According to at least one embodiment, a television includes a housing further including a pair of corner portions and an enclosed space on an inner side thereof, a pair of speaker boxes housed in the enclosed space in vicinities of the corner portions, a pair of speakers housed in the speaker boxes respectively in a direction which crosses a thickness direction of the housing, and each of the speaker boxes further includes a first duct to guide sounds from a first side of the respective speaker to the respective first opening portion and a second duct to guide sounds from a second side of the respective speaker towards the enclosed space.

There are conventionally electronic devices, for example, notebook type portable computers, which comprise speaker units at right and left sides thereof.
For such electronic devices, the sound quality can be a factor which determines the competitive strength of the device in the market, and therefore there is always the need for improving the sound quality and the improvement of the quality of the sound output from the device is required.


A system and method for computer-assisted joint analysis, wherein the joint elements in a three-dimensional imaging data set are segmented and then projected onto a two-dimensional or three-dimensional reference area for interference analysis and surgical planning.

To perform a computer-assisted joint analysis, volume image data sets (for example, CT, MR or x-ray volume image data sets) of the joint environment may be produced using a medical imaging method. The actual, three-dimensional contour and shape of joint elements (for example, bones) can be determined using computer-assisted image processing. If image data sets of the joint region are captured, then so-called segmenting may be used. If artificial joint elements are to be incorporated, corresponding three-dimensional imaging data also can be provided as known or predetermined joint element model data. For example, a computer-assisted-design ("CAD") model of an implant can be provided.
Interference detection analyses may be performed using the three-dimensional joint data obtained as noted above. Such analyses may be computationally elaborate and it may be difficult to visualize the result in an easily comprehensible form. In conventional joint analyses, the results are provided in three-dimensional form after the data sets have been processed. It may be difficult, however, to show where bone interferences will occur in particular joint positions. For treatments to correct the bone surfaces, specific features from the obtained three-dimensional image data can be used, however, this use may lead to imprecise surgery or incision planning. The interaction with the three-dimensional data in a computer-assisted joint analysis also may make the corresponding algorithms used relatively slow, unstable, and problematic with respect to the soft tissue structures in the joint region.

Computer-assisted joint analysis using surface projection


A vehicle height adjusting apparatus includes a suspension spring supporting a sprung weight of a vehicle, a pivotal unsprung member carrying a road wheel and connected to a lower end of the suspension spring so as to pivot in response to deformation of the suspension spring, and a drive mechanism adapted so as to be free from the sprung weight and capable of moving the unsprung member so as to cause the suspension spring to increase or decrease in length and thereby adjusting a vehicle height at the road wheel.

The present invention relates to a vehicle height adjusting apparatus.
Heretofore known is a vehicle height adjusting apparatus that includes a screw drive mechanism by way of which a piston rod of a damper disposed between a vehicle body side and a carrier side is connected to the vehicle body side or the carrier side so that the piston rod is movable upward and downward as disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 3294672. The screw drive mechanism of the vehicle height adjusting apparatus includes a ball screw and a nut threadedly engaged with each other by way of balls. The ball screw is rotatably connected to a vehicle body side member of the damper or an carrier side member. The nut is connected to the piston rod or the cylinder, and either of the ball screw or the nut is connected to a drive unit. When the ball screw or nut is driven by the drive unit, the relative position of the ball screw and nut is changed, thereby adjusting the vehicle height.


A displaying device includes an input unit, a region defining unit, a content allocating unit, an obtaining unit, a display controlling unit and a display unit. The region defining unit defines regions by incorporating one or more unit regions in each of the regions according to users' selections and generates region defining information. The content allocating unit allocates contents for the regions according to the users' selections and generates content allocating information. The obtaining unit obtains the region defining information, the content allocating information, and contents according to the content allocating information, and then transmits the information and contents to the display controlling unit. The display controlling unit splits a display area of the display unit into the regions defined by the region defining unit and displays the contents in the regions correspondingly according to the content allocating information. Related methods are also provided.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to displaying devices and methods thereof, and particularly to a displaying device with user-defined display regions and method for displaying contents in the user-defined display regions.
2. General Background
Many electronic devices, such as mobile phones, digital photo frames, and so on, generally have unchangeable layouts of components on their display interfaces. For instance, the images, textual memos of the images, and real calendar/time information that are displayed on digital photo frames are fixed at their respective positions on the display interface. Users cannot change the positions and display areas of the components to meet their personalized requirements.
What is needed, therefore, is a displaying device and method which can solve the problem mentioned above.

Displaying device with user-defined display regions and method thereof

Hong Fu Jin Precision Industry (ShenZhen) Co., Ltd.


An external pressure type hollow fiber membrane module, comprising a hollow fiber membrane bundle formed of a plurality of hollow fiber membranes, a housing, and an inlet/outlet nozzle for fluid, wherein hollow fiber membranes are fixedly adhered to each other and the hollow fiber membranes are fixedly adhered to the inner wall of the housing at both ends of the hollow fiber membrane bundle. The hollow part at one or both side adhesively-fixed ends is opened, and the inlet/outlet nozzle for fluid is installed at the side face of the housing at least at one adhesively-fixed end in which the hollow part is opened. Where the membrane occupied rates of the nozzle in a neighboring area (A) and a non-neighboring area (B) among membrane chargeable areas on the inside of the adhesively-fixed part at at least one adhesively-fixed end positioned near the nozzle and where the hollow part is opened are PA and PB, the ratio of the membrane occupied rates PB/PA is 0.50 to 0.95.

In general, a hollow fiber membrane module is classified broadly into an internal pressure type and an external pressure type. The external pressure type of hollow fiber membrane module normally has a structure of bundling several hundreds to tens of thousands of hollow fiber membranes with a length of 200 to 3,000 mm and an outside diameter of the membrane of 0.1 to 5 mm, accommodating the bundle in a cylindrical case, and adhesively fixing the ends of both sides to an inner wall of the case with a resin. When adhesively fixing both ends, there are an one-end collection type module and a both-ends collection type module: the former is formed so as to have the end of the hollow fiber membrane opened in one adhesively-fixed part, have the hollow part of fiber membrane sealed at the other adhesively-fixed part, supply compressively raw water to a region sandwiched between the adhesively-fixed parts to permeate through the hollow fiber membrane, and take the filtrate out from the adhesively-fixed part in which the end of the hollow fiber is opened; and the latter is formed so as to have the ends of the hollow fiber membrane opened in both adhesively-fixed parts, and take the filtrate out from both ends. Furthermore, there are a plurality of through-holes in hollow fiber membrane bundles at the adhesively-fixed part that becomes to be a lower side when being used, and their ports are used as a port for supplying raw water to be filtrated, and as an air supply port and a cleaning waste water outlet in a physical cleaning process.
When such an external pressure type hollow fiber membrane module is used for the purpose of bacteria eliminating and clarification, it is normally subjected to a cross flow filtration to prevent a suspended solid from depositing on the surface of a hollow fiber membrane, or to the periodic physical cleaning such as a back wash reverse filtration and an air bubbling to recover a filter performance, thereby enabling a stable filtration operation. In order to operate the module in the above method, the module has an exhaust port provided at the side face of a case in the vicinity of an adhesively-fixed part in an upper part, and is vertically installed. When the module is used for filtration, the raw water containing the suspended solid is supplied from a through-hole provided in the adhesively-fixed part in the lower part, and the concentrated water is discharged from the exhaust port provided in the side face in the upper part of the case. In addition, in a cleaning step by air bubbling, the module is cleaned by the steps of supplying air from the through-hole in the lower part; thereby forming an air/water mixture flow; making the membrane oscillated by the air/water mixture flow; thereby stripping off the suspended solid deposited on the surface of a membrane; then supplying raw water together with air; and discharging it from the exhaust port provided at the side face in the upper part of the case.
The flow of a liquid discharged from the exhaust port in such a cross flow filtration and an air bubbling cleaning occasionally draws the hollow fiber membrane into the exhaust port to damage it, and the oscillation of the membrane occasionally makes stress concentrated in the vicinity of the inner surface of an adhesively-fixed part to rupture the hollow fiber membrane.
In order to efficiently discharge a deposit outside a module by exfoliating it from the surface of a membrane by the physical cleaning as described above, a space must be secured between hollow fibers, so that the hollow fiber membrane cannot be accommodated in the module having approximately the closest packed state, as in the case of an internal pressure type module. For this reason, a membrane-occupying rate in a housing is normally set at 0.3 to 0.6. The "membrane-occupying rate in a housing" used herein means a ratio of a total of the cross-sectional areas based on the outside diameter of the membrane with reference to the cross-sectional area based on the inside diameter of the housing in a filtration region of the membrane. When the membrane is accommodated in a comparative low density, the distribution of the membrane in an adhesively-fixed part of the membrane easily tends to be ununiform, and the hollow fiber membrane in the vicinity of the inner surface of the above adhesively-fixed part develops a strong tendency to be ruptured.
As the means of preventing the above damage/rupture of a membrane in the vicinity of the adhesively-fixed part of the hollow fiber membrane, a method has been known which installs a current cylinder in the vicinity of the inner surface of the adhesively-fixed part and arranges a layer of a high polymer material having rubber-like elasticity in the inner side of the adhesively-fixed part (for instance, see Patent Document 1). A method is also proposed which coats the surface of the hollow fiber membrane extending in the inner side of the adhesively-fixed part with the same adhesive as that for forming the inner surface of the fixed part (for instance, see Patent Document 2).
However, the method according to Patent Document 1 has an excellent effect in preventing the damage/rupture of a membrane as described above, but when forming an adhesively-fixed layer only with a high polymer having rubber-like elasticity, this may cause the problem that the adhesively-fixed part may be ruptured because the pressure resistance of the part is inferior. In addition, in order to secure the pressure resistance, it is required to adhesively fix the membrane with a material having high strength and high elasticity, and then to form a layer of a rubber-like elastic body on the inner side thereof, so that the method has a disadvantage of needing a complicated manufacturing process and a high cost.
On the other hand, the method according to Patent Document 2 does not have a sufficient effect of preventing the membrane from being ruptured, and causes the problem that the membrane is ruptured by air bubbling in a long term operation.    Patent Document 1: JP-A-09-220446    Patent Document 2: JP-A-10-305218

External pressure type hollow fiber membrane module


The invention relates to a multi-beam deflector array device for use in a particle-beam exposure apparatus employing a beam of charged particles, the multi-beam deflector array device having a plate-like shape with a membrane region, the membrane region including a first side facing towards the incoming beam of particles, an array of apertures, each aperture allowing passage of a corresponding beamlet formed out of the beam of particles, a plurality of depressions, each depression being associated with at least one aperture, and an array of electrodes, each aperture being associated with at least one electrode and each electrode being located in a depression, the electrodes being configured to realize a non-deflecting state, wherein the particles that pass through the apertures are allowed to travel along a desired path, and a deflecting state, wherein the particles are deflected off the desired path.

In a particle-beam exposure apparatus, a particle beam is generated by an illumination system and illuminates a pattern definition means having an array of apertures which define a beam pattern to be projected on a target surface. One important application of a particle-beam exposure apparatus of this kind is in the field of nano-scale patterning, by direct ion beam material modification or by electron or ion beam induced etching and/or deposition, used for the fabrication or functionalization of nano-scale devices. Another important application is in the field of maskless particle-beam lithography, used in semiconductor technology; namely, a lithography apparatus which, in order to define a desired pattern on a substrate surface, processes a substrate, e.g. a silicon wafer, covered with a layer of a radiation-sensitive resist. A desired structure is exposed onto the photo-resist which is then developed, in the case of a positive resist by partial removal according to the pattern defined by the previous exposure step. The developed resist is used as a mask for further structuring processes such as reactive etching.
A particle-beam exposure apparatus is described in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,369,282. Arai et al. therein discuss an electron-beam exposure system using a so-called blanking aperture array (BAA) which takes the role of the pattern definition means. The BAA carries a number of rows of apertures, and the images of the apertures are scanned over the surface of the substrate in a controlled continuous motion whose direction is perpendicular to the aperture rows. The rows are aligned with respect to each other in an interlacing manner so that the apertures form staggered lines as seen along the scanning direction. Thus, the staggered lines sweep continuous lines on the substrate surface without leaving gaps between them as they move relative to the substrate, thus covering the total area of the substrate to be exposed.
The U.S. Pat. No. 6,768,125 by the applicant/assignee presents a multi-beam maskless lithography concept, dubbed PML2 (short for 'Projection Mask-Less Lithography #2'), that employs a pattern definition device comprising a number of plates stacked on top of the other, among them an aperture array device (aperture plate) and a deflector array device (blanking plate). These separate plates are mounted together at defined distances, for instance in a casing.
The aperture plate comprises an array of apertures which define a beam pattern, consisting of beamlets, to be projected on a target surface. Corresponding blanking openings on the blanking plate are associated with said apertures. Said blanking openings are located such that each of the beamlets traverses the blanking opening that corresponds to the aperture defining the beamlet respectively. Each blanking opening is provided with a deflection means that can be controlled by a blanking signal between two deflection states, namely, a first state ('switched on') when the deflection means has assumed a state in which particles passing through the opening are allowed to travel along a desired path, and a second state ('switched off') when the deflection means is deflecting particles transmitted through the opening off said path.
The deflection means comprise a set of beam blanking electrodes, basically a pair. The US 2005/0242302 A1 of the applicant/assignee proposes to form the electrodes around the blanking openings by perpendicular growth employing state-of-the-art electroplating techniques. This document proposes to form one of the electrodes, which is called ground electrode, so as to have a substantial height over the blanking plate and the other electrode, which is called blanking electrode. This is done in order to provide a better shielding of the blanking apertures against cross-talking and other unwanted effects.
There are several problematic issues in the use of pattern definition devices as described in prior art. The shielding of the blanking apertures against cross-talking, for instance, as well as a non-expensive way of producing said blanking device. In particular the forming of the electrodes employing perpendicular growth is a rather complex process. Additionally such electrodes are very sensitive to deformation and stress.
Moreover, electrodes that have a substantial height over the blanking plate impose a limitation of the electric field strength tolerable in the vicinity of the blanking plate (this is due to stray fields around the electrodes caused by the boundary conditions for the field lines). This represents a disadvantage particularly if the blanking plate is used as a part of a grid lens (as for example described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,801,388 and 6,326,632 by the applicant/assignee) where the side of the blanking plate comprising the electrodes is used to define the electrostatic potential of the negative (diverging) and/or positive (collecting) electrostatic lens.
In prior art the pattern definition means comprises at least two different plates for comparably high integration density of apertures and deflectors, namely an aperture plate used to form the shape of the beams and absorb the majority of heat load imposed by the incoming beam, and a blanking plate used as deflector array plate. Highly accurate alignment between the two or more plates and excellent alignment towards the direction of the incoming beam is required.

Multi-beam deflector array device for maskless particle-beam processing


In a method for designing an envelope detecting circuit for a video signal processing integrated circuit (IC), the number of peripheral components of the video signal processing IC is minimized by incorporating, into the video signal processing IC, a circuit device for detecting the envelope of an FM video signal and for controlling the envelope level. According to the IC designing method, the number of components can be reduced by designing all circuit elements constituting a circuit which detects the envelope of the FM video signal and which controls envelope level so that they are incorporated into the video signal processing IC at the time of designing the video signal processing IC. As a result, cost is reduced and, since mode control signal lines are reduced, the corresponding terminals of the microprocessor can be used for another purpose, thereby increasing the operating efficiency of the microprocessor.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a video signal processing integrated circuit (IC) and an IC designing method and, more particularly, to a method for designing an envelope detecting circuit for a video signal processing IC in order to reduce operating steps and material costs by minimizing the number of components of external application circuits of the video signal processing IC, and to an IC using the method.
2. Related Art
In general, in order to execute auto tracking in a video cassette recorder (VCR), an envelope of a frequency modulated (FM) video signal is detected during a playback mode for input to a microprocessor, which is also called a μ-COM. Then, the microprocessor executes auto tracking control using the waveform level of the input envelope.
However, a problem arises in that the level of the input envelope differs according to the playback mode. That is, in the super long playback (SLP) mode, the width of a video track recorded on a video tape is relatively narrow, whereas in the standard playback (SP) mode, the width of the video track is relatively wider. Accordingly, the level of the detected FM video signal is relatively low in the SLP mode. Thus, in order to execute auto tracking accurately, irrespective of the playback mode, it is necessary to reduce the variation in the envelope level with the type of playback mode.
As a result of the above phenomenon, it is necessary to maintain the envelope level at the same level according to the playback mode, and this has only been possible up to this point by increasing the number of peripheral components of the video signal processing IC, resulting in a lowering of the manufacturing efficiency and an increase in material cost.

Method for designing envelope detecting circuit for video signal processing integrated circuit and integrated circuit using the same


The cargo area of a refrigerated railroad car is cooled by convectors positioned along the upper side and walls of the cargo side and end walls of the cargo compartment of the car. The convectors are cooled by a supply of carbon dioxide snow in a bunker above the cargo compartment. Alternately, vents between the bunker and the cargo compartment and along the upper side and end walls of the cargo compartment enhance and direct carbon dioxide vapor circulation between the cargo area and the bunker. The convectors and the vents can be used independently or in combination.

This invention relates to an on-board solid carbon dioxide or dry ice refrigeration system for rail (railroad) cars and more particularly to the construction and methods of use of the dry ice bunker, the freight storage compartment and the divider between the two when utilizing carbon dioxide as an expendable refrigerant in transporting products by railroad cars but also useful for other substantially sized vehicles such as trucks, trailers, shipping containers and the like being moved over substantial distances or in circumstances where enroute cold temperature protection is essential, and in an arrangement where no mechanical refrigeration device is included, principally using, as appropriate to each specific case, bunker construction and placement, bunker filling method, bunker vent size and inlet ducting, as well as convectors (and location of each), natural phenomena, cargo area construction and insulation choice and techniques to maintain the cargo in the refrigerated state, and especially useful to food cargo in the frozen state.


A method of printing digital data onto or with a photograph using infra-red ink and using an ink jet printing process is disclosed. The data can store the details of the image in an encoded fault tolerant form enabling the copying or recovery of the photograph notwithstanding damage thereto.

The present invention relates to a data processing method and apparatus and, in particular, discloses a data encoding method and apparatus for storing data in a fault tolerant form on photographs using an infra-red ink wherein the data is original image data taken from a camera system.
Various methods, systems and apparatus relating to the present invention are disclosed in the following co-pending applications filed by the applicant or assignee of the present invention simultaneously with the present application:
The disclosures of these co-pending applications are incorporated herein by reference.
Various methods, systems and apparatus relating to the present invention are disclosed in the following co-pending application filed by the applicant or assignee of the present invention on Jul. 10, 1998:
U.S. Ser. No. 09/113,070
U.S. Ser. No. 09/112,785
The disclosures of this co-pending application are incorporated herein by reference.
Various methods, systems and apparatus relating to the present invention are disclosed in the following co-pending applications filed by the applicant or assignee of the present invention on Jun. 30, 2000:
U.S. Ser. No. 09/608,308,
U.S. Ser. No. 09/608,779
U.S. Ser. No. 09/607,987
U.S. Ser. No. 09/608,776
U.S. Ser. No. 09/607,250
U.S. Ser. No. 09/607,991
The disclosures of these co-pending applications is incorporated herein by reference.
As the applicant has previously noted in pending applications U.S. Ser. Nos. 09/113,070 and 09/112,785 there is a general need for a print media scanning system that allows for high volumes of computer data to be stored on a simple print media, such as a card while simultaneously tolerating a high degree of corruption when read by a scanning device. For example, the form of distribution can suffer a number of data corruption errors when the surface is scanned by a scanning device. The errors can include:
1. Dead pixel errors which are a result of reading the surface of the card with a linear CCD having a faulty pixel reader for a line thereby producing the same value for all points on the line.
2. Preferably, the system adopted can tolerate errors wherein text is written by the owner of the card on the surface. Such errors are ideally tolerated by any scanning system scanning the card.
3. Various data errors on the surface of the card may arise and any scuffs or blotches should be tolerated by any system determining the information stored on the surface of the card.
4. A certain degree of xe2x80x9cplayxe2x80x9d exists in the insertion of the card into a card reader. This play can comprise a degree of rotation of the card when read by a card reader.
5. Further, the card reader is assumed to be driven past a linear image sensor such as a CCD by means of an electric motor. The electric motor may experience a degree of fluctuation which will result in fluctuations in the rate of transmission of the data across the surface of the CCD. These motor fluctuation errors should also be tolerated by the data encoding method on the surface of the card.
6. The scanner of the surface of the card may experience various device fluctuations such that the intensity of individual pixels may vary. Reader intensity variations should also be accounted for in any system or method implemented in the data contained on the surface of the card.
Ideally, any scanning system should be able to maintain its accuracy in the presence of errors due to the above factors.
In applications U.S. Ser. Nos. 09/113,070 and 09/112,785, the applicant disclosed a method and apparatus for printing data in an encoded fault tolerant form on the back of a photograph preferably using black ink on a white background. The data represented the photograph in a digital image file format and/or data comprising a computer programme script which could be run to recreate the image or to apply some effect to the image. A programming language called a VARK script was invented for this purpose which was designed to be portable and device independent.
The present invention seeks to provide an alternative to that method of encoding and recording data by printing the digital data corresponding to the image in an encoded fault tolerant digital form over or with the image itself using infra-red ink, the image and the data being recorded on a print media using an ink jet printing system as disclosed by the applicant.
It is an object of the present invention to provide for a method of printing digital data on a photograph including the steps of:
a) receiving image data corresponding to an image;
b) converting said image data into an encoded fault tolerant digital form;
c) printing out said fault tolerant digital form of said image data on a surface of a print media using an ink jet printing process with an invisible ink while simultaneously printing out said image data as a photographic image in a visual, human readable form on the same surface of said print media.
Preferably, said encoding step includes compressing said image data and processing it using a Reed-Solomon algorithm.
The invisible ink may be an infra-red absorbing ink with negligible absorption in the visible spectrum.
It is a further object of the invention to provide apparatus for printing in infra-red ink encoded fault tolerant digital data on a photographic, said apparatus including:
a) a camera system for imaging an image and for outputting said image in a digital format;
b) means for processing said digital format of said image into a fault tolerant encoded digital form;
c) means for printing said image and said fault tolerant encoded digital form using an ink jet printing process said fault tolerant encoded digital form being printed using an infra-red ink.
Preferably, the means for printing employs a pagewidth printhead using an ink jet structure, for example, as disclosed in applicant""s U.S. Ser. Nos. 09/608,308, 09/608,779, 09/607,987, 09/608,776, 09/607,250, and 09/607,991 with a print roll feeding print media therethrough, for example as disclosed in applicant""s Artcam applications, U.S. Ser. Nos. 09/113,070 and 09/112,785.
According to a preferred form of the invention the information is printed out on a photograph which may be a standard size of approximately 102xc3x97152 mm (4xe2x80x3xc3x976xe2x80x3) compared to the prior art data encoded card which has a format of 85 mmxc3x9755 mm (approximately the size of a credit card). The increased size of the recording media allows approximately three to four times as much data to be recorded on the photograph compared to the previous format while using a similar or identical data encoding technique.

Method and apparatus for fault tolerant data storage on photographs


A hydraulic bolt buffer assembly for an automatic firearm, the firearm including a receiver having a longitudinal chamber, a bolt and carrier assembly mounted in the chamber for reciprocating movement between a recoil position and a battery position, a spring for urging the buffer into contact with the bolt and carrier assembly for movement therewith and for biasing said bolt and carrier assembly toward the battery position. The buffer assembly includes a housing having an inner cavity, as well as a piston disposed within the inner cavity of the housing that is movable between an extended position and a depressed position, the piston being in contact with the bolt and carrier assembly. The buffer further includes a spring for biasing the piston in the extended position, as well as a bearing member in fixed relation in the housing and permitting a fluid tight seal with the interior of the buffer housing. The bearing further includes a cavity for retaining an accumulator disposed in a fluid chamber and in which movement of the piston based on movement of the bolt and carrier assembly causes hydraulic fluid contained in a first fluid chamber of said cavity to be moved to a second fluid chamber of said cavity containing the accumulator to slow the firing rate of the firearm.

Firearms that are capable of automatic or semi-automatic operation, such as the M-16 rifle, are replete and extremely well known. Accuracy using such firearms is not successful unless the firearm is fired in short bursts due to the recoil of successive rounds causing the barrel of the firearm to climb upwardly and to the right, for the right handed shooter. The M-16 rifle, for example, fires at a cyclic rate of approximately 750 rounds per minute (RPM) wherein this rate, as combined with the impulse produced by a 5.56 mm cartridge makes it difficult for the shooter of such a firearm to consistently produce a controlled pattern of shots.
There have been numerous attempts that have been made to reduce the cyclic rate of fire of automatic and semi-automatic firearms, using a buffer assembly, wherein the recoil force is stored by the action or operating spring of the firearm and the bolt is returned from the recoil position to the battery position. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,977,296 describes a typical hydraulic buffer assembly used for decreasing the cyclic firing rate. According to the design of the '296 buffer assembly the bolt carrier, bolt and the buffer are each accelerated rearward from the battery position when the automatic firearm is fired. Each of the bolt, bolt carrier and the buffer are moved in unison toward the recoil position against the action or operating spring of the firearm. An elastomeric bumper provided on the end of the buffer contacts the end wall of the receiver extension. At this point, the buffer compresses and forces hydraulic fluid contained within the buffer through an orifice provided in a cylinder, thereby creating a resisting force. This resisting force decelerates the bolt as well as the bolt carrier, thus extending the recoil period. Furthermore and during counter-recoil (e.g., return of the bolt/bolt carrier assembly and buffer to the firing position), there is less rebound energy from the end of the recoil stroke such that the buffer/bolt are returned at a slower rate, which further delays the return of each of the assemblies back to the battery position. This delay thereby results in a slower firing rate of the firearm. Upon return to the battery position, the buffer also absorbs some of the kinetic energy of the bolt and the bolt carrier as they stop on the breech end of the barrel, such that these elements do not "bounce" off the breech end of the barrel.
There are a number of problems noted with regard to the above-described buffer design. First, the '296 buffer relies upon the use of dynamic seals. Dynamic seals, however, are more prone to leakage than static seals. The design of the above described '296 buffer includes a pair of dynamic seals, each of which create a potential leakage path. Hydraulic fluid loss can result in degraded performance. The internal spring of the '296 buffer continually acts upon the damping fluid, which in turn acts to hydraulically extend the piston rod. If the buffer unit leaks enough fluid, the piston will be compressed by the action spring thus reducing or eliminating the stroke in the buffer. The buffer would then merely act as a single mass only within the gun recoil system—which may only marginally reduce the firing rate and perhaps no longer reduce the condition known colloquially as "bolt bounce" from occurring. Bolt bounce has the potential for stopping the automatic firing sequence before the operator has the intention to do so.
In addition, the seals that are used in the '296 design are simple O-rings, each sealing dynamically upon an internal diameter bore, upon which can be difficult to obtain a smooth, hard, defect-free surface finish. This form of seal is prone to "weeping", and is also more prone to rolling or twisting within its groove—the latter also leading to potential leakage. The '296 buffer design further relies upon a spring—loaded accumulator to provide a force that is sufficiently high enough to exceed the preload of the action spring of the firearm and thereby maintain the piston rod in the extended position. This form of accumulator provides a positive internal pressure within the buffer at all times. This pressure further acts to force the hydraulic fluid out of the buffer at all times.
Furthermore, the above-described '296 hydraulic buffer has four (4) separate stroke lengths that require size considerations in the placement of same in the firearm and making application of this design difficult in guns having shorter stocks. A buffer, such as the above-described '296 design, further includes the elastomeric plug or bumper which holds the spring in place, which in turn loads the sliding seal separator. If this plug or bumper were to loosen even partially, the function of the buffer would degrade.


The combination fishing tackle box and pole holder includes a box having an interior storage space. The lid is connected to at least one fishing pole holder which is in the form of a pipe which extends up from the lid top surface at an angle. The pipe has its lower end in the form of a socket which releasably retains the butt end of a fishing pole. The upper portion of the pipe extends up around the pole and has a cutaway portion on the rear side, so that the pole body can be tilted backwardly out of the cutaway portion while retaining the pole butt in the socket, in order to set a hook in a fish caught on the fishing pole line. The box can have one or more carrying handles and the holder can be hinged to the lid top and movable between the raised operative position and a down storage position. The lid can be configured to provide a storage recess for the holder when in the down position.

1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention generally relates to fishing equipment and more particularly to an improved combination device which serves as a fishing tackle box and also an improved fishing pole holder.
2. PRIOR ART
Various types of fishing tackle boxes have been devised, most of which have hinged lids and compartments for the storage of various items of fishing equipment. Various types of fishing pole holders have also been devised, some of which are set forth in U.S. Pat. Nos. such as 2,236,070 and 2,314,747 where a fishing pole is clamped to the rail or other part of a fishing boat. U.S. Pat. No. 4,323,181 discloses a fishing pole holder which is connected to a fisherman's belt, while U.S. Pat. No. 4,650,146 discloses a stand for anchoring a fishing pole into a beach. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,845,881 and 3,571,964 disclose connecting a fishing pole holder to a bait pail or fish bucket, while U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,543,432 and 3,555,719 disclose holders which clamp a fishing pole rigidly to the outside of a tackle box.
The prior art devices have a number of disadvantages. In most instances, the fishing pole holders are difficult to connect to the fishing poles and to the base supports, whether they be boat gunwhales, seats, fishing pails, etc. Most such holders clamp the fishing pole into a fixed position so that it cannot be easily moved in order to set a hook into a fish which has struck the lure on the end of the fishing line. Moreover, those fishing pole holders which are attached to fishing pails, etc. easily tip the pails over when a fish of any substantial size strikes the lure. In addition, most such holders are complicated, expensive and difficult to assemble and store.
Accordingly, there is a need for a simple, inexpensive and durable fishing pole holder which will permit the fisherman to readily maneuver the fishing pole to set the hook when a fish strikes the lure and which can be combined with the ever present fishing tackle box and can be stored therein in a minimum amount of space. The fishing pole holder-tackle box combination should be constructed so that it is not easily tipped over when a fish of substantial size strikes the lure.

Combination fishing tackle box and fishing pole holder device


A harp is disclosed. The harp that allows for more simplified pitch change. The harp allows for the creation of a pitch bend effect, similar to the sound of the twang of a guitar. The harp also allows for rising half tones in the strings, wherein the pitch of a string is raised by exactly one semitone. Because of the various ways to change the pitch, each string in the harp is capable of playing up to three different notes.

A harp is a stringed instrument that has a neck, a resonator, and strings. A harp's strings may be made of nylon, gut, wire, or silk and are positioned perpendicular to a soundboard.
Most European-derived harps have a single row of strings with strings for each note of the C Major scale. All F strings are black or blue and all C strings are red or orange. The harp rests between the knees of the harpist and along his/her right shoulder. The first four fingers of each hand are used to pluck the strings; the pinky fingers are too short and cannot reach the correct position without distorting the position of the other fingers. However, on some folk harps with light tension, and closely spaced strings, the pinky fingers may occasionally be used. Also, the pinky is not strong enough to pluck a string. Plucking with varying degrees of force creates dynamics. Depending on finger position, different tones can be produced. For example, a fleshy pluck (i.e. near the middle of the first finger joint) will make a warm tone, while a pluck near the end of the finger will make a loud, bright sound.
A pedal harp is large and technically modern. It is designed for classical music and played solo, as part of chamber ensembles, and in symphony orchestras.
The pedal harp uses the mechanical action of pedals to change the pitches of the strings. There are seven pedals, one for each note, and each pedal is attached to a rod or cable within the column of the harp, which then connects with a mechanism within the neck. When a pedal is moved with the foot, small discs at the top of the harp rotate. The discs are studded with two pegs that pinch the string as they turn, shortening the vibrating length of the string. The pedal has three positions. In the top position, no pegs are in contact with the string and all notes are flat. In the middle position, the top wheel pinches the string, resulting in a natural. And in the bottom position, another wheel is turned, shortening the string again to create a sharp.
Folk harps use levers or blades to change pitch. Folk harps with levers installed have a lever close to the top of each string. When the lever is engaged, the string is shortened so that its pitch is raised a semitone, resulting in a sharped note if the string was a natural, or a natural note if the string was a flat. Blades and hooks perform almost the same function as levers, but use a different mechanism.
This instrument has several unique features. The harp neck is designed so that the strings come from the center of the neck, eliminating the tendency for the neck to roll over to the left because of string tension. Since the pillar and soundboard do not need to be extra strong to accommodate this unbalanced tension, the whole instrument weighs far less than a comparable Irish harp.

Harp with exposed soundboard and separate bridges and method of altering the pitch of the harp strings


A system for generating a powerful laser beam includes a first laser element and at least one additional laser element having a rear laser mirror, an output mirror that is 100% reflective at normal incidence and <5% reflective at an input beam angle, and laser material between the rear laser mirror and the output mirror. The system includes an injector, a reference laser beam source, an amplifier and phase conjugater, and a combiner.

1. Field of Endeavor
The present invention relates to lasers and more particularly to a phased laser array for generating a powerful laser beam.
2. State of Technology
European Patent No. 0571126 published Nov. 24, 1993 for an apparatus and method for optical energy amplification using two-beam coupling provides the following state of technology information: "a diffraction limited working beam at a given frequency is amplified without degrading its diffraction limited quality by diverting a minor portion of the beam as a probe beam, and amplifying the remaining portion of the working beam with a high power pump beam at a different wavelength."
U.S. Pat. No. 6,385,228 for a coherent beam combiner for a high power laser to C. Brent Dane and Lloyd A. Hackel issued May 7, 2002 provides the following state of technology information: "A phase conjugate laser mirror employing Brillouin-enhanced four wave mixing allows multiple independent laser apertures to be phase locked producing an array of diffraction-limited beams with no piston phase errors. The beam combiner has application in laser and optical systems requiring high average power, high pulse energy, and low beam divergence."

Phasing surface emitting diode laser outputs into a coherent laser beam

The Regents of the University of California


A method of electrolytically producing acid water using an electrolytic cell partitioned by a cation-exchange membrane into an anode chamber and a cathode chamber. Chloride ion which generates hypochlorous acid by anodic oxidation is supplied to the cathode chamber without directly supplying chloride ion to the anode chamber. Part of the chloride ion permeates from the cathode chamber into the anode chamber through the cation-exchange membrane. The chloride ion which permeates through the cation-exchange membrane is present at the surface of an anode closely adhering to the cation-exchange membrane in the anode chamber or only in the vicinity of the anode, and is efficiently anodically oxidized to form hypochlorite ion. Also disclosed is an electrolytic cell for carrying out the method of electrolytically producing acid water.

The catholyte which is also called alkaline water obtained by electrolyzing municipal water with a diaphragm-type electrolytic cell is effective as a medicine and is also said to have improved taste. Thus, the catholyte has enjoyed widespread use. Recently, the reduced quality of municipal water has resulted in an unpleasant odor and bad taste. As a countermeasure therefor, an apparatus for producing alkali ion water (alkaline water) has been widely used which is capable of simultaneously removing impurities and deodorizing the water by incorporating active carbon or a microfilter in the above-described electrolytic cell.
On the other hand, for the production and washing of electronic parts, specially prepared sulfuric acid, hydrofluoric acid, hydrogen peroxide, hydrochloric acid, etc., has hitherto been used. However, because impurities are introduced into the system and the purification technique for removing such impurities is troublesome, a method of producing acid water for washing by a water electrolysis technique has been proposed. The electrolysis is carried out by adding a slight amount of chloride ion to the anode chamber to thereby obtain an acid electrolyte having a very high oxidation reduction potential (ORP). Because the resulting solution has a strong sterilizing action and a strong disinfecting action initially as well as after use, sodium chloride or chloride ion alone remains to the same extent as in municipal water. Thus, when the used wash solution is discarded, problems such as secondary pollution, etc., do not occur. The above-described solution, therefore, has been widely used for various applications. However, as the case may be, there is a possibility of generating a small amount of organic chlorine compounds. Thus, one cannot conclude that such solutions are harmless to humans.
In the water electrolysis, when ammonium chloride (NH.sub.4 Cl) or sodium chloride, for example, is used as an electrolyte in the anode chamber, the anodic reaction is represented by: EQU 2Cl.sup.- .fwdarw.Cl.sub.2 +2e.sup.-
The chlorine gas thus formed reacts with water to cause a disproportionation reaction represented by: EQU Cl.sub.2 +H.sub.2 O.fwdarw.2H.sup.+ +Cl.sup.- +ClO.sup.- +2e.sup.-
When the separation property of the diaphragm is sufficient, the solution in the anode chamber becomes acidic with the hydrogen ion of the hydrogen chloride thus formed, and a hypochlorous acid solution having a pH of 3 or less and an ORP of higher than 1.2 volts is formed. However, in practice, the separation property of the diaphragm is insufficient. When the electrolysis is carried out by adding a salt such as sodium chloride, etc., to the anode chamber for obtaining strong acid water, the ORP of the anolyte is increased but there is a problem in that the pH tends to not be sufficiently lowered.
To avoid this problem, there has been a proposal to increase the thickness of the above-described diaphragm and to increase the distance between the electrodes. This in turn would restrain diffusion of the liquids to thereby prevent the reaction products from mixing with one another. However, because the electric conductivity of water is quite low, a large electric current cannot be passed between the electrodes of the electrolytic cell and the actual current density is from 1 to 2 A/dm.sup.2. To obtain a large amount of acid water, plural electrodes must be combined. The resulting apparatus is large-sized which complicates the structure thereof including plumbing, and it takes too much time to maintain the apparatus.
To overcome these problems, the present inventors previously proposed a method of electrolysis using a cation-exchange membrane as the diaphragm, where the anode and cathode contact the respective sides of the cation-exchange membrane to form a substantial solid electrolyte. According to this method, when the current density is increased by a factor of 10 times or higher, that is, to 10 A/dm.sup.2 or higher, the cell voltage is maintained at a few volts. This makes electrolysis possible at a voltage far lower than that found in conventional methods. In this method, the present inventors also proposed a method of producing an acid water having a high ORP in the anode chamber by carrying out the electrolysis while adding a chlorine-containing compound such as hydrochloric acid, sodium chloride, etc., to the anode chamber.
In this method, acid water having a high ORP is obtained in the anode chamber, alkaline water having a low ORP is obtained in the cathode chamber, and both the anolyte and catholyte are useful for washing. The electrolytic reaction for obtaining acid water by this method is the formation of hypochlorite ion by the oxidation of chloride ion as described above. However, this method is disadvantageous in that the oxidation efficiency of the chloride ion is not always increased. Thus, a large amount of the above-described chlorine-containing compound had to be added to the anolyte. Furthermore, because the hydrogen ion thus formed permeates into the cathode chamber through the cation-exchange membrane, in order to achieve a sufficiently low pH, excessive electrolysis is required. Moreover, even when excessive electrolysis was carried out, a sufficiently low pH was not always obtained.
The ORP obtained by electrolysis of the above-described chlorine-containing compound is regulated by the concentration of the hypochlorite ion thus formed. Hypochlorite ion in a concentration of from 1 to 5 pm is sufficient, and chlorine gas is generated if the concentration thereof exceeds 5 ppm. If the current efficiency of chlorine generation is assumed to be 10%, the pH is from 1 to 4. To achieve a desired pH of 3 or lower, which is a measure of strong acid water, excessive electrolysis which ignores the current efficiency of chlorine generation is needed. Chlorine gas is generated when the chloride ion concentration is high and when the chloride ion concentration is low, the electrolysis amounts to simple water electrolysis.
To overcome these problems, the concentration of chloride ion in the anolyte present at the surface of the anode or in the vicinity thereof desirably is relatively low. If possible, this would be an ideal method of producing acid water such that almost all of the chloride ion is effectively used for forming hypochlorite ion and excessive residual chlorine is not present in the acid water thus formed. However, it was hitherto considered impracticable to maldistribute the chloride ion, which is dissolved and diffused in the whole anolyte, so that it has a higher concentration in the vicinity of the anode.

Method of producing acid water and electrolytic cell therefor


The present invention includes: a front-side positive trace (2P) disposed on a flexible substrate (5); a positive external connection line (12P) connected to the front-side positive trace (2P) to supply electric power; and LED chips (4) provided to the flexible substrate (5) and connected to the front-side positive trace (2P), wherein an electric resistance between the positive external connection line (12P) and one of the LED chips (4) which is farthest from the positive external connection line (12P) is less than an internal resistance of the one of the LED chips (4).

Phototherapy has been used for a variety of purposes such as for treating diseases like neonatal jaundice, psoriasis, and acne, for relieving pain, and for cosmetic purposes. In phototherapy, a variety of light sources are used selectively depending on the purpose. For example, in a case where a light source is an excimer lamp, an arc lamp, or the like, a treatment target area is placed at a certain distance from the fixed light source and light is applied. However, with this technique, the light is shone also on the other area other than the treatment target area, and therefore some measure to, for example, cover the other area with a light blocking object is needed, such as an eye mask for protecting the eyes. Furthermore, a patient is fixed in an immovable position for several tens of minutes, which is not a favorable experience although this is necessary for treatment. Furthermore, for curved surface parts such as arms and legs, irradiation intensity on the treatment target area varies from one position of the treatment target area to another depending on the angle and distance to the light source, and therefore it is difficult to apply light to the treatment target area in a uniform manner. In addition, such a lamp-type apparatus is large in size and has a lot of attachment devices such as an electric power source and a cooling device. Thus, such an apparatus requires a large installation area, occupies a large space, and is also costly.
On the other hand, when a laser is used as a light source, light emitted from the light source is in the form of a spot. This necessitates scan-irradiation of a treatment target area when the treatment target area is large, and requires complicated, expensive equipment.
In regard to an apparatus that makes use of optical fibers to shine light in the form of a plane, light is supplied into the fibers with a relatively low efficiency, and therefore the resulting irradiation power is inevitably low. As such, such an apparatus is suitable only for relatively long-term treatment.
In view of such circumstances, there has been a demand for a flexible light source for irradiation that is capable of covering a treatment target area along the treatment target area at a constant distance from the treatment target area. In order to meet such a demand, some ideas have been proposed; however, none of them have been realized or developed to the extent that they can be used widely.
The above ideas, which have been disclosed, are as follows.
Patent Literature 1 discloses an irradiation apparatus in which a laser and a light emitting diode (LED) as light emission sources are disposed on a flexible substrate and which is designed to be used such that the flexible substrate is wrapped around a treatment target area.
Patent Literature 2 discloses an irradiation apparatus for facial treatment, in which an LED as a light emission source is disposed on a flexible substrate and which is designed to be used such that the flexible substrate covers a user's face.
Patent Literature 3 discloses a flexible irradiation apparatus in which many LEDs as light emission sources are disposed on a flexible substrate and which is designed to carry out irradiation such that the flexible substrate is wrapped around a treatment target area.
Patent Literature 4 discloses an irradiation apparatus designed for application to a user's head, in which an LED as a light emission source is disposed on the inside of a cap.
Patent Literature 5 discloses an irradiation apparatus in which an LED as a light emission source is disposed on a flexible substrate and a light transmitting material is sandwiched between a treatment target area and the LED, and thereby heat generated from the LED is transferred to the treatment target area.
There has been a demand for an irradiation apparatus designed to treat a relatively small (regional) treatment target area of about several centimeters which many people suffer, such that: light is applied to the treatment target area while covering only the treatment target area; and thereby the degree of fixing of a patient is reduced and least burden is placed on the patient. With such a light source, patients can receive treatment without regular visits to the hospital.


This invention relates to devices for suppressing the water spray thrown by vehicle tires. The present invention generates an air flow for blocking outward movement of the water spray. Air turbines are attached to the outboard sides of each tire on the vehicle. The air turbines, being rigidly affixed to the hub of each wheel rotate with the wheels and by means of angled vanes disposed in each air turbine generate a flow of air outwardly and perpendicular to the axle. This radial flow suppresses the water spray outboard of each wheel.

This invention relates to devices for suppressing the water spray thrown by vehicle tires and more particularly to a device which generates an air flow for blocking outward movement of the water spray.
The rotating tires of vehicles traveling on wet surfaces tend to pick up water droplets which are fragmented into a fine mist which tends to impair the visibility of other drivers. This safety hazard is particularly acute in the case of large dual-wheel trucks, particularly tractor-trailer rigs. In addition to the hazards presented to other drivers, the truck driver may also suffer from impaired visibility due to the water spray generated by his own vehicle.
Various solutions to this problem have been suggested. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,325,563 issued to Brandon, et al. on Apr. 20, 1982 for "Vehicle Spray Reduction" discloses an apparatus comprising a plurality of vertical, parallel wiggle plates having curved airflow passages for separating the water droplets from the air. The purpose of this apparatus is to collect and direct the water spray to areas of the vehicle where relatively large stable drops of water will concentrate with minimal disturbance from the airflow around the vehicle. A similar concept is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,834,732 issued to Schons on Sep. 10, 1974 for "Tire Spray Collector Apparatus." Schons discloses a shield member and an apertured collector member which form a closed spray collecting chamber. Water spray collected in the chamber is drained to the ground at a point inward of the wheels to avoid producing further tire spray.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,627,631 issued to Sherman on Dec. 9, 1986 for "Spray Suppressing Mud Flap Assembly" discloses a mud flap which includes an inwardly and rearwardly flared portion. The flared portion is intended to direct spray from the wheels inwardly, thus serving two direct the water spray away from the tires so that further water spray is prevented. The use of deflectors to inhibit water spray from the sides of wheels of vehicles is also disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,632,137 issued to Jossy on Jan. 4, 1972 for "Side Spray Inhibiting Apparatus for Wheeled Vehicles." Jossy discloses an apparatus for inhibiting water spray which comprises a deflector located behind the tires to prevent the water spray from striking the under carriage of the truck. Further, a discharge means is provided for conveying the deflected water to a point inward of the wheels where it is discharged to the ground.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,080,397 issued to Metcalf on Jan. 14, 1992 for "Vehicle Tire Water Spray Control System" also embodies the basic concept of directing the water spray to the inside and rear of the vehicle to avoid the generation of further water spray. Metcalf discloses an arrangement of baffles to carry out this purpose. A different approach to directing water away from the tires of a vehicle is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,074,592 issued to While on Dec. 24, 1991 for "Vehicle Spray Reducing Apparatus." White discloses a spray reducing apparatus for a vehicle comprising a duct arranged in front of the vehicle wheels which directs air towards the ground in front of the wheels so as to deflect any surface water away from the path of the wheel.


A method and apparatus for providing combined radial and timing multislot self-servowrite propagation is disclosed. Radial bursts are combined with each timing mark and requires only three recovery/read-write spacing allocations per sector. The channel operates without requiring the writing of any bursts between reading radial bursts.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to storage devices, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for providing combined radial and timing multislot self-servowrite propagation.
2. Description of Related Art
Increased levels of storage capacity in floppy and hard disk drives are a direct result of the higher track densities possible with voice-coil and other types of servo positioners as well as the ability to read and write narrower tracks by using, for example, magnetoresistive (MR) head technology. An embedded servo is needed so that the position of the head can be determined from the signals it reads.
Conventional hard disk manufacturing techniques including writing servo tracks on the media of a head disk assembly (HDA) with a specialized servo writer instrument. Laser positioning feedback is used in such instruments to read the actual physical position of a recording head used to write the servo tracks. Unfortunately, it is becoming more and more difficult for such servo writers to invade the internal environment of a HDA for servo-writing because the HDAs themselves are exceedingly small and depend on their covers and castings to be in place for proper operation. Some HDAs are the size and thickness of a plastic credit card. At such levels of microminiaturization, traditional servo-writing methods are inadequate.
Conventional servo-patterns typically comprise short bursts of a constant frequency signal, very precisely located offset from a data track's centerline, on either side. The bursts are written in a sector header area, and can be used to find the centerline of a track. Staying on center is required during both reading and writing. Since there can be hundreds of sectors per track, that same number of servo data areas must be dispersed around a data track. These servo-data areas allow a head to follow a track center line around a disk, even when the track is out of round, as can occur with spindle wobble, disk slip and/or thermal expansion. As technology advances to provide smaller disk drives, and increased track densities, the placement of servo data must also be proportionately more accurate.
In magnetic disk drives, magnetic heads and recorded servo code in a track following servo mode are used for keeping the magnetic heads track centered during reading operations. The magnetic heads comprise a magnetic core having an air gap therein and having a coil wound thereon. These magnetic cores vary in effective magnetic widths due to their design and due to the manufacturing process. These physical variations among the magnetic heads result in variations in servo gain when they are individually connected in the servo loop.
During the manufacture of a magnetic disk drive it is necessary to provide a magnetic pattern on each surface of each disk that is used by the servo control system for position and timing feedback. This pattern is known as the servo pattern. The process of writing this servo pattern onto each disk is known as servo writing. Typically the servo writing process is done in a clean room environment before the magnetic disk drive is completely sealed. During the servo writing process it is necessary to have very accurate position and timing feedback so that the servo pattern can be properly written across the entire surface of each disk in the magnetic disk drive. The position feedback is typically provided by a positioner that comes in physical contact with the arms, which support the heads on each surface of the magnetic disk drive. The positioner provides the feedback and the ability to move the heads via the arms with sufficient accuracy. The arms are kept in contact with the positioner by applying a constant bias force against the positioner's pushpin.
The timing feedback is provided by writing a pattern circumferentially around the disk with a dedicated head known as a clock head. It is inserted over one of the disks in the magnetic disk drive for this purpose during the servo write process and then removed once the process is complete. The timing feedback has also been provided by writing timing signals with the heads in the magnetic disk drive equally spaced around the circumference of at least one disk. The timing signals, called timing marks, need to be written each time the position of the heads is changed.
There is a lot of interest in the magnetic disk drive business on being able to servo write a magnetic disk drive without any external position or timing feedback to assist in the servo writing process. This is generally referred to as self-servo writing. Self-servo writing allows the servo write process to be moved outside of the clean room after the magnetic disk drive has been sealed. This provides a great cost advantage because clean room space is very expensive. Likewise there has been an interest making this process more affordable by using the same electronics that are used on the finished product. In the product electronics the data channel is the primary source of position and timing feedback.
It can be seen that there is a need for a method and apparatus for simplifying the process of writing of a pattern onto the disk with sufficient accuracy for the servo writing process.

Method and apparatus for providing combined radial and timing multislot self-servowrite propagation

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Netherlands B.V.


Systems, methods and apparatus are provided through which in some embodiments a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system includes an asymmetrical magnet to generate an asymmetrical stray field that is particularly well suited to imaging limbs. In some other embodiments, a MRI system includes a conically-shaped casing that allows a patient to more readily access a field-of-view (FOV) in the interior of the MRI system during imaging of limbs. In some embodiments, a MRI system includes a stepped inner bore that has a stepped shape that focuses the FOV in an inner bore of the MRI system on a smaller area that is closer to where a patient accesses the FOV in the MRI that is particularly well suited to imaging a limb in the FOV.

Orthopedics is a medical specialty concerned with correction of deformities or functional impairments of the skeletal system, particularly, of the extremities and the spine, and associated structures, such as muscles and ligaments. For example, diagnosis and treatment of broken hand bones is a common practice in orthopedics. Because many orthopedic health problems are subcutaneous, imaging anatomy under the skin is a very important capability in orthopedics. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is one imaging technique implemented in orthopedic diagnosis.
Conventional MRI systems do not accommodate many of the unique requirements of imaging of extremities such as hands, elbows and knees. More specifically, conventional MRI systems have shapes and sizes that do not easily accommodate the imaging of a hand, a wrist, an elbow, an ankle or a knee. In particular, the shapes and sizes of conventional MRI systems are designed to accommodate much larger objects, such as an entire adult human body.
Access is rather difficult to the area in the MRI system where the imaging occurs because of the large dimensions of a conventional MRI system. The patient is often required to assume uncomfortable positions during the imaging, the duration of which can be twenty minutes. Even in a smaller, conventionally shaped orthopedic MRI system with active shielding, the front face of the MRI system is fairly large. In order to place a knee into the bore in the imaging area, known as the field of view, the patient's other leg must be either put in a downward position, a slightly backward position, or a position off to one side. The positions are often uncomfortable and aggravating for patients with minor health problems, and often difficult and/or painful for seriously injured patients, and in some instances, either physically impossible or physically harmful.
More specifically, the problem with the size and shape of conventionally shaped orthopedic MRI systems is that the front face of the MRI system is wide. A patient with a leg placed in the MRI bore has no room or space forward in the direction of the MRI in which to place their other leg because the width of the MRI system occupies that space. Another problem with the size and shape of conventional MRI systems is that the distance between the front face and the field of view is minimally sufficient, if at all sufficient, to allow the patient to extend their arm into the field of view from the outside of the MRI system. Hence, in conventional full-size MRI systems, patients must egress into the center of the MRI even for orthopedic imaging of limbs. For claustrophobic patients, this can be a traumatic experience.
In addition, the large size of conventional MRI systems requires a large floor space to in which to site the MRI system. The large floor space is one aspect of conventional MRI systems that is not welcomed by medical facilities because of the high cost of each square foot of floor space.
In addition, access to fields above 5 gauss must be controlled, which requires hospital floor space. The symmetrical shape of the large stray field of conventional MRI systems requires a large floor space behind the magnet to site the MRI system. The large floor space is one aspect of conventional MRI systems that is not welcomed by medical facilities because of the high cost of each square foot of floor space.
For the reasons stated above, and for other reasons stated below which will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the present specification, there is a need in the art for an MRI system with a size and shape that provides more comfortable access to a patient during imaging of an extremity of the patient. There is also a need for reduced floor space requirements of MRI systems.

Systems, methods and apparatus of a magnetic resonance imaging magnet to produce an asymmetrical stray field


A semiconductor device of the present invention includes an insulating substrate, a nonvolatile memory formed above the insulating substrate and having a memory holding portion, and at least one light-shielding body covering an upper side, an under side, or both sides of the memory holding portion, wherein at least one of the light-shielding bodies is installed in such a way that a protrusion degree of the light-shielding body, which is defined by (a length of the light-shielding body protruded from the memory holding portion)/(a distance between the light-shielding body and the memory holding portion), is 0.1 or more.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device having a nonvolatile memory, a display device (a liquid crystal display, an organic EL display, etc.) using this semiconductor device, and a mobile device (a laptop computer, a cell-phone, a handheld terminal, etc.).
2. Description of the Related Art
A method for improving functions of a TFT device formed on an insulating substrate, by providing the device with a nonvolatile memory function, has attracted attention.
As the method for improving the functions of the TFT device described above, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-110829 discloses the following method. This method will be described with reference to FIG. 22.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-110829 discloses that a TFT memory 90 includes a polysilicon layer 92 having regions of a source 92a, a channel 92b, and a drain 92c, respectively formed on a substrate 91, and gate oxide films (insulating films) 93, 95 formed on this polysilicon layer 92, and these gate oxide films 93, 95 contain a plurality of granular silicon particles 94 which capture charges of carriers.
However, it was found out to be difficult to be used as a display device by the method for capturing charges in a plurality of silicon particles.
Specifically, when the TFT memory is used as a display device, illumination such as a backlight or the like is needed. It was found out that, when this illuminating light is applied to the silicon particles, charges captured in the silicon particles are activated and thereby the charges escape out of the silicon particles. That is, it was found that in the case of the display device employing an illuminating light, charges cannot be held by capturing the charges in silicon particles.
So, experiments were performed using other charge holding films instead of the silicon particles and further using various memory holding films irrespective of the charge holding film, but these attempts have not lead to the solution of above-mentioned problem.

Semiconductor device, display device and mobile device


The invention relates to the calibration of a pulse oximeter intended for non-invasively determining the amount of at least two light absorbing substances in the blood of a subject. In order to take human variability into account, the calibration is based on an invariant which is a quotient of two pseudo-isobestic signals. Each pseudo-isobestic signal is a weighted sum of two signals, and the weighted sum is theoretically independent of the relative concentrations of said substances in the blood of the subject. By using theoretical values of the invariant on the one hand, and values based on in-vivo measurements on the other hand, the calibration curve of the pulse oximeter is adapted to the characteristics of each individual patient.

The invention relates generally to pulse oximeters used to detect blood oxygenation. More specifically, the invention relates to a method for calibrating a pulse oximeter and to a pulse oximeter capable of calibrating. The invention further relates to a sensor allowing the calibration of a pulse oximeter, the sensor being an integral part of the pulse oximeter.
Pulse oximetry is at present the standard of care for continuous monitoring of arterial oxygen saturation (SpO2). Pulse oximeters provide instantaneous in-vivo measurements of arterial oxygenation, and thereby an early warning of arterial hypoxemia, for example.
A pulse oximeter comprises a computerized measuring unit and a probe attached to the patient, typically to his or her finger or ear lobe. The probe includes a light source for sending an optical signal through the tissue and a photo detector for receiving the signal after transmission through the tissue. On the basis of the transmitted and received signals, light absorption by the tissue can be determined. During each cardiac cycle, light absorption by the tissue varies cyclically. During the diastolic phase, absorption is caused by venous blood, tissue, bone, and pigments, whereas during the systolic phase there is an increase in absorption, which is caused by the influx of arterial blood into the tissue. Pulse oximeters focus the measurement on this arterial blood portion by determining the difference between the peak absorption during the systolic phase and the constant absorption during the diastolic phase. Pulse oximetry is thus based on the assumption that the pulsatile component of the absorption is due to arterial blood only.
Light transmission through an ideal absorbing sample is determined by the known Lambert-Beer equation as follows:
Iout=Iinexe2x88x92xcex5DC,xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(1)
where Iin is the light intensity entering the sample, Iout is the light intensity received from the sample, D is the path length through the sample, xcex5 is the extinction coefficient of the analyte in the sample at a specific wavelength, and C is the concentration of the analyte. When Iin, D, and xcex5 are known, and Iout is measured, the concentration C can be calculated.
In pulse oximetry, in order to distinguish between two species of hemoglobin, oxyhemoglobin (HbO2), and deoxyhemoglobin (RHb), absorption must be measured at two different wavelengths, i.e. the probe includes two different light emitting diodes (LEDs). The wavelength values widely used are 660 nm (red) and 940 nm (infrared), since the said two species of hemoglobin have substantially different absorption values at these wavelengths. Each LED is illuminated in turn at a frequency which is typically several hundred Hz.
The accuracy of a pulse oximeter is affected by several factors. This is discussed briefly in the following.
Firstly, the dyshemoglobins which do not participate in oxygen transport, i.e. methemoglobin (MetHb) and carboxyhemoglobin (CoHb), absorb light at the wavelengths used in the measurement. Pulse oximeters are set up to measure oxygen saturation on the assumption that the patient""s blood composition is the same as that of a healthy, non-smoking individual. Therefore, if these species of hemoglobin are present in higher concentrations than normal, a pulse oximeter may display erroneous data.
Secondly, intravenous dyes used for diagnostic purposes may cause considerable deviation in pulse oximeter readings. However, the effect of these dyes is short-lived since the liver purifies blood efficiently.
Thirdly, coatings like nail polish may in practice impair the accuracy of a pulse oximeter, even though the absorption caused by them is constant, not pulsatile, and thus in theory it should not have an effect on the accuracy.
Fourthly, the optical signal may be degraded by both noise and motion artifacts. One source of noise is the ambient light received by the photodetector. Many solutions have been devised with the aim of minimizing or eliminating the effect on the signal of the movement of the patient, and the ability of a pulse oximeter to function correctly in the presence of patient motion depends on the design of the pulse oximeter. One way of canceling out the motion artefact is to use an extra wavelength for this purpose.
A further factor affecting the accuracy of a pulse oximeter is the method used to calibrate the pulse oximeter. Usually the calibration is based on extensive empirical studies in which an average calibration curve is determined based on a high number of persons. By means of this calibration curve, which relates the oxygen saturation of blood to pulse oximeter signals, the average difference between the theory and practice (i.e. in-vivo measurements) is taken into account. The calibration curve typically maps the measured in-vivo signal to a corresponding SPO2 value.
Pulse oximeters, however, can also utilize the Lambert-Beer model for calculating the concentrations of the different Hb species. In this method of calibration, the measurement signals must first be transformed into signals applicable to the Lambert-Beer model for calculation. This transformation constitutes the calibration of the pulse oximeter, since it is the step by means of which the in-vivo signals are adapted into the Lambert-Beer theory according to which the pulse oximeter is designed to operate. Thus, the calibration curves can also be in the form of transformations used to adapt the actual in-vivo measurements to the Lambert-Beer model. Transformations are discussed for example in U.S. Pat. No. 6,104,938.
However, each patient has a calibration curve of his or her own, which deviates from the average calibration curve calculated on the basis of a high number of patients. This is due to the fact that the characteristics of the finger of each patient, such as the absolute amount of venous blood, deviates from those of the average finger. One drawback of the current pulse oximeters is that they are incapable of taking this human variability into account. Human variability here refers to any and all factors causing patient-specific variation in the calibration curve, including time-dependent changes in the calibration curve of a single patient. As discussed in the above-mentioned U.S. Patent, patient-dependent variation can also be seen as an effect of a third substance, such as a third hemoglobin species, in the blood. However, in this context all variation is interpreted as a patient-dependent change in the calibration curve of the pulse oximeter.
It is an objective of the invention to bring about a solution by means of which the patient-specific differences can be taken into account when a pulse oximeter is calibrated. In other words, it is an object of the present invention to create a pulse oximeter which can compensate for the differences in an individual patient as compared to the average calibration or transformation curve which the current pulse oximeter relies on.
A further objective of the invention is to bring about a general-purpose solution for the calibration of pulse oximeters, a solution which is not limited to pulse oximeters explicitly using the transformations as calibration, but which can be applied to any pulse oximeter regardless of its current built-in calibration method.
These and other objectives of the invention are accomplished in accordance with the principles of the present invention by providing a mechanism by means of which a pulse oximeter can deduce, in connection with each measurement, the patient-specific deviation from an average calibration curve known to the pulse oximeter. Utilizing this difference the pulse oximeter can then determine a new, patient-specific calibration, which takes into account the individual differences to the average calibration curves. The pulse oximeter can thus adapt the calibration to the characteristics of each individual patient.
In its basic embodiment the pulse oximeter comprises three wavelengths. Two of the wavelengths are used for measuring the basic Hb species, i.e. oxyhemoglobin and deoxyhemoglobin, whereas the third wavelength is needed for the calibration method according to the invention.
In the method of the invention, so-called invariants are determined, which are parameters theoretically independent of any tissue or blood parameters, except the known extinction values. The patient-specific variation in these invariants is then used to calibrate the pulse oximeter. A theoretical value is first determined for each invariant on the basis of the average calibration curve, and then in a similar way a second value is further determined for the same invariants, except that the measured (in-vivo) signals are used instead of theoretical measurement signals. Each second value is then compared to the corresponding theoretical value and the difference(s) is/are used for calibration purposes.
The method is not limited to pulse oximeters explicitly using the transformations, but can be applied to any pulse oximeters. However, the way the above-mentioned difference(s) in the values of the invariant is/are used for calibration purposes depends on the type of the pulse oximeter. In a transformation-based pulse oximeter, a new patient-specific transformation can be searched for on the basis of the difference, the new transformation being such that it yields a minimum difference between said theoretical value and a second value determined on the basis of the new transformation itself. In a conventional pulse oximeter, which maps the measurement signal to arterial oxygen saturation, the above-mentioned difference in the values of the invariant can be mapped to an error value indicating a patient-specific divergence from an average value for arterial oxygen saturation.

Compensation of human variability in pulse oximetry


A two speed transmission and belt drive system utilizing the transmission. The two speed transmission comprises a planetary gear train comprising an input pulley connected to an input carrier, and a sun gear and a ring gear. The input carrier also comprises a plurality of planetary gears disposed between the sun gear and the ring gear. The sun gear is engaged with an electromagnetic brake member. The ring gear is engaged with an output pulley. A one-way clutch is disposed between the input carrier and the output shaft. The brake member is engaged at engine idle and is disengaged at engine speeds above idle. When the brake member is engaged the sun gear does not rotate, thereby driving the ring gear and output pulley at a greater speed than the input pulley. An accessory pulley operates with the transmission output pulley resulting in an accessory speed that is proportional to an engine speed at idle. At engine speeds above idle the transmission is disengaged and the output pulley to accessory pulley ratio drives the belt driven accessory at a speed less then an engine speed. An accessory can also be directly connected to the output shaft in conjunction with the output pulley. The transmission can be used with a motor generator system by providing a speed reducing unit disposed between an engine and the motor generator.

Vehicle engines generally comprise certain accessories that are used in the operation of the engine and vehicle. Such accessories can include a power steering pump, an air conditioning compressor, an alternator, an oil pump, a fuel pump and so on. These accessories are generally driven by a serpentine belt. The serpentine belt engages a pulley on each accessory as well as on an engine crankshaft. The engine crankshaft provides the torque to drive the accessories.
As the belt is driven by the crankshaft it is necessarily subject to engine speed variations during acceleration and deceleration of the vehicle. In other words the operating speed of the accessories is directly proportional to the speed of the engine. The variations in engine speed, particularly engine speeds greater than idle, result in inefficient operation of the accessories because each accessory must be designed to operate satisfactorily over the entire engine speed range. This necessarily means that the efficiency is less than optimum for most of the engine speed range. Therefore it is desirable to decouple some or all of the accessories from the engine crankshaft so they can be driven at a lower and narrower optimum speed range. Further, operating the accessories at relatively higher speeds places a greater load on the engine than if they are operated at a slower speed.
Representative of the art is U.S. Pat. No. 4,862,770 (1989) to Smith which discloses a two-speed gear box adapted to be mounted on the face of an automobile accessory, such as an automotive alternator to increase the speed of the alternator on demand.
The clutch assembly disclosed in Smith comprises a brake band encompassing an outer cylindrical surface. The brake band is operated with mechanical vacuum means which engage or disengage the brake band. Such a system can be adversely affected by loss of vacuum, for example by vacuum hose failure, or by contamination on the cylindrical surface between the brake band and the cylindrical surface.
The prior art transmissions are designed to proportionately reduce the speed of the driven accessories as the engine speed increases above idle. This reduces the accessory power requirement. However, at idle the accessories are operated on a 1:1 basis with no speed reduction as compared to engine speeds above idle.
In recent years, an automatic engine stopping and starting apparatus has been known for stopping an engine after a running vehicle has been stopped and restarting the engine if conditions for driving the vehicle have been satisfied again. The automatic engine stopping and starting apparatus is arranged such that fuel supply to the engine is interrupted while the vehicle is stopped, resulting in reduced fuel consumption.
Representative of the art is U.S. Pat. No. 6,048,288 (2000) to Tsujii et al. which discloses a system that operates a motor when a vehicle is stopped by providing a connection switching unit disposed between the drive shaft of the engine and a rotational shaft of the motor to enable/disable power transmission between the drive shaft of the engine and the rotational shaft of the motor, and a transmission controller that controls a function of the connection switching unit for enabling/disabling power transmission. When an auxiliary machine is operated by a motor while the engine is stopped, control is performed such that rotation of the rotational shaft of the motor is not transmitted to the drive shaft of the engine. The auxiliary machine is operated by the motor without operating the engine.
What is needed is a belt drive system that controls an accessory speed with respect to an engine speed by a combination of a two speed transmission ratio and output pulley and accessory pulley ratio. What is needed is a two speed transmission comprising an electromagnetic brake controlled with respect to an engine condition. What is needed is a two-speed transmission having coaxial input and dual outputs. What is needed is a motor generator system that has a speed reducing unit disposed between the engine and a motor generator. The present invention meets these needs.

Two speed transmission and belt drive system


An airbag having an airbag fabric skin (10) enclosing an interior gas space with a first edge (11) extending from a first end (11a) to a second end (11b), whereby an accommodation area (A) for a gas generator (20) is located at the first edge outside the gas spaced extending parallel the first edge (11), which exhibits an area (32) of a deflector element 930) which accommodates the gas generator. In order to ensure that the airbag unit consisting of gas generator and airbag halves in a thrust-neutral manner in case of a fire, deflector element (30) consists of a tubular, flexible element, whereby the deflector element (30) exhibits an upper and lower area (32, 36) whose lower area (36) is located inside the gas space (G). The deflector element is connected with the airbag skin in an intermediate area (34) which is located between upper and lower areas.

A side curtain airbag unit has fabric layers forming an inflatable interior with a large surface and a gas generator for filing of the airbag interior. The airbag fabric has an upper edge which is fixed in the area of the roof rail of the motor vehicle, so that the longitudinal direction of the airbag extends along the longitudinal axis of the vehicle. The airbag must be filled with inflation gas from the gas generator from the upper edge. Two concepts are often used in this connection.
In the first concept, the gas generator is located at one of the two ends of the upper edge of the airbag (in most cases at the rear end) and a long, thin metal lance which forms several exit holes extends from the gas generator into the airbag interior and distributes the gas over the length of the airbag.
In a second concept, the airbag exhibits an accommodation area for the gas generator in the area of the upper edge between the front and the rear end. The gas generator extends into the airbag interior or is at least connected with the interior. For this purpose, the accommodation area can be L-shaped, for example.
Generally, cylindrical gas generators are used which are formed so as to be thrust-neutral for reasons of safety. This means that the gas exit openings are arranged rotation symmetrically on an area of the jacket surface of the gas generator. Thus, if an inflator is activated before it is assembled into an airbag system, the inflator will not behave like a rocket which could cause injury and damage. Without additional measures when the inflator is installed in the airbag, this would lead to the problem that the hot gases would stream directly against the airbag fabric and the airbag fabric would possible be damaged during inflation. Therefore deflectors are use, which protect the airbag fabric against the gas when it streams out.
Such a deflector is known from generic patent WO 02/079008 A1, and is in the form of a U-shaped metal sheet. Furthermore, this publication describes a gas guide element of fabric which is sewn into the airbag.
A disadvantage of such a deflector element is that when finally assembled, the airbag unit does not behave in a way which is thrust neutral in the case of a fire. If there should be a fire while the airbag assembly is in storage, the airbag skin consisting of plastic fabric burns, while the gas generator and the deflector element connected with the gas generator remain. In order to fulfill its purpose, namely the purpose of protecting the airbag fabric when the gas is streaming out, however, the deflector element must be construed asymmetrically. From this follows, however, that the subassembly consisting of gas generator and deflector does not behave in a thrust neutral manner. If a fire occurs while the airbag is stored, therefore, an additional hazard is presented by gas generator-deflector subassemblies flying around freely.


A high-speed magnetic trolley that utilizes an eddy current brake that may reduce the speed of a person in a harness traveling on a relatively steep zip line cable, making it possible to reach a landing brake at a reasonable speed and becomes easy to adjust an amount of braking force needed to reach a desired speed by taking off or adding more magnets without throwing one or more aluminum wheels out of balance. The high-speed magnetic trolley produce an eddy current that generates an opposing magnetic field, which then resists rotation of one or more aluminum wheels providing braking force.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is a magnetic trolley. More specifically, the present invention is a high-speed magnetic trolley.
2. Description of the Related Art
Trolleys may be utilized with a harness to travel along a zip line cable over an area. Many times a person on a zip line cable travelling over an area may go too fast and travel at dangerous speeds. There are trolleys utilizing speed control devices but none that utilizes an eddy current device that also may be used with other types of harnesses used in combination with a zip line cable. The friction trolley device utilizes the rider's weight to counterbalance against a brake pad on a zip line cable as a user travels downward.


A method is provided for inhibiting formation of a gas hydrate in a pipeline or removing a gas hydrate existing in a pipeline. The method can comprise injecting a foam composition into a fluid in the pipeline to inhibit formation of the gas hydrate in the pipeline, prevent gas hydrate formation in the pipeline, or remove the gas hydrate from the pipeline.

Low-boiling hydrocarbons, such as methane, ethane, propane, butane, and iso-butane, are normally present in conduits which are used for the transport and processing of oil and gas. If a substantial amount of water is also present, it is possible that the water/hydrocarbon mixture forms gas hydrate crystals under conditions of low temperature and elevated pressure. These crystals can be formed in a fluid whether the fluid is flowing or stationary.
Gas hydrates, also known as clathrates, are crystalline solids composed of water and gas. In these solids, the gas molecules (guests) are trapped in water cavities (host) that are composed of hydrogen-bonded water molecules. Methane is the main gas in naturally occurring gas hydrates, however carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, and less frequently, other hydrocarbons such as ethane and propane can be found within the hydrate structure.
Gas hydrates can be easily formed during the transportation of oil and gas in pipelines under certain conditions. Factors affecting gas hydrate formation include gas composition, water content, temperature, and pressure, particularly low temperature and high pressure. While these crystalline cage-like structures are small initially, they are able to agglomerate into solid masses called gas hydrate plugs. The formation of gas hydrates within a pipeline often results in lost oil or gas production, damage to transmission lines and equipment, and safety hazards to field workers.
Sometimes gas hydrates form in unpiggable pipelines (i.e., pipelines that cannot be inspected with in-line tools such as pigs, including, but not limited to, a pipeline having a diameter of less than 12 inches, a pipeline of multiple diameters, a pipeline having short-radius or mitered bends, a pipeline having unbarred tees, deadlegs, crossovers or laterals, a pipeline without a pig launcher or a pig receiver, or a pipeline that cannot be physically cleaned by a pig). This can result in significant or even complete plugging of the pipeline such that fluid flow within the pipeline is significantly restricted or prevented. Conventional pigs are not recommended to be inserted to remove hydrate plugs since the pig can get stuck in the pipeline.
Three types of hydrate inhibitors are currently available to the energy industry for controlling gas hydrates: thermodynamic hydrate inhibitors (THIs), kinetic hydrate inhibitors (KHIs), and anti-agglomerates (AAs). THIs must be added in large amounts to be effective, typically on the order of several tens of percent by weight of the water present. On the other hand, KHIs and AAs are typically added on the order of one to five percent by weight of the water present.
Accordingly, there is an ongoing need for methods and compositions that can effectively inhibit the formation of gas hydrates or prevent gas hydrate formation, particularly in unpiggable pipelines.

Gas hydrate inhibition using methanol foam composition