For disposing of liquid pig manure by composting same with solid carbonaceous matter. The composting material is contained in a trough, and is turned by means of an apron, which is supported in a carriage for a travelling along the trough. The apron carries moving rakes which lift and turn the material. The apron can be set to traverse both backwards and forwards. The apron is angled to a bottom-leading configuration during traversing, and the apron is capable of being lifted, to change the angle, when setting up for reversing the traverse.

This invention relates to the processing of animal and vegetable waste by composting, on farms, and in particular to the automation and improvement of agricultural composting.
The traditional systems for the disposal of waste agricultural materials such as pig manure are being increasingly criticised on environmental grounds. An aim of the invention is to make it possible to dispose of animal manure, especially pig manure, by adding the manure into a composting system. The systems as described herein are aimed at converting pig manure and other organic waste materials into useful material such as fertiliser, in a manner that achieves the conversion more economically and efficiently (and therefore more cost-effectively) than has been the case hitherto.
The mechanically-sophisticated composting systems as described herein, though developed mainly for disposing of pig manure, also dispose of the solid waste material, i.e the material other than the pig manure, in the compost. The systems can be utilised for disposing of vegetable and animal waste generally, as compost.
The scope of the invention is defined by the accompanying claims.
Composting systems of the type with which the invention is concerned include bays or troughs, in which the solid material to be composted is heaped. It is an aim of the present invention to add mechanical sophistication to the processing apparatus, which makes it possible to control the composting system parameters. It is an aim of the invention to control and manipulate the process so closely that differences in conditions between different areas of the batch of material can be evened out, thereby rendering the batch more homogeneous. Concentration can be brought to bear on those areas of the batch where composting is proceeding only slowly, whereby all the portions of the batch can gradually be brought to maximum efficiency. In a conventional composting system, it is the presence of slow-to-react regions that delay the completion of the batch. An aim of the invention is to eliminate the slow-to-react regions. That being done, the effect is to reduce the overall time of an aerobic composting session from the usual minimum thirty days to, often, as little as twenty days. With conventional systems, only some regions of a batch were composted at twenty days; with the invention, the aim is to have the whole batch composted in that time.
The invention is mainly intended for use with batch-processing of compost, as distinct from continuous processing. In continuous processing, typically, fresh material to be composted is added at one end to the trough every day, and the material gradually works its way along the trough (by mechanical manipulation) to the other end of the trough, in a sufficient number of days that composting is completed. However, it is difficult to achieve a consistent output with a continuous process, in that, since Tuesday""s material remains separated from Monday""s material throughout the process, it is difficult to even out variations in the material. With batch processing, the material can be mixed together, which evens out the day-to-day variations. An aim of the invention is to enable the mechanical manipulation needed for mixing the material (which thereby evens out variations in the material), to be combined with the mechanical manipulation needed for turning, lifting, and aerating the material (which thereby promotes the bio-chemical composting reactions).
The apparatus as described herein may be used predominantly as a means for disposing of the pig manure. Pig manure being mainly liquid, it is difficult and expensive to turn pig manure into useful fertiliser. Pig manure generally will not compost itself of its own accord, but rather it has to be mixed with some solid carbonaceous vegetable matter in order to create the conditions in which the (aerobic) micro-biological composting reactions can commence.
In treating the pig manure, if the required carbonaceous vegetable matter is available on the farm (corn cobs, straw, etc), that can be used. If not, solid carbonaceous material should be brought in. Brought-in material can be e.g sawdust from a sawmill; carbonaceous material diverted from a landfill, e.g leaves, paper, etc; or such other carbonaceous degradable material as can be obtained cheaply.
The mechanical sophistication needed for the tight control of the process is achieved by arranging for an apron to traverse back and forth through the composting material. The apron carries moving blades for lifting and turning and aerating the composting material. As described, the apron is two-sided; that is to say, the apron can be set to operate in either direction along the trough, and the blades are arranged for direct contact with the material in both directions of traverse.
With the use of the apparatus as described herein, because of the ability for close control of the composting processes, it becomes worthwhile to monitor the parameters of the composting reactions closely, and to make changes accordingly. Treatment materials can be added, aeration can be applied, traverse speeds and traverse frequency can be changed, and so forth. The apparatus can be adapted for slowing down the traverse speed of the apron in areas where aeration is not so advanced, enabling an increased manipulation of the material, to break the material up and expose it to the air to a greater extent in those areas.
The apparatus can be set for traversing the apron back and forth. That is to say, the apparatus is such that the apron can be reversed. Now, in this kind of processing, the apron lies at a substantial angle to the vertical, typically thirty degrees; so, in order to reverse the apron, the apron has to go through a position where the apron is upright. As such, the apron has to be lifted (i.e raised up off the floor of the trough) to enable the apron to pass through the upright position. Means for raising the apron, for reversing the apron, are provided in the apparatus as described herein.
The ability to raise the apron means the apron can be traversed back and forth over and through the composting material. The system can be made very sophisticated, with instrumentation, fine tuning of liquid spray to achieve moisture content, air blasting to give the right oxygen content, and, as mentioned, the means to render the batch as homogenous as possible. With conventional systems, it was not possible to refine the composting process, because close control of the process was not available. It is an aim of the invention that the system now can be refined to the extent as to make it worthwhile to automate the control of the composting process.
Preferably, in the case where the composting process is being carried out primarily as a way of disposing of liquid manure, the spreading of the liquid manure onto the solid carbonaceous material can be automated and controlled. The material can be monitored for moisture content, and the liquid sprayed accordingly.
Patent publications U.S. Pat. No. 5,459,071 (Finn, October 1995); U.S. Pat. No. 5,405,780 (Hamilton, April 1995); and U.S. Pat. No. 5,149,196 (Piacentino, September 1992) might be considered relevant to the present invention. However, the apparatus illustrated in these publications have not had the ability for the close control of the parameters that comes from back and forth movement of the apron, as described herein.


An occupant restraint apparatus includes an anchor adapted to be fixed to a vehicle body, a lap belt having a tip side fixed to the anchor, and an inflatable portion formed at the tip side, an inflator for introducing gas from the tip side to inflate the inflatable portion, and a cover. The cover includes a first masking portion for covering the anchor, and a second masking portion formed separately from the first masking portion and attached to the first masking portion for covering at least the tip side of the lap belt.

In FIG. 2 of WO 01/036235 (PCT Japanese Translation Patent Publication No. 2003-525797), a structure is described that has a retractor mounted on the floor of a vehicle and allows the tip side of an inflatable lap belt to be retracted by the retractor. In this prior example, an inflator is mounted on the vehicle floor and gas is introduced into the lap belt through a special structure, so called a plenum.    [Patent Document 1] PCT Japanese Translation Patent Publication No. 2003-525797
In the PCT Japanese Translation Patent Publication No. 2003-525797, as shown in FIG. 2 thereof, an inflator and a gas supply tube connecting the inflator to a plenum (the tip side of a lap belt) are exposed in a vehicle cabin. There is therefore a risk that the inflator is directly sprayed with water or covered with dust, or that the inflator and/or the gas supply tube are damaged due to rubbing or the like. Furthermore, the appearance of the interior of the vehicle cabin is defiled.


A variable motion device displaying interactive rocking and rotating motion and having a geometrically eccentric center of mass, The device is supported upon a teetering surface bearing against a corresponding counterteetering surface, At least one of these surfaces is curved, so that the device wobbles. These features, which are concealed from an observer, cause compound or unpredictable precession in response to the device being rocked or similarly moved by a rider. Further ride altering effects are produced by powered pushing or pulling devices. In another alternative embodiment, initial Potation is produced by a powered source. The device, which finds its best application as an amusement ride, accommodates one or more riders.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a variable motion device wherein input rocking and rotating motion are imparted thereto, and the device responds with compound or unexpected alterations, primarily precession, to the initial motion. A preferred application is amusement rides.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Amusement rides essentially powered by the user are exemplified by U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,920,889, issued to Wilmer B. Keeling on Jan. 12, 1960, and 3,268,223, issued to Harold C. Woodsum, Jr. on Aug. 23, 1966. Keeling provides a seat located at the end of a Dole pivotally mounted at a base, and constrained to move within limits dictated by a circular travel area. Woodsum discloses a seat for one or more occupants mounted atop a pole which is solidly anchored to a floor or base. The seat member moves in whipsaw motion responsive to flexing of the pole.
A small carousel is seen in U.S. Pat. No. 3,397,881, issued to Henry F. Hedgecock on Aug. 20, 1968. The carousel is supported on a central stake driven into the ground below.
The above amusement rides do not provide compound or unexpected motions.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,441,271, issued to Richard Palacios on Apr. 29, 1969, discloses an exerciser providing a plurality of rotating platforms, each supported on ball bearings. Although each platform rotates independently of the others, no compound motion is provided. Another exercise device is seen in U.S. Pat. No. 4,605,224, issued on Aug. 12, 1986 to Masakatsu Torii. The device has a platform mounted on an inverted dome, thus wobbling in response to movement by the person exercising. Movement of the device is responsive to balance and bodily control of the user, no unpredictable motions being present apart from abrupt response to the user's movement.
Irregular and unexpected motions are exhibited by a top, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,594,944, issued to Herbert F. Rondeau et al. on Jul. 27, 1971. The subject of this patent is a spinning toy top, and not an amusement ride. A general purpose device for producing omnidirectional rotation, but no random or unpredictable rotation, is seen in U.S. Pat. No. 4,924,718, issued on May 15, 1990 to Marvin J. Glover.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,431,183, issued on Feb. 14, 1984 to Paul E. Reimann, discloses a training or amusement device which is suspended from above. The device rotates and can simultaneously bob up and down on its suspension means.
An amusement ride having a partially enclosed seat is seen in U.S. Pat. No. 4,953,849, issued to Victoria K. Reed on Sep. 4, 1990. The seat is supported on a member having a convex surface teetering on a base member having a convex surface of greater radius of curvature. No compound or unexpected component is asserted to be present in the tilting and rotation produced by the ride.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.


Various methods, systems, and apparatus for implementing aspects of a digital mapping system are disclosed. One such method includes sending a location request from a client-side computing device to a map tile server, receiving a set of map tiles in response to the location request, assembling said received map tiles into a tile grid, aligning the tile grid relative to a clipping shape, and displaying the result as a map image. One apparatus according to aspects of the present invention includes means for sending a location request from a client-side computing device to a map tile server, means for receiving a set of map tiles in response to the location request, means for assembling said received map tiles into a tile grid, means for aligning the tile grid relative to a clipping shape, and means for displaying the result as a map image. Such an apparatus may further include direction control or zoom control objects as interactive overlays on the displayed map image, and may also include route or location overlays on the map image.

1. Field of the Invention
Implementations consistent with the principles of the invention relate generally to mapping systems, and more specifically, to mapping systems in a digital environment.
2. Description of Related Art
Computerized mapping systems have been developed for facilitating travel planning. For example, travel-planning Internet websites are commercially available and well-known. Such websites typically permit a user to input a query with a requested location so that a map associated with the requested location may be provided to the user. Also, well-known websites allow the user to enter a start point and an end point for travel, which are then used to calculate and provide travel directions to the user.
By way of background for the detailed discussion of certain aspects of the present invention that will follow, FIGS. 1-4 depict certain aspects of an exemplary conventional digital mapping system. FIG. 1 illustrates a web browser user interface 100 that displays a map request entry web page 105. As shown, a user has entered a desired location of 353 Main St., Billings, Mont. 45619. After entering the desired location to be mapped, as shown in FIG. 1, the user then requests a map (typically from a remote server) by selecting a "Request Map" button 110. A map image is then typically generated at the remote server, transmitted to the user's computing device, and eventually displayed on the web browser user interface 100 in a map display web page.
FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary map display web page 200 on a web browser user interface 100. Here, a map display webpage 200 displays the results of the map request from FIG. 1. The displayed information generally consists of a map image 205, which depicts the requested location and surrounding area. As shown in FIG. 2, the requested location is identified on the map image 205 by an address icon 208, and the address icon 208 is typically located in the center of map image 205. The requested location and address icon 208 may also be displayed on a map legend window 210 within map display web page 200. The address icon 208 is typically a simple two-dimensional image which, if displayed within map image 205 in close proximity with other such icons, may create visual clutter and confuse or mislead the user as to where each icon is actually pointing within map image 205.
The map webpage 200 may also display buttons or other user interface objects that may be selected to control the manner in which map image 205 is displayed. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, zoom control objects 220 are generally provided to allow the user to "zoom in" or "zoom out" and thereby affect the displayed scale of map image 205 accordingly, typically while retaining the desired location marked by address icon 208 at the center of the image. Also, direction buttons or other similar user interface objects, such as "down arrow" direction button 215, may be provided to allow the user to "pan" the image, such as by displaying more of the map information that was previously hidden because it was beyond the "southern" boundary of map image 205, while shifting and hiding a corresponding portion of the previously displayed "northern" portion of the map information. As shown in FIG. 2, such image control objects are conventionally displayed outside the boundary area of the map image 205, reducing the amount of space available for the map image 205 within the map display web page 200.
Typically, when image control objects (such as zoom control objects 200 or direction button 215 shown in FIG. 2) are selected, an HTTP request is transmitted to a server, which then transmits a new image containing the new map information to be displayed at the selected zoom level.
Specifically, in an exemplary system, as shown in FIG. 3, a web browser 300 sends an HTTP request containing location information for a requested map image to a web server 305. The HTTP request may consist of location data received via a web browser user interface 100 through a data entry web page 105, as illustrated in FIG. 1. For example, as shown if FIG. 1 and described earlier, a user may enter the following desired location to be mapped: 353 Main St., Billings, Mont., 45619. The user then requests the directions by selecting a "Request Map" button 110, and this selection event eventually causes the HTTP Request shown in FIG. 3 to be transmitted (directly or indirectly) from web browser 300 to web server 305. In response to the HTTP request, the web server 305 sends a database query ("DB Query") to a map vectors database 310. The map vectors database 310 typically determines the corresponding vectors for the desired location data and transmits these vectors to the web server 305. The web server 305 then typically generates a bitmap image of the desired map using the received vectors, and converts the bitmap into an image format that is supported by the web browser 300 (e.g., GIF, PNG, JPEG, and the like.). The web server 305 then transmits the image to the web browser 300, generally embedding it within Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) code. The map image is then displayed to the user via the web browser user interface 100 (as shown in FIG. 2 and described earlier). Thus, when the user requests a new map view, e.g., by entering a postal address, or by clicking a navigation link next to a current map view, the web browser 300 sends to a web server 305 a request indicating the boundaries of the new map view. The web server 305 in turn extracts the corresponding vector-based map data from a database, and draws a bitmap image of the map. The web server 305 then converts the bitmap image to an image format supported by the web browser 300 and returns the image, sometimes embedded in HTML, to the web browser 300 for display to the user. Commercial implementations of such systems include AOL's MapQuest (http://www.mapquest.com), Yahoo's Telcontar-based "SmartView" maps (http://maps.yahoo.com), and Microsoft's MapPoint.net suite (e.g., http://maps.msn.com).
FIG. 4 illustrates a second exemplary system used for providing map data to a web browser. As shown in FIG. 4, a web browser 300 transmits an HTTP request to a web server 305 in the same manner that was described earlier with respect to FIG. 3. Upon receiving HTTP request from web browser 300, the web server 305 shown in FIG. 4 transmits a database query ("DB Query") containing the requested location data to a map raster database 410. The map raster database 410 extracts the appropriate image based on the database query from among a larger pre-rendered map image. The requested image is then transmitted to the web server 305, which then transmits the image to the web browser 300 as described earlier. Thus, in a digital mapping system as shown in FIG. 4, the steps of extracting vectors and drawing a map image are replaced by simply extracting the appropriate part of a larger, pre-rendered image. Commercial implementations of such systems include Britain's MultiMaps (http://multimaps.com) and Australia's WhereIs (http://www.whereis.com.au). It should also be noted that such systems typically generate the map images from the same vector-based files that would also be used to generate printed versions of such maps.
Certain providers of digital mapping web sites have observed that some of the above problems may be overcome by transmitting a number of smaller images (known as "tiles") from the web server 305 to the web browser 300. These smaller tiles can then be assembled by the web browser 300 into a larger image. For example Microsoft's TerraServer USA site (at http://terraserver.homeadvisor.msn.com/) currently uses a tiling approach for displaying satellite images.


Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communication are described. A wireless device may identify a transmission mode that specifies a rank indicator (RI) feedback parameter for channel state indicator (CSI) reporting, and may determine that the appropriate CSI configuration excludes an RI. The device may then send CSI reports with a precoding matrix indicator (PMI) and without the RI, and it may communicate using the transmission mode. In some cases, the PMI may be based on a default rank (e.g., rank of 1 for device with single antenna). In some cases, a category or capability of the device may be identified, and the determination that the CSI configuration excludes the RI may be based on the category or capability. In other cases, the CSI configuration may be based on channel conditions. In some cases, a reference signal (e.g., a CRS) may be used as feedback depending on the device's capabilities.

The following relates generally to wireless communication and more specifically to channel state information (CSI) reporting and transmission mode for enhanced machine type communication (MTC).
Wireless communications systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, and so on. These systems may be capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing the available system resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power). Examples of such multiple-access systems include code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems, and orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems. A wireless multiple-access communications system may include a number of base stations, each simultaneously supporting communication for multiple communication devices, which may be otherwise known as user equipment (UE).
In some cases, a UE may be a low cost or low complexity device (e.g., an MTC device). For example, the UE may have a single antenna and may communicate with a base station using a transmission mode that is also used for devices with multiple antennas. Channel feedback rules, including CSI reporting, specified by the transmission mode may be based on or selected for communication with the multi-antenna devices without regard to impacts on the low cost, low complexity UEs within the system.

Channel station information reporting and transmission mode for enhanced machine type communication


A clutch device for a gas turbine engine having a sliding coupling mounted to the engine and slidingly displaceable therein. The sliding coupling is mountable between the gearbox and the output shaft. The sliding coupling is continuously engageable with the gearbox and is selectively engageable with the output shaft to mechanically couple the output shaft to the gearbox. The sliding coupling is slidingly displaceable between a first position in which the sliding coupling is mechanically coupled to the output shaft to transmit a rotational drive of the output shaft to the gearbox, and a second position in which the sliding coupling is disengaged from the output shaft. A piston is disposed within the engine and acts on the sliding coupling to displace the sliding coupling to at least the second position.

Aircrafts have power requirements which are not related to propulsion. These can include ground services, such as providing air to the cabin, providing electrical power for the aircraft's system, and assisting with main engine start. These ground services are generally provided by one or more of the main propulsion gas turbine engines of the aircraft, or an auxiliary power unit (APU) on larger aircraft.


Symmetrical, modular blocks each having a plurality of fixed, equally spaced, gauging elements, namely loopers, needles, and reeds protruding therefrom, the blocks are positioned on the sides of the guide bars of a tufting machine, each guide bar having transverse channels at equally spaced intervals. These channels respectively receive guide bars of the blocks when the blocks are removably positioned on the sides of the guide bar. Bolts or screws secure the blocks in place on their guide bars so that their needles, loopers, and reeds are appropriately gauged and positioned for tufting action, protruding toward the tufting zone.

This invention relates to a tufting machine with self-aligning gauging modules and is more particularly concerned with a tufting machine with replaceable gauging elements which can be readily installed and removed.
Tufting machines are products which must be built with precision so that the needles of the machine are accurately spaced from each other along the needle bar or bars and the loopers are accurately uniformly spaced from each other so that their bills respectively pass closely adjacent to the needles for engaging and holding loops of yarns carried by the needles. Furthermore, the spacing of the reeds must be accurate so as not to interfere with the travel of the needles. When building a machine, any error or tolerance in positioning these gauging elements, namely the needles, the loopers, and the reeds, may accumulate as the work progresses. The present invention seeks to establish a consistency for all such cross over parts throughout the machine.
In the past, holder assemblies have been devised in which groups of knives for loopers have been arranged in pre-assembled or modular fashion in a knife holder, each knife holder having a guide mechanism which enables the knives, as a group, to be positioned on a carrying member of a tufting machine and maintained in appropriate alignment. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,608,934; 4,669,171; 4,691,646; and 4,693,191 illustrate such prior art knife holder assemblies in which parallel knives are disposed in juxtaposition in guide bars which are provided with guides for guiding and then clamping them in appropriate positions on a tufting machine.

Tufting machine with self-aligning gauging modules


A closure for a container, the closure comprising a top panel, a skirt extending from the periphery of the top panel, and a tamper indicating band frangibly connected to an open end of the skirt at a line of weakness, the band including a retaining segment (109) on an inner surface thereof so arranged, when the closure is in a closed position on a neck of the container, to engage under an engagement surface of a retaining structure arranged on the container neck, wherein the tamper indicating band includes at least one indent (117) arranged on an outer surface of the tamper indicating bond.

Molded plastic closures which can be threadably applied to associated containers for packaging products such as carbonated and non-carbonated beverages for example have met with widespread success in the marketplace.
Closures of this nature can be efficiently formed by compression molding and injection molding techniques, with the closures configured for tamper-evidence as may be required for some applications. These types of closures can provide highly effective sealing performance, even when used with containers having pressurized contents, with the threaded nature of the closures facilitating convenient removal, and re-application, by consumers.
In a manufacturing environment, it is desirable to be able to produce as many closures as possible in a given period of time, and for the closures to be applied to a suitable container. Therefore, in a typical molding process, a molded closure will be ejected from the molding apparatus before the closure has had time to completely cool. Particular regions of a closure can take longer to cool than others, especially if they comprise more material, and therefore have a greater mass in such regions. Such 'hot spots' can, by virtue of the fact that they take longer to cool, deform when the closure is ejected from the molding apparatus. Deformation as a result of this is particularly problematic in molding apparatus in which a fast cycle time is employed.
Generally speaking, it is desirable to reduce closure mass so that cooling is accelerated and raw material consumption is reduced and throughput increased.

Closure for a container, a tamper indicating band, a combination and a method


The invention is based on a blower (10) with an electric motor (52) whose drive shaft (40) supports a radial impeller (30) whose blower housing (14), in an end face wall (20), has an inlet opening (24) through which air is aspirated and which is adjoined by a sound damper (12) whose housing (16) is fastened to the blower housing (14) with fastening elements, wherein a common end wall (20) is provided between the housing (16) and the blower housing (14).

The invention is based on a blower according to the preamble to claim 1.
In reciprocating piston engines with three-way catalytic converters, particularly during a cold start, fresh air is blown into the exhaust system by means of secondary blowers in order to initiate an exothermic afteroxidation of uncombusted carbon compounds. The combustion process reduces the amounts of carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons in the exhaust and it is possible to rapidly bring the catalytic converter to a favorable operating temperature.
The blowers produce a large amount of noise, particularly when high flow speeds and an intense pressure increase are produced with high speeds. In order to reduce the noise, the fresh air can be aspirated through an air filter of the reciprocating piston engine. Additional lines are required for this, though, which involves higher costs. If the fresh air is aspirated from the outside air through an unsealed opening, then as a rule separate sound dampers are used in the intake region.
DE 42 05 489 A1 has disclosed a blower whose sound damper is mounted on the blower as a separate component. It has a housing cup with a flat cup bottom, a cup wall, and a housing cover that closes the cup opening. An air inlet opening in the cup wall and an air outlet conduit with a central opening in the housing cover are connected by means of a spiral conduit which is constituted by an insulating insert made of open-pored sound absorption material. In the axial direction of the sound damper, the conduit reaches from the cup bottom to the housing cover and is axially defined by these parts. The sound damper is built into an intake line of the blower by means of a connection fitting. Sound dampers of this kind can also be used for other purposes, in particular in blowers for ventilation systems of motor vehicles.
DE 196 31 664.2 has disclosed a blower with a sound damper, which has a housing with an air inlet opening on the circumference and an air outlet conduit with an air outlet opening at one end. The air outlet opening is disposed in the center or off center and is connected to an inlet opening in an end wall of the blower housing. The housing of the sound damper is fastened to the blower housing and is open in the direction of the blower, wherein the end wall serves as a common dividing wall between the blower housing and the housing of the sound damper, which has no housing cover. One layer of the sound absorption material rests directly against the blower housing. Thus the sound damper does not require a housing cover and the sound radiation of the blower is reduced.
In order to be able to mount an impeller of the blower on a drive shaft, the blower housing is divided in a plain lateral to the drive shaft. The two parts ate screw connected to each other. To that end, the parts of the blower housing have cylindrical fitting surfaces on the circumference. Bearing surfaces and fastening elements are likewise required in order to fasten the sound damper to the blower.
According to the invention, the housing of the sound damper constitutes the end wall of the blower housing and defines the chamber for the impeller. Before installation of the sound damper, the impeller can be mounted from the open end. Then, the opening of the blower housing is closed by the housing of the sound damper. This consequently replaces a part of the blower housing, thus reducing the number of parts, assembly- and fitting surfaces, and connecting means. Assembly is also simplified. In addition, the blower is shorter in the axial direction and the structure as a whole is lighter in weight.
In a suitable fashion, on its side oriented toward the blower housing, the housing of the sound damper has a collar which is inserted into a recess in the blower housing. This centers the two parts in relation to each other, wherein the sound damper can be rotated in relation to the blower around the drive axis so that the position of its air inlet opening can be easily adapted to the installation conditions in the vehicle. Advantageously, the housing of the sound damper has an additional collar formed onto it which overlaps the blower housing circumferentially. Consequently, the blower is sealed in this region so that no outside air can get into the blower and no sound can escape to the outside.
Since the sound damper according to the invention covers the entire end face of the blower, the sound radiating surface area of the blower housing is sharply reduced. In addition, the large circumference of the sound damper allows for longer conduit which likewise has a positive effect on the sound damping.
The housing of the sound damper is fastened to the blower housing by means of retaining clips, which simplifies assembly and disassembly and facilitates the alignment of the sound damper. In addition, the blower housing can be manufactured more inexpensively since fixing devices are no longer required for the fastening elements.
According to one embodiment of the invention, oriented toward the impeller, the sound damper has a disk which is preferably made of sheet metal and is clamped between the sound damper and the blower housing, thus constituting the common dividing wall. It is likewise inserted into the end face recess on the blower housing and is centered along the circumference. The sheet metal disk can be easily modified in thickness and shape, as a result of which the sound radiation spectrum can be matched to the installation conditions. Simultaneously, the insulating action is improved by the mass of the material.
In the center, the sheet metal disk has an inlet opening with a collar formed onto it which protrudes into the chamber for the impeller. The air flows into the chamber with the impeller through this inlet opening. The diameter of the inlet opening and/or the radius at the formed collar can be adapted to the optimal operating point of the blower in a simple way.

Abstract: It is proposed that the housing (16) of the sound damper (12) constitute the end wall (20) of the blower housing (14) and define the chamber (28) for the impeller (30).


A digital RF receiving system is provided for processing relatively weak analog signals transmitted in a noisy environment. The system includes a receiver for filtering and mixing the incoming signal. Automatic gain control components are provided for digitally attenuating the signal before processing by the receiver so that useful information contained in the signal will not be lost due to saturation of the amplifier within the receiver. The automatic gain control components include a high speed A/D converter, digital processor, and digital attenuator driven by the digital process in response to the signal received from the high speed A/D converter. A second relatively high speed A/D converter samples and digitizes the output signal from the receiver at a relatively high rate. A microprocessor is included for digitally filtering and processing the digitized signal from the A/D converter into useful digital information. The microprocessor further includes an auto-recursive loop for flushing valid binary data from the digitized signal. The auto-recursive loop drives a segment of the digitized signal through digital filters and predetermined number of passes with the band width of the filters being shifted prior to each pass therethrough. Valid binary data is converted to RS 232 serial output.

The present invention relates to RF receivers and in particular to an apparatus and method within a long range RF telemetry system for receiving and demodulating, using digital components, weak signals in the presence of narrow band and wide band interference.
Conventional paging systems typically consist of a central transmitter system and small portable receivers. The receivers typically do not transmit an acknowledgement that the message was received. The portable receivers are small and lightweight. However, a significant increase in size and weight would be required, using conventional technology, to enable these receivers to transmit a detectable acknowledgement back to the source of the original message.
Small, lightweight transmitters can be installed in a portable receiver such that the system remains marketable. The problem is that power is sacrificed for the reduction in size of the transmitter. Therefore, the transmission of the acknowledgement signal would only be reliable at short distances from the source of the original message or receiving station. In order for such an acknowledgement paging system to be reliable, it must be able to receive and process the weak signals over a long range in the presence of substantial interference. Conventional systems have not achieved this.
The use of direct Frequency Shift Keying (FSK) as a method of narrow band carrier modulation has been increasing steadily since the early 1980's. Its prevalence as a medium for telemetric signalling and general intelligence transmission stems in large measure from the ease with which it may be demodulated and converted to standard data protocol (i.e., RS232c). Unfortunately as FSK's use has increased, the spectrum allocated for its use has just as steadily decreased, with the end result being that co-channel interference has become a serious threat to once reliable reception. The inability of conventional discriminators and detectors to achieve capture of a signal with less than a 4:1 relative signal strength ratio is becoming a serious barrier to reliable communication, particularly from weak sources.
Devices and methods are known in the art for the demodulation of RF signals using digital technology. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,811,362 to Yester et al. discloses a low power digital receiver which automatically adjusts the level of the incoming RF signal, then digitizes the signal at variable sampling rates in order to minimize power consumption. The primary concern of the Yester device is to reduce the power consumption of the receiver.
The Yester device automatically adjusts the level of the incoming signal as necessary so that large signals will not be "clipped" by a saturated amplifier or A/D converter. If an analog signal is "clipped" by an amplifier, information above a certain amplitude is lost. "Clipping" by an A/D converter causes the production of a fixed output from the converter, regardless of input signal. A significant drawback with this device is that a delay exists before the incoming signal is attenuated. That is, before the system can react to a large incoming signal, part of that signal has been clipped. Therefore information has been lost.
Moreover, once the digital signal is recovered, it is processed by a D/A converter (See column 6, lines 48 to 51) followed by audio circuits. The level of interference that is tolerable in this type circuit is greater relative to a system in which the recovered signal must be processed entirely by digital circuits. As a result, the Yester device could not adequately digitally process the signal.
The method and apparatus of the present invention represent a novel technique for receiving weak RF signals in the presence of interference using digital circuitry. The prior art neither teaches nor suggest the method or apparatus according to the present invention.


The invention relates to an oven door (10) for closing an oven cavity (2) comprising a door glass (11) being at least partially transparent for enabling a user to look into the oven cavity and a door handle (12) for opening the door, wherein the door handle (12) comprises a projection unit (13) being adapted to project light onto an projection area of the door glass (11) in order to provide a graphical display on the door glass (11) and wherein the door glass (11) is adapted to emit or reflect light towards the space in front of the oven door (11) based on the light provided by the projection unit (13) in order to provide information to a user in front of the oven door (11).

Ovens for food preparation are well-known in prior art. Said ovens comprise a base body forming an oven cavity with a cavity opening for receiving the food to be prepared. In addition, the oven comprises a door for closing the cavity opening. The oven door acts as thermal barrier to keep the heat energy in the cavity during operation of the oven. Typically, oven doors are at least partially transparent in order to enable the user to control the food preparation process within the closed cavity. State of the art ovens comprise a user interface located above the oven door and attached to the oven base body for providing information to the user, e.g. baking temperature, baking period etc.
German patent application DE 10 2011 007 407 A1 discloses a household appliance comprising a LCD display at the household appliance door.

Oven door and oven comprising an oven door


Nucleoside analogues have structure (2) wherein Q is H or a sugar moiety or sugar analogue or a modified sugar or a nucleic backbone or backbone analogue, W is an alkylene or alkenylene chain of 0-5 carbon atoms, any of which may carry a substituent R8, X is O or N or NR12 or CR10, Xxe2x80x2 is O or S or N, provided that when Xxe2x80x2 is O or S, then X is C, Y is CH or N, R6 is NH2 or SMe or SO2Me or NHNH2, each of R7 and R8 is independently H or F or alkyl or alkenyl or aryl or acyl or a reporter moiety, R12 is independently H or alkyl or alkenyl or aryl or acyl or a reporter moiety, and R10 is H or xe2x95x90O or F or alkyl or aryl or a reporter moiety.

This invention concerns base analogues which may be used to make nucleoside analogues and nucleotide analogues which may be incorporated into nucleic acids. Some of these analogues are base-specific and may be incorporated into DNA or RNA in the place of a single native base i.e. A, T, G, or C. Other analogues have the potential for base-pairing with more than one native base or base analogue.
The 2xe2x80x2-deoxyribosides of such analogues as (1) (P: Kong Thoo Lin and Brown, 1989, Nucleic Acids Research, 17, 10373-83), N6-methoxyadenine and N6-methoxy-2,6-diaminopurine have been shown to be extremely useful in mixed sequence oligonucleotide primers used in PCR and DNA sequencing. In addition, the base pairing characteristics of the 2xe2x80x2-deoxynucleoside 5xe2x80x2-triphosphate of P have been exploited in a PCR-based random mutagenesis procedure (Zaccolo et al, 1996, J. Mol. Biol., 255, 589-603):
Synthesis of a nucleoside with a tricyclic base analogue where the third ring is between the 6 and 7 positions (purine nomenclature) was described by Schram and Townsend (1971) Tetrahedron Lett 49,. 4757-4760. However, this has a blocked hydrogen bonding face and would not be expected to participate in base pairing observed in native nucleic acids or, as a triphosphate, in polymerase mediated incorporation reactions.
The present invention provides a compound having the structure(2)
where
W is an alkylene or alkenylene chain of 0-5 carbon atoms any of which may carry a substituent R8,
X is O or N or NR12 or CR10,
Xxe2x80x2 is O or S or N,
provided that when Xxe2x80x2 is O or S, X is C,
Y is CH or N,
R6 is H or NH2 or SMe or SO2Me or NHNH2,
each of R7 and R8 is independently H or F or alkyl or alkenyl or aryl or acyl or a reporter moiety,
each of R9 and R12 is independently H or alkyl or alkenyl or aryl or acyl or a reporter moiety,
R10 is H or xe2x95x90O or F or alkyl or alkenyl or aryl or acyl or a reporter moiety,
the dotted line indicates one optional double bond,
Q is H or a sugar moiety or a sugar analogue including but not limited to the structure
xe2x80x83where
Z is O, S, Se, SO, NR9 or CH2,
R1, R2, R3 and R4 are the same or different and each is H, OH, F, NH2, N3, O-hydrocarbyl or a reporter moiety,
R5 is OH, SH or NH2 or mono-, di- or tri-phosphate or -thiophosphate, or corresponding boranophosphate,
or one of R2 and R5 is a phosphoramidite or other group for incorporation in a polynucleotide chain, or a reporter moiety,
or Q consists of one of the following modified sugar structures
xe2x80x83or Q is a nucleic acid backbone consisting of sugar-phosphate repeats or modified sugar-phosphate repeats (e.g. LNA) (Koshkin et al, (1998), Tetrahedron 54, 3607-30), or a backbone analogue such as peptide or polyamide nucleic acid (PNA). (Nielsen et al, 1991, Science 254, 1497-1500).
Preferably:
W=CH2
X=O
Xxe2x80x2=N
Y=CH or N
R6=H or NH2
R7=H or reporter moiety.
The dotted line in the structure (2) shows that either xe2x80x94Xxe2x80x94CHR7xe2x80x94Wxe2x80x94 or xe2x80x94Xxe2x95x90CR7xe2x80x94Wxe2x80x94 or xe2x80x94Xxe2x80x94CR7xe2x95x90Wxe2x80x94 is present. Of course, when X is O the second of these structures is not possible.
Depending on the identity of W, the ring containing Xxe2x80x2 and X contains from 6 to 11 members.
Alkyl, alkenyl, aryl and acyl groups herein preferably contain 1-20 carbon atoms.
Any unfilled valencies are to be understood as being filled by H.
The 2-deoxynucleoside analogue termed as P (Kong, Thoo Lin and Brown, 1989, Nucleic Acids Research 17, 10373-83) can exist in two tautomeric forms as indicated below:
Base analogues of this invention where Xxe2x80x2=N and X=O or N or CR10 also exhibit similar types of tautomerism, e.g.
The exact ratio of these tautomers can be affected by the X substituent. The changes in tautomeric ratio can have subtle effects on the hybridisation properties of the analogue. For convention only one tautomer is drawn within this patent though it is implicit that both can be present.
When Q is H, these compounds are base analogues. When Q is a sugar moiety or sugar analogue or a modified sugar, these compounds are nucleotide analogues or nucleoside analogues. When Q is a nucleic acid backbone or a backbone analogue, these compounds are herein called nucleic acids or polynucleotides.
In the context of the this invention, a nucleotide is a naturally occurring compound comprising a base and a sugar backbone including a phosphate. A nucleoside is a corresponding compound in which a backbone phosphate may or may not be present. Nucleotide analogues and nucleoside analogues are analogous compounds having different bases and/or different backbones. A nucleoside analogue is a compound which is capable of forming part of a nucleic acid (DNA or RNA) chain, and is there capable of base-pairing with a base in a complementary chain or base stacking in the appropriate nucleic acid chain. A nucleoside analogue may be specific, by pairing with only one complementary nucleotide; or degenerate, by base pairing with two or three of the natural bases, e.g. with pyrimidines (T/C) or purines (A/G); or universal, by pairing with each of the natural bases without discrimination; or it may pair with another analogue or itself.
In one preferred aspect of the invention, the base analogue is linked to a sugar moiety such as ribose or deoxyribose to form a nucleoside analogue. When the group R5 is triphosphate, the nucleoside triphosphate analogues of the invention are capable of being incorporated by enzymatic means into nucleic acid chains.
In another preferred aspect, the nucleoside analogue or nucleotide analogue which contains a base analogue as defined is labelled with at least one reporter moiety. A reporter moiety may be any one of various things. It may be a radioisotope by means of which the nucleoside analogue is rendered easily detectable, for example 32-P or 33-P or 35-S incorporated in a phosphate or thiophosphate or phosphoramidite or H-phosphonate group, or alternatively 3-H or 14-C or an Iodine isotope. It may be an isotope detectable by mass spectrometry or NMR. It may be a signal moiety e.g. an enzyme, hapten, fluorophore, chromophore, chemiluminescent group, Raman label, electrochemical label or signal compound adapted for detection by mass spectrometry. The reporter moiety may comprise a signal moiety and a linker group joining it to the remainder of the molecule, which linker group may be a chain of up to 30 carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and sulphur atoms, rigid or flexible, unsaturated or saturated as well known in the field. The reporter moiety may comprise a solid surface and a linker group joining it to the rest of the molecule. Linkage to a solid surface enables the use of nucleic acid fragments containing nucleoside analogues to be used in assays including bead based probe assays or assays involving arrays of nucleic acid samples or oligonucleotides which are interrogated with e.g. oligonucleotide or nucleic acid probes. The reporter moiety may consist of a linker group with a terminal or other reactive group, e.g. NH2, OH, COOH, CONH2 or SH, by which a signal moiety and/or solid surface may be attached, before or after incorporation of the nucleoside analogue in a nucleic acid chain, before or after hybridisation.
Two (or more) reporter groups may be present, e.g. a signal group and a solid surface, or a hapten and a different signal group, or two fluorescent signal groups to act as donor and acceptor. Various formats of these arrangements may be useful for separation purposes.
Purine and pyrimidine nucleoside derivatives labelled with reporter moieties are well known and well described in the literature. Labelled nucleoside derivatives have the advantage of being readily detectable during sequencing or other molecular biology techniques.
R1, R2, R3 and R4 may each be H, OH, F, NH2, N3, O-alkyl or a reporter moiety. Thus ribonucleosides, and deoxyribonucleosides and dideoxyribonucleosides are envisaged together with other nucleoside analogues. These sugar substituents may contain a reporter moiety in addition to one or two present in the base.
R5 is OH, SH, NH2 or mono-, di- or tri-phosphate or -thiophosphate or corresponding boranophosphate. Alternatively, one of R2 and R5 may be a phosphoramidite or H-phosphonate or methylphosphonate or phosphorothioate, or an appropriate linkage to a solid surface e.g. hemisuccinate controlled pore glass, or other group for incorporation, generally by chemical means, in a polynucleotide chain. The use of phosphoramidites and related derivatives in synthesising oligonucleotides is well known and described in the literature.
In the new base or nucleoside analogues to which this invention is directed, at least one reporter moiety is preferably present in the base analogue or in the sugar moiety or a phosphate group. Reporter moieties may be introduced into the sugar moiety of a nucleoside analogue by literature methods (e.g. J. Chem. Soc. Chem. Commun. 1990, 1547-8; J. Med. Chem., 1988, 31. 2040-8). Reporters in the form of isotopic labels may be introduced into phosphate groups by literature methods (Analytical Biochemistry, 214, 338-340, 1993; WO 95/15395).
Examples within this specification have shown how analogues where W is one carbon atom can readily be synthesised and how reactive groups and signal moieties can be included as required. It has been found that two basic approaches to tricyclic formation can be undertaken. A leaving group can be generated at the 6 position (purine nomenclature) of the precursor bicyclic base heterocycle and subsequently displaced by an incoming nucleophile species attached to a side arm such as an hydroxylamine derivative in example 1.10. This approach was found to be not applicable under the conditions tried when W=1 and Y=N. Instead, the synthetic approach of initially displacing a leaving group in the 6 position (purine nomenclature) with hydroxylamine (Example 4.8) and then effecting ring closure by reaction of this with triisopropylbenzenesulphonyl chloride and displacement with an alkoxide derivative was found to be effective (Example 4.11). A similar strategy was applied in making 5-xcex2-D-ribofuranosyl-3H,5H,7H-pyrimido[4,5-c][1,2]oxazol-6-one, a bicyclic base analogue (Loakes and Brown, 1994, Nucleosides and Nucleotides 13, 679-706). By such a strategy the previously unmade compound W=zero carbons Y=CH or N could then be prepared.
Nucleoside analogues of this invention are useful for labelling DNA or RNA or for incorporating in oligonucleotides. Some have the possible advantage over conventional hapten labelled nucleotides such as fluorescein-dUTP of being able to replace more than one base. A reporter moiety is attached at a position where it does not have a significant a detrimental effect on the physical or biochemical properties of the nucleoside analogue, in particular its ability to be incorporated in single stranded or double stranded nucleic acid.
A template containing the incorporated nucleoside analogue of this invention may be suitable for copying in nucleic acid synthesis. If a reporter moiety of the incorporated nucleoside analogue consists of a linker group, then a signal moiety can be introduced into the incorporated nucleoside analogue by being attached through a terminal or other reactive group of the linker group.
A nucleoside analogue triphosphate of this invention may be incorporated by enzymes such as terminal transferase to extend the 3xe2x80x2 end of nucleic acid chains in a non-template directed manner. Tails of the nucleoside analogue triphosphate produced in this way may be detected directly in the absence of any reporter label by use of antibodies directed against the nucleoside analogue (as described in Example 13 of WO 97/28177). The analogues when incorporated into oligonucleotides or nucleic acids may be acted upon by nucleic acid modification enzymes such as ligases or restriction endonucleases.
In primer walking sequencing, a primer/template complex is extended with a polymerase and chain terminated to generate a nested set of fragments where the sequence is read after electrophoresis and detection (radioactive or fluorescent). A second primer is then synthesised using the sequence information near to the end of the sequence obtained from the first primer. This second (xe2x80x9cwalkingxe2x80x9d) primer is then used for sequencing the same template. Primer walking sequencing is more efficient in terms of generating less redundant sequence information than the alternative xe2x80x9cshot gunxe2x80x9d approach.
The main disadvantage with primer walking is the need to synthesise a primer after each round of sequencing. Cycle sequencing requires primers that have annealing temperatures near to the optimal temperature for the polymerase used for the cycle sequencing. Primers between 18 and 24 residues long are generally used for cycle sequencing. The size of a presynthesised walking primer set required has made primer walking cycle sequencing an impractical proposition. The use of base analogues that are degenerate or universal addresses this problem. The use of such analogues that are also labelled, e.g. the nucleoside analogues of this invention will also help to overcome the problem. Preferred reporters for this purpose are radioactive isotopes or fluorescent groups, such as are used in conventional cycle sequencing reactions. Where the nucleoside analogues are base specific chain terminators they may be used in chain terminating sequencing protocols.
The final analysis step in DNA sequencing involves the use of a denaturing polyacrylamide electrophoresis gel to separate the DNA molecules by size. Electrophoretic separation based solely on size requires the complete elimination of secondary structure from the DNA. For most DNA this is typically accomplished by using high concentrations of urea in the polyacrylamide matrix and running the gels at elevated temperatures. However certain sequences, for example those capable of forming xe2x80x9cstem loopxe2x80x9d structures retain secondary structure and, as a result, display compression artefacts under standard electrophoresis conditions. Here, adjacent bands of the sequence run at nearly the same position on the gel, xe2x80x9ccompressedxe2x80x9d tightly together. Such loops are typically formed when a number of GC pairs are able to interact since GC pairs can form 3 hydrogen bonds compared to the 2 hydrogen bonds of AT pairs.
A second form of compression artefact is seen when rhodamine-labelled terminators are used and there is a G residue close to the terminus. In these cases, anomalous mobility of the DNA strand in a gel is often seen, possibly due to an interaction between the dye and the G residue.
Thus, compression artefacts appear to be caused whenever stable secondary structures exist in the DNA under the conditions prevailing in the gel matrix during electrophoresis. The folded structure runs faster through the gel matrix than an equivalent unfolded DNA.
Currently, gel compression artefacts are eliminated in one of two ways. One is to change to a stronger denaturing condition for the gel, for example 40% formamide with 7 M urea. The other method is to incorporate a derivative of dGTP during the synthesis of DNA.
Two nucleotides are currently used to remove compression artefacts. The first, 7-deazadGTP, can remove specific artefacts seen in fluorescent sequencing where the rhodamine dye-labelled terminator appears to interact with a nearby G residue. It can also reduce Hoogsteen interactions which may contribute to some compression artefacts. However, it does not remove all sequencing artefacts as it still has the same Watson and Crick (and wobble) H bonding capabilities as dGTP. The second nucleotide dITP will remove all sequencing artefacts. It has reduced hydrogen bonding capabilities, so preventing secondary structure being a problem. The downside of this analogue is that it is a very poor DNA polymerase substrate. It requires lower temperature and longer extension times than dGTP in cycle sequencing reactions. This analogue produces sequences with large variations in peak heights (fluorescent sequencing) and band intensities (radioactive sequencing). In fact it is only really suited to use with [xcex133P] ddNTP and ThermoSequenase(trademark) sequencing protocols due to the exceptionally high quality of the banding pattern. Therefore there is a need for a dGTP analogue that is a good DNA polymerase substrate which has the combined characteristics of 7 deaza dGTP and dITP. This may be achieved by the use of analogues described herein.
The nucleoside analogues of this invention can also be used in any of the existing applications which use native nucleic acid probes labelled with haptens, fluorophores or other reporter groups, for example on Southern blots, dot blots and in polyacrylamide or agarose gel based methods or solution hybridization assays and other assays in microtitre plates or tubes or arrays of oligonucleotides or nucleic acids such as on microchips. The probes may be detected with antibodies targeted either against haptens which are attached to the base analogues or against the base analogues themselves which would be advantageous in avoiding additional chemical modification. Antibodies used in this way are normally labelled with a detectable group such as a fluorophore or an enzyme. Fluorescent detection may also be used if the base analogue itself is fluorescent or if there is a fluorophore attached to the nucleoside analogue.
The nucleoside analogues of the present invention with the combination of molecular diversity and increased numbers of positions where reporter groups may be added can result in a series of improved enzyme substrates.
Another preferred aspect of the invention is to incorporate the nucleoside analogue triphosphate into DNA by means of a polymerase but without a reporter label for the purpose of random mutagenesis. It has been shown by Zaccolo et al, 1996, J. Mol. Biol. 255, 589-603 that when nucleotide analogues with ambivalent base pairing potential are incorporated by the PCR into DNA products, they induce the formation of random mutations within the DNA products. In the above publication, the nucleotide analogue dPTP was shown to be incorporated into DNA by Taq polymerase in place of TTP and, with lower efficiency, dCTP. After 30 cycles of DNA amplification, the four transition mutations Axe2x86x92G, Txe2x86x92C, Gxe2x86x92A and Cxe2x86x92T were produced. The compound 8-oxodGTP was also used to cause the formation of the transversion mutations Axe2x86x92C and Txe2x86x92G. The nucleoside analogue triphosphates with ambivalent base pairing potential described within this invention may be used for a similar purpose.
RNA is an extremely versatile biological molecule. Experimental studies by several laboratories have shown that in vitro selection techniques can be employed to isolate short RNA molecules from RNA libraries that bind with high affinity and specificity to proteins, not normally associated with RNA binding, including a few antibodies, (Gold, Allen, Binkley, et al,1993, 497-510 in The RNA World, Cold Spring Harbor Press, Cold Spring Harbor N.Y., Gold, Polisky, Unlenbeck, and Yarus, 1995, Annu. Rev. Biochem. 64: 763-795, Tuerk and Gold, 1990, Science 249:505-510, Joyce, 1989, Gene 82:83-87, Szostak, 1992, Trends Biochem. Sci 17:89-93, Tsai, Kenan and Keene, 1992, PNAS 89:8864-8868, Tsai, Kenan and Keene, 1992, PNAS 89:8864-8868, Doudna, Cech and Sullenger, 1995, PNAS 92:2355-2359). Some of these RNA molecules have been proposed as drug candidates for the treatment of diseases like myasthenia gravis and several other auto-immune diseases.
The basic principle involves adding an RNA library to the protein or molecule of interest; washing to remove unbound RNA; then specifically eluting the RNA bound to the protein. This eluted RNA is then reverse transcribed and amplified by PCR. The DNA is then transcribed using modified nucleotides (either 2xe2x80x2 modifications to give nuclease resistance e.g. 2xe2x80x2 F, 2xe2x80x2 NH2, 2xe2x80x2 OCH3 and/or C5 modified pyrimidines and/or C8 modified pyrimidines). Those molecules that are found to bind the protein or other molecule of interest are cloned and sequenced to look for common (xe2x80x9cconsensusxe2x80x9d) sequences. This sequence is optimised to produce a short oligonucleotide which shows improved specific binding which may then be used as a therapeutic, or member of a binding pair.
The base analogues described here, when converted to the ribonucleoside triphosphate or ribonucleoside phosphoramidite, or to the deoxyribonucleoside triphosphate or deoxyribonucleoside phosphoramidite, will significantly increase the molecular diversity available for this selection process. This may lead to oligonucleotides with increased binding affinity to the target that is not available using the current building blocks.
The secondary structure of nucleic acids is also important when considering ribozyme function. The base analogues of the present invention may cause the formation of secondary structures which would otherwise be unavailable using native bases or other modified nucleotide derivatives.
The hybridization binding properties of nucleic acids incorporating base analogues of the present invention may have particular application in the antisense or antigene field.
The base analogues of the present invention may have properties which are different to those of the native bases and therefore are particularly suited to other important applications. In particular, the interaction of these base analogues with enzymes may be extremely important in vivo and may result in the development of new anti-viral therapeutics.


A brake hold control device includes a brake actuator having an electromagnetic valve for holding braking force of a vehicle, two accelerator opening degree sensors for control and for defect detection that detect an accelerator opening degree, and a brake ECU that receives detection signals from the two accelerator opening degree sensors as input. The brake ECU releases braking force when predetermined held-brake release conditions, including accelerator opening degree conditions, for releasing a held brake are satisfied. The accelerator opening degree conditions for releasing a held brake are set such that both of the accelerator opening degrees corresponding to the detection signals from both of the two accelerator opening degree sensors are greater than a predetermined opening degree.

Conventionally, a brake hold control device for a vehicle is known. The brake hold control device enables a driver of a vehicle to maintain a stop state without depressing a brake pedal when the vehicle stops at a red light or stops due to a traffic jam, and to start the vehicle only by depressing an accelerator pedal, thereby reducing a load on the driver imposing by repetition of frequent stops and starts of the vehicle.
As such a brake hold control device, a configuration disclosed in Patent Document 1 is known. The brake hold control device disclosed in Patent Document 1 has a vehicle speed detecting section that detects a vehicle speed, a holding section that holds braking force, an increased depression detecting section that detects increased depression of a brake pedal, and a control section. The control section activates the holding section if the increased depression is detected when the vehicle speed is equal to or lower than a first predetermined value.
Further, Patent Document 2 discloses a hybrid vehicle provided with an engine and a motor as a driving source of the vehicle, further provided with a plurality of accelerator sensors for providing an accelerator opening degree as control input, and an accelerator opening degree determining section that, when it is detected that part of the plurality of accelerator sensors is defective, determines the accelerator opening degree using an output of a normal sensor other than the defective sensor. Further, the accelerator opening degree determining section divides a range of an output signal level of the normal sensor into a plurality of regions including an opening operation region and a closing operation region and determines a change of the accelerator opening degree according to the region into which the output signal level of the normal sensor is allocated.    Patent Document 1: JP 8-142819 A    Patent Document 2: JP 2001-260699 A


An apparatus for collecting payments and managing information, which allows for a payment to be made when the payee is not present and makes a record of the same, and a method is provided. The apparatus comprises a payer interface, a system for receiving payments, a secure lock box for storing payments, and a system for retaining and retrieving information. The payer identifies the payment to be made, enters the type of payment and the amount and submits the payment, which is scanned. The information entered or scanned is stored in a database. The apparatus securely stores the payment and issues a receipt with payment information and images of the payment made. The payee may access the database records and obtain the payments at a later time. The apparatus allows low-income payers, who may not have access to bank accounts or credit cards, to submit cash payments when the payee is unavailable.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is in the technical field of payment systems. More particularly, the preferred embodiments of the present invention relate generally to payment systems which allow a payer to pay an absent payee. More particularly, the preferred embodiments of the present invention relate generally to payment systems which allow payers who are unable to obtain bank accounts, or use other modern payment means, such as the Automated Teller Machine system, credit card processing systems, or the like, to pay absent payees. Furthermore, the preferred embodiments of the present invention relate generally to payment systems which also provide information to users, such as marketing material, promotional material, directions, account history, historical data, instructional information, useful facts and/or helpful information, and gather information for controllers of the system for management or accounting purposes. Additionally, the present invention relates generally to a method of paying absent payees.
2. Description of the Related Art
Over time, the number of means by which a payment can be made to a payee has increased. Submission of cash currency has been an option since the onset of financial systems; however, transporting cash currency is fraught with the risk of loss, damage and theft, and physically securing cash, especially large quantities of it, are difficult and problematic. Negotiable instruments, such as checks and promissory notes, evolved to ease the transfer of funds, especially over long distances.
Many of the recent innovations in payment methods allow for payers to pay in instances in which the payee is not present. Payments may be submitted to an absent payee in a variety of ways. Payments may be submitted electronically using an electronic funds transfer between bank accounts or a credit card processing system. Payers who possess bank accounts may write checks and mail them to the payee or deliver them to the payee. Payers may also obtain a cashier's check from a third party, usually for a fee. Payers may use web-enabled software to submit a payment over the internet; however, many people do not own a computer or have easy access to one. Cash may be also be submitted and collected later by the payee; however, cash submissions to absent payees are problematic because cash may not be mailed and may not be easily secured if given to an intermediary.
Not every member of society has easy access to modern payment means. Some people may not be able to obtain bank accounts because they cannot maintain a minimum balance or have other barriers which prevent them from obtaining one. A minimum balance may not be maintainable because of low income or a high degree of debt. Improper identification may also hamper the ability to obtain a bank account. People who have difficulty in establishing bank accounts may not be able to open even temporary accounts which allow cash payments to be paid over an ATM system. People living in rural areas may have limited physical access to banks simply because they are scarce in those areas. Some banks limit the ability to receive cashier's checks to those who possess accounts.
Moreover, some people also have difficulty obtaining credit cards. They may not be able to qualify for a credit card because of low income, high debt levels, poor credit scores, a lack of credit, or identification problems. Some users of credit cards simply cannot afford the fees. Even credit fraud on the part of others can affect the ability to obtain credit.
People who are not able to obtain bank accounts or credit may be able to find a bank to issue a cashier's check, but they must travel to that bank and pay a fee for the cashier's check. People with low income may not have the ability to travel easily or may not be able to afford to travel. Additionally, any additional fees would be a burden on their already low income.
Cash may also be converted into a money order; however, a third party must be involved to issue the money order, and these third parties almost always charge fees. As with the cashier's check, the payer who wishes to obtain a money order must travel to an establishment that provides money order service and incur travel expenses that a low income person may not be able to afford. The low income person may also lack the ability to travel. Money orders may only be issued for limited amounts, and these amounts may be less than the payment which the payer needs to submit.
Businesses which cater to low income customers, such as low income housing, temporary residences, rental services, rent-to-own services, pay day loan services, pawn shops or the like, are often faced with difficulty in obtaining payment from their customers. Collecting payment at all may be difficult because the payer lacks the necessary funds. Low income customers may submit a payment using multiple payment means, such as a combination of payment types. Payment portions may be submitted at different times because low income customers may not have the entire payment when it is due or must pay portions in advance. Often, low income customers submit payments in cash only and in low denomination bills, which increase the physical volume of cash which must be collected by a payee. Collecting such payments exposes the payee to danger while collecting the payment and makes the payee a potential target for theft or other crimes. Furthermore, businesses which cater to low income customers encounter difficulties in maintaining accurate records. The combination of payment types or multiple payment portions can make record-keeping difficult for the payee. Merely accepting cash payments increases the difficulty of tracking from whom the payments were made and for which payment account. Cash payments may also cause disputes if the records do not match the cash payment made.

Local payment collection and information management apparatus and method


A complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor (CIS) includes a semiconductor substrate including a photodiode therein as a light sensing unit. A floating diffusion region of a first conductivity type is provided in the semiconductor substrate, and is configured to receive charges generated in the photodiode. A power supply voltage region of the first conductivity type is also provided in the semiconductor substrate. A reset transistor including a reset gate electrode on a surface of the substrate between the floating diffusion region and a power supply voltage region is configured to discharge charges stored in the floating diffusion region in response to a reset control signal. The reset transistor includes a channel region in the substrate extending between the floating diffusion region and the power supply voltage region such that the floating diffusion region and the power supply voltage regions define source/drain regions for the reset transistor. An impurity region is provided in a first portion of the channel region adjacent to the floating diffusion region. The impurity region has a doping such that the first portion of the channel region adjacent to the floating diffusion region has a different built-in potential than a second portion of the channel region adjacent to the power supply voltage region.

CMOS image sensors (CIS) may convert an external optical image signal into an electrical image signal. A CIS may provide a lower operational voltage and reduced power consumption in conjunction to a charge-coupled device (CCD) image sensor. A CIS may also provide high integration, and thus, may be widely used in many fields.
FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of a unit pixel 10 of a conventional CMOS image sensor (CIS). The unit pixel 10 can be implemented in various forms. A unit pixel 10 having a 4-transistor structure is illustrated in FIG. 1. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the unit pixel 10 includes a photodiode PD for generating optical charges due to incident light, and a plurality of transistors T1-T4. A transfer transistor T1 transfers optical charges gathered in the photodiode PD to a floating diffusion region FD in response to a transmission control signal Tx. In addition, a reset transistor T2 resets the potential of the floating diffusion region FD to the level of a predetermined power supply voltage VDD in response to a reset signal Rx and discharges optical charges stored in the floating diffusion region FD.
In addition, a drive transistor T3 acts as a source follower-buffer amplifier, and a selection transistor T4 is used for addressing. The selection transistor T4 is switched in response to a selection control signal Sx and transmits an output signal in the unit pixel 10 to the outside through an output terminal OUT.
In a correlated double sampling (CDS) operation that is generally performed in a CIS, the floating diffusion region FD may temporarily store electrons integrated or accumulated in the photodiode PD. Electrical characteristics may be further deteriorated in the floating diffusion region FD than in the photodiode PD. However, in the floating diffusion region FD, the electrons may be stored only for a relatively short time of about several tens to hundreds of nanoseconds (ns). The effect of leakage current may therefore be less than in the photodiode PD.
However, in methods such as global shutter and FD well capacitor adjustment, as the duration of the electron storage in the floating diffusion region FD increases, problems may occur due to the leakage current in the floating diffusion region FD. In other words, as the time during which electrons are stored in the floating diffusion region FD increases, image quality may be deteriorated due to the leakage current in the floating diffusion region FD.

CMOS image sensor configured to provide reduced leakage current


A removable gas injector design compatible for use in chemical vapor deposition reactors that allows proper mixing of the reactant gases, reduced cycle time associated with cleaning of gas injector components, and elimination of uncertainties associated with manual cleaning of the injector. A better reliability to the system due to the known condition of the nozzle after a clean is achieved.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) of aluminum oxide in the manufacture of semiconductor devices and, more particularly, to a removable gas injector design which can facilitate reduced cycle time associated with cleaning of its components and elimination of uncertainties associated with manual cleaning of the prior injector design that was not removable. The invention has important applications to other processes using a warm-wall CVD reactor such as MOCVD (metal oxide chemical vapor deposition), in which Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 is a particular example.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) technique, an important element to create and maintain the chemical vapor atmosphere at the wafer source is the gas injector. The injector receives a number of gases and discretely conveys them to the area above the surface of the wafer or substrate where they mix, react, and then form a layer on the wafer or substrate.
In order to insure a proper film or coating, the gases must be introduced substantially uniformly over the surface of the wafer or substrate. If the gases are not uniformly delivered, they do not mix properly, do not have desirable chemical concentrations, and consequently lead to defective deposition of films or coatings on the wafers or substrates. Therefore, it is important to refine the method and apparatus of delivering gaseous chemicals to a wafer or substrate to achieve a uniform deposition of a film or coating.
During the normal operation of an aluminum oxide low pressure CVD (LP CVD) system, the gas mixing injectors are kept at an elevated temperature both by radiation heating from the substrate holder and by the conduction heating from the attached hot wall process chamber. This elevated temperature is nominally in the range of 150.degree.-200.degree. C. and is suspected to be hotter in localized areas. During deposition cycles of the LP CVD aluminum oxide, the reactant gas (Aluminum Triisopropoxide) contacts the injector surfaces and, due to the elevated temperature, some deposits are formed on these surfaces. See, for example, those injector surfaces identified as `b` in FIG. 3. These deposits can alter the chemistry of gases flowing past them, thus changing the concentrations and species entering the reaction chamber. For example, assume that a delivery tube of stainless steel is heated to 200.degree. C. and Aluminum Triisopropoxide passes through it. As long as the interior surface of the tube remains clean, the Aluminum Triisopropoxide remains pure. However, a thin coating of Aluminum oxide on the interior surface of the stainless steel tube can result in a degradation of gas delivered to include some alcohols. Thus, the channel does not need to be completely sealed to have a negative effect on the film composition and uniformity.
Over a period of time, the deposits can seal off the flow passages in the injector, thus creating a non-uniform flow and mixing pattern. This is manifested by the disruption of film composition, film uniformity, film quality, or a combination of these on the substrate. During subsequent cleaning procedures, especially using in-situ cleaning procedures, there are no means to insure that internal flow passages are cleaned sufficiently to allow unrestricted flow. Moreover, the coatings on the injector can become sources for particulates, and partially cleaned injector passages may become sources for particulate contamination.
In the current system, neither the flow baffle nor the flow injector are removable. Deposits on the baffle plate and the injector cause the following problems: (1) clogging, (2) particulates, and (3) chemistry modification. More specifically, clogging of the injector holes and any small openings in the injector/baffle plate assembly cause a lack of reproducibility from wafer to wafer. The additional buildup of film on the injector and baffle plate components can lead to cracking and flaking of the deposit producing particulates which reduce the yield (i.e., area of good regions) on the substrate surface. Films on the injector and baffle plate can modify the chemistry taking place in the reactor leading to additional film uniformity, film composition, and film quality problems at the substrate and a lack of reproducibility of films from wafer to wafer.
The current procedures are to cool the hot wall process chamber, the source of the delivery system, and shut off the heat to the chuck. Once the system reaches a safe temperature, the flow distribution baffle and the injector are then manually scrubbed with an abrasive material, and efforts are made to clear the hydroxide of Aluminum depositions in the flow passages of the injector and the baffle surface. In the original system, before the injector could be cleaned, the gas delivery system and chamber needed to be purged, at operating temperature, for ninety minutes, and then the heaters would be turned off, allowing the system to reach a safe temperature in about six hours. After the injector was cleaned, it took about eight hours for the system to stabilize at the operating temperature. There was no guarantee that the injector passages had been adequately cleaned due to the complex drilling patterns that cannot be seen visually with a fixed, non-removable injector installed.

Removable gas injectors for use in chemical vapor deposition of aluminium oxide

Internation Business Machines Corporation


In a liquid resin molding apparatus including a mold, an injection machine, a metering/supplying mechanism for metering a liquid resin material and supplying a metered amount of liquid resin material to the injection machine, and a pump for pressure-feeding the liquid resin material to the metering/supplying mechanism, the pump is a piston pump having a piston and an actuator for reciprocating the piston, and a discharge pressure of the piston pump is set to be at least 1.5 times a supply pressure with which the liquid resin material is supplied to the metering/supplying mechanism. A pressure reducing valve is disposed in a supply path extending from the piston pump to the metering/supplying mechanism, so as to reduce a pressure of the liquid resin material from the discharge pressure to the supply pressure.

The injection molding is extensively used, wherein a molded article is produced by injecting a resin material from an injection machine into a mold while the mold is closed by a mold clamping device. In general, the resin material is supplied to the injection machine in the form of (solid) resin beads. The resin beads are charged into a heating cylinder in which they are plasticized, mixed and kneaded into a material of high fluidity. The flowable material is injected into the mold and, after solidification within the mold, the injected material forms a molded article.
In the case of resin materials as typified by silicone rubber, they are fed into the injection machine in the form of a liquid material and injected from the injection machine into the mold. These materials will be hereinafter referred to as "liquid resin materials" as they are in a liquid state before being supplied into the injection machine.
One example of such liquid resin materials is a two-part liquid resin material. The two-part liquid resin material is composed of a first liquid forming a base resin, and a second liquid forming an additive represented by a hardener. When the base resin and the hardener are mixed together, a mixture will cure or solidify, by the action of the hardener, with a predetermined hardness for several hours to several tens of hours at room temperature or for several tens of seconds to several tens of minuets at a molding temperature. In the case where the hardener is used, it is desirable that the hardener is added with the base resin as late as possible in order to prevent clogging of piping.
For the liquid resin materials that are easy to solidify, various feeding techniques have been proposed. One example of such prior proposals is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent (JP-B) No. 4373932.
FIG. 7 hereof shows a general configuration of a liquid resin material feeding device disclosed in JP 4373932B. As shown in this figure, a base resin 201 is pressure fed by a pump 202 into a metering cylinder 203, and a metered amount of base resin is supplied from the metering cylinder 203 to a heating cylinder 205 of an injecting machine 204. On the other hand, a hardener 206 is pressure-fed by a pump 207 into a metering cylinder 208, and a metered amount of hardener is supplied from the metering cylinder 208 into the heating cylinder 205 of the injection machine.
The base resin 201 and the hardener 206 are mixed and kneaded by a screw 209 in the heating cylinder 205 and subsequently injected as indicated by a profiled arrow 211.
Though not described in JP 4373932B, a rotary pump or a reciprocating pump is normally employed for the pumps 202, 207. The reciprocating pump is inexpensive as compared to the rotary pump. The reciprocating pump is available in various forms such as a swash plate pump having plungers driven by a swash plate, and a piston pump having a reciprocating piston in a cylinder. The piston pump is advantageous for its lower cost as compared to the swash plate pump.
The piston pump is, however, disadvantageous for its delivery pressure fluctuation which is incomparably greater than that of the swash plate pump. When the pressure for feeding each material 201, 206 to a corresponding one of the metering cylinders 203, 208 fluctuates, the metered material value also fluctuates. It has, therefore, been recommended for the liquid resin material feeding device to use a rather expensive pump other than the piston pump. However, reduction of the equipment cost is demanded, and, under such conditions, the adoption of the piston pump is recommended.


The invention relates to a method and data structure for controlling switching centers (1, 14, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27) connected to each other by a telecommunications network. The switching centers are provided with semipermanent databases containing alterable network control information related to, inter alia, call charging and routing. The information stays constant unless separately altered by an external control. Terminals (3) such as PABX connections, conventional subscriber lines, telefax equipment etc., are connected by a telecommunications network to the switching centers, and at least one service database (5) is common to the network and contains at least a portion of the network control information. According to the invention, the switching centers are controlled to update the control information stored in the semipermanent databases with information retrieved from the service database (5). The update operation of the semipermanent databases is chained so that selected switching centers of desired telecommunications networks perform sequentially the updating of their control information with information retrieved from the service database (5), whereby normally no update request message for control information need be sent to the service database (5) separately for each processed call.

According to conventional techniques, the flow of control information such as charging data is typically handled individually for each switching center basis by performing the transfer of charging data separately to the charging database of each switching center. As the number of switching centers in, e.g., Finland runs into thousands, the updating of charging data is an operation requiring plenty of work.

Method and data structure for the control of switching centers in a telecommunications network


A breath controller for musical instruments includes a mouth piece for blowing the air into an air chamber. Blowing the air makes an air pressure increase in the air chamber, thus an elastic member is displaced corresponding to the air pressure. At the same time, the displacement of a reflection surface changes an amount of light to reflect an emitted light from a light-emitting element to a light-receiving element. The light-receiving element then controls a signal corresponding to the amount of light, thus making the signal change to a musical tone signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a breath controller for musical instruments which detects a blowing pressure thereby to generate a musical tone such as a tone pitch, tone color, tone volume, sound effect, and the like for use in a keyboard and wind electronic musical instrument, and the like.
2. Prior Art
Conventional type of a breath controller is disclosed in the Japanese utility-model laid-open application No. 63-2998. This breath controller comprises a box member having an air chamber communicated to a mouth piece; a permanent magnet fixed to a elastic member, this combination of which is attached in the box member to receive the blowing pressure from mouth piece; and a hall element facing the permanent magnet. Accordingly, when a player blows the air into the air chamber, both the elastic member and permanent magnet are deformed by the blowing pressure to change the distance between the permanent magnet and the hall element, so that the hall element generates a voltage signal which is changed in respect to the blowing air pressure.
However, the voltage signal is not stable in case of such construction, therefore it is difficult to adjust the voltage signal for maintaining an operating level. A multi-stage amplifier is required to obtain a wide range of the operating level so that a very small voltage is generated from the hall element, while it is required that this amplifier must be a high sensitivity (S/N ratio). In addition, the hall element probably generates an unexpected voltage signal when the permanent magnet receives an influence on a magnetic field caused by an electro-mechanical apparatus, power source, speaker, and the like, which are adjacently arranged around the permanent magnet.

Breath controller for musical instruments


An inference engine in a knowledge base system may be invoked by an application program (e.g., a COBOL program), by arranging to detect, in the program, instructions whose syntax complies with the syntax requirements of a predefined data base manipulation language (e.g., SQL), and then executing the instruction by invoking the inference engine. As a result, the application programmer can implicitly and transparently take full advantage of the facilities of the inference engine using simple, known data base manipulation language statements. In other aspects, the "if (condition)" side of an inference rule triggers the inference engine to execute a sequence of steps based on a class of facts referred to in the condition and based on prestored information identifying the storage scheme for that class of facts; facts retrieved from an external data base are filtered to eliminate unneeded facts, before transducing the remaining, needed facts into the temporary storage space; and the knowledge base system exercises control of the cursor control mechanism of an external data base in order to retrieve facts one by one as needed by the inference engine.

This invention relates to knowledge base systems.
In such systems, prestored rules and facts form a knowledge base from which useful inferences and conclusions may be drawn by an inference engine.
Commercially available knowledge base system shells include such an inference engine together with facilities that aid the system developer in defining the rules and facts for a given application, and an interface that enables a user to query the system from an interactive terminal.
Some of the facts required for a given application may be available in an already established data base; and the knowledge base system may need to use those facts in responding to a query.
Information is stored and retrieved in data bases typically via a query language such as SQL (structured query language) which, for example, can be used to specify criteria for searching the data base to locate a desired fact.