally urged downward in contact with the floor or support surface. When the chair is not in use, the casters lift the chair and circular housing from the floor, and the chair can be easily moved. As soon as the user places any degree of weight on the chair the casters are automatically retracted, permitting the circular housing to contact the floor to prevent movement.
The various and inventive structure and functions of the chair will be more fully appreciated from the drawings and following technical description.


The invention relates to a process and an apparatus for grinding and sifting a product, in which the product is embrittled by a coolant and is comminuted in a mill (8), the comminuted product being fed, after comminution while keeping away ambient air and the moisture this involves, to a sifter (14). With the process and the apparatus according to the invention, the product can be comminuted and sifted in a closed-loop process without separating agents having to be fed to the ground product prior to sifting to overcome electrostatic charging. The sifter (14) is preferably operated with the gaseous coolant which is used to operate the mill (8) so that any losses of sifter circuit gas occurring during sifting can be compensated by feeding in a gaseous coolant. The total duration of the process can be reduced considerably.

According to the prior art, during cold grinding, a product to be comminuted, in particular plastic, is embrittled by cooling with a coolant and is fed to a mill for comminution. The comminuted product leaves the mill in a cold state, is collected and stored temporarily, during which time the temperature of the ground product adapts to the ambient temperature. During this storage, electrostatic charging which has formed on the ground product can die away. In order to improve the subsequent sifting of the ground product, in many cases a separating agent is added. The latter is admixed with the ground product. During sifting, the oversize grain is separated from the fines and can be fed to the grinding process again. While the temperature of the ground product adapts to the ambient temperature during the temporary storage, water from the ambient air condenses on the particles of the ground product. As a result, the siftability of the ground product is severely restricted. Intermediate drying and adding separating agents therefore cannot be dispensed with for sifting in the previous cold grinding process. The operating stages involved with this are time-consuming and costly.
For instance, the production of fines has to be interrupted for the duration of temporary storage, and costs are incurred for the use of the separating agent and the work this involves.
German Patent Specification 38 33 830 C2 shows an apparatus of the applicant for the manufacture of extremely fine dusts with particle sizes up to less than 10 micrometers, which includes a sifter. EP 0,044,507 A1 describes a process in which labels are separated from plastic items by sifting. EP 0,317,935 B1 illustrates an apparatus in which the cold gas emerging from a mill is freed from particles by means of a cyclone. In German Offenlegungsschrift 23 18 549, the product comminuted by cold grinding is sized by means of a screening device. The publications cited in the prior art relate either to the manufacture of extremely fine dusts or they are based on different objects. For instance, in EP 0,044,507 A1, separation takes place not by particle size, but by material property.

Process and apparatus for grinding and sifting a product


A tool changing apparatus automatically changes tools mounted on the spindle of a transfer machine module. The apparatus includes a tool gripper magazine that releasably holds at least two tools. A guillotine supports the tool gripper magazine for motion between a raised stand-by position clear of the spindle and a lowered tool change position closer to the spindle so that the tools in the magazine can be exchanged with a tool supported on the spindle. A carriage movably supports the guillotine on a support frame for motion between a forward position adjacent the transfer line and the spindle and a rearward position displaced from the transfer line. When the carriage is in the rearward position, the guillotine can be lowered to a position where it is easily accessible to an operator so that the tools in the magazine can be replenished.

Tool changers provide metal cutting machine tools with the ability to store and automatically select from a plurality of cutting tools. This allows a single machine tool to perform a series of different machining operations without having to manually change tools. Over time, however, the tools become dull or worn to the point where they must be sharpened or replaced.
In a stand-alone machine tool, referred to herein as a CNC machine tool, the interchangeable tools are stored in a tool magazine positioned overhead or alongside a work zone where machining takes place. It is known for such a tool magazine to be supported for reciprocal motion between a stowed tool position clear of the spindle to be serviced, and a tool change position within the reach of spindle for tool exchange. When the tools in the magazine need to be sharpened or have worn out, it is relatively easy for an operator to move around and gain access to the magazine of a stand-alone CNC machine tool to remove and replenish the tools.
In a transfer line, however, machine tools generally do not stand alone, and access is very limited. A series of machines called transfer machine modules, referred to here as TMMs, are arranged close together in a series along a dedicated transfer mechanism. The transfer mechanism transfers workpieces through an area called a work zone tunnel where the various TMMs are able to perform machining operations on them. Because the work zone tunnel must be free of obstructions, the tool changer cannot occupy this space. Accordingly, it is known to position a tool magazine above each of the TMMs. The tool magazines are positioned above the forward ends of the modules, adjacent to the spindles, and adjacent to the work zone tunnel. The close proximity of adjacent TMMs and the need to keep the work zone tunnel free of obstructions creates a problem for personnel who must carry heavy tools to and from the tool magazines for tool replenishment. In some cases, an operator must move a rolling step ladder, as close as possible to the magazine, then climb the ladder with replacement tools, and reach out two or three feet toward the work zone tunnel to remove and replace the tools. The operator then must carry the spent tools down the ladder, and in many cases roll the ladder away from the transfer line. As the tools are relatively heavy, this is not an ergonomically friendly operation. In addition, a rolling step ladder unit of sufficient stability takes up a significant amount of valuable floor space. Since it is not uncommon to have lubrication and cutting fluids on the floor in the vicinity of the TMMs, the floor is slippery, and the fluids get transferred to the steps of the ladder by the worker's shoes, making the tool replacement process even more precarious. This particular problem exists both for TMMs and CNC machine tools.


To accomplish both prevention of disengagement of the shoe-hold spring from the shoe-hold apparatus and improvement of the assemblability of the same. The shoe-hold pin has the small diameter portion and the large diameter portion. One end opened slots are formed at the pair of arms of the U-shaped shoe-hold spring, and the slots are such that the small diameter portion of the shoe-hold pin is passable therethrough and the large diameter portion is non-passable.

A well-known shoe-hold apparatus is structured by comprising a shoe-hold spring, which is a sheet metal bent to form a web side arm and a drum side arm and has a pair of one end opened slots at ends of the arms, and a shoe-hold pin, which engages with the back plate.
This conventional shoe-hold apparatus is structured such that the shoe-hold spring is retained between a flattened engagement head of the shoe-hold pin and the web by next steps;    (1) the shoe-hold pin is penetrated through a pin-insertion hole formed in the back plate to engage the shoe-hold pin with the back plate,    (2) the shoe-hold spring is sled on a drum side surface of the web from a crossing direction with an axis of the shoe-hold pin so that the shoe-hold pin passes through the pair of slots.
Patent Reference 1 discloses the above-type shoe-hold apparatus. The shoe-hold apparatus described in the Patent Reference 1 is designed such that a concave seat is formed at a closed end portion of the slot, which is formed at each end of the pair of arms of the shoe-hold spring, and one of the concave seats is engaged with the engaging head of the shoe-hold pin in order to prevent a disengagement of the shoe-hold spring.
The shoe-hold apparatus is assembled by next steps:    (1) the shoe-hold pin is penetrated through the pin-insertion hole formed in the back plate to engage the shoe-hold pin with the back plate,    (2) the pair of arms of the shoe-hold spring are compressed and then the shoe-hold spring is pushed from a crossing direction with the axis of the shoe-hold pin along the web to move the shoe-hold sprig until the closed end portion of the slot of the shoe-hold spring reaches the shaft of the shoe-hold pin, and    (3) the force compressing the pair of arms is released to engage one of the concave seats with the engaging head of the shoe-hold pin.
Also, for another conventional shoe-hold apparatus, the Patent Reference 2 discloses the shoe-hold apparatus having the shoe-hold spring made of a sheet metal bent in P-shape to approach the web side arm to the drum side arm.
Patent Reference    [Patent Reference 1] U.S. Pat. No. 5,540,310 (FIGS. 1-3)    [Patent Reference 2] U.S. Pat. No. 6,062,354 (FIGS. 1-4)
The characteristics of the shoe-hold apparatus disclosed in the Patent Reference 1 are the concave seats, which are formed at the closed end portions of the pair of slots, and the bending portions, which are formed at the top ends of the pair of arms. The conventional shoe-hold apparatus has the following problems.    <1> An engagement portion, where the shoe-hold pin engages with the shoe-hold spring, is only one portion between the engagement head of the shoe-hold pin and one of the concave seats of the shoe-hold spring after assembly thereof, and no other engagement portions exist between the shoe-hold pin and the shoe-hold spring.
Therefore, if someone pulls the shoe-hold spring, for example, while the drum brake device is being carried (prior to the assembly of the drum brake device to the vehicle), the shoe-hold spring rotates with the engagement portion as the fulcrum, thereby creating a chance of disengaging the shoe-hold spring.    <2> In order to engage the engagement head of the shoe-hold pin with the seat of the shoe-hold spring, the shoe-hold spring needs to forcefully, resiliently be deformed equal to or more than the depth of the seat and to move the shoe-hold spring while maintaining the condition of resilient deformation to the end, thereby leaving a problem of extremely inefficient operability.
The shoe-hold apparatus described in the Patent Reference 2 has the following problems.    <1> In the shoe-hold apparatus in the Patent Reference 2, the distance between the pair of arms is set short, and therefore the invention in the Patent Reference 2 does not require bending portions at top ends of the pair of arms as like as required in the shoe-hold apparatus in the Patent reference 1.
However, the invention in the Patent Reference 2 has no concave seat as compared to the device of the Patent Reference 1, which facilitates the movement of the shoe-hold spring and creates a chance of disengaging the shoe-hold spring, and therefore the disengagement preventive effect of the shoe-hold spring after the assembly of the shoe-hold apparatus is not considered sufficient.

Shoe-hold apparatus for drum brake device

Abstract: The pin-insertion hole, which is continuous to the slot of the web side arm and may position the large diameter portion therein, is formed in the web side arm and restricts the shoe-hold spring from disengaging therefrom when the large diameter portion of the shoe-hold pin is positioned in the pin-insertion hole.


A system for monitoring a plurality of tagged assets on at least one offshore asset, by creating a customer profile and a library of survey set ups and storing information from independent survey set ups mounted on or proximate to the offshore asset on the administrative data storage. The system includes creating a library of tagged assets for the offshore asset using at least one independent survey set up, wherein each tagged asset has an icon with a hyperlink to a library of images. The system includes identifying placement locations on offshore assets and forming an executive dashboard for display on at least one client device, wherein a virtually positioned icon positioned on an image of the tagged assets presents a hyperlink to the library of survey set ups for that tagged asset, thereby enabling toggling from the image to the library of survey set ups.

A need exists for a monitoring system for specific assets on an offshore asset which uses laser scanning, video collection and other tools, including sonar in real time, and presents the images and related data to a user with a client device that is remote of the offshore asset or on the offshore asset.
The present embodiments meet these needs.
The present embodiments are detailed below with reference to the listed Figures.

System for monitoring a plurality of tagged assets on an offshore asset


Provided is a scanning probe microscope (SPM), a probe of which can be automatically replaced and the replacement probe can be attached onto an exact position. The SPM includes a first scanner that has a carrier holder, and changes a position of the carrier holder in a straight line; a second scanner changing a position of a sample on a plane; and a tray being able to store a spare carrier and a spare probe attached to the spare carrier. The carrier holder includes a plurality of protrusions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a scanning probe microscope, a probe of which can be automatically replaced, and more particularly, to a scanning probe microscope, a probe of which can be automatically replaced and the replacement probe can be attached to an exact position.
2. Description of the Related Art
Scanning probe microscopes (SPMs) are microscopes having a resolution in the nano-scale range, and show surfaces of samples or electrical properties of the samples as images. Some examples of SPMs are atomic force microscopes (AFMs), magnetic force microscopes (MFMs), and scanning capacitance microscopes (SCMs).
In a conventional SPM, a tip of a probe moves while contacting a surface of a sample or moves while maintaining a predetermined distance from the surface of the sample in order to analyze the shape of the surface of the sample or the electrical properties of the sample. As described above, since the tip of the probe in the conventional SPM moves while contacting the surface of the sample or maintaining a constant distance from the surface of the sample, the probe or the tip of the probe can be damaged when the conventional SPM operates. Therefore, the probe of the conventional SPM is fabricated in order for the probe to be replaced.
However, in the conventional SPM, the tip of the probe must be manually replaced by a user, and thus, it is inconvenient to do so. Additionally, since the conventional SPM represents properties of the surface of the sample using the tip of a few micrometers or a few nanometers in size as images, the replacement probe must be attached onto an exact position. However, in the conventional SPM, the position of the tip of the probe is changed whenever the probe is replaced, and thus, the positions of optical systems related to the probe must be rearranged after replacing the probe.

Scanning probe microscope with automatic probe replacement function


A method for producing paper pulp from a lignocellulosie vegetable raw material. The method includes contacting the raw material with a mixture of formic acid and acetic acid (in an amount more than 5 wt. % of the mixture) at a temperature and for a suitable reaction time, the whole being performed at room temperature. The paper pulp is separated from the organic phase and optionally bleached with ozone. The organic phase is treated to enable the recycling of the formic and acetic acids and the extraction of lignins, sugars and excess acetic acid.

Processes for the production of quality paper pulps, capable of obtaining, with most plants, suitable breaking lengths, are by nature essentially chemical in which the cellulosic fibres of the lignocellulosic plant material are freed from plant cement which binds them in the plants, consisting of hemicelluloses (sugar polymers with 5 to 6 carbons) and lignins (polymers of substituted allylphenols) by a chemical hydrolysis action in a concentrated basic or acidic aqueous medium, often in the presence of sulphur in different oxidation states.
These processes are at the present time employed essentially in existing industrial units throughout the world.
They have a major disadvantage in that they require considerable quantities (approximately 20% by weight) of inorganic chemical products during the cooking of the plants to make paper pulp. These inorganic chemical products are necessarily, but with difficulty, recycled and they are often the origin of foul odours due to the presence of sulphur.
Moreover, these factories require enormous investments in order to meet basically acceptable environmental standards, and they are therefore only profitable for a high critical size of the order of 100 to 200,000 tonnes of pulp produced per year.
A technological improvement has been obtained by replacing all or part of the water by an organic solvent of the alcohol, ketone or ester type, which makes it possible to overcome the use of sulphur, but not basic reagents, and therefore problems of recycling these reagents remain. These so-called "organosolve" technologies which require high pressures and involve high operating costs, are not as yet developed industrially for these reasons.
With the same idea in mind, other technologies of the same type using organic acids for hydrolysing hemicelluloses and lignins and at the same time for freeing cellulose fibres have been developed on the pilot plant scale. These technologies make it possible to do away with inorganic reagents completely, which is a considerable advantage.
Formic acid (B. BUCHOLZ and R K. JORDAN Pulp and Paper, p. 102-104, 1983; M N. ERISMANN et al., Bioresource Technology, Vol. 47, p. 247-256, 1994) can be used and it makes it possible to make acceptable paper pulps without pressure.
This technology also makes it possible to preserve in the paper pulps the silica contained in the plant, which is an important advantage when annual plants are used as a raw material since silica considerably disrupts the recovery of inorganic reagents in current industrial processes in a basic medium.
A variant of the process such as one under the name MILOX proceeds by cooking with formic acid in several stages in the presence of hydrogen peroxide, which improves delignification (K. POPPIUS-LEVLIN et al., Tappi Journal, Vol. 80, No. 9, p. 215-221, 1997).
Acetic acid can be used with the same aim but under pressure at a higher temperature (160 to 180° C.) at concentrations in water of 50 to 90% (R. A. YOUNG and J. L. DAVIS, Holzforschung, Vol. 40, p. 99-108, 1986).
Delignification is correct but the process requires washing of the pulp with acetone in order to remove lignins precipitated on the pulp.
A variant of this process makes it possible, with oxygen under pressure, to reduce the cooking time and to improve delignification (C. P. NETO and A. ROBERT, Holzforschung, Vol. 46, p 233-240, 1993) but it is at the origin of partial depolymerisation of cellulose by the joint action of pH and oxygen.
A variant of the MILOX process using acetic acid and hydrogen peroxide in two stages at 160-170° C. has also been proposed (K. POPPIUS-LEVLIN et al., Paper and Timber, Vol. 73, p. 154-158, 1991) but it does not provide any considerable improvement.
The limited acidity of acetic acid has led to its hydrolysis capacity being reinforced by the addition of hydrochloric acid (J. C. PAJARO et al., Holz als Roh-und Werkstoff, Vol. 54, p. 119-125, 1996) at 115-130° C. The reduction in the reaction temperature is the principal improvement of the process which has a major advantage of introducing chlorine ions into the process (G. VASQUES et al., Holzforschung, Vol. 49, No. 1, p. 69-73, 1995).
In addition, it should be pointed out that all the technologies using, in two or more stages, an organic acid and hydrogen peroxide generating peroxyacids in situ, are detailed in the review (N. LIEBERGOTT Pulp and Paper Canada, Vol. 97, No. 2, p. 45-48, 1996).
It should be added that technologies for bleaching these pulps without chlorine use hydrogen peroxide in a basic medium, which involves the regulation of silica in the form of sodium silicate causing considerable problems during the draining of pulps and the recycling of reagents.
The object of the present invention is to provide a novel process for producing paper pulp at atmospheric pressure from annual or perennial plants which leads to good-quality chemical pulps preserving the endogenous silica in their structure.
Document EP-A-0 584 675 teaches a process for extracting cellulose from lignocelluloses, by heating for two hours at high temperatures (170° C. or 180° C.) and under pressure in the presence of aqueous acetic acid with the addition of formic acid.
Document WO-A-95/21960 describes a process for cooking lignocellulosic materials, in particular from annual plants, with a mixture of carboxylic acids, involving a compulsory pyrolysis step.
The object of the invention is a process which makes it possible to obtain these performances whatever the nature of the plants used and which is thus particularly valuable in the case of annual plants in order to open up the way to new economic developments, in particular in the case of cereal straw and cane sugar bagasse or sugar sorghum bagasse.

Method for producing paper pulp, lignins, sugars and acetic acid by frantionation of lignocellulosic vegetable material in formic/acetic acid medium

Compagnie Industrielle de la Matiere Vegetale


A screening machine comprises a screen frame elastically supported on a fixed base and comprising screen cheeks and screen frame crossbeams which connect the screen cheeks, a drive for oscillating the screen frame, and a swing frame elastically coupled to the screen frame. The swing frame comprises thrust rods elastically coupled to the screen cheeks, fastening components projecting from the thrust rods and extending parallel to the screen cheeks, swing frame crossbeams arranged on each fastening component which connect the thrust rods, and at least two screening surfaces formed by screening mats extending substantially parallel to each other, the screening mats being alternately compressed and stretched in sections by being alternatingly fastened to the swing frame crossbeams and the screen frame crossbeams.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a screening machine comprising a screen frame which comprises screen cheeks, is made to oscillate by means of a drive and is supported in an elastic manner on a fixed base, and a swing frame which is elastically coupled thereto.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Screening machines with a screening surface made up of screening mats are known from AT 379.088 for example. The movement of the screening mats usually occurs by a amplitude-excited oscillation system which is held on a moved screen frame. The screening mats forming the screening surface are fastened alternatingly on the screen frame and the oscillation system, so that there will be a compression or stretching of the screening mats through the relative movement of the two systems with respect to each other.
In order to obtain several fractions for example it is also known to provide two such amplitude-excited oscillation systems independent from each other in an oscillating screen frame.
This leads to the disadvantage that such a two-deck screening machine is very high with respect to its design and therefore cannot be used everywhere. Moreover, the constructional efforts for two oscillation systems are very high and an adjustment needs to be made for each oscillation system separately. The construction of multi-deck (>2) oscillation systems is therefore out of the question in view of these configurations.


A system of dielectric ceramic compositions suitable for various microwave applications. The system comprises a plurality of stoichiometrically-related compositions, each composition having its own particular set of dielectric properties and consisting essentially of a sintered mixture represented by the general formula: EQU BaTi.sub.4-w M.sub.w O.sub.9 --xZn.sub.2 TiO.sub.4 --yBaO--zTa.sub.2 O.sub.5. wherein M is at least one type of metal and 0.0.ltoreq.w.ltoreq.about 0.05 and wherein x, y, and z are molar fractions of respective components with values within the following respective ranges: 0.0.ltoreq.x.ltoreq.about 0.45; about 0.01.ltoreq.y.ltoreq.about 0.20; and 0.0.ltoreq.z.ltoreq.about 0.10.

The present invention relates generally to systems of dielectric ceramic compositions suitable for microwave applications and more particularly to systems of dielectric ceramic compositions suitable for use as dielectric resonators designed to be operated in a frequency range of microwaves for telecommunication applications.
Existing dielectric ceramic compositions suitable for microwave dielectrics are generally capable of being categorized into the following systems of compositions: (1) the BaO-TiO.sub.2 system; (2) the ZrO.sub.2 -SnO.sub.2 -TiO.sub.2 system; (3) the perovskite-type complex oxide system; (4) BaO-Nd.sub.2 O.sub.3 -TiO.sub.2 system; (5) BaO-Sm.sub.2 O.sub.3 -TiO.sub.2 system; and (6) the (CaSrBa) Zirconate system.
In Journal of Materials Science Vol. 6, pp. 1214-1226 (1971), W. Heywang discloses doped barium titanates having utility as dielectrics possessing an extremely high dielectric constant.
In Journal of The American Ceramic Society, Vol. 57, No. 10, pp. 450-453 (October 1974), H. M. O'Bryan, Jr. et al. disclose their investigations of the dielectric properties of ceramics in the TiO.sub.2 -rich region of the BaO-TiO.sub.2 system. In particular, the authors describe a new BaO-TiO.sub.2 compound, Ba.sub.2 Ti.sub.9 O.sub.20, in the composition range between BaTi.sub.4 O.sub.9 and TiO.sub.2. This new compound, which exhibits temperature-stable high permittivity and low microwave loss, is said to be obtained when calcining and sintering conditions are controlled carefully.
In Materials Research Bulletin, Vol. 16, No. 11, pp. 1455-1463 (1981), G. Wolfram et al. disclose the existence range, structural and dielectric properties of Zr.sub.x Ti.sub.y Sn.sub.z O.sub.4 ceramics wherein x+y+z=2. According to the authors, ceramic samples in the system ZrO.sub.2 -TiO.sub.2 -SnO.sub.2 were prepared in order to investigate the existence range of a homogeneous phase Zr.sub.x Ti.sub.y Sn.sub.z O.sub.4 with x+y+z=2. Lattice parameters, dielectric properties and thermal expansion were determined. A homogeneous solid solution phase was found in part of the compisition diagram. Its crystal structure is isomorphous with ZrTiO.sub.4. The unusual variation of the lattice parameters with the Sn content is discussed and the range of compositions suitable for dielectric resonators is defined.
In Journal of The American Ceramic Society, Vol. 67, C59-61 (1984). H. Tamura et al. disclose an improved high-Q dielectric resonator with a complex perovskite structure formed from Ba(Zn.sub.1/3 Ta.sub.2/3)O.sub.3 -BaZrO.sub.3. The authors also disclose that both sintering and crystallization of Ba(Zn,Ta)O.sub.3 -BaZrO.sub.3 were accelerated as compared to that for Ba(Zn,Ta)O.sub.3 alone and that the microwave Q value was also improved.
In "Microwave Dielectric Materials," Ceramic Dielectrics: Composition, Processing, and Properties edited by Hung Ling and Man Yan, Am. Ceramic Soc. (1988), K. Wakino et al. discuss the low temperature characteristics and the third harmonic distortion levels of microwave dielectrics in connection with the anharmonic terms in the crystal's Hamiltonian.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,242,213, issued Dec. 30, 1980 with inventors H. Tamura et al., a system of dielectric ceramic compositions based on magnesium, calcium and rare earth metal titanates is disclosed. Specifically, there is disclosed a dielectric ceramic composition for microwave applications consisting essentially of a sintered mixture represented by the general formula: EQU (1-x)MgTiO.sub.3 -x(Ca.sub.1-y Me.sub.y)TiO.sub.3
wherein Me is at least one rare earth element selected from the group of Y, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Pm, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb and Lu, and wherein x and y are molar fractions of respective components and take values within the following respective ranges: 0.03.ltoreq.x.ltoreq.0.15, 0.001.ltoreq.y.ltoreq.0.06. The composition is said to be a fine-grained, dense ceramic with high permittivity, high quality factor and small temperature coefficient of resonance frequency.
One disadvantage associated with many of the systems of compositions described above is that they require substantial quantities of expensive elements, such as Sm, Sr, Ni, Co, and Zr.
Another disadvantage associated with many of the systems of compositions described above is that they are incapable of accommodating appreciable levels of impurities without incurring debilitating losses in dielectric properties.
Still another disadvantage associated with many of the systems of compositions described above is that they are rigidly dependent upon achieving specific stoichiometries which, in many instances, are difficult to obtain.
Still yet another disadvantage associated with many of the systems of compositions described above is that they do not include constituent compositions whose respective dielectric properties, such as temperature coefficient of resonant frequency and dielectric loss, differ substantially. As a result, such systems are frequently limited to use in a narrow range of environments wherein the dielectric properties of the constituent compositions are acceptable. This problem is illustrated by the situation in which the compositions of a given system are intended for use as microwave resonators. Where the constituent compositions of the system have similar dielectric properties, they are often only useful as microwave resonators when a single type of material, e.g., steel, nickel, or aluminum, is used to encapsulate the composition. On the other hand, it can readily be appreciated that if such a system were to include constituent compositions whose dielectric properties differed substantially, the range of suitable encapsulating materials would probably be increased as different compositions would be optimally suited for use with different types of encapsulating materials.

System of dielectric ceramic compositions suitable for microwave applications