An add-drop multiplexer is described, in one embodiment the add-drop multiplexer includes an optical transmission signal input port adapted to receive a wavelength division multiplexed optical transmission signal, an optical transmission signal output port adapted to output at least a portion of the wavelength division multiplexed optical transmission signal, an add-drop optical channel port adapted to receive an optical add channel and output an optical drop channel, and a wavelength selective optical filter arranged between the optical transmission signal input port, the optical transmission signal output port and the optical add-drop channel port. The wavelength selective optical filter reflects optical channels that will continue through the add-drop multiplexer along a transmission line to the optical transmission signal output port and permits an optical channel that is to be dropped to pass therethrough.

1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to a device for wavelength division multiplexed systems and systems incorporating the device, and more particularly to dynamically reconfigurable add/drop multiplexers with low coherent cross-talk and optical communication networks incorporating add/drop multiplexers.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Demand for optical communication systems is growing with the growing demand for faster broadband and more reliable networks. Wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) is one technique used to increase the capacity of optical communication systems. Such optical communication systems include, but are not limited to, telecommunication systems, cable television systems (CATV), and local area networks (LANs). An introduction to the field of Optical Communications can be found in "Optical Communication Systems" by Gowar, ed. Prentice Hall, NY, 1993.
WDM optical communication systems carry multiple optical signal channels, each channel being assigned a different wavelength. Optical signal channels are generated, multiplexed to form an optical signal comprised of the individual optical signal channels, and transmitted over a single waveguide such as an optical fiber. The optical signal is subsequently demultiplexed such that each channel corresponding to a band of wavelengths is individually routed to a designated receiver.
Single or multiple optical channels can be routed to different destinations, such as in telecommunication networks, cable television subscriber systems and optical LANs. Routing is performed by selectively sending specific channels to a desired location. Another signal may be subsequently added to the dropped or other unused channel. This form of optical routing is generally referred to as "add/drop multiplexing or ADM".
Fixed wavelength add/drop multiplexers (WADM) are already available commercially. However, such systems require that the wavelengths to be dropped at a specific site, commonly known as a node, be known in advance. Fixed notch filters—typically made from Bragg gratings—are utilized to make fixed wavelength add/drop multiplexers. However, advanced optical networks require that a node be established within the network for any one, all, or any specific set of wavelengths to be dropped, or re-routed on demand. There is thus a strong need for programmable and/or reconfigurable all-optical wavelength add/drop multiplexers (WADM) in such networks.
In order to obtain reconfigurable add/drop multiplexers, optical components capable of directing or routing optical wavelengths are required. Bragg gratings, electromechanical switches, micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS), and liquid crystals are some of the optical components which have been proposed as tuning elements in a reconfigurable add/drop networking element.
Optical add/drop multiplexers based on tunable Fiber Bragg Gratings (FBGs) have been proposed and patented. For instance, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,185,023, Mizrahi describes add/drop multiplexers which are compatible with dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) systems. Mizrahi attempts to solve the problem of cross-talk between dropped and added channels by separating sets of Bragg gratings with an optical isolator. The Bragg grating sets and the optical isolator are interposed between first and second couplers. The optical channels to be dropped from the DWDM optical signal are reflected by the first set of Bragg gratings and exit the add/drop multiplexer through the first coupler. Similarly, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,069,719 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,748,349 of Mizrahi is disclosed a grating-based add/drop multiplexer wherein a set of Bragg gratings is positioned in the transmission path for reflected signals to be dropped.
Sridhar in U.S. Pat. No. 5,778,118 describes an optical add-drop multiplexer for wavelength division multiplexed optical communication systems. The add-drop multiplexer includes an optical filter for selecting portions of a wavelength division multiplexed optical signal. The portions of the wavelength division multiplexed signal which are not sent to an input port exit the add-drop multiplexer.
Giles et al in U.S. Pat. No. 5,754,321 describe an alternative add/drop optical circuit based on fiber Bragg gratings and polarizing beamsplitters. According to that reference, the input beamsplitter means splits the input signal into two different polarized input signals. Each polarized input signal is connected to a first end of a different selective wavelength filter, each of which is arranged to reflect the drop signal back to the input beamsplitter and pass the remaining signal portion to the output beamsplitter.
Liu et al in U.S. Pat. No. 5,953,141 describe an optical add-drop multiplexer and network which can dynamically route on a per-wavelength basis with minimized spectral filtering of the pass-through wavelengths which allows a wavelength to pass through a large number of routing nodes without distortion of the information. Similarly, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,208,443 B1 Liu et al discuss a method and apparatus for constructing an optical wavelength-routing network in which each network node is a dynamic optical add-drop multiplexer (OADM) with minimized spectral filtering effect on pass-through channels and with survivability upon failure.
Huber in U.S. Pat. No. 5,467,212 describes an addressable grating modulation system for an optical cable television system. A tunable optical filter is provided in order to switch video signals onto an optical fiber going to the node in a particular neighborhood. An arrangement uses in-fiber Bragg gratings in order to remove and insert different optical frequencies. The Bragg grating reflects one or more wavelengths and allows passage of wavelengths other than the desired wavelength. Therefore, the desired wavelength is dropped for processing further with other systems.
In the prior art the add/drop multiplexers are mostly based on fiber Bragg gratings. However, an issue of some significance with fiber-grating based tunable add-drop multiplexers is that of coherent cross talk. If a grating with insufficient reflectivity is used in an add/drop multiplexer, an unacceptable portion of the incident channel to be dropped will pass through, resulting in coherent cross-talk with the channel of the same wavelength which is subsequently added within the add-drop multiplexer. To limit this type of cross-talk it is desirable for attenuation of a dropped optical channel to be greater than 30 dB (typically 35 to 40 dB is desirable). While such high reflectivity gratings have been fabricated, the yields for such high reflectivity devices is low, making them very expensive. In addition, very high grating reflectivity is also associated with broader grating bandwidth, which makes these devices unattractive for optical networks utilizing closely spaced optical channels (e.g. 50 GHz spaced DWDM systems).

Dynamically reconfigurable add/drop multiplexer with low coherent cross-talk for optical communication networks


A continuous or semi-continuous casting apparatus of the direct chill type for casting metallic materials, particularily recctangular ingots of aluminium, includes a mold which has an open inlet for the filling of molten metal into a mold cavity having an open outlet with a water supply for cooling of the metal. The mold cavity is, at a position spaced from its inlet, provided with a permeable ring for the supply of oil and/or gas, such that a layer of oil and/or gas is formed between the metal and mold wall, whereby the metal is prevented from coming into contact with the mold wall before it solidifies. The surfaces of the ring, with the exception of the side facing the mold cavity, are provided with a sealing agent which prevents the oil and/or gas from escaping through such surfaces. Further, the ring, in its circumferential direction, is provided with longitudinal bores or holes which are supplied the oil and/or gas to via further bores extending through the mold wall and into the graphite ring from the outside of the mold.

The present invention relates to continuous or semi-continuous casting apparatus of the direct chill type for casting metallic materials, particularly rectangular ingots of aluminum, comprising a mold cavity which has an open inlet for the filling of molten metal and an open outlet with water supply means for cooling of the metal. The mold cavity, at a position spaced from its inlet, is provided with a permeable ring for the supply of oil and/or gas, such that a layer of oil and/or gas is formed between the metal and the mold wall, whereby the metal is prevented from coming into contact with the mold wall before it solidifies.
It is previously known to supply oil or gas to the mold cavity in the above manner. For example, Norwegian patent application No. 830858 reveals a casting apparatus for ingots where gas and oil is supplied to the mold cavity via a graphite ring which is disposed in the mold wall close to the mold outlet.
Oil and gas is supplied to the graphite ring through separate bores in the outer mold wall e.g. in the form of a sleeve. By means of channels on the outer side of the ring which are connected to the bores in the sleeve, the oil and gas is distributed around the periphery of the ring.
To avoid oil and gas leakage between the ring and sleeve, it is necessary that the ring and sleeve be sealed tight to one another. Thus, the diameter of the graphite ring is machined to a size which is somewhat greater than the diameter of the sleeve. When mounting takes place, the sleeve is heated to expand so that the ring can be placed in its correct position within the sleeve. Further, upon cooling the sleeve will shrink, whereby sealing is achieved between the ring and sleeve. However, this will demand a very fine and accurate machining of the ring as well as the sleeve, and the smallest surface defect or scratch will result in leakage.
With the above demands regarding tolerances and surface roughness, it is obvious that this type of graphite ring is expensive to manufacture and use.
Besides, the above type of ring is hardly applicable for a casting apparatus producing rectangular ingots, primarily because the metal parts of the mold are machined by milling, and secondarily because the graphite "ring" has to have a rectangular configuration, i.e. the sides of the ring (frame) will be deflected inwardly so that it is impossible to use a force bit between the ring and the sleeve.

Continuous of semi-continuous casting apparatus for casting metallic materials


A feature pack coupled to and interface with a cellular phone is able to relieve the cellular phone from performing tasks that drain the battery of the cell phone thus preserving the power of the battery of the cellular phone. The feature pack has its own battery separate and apart from the battery of the cellular phone and processes signals received from the cellular phone. The feature pack also provides power to various tools mounted onto surfaces of the feature pack.

Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure generally relates to the field of electronic devices. In particular, the present disclosure provides a feature pack coupled to a portable device to enhance many of the features of the device during operation.
Description of the Related Art
In the past decade, manufacturers of portable communication devices (e.g., smart cellular phones, tablets, laptops, notebooks) have been designing and manufacturing these devices with increasing amounts of new features. While many of the relatively new features are quite useful, the main and most important features are the standard features that existed in the earliest versions of such devices and are still resident in virtually all of these devices. These features are a device's ability to provide relatively high quality of voice signal processing, the ability to play music and the ability to record voice and audio signals. In particular, the audio output power and the quality of the audio output signals when playing music, or when conversing in a telephone conversation or recording a conversation during a meeting are key features.
It is well known by many users of such portable communication devices that the constant use of such main features necessarily results in the drainage of battery power. A portable device operating under reduced battery power inevitably leads to a reduction in the quality of voice, audio related features and other features whose usage tend to significantly drain the battery power of such devices. Also, the range of the volume of the output speakers are necessarily lowered, which makes it difficult to use the device as a speaker phone especially for users who are hearing impaired. Even though the batteries can be recharged to full level (assuming the user has his/her battery charger available), in many cases users are caught with low battery power during inopportune moments such as during important phone calls. Further, after discovering a relatively low battery level, users will often opt to refrain from listening to music and/or opt to switching off the device to save battery power. Neither one of these two options is desirable as each severely limits the usefulness of such devices and is in conflict with the main reasons for which they were designed.
It is therefore a desire of users of such devices to use the features provided by such devices without having to drain the battery power thus avoiding lowered quality of operation of such devices.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Feature pack for interfacing with devices


A spread spectrum processing system that employs wide bandwidth spread spectrum radio transmissions overlaid over the existing cellular voice signals to simultaneously provide additional cellular services without causing objectionable interference to current users of the cellular voice channel. The spread spectrum radio transmissions also support a large number of low rate digital messages. Both vehicle location and messaging functions are obtained without sacrificing any of the existing voice channel capacity. The cell site processor is designed to share the existing cellular frequencies, real estate, antenna towers, antennas, and low noise amplifiers used in the cell site radio frequency receiver chain. The only additional cell site equipment is the spread spectrum signal processor. The processing system provides a means for achieving vehicle location accuracies that are improved by greater than two orders of magnitude over that which is possible by the current transmissions in that band. It provides a means of achieving transmit power control of the vehicle transmitter to combat the extremely large variation (dynamic range) of radio signal path loss to the receiving sites. It also provides a means of excising at the receiver the excessively strong conventional voice cellular signals that are not under power control which ordinarily might interfere with the successful reception of the new broadband signals.

The present invention relates generally to cellular telephone systems, and more particularly, to a cellular telephone system that employs spread spectrum transmission to provide additional services without degrading the existing voice communications service, while utilizing much of the present cellular telephone infrastructure.
The cellular telephone band was designed to carry a large number of two-way voice conversations to mobile users. In addition to two way voice communication, there is interest in using the cellular telephone band to provide vehicle location and messaging services, emergency SOS information, and vehicle anti-theft protection services, for example. However, current systems that are confined to narrow band voice channels of the cellular band produce location accuracies that are about two orders of magnitude lower than are required to provide these services, and these are generally not useful for most applications.
Previous nationwide vehicle location systems, disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,359,733 and 4,740,792, for example, have not come to fruition to date because of the relatively high start up capital cost of using satellites. Other nationwide location systems are planned (TELETRAC and GEOSTAR), but they operate in frequency bands other than the cellular band and therefore require a very expensive special purpose infrastructure. The IBM-Motorola mobile data service currently operational in the New York, Chicago and Los Angeles areas also requires a special purpose infrastructure which results in high usage fees.
The use of spread spectrum communications in conjunction with the cellular voice channel has been investigated in recent years. One implementation proposed by Qualcomm, Inc. of San Diego, Calif., would partition the cellular band such that a 1 MHz frequency band would be dedicated to each of the transmit and receive bands for spread spectrum voice communication, while the balance of the two bands would continue to provide standard cellular service. As spread spectrum systems increased in usage, the spread spectrum portion of the bands would increase in size to match the need. It is apparent that, since this proposed system requires its own dedicated frequency subbands, that the Qualcomm implementation of spread spectrum communication would interfere with the operation of the standard cellular voice channels.
Accordingly, it is an objective of the present invention to employ technology that overlays the narrow band cellular telephone voice signals with wide band spread spectrum signals to provide for messaging and vehicle tracking capabilities without adversely affecting the quality or capacity of the voice channels.

Cellular telephone service using spread spectrum transmission


A circumferential element discourages the flow of hot gases exiting from a labyrinth or other type of seal in a gas turbine engine. This seal exit flow discourager may be integrally incorporated in the honeycombed seal surface of a labyrinth seal or in the ring supporting the honeycombed seal surface. The seal exit flow discourager has a generally radial surface upon which impinges the jet of hot gases exiting from the labyrinth seal. This surface prevents the exiting hot gases from impinging directly on the low-pressure turbine shaft. At the same time low-temperature air from the compressor is flowing through an annular passageway located between the labyrinth seal and the low-pressure turbine shaft. The seal exit flow discourager diverts the hot gases exiting from the labyrinth seal into the stream of cooling air, thereby causing turbulent mixing of the hot gases and cool air.

In a gas turbine aircraft engine air enters at the engine inlet and flows into the compressor, which compresses the air. Compressed air flows to the combustor where it is mixed with injected fuel and the fuel-air mixture is ignited. The hot combustion gases flow through the turbine. The turbine extracts energy from the hot gases, converting it to power to drive the compressor and any mechanical load connected to the drive.
It is well known to use labyrinth seals in a gas turbine engine to control the flow of gases therethrough. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,589,475 to Alford discloses labyrinth seals arranged between rotating and stationary members. Such seals generally comprise a plurality of axially spaced circumferential teeth which extend into sealing relationship with a sealing surface. The seals of Alford are operative to minimize high-pressure fluid leakage from an annular passage into a chamber defined in part by a shaft member and the engine casing.
Although Alford recognized that there would be some leakage of high-pressure fluid from the annular passage through the clearance passages existing between the tip of each tooth and its respective sealing surface and into the chamber, Alford does not discuss the need in some cases to divert the fluid flow upon its exit from the labyrinth seal.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,190,397 to Schilling et al. shows a labyrinth seal arranged immediately aft of the compressor in a gas turbine engine. The turbine portion of the gas turbine engine is typically cooled by air pressurized by the compressor. This coolant air is bled from the compressor flow path through an annular gap between the last stage of compressor rotor blades and the outlet guide vanes and thereafter flows along a frustoconical rotor member into an annular passage in which the labyrinth seal is arranged. The coolant flow rate is metered by the labyrinth seal.
In order to obtain the desired metered amount of coolant flow and yet minimize overall engine performance degradation, the labyrinth seal of Schilling is designed to operate with minimal running clearances between the labyrinth seal teeth and the stationary honeycomb seal material. This minimal clearance causes a temperature rise in the air passing through the seal so that the air exiting the seal loses some of its useful cooling capacity. In addition, where the flanges aft of the labyrinth seal are bolted together, the bolt head and nuts produce turbulent mixing and churning of the coolant flow as it passes over them, creating aerodynamic drag between rotating and static parts and further raising the temperature of the coolant.
In an attempt to minimize any such additional temperature rise caused by such protrusions, Schilling employs an improved windage shield which reduces windage and turbulence. The improved windage shield comprises a continuous ring provided with a plurality of circumferentially spaced recesses having a contour similar to that of the bolt heads. The thickness of the bolt heads and the depth of the recesses are such that the bolt heads form a generally flush interface with the surrounding surfaces of the windage shield, thereby eliminating open access holes and upstream-protruding bolt heads.
Although the Schilling patent recognizes the need to control a property, i.e., the level of aerodynamic drag, of the air flow upon its exit from the labyrinth seal, Schilling does not anticipate the need in some instances to change the direction of that air flow.


A contact sleeve (6) for installation of a measurement movement to a printed circuit board is produced from sheet metal by rolling. The sleeve has inwardly directed projections which can be produced, for instance, by a flanging (14), and which have the function of a thread so that an attachment screw, which at the same time accomplishes an electrical contacting to the circuit board, can be screwed into the contact sleeve (6). As twist-preventing means (15), a sheet-metal lug (17) is bent obliquely outward out of the outer surface of the contact sleeve (6). Other embodiments of twist-prevention means in the form of indentations are disclosed.

The present invention relates to a contact sleeve for installation of a measurement movement, in particular for a rotary-magnet ratio measurement movement, to a support element such as a printed circuit board and, wherein, the contact sleeve is developed for the screwing-in of an attachment screw which simultaneously produces an electrical contacting.
Contact sleeves of this type are customarily located in coil formers of such measurement movements in order to attach the measurement movement to a printed circuit board by means of the attachment screws, and at the same time to effect a contacting by means of the attachment screws. In the known measurement movements the contact sleeves are developed as bushings produced by lathe-turning, and having an internal thread. Such contact sleeves make possible the dependable attachment of the measurement movement on the printed circuit board and at the same time the electrical contacting, or connection of the winding of the measurement movement to the circuit board. However, the sleeves are relatively expensive to manufacture. Since measurement movements having such contact sleeves are manufactured in very large numbers, for instance, for motor vehicles, savings in cost of manufacture are of great financial importance.

Contact sleeve for a measurement movement


The apparatus of the present invention provides a metering device for metering the fluid which is injected into meat. The fluid is injected through needles, and the metering device meters the fluid to the precise volume of the cavities formed by the needles. The metering is varied depending upon the depth to which the needles penetrate the meat, and depending upon the thickness of the meat, so that the amount of fluid metered is always equal to the volume of the cavities which the needles form in the meat. The fluid is ejected from the needles as the needles are withdrawn from the meat.

This invention relates to an improved method and means for injecting fluids into meat products.
The processing of meat products often involves the injection of a brine fluid therein to aid the curing of the meat product.
Prior devices for injecting fluids into meat include a plurality of needles mounted upon a vertically reciprocating head. A conveyor moves the meat below the needles, and stops the movement of the meat. The needles then move downwardly to penetrate the meat. While they penetrate the meat they inject fluid into the meat and then are withdrawn. The meat is then conveyed further and the process is repeated.
Certain problems have occurred in prior art devices. One problem pertains to the intermittent movement of the meat. The starting and stopping of the conveyor for moving the meat slows the injection process and further requires additional equipment for sensing the position of the meat and for timing the intermittent movement of the conveyor carrying the meat.
Variations in the uniformity of the distribution of the fluid throughout the meat product creates a further problem in existing meat injection methods. These variations are created in large measure by the character of the meat product itself because the fluid easily migrates through the lean meat but not through the fat portions.
Another problem is encountered with prior art devices in properly metering the amount of liquid or fluid which is injected into the meat. Often the amount of fluid is greater than the amount needed, resulting in spillage and overflow, thereby making it more difficult to maintain sanitary standards. Such excess fluid also detracts from the appearance of the meat product.
Another problem encountered with the metering of the fluid is the difficulty in providing the proper amount of fluid when the thickness of the meat varies. Thicker portions of meat require a greater amount of fluid to be injected, whereas thinner portions of meat require a lesser amount. Similarly, when the needles strike bones or other impenetrable objects in the meat, they do not penetrate fully, and the present metering devices do not satisfactorily accommodate these varying depths of penetration.
Difficulty is also encountered with present devices in avoiding breakage of the needles when the needles strike bone or other hard matter in the meat. The breakage of needles can shut down the processing operation and thereby be detrimental to the efficiency of the operation.

Method and means for injecting fluids into meat products


A method and apparatus for microfluidic processing by programmably manipulating a packet. A material is introduced onto a reaction surface and compartmentalized to form a packet. A position of the packet is sensed with a position sensor. A programmable manipulation force is applied to the packet at the position. The programmable manipulation force is adjustable according to packet position by a controller. The packet is programmably moved according to the programmable manipulation force along arbitrarily chosen paths.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to fluidic processing and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for programmably manipulating and interacting one or more compartmentalized packets of material on a reaction surface.
2. Description of Related Art
Chemical protocols often involve a number of processing steps including metering, mixing, transporting, division, and other manipulation of fluids. For example, fluids are often prepared in test tubes, metered out using pipettes, transported into different test tubes, and mixed with other fluids to promote one or more reactions. During such procedures, reagents, intermediates, and/or final reaction products may be monitored, measured, or sensed in analytical apparatus. Microfluidic processing generally involves such processing and monitoring using minute quantities of fluid. Microfluidic processing finds applications in vast fields of study and industry including, for instance, diagnostic medicine, environmental testing, agriculture, chemical and biological warfare detection, space medicine, molecular biology, chemistry, biochemistry, food science, clinical studies, and pharmaceutical pursuits.
A current approach to fluidic and microfluidic processing utilizes a number of microfluidic channels that are configured with microvalves, pumps, connectors, mixers, and detectors. While devices using micro-scale implementations of these traditional approaches may exhibit at least a degree of utility, vast room for improvement remains. For instance, pumps and valves used in traditional fluidic transportation are mechanical. Mechanical devices, particularly when coupled to thin microchannels, may be prone to failure or blockage. In particular, thin channels may become narrowed or partially-blocked due to buildup of channel contamination, which, in turn, may lead to mechanical failure of associated devices. Current microfluidic devices also lack flexibility, for they rely upon a fixed pathway of microchannels. With fixed pathways, devices are limited in the number and type of tasks they may perform. Also, using fixed pathways makes many types of metering, transport, and manipulation difficult. With traditional devices, it is difficult to partition one type of sample from another within a channel.
Electrical properties of materials have been employed to perform a limited number of fluidic processing tasks. For example, dielectrophoresis has been utilized to aid in the characterization and separation of particles, including biological cells. An example of such a device is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,344,535 to Betts, incorporated herein by reference. Betts establishes dielectrophoretic collection rates and collection rate spectra for dielectrically polarizable particles in a suspension. Particle concentrations at a certain location downstream of an electrode structure are measured using a light source and a light detector, which measures the increased or decreased absorption or scattering of the light which, in turn, indicates an increase or decrease in the concentration of particles suspended in the fluid. Although useful for determining particle dielectrophoretic properties, such a system is limited in application. In particular, such a system does not allow for general fluidic processing involving various interactions, sometimes performed simultaneously, such as metering, mixing, fusing, transporting, division, and general manipulation of multiple reagents and reaction products.
Another example of using certain electrical properties for specific types of processing is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,632,957 to Heller et al., incorporated herein by reference. There, controlled hybridization may be achieved using a matrix or array of electronically addressable microlocations in conjunction with a permeation layer, an attachment region and a reservoir. An activated microlocation attracts charged binding entities towards an electrode. When the binding entity contacts the attachment layer, which is situated upon the permeation layer, the functionalized specific binding entity becomes covalently attached to the attachment layer. Although useful for specific tasks such as DNA hybridization, room for improvement remains. In particular, such a system, utilizing attachment sites for certain binding entities is designed for particular applications and not for general fluidic processing of a variety of fluids. More specifically, such a system is designed for use with charged binding entities that interact with attachment sites.
Another example of processing is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,126,022 to Soane et al., incorporated herein by reference. There, charged molecules may be moved through a medium that fills a trench in response to electric fields generated by electrodes. Although useful for tasks such as separation, room for improvement remains in that such devices are not well suited for performing a wide variety of fluidic processing interactions on a wide variety of different materials.
There are other examples of using dielectrophoresis for performing specific, limited fluidic processing tasks. U.S. Pat. No. 5,795,457 to Pethig and Burt, incorporated herein by reference, disclose a method for promoting reactions between particles suspended in liquid by applying two or more electrical fields of different frequencies to electrode arrays. While perhaps useful for facilitating certain interactions between many particles of different types, the method is not well suited for general fluidic processing. U.S. Pat. No. 4,390,403 to Batchelder, incorporated herein by reference, discloses a method and apparatus for manipulation of chemical species by dielectrophoretic forces. Although useful for inducing certain chemical reactions, its flexibility is limited, and it does not allow for general, programmable fluidic processing.
Any problems or shortcomings enumerated in the foregoing are not intended to be exhaustive but rather are among many that tend to impair the effectiveness of previously known processing techniques. Other noteworthy problems may also exist; however, those presented above should be sufficient to demonstrated that apparatus and methods appearing in the art have not been altogether satisfactory.

Method and apparatus for programmable fluidic processing

Board of Regents, The University of Texas System


The present application provides solid Forms A, B, and C of 2-(5-(4-(2-morpholinoethoxy)phenyl)pyridin-2-yl)-N-benzylacetamide, and methods of preparing and using same. The compounds disclosed herein may be used in the treatment or prevention of a disease or condition in which a tyrosine kinase plays a role.

Signal transduction is any process by which a cell converts one kind of signal or stimulus into another. Protein kinases are involved in signal transduction. A tyrosine kinase is an enzyme that can transfer a phosphate group from ATP to a tyrosine residue in a protein, through a process called phosphorylation, which is an important mechanism in signal transduction for regulation of enzyme activity. Because kinases are involved in the regulation of a wide variety of normal cellular signal transduction pathways, kinases are thought to play a role in many diseases and disorders. About 50% of the known oncogene products are protein tyrosine kinases (PTKs) and their kinase activity has been shown to lead to cell transformation. Thus, modulation of kinase signaling cascades may be an important way to treat or prevent diseases and disorders.
Inhibitors of various known protein kinases have a variety of therapeutic applications. One promising therapeutic use for protein kinase inhibitors is as anti-cancer agents. 2-(5-(4-(2-morpholinoethoxy)phenyl)pyridin-2-yl)-N-benzylacetamide is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor and capable of modulating a kinase cascade. The free base compound is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,300,931.
Polymorphism of a compound affects many of the compound's properties, such as solubility, hygroscopicity, chemical reactivity, and stability. Many of the inconsistencies encountered in drug performance can be attributed to polymorphism. Despite the importance of polymorphism, methods of predicting the existence of possible polymorphs of a compound and conditions under which they can be formed are unreliable, and processes for producing polymorphs often fail to generate them consistently and reliably.
Accordingly, there is an urgent need to discover solid form(s) of 2-(5-(4-(2-morpholinoethoxy)phenyl)pyridin-2-yl)-N-benzylacetamide that display desirable physicochemical properties. The present application addresses the need.

Solid forms of 2-(5-(4-(2-morpholinoethoxy)phenyl)pyridin-2-yl)-N-benzylacetamide


A printer with a paper supplying device having a printing section that includes a photosensitive drum for printing on a paper, a manual supplying path for guiding a paper inserted manually, a manual insertion tray for receiving a paper in order to insert the paper into the printing section through the manual supplying path, a manual supplying means for supplying the paper from the insertion member to a printing section through the manual supplying path, an automatic supplying path for guiding a paper inserted automatically, a paper cassette for storing plural papers, an automatic insertion means for supplying a paper from the paper cassette to the printing section through the automatic supplying path, a manual insertion paper detecting sensor for detecting whether or not the paper inserted from the manual insertion tray is in the manual supplying path, an automatic insertion paper detection sensor for detecting whether or not the paper supplied from the paper cassette is in the automatic insertion path, and a LED for informing the operator of the time when the insertion member may receive a following sheet of paper. The LED is activated when no paper is detected by both the manual insertion paper detecting sensor and the automatic insertion paper detection sensor. An automatic insertion controller controls supply of the paper from the paper cassette to the automatic supplying path if there is no paper on the manual insertion tray when the printing of the paper previously inserted from either of the manual insertion tray and the paper cassette has been processed and the LED indicated such to the operator, and a manual insertion controller controls supply of the paper from the manual insertion tray to the manual supplying path if there is a paper on the manual insertion tray when a paper previously inserted from either of the manual insertion tray and the paper cassette has been processed and the paper cassette has been processed and operator informed by means of LED.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printer with a paper supplying device for supplying a paper by manual insertion from manual insertion part and by automatic insertion from sheet storage part.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, in a printer including a paper supplying device having both of a manual insertion mechanism and an automatic insertion mechanism, when printing paper, for example an overhead projector (OHP) sheet, was manually inserted for a continuous printing, it was necessary to insert a subsequent sheet after the previously inserted sheet had been completely transported from a printing part to a point where the preceding and subsequent sheets do not overlap. Therefore, the operator determined a time for inserting the subsequent sheet and inserted it into the printer.
However, the time for inserting the subsequent sheet varied with the operator. That is, when the operator inserted the subsequent sheet too rapidly, the subsequent sheet was fed simultaneously with the initial sheet. When the operator was slow inserting the subsequent sheet, a sheet normally of a different type, stored in the sheet cassette, was automatically supplied. Both cases were inconvenient for the operator and increased copying time.


A hopper car door locking and unlocking arrangement includes a crank arm which is initially moved to a bail engaging position laterally outwardly of the car and then is further operated by the bail of a side of track door opening device. The crank arm moves a longitudinal actuating means which controls the locking members of a pair of downwardly opening hopper doors.

1. Field of the Invention
The field of invention covers hopper cars having downwardly and outwardly hinged discharge doors. More specifically, the invention related to an improved door locking and unlocking arrangement which is actuated from side of track camming devices positioned adjacent to a pit of dumping site.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The railway art is replete with hopper car doors which include latching devices engageable with tripping mechanisms provided by the side of the track for unlocking hopper car doors for dumping. Such devices are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,621,809, Dec. 16, 1952; 2,728,471, Dec. 27, 1955 and 3,165,213 dated Jan. 12, 1965. In these devices tripping arrangements are provided by the side of the track and as the cars reach the tripping devices, suitable linkage means engages an unlocking mechanism, unlocking the car doors so that the load is dumped. In the present invention, broadly, it is the side-of-track devices that control the locking mechanism provided on the car. In the present invention, a unique and distinctive arrangement is provided which permits the unlocking and locking of the mechanism of the car doors in two stages. The initial stage provides for the outward movement and actuation of a crank arm which is then positioned away from the car and is subsequently engaged by a bail member which pulls the crank arm and a longitudinally actuating member into a position whereby the doors are unlocked. A crank arm on the other end of the car also is positioned and is actuated in similar manner to again provide for locking of the doors.


The invention relates to an electric contact array having two contacts between which an electrically conductive connection exists, wherein the contact array is watertight and dust-tight, wherein the contacts are disposed in a sealed area. According to the invention, two sealing elements are disposed at a distance from one another in order to seal the sealed area. A test area is provided between the sealing elements, said test area having a hole that enables access from the outside.

The invention relates to an electrical contact arrangement that is impervious to moisture and is disposed in a sealed area.
Contacts according to the species are well known in the automobile industry, for example in ignition systems. For example, the contacts between the distributor and the ignition cable, or between the ignition cable and spark plugs, are easily accessible and may be easily tested for tightness, for example by the vehicle user or by a repair shop. The seal is an essential requirement especially in the high-voltage area to ensure that there is no penetrating moisture which could cause short circuits and arcing which in turn could lead to a malfunction of the corresponding electrical system.
However, the tightness test described above is performed by separating the two contacts from one another. There is thus the disadvantage that tightness testing cannot be performed when the two contacts are in their assembled state. After the test described above, even if this test has shown previous tightness of the contact arrangement, the seal of the connection between the two components containing the two contacts may be impaired by contamination during reassemblyxe2x80x94with the result that each tightness test itself entails the risk of creating a leak.
The tightness test described is commonly performed during a diagnostic procedure in which it is sufficient to gain the information that the contact arrangement was, for example, tight in the past and thus may be eliminated as a source of the fault. Contacts according to the species are thus unsuitable for a manufacturer, for example, who wishes to determine whether or not a contact arrangement within a deliverable module has the required seal.
The object of the invention is to improve a generic contact arrangement such that it enables reliable testing of the contact arrangement for imperviousness to dust and moisture while eliminating both damage to the sealing means and the need to open the sealed space containing the contacts for testing.
This object of the invention is achieved by the following teachings.
The invention proposes providing two sealing elements, one of which seals off the contact arrangement from the environment. A test area is created between these two sealing elements which are located a certain distance from one another, said test area being accessible from the outside. In this way, an overpressure or underpressure relative to ambient pressure may be applied in this test area. The sealing elements therefore need not be contacted during testing, with the result that any risk of damage is averted. The sealed area containing the contacts remains closed during the test.
Since the entire module, including sealing elements, remains in its assembled state, a meaningful test result is obtained; no dislocations, deformations, or other effects on the sealing elements can occur following testing.
If the applied test pressure changes, even if it does not approach the ambient pressure, it may be assumed that the inner seal is damaged, i.e. the sealing element that adjoins the space in which the two contacts are located. The change in the test pressure results from the equalization of pressure between the test area and the space in which the two contacts are located.
To ensure reliable tightness of the modules to be delivered, the detected lack of tightness may thus result in the tested module""s being rejected.
Given this type of imperfect seal, the test result may indicate that at least the outer seal is sufficient since the equalization of pressure occurred only between the test area and the sealed space. If the opening of the test area accessible from outside is now sealed, for example by filling it with an adhesive or by inserting a sealing plug, the possibility of a leak through this test opening may be excluded with a high degree of probability and the entire contact arrangement may be shipped as a module which is sealed at this level of probability.
On the other hand, if, when the test pressure is applied, there is a change in pressure in which the test pressure reaches ambient pressure, it may be assumed that the external seal adjacent to the external environment is not tight. In this case, no meaningful information on the tightness of the inner seal may be obtained. To be conservative, the entire contact arrangement has to be considered not sealed, then repaired before it is once again tested and either rejected or shipped.
Each contact may be advantageously contained within its own component, the two components being plugged into each other. This approach permits a comparatively simple and cost-effective, as well as reliable design for the seals.
Here it is particularly advantageous if the plug of one component and the corresponding receptacle hole of the other component each have a round contour since it is then possible to use inexpensive, commercially available sealing rings, and it is also easier to create a reliable seal than it is with polygonal sealing contours.
Commercially available O-rings may be used to particular advantage, these O-rings being proven and reliable sealing elements, as well as inexpensive and commercially available.
An electrically conductive connection between the two contacts may be achieved simply and inexpensively by a spring, for example a compression spring, located between the two contacts and compensating for any axial play between the two components or between the two contacts. A spring designed as a helical or coil spring can, by deforming, achieve an immediate compensation in length between the two contacts, said spring always acting on the contacts at the same points. A flat spring connected electrically with the one contact and located laterally adjacent to the other contact can compensate for the axial play of the contacts even without deformation by contacting the other contact at different points. In this way, a reliable connection between the two contacts is ensured by the spring independently of manufacturing tolerances or movements during operation of the component, for example due to vibrational excitations.
One embodiment of the invention is described in more detail below based on the drawing.
Here, 1 indicates a first component which consists of an electrically insulating material, for example plastic. Within first component 1 is located first contact 2 which forms a sleeve with two sections. A lower section 3 with a smaller diameter serves to accommodate and guide compression spring 4 which is designed as a helical spring. Upper section 5 with a larger diameter accommodates second contact 6.

Sealed testable electrical contact arrangement

Firma Ing. Walter Hengst GmbH and Co. KG


Systems, methods, and computer-readable media are described for performing automated analysis of frame-over-frame pixel changes in recorded video of the display output of a computing device to determine whether the computing device presented an animated buffering indicator or other animated problem indicator. A system may be configured to detect motion by determining frame-over-frame pixel intensity changes at various pixel locations across a number of frames, then to determine whether the pixel locations that suggest motion (such as those pixel locations that had sufficient intensity change when accounting for potential noise in the video data) are concentrated in an area of the screen in which problem indicators are expected to be displayed. The system may then determine whether the shape of the pixel locations that indicated sufficient motion match an expected shape or path of motion for a given class of problem indictors.

Benchmarking and performance testing of computer software and hardware is commonly performed for a variety of reasons. For example, a developer of software, a hardware manufacturer, a network service provider, or other party may desire to compare the performance of different combinations of software and hardware under various conditions, such as with different hardware configurations, under different operating loads, with different network conditions, etc. When the party testing software is the software's developer, the software's code may be configured to output or store error codes or other specific data when specific problems are encountered during runtime. However, identifying specific problems that occur or that affect usability of a given system or specific software may be more difficult when such a problem must be assessed by a third party, particularly when the software or service being tested or otherwise subject to an experiment conveys problems in a visual manner that is designed to convey the problem to a human viewing a computer monitor or other display rather than in the form of an automated data output log or similar output. For example, in instances where a robot or other machine is configured to perform a series of automated actions on a keyboard, mouse, and/or touchscreen in order to perform experiments or tests of a computing system under various conditions, operating problems that are visually displayed on a screen by the computing system being tested may be difficult to identify in an automated manner (e.g., without manual human intervention that undercuts the efficiency of using a robot to conduct such an experiment).

Automated detection of problem indicators in video of display output


Peanuts and peanut oil having improved stability and resistance to oxidative degradation as a result of improved fatty acid profile. Edible compositions containing such peanuts and oil, and a method of improving the oxidative stability of peanut-oil containing compositions by adding such oil to them.

The peanut plant is produced in many countries, and is recognized as one of the major oilseed crops and as a rich source of protein. Peanuts are grown worldwide in the tropic and temperate zones, and although they are grown elsewhere primarily for the seed oil, in the United States peanuts are used mainly for human foods such as peanut butter, roasted seeds, and confections. The United States is consistently a major exporter of peanuts for human consumption. The unique roasted flavor of peanuts is the basis for most marketing of export/import peanuts. Thus, improvement of the factors that indicate and/or affect food quality of peanuts is of considerable importance to the worldwide peanut processing and manufacturing community.
The performance characteristics of a plant oil, for either dietary or industrial purposes, are substantially determined by its fatty acid profile, that is, by the species of fatty acids present in the oil and the relative and absolute amounts of each species. The type and amount of unsaturation present in a plant oil have important consequences for both dietary and industrial applications. With regard to edible peanuts, their final quality is due principally to the chemical composition of the oil, protein, and carbohydrate fractions of the seed, with the oil component playing a major role. Other factors such as kernel size, blanching characteristics, roasted flavor, and shelf life also contribute to peanut quality.
Plant oils are subject to oxidative degradation, which can cause highly undesirable changes in color and odor, as well as detract from the lubricity and viscosity characteristics of the oil. Color and odor are of particular concern in food applications, where the autoxidation of oils, and the accompanying deterioration of flavor, is referred to as rancidity. The rate of oxidation is affected by several factors, including the presence of oxygen, exposure to light and heat, and the presence of native or added antioxidants and prooxidants in the oil. However, of most pertinence to the present invention, and perhaps generally, is the type and amount of unsaturation of the fatty acids in the oil.
By way of one example, peanut butter consists of a mixture of solid nut particles and liquid peanut oil. It is generally made by roasting and blanching raw peanut kernels, followed by grinding. The grinding operation breaks the cellular structure of the peanut kernels and liberates oil; the comminuted nut particles are suspended in this oil to form a product having a pasty and spreadable consistency.
An unavoidable side effect of the processing, and particularly the grinding, is the introduction of oxygen into the peanut butter. The presence of this oxygen promotes the development of rancidity; the oxygen oxidizes the peanut oil, causing the peanut butter to develop an undesirable taste and/or odor during prolonged storage, thereby reducing the useful shelf life of the peanut butter.
The fatty acids present in the peanut oil are not equally vulnerable to oxidation. Rather, the susceptibility of individual fatty acids to oxidation is dependent on their degree of unsaturation. Thus, the rate of oxidation of linolenic acid, which possesses three carbon--carbon double bonds, is 25-100 times that of oleic acid, which has only one double bond, and 2-10 times that of linoleic acid, which has two. Schultz, E. A Day and R. O. Sinnhuber, Symposium on Food Lipids and Their Oxidation, AVI Publishing Co., Inc., London, England (1962). Linoleic and linolenic acids also have the most impact on flavor and odor because they readily form hydroperoxides. While saturated fatty acids are the most stable from the viewpoint of rancidity, they are highly undesirable from a health and nutrition viewpoint Therefore, monounsaturated fatty acids present the best combination of nutritive and oxidative stability characteristics.
Resistance to oxidation can also have an important benefit before the peanut is crushed for oil or incorporated into a food product There appears to be a correlation between susceptibility to oxidation and the formation of aflatoxin, an extremely undesirable contaminant which can result from the growth of certain molds. It has been reported that lipoperoxidation of the unsaturated fatty acids--particularly linolenic acid--in sunflower seeds appears to be involved in aflatoxin biosynthesis. Passi et al., "Role of lipoperoxidation in aflatoxin production," Applied Microbiology Biotechnology, pp. 186-190 (1984); Fanelli et al., `Free radical and aflatoxin biosynthesis," Experientia, 40:191-193 (1984). Therefore, peanuts whose oil contents are resistant to oxidation should also be resistant to aflatoxin formation.
The botanical classification of peanuts is subject to some apparent ambiguity, with sub-divisions being variously referred to as varieties, subvarieties, subspecies, classes, and types. Thus, commercial peanuts can be divided into at least two main botanical classes, Virginia and Spanish, and possibly a third, Valencia (Norden et al., "Breeding of the Cultivated Peanut," Peanut Science and Technology, Ch. 4, pp. 95-121 (1982). Some sources use a different third main class, Runner (Peanuts: Production, Processing, Products, ch. 4, "The Culture of Peanuts," pp. 41 et seq., Woodroof, ed. (3d ed. 1983), while others appear to treat Runner as a sub-class of Virginia (Wynne et al., "Peanut Breeding," Advances in Agronomy, 34:39-72 (1981). (It appears that some of the apparent confusion may result from the use of overlapping nomenclature in taxonomic and commercial naming systems.) For purposes of the present discussion, Runner will be treated as a sub-class derived from the Virginia botanical class of peanut
Virginia botanical types do not flower on the main stem and, in general terms, mature later, have a high water requirement, and are large-seeded. Spanish botanical types flower only on the main stem and, relative to Virginia types, mature earlier, have a lower water requirement, and have smaller seed.
Virginia peanuts are the more desirable for comestible applications, due to their generally superior size, texture, and taste compared to Spanish peanuts. In addition, oil from seeds of the different botanical types of peanuts differ in their tendency to develop oxidative rancidity and its associated undesirable odors and flavors. Virginia-type peanuts produce oil with a lower linoleic percentage, and therefore tend to have greater stability than Spanish types. Moreover, Virginia type peanut plants are superior to Spanish in several agronomic characteristics, including drought resistance, disease and pest resistance, and susceptibility to pod splitting.
In general, the genetic range of fatty acid compositions in peanuts is 41-67% oleic acid and 14-42% linoleic. O'Keefe et al., "Comparison of Oxidative Stability of High- and Normal-Oleic Peanut Oils," J. Am. Oil Chem. Soc., 70:489-492 (1993), referencing Ahmed et al., Peanut Science and Technology, pp. 655-688 (1982). The Runner sub-class of Virginia-type peanut is the basis for the most widely used commercial peanut varieties in the United States, due to its excellent agronomic characteristics. A recent survey of Runner-type peanuts reported an oleic acid content range of 49.6-56.3%, and a linoleic acid content range of 24.1-30.6%. Branch et el., J. Am. Oil Chem. Soc., 67:591 (1990).
One widely used commercial variety of the Runner sub-class is Florunner, which was introduced in the United States in 1969 as commercial runner type peanut derived from a cross between the varieties Early Runner and Florispan. Florunner constituted about 90% of all runner-type peanut grown in the U.S. in the 1970's, and still had about 70% of this market in 1992. Usage of Florunner in 1994 is estimated at between 60% and 70% of all runner-type peanut in the U.S., and 25 years after its introduction Florunner remains the most cultivated peanut trade variety in the United States, and is the standard against which every new introduction is measured. However, the oil of Florunner peanuts contains about 51% oleic fatty acid and 29% linoleic fatty acid, yielding an O/L ratio value of only about 1.76.
Prior attempts have been made to derive a high oleic/low linoleic variety having a Florunner background. Norden, French Patent Application No. 2,617,675, assigned to the University of Florida, describes a Florispan-derived peanut seed with an oil content of approximately 74-84% oleic acid and 2-8% linoleic acid. [This application claims priority from U.S. Ser. No. 071,881, filed Jul. 10, 1987, which does not appear to have issued as a U.S. patent.] However, the derivation of this peanut seed apparently included an early cross between a Virginia-type female parent and a Spanish-type male parent. This would be expected to yield offspring plants having substantially less desirable agronomic characteristics than a runner variety. Moreover, the seeds of such offspring would unavoidably reflect at least some of the inferior size, taste, and texture of Spanish peanuts; it appears, in fact, that they were classified as commercial Spanish-type peanuts under the U.S. Marketing System.
In a 1987 journal article, "Variability in Oil Quality Among Peanut Genotypes in the Florida Breeding Program," Peanut Science. 14:7-11, Norden et al. describe the lengthy efforts made by the Florida breeding program to improve the oil quality of Arachis hypogaea L. This paper was apparently a forerunner to filing of the above-referenced U.S. patent application. It describes the same two lines which form the basis of that application, 435-2-1 and 435-2-2, as being derived from seed stock which was a Florispan derivative, and acknowledges the possibility of a subsequent Spanish outcross based on "variation in seed characteristics."
In a follow-up to the Norden et al. work by Knauft et al., "Further Studies On The Inheritance of Fatty Acid Composition in Peanut," Peanut Science, 20:74-76 (1993), the authors, working from the F435 line, conclude that the high oleic acid trait in peanut follows simple genetic inheritance, such that "incorporation of high oleic acid into peanut cultivars should be straightforward." However, there is no acknowledgment that F435 is a Spanish genotype, and no recognition or discussion of whether the authors' conclusion, if accurate, would apply to incorporation of the high oleic acid trait into non-Spanish backgrounds. Given the commercial dominance of runner-derived peanut lines, the current peanut production system, and the need to maintain the existing agronomic and flavor characteristics of the premium commercial varieties, introgression breeding of the high O/L trait from other varieties into Florunner is a difficult and uncertain approach which is unlikely to be commercially feasible.
It would, therefore, be particularly beneficial to develop a variety of Virginia-type peanut having the desirable agronomic characteristics of the Runner class, and in particular the Florunner variety, yet also having oil with a high content of monounsaturated acids and a low content of saturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids. The superior oxidative stability of oil from such a peanut variety would provide benefits in both industrial and comestible uses, where increased shelf life would decrease the incidence of rancidity and improve product quality, not only of the oil per se, but also of food products containing the peanuts in whole or reduced form.
Moreover, there would be very substantial practical benefits if a commercial high oleic peanut line was made available having agronomic characteristics substantially identical to those of Florunner. Because of the long-standing dominance of Florunner, every step in the chain of peanut production and marketing is highly calibrated to handling peanuts and peanut products having Florunner characteristics. Growers would be receptive to such a variety because they would know what to expect in matters such as yield, disease and pest resistance, and harvesting factors such as the plant growth habit, pod size and placement on the plant, and the incidence of hull splitting. Hulling and crushing could also be carried out with little or no adjustment to machine set-up and process parameters (cracking force, blanching conditions, incidence of split peanuts), as well as with a reasonable expectation of yield. Wholesalers, retailers, and end users would be highly receptive to peanut products whose only substantial distinguishing characteristic in comparison to Florunner was a dramatically improved fatty acid content.


Holstering retractor devices or systems for securing a device or instrument when not in use, such that the instrument does not have to be held or slid into a pocket. The systems are coupled with a retracting device, integrated into the holster, such that if said instrument or device pops out of holster, or is dropped while in use, it is not lost or damaged. The present invention is also directed to systems utilizing the holster retractors, such as vest system having the holster retractor mounted to the vests.

Field of the Invention
The present invention is generally directed to a holstering and retracting device system that can be used for securing a piece of gear or instrument when not in use.
Description of the Related Art
Holsters are a common use item for the securing of gear to a person to provide a way of holding such a device when not in use. They range from holsters for side arms, phones, binoculars, GPS units, dog training transmitters and an extensive list of items.
Holsters of various designs are commonly used in outdoors, industrial and military applications when the use has devices or gear that is too numerous to hold, or to provide other storage locations when the device is not in use. Holsters however do not provide a method for preventing the loss or damage of a piece of gear or instrument should it come separated from or fall out of the holster. The holster also does not provide any protection should the user drop the device or gear during use.
Lanyards have been developed that can provide added security for preventing loss and damage of the gear or instrument should it become dislodged from the holster or when the gear or instrument is removed from the holster during use. Retracting devices have also been developed that can be used in connection with lanyards. Retractable tethering devices are currently being attached to a person through use of common art attachment mechanisms such as Snap Clips, Velcro Straps, Pin Mounting Systems, Bracket Mounting devices and Belt Clipping devices. Examples of these retractable devices can be seen in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,966,519, 7,478,776, and 7,665,684, all to Salentine and Collin, and all assigned to Hammerhead Industries, Inc., the same assignee as the present application.
Some systems have been developed comprising a retracting device coupled with a holster to provide the tethering security when the device is in use. For these systems, two items must be attached to a person and coupled together in order to provide the desired protection, in that the device is tethered during use but secured in a holster when not in use to eliminate the dangling and provide further protection of the device.
Different applications have been developed for hiding a retracting device into a pocket. In these cases, a retractor can be arranged in a pocket, and an eyelet or reinforced button hole can be constructed at or around the pocket to allow the retracting cable/line to exit from the pocket to attach to a piece of gear or instrument. Many of such applications exist in the SCUBA, Fly Fishing, Outdoors and Military markets, and many of these applications have been developed by the assignee of the present application.
These systems have worked well for integrating retracting devices into such things as backpacks, SCUBA BCD's, Fly Fishing waders and vests, and hunting jackets. However, these systems may not provide a securing mechanism for the gear or instrument such that when the gear or instrument is not in use, to prevent dangling and undesirable movement of the gear or instrument. Attempts have been made to position a retracting device in a holster such that the gear is retracted into the holster. In order to do this extra length would need to be added to the holster in order to fit both the gear and the retracting device in which the added length has been undesirable.
Alternatively, the retracting device has been placed behind the holster with the line entering the bottom of the holster and wraping 180-degrees upward through the holster. This design has significant undesirable line wear issues. Further, depending on the size of the holster, it is not possible to grab the retracting connector buried in the bottom of the holster.

Pouch or holster coupled with a retracting device


Provided are a pack main body of a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape in which a battery cell is embedded, and a terminal portion provided on a front face of the pack main body. The pack main body includes bevelled portions at corner portions formed by a top face and a bottom face and opposite side faces. The terminal portion is provided, in a protruding manner, on the front face at a position biased with respect to center lines in a width direction and a height direction. The corner portions on one side have a chamfered shape and the corner portions on the other side have a rounded shape.

Battery packs such as lithium-ion secondary batteries are installed in small electronic appliances such as digital still cameras, digital video cameras, mobile phones, or the like, in an attachable/detachable manner.
These battery packs generally have every corner portion in a rounded shape, and, even when a user inserts them in battery housings of electronic appliances mistaking the insertion direction, they will usually not break the inner walls or the like of the battery housings.
Furthermore, among the battery packs, there are some that are made into a horizontally or vertically asymmetric shape by being provided with protrusions such as ribs on the surface so that a user will not insert them in battery housings mistaking the insertion direction of the battery packs. However, battery packs provided with protrusions such as ribs are provided with rough surfaces, which will prevent further miniaturization of the battery packs.


Systems and methods for extending the life of an implanted pulse generator battery are disclosed. A representative method for establishing charge parameters for a battery-powered implantable medical device includes receiving a patient-specific therapy signal parameter and, based at least in part on the patient-specific therapy signal parameter, determining a discharge rate for a battery of the implanted medical device. The method can further include determining a therapy run time, based at least in part on the discharge rate. The method can still further include determining at least one battery charging parameter, based at least in part on the run time.

Neurological stimulators have been developed to treat pain, movement disorders, functional disorders, spasticity, cancer, cardiac disorders, and various other medical conditions. Implantable neurological stimulation systems generally have an implantable signal generator and one or more leads that deliver electrical pulses to neurological tissue or muscle tissue. For example, several neurological stimulation systems for spinal cord stimulation (SCS) have cylindrical leads that include a lead body with a circular cross-sectional shape and one or more conductive rings (i.e., contacts) spaced apart from each other at the distal end of the lead body. The conductive rings operate as individual electrodes and, in many cases, the SCS leads are implanted percutaneously through a needle inserted into the epidural space, with or without the assistance of a stylet.
Once implanted, the signal generator applies electrical pulses to the electrodes, which in turn modify the function of the patient's nervous system, such as by altering the patient's responsiveness to sensory stimuli and/or altering the patient's motor-circuit output. In SCS therapy for the treatment of pain, the signal generator applies electrical pulses to the spinal cord via the electrodes. In conventional SCS therapy, electrical pulses are used to generate sensations (known as paresthesia) that mask or otherwise alter the patient's sensation of pain. For example, in many cases, patients report paresthesia as a tingling sensation that is perceived as less uncomfortable than the underlying pain sensation.
Conventional implanted SCS pulse generators are typically charged using a set of fixed charging parameters. FIG. 1 illustrates a representative process 10 in accordance with the prior art for establishing and using battery charging parameters for standard implantable pulse generators. The process includes a pre-charge parameter selection process 11 and a charging process 12. The pre-charge parameter selection process 11 includes establishing fixed thresholds for charging parameters, including thresholds for charging voltage levels and/or charging current levels, and time limits for one or more phases of the charging process 12 (block 14). The charging process 12 itself includes an initial period during which the battery is charged at a constant current (block 15). At block 16, the process includes determining whether an end-of-charge voltage threshold has been reached. If the voltage threshold has not been reached, then the battery is further charged using the constant current value. If the voltage threshold has been reached, then in block 17, the battery is further charged at a constant voltage level, rather than a constant current level. In block 18, the charger determines whether a minimum end-of-charge current threshold has been reached or, alternatively, whether a charging time limit has been reached. If either condition is met, the charging process stops (block 19). If the relevant condition is not met, the constant voltage phase of the charging process continues until the current threshold or time limit has been reached.
In contrast to traditional or conventional (i.e., paresthesia-based) SCS, a form of paresthesia-free SCS has been developed that uses therapy signal parameters that treat the patient's sensation of pain without generating paresthesia or otherwise using paresthesia to mask the patient's sensation of pain. One of several advantages of paresthesia-free SCS therapy systems is that they eliminate the need for uncomfortable paresthesias, which many patients find objectionable. However, a challenge with paresthesia-free SCS therapy systems is that the signal may be delivered at frequencies, amplitudes, and/or pulse widths that use more power than conventional SCS systems. As a result, the battery of the implanted system can discharge and become depleted at an accelerated rate. Accordingly, a follow-on challenge with providing non-paresthesia-generating spinal cord stimulation via an implanted pulse generator is that, in at least some cases, it may be difficult to maintain an effective signal as the charge available from the pulse generator battery decreases. One approach to power consumption challenges in the context of conventional SCS systems is to increase the frequency with which the pulse generator is charged, but this can be inconvenient for the patient. Another approach is to add signal conditioning hardware, for example, to boost the voltage provided by the battery as the battery discharges. A drawback with this approach is that it can be inefficient. Accordingly, there remains a need for effective and efficient therapy signal delivery, despite the possibility of increased power consumption resulting from the signal delivery parameters used for paresthesia-free patient therapy.


Electroacoustic converter for transformation between thermal and electrical energy, comprising working chamber filled with working medium, piezoelectric transducer, acoustic filter and source of gaseous substance to be supplied into working chamber under pressure.. Combustion of gaseous substance causes its pulsation accompanied by emitting acoustic waves, which being transmitted via working medium to said transducer are converted into electrical signals. The signals can be released from the electrical terminals of transducer.. The same device can function in opposite direction in the sense that it converts the supplied to transducer electrical energy into acoustical waves which being emitted by the transducer are transferred through the working medium to the gaseous stream.. This process is accompanied by adiabatic heating and cooling of the stream and thus transferring of electrical energy into heat energy takes place while converter operates as a heat machine.

Utilization of the piezoelectric effect in different devices is known, and one can mention very different applications in which these devices are presently effectively used, including process control, nondestructive testing, intrusion detection, measurement of elastic properties, medical diagnosis, delay lines, and signal processing, etc.
These and many other applications of the piezoelectric effect are well described in the literature and can be found, for example, in the monograph, "Ultrasonics, Fundamentals, Technology, Applications," by Dale Ensminger, Marcel Dekker, Inc., 1988.
The most important part of such devices is the piezoelectric transducer, containing crystalline material, which, being exposed to a pressure applied along certain crystallographical axes, is able to produce electrical charges on preferred crystallographic surfaces, or, on the contrary, being exposed to a voltage applied between two preferred surfaces of the crystal, is able to produce a stress or strain along its axes.
Depending on the amount of electrical energy convened into mechanical energy of acoustical waves or vice versa, a particular transducer can be used in devices for low- or high-intensity applications.
Low-intensity applications are usually those wherein the primary purpose is to transmit the converted energy as acoustic waves through a medium without changing its state and to measure the propagation characteristics for obtaining engineering data for materials.
Devices based on piezoelectric transducers which operate on low-intensity principles include, for example, height detectors, liquid-level gauges, devices for measuring of amount of solids in suspension, and so on.
High intensity applications are those which produce changes in or effect the medium, or the contents of the medium, through which the converted energy propagates.
There are various mechanisms which promote this effect. Some of them can be related to heat, chemical effect, cavitation, mechanical effects, etc.
High-intensity applications of piezoelectric transducers are numerous, and for only a few examples of leading commercial high-intensity applications one can mention ultrasonic cleaning tanks, ultrasonic machining tools, ultrasonic welders, atomizers for oil burners, dewatering devices, and so on.
In all the above mentioned applications there takes place conversion of the electric energy into mechanical energy of acoustical waves or vice versa, not for the purpose of generating energy, but for achieving a particular mechanical, chemical or other effect, in other words, these devices do not serve as energy generators, per se.
There are also publications in which there is mention of the utilization of piezoelectric transducers in generators, for example, those driven by combustion engines, (see U.S. Pat. No. 4,511,818). This known device comprises a combustion engine which has piston driven by explosion of a fuel mixture and a piezoelectric transducer responsible for generating voltage and applying this voltage for return piston movement.
Despite the fact that this device includes piezoelectric transducer and combustion engine, it cannot be considered a piezoelectric generator of energy per se, since that the voltage generated in the transducer serves not for energy output, but for an auxiliary purpose; namely, for the return movement of a second piston of the combustion engine.
Another device, known in the art as V. M. Falkov's generator and described in the Soviet invention certificate, SU 613,421, is dedicated to converting the energy of flowing gas into electric energy.
This generator uses piezoelectric elements to generate an electric signal when the elements are exposed to a flow of gas or steam entering the case where these elements are mounted. The case with piezoelectric elements is installed in the vehicle, and when it moves on a road or in the air, gas or steams cause deformation and oscillation of the piezoelectric elements thus generating an electric signal collected by current collectors.
The main disadvantage of this and other known generators comprising combustion chambers and utilizing the piezoelectric effect for converting of mechanical or heat energy into electric energy (or vice versa) is their low efficiency, i.e., low value of the ratio of the power out to the total power into the system.
This disadvantage is intrinsic to generators in which the transfer of acoustic energy takes place inside the combustion chamber and is associated with the fact that it is very difficult to ensure both high efficiency of transformation of heat energy from the exploding fuel into acoustic energy (in the combustion chamber) and at the same time high efficiency of transformation of acoustic energy into electric energy (in the transducer). To ensure both of the above conditions, the combustion chamber should be as small as possible; however, this condition makes difficult effective thermal insulation and reliable functioning of the transducer. Besides, a small combustion chamber requires more frequent cleaning because it becomes dirty more often.
As a consequence, there should always be a compromise between the ultimate dimensions of the chamber while still ensuring its reliable functioning and achievable efficiency of the generator.

Electroacoustic energy converter for transformation between thermal and electrical energy


A method and system for a pipelined bus interface macro for use in interconnecting devices within a computer system. The system and method utilizes a pipeline depth signal that indicates a number N of discrete transfer requests that may be sent by a sending device and received by a receiving device prior to acknowledgment of a transfer request by the receiving device. The pipeline depth signal may be dynamically modified, enabling a receiving device to decrement or increment the pipeline depth while one or more unacknowledged requests have been made. The dynamic modifications may occur responsive to many factors, such as an instantaneous reduction in system power consumption, a bus interface performance indicator, a receiving device performance indicator or a system performance indicator.

It is common for computer bus systems to allow pipelining of multiple bus transactions. Pipelining occurs when subsequent transaction requests are made prior to the completion of outstanding transaction requests. Bus transactions may be requested for one transaction while data transfer is performed concurrently for a separate bus transaction. In this manner, multiple transactions can be processed in parallel with different phases of the separate bus transactions performed concurrently.
Power consumption is an important issue for computer systems and integrated systems-on-a-chips (SOC's). In some applications, low power consumption may be more important and desirable than high performance, such as in battery-powered cellphone or personal digital assistant (PDA) applications. Therefore, it is acceptable to provide a means to select a reduction in processing capability where a corresponding reduction in power consumption is obtained. For example, it may be preferable to reduce transaction processing capability as a trade-off for a reduction in power consumption. This can be accomplished by varying the depth of the bus pipeline, wherein a shorter bus pipeline would decrease processing capability, slow the system and reduce power consumption by spreading the bus transaction requests over a longer period of time, effectively reducing the number of transfer requests per unit of time. A reduction in the number of transfer requests per unit of time results in reductions in the power consumptions of the devices receiving such requests.
It is desirable to provide a bus mechanism to allow the depth of the bus pipeline to be varied in accordance with power consumption constraints or particular processing constraints of the agents connected to the bus. One proposed solution is taught by U.S. Pat. No. 5,548,733 to Sarangdhar et al., entitled "METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DYNAMICALLY CONTROLLING THE CURRENT MAXIMUM DEPTH OF A PIPELINED COMPUTER BUS SYSTEM." Individual bus agents transmit signals to the central arbiter, which responsively controls the depth of the pipeline in accordance with the signals received from each of the various bus agents. Thus, one slave device effectively sets a common lowest-common denominator master pipeline depth for all slaves.
However, non-optimal results are obtained where each of the devices or agents connected to the bus is not capable of accommodating the maximum depth of the bus pipeline. For example, if one particular agent is only capable of accommodating a pipeline having a depth of two, then, even though other agents can pipeline deeper, this capability is never utilized. Therefore, the effective maximum depth for a bus pipeline is constrained by the agent that can accommodate only the shallowest bus pipeline depth.
Moreover, the bus depth to which any particular agent is capable of accommodating may depend on the particular hardware of the bus agent or it may depend upon the current state of the bus agent. For example, during start-up or initialization of an agent, the agent may not be capable of processing any bus transactions, whereas once the agent has been fully activated, the agent may be capable of accommodating a bus pipeline depth of five. In other cases, the maximum depth to which an agent can process bus requests is a dynamic function of the current state of input and output queues connected to the bus. For example, if the input queue of a bus agent is empty, the agent may be capable of accommodating a pipeline depth of five. However, if the queue of the bus agent is full or nearly full, the agent may only be capable of accommodating a bus pipeline depth of one or two.
What is needed is a system and method that allows a request pipeline depth setting such that not all masters and cache snooping devices in a system are bound to the least common denominator of all receiving devices. What is also needed is a dynamic adjustment means of pipeline depth setting, wherein the pipeline depth setting can be increased or decreased responsive to the capabilities of the system devices, processing capability and power consumption requirements.

International Business Machines Corporation


It is an object of the invention to provide a technique that contributes to rationalization of dust collection, in a dust collecting attachment for use on a power tool.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a dust collecting attachment for collecting dust generated during operation, which is used on a power tool that performs a predetermined operation on a workpiece by driving a tool bit.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese patent publication No. 3726437 discloses a dust collecting attachment. This known dust collecting attachment is used on a hammer drill in which a hammer bit linearly moves in the axial direction and rotates in the circumferential direction. The dust collecting attachment includes a dust collecting cup for collecting dust generated during drilling operation on a workpiece. The dust collecting cup is shaped like a bellows and arranged to surround a front end region of the tool body around the longitudinal axis of the front end region, and one end of the dust collecting cup in the longitudinal direction is mounted to a side handle of the hammer drill.
According to the above-described known dust collecting cup, dust generated during operation can be collected, but further rationalization of dust collection is desired.

Abstract: Dust collecting attachments 250, 350 are used on a power tool 201 having a tool body 203, a tool bit 209 which can be coupled to a front end region of the tool body 203, and an auxiliary handle 208 attached to the tool body 203. The dust collecting attachments 250, 350 include dust collecting members 251, 351, respectively, which can be attached to the auxiliary handle 208 in such a manner as to surround the front end region of the tool body 203 around a longitudinal axis of the front end region in order to collect dust generated during operation by the power tool 201, and a connecting hose 273 for connecting the dust collecting members 251, 351 to a dust collector.


A user detection apparatus includes a processor for an information handling device and a memory that stores code executable by the processor. The code is executable by the processor to detect a user in a user space that is proximate to the information handling device in response to an airflow being detected in the user space and, in response to detecting the user, resume or begin operations in the information handling device.

Many types of electronic devices, such as interactive computers and acoustic devices, provide services to nearby users. In the absence of a user, these electronic devices are typically in a standby mode to save power consumption. Since it is inconvenient to request a user to perform some operations when beginning and/or resuming the use of an electronic device, efforts have been made to use various sensors for enabling a device or system to detect the presence of a user.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2016-039447 describes a technique for preventing an image output device from transitioning to a power saving mode regardless of the presence of a nearby user using the image output device. This technique uses an infrared array sensor to switch power modes.
Japanese Patent Application No. 2014-72523 describes a flow sensor. Here, the flow sensor includes a heater element and a pair of temperature sensor resistive elements disposed on both sides of the heater element.
Japanese Patent Application No. 2007-285996 describes a thermal sensitive acceleration sensor. Here, the thermal sensitive acceleration sensor includes two pairs of temperature detecting elements sandwiching a heater in closed space that detects temperature differences caused by acceleration.
Active-type user detection sensors that emit infrared rays, ultrasonic waves, light, or the like toward a human to detect the presence of a human based on a response thereof, consume large amounts of power. A user detection sensor using a camera also consumes a large amount of power. In addition, the use of a camera for user detection often tends to be unfavorable by users for privacy reasons. Further, some user detection sensors may not be effective because they are only capable of detecting a human within a limited range and/or direction.

User detection apparatus, systems, and methods


A ground cloth is adapted for use between the ground and a ground engagable floor to protect the floor from contamination by the ground. The ground cloth includes a plurality of drain holes for draining to the ground moisture entering between the ground engagable floor and the ground cloth to minimize the retention of moisture between the ground cloth and the floor.

Ground cloths formed of thin, flexible, light weight, easy to clean, waterproof (nonporous) sheets are known in the art for protecting tent floors from dirt, abrasive wear, and ground moisture. Such ground cloths are commonly sized slightly smaller than a tent floor, or footprint, so that moisture dripping down the sides of a tent will not land on exposed portions of the ground cloth and collect under the tent floor, between the ground cloth and the tent. With tent floors that are not entirely waterproof, such moisture tends to seep into the tent through the tent floor.
Ground cloths formed of DUPONT™ TYVEK® have also been proposed. TYVEK® is a high-density polyethylene material that, while not considered to be strictly waterproof, is designed to resist water penetration. Consequently, it does not have the ability to quickly drain away the quantities of water that may accumulate during a rainstorm.
Conventional wisdom relative to tent ground cloths is that a ground cloth should be waterproof. However, a ground cloth capable of protecting a tent floor from dirt, abrasion and ground moisture, while also limiting the retention of moisture between the tent floor and the ground cloth, is desired.


A method of manufacturing a semiconductor substrate may include forming a first semiconductor layer on a growth substrate, forming a second semiconductor layer on the first semiconductor layer, forming a plurality of voids in the first semiconductor layer by removing portions of the first semiconductor layer that are exposed by a plurality of trenches in the second semiconductor layer, forming a third semiconductor layer on the second semiconductor layer and covering the plurality of trenches, and separating the second and third semiconductor layers from the growth substrate. on the first semiconductor layer. The third semiconductor layer are grown from the second semiconductor layer and extend above the second semiconductor layer.

The present disclosure relates to a method of manufacturing a semiconductor substrate.
A semiconductor light emitting device may be a next-generation light source and may have features such as a relatively long lifespan, low power consumption, fast response speed, environmental friendliness, and the like. The semiconductor light emitting device has come to prominence as a light source in various types of products such as lighting devices and backlights of displays. In particular, a nitride-based light emitting device based on a Group III nitride such as GaN, AlGaN, InGaN, or InAlGaN plays an important role in outputting blue or ultraviolet light as a semiconductor light emitting device.
A sapphire substrate, a silicon (Si) substrate, or a GaN substrate may be used as a substrate used in manufacturing a semiconductor light emitting device. In particular, in a case in which a nitride-based light emitting device is manufactured using a GaN substrate, defects in the nitride-based light emitting device may be significantly reduced. In the manufacturing of such a GaN substrate, technology of manufacturing a large semiconductor substrate using a more simplified process without increasing manufacturing costs is desired.

Method of manufacturing semiconductor substrate including separating two semiconductor layers from a growth substrate