An improved method of replacing at least a portion of a shroud apparatus of a BWR includes forming a cut in the shroud and removing at least a portion of the shroud apparatus that is adjacent the cut from a remaining portion of the shroud apparatus. The method also includes positioning a replacement shroud system adjacent the remaining portion of the original shroud apparatus and connecting a plurality of removable fastening devices between the new replacement shroud system and the remaining portion of the original shroud apparatus. The replacement shroud system thus can, in the future, be readily replaced by detaching the removable fastening devices, removing the replacement shroud system, and installing a new replacement shroud system with less effort than was required in cutting through the original shroud and replacing it with the replacement shroud system. An improved replacement shroud system is also disclosed.

1. Field
The disclosed and claimed concept relates generally to nuclear power plants and, more particularly, to a method of replacing at least a portion of a shroud employed in a boiling water nuclear reactor, and to an associated apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
As is generally understood in the relevant art, a boiling water reactor (BWR) is a nuclear device which generates steam for the operation of a steam turbine that typically operates another device such as an electrical generator. A BWR typically includes a reactor pressure vessel (RPV) within which is disposed the BWR. The BWR typically includes a plurality of fuel assemblies that are surrounded by a shroud. The shroud is of a hollow and roughly cylindrical shape and is supported on a shroud support plate within the RPV. The shroud is configured to retain coolant around the fuel assemblies in order to cause the heat generated by the fuel assemblies to be converted into steam via evaporation of the coolant. A set of jet pumps typically keep the coolant in a state of motion and agitation in order to promote heat transfer from the fuel assemblies into the water to form steam.
While BWRs have been generally effective for their intended purposes, they have not been without limitation. For example, it has been observed that as the hot operating time of a BWR increases, cracking has been observed in the shroud. Over time, such cracking within the welds used in forming the shroud and elsewhere have become sufficiently extensive to require replacement of the shroud. However, such shrouds typically have been assembled by welding their components together and by welding the shroud to the shroud support plate and possibly to other components. As such, replacement of a welded shroud has been difficult. It thus would be desirable to provide an improved method of responding to the cracking that has become known to occur over time in the shrouds of BWRs.

Method of replacing shroud of boiling water nuclear reactor, and associated apparatus


An embodiment generally relates to systems and methods for determining cell phone usage automatically by individuals operating vehicles. A processing module can process multi-spectral images or videos of individuals and detect different regions in the image such as face regions, hand regions, and cell phone regions. Further, the processing module can analyze the regions based on locations and numbers of skin pixels and cell phone pixels to determine if the individual is holding his or her cell phone near his or her face. Based on the analysis, it can be determined whether the individual is operating the cell phone. Further, the analysis can yield a confidence level associated with the cell phone usage.

As cellular phones and other mobile devices have become increasingly prevalent and used more widely, vehicle drivers or operators have increasingly used the phones and devices while driving vehicles. It is well known that cell phone usage by a vehicle driver can distract the driver's attention and can lead to accidents, speeding, and other negative effects. In fact, reports exist of a strong association between traffic accidents and cell phone usage. For these reasons, jurisdictions in some countries have prohibited the use of cell phones while driving a vehicle, with or without a hands-free device.
It can be difficult to detect cell phone usage by a driver without a human, such as a law enforcement officer, explicitly seeing the driver using the cell phone. However, because law enforcement officers cannot be positioned at a large number of surveillance positions, and because the law enforcement officers will not always be looking for cell phone usage, there can be a lot of cell phone usage by vehicle operators that can go unnoticed. As a result, traffic accidents caused by cell phone usage can remain prevalent.
Therefore, it may be desirable to have systems and methods for the automatic detection of cell phone usage by vehicle operators. In particular, it may be desirable to use imaging techniques to perform material and object classification to make a robust detection of cell phone usage by vehicle operators.

Systems and methods for detecting cell phone usage by a vehicle operator


A structural member that contains a solid lineal profile (516, 600, 700) that is formed from a plurality of consolidated ribbons (12). Each of the ribbons includes unidirectionally aligned continuous fibers embedded within a thermoplastic polymer matrix. The continuous fiber ribbons (12) are laminated together during pultrusion to form an integral solid profile (516, 600, 700) having very high tensile strength properties.

Solid profiles are often formed by pultruding one or more fiber-reinforced ribbons through a die that shapes the ribbons into the desired configuration. The ribbons may include unidirectionally aligned continuous fibers embedded within a polymer matrix. Because the profiles have continuous fibers oriented in the machine direction (longitudinal), they often exhibit good tensile strength in the machine direction. Unfortunately, however, the maximum degree of tensile strength that is achievable is often limited due to the difficulty in processing materials of a very high degree of strength. As such, a need currently exists for a solid profile that exhibits excellent tensile strength, and yet can be made in a relatively efficient and simple manner.

Structural member formed from a solid lineal profile


A technique for transmitting data on carriers each using a non-sinusoidal waveform is described. As to a method aspect of the technique, a fundamental frequency (118) is assigned to each of the carriers using the non-sinusoidal waveform. Baseband frequencies corresponding to a set of harmonic components of the non-sinusoidal waveform at each of the assigned fundamental frequencies (118) are disjoint. An energy of each of the harmonic components in the set is greater than a predefined threshold value. Modulation symbols (116) representative of the data are transmitted on at least one or all of the carriers.

Heinrich R. Hertz used spark discharge to produce the electromagnetic waves for his seminal experiments since 1886, which is an example of colored noise and on-off-keying (OOK). A strong incentive to use sinusoidal waves was provided by the need to operate several transmitters at the same time but to receive them selectively. The resonance of a circuit with coil and capacitor was implemented, among others, by Guglielmo Marconi according to British patent No. 7777 published in 1901 and Karl F. Braun since 1897. For more than a century, sinusoidal waves have become universal in radio communications.
Today, multicarrier modulation is widely used in wired and wireless communications. Currently, the most popular multicarrier technology is Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), although non-orthogonal FDM techniques such as Filter Bank Multicarrier (FBMC) are the subject of active research.
While multicarrier modulation enables high data rates and high reliability, an increasing number of use cases, particularly in the context of connected device and the Internet of Things (IoT), has limited hardware resources and requires less power consumption than is necessary for conventional OFDM transmitters.

Technique for non-sinusoidal radio communication


The laser transfer machining apparatus comprises a shaping unit for shaping the laser beam so that the laser beam has a beam pattern which corresponds to a desired pattern to be machined in the object to be machined and a generating unit disposed separately from the shaping unit for simultaneously generating a plurality of laser beams each having the beam pattern from the laser beam shaped by the shaping unit. The generating unit is adapted to emit the plural laser beams while simultaneously defining a plurality of radiation directions of the generated plural laser beams to the object to be machined. The laser transfer machining apparatus can provide a high efficiency of utilization of light and reduce the time required for machining. Furthermore, the laser transfer machining apparatus can utilize a laser with a relatively low spatially coherence such as an eximer laser.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a laser transfer machining apparatus provided with a means for simultaneously generating a plurality of images to be transferred for laser machining, such as a hologram element.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a known laser transfer machining apparatus, for example, an apparatus disclosed in Proceeding of SPIE, Vol.1377 p30-35. Shown in the figure are a laser oscillator 1, a deflecting mirror 2, a homogenizing optical system 3 for laser beam illuminating a mask, a mask 6, a transferring lens 7 for transferring a mask pattern image of the mask 6, and a target 8 to be machined which is an object to be machined.
In operation, the intensity distribution of a laser light emitted by the laser oscillator 1, e.g. an eximer laser is made uniform by the homogenizing optical system 3 for a laser beam illuminating a mask and then the uniform laser beam enters the mask 6. The laser light passing through the pattern to be transferred of the mask 6 is imaged as an transferred image on the target 8 by the transferring lens 7 and the illuminated part of the target is machined. The laser beam has been deflected by the deflecting mirror 2 before it is incident on the target 8.
Furthermore, as disclosed in Applied Optics Vol.13 No.2 p269-273, Japanese Patent Laid-open No.51-73698, Japanese Patent Laid-open No.54-102692, Japanese Patent Laid-open 57-81986, and Applied Optics Vol.30 No.25 p3604-3606, an optical system for machining with a hologram can be used in order to perform a laser machining operation as well as the laser transfer machining apparatus shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a conventional optical system using a hologram element which is called "Modulated Zone Plate", or a kind of hologram, which is disclosed in Applied Optics Vol.13 No.2 p269-273. Shown in FIG. 2 are a laser oscillator 1, a hologram element 5, a target 8 and an optical system 24 for expanding incident laser light.
In operation, a laser beam emitted by the laser oscillator 1 is expanded in size by the optical system 24 for expanding incident laser light and then is incident on the hologram element 5. A pattern to be machined is generated by the diffraction of the laser light incident on the hologram element 5 and is imaged on the target 8 to be machined. Thus, a few of the patterns are drilled simultaneously on the target. FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a known optical system for machining using a hologram disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open No.57-81986. A laser beam emitted by the laser oscillator 1 is expanded in size by the optical system 24 for expanding incident laser light and then is incident on the hologram element 5. The hologram element 5 is designed such that the laser beam passing through the hologram element has a predetermined pattern to be machined. The pattern is imaged on the surface to be machined of the target 8. Thus, the predetermined pattern is drilled on the target 8. The basic structure of the conventional optical system is the same as that of the system of FIG. 2.
Such a conventional laser transfer machining apparatus suffers from a drawback that most of a laser light incident on the mask enters an opaque part of the mask and therefore cannot pass through the mask, and this results in reducing the efficiency of utilization of light. For example, in a method of transfer machining using an eximer laser, in general, only a small part of the whole surface of a workpiece is machined. When the method is applied for a machining application to drill holes for conducting in a polyimide board in use for an electronic circuit, in general, about one hundred holes with diameters of about 100 .mu.m are drilled per square cm. In such a case, the ratio of the area of a part machined to the area of the whole surface of the board is 0.8% or less. When such a machining operation is performed in the conventional laser transfer machining apparatus shown in FIG. 1, most of energy of the incident laser light is scattered and absorbed by the mask and 0.8% or less of the beam power of the laser light emitted by the laser oscillator is utilized for the laser machining operation. Thus, a significant disadvantage of the prior laser transfer machining apparatus is that the efficiency of machining is very low.
When a hole drilling operation as mentioned above is performed using the laser transfer machining apparatus as shown in FIG. 1, there is an applicable method of scanning a laser light beam at many times, with the beam area on the workpiece being narrowed for the purpose of utilizing the laser light efficiently, such as a method of illuminating the workpiece with a light spot to drill holes one by one. However, since most of the region illuminated by the laser beam should transmit the laser light in order to improve the efficiency of utilization of light substantially, the area of the region illuminated at once should be very small. In the case of hole drilling, holes will be drilled one by one or two by two. Therefore, the whole region to be machined of a workpiece will be divided into many very small regions and the divided regions will be machined successively. Thus, in the case that this type of machining method is applied, the time required for machining is increased and hence the efficiency of machining becomes lower since the method wastes time for scanning a laser beam, followed by positioning the workpiece.
The machining optical system including the aforementioned conventional holograms was intended to eliminate the drawback of this type of transferring optical system. However, in the optical system for laser machining using the prior hologram as shown in FIG. 2, the hologram should be illuminated by a laser light with highly spatial and temporal coherence in order to re-create a precise pattern to be machined. The pattern reproduced by the hologram directly depends on the quality (or coherence) of the laser beam incident on the hologram; that is, the accuracy or the like of a machined pattern obtained by the method of machining is determined by the performance of the hologram and the quality of the incident laser light. In the case of a low spatially coherent light such as a light emitted by an eximer laser, in order to obtain a precise pattern to be machined the spatial coherence of the light has to be improved by using a spatial filter as described in reference books for optics, e.g. "Optical engineering", pp.250-252, by K. Iizuka. The spatial filter consists of a plate 21 having a pin-hole, the diameter of which is very small. As shown in FIG. 4, the plate is arranged such that the pin-hole is at the image focal point f of a lens 20 to eliminate a light component with disturbed wave fronts from a light incident on the pin-hole. In order to eliminate the light component with disturbed wave fronts effectively, the diameter of the pin-hole should be equal to the width of the main lobe of the incident laser light at the focal point of the lens. When a low spatially coherent laser light is incident on such a spatial filter, only a part of the laser light can pass through the spatial filter and hence the transmissibility of the filter is reduced sharply and a high efficiency of utilization of light cannot be obtained. Therefore, the conventional optical systems using such holograms are able to use only a highly coherent laser and are not able to use a relatively low coherent laser such as an eximer laser.
As mentioned above, the efficiency of machining provided by such a conventional laser transfer machining apparatus is low. In addition, it is impossible to reduce the time required for machining without reducing the total reliability of the machining apparatus because the laser oscillator must output a high power laser light at the sacrifice of the life time and stability thereof. Furthermore, laser transfer machining apparatuses using a conventional hologram suffer from a disadvantage that the apparatus must use a laser which is able to emit a highly and spatially coherent light. Therefore, when using a relatively low coherent laser such as an eximer laser, an optical system for improving coherence of incident light such as a spatial filter is needed and this results in reducing the efficiency of machining very much.


The present disclosure generally relates to extrusion die systems. In particular, the present disclosure relates to a specialty pin cam nut designed for the ease of assembly and disassembly of extrusion dies.

Extrusion is the pressurized processing of molten material through a die to form the material into a specific shape. Extrusion dies can range from the very simple designs such as a hole through a piece of metal to complex assemblies involving multiple components including deflectors which help to form the plastic into the desired shape. The process of assembling or disassembling complex dies can often be time consuming for an extrusion line operator. There are a number of reasons why disassembly and reassembly of a die may occur including maintenance, cleaning or a tooling change. The time required for assembly and disassembly can have an effect on the up time of an extrusion line and therefore productivity. As such, die assemblies should be manufactured in a way to minimize the amount of down time.
Assembly and disassembly often involves the use of large diameter threaded components and/or bolts to fasten components together. While these are effective methods of fastening, they are also relatively time consuming as each threaded component or bolt requires multiple turns to fasten or remove which can often be a struggle if material in the die is acting as to adhere components to each other.


Aspects of the disclosed subject matter are directed to facilitating peer-to-peer data exchange in a common domain. In accordance with one embodiment, a method is provided for obtaining content from one or more peers that are connected to the domain. The method includes registering a peer with a super-peer when a connection to the domain is established. Then, the connecting peer obtains data that describes various network conditions and identifies chunks of content available from other peers. In downloading content from other peers, heuristics are applied to select between available chunks that are potentially encoded at different bitrates. The heuristics account for the network conditions between peers and balance the potential need to quickly access content with the desire to obtain high quality content.

Streaming distribution of live and on-demand audio and/or video over the Internet is challenging due to the dynamic nature of various elements utilized in the delivering and rendering of content. Traditionally, users would have to select a specific bitrate to match their expected download speeds, or would allow an automated detection system to select the appropriate bitrate. However, bandwidth conditions change dynamically, and bandwidth availability may drop dramatically over the course of a sustained connection. To compensate for such changes, a user may consider selecting the lowest offered bitrate for a given piece of content, in consideration of the likelihood that network conditions will deteriorate from a peak at the beginning of the connection.
The market penetration of High Definition (HD) media delivery has suffered from this phenomenon, as it is not typical that an end user will have sufficient bandwidth to sustain a bitrate for transmission of an entire HD-quality media stream that is longer than a few minutes. Additionally, scaling delivery of HD content to serve ever-increasing numbers of users is difficult as the high quality of the content also consumes server bandwidth. This higher server bandwidth increases server costs, especially when attempting to preserve guaranteed quality of service metrics.
While multiple solutions exist that attempt to solve problems in providing large quantities of HD-quality media over the Internet, these existing solutions all have drawbacks. One such solution purportedly allows storing a single media presentation in multiple different bitrates, and indexing each version to allow smooth switching between versions. This solution continues to use a centralized download source, which does not scale well and may result in "bottlenecking" problems as described above. For these and other reasons, the centralized download source may become unavailable or otherwise inaccessible. Moreover, this solution does not take advantage of the fact that fragments may be cached and more readily available from other client/server devices that, for example, recently accessed the media.
Peer-to-peer solutions for providing massive media download capabilities have also emerged. However, these existing solutions are not well suited for providing streaming of live content. Generally, such solutions break the content into fragments which are distributed among multiple peer systems. When a client downloads a file from the peer-to-peer network using these existing technologies, it may not take into account the order of the fragments requested, which makes it difficult or impossible to access the media in a way that allows for real-time streaming and presentation. Another problem with existing peer-to-peer solutions is that they generally require installation of stand-alone client software on each peer. End users are increasingly wary of installing native executables from untrusted sources. As such, requiring such client software to be installed will decrease the popularity of any peer-to-peer system.
Even more problems arise when attempting to increase acceptance by building a peer-to-peer distribution system to run within a generic host application such as a web browser. Web browsers allow rich application content to be executed without installing additional software on the local system. However, web browsers typically segregate access to local resources based on domains. In other words, when a web application is connected to the "foo.com" domain, the web application is only able to access local storage related to the "foo.com" domain. Once the web browser is directed to a different domain, the local content from the "foo.com" domain is inaccessible. Hence, the number of peers in a peer-to-peer distribution system is limited to peers who are currently accessing the same domain, and these peers will be unavailable when users navigate away from that domain. Further, web browsers can allow more than a single copy of a web site to be viewed at a single time. This means that a peer-to-peer application running on such a web site would either run into collisions when both copies attempt to open the same client port, or that each copy would select a different port, and could not be located by peers attempting to connect to a well-known peer client port. Existing peer-to-peer distribution systems are not currently able to operate with such high unpredictability in peer availability and contact information.

Selective access of multi-rate data from a server and/or peer


A medical apparatus is fabricated by providing a coil that has a plurality of primary loops along a longitudinal direction, and for each of one or more of the primary loops, forming one or more secondary loops on the primary loop.

This invention relates to expandable stents.
A multi-loop expandable stent can be implanted in arteries or body passageways to treat strictures or to prevent occlusion. The stent can also be used to deliver therapeutic agents to lesion sites. The stent is initially collapsed and has a smaller cross section to allow easy insertion into the artery or body passageways. An inflatable balloon or an expandable device is placed within the stent, and after the stent is positioned at the proper location in the artery or passageways, the balloon or the expandable device expands the stent. When the balloon or expandable device is retracted, a passageway is formed by the expanded stent.


A method of making a container via a simultaneous filling and forming of the container with a liquid product is disclosed. The method comprises the steps of extruding a parison (12, 2), capturing a portion of the parison (12, 2) within a mold (15), and inflating the captured portion of the parison (12, 2) against the mold (15). The captured portion of the parison (12, 2) is inflated against the mold (15) by introducing the liquid product into an interior of the captured portion of the parison (12, 2), wherein the liquid product forms an end product to be sealed within the resultant container.

Many products that were previously packaged using glass containers are now being supplied in plastic containers, such as containers that are fabricated from polyesters, such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), for example.
Plastic containers are typically manufactured using the well-known stretch blow molding process. This involves the use of a pre-molded preform having a threaded portion and a closed distal end. The preform is first heated and then is longitudinally stretched and subsequently inflated within a mold cavity so that it assumes the desired final shape of the container. As the preform is inflated, it elongates and stretches, taking on the shape of the mold cavity. The polymer solidifies upon contacting the cooler surface of the mold, and the finished hollow container is subsequently ejected from the mold.
Another conventional process for fabricating plastic containers is the extrusion blow molding process, in which a continuously extruded hot plastic tube or parison is captured within a mold and inflated against the inner surfaces of the mold to form a container blank. The mold is typically designed to travel at the speed at which the extruded parison is moving when it closes on the parison so that the process can operate on a continuous basis. There are several different types of extrusion blow molding machines, including shuttle molds that are designed to travel in a linear motion and extrusion blow molding wheels that travel in a rotary or circular motion.
The stretch blow molding process is the industry standard for forming plastic containers that are used to package consumer beverages as well as other materials. However, it has some inherent limitations. These include unsightly gate wells or discontinuities on the bottom portions of containers, and limitations on the possible spectrum of designs that can be realized using the stretch blow molding process, such as containers incorporating a handle or void space therein.
While extrusion blow molding processes have addressed a need for an improved plastic container that obviates some of the disadvantages that are inherent to containers that are fabricated using the stretch blow molding process, the extrusion blow molding processing requires a number of steps to form the container then later fill and cap the container. As a result, significant costs may be incurred while performing these processes separately. Thus, there is a need for a liquid or hydraulic blow molding system suitable for forming and filling a container in a single operation.
Further objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following description and the appended claims when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.

Method of extrusion blow molding using a liquid


A printer and method of operating same which receives print jobs from a host computer encoded in any one of several printer control languages. The printer has the capability of interpreting print jobs in each printer control language. The printer samples a portion of each print job and, using a resident algorithm and data sets obtained by statistical techniques, analyzes the sampled portion of the print job to identify the printer control language in which the print job is encoded.

Printers associated with computers receive print jobs transmitted from the computers. The print jobs comprise data (character codes and graphic elements encoded in bit maps, etc.) and, usually, instructions encoded in a specific printer command language. However, when only data and certain standard instructions (tabs, line feeds, etc.) are transmitted, the print jobs are said to be in the form of "pure" text.
A printer command language is a set of instructions understood by a printer. It may include information about positioning of text and/or graphics and options to control the attributes (e.g., font style, font size, color, density) of the printed information. Examples of such languages are Postscript, HP PCL, HP GL, and Impress. A printer command language is considered to consist only of the defined command sequences and the specified number of parameters associated therewith. In a print job, the printer command sequences are interspersed with data.
In order for a printer to process a print job encoded in a particular printer command language, it must have a combination of hardware and software capable of understanding and processing the printer command language. Typically, the printer has a controller which itself is a digital computer programmed with interpreters or emulations for processing more than one command language. For example, the printer controller may first generate a bit map stored in its page memory from the print job. Other apparatus, with reference to the bit map, produces a hard copy. Examples of computer printers that are capable of converting bit maps to hard copy are laser printers, thermal printers and dot matrix printers.
Applications programs that run on host computers are end-user programs (or frequently used utility programs) which generate print jobs. Applications programs generate print jobs using a printer command language or in the form of pure text. It is likely that different applications programs used with a given host computer use different printer command languages and/or pure text output.
A print job must be transmitted to a printer that can interpret the language in which the job is encoded and, if the printer can handle more than one printer command language, the correct interpreter or emulation must be selected.
In the past, three methods have be used to assure that a print job is transmitted to a printer prepared to interpret the print job: 1) Users or host software selected from among a variety of printers connected to a computer system, each of which can handle print jobs encoded in a single printer command language. 2) Switches of some form are set manually upon the printer capable of handling more than one printer command language in order to select the printer command language desired by the user. To change the printer command language processed by a printer, the switches must be altered and the printer reset in some fashion. 3) Additional command sequences or job headers may be defined by the printer manufacturer to be sent at the start of print jobs to select a desired printer command language.
The prior methods of directing a print job to a printer prepared to receive it have shortcomings. Multiple printers each dedicated to one printer command language can be an expensive solution. A printer must be purchased for each language Moreover, some printers may be heavily used while others sit idle. The use of configuration switches to select a printer command language may lead to resource contention as the users of one printer command language may inhibit the use by others. The user closest to the printer can dominate use of the printer because, to assure that a printer is configured to receive a print job, a trip to the printer is required. The use of job headers involves non-standard command sequences across printers made by different manufacturers. It also involves modification of existing application software to generate the headers for each print job.

Method and apparatus for selecting interpreter for printer command language based upon sample of print job transmitted to printer


A CCD type solid-state image sensor (CCD) and an image pickup apparatus of this invention have an image pickup unit and a charge multiplier mounted, as separated from each other, on a packaging board, thereby reducing an influence of one of the image pickup unit and the charge multiplier on the other. Consequently, an improvement in yield is realized. With the image pickup unit and the charge multiplier mounted, as separated from each other, on the packaging board, the CCD type solid-state image sensor (CCD) and the image pickup apparatus are highly versatile also when a design change is made in one of the image pickup unit and the charge multiplier.

As this type of image sensor, there exist, for example, a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) type solid-state image sensor for picking up images by converting incident light into voltages to generate and transfer voltages corresponding to the intensity of the light, and a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) type solid-state image sensor for converting incident light into electric charges to generate signal charges corresponding to the intensity of the light. The CCD type solid-state image sensor (hereinafter abbreviated as "CCD") will be described by way of example. As shown in FIG. 15, an FT (Frame Transfer) mode provides photogates 111 arranged two-dimensionally, and storage CCD cells 112 likewise arranged two-dimensionally. Each photogate 111 is constructed as a photoelectric converter for converting incident light into electric charges to generate signal charges corresponding to the intensity of the light. Each storage CCD cell 112 is constructed as a charge transfer unit for successively transferring the signal charges vertically as seen in the drawing of FIG. 15 to store the charges in an adjoining cell.
Horizontal transfer CCD cells 113 are arranged as connected downstream of the storage CCD cells 112 for transferring the transferred signal charges horizontally as seen in the drawing of FIG. 15. These photogates 111, storage CCD cells 112 and horizontal transfer CCD cells 113 constitute an image pickup unit 114. Further, a plurality of coupling CCD cells 115 are connected in order downstream of the horizontal transfer CCD cells 113. A charge multiplier 116 is connected downstream of the coupling CCD cells 115 for multiplying the signal charges transferred from the horizontal transfer CCD cells 113 through the coupling CCD cells 115. And a charge-to-voltage converter 117 is connected to the charge multiplier 116 for converting the multiplied signal charges into voltages. The charge multiplier 116 generates, for example, a high electric field region for charge multiplication to multiply the signal charges by passage through the high electric field region when transferring the signal charges (see Patent documents 1 and 2, for example). These image pickup unit 114, charge multiplier 116 and charge-to-voltage converter 117 are formed on the same board 110.
[Patent Document 1]
Unexamined Patent Publication H7-176721 (pages 3-7, FIGS. 1-11)
[Patent Document 2]
Unexamined Patent Publication H10-304256 (pages 4-5, FIGS. 1-4)

Image sensor, and image pickup apparatus using same, and manufacturing method for manufacturing image sensor


A vacuum cleaner assembly includes a motor and drive shaft extending therefrom adapted for driving an elastomeric belt which, in turn, is used to rotate a revolving brush supported in a cleaner housing. A composite belt drive member is affixed in axial alignment to an end of the motor shaft and has a relatively rigid member and electrically insulating annular oversheath. The sheath is tapered to provide a nest portion for retaining the belt on the drive member during shaft rotation. The sheath is a plastic material which provides the desired electrical insulation function.

This invention pertains to the art of vacuum cleaner devices and more particularly to motor and drive assemblies.
The invention is particularly applicable as an electrically insulating belt drive for vacuum cleaners having a rotating brush powered by a belt running from the motor shaft to the brush.
Various forms and types of belt drives are known in the vacuum cleaner industry. Most use an elastomeric belt driven by an electric motor that also powers a fan to create the vacuum necessary for suction cleaning U.S. Pat. No. 4,633,543 shows such an arrangement where a motor shaft extension is used as a belt drive.
Frequently, it is necessary to access the belt either for replacement or for removal in those situations where a separate suction hose may be attached to the cleaner as an accessory tool. In the above cited patent, the vacuum cleaner housing includes an opening which is intended to be readily accessible to a user of the cleaner to allow attachment of the tool. Such attachment requires removal of the belt from the belt drive. If the belt is subsequently reattached by hand, without use of a special belt attachment tool, the operator's hands may contact the belt drive. The shaft extension comprising the belt drive is one insulation layer away from electrical communication with the motor. There is electrical insulation between the motor shaft and the armature. Accordingly, for safety reasons it has been desired that a system be provided in which the shaft extension is doubly electrically insulated from the motor to prevent electrical shock to an operator.
More importantly, current safety standards suggest that a consumer appliance of this type should be so doubly-insulated, that is, that at least two layers of insulation should exist between the motor and the user. With a metallic belt drive only a single layer exists between the motor shaft and the armature.
The shaft extension has normally been metallic due to operating requirements of heavy loads and high temperatures as a part of its normal use. Substitution of a mere plastic material for a metal belt drive has proved unsuccessful since most plastic materials are unable to withstand the loads and heat and those that are, are not cost acceptable as part of the product.
The present invention contemplates a new and improved shaft extension for a vacuum cleaner motor which overcomes the above-identified problems and others to provide a new belt drive which is simple in design, economical to manufacture and which sufficiently electrically insulates the motor from an operator to avoid unsafe exposure to potential electrical shock problems.

Electrically insulating belt drive for vacuum cleaner motor assembly


Vinyl ether terminated ester oligomers having a range of molecular weights are prepared by reacting a vinyl ether terminated polybasic ester with a polyol in the presence of a catalyst. Continual removal of a hydroxy monovinyl ether avoids formation compounds containing acetal moieties. Alternatively, a polybasic ester is chain extended with a polyol with continual removal of the alcohol by-product. Then, the terminal ester moieties are end capped with a monohydroxy vinyl ether. The oligomers have application in coatings and the like.

The invention is related to vinyl ether ester oligomers useful for coatings and related applications. More particularly, it relates to new methods of preparing such oligomers which provide a range of useful molecular weight materials.
Vinyl ether ester oligomers are disclosed in a group of U.S. Pat. Nos. assigned to Allied-Signal Inc., namely U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,749,807, 4,775,732, and 4,845,265. These patents disclose methods for making the vinyl ether ester oligomers which are not considered commercially useful in preparing oligomers. Where acid chlorides are used, the oligomer contains HCl which must be removed. Where esters are used, the vinyl ethers may be converted in substantial amounts to compounds having an acetal moiety, preventing higher molecular weight oligomers from being formed and potentially interfering with the formation of polymers in subsequent processing. Consequently, new methods for producing vinyl ether ester oligomers have been sought by the present inventors and their improved methods will be disclosed below.

Preparation of vinyl ether terminated polyesters


A combustor cooperating with a compressor in driving a gas turbine includes a cylindrical outer combustor casing. A combustion liner, having an upstream rich section, a quench section and a downstream lean section, is disposed within the outer combustor casing defining a combustion chamber having at least a core quench region and an outer quench region. A first plurality of quench holes are disposed within the liner at the quench section having a first diameter to provide cooling jet penetration to the core region of the quench section of the combustion chamber. A second plurality of quench holes are disposed within the liner at the quench section having a second diameter to provide cooling jet penetration to the outer region of the quench section of the combustion chamber. In an alternative embodiment, the combustion chamber quench section further includes at least one middle region and at least a third plurality of quench holes disposed within the liner at the quench section having a third diameter to provide cooling jet penetration to at least one middle region of the quench section of the combustion chamber.

This application relates to turbine combustion, and in particular relates to a rich-quench-lean turbine combustor with low NOx and CO emissions.
Over the past ten years there has been a dramatic increase in the regulatory requirements for low emissions from turbine power plants. Environmental agencies throughout the world are now requiring low rates of emissions of NOx, CO and other pollutants from both new and existing turbines.
Traditional turbine combustors use non-premixed diffusion flames where fuel and air freely enter the combustion chamber separately. Typical diffusion flames are dominated by regions that burn at or near stoichiometric conditions. The resulting flame temperatures can exceed 3000.degree. F. (1650.degree. C.). Because diatomic nitrogen reacts rapidly with oxygen at temperatures exceeding about 2850.degree. F. (1565.degree. C.), diffusion flames typically produce relatively high levels of NOx emissions.
One method commonly used to reduce peak temperatures, and thereby reduce NOx emissions, is to inject water or steam into the combustor. Water or steam injection, however, is a relatively expensive technique and can cause the undesirable side effect of quenching carbon monoxide (CO) burnout reactions. Additionally, water or steam injection methods are limited in their ability to reach the extremely low levels of pollutants now required in many localities.
Another method to reduce NOx emissions is by utilizing a rich-quench-lean (ROL) gas turbine combustor. In a rich-quench-lean combustor, a combustor is divided into a fuel rich stage, a quench stage and a fuel lean stage. In the fuel rich stage, (rich meaning an equivalence ratio .O slashed.>1), a fuel-air mixture is partially burned because the fuel-air mixture is introduced with an insufficient amount of air to complete combustion. [Note that equivalence ratio is fuel/air ratio normalized by the stoichiometric fuel/air ratio, .O slashed.=1 for stoichiometric conditions, .O slashed.>1 for fuel rich conditions, and .O slashed.<1 for fuel lean conditions.] Fuel rich combustion is desirable because a large portion of any bound nitrogen species (for example, NH.sub.3) in the fuel will be converted into N.sub.2 during combustion within the rich stage. By converting the reactive bound nitrogen species to relatively non-reactive N.sub.2, emissions of NOx are reduced.
Next, additional air, termed in the art to be "quench air", is added downstream from the rich stage to complete combustion within a lean stage. If the quench air is not uniformly and rapidly introduced, however, high NOx levels will be produced in local regions of the combustor due to high temperatures. Although rapid mixing can be achieved with a high pressure drop, this reduces the overall efficiency of the turbine.
Therefore, it is apparent from the above that there exists a need in the art for improvements in rich-quench-lean combustor design to achieve rapid mixing of quench air and rich stage burned gas while maintaining low emission levels and low pressure drop across the quench stage.


A weapons qualification target that provides instant feedback to the shooter as to whether he or she hit the standard scoring pattern. The target has a metal plate that moves backward and upward on a pivot point when the shot is within the standard scoring pattern, and then moves forward and downward to reset for the next shot.

The field of the invention is targets, specifically targets used for weapons qualification.
Federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies require their personnel to undergo weapons qualification testing as part of their initial training and periodically thereafter to maintain their skills. Targets having a standard scoring pattern (different agencies use different patterns) are used for this purpose. Traditionally the targets are paper targets. The shooter checks the target at the end of his or her shooting period, and a new target is set up for the next shooter.
No weapons qualification targets that provide instant feedback and have a standard scoring pattern are currently on the market. The closest known prior art is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,373,733 to Smith, Jr., which shows a target having a human shape that reacts to being hit by a bullet. Smith, Jr.'s target slides on a rail and is pulled forward by elastic, and does not have a standard scoring silhouette.

Instant feedback weapons qualification target


A stratified-structure laminar covering material, which can be used for example as a flooring for sports facilities, comprises an outermost layer, a bottom layer, and an intermediate layer set between the outermost layer and the bottom layer. The aforesaid layers comprise a matrix constituted by a mixture of polyolefin and thermoplastic elastomer, the matrix being substantially identical for all three layers. The matrix of the outermost layer is substantially free from fillers and has a first value of density. The bottom layer contains fillers so as to have a second value of density greater than said first value of density, and the intermediate layer contains fillers so as to have a third value of density intermediate between the first value of density of the outermost layer and the second value of density of the bottom layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to covering materials, such as for example the laminar covering materials that can be used in the building and furnishing sectors, in particular for the construction of floorings.
2. Description of the Related Art
The wide variety of covering materials of this type currently available fall into three basic categories.
One category that perhaps dates furthest back in time corresponds to the covering material commonly referred to as linoleum. The corresponding production technique basically envisages adding to linseed oil filling materials, such as wood flour and cork flour, mineral fillers, pigments and other additives so as to obtain a so-called linoleum paste. This paste then undergoes rolling in order to form sheets, which in turn undergo a so-called "curing" step, which lasts some dozens of days and is basically aimed at achieving a consolidation of the sheet of linoleum sufficient to enable its further handling and treatment (for example, so as to enable winding thereof into rolls for subsequent laying).
Notwithstanding its long existence over time, this category occupies only quite a modest share of the market both on account of the disadvantages linked to the intrinsic lengthiness of the process of curing and because, in the steps subsequent to laying of the flooring, linoleum tends to release into the environment an intense and characteristic odor linked to the presence of linseed oil.
A very substantial slice of the market of coatings and floorings is represented by synthetic plastic materials. One of the most widely used materials for making these coatings, which is able to present a contained cost, is represented by polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Irrespective of any other consideration, these floorings, and in particular PVC-based ones, tend to be viewed with less favor on account of the substances (for example, compounds of chlorine and plasticizing agents) that can be released by the coating, also on account of their disagreeable smell.
In the course of the last few years, rubber-based floorings have met with particular favor. These floorings are able to combine excellent characteristics of use (for example, as regards resistance to mechanical stresses, to aggressive chemical agents, and to burns) and as regards the possibility of obtaining coatings and floorings that are particularly pleasant from the aesthetic standpoint (for example, with general marbled effects or effects of dispersion of granules of different colors). Examples of this prior art are provided by EP-A-0 968 804 and EP-A-1 020 282.
Over the years there has been no lack of attempts to merge the characteristic elements of the various techniques of production considered previously. For example, in EP-A-0 385 053 there are described coatings of linoleum with the addition of rubber, the main purpose being to enable exploitation of the process of vulcanizing of the rubber in order to make available a coating of linoleum that can be handled and transferred to the site of laying in far shorter times than those characteristically required for curing linoleum floorings of a traditional type.
Even though the solutions described in the known art, have proven to be satisfactory and advantageous to use, there still exists the possibility of achieving further improvements above all as regards the possibility of further improving the mechanical characteristics of the covering material, the resistance to external stresses (particularly as regards the stresses due to treading), and the possibility of widening even more the choice of the chromatic ranges for making the coating.

Covering material, for instance for floorings


A construction machine includes a condenser 24 for cooling refrigerant for an air conditioner; a fan 21 for cooling the condenser 24 by using forward cooling air produced during normal-rotation drive; other cooled objects such as a radiator 25 and the like disposed under the lee of the forward cooling air with respect to the condenser 24; a refrigerant pressure detector 27 for detecting the pressure of the refrigerant flowing in the condenser 24; and a controller 136 for executing reverse-rotation stop processing for returning the fan 21 to the normal-rotation drive when the pressure P of the air conditioner refrigerant detected by the refrigerant pressure detector 27 reaches a preset normal-rotation return pressure P1 during reverse-rotation drive of the fan 21. Thus, the lowering of the cooling effect of an air conditioner can be suppressed while reducing the burden of cleaning an engine room.

Many construction machines such as wheel loaders and hydraulic excavators have working hydraulic actuators driven by hydraulic operating fluid from a hydraulic pump driven by an engine. Some construction machines of this type have the following function. A fan for sending cooling air to objects to be cooled, such as a radiator, a hydraulic operating fluid cooler and the like in an engine room is driven for reverse rotation. Reverse airflow generated in doing so removes the dust that adheres to a filter for dust removal and other objects to be cooled during the normal-rotation drive. Thus, the burden of cleaning the engine room is reduced (see patent document 1, etc.).

HITACHI CONSTRUCTION MACHINERY CO., LTD.


An optical multilayer filter comprises a substrate, and an inorganic thin film that is composed of a plurality of layers and formed on the substrate. An uppermost surface layer of the inorganic thin film is a silicon oxide layer having a density of from 1.9 g/cm3 to 2.2 g/cm3.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an optical multilayer filter, a method for manufacturing the same, and an electronic apparatus in which the optical multilayer filter is built.
2. Related Art
In general, optical multilayer filters, such as antireflection films, half mirrors, and low-pass filters, frequently used in electronic apparatuses are composed of a substrate and an inorganic thin film formed on the substrate by vacuum deposition, for example. The inorganic thin film typically has a multilayered structure in which a high refractive index film made of titanium oxide (TiO2), and a low refractive index film made of silicon oxide (SiO2), are alternately deposited, for example.
The inorganic thin film, however, is easily charged with static electricity since it has no conductivity, which is derived from the structure. Therefore, dust easily sticks on the surface of the optical multilayer filter, which may adversely affect optical characteristics of electronic apparatuses in which the filter is built.
As a countermeasure against static electricity of such a non-conductive transparent substrate, an example is disclosed in claims of JP-A-2004-233501 in which a transparent conductive film is provided on an outer surface of dust-proof glass. Such transparent conductive film can maintain transparency of glass and effectively remove static electricity since it has conductivity.
However, if the transparent conductive film cited in JP-A-2004-233501 is provided on the uppermost surface layer of an optical multilayer filter, the whole optical characteristic of the optical multilayer filter may be changed since the optical characteristic of the film serving as the uppermost surface layer is important in the optical multilayer filter. In addition, providing the transparent conductive film by another process separated from a process manufacturing the optical multilayer filter has a disadvantage in costs.

Optical multilayer filter, method for manufacturing the same, and electronic apparatus


A process for transferring a buried circuit layer comprises taking a donor substrate comprising an internal etch stop zone and covered on its front side with a circuit layer, producing over the entire circumference of the donor substrate either a peripheral trench or a peripheral routing, the routing or trench being produced over a depth such that they pass entirely through the circuit layer and extend into the donor substrate, depositing on the circuit layer and on the routed side or on the walls of the trench a layer of an etch stop material that is selective with respect to etching of the circuit layer, without filling the trench, bonding a receiver substrate to the donor substrate, and thinning the donor substrate by etching its back side until reaching the etch stop zone so as to obtain the transfer of the buried circuit layer to the receiver substrate.

The thinning of a substrate used in the aforementioned technical fields may be carried out, for example, by chemical etching.
When a substrate of semiconductor-on-insulator (SeOI) type is thinned, the chemical etching is relatively easy to use since the buried oxide layer serves as an etch stop layer. When it is a question of a solid substrate, the thinning is slightly more complex since it is then necessary to create an etch stop layer, for example, by p- or n-type doping of the solid substrate.
However, in the particular case where the donor substrate comprises a buried circuit layer, the chemical etching of the layer of material that covers the buried circuit layer becomes truly problematic. Specifically, the chemical solutions used (for example, sulfuric acid (H2SO4), phosphoric acid (H3PO4) or hydrofluoric acid (HF) in the case of the etching of silicon) are particularly aggressive with respect to metals and, therefore, with respect to the layer comprising the circuits.
This results in a lateral etching of the buried circuit layer, which may reach a centimeter or more from the edge. The BSI sensors manufactured in the vicinity of this damaged zone are then unusable.
A process is already known from European Pat. No. EP 1 962 325 (hereinafter the '325 patent) for manufacturing a bonded substrate, by transfer of layers, which comprises steps of producing a peripheral groove on the front side of a donor substrate, of thermal oxidation of this substrate, of bonding a receiver substrate to the front side and of thinning the donor substrate from its back side, until the bottom of the groove is reached.
Such a process makes it possible to transfer to the receiver substrate only the central portion of the donor substrate and to remove the poorly bonded peripheral portion thereof.
However, the '325 patent absolutely does not describe the treatment of donor substrates comprising a buried circuit layer and, furthermore, such a layer would not withstand the thermal oxidation carried out, or the thermal treatment after bonding at more than 1000° C., which are described in the '325 patent.
The objective of the disclosure is, therefore, to propose a process for transferring a buried circuit layer that resolves the aforementioned drawbacks of the prior art and, in particular, that avoids damaging these circuits.
For this purpose, the disclosure relates to a process for transferring a buried circuit layer (2).
In accordance with the disclosure, this process comprises the following steps:                taking a donor substrate internally comprising an etch stop zone and covered on one of its sides, referred to as the "front" side, with a circuit layer,        producing over the entire circumference of the donor substrate, on its side covered with the circuit layer, either a peripheral trench that extends at a distance from the lateral edge of the donor substrate, or a peripheral routing, the routing or trench being produced over a depth such that they pass entirely through the circuit layer and extend into the donor substrate,        depositing on the exposed side of the circuit layer and on the routed side or on the walls of the trench, a layer of a stop material that is selective with respect to the etching of the circuit layer, referred to as a "second stop layer," without filling the trench,        bonding a receiver substrate to the donor substrate on the side covered by the second stop layer,        thinning the donor substrate (1) by chemical etching of its back side, until the etch stop zone is reached, so as to obtain the transfer of the buried circuit layer to the receiver substrate.
According to other advantageous and nonlimiting features of the disclosure, taken alone or in combination:                the etch stop zone is a layer, referred to as a "first stop layer," of a material that is selective with respect to the etching of the material of the back portion of the donor substrate;        the etch stop zone is an interface between a doped front layer and a non-doped back layer of the donor substrate;        the peripheral routing or the peripheral trench has a depth such that it passes through the etch stop zone, without penetrating into the back portion or the back layer of the donor substrate;        the peripheral routing or the peripheral trench is produced over a depth such that it does not pass through the etch stop zone and in that, after the chemical etching thinning step, an additional step of mechanical removal of the residual peripheral ring of the donor substrate is carried out, in particular, by grinding or chemical mechanical polishing (CMP);        the peripheral routing or the peripheral trench has a depth such that it passes through the etch stop zone and extends into the back portion or the back layer of the donor substrate and, after the chemical etching thinning step, an additional step of mechanical removal of the residue of the second stop layer is carried out, in particular, by grinding or chemical mechanical polishing (CMP);        the second stop layer is deposited by a technique selected from chemical vapor deposition (CVD) or spin coating;        the peripheral trench is produced with the aid of a technique selected from laser etching, dry etching and wet etching;        the peripheral trench is located at a distance from the lateral edge of the donor substrate of less than or equal to 5 mm;        the width of the trench is between 10 μm and 500 μm;        the materials forming the first and the second stop layer are selected from oxides or nitrides;        the materials forming the first and the second stop layer are selected from silicon oxide, silicon oxynitride or silicon oxycarbide;        the materials forming the first and the second stop layer are identical;        the donor substrate is produced from a semiconductor material;        the bonding of the donor and receiver substrates takes place by molecular adhesion.


A reference AC signal having a frequency of about 4-10 Hz is injected into a line of a DC electrical network for performing insulation measuring in a processing unit. The AC signal is measured in a mixed bridge having a first resistive dividing bridge connected in parallel with a second capacitive dividing bridge between the line and the ground. The intermediate output points of the first and second bridges are joined together and connected in an input of the processing unit. The impedance and the dividing ratio of the two bridges cause the DC voltage measured at said input to be low in relation to the value of the AC voltage measured at the output of said mixed bridge.

The present invention relates to a reference voltage measuring bridge for a device for monitoring and measuring the insulation of a DC voltage electrical mains system, notably a low voltage system, for example about 600 volts, the voltage measuring bridge being designed to supply at least a portion of the useful input signal of an analysis channel of a reference AC voltage, of low frequency, comprised between 4 and 10 Hertz for example, and of low voltage, about 30 volts peak-to-peak for example, which is input to the DC electrical mains system.
It is state-of-the-art, for example from the documents FR-A-2,616,228 and FR-A-2,647,220, to use for monitoring and measuring the insulation of an electrical mains system with respect to earth, a device comprising an input circuit of a reference AC signal to the mains system to be monitored, and an electronic detection circuit able to supply a measurement signal representative of the insulation state of the mains system in response to sending of the reference signal, this insulation state being illustrated by a leakage impedance Zd formed by a leakage resistance Rf electrically connected in parallel to a stray capacitor Cf, whose capacity depends on the mains system characteristics.
The accompanying FIG. 1 represents the input circuit of the state-of-the-art insulation monitor in schematic form.
This involves in FIG. 1 a mains system supply DC voltage Vc of rather high amplitude, for example 600 volts. The voltage is applied between a line wire 1 and a return wire 2 which is insulated from the installation ground. The insulation impedance Zd between the two DC power supply wires 1 and 2 is composed of the leakage resistance Rf and the stray capacitor Cf, whose capacity depends on the mains system characteristics and which, as represented, is connected in parallel to the resistance Rf.
The insulation monitor, whose object is to monitor the two components Rf and Cf of the insulation impedance Zd, comprises means (not shown) for injecting a reference AC voltage Vd, via an input wire 4 and a coupling capacitor 3, between the line wire 1 and the installation ground. This AC voltage is of low frequency f, generally comprised between 4 and 10 Hertz, and has a relatively low peak-to-peak voltage, about thirty volts for example.
Determining the resistive value Rf and the capacitive value Cf of the impedance Zd requires both the value of the input voltage Vd and that of the corresponding current Id flowing in the insulation impedance Zd to be measured.
The current Id is measured by taking the value of the voltage at frequency f which is due to the current Id flowing in a measuring resistance R3 serially connected with the impedance Zd, between the return wire 2 and ground. The information is applied to an input El of the processing and display unit 5 which equips the insulation monitor.
The voltage Vd is measured, and applied to another input E2 of the unit 5, by taking it at the potentiometric output connector 6 of a dividing bridge with two resistances R1, R2, whose attenuation ratio, which is about 80 for example, and total resistance (R1=R2), which is about 600 kiloohms for example, are chosen in such a way as to achieve a compromise between:
the measuring precision which is greater the higher the ratio R2/R1 (high AC voltage input on the input E2) and the lower the resistance (R1+R2) of the bridge 7 (high alternating current flowing at this point); PA1 the input impedance of the DC mains system which must not be reduced too much by the presence of this bridge 7; PA1 the DC voltage level at the measuring point 6, which must not only be lower than the operating voltage of the semi-conducting components of the unit 5 (+15 volts, -15 volts in general), but which must also not be high with respect to that of the input AC voltage measured at the same point 6.
The solution described in the document FR-A-2,647,220 which consists in connecting a capacitor between the resistance R1 and the line conductor 1 gives rise to a stray phase displacement problem, liable to disturb the measuring precision.
Adopting a compromise of this kind in choosing the values of the resistances R1 and R2 cannot be totally satisfactory. The resulting impedance of the bridge 7 is in fact considered to be insufficient, and the useful AC signal taken at the mid-point 6 is so weak that it is practically drowned in the noise. The residual DC power supply at the mid-point 6 is much too high, both in voltage and current intensity values.

Reference voltage measuring bridge for a device for monitoring and measuring the insulation of a DC voltage electrical mains system


A new cultivar of Diascia plant named ‘PENIMP’ that is characterized by compact habit, green leaves, sterility and pink flowers that form a complete canopy of bloom by early summer. In combination these traits set ‘PENIMP’ apart from all other existing varieties of Diascia known to the inventor.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of twinspur, a perennial that is grown for use in raised beds, borders, hanging baskets, and patio containers. The new cultivar is known botanically as Diascia and will be referred to hereinafter by the cultivar name 'PENIMP'.
The inventor has been interested and has collected plants of the genus Diascia since the early 1990s. Diascia, which is native to southern Africa, provides showy annual and perennial (in mild climates) plants whose predominant flower color range in nature is in the range of soft to dark pink, also white, lavender-pink, salmon and apricot. Plants of Diascia which are raised from seed are inherently variable in growth habit, ranging from loose, weak plants with brittle stems to plants with significantly shorter internodes resulting in more compact forms and therefore more dense flowering characteristics. Various breeding programs, including the inventor's, have aimed to develop improvements in plant habit and also an extension in the color range into deep pink or red or orange shades and ideally with very similar compact habits for each color.
In 1995, the inventor commenced a deliberate program to develop a range of Diascias whose characteristics would be common throughout, namely an extremely compact plant habit with bright flower colors, and in a range of colors. In 1995 the inventor selected from his collection several plants with the dwarfest habit and hand-pollinated amongst them. The plants involved in the hybridization are unknown although some were numbered selections from prior work.
The seedlings raised during 1995 flowered in the same year and many were retained for further observation in 1996 and 1997. In May 1997, the inventor determined that one plant, PENDAN (unpatented), exhibited exceptional characteristics of dense habit and bright clear saturated pink flowers.
The new Diascia, PENIMP was selected in 2002 as a single plant within a crop of trial plants which had all been grown from in vitro cuttings of PENDAN which had been chemically treated by the inventor. These in vitro cuttings were taken from the inventor's laboratory stock of virus-free plants of PENDAN. PENIMP is a chemically induced mutation of PENDAN and was selected by the inventor for its outstanding floriferousness which causes a plant of PENIMP to be completely covered in flowers with no foliage visible. The inventor considers that this ability to form a dense canopy of flower sets PENIMP apart from other Diascias known to the inventor, including PENDAN which exhibits similar plant habit and identical flower color, but a lesser density of flowers. The inventor has not observed any seed formation on PENIMP.
The parent of 'PENIMP' is an individual whole plant of Diascia 'PENDAN'. 'PENIMP' is distinguishable from the parent by sterility, and profuse blooming. The closest comparison plant known to the inventor is Diascia 'PENDER', which is also derived from 'PENDAN'. 'PENDER' is the subject of a separate application for grant of a U.S. Plant Patent. 'PENDER' and 'PENIMP' exhibit similar plant habit characteristics. 'PENDER' produces deep salmon-pink flowers whereas 'PENIMP' produce mid-pink flowers. 'PENDER' is very floriferous whereas 'PENIMP' is exceptionally floriferous.
The first asexual propagation of the new Diascia cultivar 'PENIMP' was conducted in 2002 by the inventor at his nursery in Newport, Gwent, England. The method of asexual propagation used was vegetative tip cuttings. Since that time the unique and distinguishing characteristics of 'PENIMP' have been determined stable, fixed, and reproduce true to type in successive generations of asexual reproduction.


A slidebar assembly for adjustably positioning the handlebar of a bicycle or other similar vehicle includes a slidebar having a base end which pivotally attaches to the head of the bicycle stem and a slide block assembly which carries the handlebar on the slidebar so that the forward position of the handlebar can be adjusted in a slide motion. Hand accessible cam lock levers are provided on the slide block assembly for releasing the grip of the slide block assembly on the slidebar; a further hand-accessible cam lock lever is provided at the base of the slidebar for adjusting the pivot angle of the slidebar in relation to the handlebar stem which fits into the frame of the bicycle. Adjustment of the pivot angle of the slidebar in relation to the bicycle stem is provided by means of unique cam lock mechanism, which, when the cam lock lever at the base end of the slidebar is actuated, operatively releases the base end to pivot on the head of the handlebar stem. Due to the hand-accessible nature of the slide and pivot adjustments on the slidebar, the handlebar can be repositioned without the use of tools as the cyclist is riding the bicycle.

The present invention generally relates to handlebar systems for bicycles or similar vehicles, and more particularly to attachments which permit adjustment of the handlebar position relative to the rider of the bicycle.
Handlebar position is important to a cyclist in terms of both riding comfort and efficient operation of the bicycle. The optimum position of the handlebar will vary depending on terrain and riding conditions, for example, a steep terrain or rugged terrain may call for a more forward position to the handlebar to achieve greater balance and power, while cruising on a relatively flat terrain may dictate a more upright position for long term comfort.
Heretofore, handlebar position adjustments have been possible, but only to a limited degree. Conventional adjustments include vertically adjusting the handlebar stem in the neck of the bicycle frame by loosening the stem wedge nut with a crescent wrench or other similar hand tool. Other conventional adjustments include rotating the handlebar at the end of the handlebar stem. In either case, the degree of adjustment is relatively limited. Particularly, such conventional adjustment methods provide minimal forward and rearward adjustment capability and have the further hold the slide block assembly in its sliding engagement with the slidebar; the other is a handlebar clamping means which holds the handlebar in transverse relation to the slidebar.
Release means on the slide block assembly permit hand adjustments to be made to the position of the handlebar. Preferably the release means are comprised of hand accessible cam lock levers which operate to disengage the slide block assembly's grip on both the slidebar and the handlebar. Alternative hand accessible release means might include the use of hand operated turn tight bolts.
A further aspect of the invention involves the adjustment of the pivot angle of the slidebar in relation to the handlebar stem to achieve elevational (up/down) adjustments of the handlebar. In accordance with the invention, this is accomplished by a pivot means which includes providing a handlebar stem with a split stem head and a hand operated cam lock means which is operative to spread the two halves of a split stem head so as to lock the stem head to the slidebar.
It will be seen that because of hand accessible adjustments, moving the handlebar forward or backward along the slidebar in a linear motion can be easily accomplished, as can a rotational adjustment of the handlebar in the slide block assembly which carries the handlebar. Furthermore, as above-mentioned, the slidebar can be pivotally adjusted up and down relative to the bicycle stem to raise or lower the handlebar. Any of these disadvantage of requiring the cyclist to stop and dismount his or her bicycle before the adjustment is made.
The present invention improves on conventional handlebar adjustment schemes by providing an attachment which provides a greater degree of adjustment, including a linear forward adjustment of the handlebar. Using the attachment of the present invention, a cyclist can readily reposition the handlebar either forward or backward or up and down, and do so by hand, i.e., without tools, and while riding the bicycle.

Slidebar assembly for attaching a handlebar to the handlebar stem of a bicycle or the like


A dental tray assembly for storage of oral prosthetics includes a base and a cover, associated with the base and being configured to be alternately positioned relative to the base in a first, closed position, and a second, open position. A biasing element interconnects the base and the cover to provide a biasing force between the cover and the base, the biasing force varying with position of the cover relative to the base to provide an attractive force between the cover and the base when the cover is in the first, closed position, and a repellant force between the cover and the base when the cover is in the second, open position. A storage tray is nestable within the base, the storage tray including at least two compartments, each compartment being configured to receive and store an oral prosthetic therein.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a dental tray assembly. More particularly, the present invention relates to a dental tray assembly for the temporary storage of oral prosthetics by dental practitioners.
2. Related Art
Dental practitioners often apply oral prosthetics to dental patients to enhance the appearance of, repair damage to, or replace natural tooth structure. Dental prosthetics can be categorized into two primary types: permanent prosthetics, which are designed to remain on the tooth structure; and removable prosthetics, which can be removed and subsequently replaced by the patient. Removable prosthetics include devices such as dentures, retainers, etc. Examples of permanent oral prosthetics include dental crowns, caps, bridges, orthodontics, etc. In the case where oral prosthetics are applied permanently, the prosthetic is generally bonded or adhered onto or over the tooth structure being treated to ensure that the prosthetic does not become dislodged from the tooth structure over time. For example, dental crowns are generally bonded over a tooth that has been reduced in size prior to application of the crown to thereby give the appearance that the crown is the original tooth. The crown is generally bonded to the tooth structure in order to withstand the forces applied to the crown when the patient eats, flosses, drinks, chews gum, etc.
Because many oral prosthetics must be customized to accurately fit on or over the tooth structure being treated, the prosthetics are generally fabricated by a laboratory, often located off-site of the dental offices where the patient is treated. Thus, the prosthetic is often shipped from the lab to the dental office, where the dental practitioner must identify which patient the prosthetic is for and on which tooth or in which area of the mouth the prosthetic will be attached. Because of the small nature and aesthetic qualities of dental prosthetics, marking identification information directly on the prosthetics is generally not done. Instead, the prosthetic is generally only identified by the package in which the prosthetic is being transported or stored. This makes identification of oral prosthetics difficult without carefully maintaining each prosthetic in its particular package.
In addition to the problems inherent in tracking the identity of oral prosthetics, problems also arise during application of oral prosthetics due to the adhesive that is generally applied to the prosthetic prior to attaching or bonding the prosthetic to the tooth structure. In some applications, the prosthetic is prepared concurrently with preparation of the tooth structure onto or over which the prosthetic is to be applied. In one exemplary scenario, the dental practitioner will first prepare the prosthetic for bonding by applying an adhesive to the prosthetic and then set the "wet" prosthetic aside while the tooth structure is prepared. Once preparation of the tooth structure is complete, the wet prosthetic can be retrieved and placed onto the tooth structure and the bonding process can be finalized. As the adhesive material on the prosthetic must be kept clean from contaminates, placing the wet prosthetic aside can be problematic in that the adhesive may become contaminated while the prosthetic is set aside. Also, excess adhesive may fall or drip from the prosthetic and contaminate otherwise clean surfaces in the dental office.
In addition, many of the adhesives used to bond oral prosthetics are permanently cured by intentionally exposing the adhesive to an ultraviolet ("UV") or other light source once the prosthetic is in place on the tooth structure. If the "wet" prosthetic is allowed to sit for too long in an environment in which it is exposed to natural or artificial light, the adhesive may begin curing prematurely due to the UV content of the natural or artificial light. This can result in a poor bond being formed between the prosthetic and the tooth structure, as the adhesive is partially cured prior to being placed in contact with the tooth structure.
The problems discussed above are further exacerbated when multiple prosthetics are to be applied to a patient in a single visit or sitting. For instance, maintaining identification of an oral prosthetic becomes even more difficult when multiple prosthetics are to be applied to a particular patient at one sitting, as the prosthetics may appear very similar to each but will only correctly fit the particular tooth for which they were tailored. Thus, when multiple prosthetics are to be applied, multiple containers must often be used to aid in tracking the identity of each prosthetic prior to applying the prosthetic to the appropriate tooth structure.
In addition, the most efficient manner to apply multiple prosthetics at one sitting is to prepare all of the prosthetics for bonding (i.e., apply adhesive to the prosthetics), prepare all of the tooth structures to be treated, and then sequentially apply and bond each prosthetic in its appropriate location. However, by doing so, the dental practitioner risks losing track of which of the prosthetics correspond to which tooth, risks contaminating the adhesive, and risks inadvertently beginning the cure of the adhesive by prematurely exposing the adhesive to natural or artificial UV sources. Due to such risks, multiple prosthetics are often prepared and applied one at a time, which results in a great loss of efficiency in the overall process.


Synthetic Rutile is prepared from raw ilmenite ore by a method comprising activating ilmenite and subjecting it to a multi-stage countercurrent leaching process in hot hydrochloric acid.

Processes for the production of Synthetic Rutile from ore such as ilmenite are becoming increasingly important. Synthetic Rutile is frequently used in place of natural rutile, of which only limited deposits remain, for the production of titanium tetrachloride, which is the starting material for the production of titanium dioxide.
In order to obtain high grade titanium dioxide from titaniferous ores such as ilmenites, it is necessary to remove a substantial portion of the iron values therefrom. In commercial operations, partial removal of iron values is usually achieved from a thermo-reduction or electro-smelting treatment of the titaniferous ore which reduces the iron to a metallic state thus making it easily removable from the titanium values. Once the iron is removed, a concentrate containing titanium values is recovered. This concentrate is generally referred to as titaniferous slag. Typically, this slag contains approximately 88% by weight titanium values, 10% iron values and less than 2% manganese values. Additionally, the slag contains impurities.
Other processes have been commercially developed which may overcome some of the problems frequently encountered, however they are limited in their application to particular grades of ilmenite such as the Becher process or are more complicated and less economical than is desirable such as the Benilite process. Some other processes which claim to have wide application and improved economics, such as the Murso and ERMS processes have been proposed but have not yet reached the stage of commercial development.

Method for the production of synthetic rutile


An RFID reader system comprises one or more transceiver modules (10) for communicating with a plurality of RFID tags, a control unit (8) having a reference frequency generator for providing a reference frequency to said one or more transceiver modules (10), a control bus (16) connecting the control unit (8) to said one or more transceiver modules (10) for communicating with said one or more transceiver modules (10) and the control unit (8) having a communications port allowing the control unit to communicate with an application host system. The control unit (8) provides a common reference frequency to said transceiver modules. The invention also relates to a method of reading tags, comprising the steps of providing a plurality of transceiver modules (10) with a common reference frequency, and controlling at least one of the transceiver modules (10) from a control unit (8) to read one or more of the plurality of tags.

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) systems comprise a Reader otherwise known as an Interrogator or Scanner and a plurality of Tags also known as Transponders or Electronic Labels. Systems designed for low cost applications to identify or track items may use so called Passive Tags which rely on the transmitted energy field from reader to provide their operating power and to provide a carrier signal on which they can use varying impedance modulation to signal their identity or to transmit their energy for reception by the reader. This form of modulation is commonly referred to as backscatter modulation.
Passive Tags may optionally incorporate a battery to provide energy to power the circuits on the Tag but they rely on backscatter modulation to communicate their identity. These tags are called Battery assisted Passive Tags. RFID Tagging systems employing these types of tags to communicate over ranges of more than 1 meter are designed to operate in the UHF or microwave bands, typically at frequencies in the region of 433 MHz or 860 to 960 MHz or 2.45 GHz. However these are not the only frequencies used for RFID systems.
A variety of communications protocols are used to enable the reading of multiple tags present in the operating field of the reader. These protocols are called arbitration protocols, also referred to as collision arbitration or anti-collision protocols. These protocols may use either Aloha hold-off and retry arbitration or tree walking or binary search protocols to arbitrate populations of tags present. The International Standard ISO/IEC FCD 18000 describes a number of such systems in use at different operating frequencies. Tags may be attached to items examples of which are bottles of detergent or chemicals, items of clothing, motor spares, electronic assemblies, cartons, plastic crates used in transporting perishable foods, pallets, roll cages or any other item one can imagine.
Tags may also be embedded in consumer products or other items in order to provide life cycle tracking and management. The items to which tags are attached affect the radio frequency performance of the tags or the direction from which tags can be read or the operating range of tags. In order to read tags in many situations the reader system must be configured as a portal reader in which individual reader antennas are mounted around the portal in order to provide adequate signal levels to the tags or to permit the reception of the backscatter signal from the tags. The antennas in such a system may be switched or multiplexed to provide a wider angle of radiation or greater reader volume than is possible with a single antenna as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,367,697 Entitled "A Reader Arrangement for an Electronic Identification System Having a Plurality of Reader Heads for Energising Transponders" incorporated herein by reference. The antennas in such a system may also be combined such that all the antennas are energised simultaneously.
In the multiplexed arrangement it is possible that a number of tags out of the plurality of tags in the reader field may not receive adequate illumination of RF energy from the reader, or that the tags are arranged such that they may be illuminated by the energising signal from the reader but are in a receive null and therefore their backscatter signal from the tag is not visible to the receiver in the reader. In the combined arrangement, all antennas radiate a signal from the reader and therefore could potentially provide a solid reading field. However due to reflections and phase differences at different points in the reading volume resulting from phase changes due to propagation from the multiple antennas, energy nulls may occur in the volume and therefore tags which are placed in these nulls may never be energised or may never be visible to the receiver in the reader. It has been observed that it is possible for tags to be energised but for the response signal to not be received by the receiver in the reader.
Yet another problem with using a single reader with multiplexed multiple reader antennas results from the transmit power and receiver signal losses associated with the loss in the transmitter feedlines used to couple the reader to the antennas. In a typical 3 meter wide portal system, cables can be as long as 12 meters resulting in a power and signal loss of 6 dB or more depending on the characteristics of the feeder cable used. It is possible to reduce the loss in the cable by using coaxial cable having a larger cross sectional area, however these cables are difficult to install due to their large diameter and weight. They are also expensive and so do not provide a practical solution to the problem of cable loss.

Reader for RFID transponders and corresponding method


A method and apparatus for radio resource control (RRC) state transitions of a user equipment (UE) are provided. For the RRC state transitions of the UE, for example, a reconfiguration message is received at the UE while the UE is in a cell dedicated channel (CELL_DCH) state of the RRC states. The reconfiguration message is configured to transition the UE from the CELL_DCH state to a non-dedicated channel state of RRC states. A plurality of acknowledgement procedures is sent on an uplink to the network, in response to the received reconfiguration message causing the UE to transition from the CELL_DCH state to the non-dedicated channel state.

Aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to wireless communications, and more particularly, to techniques for transitioning from a radio resource control (RRC) state to another RRC state of a user equipment (UE).
Wireless communication networks are widely deployed to provide various communication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging, broadcasts, and so on. Such networks, which are usually multiple access networks, support communications for multiple users by sharing the available network resources. One example of such a network is the UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN). The UTRAN is the radio access network (RAN) defined as a part of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), a third generation (3G) mobile phone technology supported by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). The UMTS, which is the successor to Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) technologies, currently supports various air interface standards, such as Wideband-Code Division Multiple Access (W-CDMA), Time Division-Code Division Multiple Access (TD-CDMA), and Time Division-Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA). The UMTS also supports enhanced 3G data communications protocols, such as High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), which provides higher data transfer speeds and capacity to associated UMTS networks.
As the demand for mobile broadband access continues to increase, research and development continue to advance the UMTS technologies not only to meet the growing demand for mobile broadband access, but to advance and enhance the user experience with mobile communications.

DCH to non-DCH state switching of user equipment in UMTS


An emulsifier composition containing: (a) from about 7 to about 15% by weight of an alkyl polyglycoside of formula I: EQU R.sub.1 O(R.sub.2 O).sub.b (Z).sub.a (I). wherein R.sub.1 is a monovalent organic radical having from about 6 to about 30 carbon atoms; R.sub.2 is a divalent alkylene radical having from 2 to 4 carbon atoms; Z is a saccharide residue having 5 or 6 carbon atoms; b is a number having a value from 0 to about 12; a is a number having a value from 1 to about 6; (b) from about 9 to about 17% by weight of an alkoxylated linear alcohol; (c) from about 11 to about 19% by weight of linear alkyl sulfonate; (d) from about 1 to about 5% by weight of a monoethanolamine; and (e) remainder, water, all weights being based on the total weight of the composition.

Methyl esters comprise any of a group of fatty esters derived from coconut and other vegetable oils, tallow, and the like. These compounds contain alkyl groups ranging from C.sub.8 -C.sub.18 in varying percentages, i.e., having varying carbon chain length distributions.
Methyl esters are used in a variety of commercial and industrial applications. Examples of application include their use in metal degreasing, paint stripping and graffiti removal as well as lubricants in the production of metals, i.e., in metal-cutting fluids, high-temperature grinding of metals, and the cold-rolling of steel. Additional applications include their use in lacquers, paints and varnishes, plasticizers and the formation of polymeric materials.
While the majority of commercially used methyl esters are formed synthetically by the reaction of methanol with an organic C.sub.8 -C.sub.18 acid in the presence of a catalyst such as sulfuric acid or p-toluenesulfonic acid, they also are known to occur in nature. Recovery of naturally occurring methyl esters may be accomplished by steam distillation, extraction or pressing, or by a combination of these processes.
In order to effectively utilize the favorable physical and chemical properties of methyl esters, it is often times necessary to emulsify them into a disperse, homogeneous form. Typical emulsifiers for methyl esters involve ingredients which contain volatile organic compounds. Examples of volatile organic compounds generally employed as emulsifiers for methyl esters include cosurfactants such as C.sub.3 -C.sub.5 alcohols and glycol ethers. Due to recent ecotoxicological awareness, the use of volatile organic compounds is undesirable.


The present invention describes the preparation of maytansinol by methods that minimize processing steps, and reduce solvent volumes, making the process more efficient, and scaleable. This process comprises a step of converting bridged acetals of maytansinol to maytansinol. The simplified processing also aids in lowering the potential for human exposure to chemicals. Also provided is an isolated C3 to C9 bridged acetal of maytansinol.

Maytansinoids are highly cytotoxic drugs. The first member of this class, maytansine, was isolated by Kupchan et al. from the east African shrub Maytenus serrata and shown to be 100 to 1000 fold more cytotoxic than conventional cancer chemotherapeutic agents like methotrexate, daunorubicin, and vincristine (U.S. Pat. No. 3,896,111). Subsequently, it was discovered that some microbes also produce maytansinoids, such as maytansinol and C-3 esters of maytansinol (U.S. Pat. No. 4,151,042). Synthetic C-3 esters of maytansinol and analogues of maytansinol have also been reported (Kupchan et al. J. Med. Chem. 21:31-37 (1978); Higashide et al. Nature 270:721-722 (1977); Kawai et al. Chem. Pharm. Bull. 32:3441-3451 (1984)). Examples of analogues of maytansinol from which C-3 esters have been prepared include maytansinol with modifications on the aromatic ring (e.g. dechloro) or at the C-9, C-14 (e.g. hydroxylated methyl group), C-15, C-18, C-20 and C-4,5.
The naturally occurring and synthetic C-3 esters of maytansinol can be classified into two groups:    (a) Maytansine and its analogs described above, which are C-3 esters with N-methyl-L-alanine or derivatives of N-methyl-L-alanine (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,137,230; 4,260,608; 5,208,020; and Chem. Pharm. Bull. 12:3441 (1984)); and    (b) Ansamitocins, which are C-3 esters with simple carboxylic acids (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,248,870; 4,265,814; 4,308,268; 4,308,269; 4,309,428; 4,317,821; 4,322,348; and 4,331,598).
Ansamitocins are a mixture of compounds composed predominantly of ansamitocin P-2, ansamitocin P-3, ansamitocin P-3′, ansamitocin P-4 and ansamitocin P-4′, FIG. 1. The ansamitocin P-3 component of ansamitocins typically comprises over 70% of the total material in ansamitocins. Thus the mixture is often referred to as ansamitocin P-3. Ansamitocins are prepared by bacterial fermentation as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,162,940, 4,356,265, 4,228,239, and 6,790,954.
Maytansine, its analogs, and each of the ansamitocin species are C3-esters of maytansinol that can be converted to maytansinol by cleavage of their respective ester side chains. Structures of maytansinols and several C3 esters are shown in FIG. 1. Typically, cleavage of the ester moiety is achieved through a reduction reaction. Thus, for example, C3-esters of maytansinol can be cleaved by treatment with lithium tri-methoxyaluminum hydride (LATH) or by other alkali alkoxyaluminum hydrides at reduced temperatures, followed by quenching with water or an aqueous salt solution and extraction with organic solvent to give maytansinol, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,333,410. Maytansinol is the common starting material for the preparation of various maytansinoid drugs, as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,322,348, 4,331,598 and 6,333,410. The processes of preparing maytansinol described thus far are tedious to perform and are time consuming, because the aluminum-based byproducts of the reduction can form suspensions or gels that are difficult to extract and that can retain significant amounts of product. Anderson, N. "Practical Process Research & Development" (2000) ISBN # 0-12-059475-7 pages 72.