A laser beam irradiation unit of laser processing apparatus includes a pulse laser beam oscillating unit, a condenser that condenses a pulse laser beam and emits the beam to a workpiece held by a chuck table, a dichroic mirror disposed between the pulse laser beam oscillating unit and the condenser, a strobe light irradiation unit that emits light to a path on which the dichroic mirror and the condenser are disposed, a beam splitter disposed between the strobe light irradiation unit and the dichroic mirror, and an imaging unit disposed on the path of light split by the beam splitter. A controller actuates the strobe light irradiation unit and the imaging unit according to the timing of the pulse laser beam, and detects the width of a laser-processed groove immediately after emission of the pulse laser beam on the basis of an image signal from the imaging unit.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a laser processing apparatus that carries out laser processing for a workpiece such as a semiconductor wafer held by a chuck table.
Description of the Related Art
In a semiconductor device manufacturing process, plural regions are marked out by planned dividing lines arranged in a lattice manner on a surface of a semiconductor wafer having a substantially circular disc shape and devices such as integrated circuits (ICs) and large-scale integrations (LSIs) are formed in these marked-out regions. Then, by cutting the semiconductor wafer along the planned dividing lines, the regions in which the devices are formed are divided to manufacture individual semiconductor device chips.
As a method for dividing the wafer such as the semiconductor wafer along the planned dividing lines, the following technique has been put into practical use. Specifically, the wafer is irradiated with a pulse laser beam having such a wavelength as to be absorbed by the wafer along the planned dividing lines to carry out ablation processing and form laser-processed grooves. Then, the wafer is split by giving an external force to the wafer along the planned dividing lines along which the laser-processed grooves serving as the origin of breakage are formed.
A laser processing apparatus that carries out the above-described laser processing includes a chuck table that holds the workpiece, laser beam irradiating means that irradiates the workpiece held by this chuck table with a laser beam, moving means that moves the chuck table and the laser beam irradiating means relatively, and alignment means that detects the region in which processing should be carried out in the workpiece held by the chuck table (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2006-253432).


A plumb device includes a direction determination unit suspended on an upper, movable, convexed portion of a universal joint. A lower, fixed, concaved portion of the movable joint is rigidly connected to a stand by means of a housing. The lower joint part has a lubricant supply line through which a lubricant can be introduced to a groove located on the upper joint part and positioned so as to be between the upper and lower joint parts.

Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a plumb device for the determination of vertical and horizontal directions, in which a direction determination unit with a luminous source is suspended from a universal joint so that it is freely usable, so that after levelling out in the equilibrium state, a directional light beam from the luminous source indicates the vertical direction.
A plumb device having such characteristics is disclosed, for example, in the German Unexamined Patent Application 25 49 218. To determine directions, it has a suspended, freely-moving image generator, whose optical axis is oriented vertically during the levelling out. The universal joint itself consists of two joint parts, one of which is rigidly connected to the stand housing, while the other can move with the direction determination unit relative to it.
German Unexamined Patent Application 26 34 456 also discloses a ball and socket joint for the vertical orientation of a plumb bob. But the plumb bob can also be suspended by a cardan joint, as disclosed in British Patent Specification 1 375 710, so that it swings freely on a line. However, such suspensions all have certain disadvantages.
The ball and socket joint disclosed in the German Unexamined Patent Application 26 34 456 is not suitable for precision plumb bobs, on account of its internal joint friction, since with small plumb devices in particular, there are only small return forces available for the orientation. Moreover, the joint parts of the suspension must be manufactured with precision, since any imprecision reduces the accurate vertical orientation of the measuring unit. The universal joint disclosed in German Unexamined Patent Application 25 49 218 also has such disadvantages, and even cardan joint suspensions, like those used for example to hold a ship's compass horizontal, are not sufficiently accurate.
An additional advantage of the above-mentioned plumb bobs is that external vibrations--e.g. from a running machine--can be transmitted to the freely suspended masses. The levelling out of the plumb bob can therefore take a very long time. German Unexamined Patent application 25 49 218 discloses an oil damping mechanism to solve this problem, but it reduces the sensitivity.

Plumb device to determine verticals and horizontals


The present disclosure relates to a printer and a method of loading one or more papers into printer tray. In an aspect, the proposed printer can include a printer tray configured to hold a plurality of papers to be used for printing; and a paper sensor configured to sense when number of papers in the printer tray is below a defined threshold, such that when the number of papers in the printer tray is below the defined threshold, the paper sensor issues a notification message to a drone that in turn is configured to, based on the received notification message, pick up and carry one or more papers from a paper storage shelf and load the picked up one or more papers into the printer tray.

Existing printers, upon running out of papers that are required for printing, stop printing and post a message such as "Load paper in Tray X". Such running out of paper and abrupt stoppage of printing terminates the printing job, and subsequently requires human effort to open the printer tray and load paper. Manual loading or abrupt stopping of the printer during operation may also cause printer driver stack overflow without immediate processing. Such a situation takes place because printer administrator may not at all times realize the number of papers currently in printer tray and/or number of papers required for pipelined print jobs, and hence may not be able to at all times ensure that the printer tray never runs out of paper.
There is therefore a need in the art for a printer and a method of loading one or more papers into printer tray that ensures that there are papers in the printer tray at all times.

Printer and method of loading papers into printer tray


Polyethyleneterephthalate extrusion equipment of material in granule form, still humid, coming from both ground recovered products and also virgin material, comprising a chassis (29), containing a co-rotating, oil-thermoregulated extruder with two screws (31, 32), which comprises a first zone (A), equipped with an opening (34) where there is an aspiration hood (35) for a first xe2x80x9copen topxe2x80x9d degassing, a second zone (C) where there is at least one stack (37, 38) for a further degassing, between the two zones (A, C), there being a tight zone (B), and a carrying and loading zone (E) activated by the screws (31, 32). The description also relates to an extrusion process of polyethyleneterephthalate effected in a co-rotating twin-screw extruder which comprises in a first zone (A) an xe2x80x9copen topxe2x80x9d degassing phase, followed by a stack (37, 38) degassing phase, between the two phases there being a tight zone which does not deteriorate the material, followed by a carrying, loading and amalgamation phase of the molten material and a final pumping phase with the extrusion of polyethyleneterephthalate.

The present invention relates to equipment for the extrusion of polyethyleneterephthalate.
Polyethyleneterephthalate (PET) is an extremely hygroscopic material; it is packaged and sold by manufacturers in the form of granules, with a degree of humidity equal to about 2,000 parts per million.
Before being able to be extruded, it is first dehumidified at 160xc2x0 C. for 6 hours, in order to eliminate the humidity internally and externally incorporated in each granule, up to 20 parts per million. Under these conditions, the material cannot be extruded without its hydrolyzing and so that it maintains a characteristic intrinsic viscosity.
Traditional dehumidification processes take place in most cases before the extrusion phase with single screws and prove to be complex and costly.
This traditional dehumidification process consists in keeping a quantity of material equal to the productive rate of the extruder (kg/hr), for 6 hours in a silo, and passing humidity-free air through it, with a considerable energy consumption.
Furthermore, it should be considered that, when PET comes from the recovery of ground post-consumption bottles and/or ground thin sheets deriving from waste products from the thermoforming of trays and blisters, dehumidification becomes particularly complex.
This material, in fact, over a temperature of 80xc2x0 C., tends to soften and, if it is not in granule form, as in this case, it conglomerates and can no longer be handled, unless its apparent weight is increased by means of an additional densification process.
The objective of the present invention is to produce equipment which overcomes the technical problems described above.
A further objective is to produce equipment which is particularly simple and with limited costs, which allows an optimum extrusion to be achieved.
An additional objective is obviously to be able to produce polyethyleneterephthalate (PET) without having to dehumidify and densify the ground product.
These objectives according to the present invention are achieved by producing equipment for the extrusion of Polyethyleneterephthalate which comprises a chassis (29), containing a co-rotating, oil-thermoregulated extruder with two screws (31, 32), which comprise a first zone (A), equipped with an opening (34) where there is an aspiration hood (35) for a first xe2x80x9copen topxe2x80x9d degassing, a second zone (C) where there is at least one stack (37, 35) for a further degassing, between the two zones (A,C) there being a tight zone (B), and a carrying and loading zone (E) activated by the screws (31,32).
The characteristics and advantages of a set of equipment for the extrusion of polyethyleneterephthalate according to the present invention can be more clearly understood from the following illustrative and non-limiting description.

Costruzioni Meccaniche Luigi Bandera S.p.A.


A drum mixer for heating and drying stone aggregate as part of a process of continuous production of asphalt paving composition, the drum mixer including: an elongate hollow rotatable drum having a length and an outer surface, the elongate hollow rotatable drum defining a central axis, a sleeve having an inner surface, the sleeve being mounted coaxially with the elongate hollow rotatable drum about the central axis and around at least a portion of the length of the elongate hollow rotatable drum and so as to define an annular chamber having an entire distance between the outer surface of the elongate hollow rotatable drum and the inner surface of the sleeve, and structure for mixing hot mix asphalt in the annular chamber including rake flights mounted on the outer surface of the elongate hollow rotatable drum and in the annular chamber including scouring structure for lifting hot mix asphalt up from a lower portion of the annular chamber along the inner surface of the sleeve through the annular chamber and onto an upper portion of the outer surface of the elongate hollow rotatable drum, the scouring structure including a plurality of shaped scouring fingers extending radially toward the outer surface of the elongate hollow rotatable drum so as to break-up hot mix asphalt and allow hot mix asphalt to fall through the rake flights and onto the upper portion of the outer surface of the elongate hollow rotatable drum, thereby scouring the outer surface of the elongate hollow rotatable drum.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to asphalt drum mixers. More particularly, the present invention relates to an asphalt drum mixer having a self-cleaning drum.
2. Background of the Related Art
Asphalt drum mixers having a counterflow dryer and a separate mixing device are required in some jurisdictions to meet strict air pollution laws. In these highly desirable asphalt drum mixers, the drum is constructed so that the heated gas flows counter to the direction of movement of the aggregate. A mixer of this type is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,867,572 to Brock et al. More particularly, in the drum mixer of the Brock et al. patent, a fixed sleeve surrounds the lower portion of the rotating drum so that the heated and dried aggregate is discharged into the annular chamber which is formed between the drum and sleeve. Also, an inlet is provided in the sleeve by which recycled asphalt pavement (RAP) may be introduced into the annular chamber, and another inlet is provided to introduce liquid asphalt into the annular chamber. The drum mounts mixing blades which are positioned in the annular chamber to mix the materials and cause them to be moved longitudinally to the discharge outlet of the sleeve.
The quality of the hot mix asphalt is directly related to the quality of mixing in the annular chamber. Conventional mixing blades mounted on the drum are flat paddle-like elements mounted at approximately a 45.degree. angle to the horizontal. As the mixing blades pass through the hot mix asphalt laying on the bottom of the annular chamber, they cause the hot mix asphalt to move longitudinally toward the discharge outlet but do not lift the hot mix asphalt to any appreciable degree. By the time the mixing paddles travel to a position 90.degree. beyond their lowermost position, the hot mix has fallen off and the mixing paddles continue to travel around the annular chamber bare until they again contact the hot mix asphalt at the bottom of the annular chamber. Furthermore, at least some portion of the surface of the drum is continuously in contact with the hot mix asphalt in the bottom of the annular chamber and, in time, becomes coated with the mix, as well as with fines suspended in the annular chamber. Eventually, the build up of material on the outer surface of the rotating drum must be cleaned, requiring substantial down time.

Asphalt drum mixer with self-scouring drum


A novel method and apparatus providing an all digital phase comparator of two binary signals which employs a type of cross correlation of two binary signals and provides a 2bit binary word uniquely representative of phase alignment. The method can be carried out using a pair of flip-flop (FF) circuits, each FF having a docking input and a data input, and where each FF has a delay in series with its data input.

In clock/data recovery and various phase/timing control operations, phase or timing adjustments are often performed after a phase or timing error is detected. A phase detector or comparator is necessary for both traditional, analog-based Phase Locked Loop (PLL) and for digital, delay line based systems. Even in analog based PLL systems, it is known for the phase detector to use digital circuits, such as the balanced modulator circuit using exclusive-OR gates and the sequential phase detector or so-called "9 gate phase detector" using a number of cross-coupled RS flip-flops. However, the output from those types of phase detector circuits can not be directly used by the subsequent circuitry which receives the output signal representative of phase error. This is because the magnitude of the phase error is represented either in the form of pulse width of the output signal, such as the case of the balanced modulator, or in a form of the pulse width difference between two output signals, such as the case of the sequential phase detector. In analog based phase detector systems, the function of the phase detector is to provide an output voltage proportional to the phase difference of two periodic input signals at the same frequency. Conversion of pulse width to voltage is then necessary. The digital output signal from the phase detector is converted into an analog voltage by using, for example, a so called charge pump and a low pass filter. This analogue voltage error signal is then used to control a Voltage Controlled Oscillator (VCO), which changes the oscillator frequency to slowly achieve the phase adjustment or alignment over a number of cycles, since the amount of the necessary phase change is the integral of the difference between the VCO frequency and the reference frequency.

Digital variable in-lock range phase comparator


A display substrate includes a base substrate, an organic ridge pattern, a pixel electrode and a shielding electrode. A plurality of pixel regions arranged in a matrix shape are formed on the base substrate. The organic ridge pattern is protruded between adjacent pixel regions. The pixel electrode is in each of the pixel regions. The shielding electrode is disposed on the organic ridge pattern, and is electrically connected to the pixel electrode.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display substrate, a method of manufacturing the display substrate and a display device having the display substrate. More particularly, the present invention relates to a display substrate capable of substantially preventing leakage of light, a method of manufacturing the display substrate and a display device having the display substrate having an improved image display quality.
2. Description of Related Art
A flat panel display device has various characteristics such as thin thickness, light weight, small size, etc., and is used in various fields.
A liquid crystal display (LCD) device is a kind of flat panel display device including an LCD panel having an array substrate, an opposite substrate opposite to the array substrate and a liquid crystal layer interposed between the array substrate and the opposite substrate. An arrangement of liquid crystals of the liquid crystal layer vary in response to an electric field applied to a pixel electrode of the array substrate and a common electrode of the opposite substrate, and a light transmittance of the liquid crystal layer is changed, thereby displaying an image.
When a pressure is applied to the LCD panel, the arrangement of the liquid crystals is disturbed so that light leaks through the disturbed liquid crystals. In addition, when the arrangement of the liquid crystals is disturbed, a response speed of the liquid crystals is decreased.
For example, when the LCD panel is integrally formed with a touch screen panel, the pressure is constantly applied to the LCD panel so that an image display quality of the LCD device is deteriorated.

Display substrate, method of manufacturing the same and display device having the same


A ghost canceler having an adaptive signal level adjustment function includes an amplifier for amplifying an analog video signal provided to an analog-to-digital converter and a microprocessor for detecting the peak-to-peak value of the input video signal using a level difference between an input ghost cancellation reference signal contained within the analog video signal and a preset ghost cancellation reference signal and for determining an amplification coefficient using the detected peak-to-peak value. The analog-to-digital converter converts the amplified video signal to produce maximum bit resolution, which thereby permits ghost cancellation performance in the ghost canceler to be enhanced and prevent a loss in displayed video quality.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a ghost canceler and, more specifically, to a ghost canceler cancelling ghost signals which adaptively amplifies a video signal, the signal level of which is varied according to ghost phenomenon generated in the transmission of the video signal.
Korean Patent Application No. 92-25962 is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The ghost phenomenon, that is, the phenomenon of displaying ghost images on a television screen occurs due to the reflectance of the radio frequency waves from the broadcasting station off of mountains or buildings. To cancel such ghost phenomenon, the broadcasting station transmits a ghost cancelling reference (GCR) signal so that the features of the transmission channel can be seen at the receiver. Accordingly, the GCR signal is used in the receiver to determine the features of the ghost in the transmission channel and to cancel the ghost signal from the transmitted video signal. Such technology for cancelling the ghost using the GCR signal has been widely used throughout the world, e.g., in Japan, U.S.A., Korea, etc.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the conventional ghost canceler, wherein an analog-to-digital (A/D) converter 15 is connected to an input end IN. The whole system is controlled by a microprocessor 11. A ROM 22, which stores a GCR signal, is connected to one input of microprocessor 11. A ghost cancelling circuit 17 comprises a plurality of finite impulse response (FIR) filters and infinite impulse response (IIR) filters, and performs signal processing on the output data from A/D converter 15 according to a control signal from microprocessor 11. The data output end of ghost cancelling circuit 17 is connected to a digital-to-analog (D/A) converter 18. A GCR detector 20 is connected to input end IN, the output of A/D converter 15 and another input of microprocessor 11, and detects the received GCR signal according to another control signal of microprocessor 11.
GCR signal detector 20 comprises a sync and field separator 14 which is connected to signal input end IN for detecting a horizontal sync signal H, a vertical sync signal and a field identifier FID, a first-in-first-out (FIFO) memory 16 which stores a GCR signal among the output data of A/D converter 15 and supplies the stored GCR signal to microprocessor 11, and a window pulse generator 13 for receiving the output signals H, V and FID of sync and field separator 14 and the control signal of microprocessor 11 and generating a window signal for detecting the GCR signal from the received video signal.
FIGS. 2A through 2C show waveform diagrams of the video signal of which the signal level is varied according to the ghost. FIG. 2A shows an original signal without any ghost, FIG. 2B shows a ghost signal having a predetermined delay time T.sub.d and a predetermined amplitude AM with respect to the original signal, and FIG. 2C shows a video signal including a ghost signal. Since the generally received video signal includes the ghost, the conventional ghost canceler for cancelling the ghost of -6 dB has a bit resolution capable of processing a signal of which the amplitude becomes larger by one-half with respect to the video signal without the ghost. In this manner, A/D converter 15 is designed to have the bit resolution which represents the number of bits which are assigned to the actual data.
Microprocessor 11 reads line information having the GCR signal from ROM 22 and generates the read line information for window pulse generator 13. If the video signal including the ghost is input to the ghost canceler through input end IN, sync and field separator 14 detects horizontal sync H, vertical sync V and field identifier FID from the input video signal and supplies the detected signal H, V and FID to window pulse generator 13. The detected field identifier FID is for discriminating an odd field and an even field. A/D converter 15 converts the input video signal into digital video data and supplies the digital video data to FIFO memory 16 and ghost cancelling circuit 17. Window pulse generator 13 receives output signals H, V and FID of sync and field separator 14 and the GCR line information of microprocessor 11 and generates a window pulse. The FIFO memory 16 stores the GCR signal which is included in the video signal according to the window pulse. When the GCR signal is stored in FIFO memory 16 according to the window pulse, microprocessor 11 reads the GCR signal from FIFO memory 16 and compares the read GCR signal with preset GCR signal provided from ROM 22, to produce a filter coefficient.
Ghost cancelling circuit 17 cancels the ghost from the video signal using the filter coefficient and a number of incorporated impulse response filters. A digital-to-analog (D/A) converter 18 converts the ghost-cancelled video data into an analog signal and outputs the converted analog signal.
As described above, the conventional ghost canceler digitizes the video signal including the ghost without performing amplification control to cancel the ghost. Accordingly, the degree of information loss is varied due to analog-to-digital conversion according to the magnitude of the ghost signal which is input to the A/D converter. As a result, not only is the performance of the ghost canceler is degraded, but also the quality of the displayed image picture is lowered.

Ghost canceler having a function of adaptively adjusting a signal level


The present invention relates to an improved paper clip which is suitable for holding documents of different thicknesses. The improved paper clip includes three elements, which are a first clipping piece, a second clipping piece and a support beam. The first clipping piece is formed with a sunken slot therethrough and is connected to a bottom side of the support beam. The second clipping piece has a bending curve part and is connected to a top side of the support beam. The bending curve part is partially protruding into the sunken slot and is roughened to become a rough surface for increasing friction to tightly clamp documents. The inner surface of the support beam is a flat plane so as to provide a guiding function when the document is received between the first and second clipping pieces. The first and second clipping pieces are both adjoined to the inner surface of the support beam, such that the outer surface of the support beam substantially forms part of the outer contour of the paper clip.

Traditionally, most kinds of paper clips are made of steel wires. It is very convenient for clipping documents and especially for papers. Referring to FIG. 1, which is the 3-dimension view of prior art and normally made of plastic, because plastic is a flexible material. A bottom surface of paper 4 is put on first clipping piece 1, and second clipping piece 2 is above a top surface of paper 4, which means paper 4 is within the first clipping piece 1 and the second clipping paper 2. Top edge 40 is against to joint place 3, thus the paper 4 can be clamped tightly. The first clipping piece 1 and the second clipping piece 2 are located at the same horizontal plane, which means joint place 3 is no height difference. Therefore, this type of paper clip as in FIG. 1 is just suitable for thin thickness of document, such as one paper or only a couple of papers; on the other hand, a thick document is not tightly clamped.
Referring to FIG. 2, which is another 3-dimension view of prior art. This is an advance type of clip. First clipping piece 5 and second clipping piece 6 are not on the same horizontal plane, and support beam 7 is with a height, therefore the height has a capacity for thicker (documents, but the prior art cannot be tightly enough to clamp one piece of paper, because touching line 8 of the first clipping piece 5 and the second clipping piece 6 is formed as a line, thus the clamping force is not strong enough.
Referring to FIG. 3, which is the third 3-dimension view of prior art and the oldest but the most convenient prior art, so the shortcomings of the types in FIGS. 1 and 2 are all included in the prior art. Which means that first clipping piece 9 and second clipping piece 10 are at the same horizontal plane, so the prior art is not suitable for thicker documents as well; further, the prior art is made of steel wire as usual, thus the application force for clamping is as two individual lines, so the application condition is just same as the prior art in FIG. 2. Therefore, the prior arts as mentioned above are not good enough to manage the present paper work operations.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,950,823 discloses a tie clasp which is formed from a single sheet of spring metal and comprises primary a base portion and a spring clip portion. The spring clip portion is formed at one end of the base portion and has a curved resilient section area and a free end section area. The base portion is provided with a slot. The central section of the spring clip portion extends inwardly into the slot. The curved resilient section area connects the base portion and the spring clip portion and has the same width as the spring clip portion. The free end section area of the spring clip portion extends out of the front end of the base portion in such a manner that the free end section area of spring clip portion overlaps the front end of base portion in the projection of top view. In addition, the curved resilient section area of the spring clip portion also overlaps the rear end of base portion in the projection of top view. In order to provide sufficient structural strength, the right end of the slot must be apart from the bottom side of the curved resilient section area so as to leave a sufficient width thereof. Such kind of structure makes the tie clasp of U.S. Pat. No. 3,950,823 difficult to be manufactured by plastic ejection, since the overlapped portions of the tie clasp makes it extremely difficult to be taken off from the molds along the top-view direction during the plastic ejecting process. As the result, the tie clasp of U.S. Pat. No. 3,950,823 suffers the deficiency of being difficult to be made by plastic ejection.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,056,748 discloses a molded plastic holder for printed material. The molded plastic holder includes a support panel, curved clip, stiffening rib, open area and mounting holes. The support panel and curved clip are connected at the bottom edge of the curved clip, such that the connecting portion of the bottom edge has exactly the same width as the curved clip. Because the open area is wider than the curved clip, therefore the support panel must has a back portion extending backward from the connected bottom edge in order to provide sufficient structural strength. If this back portion is not large enough, then the effective connection between the support panel and the curved clip will be only at the two ends of the bottom edge and will be prone to break easily. However, since the large back portion is extending in the same plane as the support panel which is substantially perpendicular to the curved concave inner surface of the curved clip, therefore, the back portion of the support panel will extend out of the outer contour of documents which are received and held by the molded plastic holder. In addition, because the curved concave inner surface is the surface where the leading edges of documents will contact, therefore, when lots of documents are received by the holder in the same time, the leading edges of documents tend to become a curved shape in the side view. The leading edges of documents cannot be stacked straightly. Thus the appearance of the holder would be ugly when holding documents.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,254,136 discloses a page holder which includes a spring clip integrally formed with a base. The spring clip has a cavity with substantially parallel edges, an end edge and a curved edge. A tongue is connected to the spring clip at the end edge of the cavity by a connecting member. Similar to the previously described prior art U.S. Pat. No. 5,056,748, the connecting member of U.S. Pat. No. 6,254,136 has a width exactly the same as the tongue. That means, the base of the page holder shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,254,136 must have a large back portion extending backward from the end edge of cavity. It is impossible to make the base with a back edge being flush with the end edge of the cavity, otherwise the effective connection between the tongue and the base will be only at the two ends of the end edge of the cavity and will be easy to break.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,704,724 discloses a paper clip which is in a flat plane structure. The amount of documents which this paper clip can hold is thus limited. The paper clip disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,704,724 is not suitable for holding lots of documents with significant thickness.
Other conventional clip-like structure, such like the ones illustrated by U.S. Pat. No. 5,113,554, DT 2432880, GE 2254291, and etc., all have similar draw backs as which of the U.S. Pat. No. 5,056,748 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,254,136. That is, all of the conventional clip-like structures include a "tongue" and a "base" and a "connecting member" for connecting the "tongue" and "base". And, the most important thing is, the "connecting member" of these prior arts is always having a width exactly the same as the "tongue", which consequently results in the "base" must have a "back side portion" which extends backward from the "tongue" and cannot lie on the same vertical plane as the "connecting member". As a result, when the clip-like structure of prior art is holding something such like documents, the so called "back side portion" of the "base" will definitely protrude out of the outer contour of the documents. It fails to provide an integral and beautiful appearance to the clip and the documents.
It is notable that, for a clip-like structure like the ones previously described, there are always four primary elements being comprised, namely "tongue", "base", "connecting member" and "slot" located on the "base". In order to provide sufficient structural strength, there must be sufficient thickness or width near the bottom of the "connecting member". For example, for the clip-like structures shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,113,554 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,950,823, their "slot" does not extend to contact with the "connecting member", such that a sufficient width is formed between the "slot" and the "connecting member" to provide the structural strength required. In the other hand, for the clip-like structures shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,056,748, U.S. Pat. No. 6,254,136, DT 2432880 and GB 2254291, a "back side portion" of the "base" is formed behind the "connecting member" for providing sufficient width for the connection between the "base" and "connecting member", such that the structural strength thereof would meet the needs.


The present invention provides novel biopesticides which can replace commercial pesticides and biopesticides which have been banned, restricted, or are being phased out, including, but not limited to chloropicrin, dichlorvos and methyl bromide. Many of the biopesticides of the present invention are excellent fumigants, possessing quick action and volatility, while posing less risk than currently used pesticides to humans and the environment. The biopesticides of the present invention are natural and closely-related synthetic derivatives or analogs related to two classes of natural compounds, namely glucosinolates and monoterpenoids.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to pesticides and more particularly to biopesticides, including close derivatives and analogs of natural sources.
2. Background of the Art
Pesticides are used to increase the world's food supply and decrease disease-carrying pests. The large-scale use of pesticides both in agriculture and household pest control, however, has caused widespread concern regarding environmental impact, increased resistance, and both acute and chronic toxicity to non-target organisms, including man. Many pesticides, particularly the polychlorinated hydrocarbons such as DDT, have generated much controversy because they persist for years in the environment, and have proven harmful to fish and birds of prey. The concern over the buildup of nondegradable pesticides in the soil and in the food chain has prompted the Federal government to ban the production in the United States of many compounds such as DDT, and severely restrict the use of others.
Two widely used classes of pesticides which decompose more rapidly in the environment than polychlorinated hydrocarbons are the organophosphates and carbamates. Many of these compounds, however, are still considered highly toxic and their use is heavily regulated by the Federal government.
Pesticides can be applied through varying routes of exposure depending on the specific need, as well as the toxicity of the pesticidal agent itself. One commonly used vehicle for eliminating pests is to fumigate an infested area, plant or tree. Fumigation is defined as the use of a gas pesticide, or a volatile solid or liquid pesticide to control pests in buildings, ships, foods, plants, soil, and various stored products. Fumigants are also highly toxic and therefore subject to Federal regulation. Because of the need for high volatility in fumigant use, only about 20 chemicals are routinely used, including compounds containing chlorine, bromine and/or phosphorus. Fumigants may also be used in liquid form for injection into the ground to eliminate pests. There is growing concern, however, that persistence in the soil of certain fumigants is harmful to the environment. As a result, commonly used fumigants such as methyl bromide, dichlorvos, ethylene dibromide, chloropicrin, dibromochloropropane, carbon tetrachloride, phosphine, and 1,3-dichloropropene are heavily regulated and their use is severely restricted.
As part of the Federal government's regulation process, all pesticides must be registered. Since registration can be an extremely time-consuming and very costly process, there has been a marked decrease recently in the registration of new pesticides. This scarcity of new pest control agents has led to concerns that target pests will develop increased resistance to a very limited selection of products. Recently, the government started offering a "fast-track" registration process with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for "biopesticides" which include both naturally-based pesticides and close derivatives or analogs. Although biopesticides offer a desirable alternative to the highly toxic pesticides, relatively few have been registered to date on the fast-track system.
One possible alternative is to use naturally-based pesticides. It is well-known that plants have built-in natural defenses against insects and other pests, which have evolved over time. Monoterpenoids, for example, are 10-carbon compounds composed of two isoprene units connected in a head-to-end manner. Monoterpenoids are found in the essential oils of many plants including mints, pine, cedar, citrus, eucalyptus and spices. Monoterpenoids are known to have the ability to aid plants in chemical defense against insects, bacteria, fungi, and even vertebrate herbivores. Many compounds in this class are used as flavors or fragrances in foods, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. Further, there are several monoterpenoids that are commercially available for uses such as flea control on pets and carpets, control of insects on house plants, fumigation of parasitic mites in honey bee colonies, and insect repellency, such as with the citronella candle.
Another class of naturally-based pesticides are the glucosinolates. Within the family Cruciferae ("crucifer"), glucosinolates act as natural pesticides in many of the plants. Glucosinolates are a group of over 90 secondary metabolites that occur in only 11 families of dicotyledonous plants, mostly in the family Cruciferae. It has been shown that higher concentrations of glucosinolates correlate with less severe insect attacks. Of interest is the fact that although glucosinolates are reportedly toxic to livestock, they are clearly safe for humans. Specifically, within the crucifer family, glucosinolates are found in plants such as cabbages, radishes, turnips, mustard, collard greens, rape, broccoli, kale and crambe (Crambe abyssinica L.). It is the breakdown products of glucosinolates which are responsible for the pungent odor and biting taste of these plants.
Studies concerning effects of monoterpenoids and glucosinolates on insect pests have emphasized chemical ecological functions rather than acute toxicity. For example, glucosinolates have been found to play important roles in aiding certain insect species to identify their proper host plants. Experiments have shown that while too low a concentration of glucosinolates leads to ineffective larval attraction, too great a concentration may actually exert a repellent effect to the cabbage root fly. Others have demonstrated that several glucosinolates have a feeding stimulation effect on the diamond-back moth (Plutella maculipennis Curtis) and the larvae of Pieris brassicae.
The structure-activity relationship monoterpenoids and monoterpenoid derivatives have been studied as stated in the Abstract entitled "Insecticidal Properties of Monoterpenoids Against Some Insect Species," Sangkyun Lee, et al., Division of Agrochemical of the American Chemical Society, Fall 1993 and in "Toxicity and Neurotoxic Effects of Monoterpenoids in Insects and Earthworms," Joel R. Coats, et al., Chapter 20, American Chemical Society, 1991, which are hereby incorporated by reference. As biopesticides, monoterpenoids have been found to have mild insecticidal activity.
Glucosinolate-containing water extracts from crambe meal showing insect toxicity in laboratory tests are also known and discussed in "Insecticidal Toxicities of Glucosinolate-containing Extracts from Crambe Seeds," by R. Tsao, et al., 1995 which is hereby incorporated by reference. The acute toxicity of these extracts as pesticides, however, is significantly lower than conventional organochlorine or organophosphorus pesticides.
There is ongoing debate as to the risks and benefits posed by various natural versus synthetic pesticides. While it is true that many synthetic pesticides are quite toxic, other synthetic pesticides, such as allethrin and methoprene (which are actually biopesticides), are considered relatively safe. Furthermore, although many natural pesticides are relatively safe, there are clearly others, such as nicotine, which are recognized as being quite hazardous. It is now well-accepted that the biological activity of a chemical is a function of its structure rather than its origin, and the biological properties of a chemical depend on this structure as well as the manner in which the chemical is used. The "safety" of a pesticide, therefore, is dependent not only on the chemical make-up of the product, but also on the actual exposure to the chemical. In many cases, the perceived risk is not consistent with the actual risk.
What is needed, therefore, are new types of pesticides or biopesticides to replace those commercial products which are being banned, restricted or phased out, so that increasing resistance by target pests can be avoided and/or overcome. Further, the replacement pesticides need to be economical, highly toxic to target pests, and pose less actual risk to the environment and humans as compared to traditional pesticides.

Biopesticides related to natural sources

Iowa State University Research Foundation, Inc.


A sheet transport apparatus is used in a duplex image forming apparatus which makes two-sided prints. The sheet transport apparatus has a transport path for supplying a recording sheet which is received from a paper supplying unit to an image forming part, a reversing path for reversing side of the recording sheet, and two driving sources for independently driving mechanisms which transport the recording sheet in each of the transport path and the reversing path.

The present invention generally relates to recording sheet transport apparatuses, and more particularly to a recording sheet transport apparatus of a duplex image forming apparatus such as a duplex copying machine and a duplex printer.
As is well known, when making a copy of a document, a copied image corresponding to the document image is usually formed on one side of a single recording sheet. With the recent progress in information society, the quantity of documents, data, publications and the like is greatly increasing, but it is uneconomical to copy such documents on one side of the recording sheets. There is now an increasing demand to copy documents on both sides of the recording sheets so as to reduce the total quantity of the recording sheets.
As one method of forming images on both sides of the recording sheet, there is the following proposed duplex recording system. According to this proposed duplex recording system, a reversing path is provided within an image forming apparatus. This reversing path comprises three stages of rollers, and a gate mechanism which is provided between the rollers of the first and second stages for switching a transport path. The roller of the second stage recedes so that a recording sheet can be transported within the reversing path while reversing and transporting an immediately preceding recording sheet. Hence, it is possible to reverse the recording sheets which are successively transported.
The recording sheets which are reversed are once stacked on an intermediate tray. After the image formation with respect to one side of the recording sheets is completed, the recording sheets accommodated in the intermediate tray are successively transported so as to carry out the image formation with respect to the other side of the recording sheets. As a result, the so-called duplex recording which carries out the image formation with respect to both sides of the recording sheets is carried out at a high speed. An image forming apparatus employing such a duplex recording system for making two-sided copies is proposed for example in a Japanese Published patent application No. 61-11864.
According to the duplex recording system, the following operation is carried out by the copying machine when copying identical image information on a predetermined number of recording sheets. In this case, an image forming part successively carries out the image formation with respect to a first side of the predetermined number of recording sheets and these recording sheets are once accommodated in the intermediate tray. Then, the recording sheets having the image information recorded on the first side are supplied from the intermediate tray to the image forming part so as to successively carry out the image formation with respect to a second side of the predetermined number of recording sheets. By successively carrying out the image formation first with respect to the first side of the recording recording sheets and then with respect to the second side of the recording recording sheets, it is possible to minimize a speed reduction of the image forming part in making consecutive copies.
But on the other hand, the above described duplex recording system suffers the following problems. That is, when the duplex recording system is applied to a laser printer which is provided with an image sensor capable of storing image information and both sides of a document are to be copied, for example, it is necessary to first obtain the image information of the last page in order to copy each page of the document in a correct sequence.
For example, when copying ten pages of image information on both sides of five recording sheets #1 through #5, it is necessary to obtain the image information of pages 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 in this sequence. In this case, the pages 10, 8, 6, 4 and 2 are recorded on the first side of the recording sheets #1 through #5 and the pages 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 are recorded on the second side of the recording sheets #5 through #1. As a result, the recording sheet #5 is recorded with the pages 1 and 2, the recording sheet #4 is recorded with the pages 3 and 4, the recording sheet #3 is recorded with the pages 5 and 6, the recording sheet #2 is recorded with the pages 7 and 8, and the recording sheet #1 is recorded with the pages 9 and 10.
The need to obtain the image information of the last page first is especially a problem when an image memory is used in an exposure scanning system of the image forming apparatus. In particular, when the quantity of the image information becomes large, the image memory must store image information amounting to a large number of pages and it is impractical from the point of view of the high cost of the image memory which can store such a large quantity of image information. Accordingly, it is possible to limit the number of recording sheets which may be accommodated in the intermediate tray for the purpose of reducing the required capacity and thus the cost of the image memory. But in this case, the speed with which consecutive copies are made becomes reduced and it contradicts the original intention to speed up the making of the consecutive copies.
On the other hand, in order to eliminate the above described problems, there is a proposed image forming apparatus which supplies the recording sheets which are accommodated in the intermediate tray to the image forming part from the bottom of the stack. When copying ten pages of image information on both sides of five recording sheets #1 through #5, it is necessary to obtain the image information of pages 2, 4, 1, 6, 3, 8, 5, 10, 7 and 9 in this sequence. In this case, the pages 2 and 4 are recorded on the first side of the recording sheets #1 and #2, the page 1 is recorded on the second side of the recording sheet #1, and the page 6 is recorded on the first side of the recording sheet #3. Then, the page 3 is recorded on the second side of the recording sheet #2, the page 8 is recorded on the first side of the recording sheet # 4, and the page 5 is recorded on the second side of the recording sheet #3. Next, the page 10 is recorded on the first side of the recording sheet #5, the page 7 is recorded on the second side of the recording sheet #4, and the page 9 is recorded on the second side of the recording sheet #5. As a result, the recording sheet #1 is recorded with the pages 1 and 2, the recording sheet #2 is recorded with the pages 3 and 4, the recording sheet #3 is recorded with the pages 5 and 6, the recording sheet #4 is recorded with the pages 7 and 8, and the recording sheet #5 is recorded with the pages 9 and 10.
Therefore, the image memory need only store the pages 1 through 4 by the time the image formation of the page 1 ends, the pages 3 through 6 by the time the image formation of the page 6 ends, the pages 5 through 8 by the time the image formation of the page 8 ends, and the pages 7 through 10 by the time the image formation of the page 10 ends. As a result, the image memory only requires a memory capacity amounting to four pages, for example.
However, the following problems occur when making the two-sided copies in this manner. When making the two-sided copy, two recording sheets are not simply stacked on the intermediate tray but an operation of supplying a bottom recording sheet of the stack to the image forming part and an operation of stacking a recording sheet on the top of the stack are carried out simultaneously. For this reason, paper jams easily occur. The paper jams are caused when the recording sheet is supplied obliquely to an intended direction, two recording sheets are supplied at the same time and the like. When an attempt is made to eliminate the paper jams, the mechanism for supplying the recording sheet from the intermediate tray to the image forming part becomes complex and expensive. Furthermore, when the image forming apparatus uses recording sheets having different sizes, the intermediate tray must have a size in correspondence with a largest recording sheet which is used and the image forming apparatus itself becomes bulky.
In addition, in order to make the two-sided copy, the image forming apparatus must be provided with a driving device which drives the mechanism for reversing the recording sheet and a driving device which drives the mechanism for refeeding the recording sheet from the intermediate tray to the image forming part. As a result, the size of the image forming apparatus becomes large and the running cost thereof becomes high.
On the other hand, the recording sheet in a transport system which reverses the recording sheet and the recording sheet in the transport system which refeeds the recording sheet from the intermediate tray to the image forming part may be driven by a single driving source. In this case, the driving source selectively drives the recording sheet in one of the two transport systems, and a clutch mechanism or the like disengages the driving source from the other transport system. As a result, it is impossible to continuously transport the recording sheets in the two transport systems, and the cycle time required to make the two-sided copies may increase.


The present invention relates to benzofuran derivatives for use in antiviral compositions. More specifically, the present invention relates to compositions and methods for the treatment of hepatitis C virus by administering the benzofuran derivatives in a therapeutically effective amount.

Strategies in new drug discovery often look to natural products for leads in finding new chemical compounds with therapeutic properties. One of the recurring problems in drug discovery is the availability of organic compounds derived from natural sources. Techniques employing combinatorial chemistry attempt to overcome this problem by allowing the high throughput synthesis and testing of hundreds or thousands of related synthetic compounds, called a chemical library. In designing the synthesis of a prospective therapeutic compound or a chemical library, one often looks to natural chemical motifs which are known to have broad biological activity. Benzofuran derivatives are of particular interest due to their frequent occurrence in nature and range of biological activities. Benzofuran is named and numbered according to the Ring Index, American Chemical Society, as follows

Infection with the Hepatitis C virus (HCV) represents a serious world-wide health crisis. In more than 70% of infected individuals, the virus evades clearance by the immune system leading to a persistent HCV infection. The long term effects of persistent HCV infection range from an apparently healthy carrier state to chronic hepatitis, liver fibrosis, cirrhosis, and eventually hepatocellular carcinoma. HCV is a leading cause of chronic liver disease. The best therapy currently available for treatment of HCV infection uses a combination of pegylated α-interferon and ribavirin. However, many of the patients treated with this therapy fail to show a sufficient antiviral response. Additionally, interferon treatment also induces severe side-effects (i.e. retinopathy, thyroiditis, acute pancreatitis, depression) that diminish the quality of life of treated patients. Thus, it is vital that more effective treatments be identified.


Disclosed herein are a method and a system for discrete data containerization for Information Rights Management. The system identifies based on a user request, data to be containerized. Further, the system receives at least one rule based on the data and attributes, which is to be used for containerizing the data. Further, using the rule, the system containerizes the data, wherein the data is containerized at individual data level.

Data management is one of the prime areas of concern of the modern world. The term 'data management' does not just address way of organizing data, but also focuses on data security aspects. With the increasing popularity of 'Bring Your own Device (BYOD)' trend which allows users to use their personal device for professional/official use as well, data security concerns are at peak. BYOD allows users to access official data, which is of confidential nature, from any location. Further, the personal devices of users may not possess sufficient security means to fight malware and similar fraudulent attacks, which poses high data security risk.
Data containerization is a technique/mechanism which is used to protect data of the confidential nature, from unauthorized access. This may involve locking down the data to be protected, and providing access to a user only after a successful authentication check. However, existing data containerization techniques and systems have certain disadvantages. One disadvantage is that the existing systems do not work properly outside network boundaries of organization that is setting the IRM, as they may have to be connected to servers and other organizational specific systems to function properly. Another disadvantage is that the existing containerization techniques fail to match requirements of mobile work force enabled by the BYOD and other similar mechanisms. Another disadvantage is that the existing data containerization systems do not support all file formats, which might cause inconvenience to the users. Another disadvantage of the existing data containerization systems is that they support containerization only at application or device level, which might again cause inconvenience to users.

Information rights management using discrete data containerization


A video decoder configured to decode an encoded video bitstream comprises a first parsing unit and a second parsing unit, each configured to independently parse the encoded video bitstream to derive parsing state information therefrom on which subsequent parsing of the encoded video bitstream at least partially depends and to identify macroblock information for decoding. The encoded video bitstream comprises frame header information defining a sequence of frames and each frame is composed of macroblocks represented by macroblock information. A control unit of the video encoder allocates each frame of macroblock information to one of the two parsing units to parse. The two parsing units are both configured to parse frame header information to thereby each derive parsing state information for the encoded video bitstream, and the two parsing unit are each configured to parse macroblock information allocated to them, skipping macroblock information allocated to the other parsing unit.

The present invention relates to the decoding of an encoded video bitstream, and in particular to the parsing of that encoded video bitstream.
Contemporary video compression codecs allow high quality video to be greatly compressed, such that it may be conveniently transmitted or stored, before being decoded for subsequent display. Nevertheless, despite the great advances made in video compression technology, the continual drive towards ever higher quality of video means that high bandwidth transmissions of video data are commonplace. For example, high definition video at 1080p30 may require a bandwidth of between 8 Mbits/s (at relatively low quality) to around 45 Mbits/s (at high definition TV quality).
Various techniques are implemented to achieve the high levels of compression necessary to transmit high quality video data, such as entropy coding (e.g. context-adaptive binary arithmetic coding (CABAC) and variable length coding (VLC)). These techniques require the use of a bitstream parser to translate coded elements of the bitstream into a format which can be decoded into displayable video data. For example, a typical space saving technique when encoding video data is to translate commonly seen bit sequences into shorter codes representing those bit sequences. When such a bitstream is received at a video decoder one of the first steps required is to translate these codes back into the original bit sequences. Furthermore, parsing the bitstream enables the video decoder to identify the structure of the video bitstream, for example, where each frame begins and ends and the macroblocks that belong to each frame, such that those macroblocks may be decoded. It is also known to increase coding density by providing that the parsing of a given frame depends on the result of parsing a previous frame.
Various techniques for improving decoding performance are known. Firstly, it is known to provide dedicated hardware for each component of a video decoder which is optimised in terms of performance. However, this approach is costly to design and can be power hungry. Secondly, it is known to decode independent slices (consecutive sequences of macroblocks within a frame) in parallel by making use of multi-threading techniques. However, the ability to do this in the decoder depends on the slice format provided by the encoder, and in many real-world situations it is desirable that a video decoder does not impose any such constraints on the video encoder.
Some papers which look at the parallelisation of video decoding are: A. Azevedo et al., "Parallel H.264 Decoding on an Embedded Multicore Processor," in Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on High Performance and Embedded Architectures and Compilers—HIPEAC, January 2009; C. H. Meenderinck et al., "Parallel Scalability of H.264", in Proceedings of the first Workshop on Programmability Issues for Multi-Core Computers, 2008; and "Parallel Scalability of Video Decoders", Journal of Signal Processing Systems, Springer—New York, Vol. 57 No. 2, November 2009, pp. 173-194. It will be recognised that these papers focus on the opportunities for the parallelisation of decoding at the full decode level.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a technique which enabled a video decoder to increase the bitstream rate it can handle (consequently allowing a higher quality of video to be handled), without relying on expensive and power hungry dedicated hardware in the decoder, and furthermore without imposing requirements on the output of the encoder.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A fuel cell module includes an electrode membrane assembly and a pair of separators. The electrode membrane assembly includes an electrode portion and a pair of gas diffusion layers. The electrode portion includes a polymer electrolyte membrane, an anode electrode formed on a first surface of the polymer electrolyte membrane, and a cathode electrode formed on a second surface of the polymer electrolyte membrane. One of the pair of gas diffusion layers is in contact with an anode surface of the electrode portion at which the anode electrode is disposed, and the other is in contact with a cathode surface of the electrode portion at which the cathode electrode is disposed. The separators sandwich the electrode membrane assembly from respective the anode surface and the cathode surface. The electrode membrane assembly and each separator are adhered to each other by a plurality of resin portions.

A fuel cell generates electricity and heat simultaneously by making a fuel gas which contains hydrogen and an oxidizing agent gas such as air which contains oxygen electrochemically react with each other. A PEFC includes: a polymer electrolyte membrane which selectively transports hydrogen ions; and an anode electrode and a cathode electrode formed on both surfaces of the polymer electrolyte membrane. These electrodes respectively include a catalyst layer formed on a surface of the polymer electrolyte membrane, and a gas diffusion layer (GDL) which is disposed outside the catalyst layer and has both air permeability and electronic conductivity. A structural body where the polymer electrolyte membrane and the electrodes are integrally assembled to each other by joining is referred to as a membrane electrode assembly (MEA).
A pair of conductive separators is arranged on both sides of the MEA. The pair of conductive separators fixes the MEA by mechanically sandwiching the MEA therebetween, and electrically connecting adjacent MEAs to each other in series. In contact portions of the separators with the MEA, a gas flow passage for supplying a reaction gas to the respective electrodes and for carrying away generated water and a surplus gas is formed. Further, to prevent a reaction gas supplied to the gas flow passage from leaking to the outside or being mixed with a gas outside the gas flow passage, a sealing member (seal) is disposed between the pair of separators such that the sealing member surrounds outer peripheries of electrode forming portions in the MEA. Such a structural body is referred to as a battery module (cell).
In a fuel cell, the enhancement of utilization efficiency of a gas is one of the important issues. As a cause of lowering of the utilization efficiency, a cross leakage of a gas, an external leakage of a gas or a shortcut of a gas is named.
From a reason such as manufacturing constraints, there may be a case where a gap is formed between an inner edge of a gasket and an outer edge of an electrode forming portion. When such a gap exists on an anode surface side, on a cathode surface side or on both the anode surface side and the cathode surface side, there is a possibility that a fuel gas and an oxidizing agent gas leak through the gap during an operation of the PEFC. The leaked fuel gas and oxidizing agent gas are discharged to the outside with being hardly exposed to the MEA. As a result, the utilization efficiency of the fuel gas and the oxidizing agent gas is lowered, which lowers efficiency (electricity generating efficiency) of the PEFC. A shortcut of a gas occurs due to such a cause.
To overcome such problems, there has been known a structure where a MEA integrated product is formed by combining a MEA, a frame body which holds the MEA and a gasket material having resiliency into an integral body (for example, see Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. 2009-21217).
On the other hand, a fuel cell stack has been required to satisfy downsizing and the reduction of thickness. However, a so-called carbon separator which uses carbon and a resin bonding material as base materials exhibits a large linear expansion coefficient, and hence, the carbon separator exhibits a large change in size during an operation. Accordingly, the fuel cell stack requires a spring or the like for absorbing such a change in size, and thus the fuel cell stack cannot be downsized. Further, to allow the fuel cell stack to acquire the strength, it is necessary to increase the thickness of the separator. On the other hand, there has been known a structure which enables a fuel cell stack to achieve both the reduction of a linear expansion coefficient and the reduction of thickness by using a separator where a flow passage is formed on conductive prepreg by press working (for example, see Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. 2006-28659).
Further, when a fuel cell is prepared by stacking a plurality of unit cells each formed by sandwiching a power generating element between a pair of separators prepared by compression molding, separators of the unit cells disposed adjacently to each other are adhered to each other with an adhesive agent. There has been known a structure where the adhesive agent functions as a seal member for sealing cooling water which flows in the separators (for example, see Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. 2005-166425).

Fuel cell module, fuel cell stack, and method for producing fuel cell module

Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.


An apparatus, system and method of identifying a vehicle that may present safety threats to security areas are provided. When a vehicle is approaching a security zone, a request for identification (ID) is issued to the vehicle's on-board computer system (OBCS). Upon receiving the ID, a comparison is made between the ID of the vehicle and a list of suspect vehicle IDs. It there is a match, the vehicle is considered to be suspect and the OBCS is instructed to take control over the vehicle.

1. Technical Field
The present invention is directed to vehicles. More specifically, the invention is directed to vehicles that may pose security threats to security areas.
2. Description of Related Art
In the past twenty years or so, there has been a rash of bombings using vehicles laden with explosives. Vehicles, in this context, include any self-propelled machines such as aircrafts, vessels (i.e., boats), cars etc. As an example, 63 people died in 1983 when a suicide bomber driving a van loaded with explosives destroyed the front portion of the US Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon. Later that year, 245 United States marines, soldiers and sailors were killed and 146 wounded when a suicide bomber exploded a truck loaded with explosives near US Marine barracks in that same city. Minutes later, 58 French paratroopers were killed in their barracks by another truck bomb.
In 1993, a truck exploded in a basement garage of the World Trade Center in New York City, N.Y. killing six and injuring more than 1,040 people. In 1995, a truck bomb exploded outside a federal office building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people, including 19 children. In 1996, a truck bomb exploded outside of Khobar Towers military complex killing 19 American servicemen and injuring hundreds of others in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. In 1998, two truck bombs exploded almost simultaneously near two US Embassies, one in Nairobi, Kenya and the other in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, killing 224 (213 in Kenya and 11 in Tanzania) and injuring about 4,500 others. In 2000, U.S. Navy destroyer USS Cole was heavily damaged when a small boat loaded with explosives blew up alongside the destroyer in Aden, Yemen. Seventeen sailors were killed. In 2001, the twin towers making up the World Trade Center in New York City were destroyed when hijackers crashed two commercial airplanes each into a tower. One hour or so later, another hijacked airplane was crashed into the Pentagon in Arlington, Va. The total dead and missing in these incidents numbered more than 2,800. Although the hijacked airplanes were not loaded with explosives, the airplanes themselves, which each were fueled for a trans-continental flight, were used as the bombs.
In all the incidents mentioned above, the vehicle bombs were able to inflict as many human casualties and as much damage as they did because of their close proximity to the target structures when they exploded. If vehicles that may present security threats are restricted from being within a security zone of sensitive areas, damages and/or casualties may                be greatly reduced or altogether eliminated.
Thus, what is needed is a method, apparatus and system for identifying vehicles that may present a safety threat to a security area and for taking commensurate actions where they are so identified.

Apparatus, system and method of securing perimeters of security zones from suspect vehicles

International Business Machines Corporation


A helicopter rotor hub assembly (10) in which a blade grip (30) extends inboard of a yoke (14) and transfers centrifugal forces to the yoke (14) through a spherical elastomeric bearing (38). Pitch change of the grip (30) and blade (32) is accommodated by the spherical elastomeric bearing (38) which also acts as the pivot point for lead-lag motion of the blade (32) and grip (30). A lead-lag damper (22) is located inboard of the elastomeric bearing (38) and is connected between one end of the grip (30) spaced away from the lead-lag pivot and the yoke (14) for damping the lead-lag motion between the grip (30) and yoke (14).

Elastomeric bearings have previously been utilized to replace metal-to-metal bearings in a helicopter rotor-hub to reduce mechanical wear and failure as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,652,185 to Cresap et al. However, there exists a need for a rotor-hub which incorporates elastomeric bearings to accomodate lead-lag and pitch motion of rotor blades while at the same time damping the lead-lag oscillation of the rotor blades.


A roofing system comprising laminated roofing shingles having a reduced-width headlap portion and a buttlap portion, wherein the roofing system comprises a plurality of courses, and wherein a trailing edge of a subsequently installed shingle in a course overlaps the leading edge of an adjacent previously installed shingle in the same course. The reduced-width headlap portion of the roofing shingles has a width that is less than the width of the buttlap portion. The roofing shingle comprises a first and a second shingle sheet and the lateral edges of the first shingle sheet are aligned with the lateral edges of the second sheet.

Asphalt roofing products are often divided into three broad groups: shingles, roll roofing and underlayment. Shingles and roll roofing typically function as outer roof coverings designed to withstand exposure to weather and the elements. Shingles and roll roofing generally contain the same basic components which provide protection and long term wear associated with asphalt roofing products. These components include a base material made from an organic felt or fiberglass mat which serves as a matrix to support the other components and gives the product the required strength to withstand manufacturing, handling, installation and service in the intended environment. An asphalt coating formulated for the particular service application is often applied to the base material to provide the desired long-term ability to resist weathering and to provide stability under the anticipated temperature extremes. An outer layer of mineral granules is also commonly applied to the asphalt coating to form a surface exposed to the weather which shields the asphalt coating from the sun's rays, adds color to the final product and provides fire resistance.
Typically, shingles are installed on a roof deck such that the shingles are in a row from left to right and the lateral edges of the shingles in the row are contiguous with each other so as to abut each other, i.e. their lateral edges are adjacent to one another. Each row represents a course and the shingles are applied in overlapping courses on the roof deck, wherein the buttlap portion of a subsequent course is placed on the headlap portion of a previous course. The headlap portion of a conventional shingle is at least as wide as the buttlap portion of the shingle so that when the shingles are installed on a roof deck in overlapping courses, the entire buttlap portion of a subsequent course has headlap beneath it. This manner of installation prevents leakage to the roof deck where the lateral edges of the shingles abut each other.
In a typical roofing system, contiguous shingles in a row abut each other at their lateral edges. Thus, when the shingles are exposed to wet weather, it is possible that leakage can occur at the region where the shingles abut. To prevent that, overlapping subsequent rows of shingles are installed in an offset pattern and each shingle's headlap portion is at least as wide as the buttlap portion. Thus, when the shingles are applied to the roof in a plurality of courses and the buttlap portion of a second course of shingles is laid over the headlap portion of a first row of shingles there is always headlap present underneath the regions where the contiguous shingles in a row abut. Any water penetrating the places where lateral edges of shingles abut contacts the headlap rather than the roof deck.
In certain instances, for aesthetic purposes, shingles have been applied to a roof deck such that the lateral edges of neighboring shingles overlap. U.S. Pat. No. 2,687,701 describes single layer tabbed asbestos cement roofing shingles comprising varying length tabs. When the shingles are applied to a roof deck, their lateral edges overlap. The shingles comprise tabs which extend above and over the buttlap portion of a previous course when a subsequent course is installed. The overlapping and varied lengths of tabs are intended to create a more dimensional appearance.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,919,823 describes single layer asphalt roofing shingles. The shingles are not tabbed but instead comprise various projections. The shingles are installed such that their lateral edges overlap to create what is described as a "shadow effect" which will vary depending on the time of day.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,333,279 and 4,527,374 describe strip or tabbed single layer asphalt shingles. The shingles comprise various edges at least one of which is an alignment edge. The shingles are overlapped using the alignment edge in order to achieve a desired pattern when the shingles are installed on a roof deck.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,990,779 describes a laminated roofing shingle system including a reduced-width headlap portion and an interply material that is installed under the buttlap portion in order to compensate for the reduced-width headlap portion and provide protection to the roof deck.
U.S. Patent Application Publication 2004/0182032 describes a multi-layer laminate shingle with a reduced-width headlap portion. The shingle has a base layer and at least a second layer above the base layer. At one end of the shingle the base layer projects beyond the second layer while at the other end the second layer projects beyond the base layer. When the shingles are laid in a course along the roof, the projecting end of the second layer overlaps the projecting end of the base layer of the next shingle, forming a shiplap joint over all or substantially all of the width of the shingle.
Each of the above-referenced patents is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes within this application.

Laminated roofing shingle system and shingles for use therein

Building Materials Investment Corporation


This invention concerns the extraction of the water solubles of the dahlia tuber which contains aroma and flavor bodies and the concentration, drying, and roasting of these extracts to produce additional flavor bodies. The roasted and ground flavorsome beverage powders so produced can be used to make palatable beverages in hot or cold milk or water. Furthermore the above beverage powders can be blended in concentrations of 1 to 99% with the flavor powders of coffee, tea or cocoa to produce flavor powders that complement each other when used to make water or milk beverages. Another objective is to blend the dahlia flavor powders with sugar or sugar mixtures to make sweetened beverage powders. Such sweetened beverage powders can again be blended with the powders of coffee, tea or cocoa.

This invention relates to natural beverage powders produced from dahlia tuber extracts and the uses of these natural beverage powders to make flavorsome beverages.
In the past, natural beverage powders have been produced from roasted seeds such as the coffee berry, wheat, rye and barley. The roasted leaves or roots of some plants or their extracts can also be made into powders which will produce good tasting beverages. The latter materials would include dried tea leaves and the roasted roots of the chicory and dandelion plants. The sugars present in the above seeds and roots appear to be one of the prime sources of flavor development on roasting. Several hypotheses have been presented for the development of flavor:
(a) the interaction of the sugars with the basic groups of the protein or protein hydrolysate,
(b) the degradation of sugars (eg. the carmelization of sucrose, glucose or fructose),
(c) the liberation of esters, ketones, acids, aldehydes and basic material which are flavor bodies themselves,
(d) the interaction of all of the above to produce flavorable materials.
In addition to the above there are flavor and aroma materials present in parts of many raw plants such as those present in tea leaves. However, for most roasted seeds and roots only minor flavor bodies are produced, many times aromas and flavors objectional to the human taste are developed.

Natural beverage powders from dahlia extracts


Methods, systems, and computer-readable storage media for providing a set of key-range-ranges associated with an application, the set of key-range-ranges defining a plurality of key ranges, each key-range-range being assigned to a respective role, determining that a key range is to be defined for the application by a user having a role, determining whether the key range conforms with the set of key-range-ranges and respective roles, accepting the key range at least partially in response to determining that the key range conforms with the set of key-range-ranges and respective roles, and initiating deployment of the application including the key range to a production system.

Enterprise systems can include applications executing on application servers, which interact with content (data) stored in database systems. In general, content can be provided by a vendor (e.g., as part of the application delivery, as part of an application add-on), by partners (e.g., non-vendor developers (partners) that develop add-ons to applications), and by users (e.g., users of the application creating their own content). For example, application delivery includes vendor content (default content) that is delivered with the application, and is stored in a database system. If, however, non-vendor content overwrites, for example, default content of the application, a subsequent maintenance procedure performed on the enterprise system (e.g., application upgrade) can be overly burdened. For example, the maintenance procedure may be performed with the expectation that the default content is still present. If the default content has been overwritten, the maintenance procedure would be expanded to analyze for data collisions, and identify the new value(s) of the content. Accordingly, costs, both in terms of time and computing resources required to perform the maintenance procedure, rise as the content has to be merged.

Enforcing content constraints on delivery and end user changes


A wavelength division multiplexer (WDM) and a type of fiber arrangement for the WDM are provided. In the WDM according to the invention, a filter having dielectric coating is used to allow lights within a specific band of wavelength to pass but reflect lights not within the specific band of wavelength. A reflection mirror is then used to reflect the lights passing through the filter to pass through the filter for a second time. Because of the two filtering, the WDM provided by the invention has very high adjacent channel isolation. In particular, the WDM contains a fiber pigtail having a fiber bundle and a ferrule with a square aperture in the center. By carefully arranging the common input fiber, the reflection output fiber, and the transmission output fiber inside the aperture, the lights in the specific band of wavelength have identical wavelength bandwidth when passing through the filter twice, and the insertion loss for both the transmission output and the reflection output is minimum. Having identical wavelength bandwidth implies that the wavelength bandwidth of lights emitted out of the transmission output is not reduced because the lights pass through the filter twice and cancel out each other. On the other hand, minimum insertion loss for both the reflection output and the transmission output implies that the performance of the WDM is optimal.

FIG. 1(a) is a sectional view of a transmission-type wavelength division multiplexer (WDM) according to a prior art. As shown in FIG. 1(a), the WDM 11 contains a fiber pigtail 111, a GRaded-INdex (GRIN) lens 112, a filter 113, a second GRIN lens 119, and a second fiber pigtail 114, all adhered together with one another by an adhesive 118. A common input fiber 115 and a reflection output fiber 116 are extended from the fiber pigtail 111 and a transmission output fiber 117 is extended from the second fiber pigtail 114. In a typical operation of the WDM 11, a multi-wavelength light signal shoots into the WDM 11 via the common input fiber 115 and passes through the GRIN lens 112. The filter 113 is designed to allow only lights within a specific band of wavelength to pass but reflect lights outside the specific band of wavelength. Therefore, the lights within the specific band of wavelength pass through the filter 113 and are coupled to the transmission output fiber 117 via the GRIN lens 119. The reflected lights on the other hand are coupled to the reflection output fiber 116 via the GRIN lens 112. For this type of WDM 11, the input light signal passes through the filter 113 only once and has a moderate adjacent channel isolation about 30 dB.
FIG. 1(b) is a sectional view of a reflection-type WDM according to a prior art. As shown in FIG. 1(b), the WDM 12 contains a fiber pigtail 121, a cannular spacer 122, a GRIN lens 123, a filter 124, and a reflection mirror 125, all adhered together with one another by an adhesive 129. A common input fiber 126, a reflection output fiber 127, and a transmission output fiber 128 are extended from the fiber pigtail 121.
In a typical operation of the WDM 12, a multi-wavelength light signal shoots into the WDM 12 via the common input fiber 126 and passes through the GRIN lens 123. The filter 124 has a multi-layer dielectric interference coating which allows only lights within a specific band of wavelength to pass, but reflects lights outside the band of wavelength. The lights within the specific band of wavelength therefore pass through the filter 124 and are reflected by the reflection mirror 125 to pass through the filter 124 one more time. The GRIN lens 123 then focuses the lights to the transmission output fiber 128 of the fiber pigtail 121. The lights outside the specific band of wavelength are reflected by the filter 124 and focused by the GRIN lens 123 to the reflection output fiber 127 of the fiber pigtail 121.
For this type of WDM 12, lights are filtered twice by a single filter 124 to achieve significantly higher adjacent channel isolation. Moreover, as only a single GRIN lens 123 and a single fiber pigtail 121 are required, the WDM 12 has a much smaller form factor. However, it should be noted that the angle of incidence for lights entering into the filter 124 is inversely proportional to the transmitted wavelength of lights allowed to pass through the filter 124. More specifically, the larger the angle of incidence is, the shorter the transmitted wavelength gets, and the smaller the angle of incidence is, the longer the transmitted wavelength gets. Therefore, in real life application, the reflection-type WDM should be designed in a way that the lights will have identical angle of incidence when passing through the filter twice. In this way, the transmitted wavelength will not get shorter due to the lights' two passage through the filter and canceling out each other. In addition, another important design consideration for the reflection-type WDM is to have a structure that can minimize the insertion loss both at the transmission output and the reflection output. A smaller insertion loss implies that less amount of energy is lost during the lights' travel through the WDM.

Wavelength division multiplexer and fiber arrangement thereof


Disclosed are various embodiments for implementing a zooming application that pairs an optical head mounted display (OHMD) device with an electroencephalogram (EEG) sensor to facilitate the control and the level of magnification as well as the text-to-speech conversion of any text depicted on an optical head mounted display device. The zooming application may be configured to perform various operations such as, for example, zoom-in, zoom-out, text-to-speech, freeze, and/or other operations on an image as well as text depicted on an optical head mounted display device in response to a triggering signal obtained from the electroencephalogram (EEG) sensor, motion detecting sensor, neural implant, or other sensor.

Many people suffer from visual impairment conditions, such as, for example, glaucoma, macular degeneration, retinitis pigmentosa, and/or other diseases that may cause an individual's eyesight to degrade and could potentially lead to blindness. People with low vision can experience difficulty performing everyday tasks, such as reading text, recognizing familiar faces or the edges of steps. As a result, independent living for people with low vision is threatened. Therefore, there is a need to assist people in resolving the daily challenges of living with a visual impairment.


An integrated multimedia input/output port connector assembly includes a bracket having a platform supported by opposite side panels to define a substantially closed upper chamber and a lower chamber. The upper chamber forms a rear opening between the side panels and a rear lid is removably attached to the side panels by means of sliding rail-groove engagement to close the opening. Three audio jacks are retained in the upper chamber with plug receiving bores of the jack exposed through cutoffs defined in the front panel. A DVI connector is received in the lower chamber. The DVI connector has a housing forming grooves on opposite side surfaces thereof for slidingly engaging with rails formed inside the lower chamber for guiding the DVI connector into the lower chamber. Steps are formed on the housing of the DVI connector for engaging retaining ribs formed inside the lower chamber for securing the DVI connector in the lower chamber. An inner wall is formed inside the lower chamber and closely next to a lower portion of the rear lid to define channels therebetween for receiving and retaining leads of the audio jacks.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to the field of electrical connectors and more particular to a connector assembly comprising audio and video output port connectors integrated together as a single unit.
2. The Related Arts
Electrical connectors are widely used to connect electrical apparatus. Computers are an example of the electrical apparatus that take advantage of electrical connector in connection with peripheral devices. The current trend of multi-media in the computer industry requires audio and video output ports to be provided in personal computers.
One of the commonly used audio output port in computers is the so-called xe2x80x9cAudio Jacksxe2x80x9d. Usually, a set of three audio jacks is commonly mounted on the mother board of the computer, functioning to receive/transmit audio signals. On the other hand, the video output port is usually used to connect a computer monitor to a computer. One of the currently used video output ports is the so call xe2x80x9cDVI (Digital Visual Interface) connectorxe2x80x9d which allows connection between a computer and a visual monitor, such as an LCD (Light Emitting Diode) panel. Conventionally, the DVI connector and the audio jacks are separately mounted to the computer mother board. This, of course, complicates the manufacturing of the computer mother board and increase costs of labor.
Further, mounting video and audio output ports separately on the computer mother board require a large amount of space on the mother board. This is adverse to the trend of miniaturization of the computer industry.
It is thus desirable to combine the audio and video output ports together as a single unit to overcome the above discussed disadvantages.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an integrated multimedia input/output port connector assembly comprising a video output port stacked below a set of audio output ports as a single unit to simplify the manufacture of circuit boards with the input/output ports mounted thereon.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an integrated multimedia input/output port connector assembly comprising a video output port stacked below audio output ports for reducing footprint of the output ports on a circuit board.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a stacked connector comprising different multimedia output ports stacked over each other as a single unit for reducing labor and costs in mounting the output ports to circuit boards.
Yet a further object of the present invention is to provide an integrated multimedia output port assembly for computers.
To achieve the above objects, an integrated multimedia input/output port connector assembly in accordance with the present invention comprises a bracket having a platform supported by opposite side panels to define a substantially closed upper chamber and a lower chamber. The upper chamber forms a rear opening between the side panels and a rear lid is removably attached to the side panels by means of sliding rail-groove engagement to close the opening. Three audio jacks are retained in the upper chamber with plug receiving bores of the jack exposed through cutoffs defined in the front panel. A DVI connector is received in the lower chamber. The DVI connector has a housing forming grooves on opposite side surfaces thereof for slidingly engaging with rails formed inside the lower chamber for guiding the DVI connector into the lower chamber. Steps are formed on the housing of the DVI connector for engaging retention ribs formed inside the lower chamber for securing the DVI connector in the lower chamber. An inner wall is formed inside the lower chamber and closely next to a lower portion of the rear lid to define channels therebetween for receiving and retaining leads of the audio jacks.

Integrated multimedia input/output port connector assembly


A retractable stroller comprises a pair of push arms, a pair of second sliding mounts and a pair of foot rest mount. The pair of push arms are slidably and retractably coupling with a pair of front struts. The pair of second sliding mounts are fixedly mounted on the lower ends of the push arms in a way of slidable along the front struts; each sliding mount formed with an opening in a radial direction, and the pair of foot rest mounts are usable for connecting a foot support element therebetween for support an occupant's feet at an appropriate height. The pair of foot rest mounts are fixedly attached to the front struts in a position aligned with the opening so as to permit the second sliding mounts capable of sliding along the front struts and passing over the foot rest mount without obstacle of the foot rest mount.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a stroller, especially to a retractable stroller equipped with a pair of foot rest mounts for installing a foot support element therebetween at an appropriate height, which does not cause any obstacle to the downward sliding of the push arms when collapsing the retractable stroller in to a compact configuration.
2. Description of the Related Art
A typical retractable stroller are featuring with a pair of push arms capable of sliding along the front strut so as to retract in length of the stroller when collapsing into a compact configuration. In order to avoid the foot support element cause an obstacle to the sliding of the push arms, the foot support element is normally arranged as low as possible, which can even be lowered to a position near to the front wheels.
However, according to a design standard for stroller products, the appropriate distance from the seat surface to the foot support element is ranging from 200 to 230 mm, otherwise the occupant's feet can not be supported in a comfortable condition. However, opt for the priority about to provide the occupant with comfortable feet support, or to lower the foot support for avoiding the obstacle to the sliding of the push arms, is always a dilemma to the designers and engineers.


A load carrying rack for vehicles having hinged rear doors or windows that is adapted to be positioned close to the rear of the vehicle during travel but can be manually swung or rotated out of the way of the door or window operation when access to the rear of the vehicle is desired, comprising a cantilever beam securable to the vehicle and extending rearwardly of the vehicle frame, a load carrying bracket proximate the rear accesses of the vehicle and extending rearwardly and longitudinally of the vehicle, a plurality of arms interconnecting the bracket and the cantilever beam and having at least one pivotal interconnection therebetween, whereby the load carrying bracket is rotatable about the pivotal interconnection to a position away from interference with the opening and closing of the rear accesses of the vehicle, including the trunk lids, doors and windows. An alternative embodiment is also disclosed wherein the load carrying bracket is replaced with a receiving hitch mounted on one of the plurality of arms so as to accommodate the use of a prior art load carrier with the pivotal arm assembly.

Rear end mounted bicycle racks for vans and other types of vehicles that have rearwardly opening doors and windows are known. The racks have traditionally been mounted directly on the vehicle's trunk lids, rear windows or bumpers or built on a cantilever beam that is inserted into a rectangular tube that primarily serves as a trailer hitch. The tube is secured to the vehicle frame and is disposed along the longitudinal axis of the vehicle so as to extend to the rear end of the vehicle. The problem with rear end mounted bicycle racks on these type of vehicles is the potential interference between the rack and the open position of the doors or windows.
The solution to the problem has been a singular one. Lengthen the cantilever beam so that the bicycles are carried outside the radius of the door and window travel. This resolution of the problem, however, creates yet other problems. The bicycle load is so far rearward of the vehicle that the effective length of the vehicle is extended by six feet or so. Additionally, the extended cantilever beam becomes insecure and flexible, creating an unstable load.
Accordingly, it is the primary object of the present invention to provide a rear end mounted bicycle rack for vehicles in which access to the rear end of the vehicle through trunk lids, rear doors or windows is desired.
Another object of the invention is to provide a rear end mounted bicycle rack for a vehicle that supports one or more bicycles close to the rear end of the vehicle.
A further object of the invention is to provide a load carrying rack for a vehicle that is selectively pivotal so as to permit the load carrying rack to be swung from a storage position to an entry access position, the later permitting the rear doors or windows of the vehicle to be accessible without dismounting the load and without interference with the opening and closing of the rear doors or windows of the vehicle.
Another object of the invention is to provide a pivotal supporting frame assembly that will carry an adapter to receive the upright post of a prior art nonpivotal load carrying rack, thus providing the advantages of the invention for a rack already owned by a user.
Other and still further objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon a reading of the following specification, taken together with the accompanying drawings.