Disclosed herein is a dynamically interactive combination of a shoe and an externally adjustable internal orthotic foot cradle formed of a fabric strap material. The disclosed combination attenuates and beneficially disperses the deforming forces experienced by the foot in weight bearing, limits the extent of pronation and excursions of the various joints of the mid and hind foot during weight bearing and the cradle can store mechanical energy absorbed during weight bearing and return at least a portion of such stored energy in the form of restorative forces applied to the mid and hind foot during the non-weight bearing phase of the gait cycle.

The present invention relates broadly to footwear and is more particularly concerned with a shoe having disposed therewithin an orthotic cradle device.
In human locomotion the foot undergoes a highly complex and continuously changing series of motions, vectors and loads. The gait cycle of a human is generally considered as comprising two distinct phases: (a) the stance phase, and (b) the swing phase. The beginning of the stance phase is signalled by the heel strike of the foot against the support surface. At this point of the cycle the foot begins to become loaded with body weight and, in response, pronates, thereby to result in a lowering of the medial longitudinal arch, an outward turning of the foot and an inward rotation of the leg. During this pronation of the foot, the bony articulations or joints of the mid and hind foot loosen somewhat in order that the foot can both adjust to the support surface and absorb the mechanical shock of heel strike and weight bearing. As the plantar surface of foot rolls proximo-distally onto the support surface, and at some point subsequent to midstance, the heel begins to invert and the foot begins to resupinate. At this juncture of the stance phase the forefoot is fixed to the support surface with the heel in inversion, the heads of the first and fifth metatarsals are splayed apart and the foot is in a rigid structural condition and, ideally, in a neutral, that is to say, neither pronated nor supinated, position. Next, plantar-flexion of the foot begins, the arch becomes rigid and the heel lifts off the support surface, usually with accompanying further supination. The plantar fascia shortens and the toes begin to flex, creating a so-called "windlass effect" whereby the arch is elevated and which constitutes the final or "propulsive" segment of the stance phase immediately preceding the beginning of the swing phase of the gait cycle and the heel strike of the opposite foot. In the normal swing phase, during which the foot is lifted entirely off the support surface and, therefore, is in a non-weight bearing condition, the normal foot returns from its supinated position to a neutral position, as do the articulations of the fore, mid and hind foot, in preparation for the onset of its next stance or weight bearing phase.
Flexible biomechanical deformities and anomalies of the foot tend to decrease the foot's intrinsic resistance to weight bearing and environmental forces. Where this scenario is present, there is usually presented a predisposition of the medial longitudinal arch and the subtalar joint to excessive triplanar motion or pronation which can generally be observed by careful visual analysis of the gait cycle. Thus, the joint excursions involved in pronation of the foot which, as mentioned above, is a normal motion in the early portion of the stance phase can themselves be dimensionally excessive and/or the foot can fail to properly return from its pronated state to a fully neutral position in preparation for the onset of the propulsive segment of the stance phase. Accordingly, if left unresolved, these structurally destabilizing forces acting upon a biomechanically unsound foot result in hypermobility syndromes of the first and fifth metatarsals, plantar flexion and medial deviation of the talar head, as well as naviculo-cuneiform sag. Such hypermobility syndromes constitute forerunners to many multi-focal sub-acute, acute and chronic pathologies of the foot, including such conditions as hallux-abducto-valgus deformity, tailor's bunion, hellomata, degenerative joint disease, plantar fascial strain, heel spur syndrome, subluxation of the calcaneal-cuboid joint and lateral foot column problems. Such pathological foot conditions, particularly because they generally cause the sufferer thereof to compensate for foot pain or deformity by altering his or her gait, can also foster or exacerbate pathologies relating to portions of the human anatomy other than the foot, such as ankle, knee, hip and spine.
In view of the foregoing potential or actual problems associated with the hypermobile foot, orthotic devices have been developed which are said to stabilize the foot in order to prevent excessive pronation and/or to maintain the foot in an anatomically correct position within footwear during the gait cycle. Amongst these are various mid-hind foot stabilizing strap arrangements disclosed by R. Stephen Curtis in U.S. Pat. No. 4,461,288, issued Jul. 24, 1984 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,649,939, issued Mar. 17, 1987. Said strap arrangements are disclosed to be worn external to the shoe and are said to stabilize motion of the infratalar joints and prevent slippage of the foot within the shoe. These strap arrangements broadly comprise a dorsal strap, an Achilles strap and a plantar strap, said straps being joined together at one end to form a generally Y-shaped arrangement. The plantar strap is disposed under or through the sole, proximate the plantar fascia, the dorsal strap disposed over the instep and the Achilles strap disposed around the heel of the shoe, the free ends of the dorsal and Achilles straps comprising clasps such that their lengths may be adjusted while securing them under tension to the other end of the plantar strap. The completed construction defines an adjustable mid and hind foot-encircling retention harness disposed over the exterior of the shoe which, acting indirectly upon the foot through the shoe, is said to stabilize the bony articulations of the foot, particularly along the infratalar joints, thereby to prevent or mitigate against excessive pronation thereof, and to secure the foot within the shoe so as to avoid or minimize slippage of the foot within the shoe and to thereby avoid the loss of arch support by the shoe which is said to result as a result of such slippage. Apparently, the Curtis stabilizer requires the use of relatively unyielding and inelastic strapping materials, such as cotton polyester blend webbing, for its construction because, inter alia, patentee states that periodic readjustment of the straps may be required in order to accomodate the swelling of the foot which often occurs during the course of an exercise routine. Also indicative of the use of unyielding inelastic strapping materials in the construction of the Curtis stabilizers is the patentee's express intention that a force applied to any one of the straps be distributed to the remaining straps of the construction.
In accordance with the present invention there is provided a shoe comprising an internal orthotic cradle device which, unlike the external retention harnesses disclosed in the foregoing Curtis patents, interacts dynamically and both directly and indirectly upon the plantar anatomy of the foot.

Shoe equipped with internal orthotic cradle device


DIG-13 insecticidal toxins, polynucleotides encoding such toxins, use of such toxins to control pests, and transgenic plants that produce such toxins are disclosed.

Bacillus thuringiensis (B.t.) is a soil-borne bacterium that produces pesticidal crystal proteins known as delta endotoxins or Cry proteins. Cry proteins are oral intoxicants that function by acting on midgut cells of susceptible insects. Some Cry toxins have been shown to have activity against nematodes.
European corn borer (ECB), Ostrinia nubilalis (Hubner), is the most damaging insect pest of corn throughout the United States and Canada, and causes an estimated $1 billion revenue loss each year due to crop yield loss and expenditures for insect management (Witkowski et al., 2002). Transgenic corn expressing genes encoding Cry proteins, most notably Cry1Ab, Cry1Ac, or Cry1F, provide commercial levels of efficacy against ECB.
Western corn rootworm (WCR), Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte, is an economically important corn pest that causes an estimated $1 billion revenue loss each year in North America due to crop yield loss and expenditures for insect management (Metcalf, 1986). WCR management practices include crop rotation with soybeans, chemical insecticides and, more recently, transgenic crops expressing B.t. Cry proteins. However, to date only a few examples of B.t. Cry proteins provide commercial levels of efficacy against WCR, including Cry34Ab1/Cry35Ab1 (Ellis et al., 2002), modified Cry3Aa1 (Walters et al., 2008) and modified Cry3Bb1 (Vaughn et al., 2005). These B.t. proteins are highly effective at preventing WCR corn root damage when produced in the roots of transgenic corn (Moellenbeck et al., 2001, Vaughn et al., 2005, U.S. Pat. No. 7,361,813).
Despite the success of WCR-resistant transgenic corn, several factors create the need to discover and develop new Cry proteins to control WCR. First, although production of the currently-deployed Cry proteins in transgenic corn plants provides robust protection against WCR root damage, thereby protecting grain yield, some WCR adults emerge in artificial infestation trials, indicating less than complete larval insect control. Second, development of resistant insect populations threatens the long-term durability of Cry proteins in insect pest control. Lepidopteran insects resistant to Cry proteins have developed in the field for Plutella xylostella (Tabashnik, 1994), Trichoplusia ni (Janmaat and Myers, 2003, 2005), and Helicoverpa zeae (Tabashnik et al., 2008). Insect resistance to B.t. Cry proteins can develop through several mechanisms (Heckel et al., 2007; Pigott and Ellar, 2007). Multiple receptor protein classes for Cry proteins have been identified within insects, and multiple examples exist within each receptor class. Resistance to a particular Cry protein may develop, for example, by means of a mutation within the toxin-binding portion of a cadherin domain of a receptor protein. A further means of resistance may be mediated through a protoxin-processing protease.
Resistance to Cry toxins in species of Lepidoptera has a complex genetic basis, with at least four distinct, major resistance genes. Development of new high potency Cry proteins would provide additional tools for management of ECB and other insect pests. Cry proteins with different modes of action produced in combination in transgenic corn would prevent the development ECB insect resistance and protect the long term utility of B.t. technology for insect pest control.
Similarly, multiple genes are predicted to control resistance to Cry toxins in species of Coleoptera. Development of new high potency Cry proteins will provide additional tools for WCR management. Cry proteins with different modes of action can be produced in combination in transgenic corn to prevent the development WCR insect resistance and protect the long term utility of B.t. technology for rootworm control.


An Internet Access Control and Reporting System (IACRS) for managing internet access is described. The IACRS is designed to allow those administering or controlling access to the internet (for example supervisors, parents, etc.) to manage Internet access of others (for example children, charges, or employees). The IACRS is able to control the type of content available, the amount of time on the Internet, time of day access rules, as well as conditional rules based on behavior. While well-suited for home use, the system is directly applicable and effective in other residential settings, business (office, hotel, etc.), academic environments and community centers. The features or subsystems of the IACRS include DNS user profiling, user based content filtering, user rule based filtering, including using DNS and active firewall. Finally, behavior based product purchasing rules are used to create incentive programs based on user behavior and/or completion of goals to allow purchase of a product. finally rules, behavior based rules, behavior based purchasing and reporting.

Excessive Internet usage is a growing problem among families. Tech savvy children with a myriad of hardware devices are accessing the Internet in new ways with very little parental control. Parents generally need the ability to restrict Internet usage. For example, it would be helpful for parents to have a mechanism of limiting Internet usage based on time of day, by child (teenagers may get broader access than a 5-year-old), total time spent, and/or by type of content.
Additionally, parents desire a reporting mechanism that shows them what sites each child is accessing or attempting to access. Parents need these controls to work on a wide range of devices including processor driven devices such as stationary and portable computers including PCs and Macs, and mobile devices such as Tablets, minis, Smartphones and Android devices as well as miscellaneous electronic devices such as wearables including wristwatches. Furthermore, parents desire a system with high performance (the ability to stream video) and a system that works with electrical devices on the Internet of Things (IoT).
There are also other environments in addition to the family home or non-traditional home in which mechanisms for restricting usage and access as well as monitoring or reporting on usage and access to the Internet is desirable. In some environments, other abuses of internet uses may wish to be controlled such as overuse or hogging of bandwidth. These include environments in which children or mentally disabled are present, addictions are being treated, prisoners are present or other gathering of individuals. These environments may include residential environments such as apartment complexes, halfway houses, summer camps, office environments and public environments such as libraries, children schools, churches, community centers, prisons, hospitals, learning institutions, hotels, stadiums, and facilities and even the public café. In some circumstances, it is desirable to restrict usage or access in places where individuals are gathered for a limited or specific purpose for example rehabilitation centers, and environments in which gatherings are for religious or other reasons and beliefs. In short, any place that has an internet access point may desire and benefit from the systems and methods described.

Internet access control and reporting system and method


Examples include compressed pages having data and compression metadata. Some examples include receiving a write request containing write data, storing the write data in data cache, and applying a page fit process to the write data. In some such examples, a virtual page table entry in a virtual page table may be generated for the processed write data. The virtual page table entry may include a compression index and a page address. An inline compression of the processed write data may be performed to compress and store the processed write data in a compressed page at a location associated with the compression index. In some examples, the compressed page may include a compression metadata having a reference count, a compressed page offset, and a virtual page address.

Storage solutions may be tasked with quickly and efficiently storing and retrieving large amounts of data with a finite amount of processing power, bandwidth, and memory. Virtualization of memory, in which virtual memory addresses are mapped to physical memory addresses, may be used to improve memory efficiency. In some examples, memory may be thin-provisioned within a virtualized memory system such that memory space is flexibly allocated between processes, tasks, or users as needed, allowing for the amount of allocated virtual memory to exceed the total amount of physical memory. Metadata may be used in some such examples to facilitate discovery and retrieval of data.

Compressed pages having data and compression metadata

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP


This invention relates to a flame-resistant spun staple yarns and fabrics and garments comprising these yarns and methods of making the same. The yarns have 50 to 95 parts by weight of a polymeric staple fiber containing a structure derived from a monomer selected from the group consisting of 4,4′diaminodiphenyl sulfone, 3,3′diaminodiphenyl sulfone, and mixtures thereof; and 5 to 50 parts by weight of a high modulus staple fiber having a tensile modulus of 200 grams per denier (180 grams per dtex) or greater or greater, based on 100 parts by weight of the polymeric fiber and the high modulus fiber in the yarn.

Firefighters, emergency response personnel, members of the military, racing personnel, and industrial workers that can be exposed to flames, high temperatures, and/or electrical arcs and the like, need protective clothing and articles made from thermally resistant fabrics. Any increase in the effectiveness of these protective articles, or any increase in the comfort or durability of these articles while maintaining protection performance, is welcomed.
A fiber known as polysulfonamide fiber (PSA) is made from a poly (sulfone-amide) polymer and has good thermal resistance due to its aromatic content and also has low modulus, which imparts more flexibility to fabrics made from the fiber; however, the fiber has low tensile break strength. This low tensile strength in fibers has a major impact on the mechanical properties of fabrics made from these fibers, with the most obvious result being a decrease in the durability of the fabrics and articles made from the fabrics. This low durability limits the ability to utilize this comfortable fiber in protective apparel, especially in firefighters' turnout coats that must function in extreme environments. Therefore what is needed is a way of incorporating PSA into yarns for use in protective apparel that utilizes the benefits of the PSA fiber while compensating for the limitations of the fiber.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Flame resistant spun staple yarns made from blends of fibers derived from diamino diphenyl sulfone and high modulus fibers and fabrics and garments made therefrom and methods for making same


A method and computer program product are described for detecting and identifying airborne particular matter comprising a plurality of particles. The backscatter induced by each of the particles under a light source is measured to determine a backscatter value for each particle. The autofluorescence intensity of each of the particles around at least one characteristic wavelength is then measured to obtain at least one autofluorescence intensity value for each particle. The measured autofluorescence intensities and the backscatter values from the plurality of particles are processed to determine if a potential biohazard exists. At least one autofluorescence intensity value for each particle is provided to a pattern recognition classifier if a potential biohazard is present. The classifier is trained to recognize at least one variety of airborne particulate matter.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to the detection and identification of hazardous material in a mail sorting facility, and, more particularly, to an integrated system to sense and characterize particulate matter within or on flat mail or letter mail articles.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There is an increased awareness of the potential for large-scale introduction of hazardous materials, either explosives or biological organisms, to create chaos in our society or harm innocent people. One potential delivery method terrorists or other criminals utilize to deliver these deadly materials is the mail.
As contaminated envelopes are processed through postal facilities, the mail handling equipment within the facility can become contaminated and postal operations personnel can be exposed to contamination. An effective system is needed to provide mail-handling operations at the postal facilities with the capability to detect and identify airborne particulate matter and alert mail processing personnel of a potentially hazardous condition.

Detecting and identifying hazardous substances contained in mail articles


In order to configure a connecting link for articulated connecting with a wiper arm and with a control arm so that it can be connected in a dependable manner with little effort to the widely used type of wiper blade, in which an attachment bolt extends transverse to the longitudinal direction of the wiper blade in an upward open region between the two side cheeks of the wiper blade support bar, which stand apart from each other and run parallel to each other; the connecting link has a one-piece base element with a back part and a connecting part set at a distance from it in the direction of the pane to be wiped, said connecting part is designed to snap into the attachment bolt of the wiper blade support bar, and at the back part there are mutually spaced connecting elements, in particular articulated bolts attached to pivot the wiper arm and the control arm.

The invention pertains to a connecting link for a wiper system, in particular on a motor vehicle, to which the free end of a wiper arm attached to a wiper shaft driven back and forth and the free end of a control arm attached on a rotating axis are articulated at a distance from each other and with which a wiper blade is connected and can pivot in the direction toward the pane to be wiped.
Wiper systems for motor vehicles are known in which the wiper blade is moved back and forth essentially parallel to the pane itself and along the pane being wiped. In wiper systems of this kind, in addition to a wiper arm attached to a wiper shaft movable in pendulum fashion, there is a so-called control arm on a chassis-mounted, rotating axis. The free end of the wiper arm and the free end of the control arm are articulated with a coupling element, such that the two articulation points are kept at a distance from each other. The control arm can be aligned roughly parallel to the wiper arm, so that the coupling element completes a deformable parallelogram with the wiper arm and the control arm. It is also possible that the control arm intersects the wiper arm. The wiper blade belonging to the wiper system is attached pivotably at the coupling element about an axis running transverse to the longitudinal direction of the wiper blade.
From published German patent application No. 3,917,483 a connecting link of this kind is known, whose base element is designed as a single piece of sheet metal by punching and bending. From one back of the connecting link there are two side cheeks curved downward, that is, in the direction of the pane to be wiped, so that these side cheeks run at a distance from each other and parallel to each other. This region of the connecting element with the downward curved side cheeks thus forms a kind of closing clasp, and the wiper blade support bar is located between said side cheeks. The pivoting mount of the wiper blade at the connecting link is by means of a special threaded bolt which is extended through aligned holes in the side cheeks of the closing clasp and into the side cheeks of the wiper blade support bar and is secured with a nut.
This known connecting link has the significant disadvantage that it can only be used in connection with the specific wiper blades that have the necessary drill holes in the side walls of the wiper blade support bar. In addition, the threaded bolt that holds the wiper blade to pivot on the connecting link is exposed to large stresses. Therefore, the threaded bolt must be made of high quality material with corresponding strength, which results in correspondingly high costs. Another problem is that a necessary replacement of the wiper blade proves to be relatively cumbersome, and that the connecting link of sheet metal under current conditions does not exactly offer a pleasing sight. Finally, the latent possibility of injury during manual activities in the vicinity of the relatively sharp-edge connecting link must be pointed out.
From published German patent application No. 1,405,995 another connecting link of this kind of wiper system is known. As its base, this connecting link has a carrier manufactured from pressed synthetic resin. There are two articulated bolts attached to this carrier plate, which forms the back of the connecting link, and between the two articulated bolts there is a downward pointing closing clasp screwed on. Under certain circumstances, this connecting link does not have such a sharp edge, and thus the disadvantages of the connecting link attributable to the sharp edges from published German patent application No. 3,917,483 are not a factor. However, the other described features also apply to this connecting link.

Connecting link for a wiper system, in particular on a motor vehicle


An approach is provided for providing probe anomaly detection. The approach, for example, involves determining an expected vehicle volume for a geographic region over a time epoch. The expected vehicle volume is calculated from historical vehicle volume data. The approach also involves determining an actual vehicle volume for the geographic region over the time epoch. The actual vehicle volume is based on current vehicle volume data collected from a plurality of vehicles traveling in the geographic region. The approach further involves computing a vehicle volume change based on the expected vehicle volume and the actual vehicle volume. The approach then involves providing the vehicle volume change as an indicator of a probe anomaly in the geographic region.

Traffic and mapping service providers often use global position satellite (GPS) or equivalent probe data (e.g., time-stamped locations of probe vehicles traveling in a road network) to automatically infer traffic information. For example, these providers may employ an architecture, where external third party providers send probe data to the providers. The providers process the probe data and make decisions (e.g., issuing traffic alerts, rerouting traffic, dispatching maintenance crews, etc.) based on the received probe data. If there is a probe anomaly (e.g., unexpected changes to volume, quality, etc. of the received probe data) and the providers are not aware of it, then the decisions made by the providers may lead to incorrect conclusions or actions. Therefore, traffic service providers face significant technical challenge in detecting anomalies in the probe data they rely on for providing products or services.

Method, apparatus, and system for probe anomaly detection


An interface system between a user and a vehicle includes a vehicle information terminal in communication with the vehicle; a VXML server that converts information into voice signals, and receives and transmits the voice signals between the vehicle information terminal and a telephone; an SMS server that converts information into a message, and transmits the message to the telephone; and a WIPI server that receives and transmits vehicle remote control information between the telephone and the vehicle information terminal.

A typical telematics service is directed to traffic information and life information. A call connection service allows a user to check and control status of the vehicle and other information.
For example, remote diagnosis, remote door opening, stolen vehicle tracking, checking a car's location, etc, are provided by a system that allows the user to check and control the status of the vehicle by contacting an agent at a call center.
In a vehicle remote control system, the user transmits various kinds of control signals by a mobile terminal to remotely control the vehicle, and various alarm signals are transmitted to the user's mobile terminal.
That is, the vehicle remote control system transmits vehicle function control signals in message format by using a mobile communication network. In order to receive the various kinds of alarm signals from the vehicle, a number of transceivers, each for a specific kind of data, are provided.
Further, the vehicle remote control system is connected to the mobile terminal in which various function data of the vehicle are stored, and to an electric control unit that interfaces control data transmitted from the mobile terminal.
Moreover, one of the data transceivers has a communication module for transmitting the alarm signals from the electric control unit to the mobile terminal. Various data relay servers are provided between the mobile terminal and the transceiver. Therefore, the vehicle remote control system can easily control various functions of the vehicle remotely regardless of the distance.
However, the call connection service has drawbacks in that since it uses agents, service costs are high, and the database is manually managed. Further, the transceiver needs to be attached to a cellular phone.


A circuit board having a printed capacitor whose capacitance is easily adjusted includes a plurality of through-holes arranged in arrays and electrically connected to each other via conductive films. Therefore, first and second electrode portions are arranged to oppose each other, and form a printed capacitor. The capacitance of the capacitor can be adjusted by the number and diameter of through-holes, and the interval between each two adjacent through-holes. Therefore, even when a large-capacitance capacitor is to be formed, the printed capacitor can be rendered compact.

The present invention relates to a printed circuit board and, more particularly, to a printed circuit board in which a capacitor is three-dimensionally formed in a substrate.
Conventionally, various types of so-called printed capacitors which are three-dimensionally formed in printed circuit boards have been proposed.
FIGS. 1A and 1B show an example wherein a printed capacitor is formed in a two-layered circuit board 2. A conductive film (first electrode portion) 5 is formed on one surface 1a of a board 1, and a conductive film (second electrode portion) 4 is also formed on a rear surface 1b. These conductive films 5 and 4 are arranged to oppose each other to sandwich an insulating substrate 2, thereby forming a printed capacitor C. Note that reference numeral 6 in FIGS. 1A and 1B denotes a through-hole; and 7, a through-hole terminal for electrically connecting the through-hole 6 to the surface 1a of the board 1.
The prior art shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B exemplifies a two-layered board. Furthermore, in order to facilitate an assembling process of parts, and the like, and to achieve high-density packaging, a method of integrally forming a capacitor part in a multi-layered printed circuit board has also been proposed.
FIGS. 2 to 4 show a conventional printed capacitor formed in a multi-layered printed circuit board constituted by three or more layers. FIG. 2 is a plan view of the printed capacitor, FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along a line XXVI--XXVI in FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the printed capacitor in units of layers. More specifically, a multi-layered printed circuit board 1 is constituted by alternately stacking two or more insulating layers 2 (three layers in FIGS. 2 to 4), and three or more conductive layers 3 (four layers in FIGS. 2 to 4). A pair of electrode films 4 and 5, which oppose each other to sandwich one insulating layer 2 therebetween are respectively formed on the two conductive layers 3. The pair of electrode films 4 and 5 serve as electrodes of a capacitor. In the example shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the electrode film 4 on the inner layer side of the multi-layered printed circuit board 1 is connected to the uppermost layer of the multi-layered printed circuit board 1 via a plated through-hole 6.
In the printed capacitor shown in FIG. 1, the capacitance of the capacitor is assured by the areas of the conductive films 5 and 4 formed on the surfaces 1a and 1b of the board. When a large-capacitance capacitor is to be realized, the area of the capacitor on the board becomes large, and a compact structure cannot be realized.
Similarly, in the printed capacitor of three or more layers shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the electrode films 4 and 5 must be formed on wide ranges of the conductive layers 3 so as to assure a prescribed electrostatic capacitance. For this reason, the ratio of the areas of the electrode films 4 and 5 to the conductive layers 3 of the multi-layered printed circuit board 1 becomes large. As a result, the packing efficiency of parts cannot be improved very much.

Printed circuit board having an embedded capacitor


An article and method for marking elastomeric articles, such as tires, floor mats, and the like, includes an elastomeric sheet which is marked with indicia using a solvent based ink which contrasts with the elastomeric sheet. The indicia is cured with a clear thermoset layer such as a polyurethane. This is then applied to an uncured elastomeric article and the elastomeric article is cured. The heat and the pressure of curing causes the elastomeric sheet to bond to the elastomeric article. The indicia remains discernible and is not easily marred or dulled. After curing, the transfer can be further marked by heat transferring indicia in the form of a sublimation dye through the clear polyurethane layer.

Elastomers are a group of materials, which at room temperature can be stretched repeatedly and returned to their original length. This is used to form many different items such as tires, mats, fan belts, hoses, gloves, gaskets, and the like. Frequently there is a need to apply indica onto the surface of these items. The indicia can be in the form of an advertisement or it can have a more practical purpose such as providing a machine readable bar code onto the surface of the article for inventory control.
There are inks, dyes, and paints which can be applied to the surface of cured elastomeric articles. These, however, are difficult or expensive to apply and can be easily abraded making, the indicia unreadable. Indicia in the form of contrasting elastomeric material can be cured into the surface of the elastomeric article. This, for example, is how the whitewall of a whitewall tire is formed. But this method has limited utility.
Heat activated transfers are used to provide indicia for various articles. But, these transfers generally cannot withstand curing conditions and/or abuse in use. If applied after cure, the bond may not withstand abrasive forces and the indicia itself can be marred even if the transfer remains bonded to the substrate.

Heat activated transfer for elastomeric materials


The device for individual conveying of elongate objects comprises: a hopper from which batches of elongate articles are extracted, which fall onto an initial tract of a conveyor belt provided with transversal seatings. The belt draws the articles towards a strongly-inclined ascending tract, along which all the articles which are not correctly inserted in the seatings are unloading. After the ascending tract thereof follows an intermediate tract, superiorly of which a television camera is arranged to monitor the transversal seatings as they transit, in order to detect each of the a presence or absence of articles and if there should be any present, a number, position and orientation thereof. In a final tract, robotic manipulating organs are provided, controlled by the television camera which remove from each of the transversal seatings full on arrival, at least one of the articles, on the basis of the coordinates provided by the vision camera, in order to transfer the article to an output position downstream, in a predetermined orientation thereof. The device further comprises a device for collecting and returning to the hopper the elongate articles not removed by the robotic organs and unloading from the conveyor belt beyond the final tract thereof.

The invention relates to the technical sector of packing of articles, with special reference to those devices which collect the articles from a storage container in which they are loosely arranged, and feeds them to a station in which gripping organs are located which remove them individually and transfer them, for example, to an input line of an automatic machine.
The prior art dealing with such devices comprises many and various technical solutions, each of which is aimed at satisfying specific needs, according to the shape of the articles destined to be treated.
For the present purposes elongate articles are considered, which are to be fed to an automatic machine arranged downstream of the device, with a predetermined position and orientation.
A known solution for collection of elongate articles, known as a slat conveyor, comprises a first conveyor the initial part of which is immersed in the pile of loose articles and develops in an upwards direction; the first conveyor is constituted by a sort of escalator in which each step is activated with alternating ascending and descending motion, in suitable phase-relation to the others; when two consecutive steps are in the respective higher and lower position, they are aligned and the article borne on the lower step transfers by force of gravity to the upper step, thanks to a special inclination of the "tread" of the steps; the articles, therefore, progressively ascend all the steps and are unloaded onto a second conveyor which develops horizontally and perpendicularly with respect to the output of the articles from the first conveyor.
Means for detecting the position of the articles are located in the second conveyor and downstream of the means for detecting are located the gripping organs of the single articles.
The drawbacks of the above-described constructional solution regard firstly the complexity of the mechanism required to realize the first conveyor and, secondly, a certain frequency of malfunctioning due to the fact that because of the passage between the first and the second conveyor, the positions of the articles on them are very uncertain and subject to faulty conditions, such as, for example, piling up and/or one article lying over another.
A further drawback of the known solution relates to the difficulty of changing format for the first conveyor, due to the dimensional constraint between the depth of the steps and the transversal dimension of the articles.

Device for individual conveying of elongate articles


A process for racemising an optically-enriched chiral amine of the formula: R.sup.1 --CH(NR.sup.3 R.sup.4)--R.sup.2, wherein R.sup.1 is aromatic or unsaturated alkyl; R.sup.2 is aromatic or alkyl; and R.sup.3 and R.sup.4 are independently selected from hydrogen, alkyl and aryl; and wherein any combination(s) of two of the R groups may form a ring; comprises treatment of the optically-enriched amine with a metal hydroxide in an aprotic polar solvent.

Optically pure amines are useful as industrial chemicals and as intermediates for agrochemicals and pharmaceuticals. They are frequently obtained conveniently by chemical resolution through salt formation at the amine function. Alternatively, enzymatic resolution of the racemate can be applied. Either way, the method separates the two enantiomers, only one of which is generally desired. In order to obtain an economic overall process, it then becomes desirable to effect racemisation of the undesired enantiomer, so that it can be recycled back into the resolution.
DE-A-2851039 discloses the racemisation of 1-arylalkylamines using a metal catalyst, for example hydrogen and Raney cobalt. JP-A-1471389 discloses the use of a catalyst comprising alkali metals and polyaromatic hydrocarbons. DE-A-2442854 discloses the use of a catalyst prepared from sodium or potassium or their hydroxides on alumina. Racemisation of 1-arylalkylamines by treatment with alkali metal or alkaline earth metal alkoxides in dimethyl sulfoxide at 0-200.degree. C. is also known; see U.S. Pat. No. 5,183,939.
Limitations of the available methods are the costs of the catalyst/reagents for a recycling process, and the sometimes vigorous conditions, leading to the formation of side products.


A method for compensating for position and component induced variations in the acceleration and deceleration capabilities of a voice coil actuator in a disc drive, comprising the steps of dividing the discs radially into a plurality of zones, testing the acceleration and deceleration capability of the disc drive in each zone by performing specially controlled seeks in both inward and outward directions in each zone, comparing the result of these specially controlled seeks with a calculated nominal or desired result, and calculating a compensation factor for each zone which is applied by the servo system to all subsequent seek and track following operations.

1. Field of the invention
This application is directed to the field of disc drive data storage devices and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to a method for compensating for variations in the torque constant of a voice coil driven actuator for moving the read/write heads in a hard disc drive data storage device.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Disc drives of the type referred to as "Winchester" disc drives are well known in the industry. Such disc drives incorporate a "stack" of one or more disc-shaped platters mounted on a spindle motor for constant high speed rotation. The surface of these discs is coated with a magnetizable medium for the recording of digital data in a plurality of circular, concentric data tracks.
A number of read/write heads act in cooperation with the disc surfaces for the recording and retrieval of data. These heads are attached to some sort of actuator mechanism which operates under the control of electronic circuitry to controllably move the heads from track to track.
The actuator that moves the read/write heads has taken many different forms over the years. Early Winchester disc drives for personal computers used a stepper motor to move the read/write heads in an "open loop" control scheme. This open loop control relied on the magnetic detent inherent in stepper motor construction to define the location of each data track on the disc surface. That is, once a starting track location, commonly referred to as "track zero", was located (typically closely adjacent to the outer diameter of the discs), all other tracks were located by keeping a record of the "current track" number and applying a calculated number of step pulses to the stepper motor to move the read/write heads inward or outward to the desired track location. In such an open loop control scheme, there was no "feedback" from the disc surface to ensure the repeatable accuracy of the relative location of the heads to the data tracks, thus limiting the density of the spacing between tracks to the accuracy of the stepper motor itself, which in turn was limited by the precision of the machining of the internal components of the motor. The speed of such an actuator, while improved with manufacturing and control techniques, was also quite limited.
Over the years, the market has demanded disc drives of greater capacity and faster access capability than could be achieved using stepper motors to drive the actuator. This lead to the increasing prevalence of the use of voice coil motors to drive the actuator. Early linear voice coil motors, which drove the read/write heads on a straight radial line across the disc surface, have currently been largely superceded by rotary voice coil actuators, because of their compact size and reduced moving mass, thus permitting smaller disc drive packages with faster access speeds.
A typical rotary voice coil actuator, also sometimes referred to as a voice coil motor or VCM, consists of an arrangement of permanent magnets fixed relative to the housing of the disc drive, and a coil (or coils) mounted on the movable portion of the actuator within the magnetic field of the permanent magnets. When controlled DC current is applied to the coil, a magnetic field is generated surrounding the coil which interacts with the magnetic field of the permanent magnets to force movement of the coil and actuator body on which the coil is mounted. The amount of force generated by this magnetic interaction (and thus the torque capability of the motor) is dependent on many factors, including the strength of the permanent magnets; the size and number of turns in the coil; the amount of current applied to the coil; and the proximity of the coil to the magnets. Advances in materials science, manufacturing technology and electronic controls have lead to the current generation of disc drives which use rotary voice coil actuators to provide capacities of several hundred megabytes with average access times of less than fifteen milliseconds, all in the five and one-quarter inch or smaller form factor disc.
A voice coil motor does not have inherent magnetic detent, so another technique must be used to control the movement of the read/write heads from one data track to another. This usually involves the use of a "closed loop servo" system. In a closed loop servo system, head position information is recorded on either a dedicated servo surface of one of the discs, or on specific dedicated portions of the disc surfaces used to store user data. In the case of a dedicated servo surface, a servo head constantly reads prerecorded positional information and sends this information to the electronic circuitry used to supply drive current to the motor coil as "feedback". The VCM control circuitry uses this feedback to stay centered on, or follow, a desired track, and to control "seeks" from one track to another. For disc drives using an "embedded servo", prerecorded positional information is placed on the same disc surfaces used to record user data and is read back to the actuator motor control logic only during carefully timed "windows", during which time all data reading and writing capability is disabled. Hybrid systems using both a dedicated servo surface and embedded servo information have also been used, although the penalty in lost data recording space has made this type of system rare.
One of the primary goals of all high volume manufacturers of disc drives is to produce products that are highly consistent from unit to unit without imposing such strict component control that the cost of the unit becomes prohibitive in the marketplace. Similarly, these manufacturers must make disc drives which perform uniformly over a wide range of ambient temperatures, e.g., from about 5.degree.-50.degree. C. (41.degree.-122.degree. F.), with internal temperatures exceeding these ambient temperatures by up to 20.degree. C.. These demands and goals lead to one of the more difficult challenges facing disc drive manufacturers.
A high volume disc drive manufacturer can expect to build several hundred thousand, or even several million, of the same disc drives over the life of the product. It is therefore impossible, without economically prohibitive controls, to produce perfectly uniform magnets for use in these products, and magnet strength, of necessity, can therefore be expected to vary from unit to unit by as much as +10%. Similarly, the magnetic strength within a given magnet is not absolutely uniform and will therefore cause the strength of magnetic interaction between the permanent magnets and the magnetic field of the moving coil of a voice coil actuator to vary dependent upon the relative position of the coil to the magnets. Also, the strength of the magnets can be expected to decrease over the operational life of the disc drive and to vary across the specified operational temperature range as well. Furthermore, tolerance variations allowed in the electronic components supplying the drive current to the coil in a voice coil motor create yet another variable which impacts the motive force of the motor. Other mechanical variables in the actuator mechanism of the disc drive, such as the precision of the ball bearings used to guide the motion of the actuator, make it extremely difficult to produce large numbers of very uniform disc drives.
It is therefore desirable that a way be found to compensate for normal expected variations in the magnetic and electronic components in a voice coil actuator for a disc drive.

Compensating for variations in torque capability of voice coil motors


A method of manufacturing a ceramic matrix composite component includes pressure casting a fibrous preform with a slurry comprising boron carbide and densifying the fibrous preform using a liquid source of carbon. The method may include forming holes in the fibrous preform before pressure casting the fibrous preform with the slurry. The method may also include sintering the boron carbide after the pressure casting. In various embodiments, the sintering may be performed before the densifying.

Carbon/carbon (C/C) composites are used in the aerospace industry for aircraft brake heat sink materials. Silicon carbide (SiC) based ceramic matrix composites (CMCs) have found use as brake materials in automotive and locomotive applications. These composites are typically produced using one or more of these three main methods: chemical vapor infiltration (CVI), melt infiltration (MI), and polymer impregnation and pyrolysis (PIP). However, each of these CMC fabrication methods has limitations. The processing time for both CVI and PIP, for example, can extend well over 100 hours. MI generated CMCs tend to contain residual silicon, which limits upper use temperature. Further, brake components fabricated using one or more of these methods often require inordinately high temperatures to achieve proper densification or fail to satisfy target thermal requirements (e.g., target high heat capacities). For example, the heat capacity of silicon carbide may not be sufficiently high for certain (e.g., aerospace) applications.

Method of manufacturing CMC components using boron carbide


Sensors, methods, and computer program products for air bubble detection and fluid composition determinations are provided. An example sensor device for use with fluid flow systems includes a force pulse generator coupled with a fluid flow system that emits a force pulse and a force pulse sensor coupled with the fluid flow system. The force pulse sensor receives the force pulse emitted by the force pulse generator and determines the fluid flow system's transient response to the force pulse. Based upon the transient response, the force pulse sensor determines an operating condition of the fluid flow system. The operating condition may be indicative of the presence of an air bubble within the fluid flow system or may be indicative of a composition of a fluid within the fluid flow system. The force pulse sensor may further determine the amplitude and rate of decay of the transient response.

Fluid flow systems may be used in a multitude of applications in order to transport or otherwise move fluids from one location to another. For example, intravenous infusion pumps or other pharmaceutical delivery systems may transport drug solutions (e.g., liquid or fluid solutions) to a human patient. In such fluid flow systems, the presence of other materials (e.g., air bubbles, debris, etc.) may be detrimental to operation of the fluid flow system and/or harmful to, for example, a human patient. The inventors have identified numerous deficiencies with these existing technologies in the field, the remedies for which are the subject of the embodiments described herein.

Sensors, methods, and computer program products for fluid flow determinations


An infrared (IR) heater array apparatus that provides focused lines of IR radiation for soldering integrated circuit components or devices, especially fine pitch integrated circuit devices (FPD), in aligned combination with printed circuit boards. The apparatus is configured for concentric mounting in combination with the placement head of placement apparatus wherein FPDs and other IC devices may be bonded to the circuit board while the device is held in place by the placement apparatus. One preferred embodiment of the apparatus includes an array of IR lamps and associated lamp envelopes and lenses, together with control apparatus for operating the IR lamps and aligning the focused IR radiation generated thereby. The radiation generated by the IR lamps is configured to provide a desired line pattern of energy which is directed onto the leads of a device being soldered. The perimeter of the energy pattern is programmably alterable to suit particular device lead sizes and configurations.

Component placement systems are utilized to place and align components such as integrated circuit (IC) devices in combination with printed circuit boards. An important operating consideration for placement systems is the degree of accuracy in component placement, i.e., lead-to-pad alignment.
Advances in integrated circuit architecture and miniaturization has resulted in greater numbers of functions being encompassed on single chips, necessitating the use of chips of larger dimensions, increased lead density, and/or reduced lead pitch. The increasing use of fine pitch integrated circuit devices (FPD), which presently have lead pitches on the order of 0.025 inches, and the projected use of FPDs having lead pitches on the order of 0.008 inches, has increased placement accuracy requirements for component placement systems.
Once a component has been properly aligned on a circuit board, the component must be bonded, for example by reflow soldering, to the circuit board. An important consideration in the bonding operation is the maintenance of the proper lead-to-pad alignment. Bonding may be accomplished by any of several methods.
The circuit board may be transported off the placement system to a mass reflow machine for subsequent bonding. Alternatively, selective reflow techniques may be utilized to bond the component prior to transporting the circuit board off the placement system. Or, the component may be reflow soldered at the time of placement utilizing a bonding subsystem integrally mounted with the placement system.
The third alternative is usually the most advantageous. Lead-to-pad misalignment may occur when a component is released after being placed and aligned, and/or when the circuit board is subjected to further handling prior to bonding. Reflowing to bond the component to the circuit board while the component is maintained in alignment by the placement apparatus significantly reduces or eliminates lead-to-pad misalignment problems.
The desire to provide bonding while the component is being held in place by the placement apparatus has generated a need for a bonding subassembly that may be mounted in combination with the placement head of the placement system. This imposes a design constraint on the bonding subassembly wherein the bonding subassembly must be configured for concentric disposition and operation with the placement head of the placement system. Concentric disposition and operation of the bonding subassembly would permit unimpeded operation of the pickup tool and image acquisition subassembly during both placement and soldering operations, thus ensuring initial lead-to-pad alignment as well as the maintenance of proper lead-to-pad alignment during the bonding operation.
Successful and cost effective implementation of an integral bonding subassembly in combination with a component placement system is influenced by the component size, component range, lead type, lead pitch, lead count, circuit board type, circuit board component mix, and circuit board topography, and the nature of the apparatus utilized to provide the thermal energy for the soldering operation. Different methods of providing thermal reflow energy are not necessarily suited to all applications inasmuch as the different methods provide different performance characteristics.
Performance characteristics such as programmability of heating, temperature control, temperature uniformity, thermal separation, packaging restrictions, and cycle time and cost should be considered in determining the type of bonding subassembly for use in integral combination with the placement system. Programmability of heating includes the capability to automatically or manually vary the pattern of heating to the component as well as the ability to program and vary heating parameters such as time and temperature on a component by component and/or site by site basis. Temperature control is the degree to which the temperature of the heating element and/or board can be controlled or predicted as well as the uniformity of the heat being delivered to the board. Thermal separation is the degree to which heating can be limited to the area of interest such as the component leads, thereby avoiding heating in undesired areas such as the component package and/or adjacent solder joints.
Packaging restrictions relate to the effective range of the heating method such as the sizes of component packages the subassembly is capable of handling, the proximity of the heating elements to the heating sites and potential interference with components on the board. Cycle time relates to the time required to bring the site to reflow temperature and cycle cost includes initial equipment costs, maintenance costs, and tooling costs.
Several different means of generating thermal energy for bonding of components to circuit boards may be utilized in an integral bonding subassembly including hot gas heating, contact heating and radiation heating. Hot gas heaters are available in various configurations, but the configuration most conducive to an integral soldering subassembly is a focused hot gas apparatus.
The hot gas apparatus consists of a linear array of orifices with electrical heating elements in each orifice to heat gas forced through the orifices. The gas flow is highly directional and selective operation of the various orifices and associated heating elements may be utilized to generate required hot gas heating patterns. While a focused hot gas apparatus generally provides the capability for programmable heating and reasonable thermal separation and cycle times, such apparatus have inherent limitations.
A focused hot air gas apparatus is generally a more complex system that requires precise regulation of the gas flow through the operational orifices, is limited in temperature control and subject to packaging restrictions. In general, such an apparatus has a very limited effective range due to dispersion and cooling of the gas flow. Dispersion and cooling effects engender concomitant difficulties in predicting and/or regulating the temperature at the bonding site and ensuring a uniform temperature at the bonding site. The limited effective range necessitates mounting of the apparatus in close proximity to the bottom of the placement head which may interfere with the operation of the pickup tool and/or image acquisition system. In addition, the kinetic energy of the heated gas flow may negatively impact the bonding procedure by disrupting or splattering the reflow material and/or causing misalignment problems due to inadvertent movement of the leads.
Contact heaters involve the use of heated blade edges which contact the leads and board. The blades may be heated by electrical resistance (thermode) or hot gas (convector). Contact heaters in general provide fast cycle times and excellent thermal separation. The configuration of the blades, however, limits the use of contact heaters to a very narrow range of component sizes. Alternatively, a separate mechanical positioning subsystem is required to move the blades to ensure contact with all of the leads of different sized components which adversely affects cycle time. In addition, the blades may interfere with the image acquisition subsystem during the actual reflowing bonding procedure. The blades physically contacting the leads of the component may also cause the leads to shifted out of alignment with the pads.
Radiation heating systems utilize the thermal energy of electromagnetic radiation to facilitate lead-to-pad bonding. Prior art radiation heating systems generally were not efficient, were not easily automated and/or did not provide good thermal separation. One prior art radiation system utilizes a mask that exposes the bonding sites while covering the remainder of the IC package and the immediately surrounding circuit board. Such a system requires a customized mask for each different type of IC package, and in consequence, such a system has relatively long cycle times and was not amenable to automation. In addition, such a system did not efficiently utilize the generated IR radiation since much of the radiation was reflected from the mask. Mask systems also required some type of means for dissipating radiation reflected by the mask.
Another type of IR heating system utilized a lens to focus the radiation as a spot encompassing the component and its leader. Due to the linear orientation of the bonding sites of typical IC packages, such a lens system is not readily amenable to providing IR radiation for linearly arranged bonding sites. Instead, such a system generally irradiated the entire IC package and the surrounding circuit board. Such systems did not efficiently utilize the generated IR radiation and did not provide good thermal separation.

Infrared heater array for IC soldering reflective members


Auto connectivity simulation from the client-side. Workstations/clients are intelligently selected, on a continuous basis, for auto connectivity simulation and probes are communicated to the selected workstations which activate a previously deployed agent that is configured to conduct connectivity simulations to the communication network and, at least, basic utility services provided within the communication network. The comprehensive results of connectivity simulations are analyzed and patterns of connectivity issues are identified. Subsequently, rules are applied to the patterns of connectivity issues to determine appropriate actions, such as reconfiguring the connectivity route, the servers used for connection and/or notifying personnel assigned to address the issues.

Remote work environments have become common place. Typically, when the remote worker experiences computing problems related to the ability of their computing device, to connect to a computing network (e.g., the employer's intranet or the like) or services offered therein (e.g., email, desktop productivity applications and the like), the remote worker will contact their respective Information Technology (IT) personnel to address the problem. However, in such instances the IT personnel are typically limited to making server-side checks, which may not indicate a problem if, in fact, the issue causing the problem is at the client-side.
Moreover, while systems and method are in place to proactively monitor network and service connectivity/availability at the server-side and address issues arising from such monitoring, no such systems or methods exist to monitor network and service connectivity/availability from the client-side and proactively address issues that would arise from such monitoring (i.e., failure at network segments, routing issues at the client0side and the like).
Therefore, a need exists to develop systems, computer-implemented methods, and the like for monitoring from the client-side network and service connectivity and availability and, proactively addressing issues that result from such monitoring. As a result, the desired systems, computer-implemented methods and the like should resolve problems before they ever become apparent to the users (i.e., remote workers or the like) and, thus, lessen the need for the users to reach out to IT personnel to address an existing network or service connectivity/availability problem.

Auto simulation of connectivity checks from the client side


A bottle for dispensing a fluid product including a body in which a container intended for packaging the product is formed, the bottle also including an extraction device equipped with a pushbutton reversibly movable over a stroke for actuation of the device between a resting position and a depressed position in which the dispensing orifice is in communication with the container via the device, the body being equipped with a valve for filling the container by suction of the product contained in a product source, an upper wall being integrated in the body by way of a sealed connection that can be destroyed manually, the extraction device being mounted in the body with the pushbutton held in the depressed position on the upper wall so as to place the connection in communication with the container.

The dispensing bottle comprises a body in which a container for packaging the product is formed, as well as a device for extracting the packaged product, which is mounted in a sealed manner in said body. In particular, the extraction device can comprise a manually actuated pump that is supplied with the packaged product, said pump being arranged so as to dispense the pressurized product, for example in the form of an aerosol.
To do this, the extraction device is equipped with a pushbutton that is equipped with a product dispensing orifice, said pushbutton being reversibly movable over a stroke for actuation of said device between a resting position and a depressed position in which the dispensing orifice is in communication with the container by means of said device.
In the application example, the bottles according to the invention enable product samples to be dispensed, in particular for a product volume packaged in the container of between 1 and 10 ml. In particular, the samples thus dispensed can enable a client to test the product, the bottles then being qualified as test sample bottles. Alternatively, the bottles can be "for bags" in that they enable a reduced volume of product to be carried easily, by contrast with bottles containing a larger volume, which are generally heavy and bulky because they are large.
In these applications, for example for logistical reasons, practicality or environmental recycling reasons, it may be desirable to be capable of refilling the container with product from a source of said product. Indeed, it is impractical for a user to fill the container using a small funnel, and non-environmentally friendly to throw away an empty bottle in order to replace it with a full refill container.
Dispensing bottles have already been offered for sale, in which the body is equipped with a valve for filling the container that is arranged so as to enable a product source to communicate with said container. In particular, the valve may be opened by pressing on the outlet tube of the pump of a source bottle, which is suitable for being actuated numerous times in order to fill the container by injection of the source product, which is a non-intuitive action for the user.
Document FR-2 854 131 relates to the draining of a container by means of a dispensing pump without taking air into the packaging container to compensate for the product volume dispensed so as to create an air depression in said container, said depression enabling said container to be filled by suction of the source product.
Document EP-2 441 344 proposes dispensing bottles of which the container is empty of product and has an air depression that is arranged so as to be capable of subsequently performing the initial filling of the container with product by placing, in sealed communication, a product source with said container by means of a valve so that said depression induces the filling of said container by suction of the product contained in said source.
However, in the filling-by-suction solutions, there is the problem of preservation over time of the air depression in the container. Indeed, the extraction devices are never perfectly impervious to micro-leakages of air because they comprise numerous areas sealed by tightening and are made of plastic or elastomeric materials that, over time, are found to be slightly porous to air.


The present invention is intended to provide acidic gel foods containing soybean protein to diversify means of taking soybean protein in daily eating habits. Using the acid-soluble soybean protein as specified in the description, an aqueous solution or an alcohol-containing aqueous solution of the protein is adjusted to pH 3 to 4.5. Then an acid having 2 or more acid groups per molecule or its salt or a salt of another acid is added thereto and the mixture is heated to form a gel. Thus, acidic gel foods including a jelly-like food favorable as a food can be obtained.

Soybean protein has been utilized as an excellent source of food protein for a long time. In addition, since soybean protein has various functional properties such as emulsifying property and gel-forming property, it has been widely used as a food material or a food-improving material for edible meat products, fishpaste products, side dishes, bread, confectionery and a raw material for beverage. Further, it has been recently found that soybean protein reduces a blood cholesterol level and then its nutritional and physiological functions have been drawn attention.
Conventional means of positively taking soybean protein are "side dishes" such as tofu (soybean curd), fried tofu, natto (fermented soybeans) and the like. In addition, there is a type of soybean protein foods such as protein powder and a protein bar. However, these foods are all in the neutral range. There are no dessert foods with an acid pH, for example, a dessert prepared using a combination of soybean protein and fruit juice. Thus, means of eating soybean protein are limited. Among dessert foods, jelly can provide enjoyable mouth feeling and throat feeling and thus can provide an eating scene different from beverage.
Foods prepared by utilizing the gelation property of soybean protein include yuba (soybean curd skin) and frozen tofu in addition to the above-mentioned tofu, and they have been traditionally eaten for a long time. A gel of soybean protein has characteristics different from a gel of other protein materials derived from milk or eggs and a gel of polysaccharides such as carrageenan or agar in the mouth feeling, gel properties, nutrition and the like. However, traditional foods such as tofu are prepared by utilizing the gelation property of soybean protein in the pH range form neutral to lower acid (i.e. a pH above the isoelectric point of soybean protein) and at present there are no foods prepared by utilizing the gelation property of soybean protein in the acid range (below the isoelectric point), for example, gel dessert foods prepared using a combination of soybean protein and fruit juice.
Although soybean protein typically has an excellent gelation property in the neutral range, it does not exhibit the gelation property in the acid range. This is due to the following reason. Soybean protein dissolves in the neutral range and then exhibits the gelation property. On the other hand, at below pH 4.6, i.e. the pH range (pH 3.0 to 4.5) of so-called acidic foods (see the non-patent document 1), soybean protein hardly dissolves and then can not exhibit the gelation property. This is due to the pH of acidic foods equal to or in the vicinity of the isoelectric point (about pH 5) of soybean protein. Thus, many processed foods containing a high concentration of soybean protein which can provide soybean protein efficiently have been limited to foods with a neutral or slight acid pH as described above. Therefore, soybean protein foods prepared by utilizing the gelation property of soybean protein in the acid range are extremely expected to increase means of taking soybean protein and diversify soybean protein foods.
Many of conventional techniques relating to utilization of soybean protein for acidic foods are mainly directed to prevention of the aggregation and/or precipitation of soybean protein in the acid range in producing acidic beverages. For example, an addition of a stabilizer such as pectin (see the patent document 1), an addition of an emulsifier such as a sucrose fatty acid ester having an HLB of 13 or more (see the patent document 2), a method of suppressing the aggregation of soybean protein due to passing through the isoelectric point (see the patent document 3 and 4) and the like are known. However, these methods do not make the protein itself soluble. Thus, the soybean protein treated with these methods does not exhibit the functional properties of the protein itself such as the emulsifying property and the gel-forming property, let alone provide a clear gel, and thereby a type of foods for which these methods are used is limited. In addition, in order to minimize the aggregation of the protein due to passing through the isoelectric point, the concentration of the protein needs to be lower.
As described above, although soybean protein foods prepared by utilizing the gelation property of soybean protein in the acid range have been potentially in great demand, a method of allowing soybean protein to gelate in the acid range has not be found because of the poor solubility of soybean protein in the acid range and thus, to date such foods have been not produced.
The present invention is to provide gel foods of soybean protein, especially jelly-like foods, prepared by utilizing the gel-forming property of soybean protein in the acid range, which provide a variety of eating habits in taking nutritionally excellent soybean protein, and to provide a process for producing the same.

Acidic soy protein gel foods and process for producing the same


A system and method for optimally placing radio frequency identification (RFID) antennas. The system varies the placement of RFID tag and interrogator antennas with respect to each other and a stationary object or objects. A signal generator sends a known reference signal to the one or more RFID interrogator antennas. The signal is received by the one or more RFID tag antennas and is displayed upon an oscilloscope, spectrum analyzer or other multipurpose signal measuring device. By this method, the system finds the optimal placement of the antennas with respect to each other and the object or objects.

Radio frequency identification (RFID) systems allow for the identification of objects at a distance and out of line of sight. They are comprised of transponders called radio frequency (RF) tags and RF interrogators (also called readers). The tags are generally smaller and less expensive than interrogators, and are commonly attached to objects such as product packages in stores. When an interrogator comes within range of an RF tag, it may provide power to the tag via a querying signal, or the RF tag may use stored power from a battery or capacitor to send a radio frequency signal to be read by the RFID interrogator.
RF tags may consist of single integrated circuits, circuits and antennas, or may incorporate more complex capabilities such as computation, data storage, and sensing means. Some categories of RFID tags include the following: passive tags that acquire power via the electromagnetic field emitted by the interrogator, semi-passive tags that respond similarly, but also use on-board stored power for other functions, active tags that use their own stored power to respond to an interrogator's signal, inductively coupled tags that operate at low frequencies and short distances via a coil antenna, single or dipole antenna-equipped tags that operate at higher frequencies and longer distances, read-write tags that can alter data stored upon them, full-duplex or half duplex tags, collision arbitration tags that may be read in groups, or non-collision tags that must be read individually.
RFID systems consist of RFID tags, RFID interrogators and middleware computing devices. Downstream processing of RFID signal information such as EPC numbers, GTINs, or UID numbers usually occurs in two stages. Tag responses are and converted to a standard packet form by the reader and sent to the middleware device. The middleware device is responsible for processing the raw information into a useful form. For instance, a reader may send many identical packets when a tag attached to an object moves along a conveyor belt past an interrogator. The middleware reduces the chatter of the interrogator to a concise and structured stream of unique packets. These packets are then typically sent to an enterprise application that actually processes the data. Examples of such applications include those that perform inventory management, supply chain management and analysis, or purchase and backorder handling.
RFID systems present a number of advantages over other object marking and tracking systems. A radio frequency interrogator may be able to read a tag when it is not in line of sight from the interrogator, when the tag is dirty, or when a container encloses the tag. RFID systems may identify objects at greater distances than optical systems, may store information into read/write tags, may operate unattended, and may read tags hidden from visual inspection for security purposes. These advantages make RFID systems useful for tracking objects. They are being adopted for use in retail stores, airports, warehouses, postal facilities, and many other locations. RFID systems will likely be more widely adopted as the price of tags and interrogators decreases.
As organizations strive to adopt RFID systems for tracking objects, they face challenges imposed by the nature of the objects they handle and the environments in which those objects are processed. Radio frequency signals are reflected, refracted, or absorbed by many building, packaging, or object materials. Moving people, vehicles, weather and ambient electromagnetic radiation can also effect the performance of RFID systems. Compounding the situation is a growing diversity of choices among RFID systems and components with dimensions such as cost, range, and power consumption. An RFID tag may deliver varying performance depending upon its orientation and location upon or within a package, its distance from a reader and the frequency at which it operates. Often companies must purchase and evaluate systems through trial and error, a time-consuming and costly process. Radio frequency design and testing software, RF site surveys and prototype systems can assist the process, but these approaches do not address the problem of complex object materials, changing object materials, and the wide variety of RFID tags available. For instance, when an RFID tag with antenna is placed upon a case containing a variety of objects, the objects may affect the reception of the tag's antenna. Moving the tag to another location on the case can determine whether the tag will successfully receive and respond to an RFID interrogator's signal. A need exists for a system that exhaustively and efficiently tests a wide variety of RFID antenna configurations to determine optimal placement of the antenna or antennas with respect to an RFID interrogator antenna or antennas and an object or objects.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,771,399 discloses a system, method and apparatus for translating a carriage from one position to another position utilizing an injection molded plastic translating system The apparatus differs from this invention in that solves the problem of moving by means of a radio-wave-transparent material, but it does not address the problem of placing antennas with respect to one another and objects within their environment.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,104,291 discloses a method and apparatus for simulating physical fields. The apparatus differs from this invention in that it addresses issues of integrated circuit interface. It simulates high frequency effects for the design of on-chip interconnect structures.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,999,861 discloses a method and apparatus for testing RFID tags. The apparatus differs from this invention in that while it moves RFID tags with respect to an RFID interrogator, it does not find optimal placement of antennas, but simply tests the performance of a number of tags within the same interrogator field.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,929,760 discloses an RFID conveyor antenna system in which tags are moved along a conveyor belt past an RFID interrogator. The method differs from this invention in that it does not does not determine the optimal placement of RFID tag antennas with respect to interrogators or objects.

System for placing radio frequency identification (RFID) antennas, tags and interrogators


A system and method of managing multiple vehicle antennas. Wireless signals to and from the vehicle are communicated via a primary antenna system having one or more antennas mounted in a housing on the vehicle. Operation of the primary antenna system is monitored so that, if the primary antenna system is broken or otherwise stops working properly, the system switches to a secondary antenna system housed in a separate location on the vehicle.

Wireless communications and global positioning technology are used in vehicles with increasing regularity. Both have become commonplace in modern vehicles. As a result, vehicle manufacturers offer an increasing variety of services to vehicle owners and drivers. As an example, GPS technology is a service that helps locate a vehicle and track its location over a period of time. Location and tracking functions can use a telematics device (or telematics unit) integrated with a GPS receiver capable of determining a vehicle position both instantaneously and over a period of time. The telematics device communicates the vehicle position, as well as other data, to a central facility, such as a call center where the call center records the communications. The telematics device receives GPS signals through a first antenna and communicates with the call center through a second antenna. The first and second antennas can be mounted together on the vehicle's exterior and appear as a single element.
Determining and relaying the vehicle's GPS position provides several benefits. For instance, when a vehicle is reported stolen, the call center can begin monitoring the vehicle's position and then report the monitored position to law enforcement authorities. But vehicle thieves have become aware of vehicle tracking and can identify vehicles that benefit from this service by spotting the antennas mounted on the vehicle's exterior. As a result, thieves have developed methods to circumvent vehicle tracking. In one example, thieves physically deform or remove the vehicle antennas thereby impeding the telematics device from communicating the vehicle position to the call center.

Method of managing multiple vehicle antennas


The self-lighting subpixels of a display device are ones whose output luminances are functions of analog drive voltages applied to the subpixels and corresponding digital grayscale command signals used for controlling the subpixels. The display device generates corresponding analog dimming values and digital dimming values in accordance with supplied current limiting parameters and generates control value signals using the analog dimming values and the digital dimming values. It also changes the original grayscale digital data values of input video signals of one frame in accordance with the digital dimming values.

(a) Field
The present disclosure of invention relates to a self-lighting display device and a method of driving the same. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to an organic light emitting display and a method of driving the same.
(b) Description of Related Technology
Recently, various thin (e.g., flat or curved) panel displays capable of reduced weight and volume have been developed.
Examples of such thin (e.g., flat) panel display devices include liquid crystal displays (LCD's), field emission displays (FED's), plasma display panels (PDP's), and organic light emitting display devices (OLEDD's).
In particular, since the organic light emitting type of display device produces an image using organic light emitting diodes (OLED's) as its light sources; that is to say, it is a self-emission type of display device, then the current and power drawn by the device tends to increase as an average picture luminance level (APL) increases. It would be advantageous to have a method of opportunistically reducing power consumption when the opportunities present themselves.
In a conventional method of driving an organic light emitting display device (OLEDD), only digital data is used to define the desired grayscales of RGB light source based on pixel data signals input from the outside. These digitally defined grayscales are changed on a frame by frame basis. However, when a so-called, ADS (Alternating Data Sets ???) method is applied whereby an input image frame is split into a plurality of temporally-driven subfields (also known as over-time dithering), a same resolution can be obtained by the ADS method while the number of actually displayed grayscales in each subfield is reduced. In addition, when all of the pixels of a subfield are simultaneously turned on in order to display a specific bright grayscale during a given subfield, a relatively large current simultaneously flows to power all of the high-luminance producing OLED's so that the instantaneous current draw for the given subfield is undesirably large and a correspondingly large amount of power is drawn for that displaying that subfield. Some of that drawn power may be wasted power.
It is to be understood that this background of the technology section is intended to provide useful background for understanding the here disclosed technology and as such, the technology background section may include ideas, concepts or recognitions that were not part of what was known or appreciated by those skilled in the pertinent art prior to corresponding invention dates of subject matter disclosed herein.

Self-lighting display device and method of driving the same


Methods and compositions for use in subterranean operations, and more particularly, additives comprising one or more silicates used to treat tar resident in a well bore, and methods of use, are provided. In one embodiment, the method comprises a method of treating tar resident in a well bore comprising providing a tar-treating additive comprising one or more silicates introducing the tar-treating additive into the well bore; and allowing the tar-treating additive to react with the tar resident in the well bore so as to at least partially reduce the adhesiveness of the tar.

The present invention relates to methods and compositions for use in subterranean operations. More particularly, the present invention relates to additives comprising one or more silicates used to treat tar resident in a well bore, and methods of use.
Many subterranean operations involve the drilling of a well bore from the surface through rock and/or soil to penetrate a subterranean formation containing fluids that are desirable for production. Such drilling operations may include any suitable technique for forming a well bore that penetrates a subterranean formation. Rotary drilling operations typically involve attaching a drill bit on a lower end of a drillstring to form a drilling tool and rotating the drill bit along with the drillstring into a subterranean formation to create a well bore through which subsurface formation fluids may be produced. In another method of drilling, coiled tubing may be used instead of jointed pipe and the drill bit may be rotated using a downhole motor. During drilling, drilling fluids may be used, inter alia, to lift or circulate formation cuttings out of the well bore to the surface and to cool the drill bit. Generally, after a well bore has been drilled to a desired depth, the drillstring may be removed from the well bore, and a variety of completion and stimulation operations, including cementing, fracturing treatments, sand control treatments, and remedial treatments may be performed.
In the course of drilling operations, the drillstring and/or other equipment may come into contact with zones of rock and/or soil containing tar; in many such operations, it may be desirable to drill the well bore through these tar-containing zones. However, tar is a relatively tacky substance that may readily adhere to any surface that it contacts, including the surfaces of the well bore and/or any equipment utilized during the drilling operation. Tar also may dissolve into many synthetic treatment fluids used in the course of drilling operations, increasing the tacky and adhesive properties of the tar. If a sufficient amount of tar adheres to surfaces in the well bore or drilling equipment, it may, among other things, prevent the drillstring from rotating, prevent fluid circulation, or otherwise impede the effectiveness of a drilling operation. In some cases, it may become necessary to remove and/or disassemble the drillstring in order to remove accretions of tar, a process which may create numerous cost and safety concerns. The accretion of tar on drilling equipment and/or in the well bore also can impede any subsequent operations downhole, including cementing, acidizing, fracturing, sand control, and remedial treatments.
Existing methods of managing these problems that result from well bore tar incursion have not been successful. Some of these methods involve effecting an increase in hydrostatic pressure in the well bore so as to force the tar out of the well bore to the surface. However, this increased hydrostatic pressure may damage the well bore and/or a portion of the subterranean formation. Other conventional methods utilize treatment fluids that comprise dispersants, surfactants, and/or solubilizers, which allow the tar particles to dissolve in or homogenize with the treatment fluids. However, the tar particles may not be readily separated out of the fluid once they have dissolved into or homogenized with the fluid. The presence of the tar particles in the treatment fluid may alter its rheological properties and/or suspension capacity, which may limit its use in subsequent operations. Moreover, the addition of these dispersants, surfactants, and solubilizers may dramatically increase the complexity and cost of the drilling operation.

Silicate-containing additives for well bore treatments and associated methods


An intervertebral prosthetic device for spinal stabilization and a method of using same according to which a body member is implanted between two adjacent vertebrae so that a spinous processes of a vertebrae extends into a notch formed in the body member. A groove is also formed in the body member that engages one of the vertebrae.

The present invention relates to an intervertebral prosthetic device for stabilizing the human spine, and a method of implanting same.
Spinal discs that extend between adjacent vertebrae in vertebral columns of the human body provide critical support between the adjacent vertebrae. These discs can rupture, degenerate, and/or protrude by injury, degradation, disease, or the like, to such a degree that the intervertebral space between adjacent vertebrae collapses as the disc loses at least a part of its support function, which can cause impingement of the nerve roots and severe pain.
In these cases, intervertebral prosthetic devices have been designed that can be implanted between the adjacent vertebrae, both anterior and posterior of the column, to prevent the collapse of the intervertebral space between the adjacent vertebrae and thus stabilize the spine.
However, many of these devices have less than optimum biomechanics, are relatively difficult to insert, have insufficient strength, and often do not provide an optimum fit with the anatomy.

Intervertebral prosthetic device for spinal stabilization and method of implanting same


An entity resolution system performs a method of resolving one or more candidate entities based on a data set. The entity resolution system has a rules-based module, a machine learning module, a narrative module, and an evaluation module. The rules-based module compares the first entity features to the second entity features and determines whether a rule identifies a relationship between the first entity and the second entity. The machine learning module rates a similarity of the first entity features and the second entity features. The narrative module generates a narrative output based on one or more of the rules-based module and the machine learning module, the narrative output stating an identified relationship between the first entity and the second entity. The evaluation module determines one or more metrics to apply feedback to the system.

There are many ways to describe a person, place, or thing. However, how do we know if two descriptions are describing the same thing, if nothing else is known? Two different entities may have the same name, while the same entity may go by alternative names. Data may be incorrect or incomplete in one location, but not in another. This concept is relevant to financial institution data. In one example, when a customer tries to open an account at a bank, the bank's due diligence step should determine if this customer already has an account, is on a screening list, or is someone with high risk (e.g., by determining that the customer is the same as a customer with an account), even if the information given is different than information already stored.
When banks evaluate their customer's risk internally, assigning a risk score to every account would be less accurate than assigning a risk score to every customer, using information from, for example, multiple accounts. An obstacle to attaining this goal is the ability or inability of the institution to always know that a customer is the same entity as another known entity (or different), and thus, whether they have multiple accounts. Further, an ability to link money launderer's accounts would expose suspicious transaction patterns. For example, it would be suspicious if money wired out ends up being wired into their own (different) account.
The present disclosure describes embodiments that relate to the issue of resolving whether two entities are the same or different, given multiple sets of information in order to address the issues described above, as well as other related objectives in the art.

System for identifying duplicate parties using entity resolution

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


An embodiment of a method of cooperative caching for a distributed storage system begins with a step of requesting data from storage devices which hold the data. The method continues with a step of receiving any cached blocks and expected response times for providing non-cached blocks from the storage devices. The method concludes with a step of requesting a sufficient number of the non-cached blocks from one or more particular storage devices which provides an expectation of optimal performance.

A critical component of computer systems is data storage. Data storage can be divided conceptually into an individual user's data storage, which is attached directly to the individual's computer, and network based data storage typically intended for multiple users.
One type of network based storage device is a disk array. The disk array includes a controller coupled to an array of disks. Typically, components (e.g., the controller and the disks) of the disk array are hot swappable, which allows the components to be replaced without turning off the disk array.
As an alternative to the disk array, researchers have been exploring data storage within a distributed storage system which includes an array of independent storage devices coupled together by a network. Each of the independent storage devices includes a processor and two or more levels of data storage, such as main memory, FLASH memory, solid-state memory, magnetic disk drives (which may be high-speed, low capacity or high-capacity, low speed, or some combination), tape drives, and optical drives. Similar device types may also be used as different storage levels if they are configured or used to provide differentiated behaviors at the different storage levels. Typically, one level of data storage is used as a cache for the other; such caching can be inclusive or exclusive, or even a mixture. An advantage of the array of independent storage devices is lower cost. The lower cost can result from mass production of the independent storage devices as commodity devices and from elimination of hot swappable features of the disk array. Another advantage is better scalability. The user can buy a few devices initially and add more devices as demand grows.
If nodes of a distributed storage system have storage hierarchies that include a faster storage level and slower storage level, access latency from the slower storage level can cause a significant delay when a client reads data. If the faster storage levels of the nodes of the distributed storage system could be used to cooperatively cache data, the overall access latency could be improved.
Many distributed storage systems such as GMS, N-chance, or hint-based variants use distributed caching schemes. These distributed caching schemes employ a centralized manager to prevent duplicate cache entries and to manage request routing. Web proxy caching and web mirroring schemes use a static assignment of clients to proxies/mirrors and rely on users to determine which server is least loaded. Multiprocessor machines use broadcast mechanisms between the processors to prevent duplicate cache entries. All of these techniques are trying to avoid network latencies or request processing. None of these techniques address the problem of access latency from a slower storage level of a storage hierarchy.
What is needed is a method of cooperative caching for a distributed storage system which addresses the problem of access latency from a slower storage level of a storage hierarchy.

Method of cooperative caching for distributed storage system

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.