A method and system for facilitating collection of past due balances. A control entity such as a call server or collections server receives a signaling message such as a SIP INVITE that seeks to set up a call between a calling party and called party. The control entity determines that the calling party has a past due balance, i.e., that the calling party owes the carrier money. In response, the control entity changes the signaling message to designate a collections system as the called party, and the signaling message is then used to set up a call between the calling party and the collections system.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to telephone communications and more particularly to collection of past due balances from telephone subscribers.
2. Description of Related Art
The invention is particularly applicable in the context of internet telephony (also known as voice-over-IP (VoIP) or IP telephony), which should be understood to be a telephone system in which voice is communicated via a packet switched network or link (such as the Internet, or an ATM, X.25 or other packet-switched connection) between two or more parties. Internet telephony may also be referred to as packet switched telephony.
In general, an internet telephony system facilitates telephone communication between two or more users over a packet switched network, such as an IP network for example. Each user is positioned at a telephone device (hereafter "telephone"), which is generally any communications device capable of communicating real-time media signals such as speech, audio and/or video, for example.
By way of example and without limitation, the telephone device may be a conventional analog telephone, a digital telephone, a videophone, and/or a multi-media personal computer. Each telephone device (and/or telephone number) is then typically served by a local media gateway (or "internet telephony gateway"), which provides connectivity to the packet switched network. Alternatively, the telephone device itself may provide connectivity with the packet switched network and may serve other gateway-functions as well. Such a telephone device may be referred to as an "internet telephone" and may take any of a variety of forms now known or later developed.
To place a call over a packet switched network via an initiating gateway, a user at an initiating telephone device may establish a connection with the initiating gateway via a suitable communications link such as the public switched telephone network (PSTN), via a wireless access channel, and/or via some other circuit switched or packet switched network or direct link. And the user may specify a telephone number of the called party. The initiating gateway may then query an address mapping database or consult with another device or process in the system to determine a network address of a terminating gateway that serves the called number.
In turn, the initiating gateway may contact the terminating gateway via the packet switched network, notifying the terminating gateway of a desire to establish a connection with the called party. The terminating gateway may then establish an appropriate connection with a telephone device at the called number and notify the initiating gateway that the call can proceed. With the end-to-end connection thus established between the calling and called parties, the parties may then communicate with each other over the packet switched network.
In an internet telephony system, as in any telephony system, a signaling system must be provided in order to facilitate various functions involved in setting up calls. One such signaling system is defined by the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), which is well known to those of ordinary skill in the art.
According to SIP, each signaling endpoint includes a user agent client (UAC) application, which facilitates SIP signaling. In order for a first endpoint to initiate communication with a second endpoint, the first endpoint sends to the IP address of the second endpoint a SIP "INVITE" message, specifying the type of communication desired. If the second endpoint agrees to communicate, the second endpoint then sends to the first endpoint a SIP "200 OK" message, signaling agreement. And the first endpoint in turn sends a SIP "ACK" message to the second endpoint, to complete the session setup. The two ends may then begin communicating with each other in the specified manner.
In practice, each user in a SIP-capable system will have a personal identifier called a SIP address, typically in the form "username@realm." And the network will include a SIP registration server that correlates each user's SIP address with the IP address of the client station that the user is currently operating. When initiating a communication, the UAC on the initiating client device can then send a SIP INVITE to a local proxy server, indicating in the SIP INVITE (i) the SIP address of the calling party and (ii) the SIP address of the called party. And the proxy server can consult the SIP registration server to find out the IP address where the called party's SIP address is currently registered and can forward the SIP INVITE to that IP address. Alternatively, the initiating UAC could query a SIP redirect server to determine the destination IP address and can then itself send the SIP INVITE to that address rather than to the proxy server.
Oftentimes, a telephone device will not itself include a SIP UAC. In that event, the telephone device might instead engage in signaling communication with its local gateway through more conventional (legacy) signaling mechanisms. And the gateway might then include a UAC that can operate on behalf of the telephony device. For instance, the gateway could receive a legacy call initiation signal from the telephony device (or from a switch or other node serving the device) and could responsively generate and transmit a SIP INVITE seeking to set up the desired session over a packet-switched network. In any event, a gateway will typically either receive and send, or generate and send, a SIP INVITE on behalf of the user.
In an internet telephony system, a SIP INVITE can designate the called party by a SIP address that includes the called party's telephone number, such as sip:+firstname.lastname@example.com. If the called party is operating a SIP-capable telephone, then the SIP registration server may correlate that SIP address with the IP address of the telephone, so as to facilitate sending the INVITE to the called party's telephone. Alternatively, if the called party is operating a telephone that is not SIP-capable, then the SIP registration sever may correlate that SIP address with the IP address of a SIP-capable gateway serving the called party's telephone, so as to facilitate sending the INVITE to that gateway, and the gateway can then send a corresponding legacy signal to the called party's telephone.
An internet telephony system may also include a call server (or "application call server") that functions to assist the gateway in setting up and conducting calls. The call server might be owned or operated by a carrier that provides telecommunication services for designated subscribers, typically billing those subscribers for the service.
When setting up a call for a user, a gateway might signal to the call server, and the call server might then query a backend system, such as an authentication/authorization/accounting (AAA) server, to determine whether or not to allow the call to go through. In particular, the AAA server could contain profile records for each authorized user/client. And, as is known in the art, the call server could query the AAA server to determine whether the caller's account is current and valid, such as to ensure that the caller has paid all past bills, or to verify the caller's personal identification number or security code. The call server can then send a response signal to the gateway, either allowing the requested call to proceed or not.
In a SIP-based signaling system, for instance, an initiating gateway could signal to the call server by simply sending the SIP INVITE to the call server instead of to a remote signaling endpoint such as a terminating gateway or the called telephone. The call server could then query the AAA server on behalf of the initiating gateway. If the AAA server authorizes the call to proceed, the call server could then send the SIP INVITE back to the gateway for transmission in turn to the remote signaling endpoint. Alternatively, if the AAA server determines that the call should not proceed, the call server could send a failure result message (such as a SIP 600 or 700 series message) to the gateway, to prevent the call from going through.

Method and system for facilitating collection of subscriber past due balance


An apparatus for and a method of controlling a laser oscillator for use as a laser source in a machining operation or the like is disclosed. In particular, the present invention compensates for a deviation of an actual input/output characteristic of a laser oscillator from a normal (expected) input/output characteristic due to, for example, aging and the like. The present invention approximates the actual input/output characteristic and stores the characteristic as a pattern in a storage device. In response to a detection of the actual laser output and an external intensity command signal, the present invention refers to the input/output characteristic pattern thus approximated and generates an input intensity command signal for controlling the laser oscillator to accurately produce the desired laser beam intensity irrespective of the deviation between the actual input/output characteristic and the normal characteristic.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a laser oscillator output controlling apparatus. More specifically, the invention relates to a laser oscillator employed as a laser source for use in machining operations such as cutting a workpiece.
2. Description of the Background Art
A conventional laser oscillator output controlling apparatus is shown in FIG. 9. In such apparatus, a part of the output 3 from laser oscillator 1 is diverted by a partial reflector 2 so that the intensity of the laser output 3 can be detected by a laser output detector 4. An error amplifier 6 compares an external intensity command 5 with the intensity of the laser output as detected by detector 4 and amplifies the resulting error value for input to the laser oscillator 1, thereby controlling the laser oscillator 1 to produce a laser output 3B with a desired intensity level.
Since the laser output detector 4 includes a thermocouple, the controlling apparatus is slow in responding to a change in external intensity command 5. To overcome this problem, a laser output controlling apparatus as shown in FIG. 10 has been used. Such a conventional laser output controlling apparatus is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Disclosure Publication No. 202794/1982, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,806,829.
As shown in FIG. 10, the controlling apparatus is composed of a laser oscillator 1, a partial reflector 2 for diverting a fractional part (e.g., 1 or 2%) of laser output 3 of the laser oscillator 1, a laser output detector 4 for detecting the intensity of the diverted beam 3A, an external intensity command 5 for controlling the intensity of the laser output 3, a processing unit 7 for receiving the output of the laser output detector 4 and the external intensity command 5, and a storage device 8 for storing the input/output characteristic (pattern) of the laser oscillator 1. In operation, the pattern stored in the input/output pattern storage device 8 is used by the processing unit 7 to determine an input laser oscillator signal based on the output of the laser output detector 4 and the command 5. The processing unit 7 outputs the resulting output pattern to the laser oscillator 1 as a laser oscillator input signal 9, thereby causing the laser output 3 of the laser oscillator 1 to change until it reaches the desired intensity value represented by the external intensity command 5.
The operation of the known laser output controlling apparatus arranged as described above will now be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 11(a), which illustrates the input/output characteristic of the laser oscillator 1 as a line through points a and b.
Assuming that the desired intensity of the laser output as represented by external command 5 is Ya, the required input (i.e., laser oscillator input signal 9) value of the laser oscillator 1 according to the input/output characteristic would be Xa. In a steady-state condition, the value of the external command 5 and the value of the laser output 3 are equal, i.e., both have axis value Ya. However, when the command 5 is suddenly changed to Yb, the processing unit 7 must now produce an output value Xb based on the pattern stored in storage device 8 and the command value Yb. By changing the laser oscillator input signal 9 of the laser oscillator to Xb the laser oscillator 1 is controlled to change the laser output 3 to the new desired value Yb.
In the above description, the line drawn through points a and b represents the normal input/output characteristic pattern of the laser oscillator 1. When the normal characteristic pattern has changed, however, the characteristic shifts to the line connecting points a' and b' in FIG. 11(a). Because of this change, the pattern stored in storage device 8 will not provide processing unit 7 with accurate characteristic data to produce a laser oscillator input signal. To overcome this problem, processing unit 7 automatically compensates for the shift so that the laser output 3 can be controlled to output the desired intensity irrespective of the shift in characteristics. This shift, however, must be detected prior to operation because the conventional apparatus does not perform the compensation in a case where the shift occurs during operation (e.g., while cutting a workpiece). In the conventional apparatus, no consideration is given to control in an on-line mode (i.e., when a workpiece is actually being cut using the laser beam output by the laser oscillator). Thus, it may be difficult to apply this type of controlling apparatus on-line.
The conventional laser output controlling apparatus arranged as described above has many other disadvantages. For example, the laser output detector 4 cannot accurately detect the value of the laser output 3 at the time the input signal 9 is changed (e.g., from Ya to Yb) because the detector employed has an inherent delay in responding to change in laser output. Specifically, when laser oscillator input signal 9 is received, laser oscillator 1 produces laser output 3. However, the speed of response of laser output 3 to the laser oscillator input signal 9 is quicker than the response speed of laser output detector 4 (i.e., the response speed of laser output detector 4 to laser output 3). When a desired value of output command 5 is given to processing unit 7, processing unit 7 refers to the input/output characteristic of the laser oscillator 1 stored in the output pattern storage device 8 and reads the value of laser oscillator input signal 9 corresponding to a desired value of output command 5 and sends it to the laser oscillator 1 as laser oscillator input signal 9. Specifically, this laser oscillator output controlling apparatus will not feedback control the laser output 3 to be a desired value of output command 5, based on the laser output value detected by laser output detector 4, but as described above, it will refer to an input/output characteristic of laser oscillator 1 stored in output pattern storage device 8 and will read the value of laser oscillator input signal 9 corresponding to a desired value of output command 5 and will send it to the laser oscillator 1. It is not a feedback control. And furthermore, as described above, response speed of laser output 3 to laser oscillator input signal 9 is so fast as to be almost instantaneous. Therefore, even if laser output detector 4 cannot accurately detect the value of laser output 3, even if a detector which is slow in responding is used, laser oscillator input signal 9 can be set irrespective of the output of laser output detector 4 by processing unit 7 and can control laser output 3 at high speed.
Also, while the normal (expected) input/output characteristic of the laser oscillator in FIG. 11(a) is linear, the actual input/output characteristic of the laser oscillator 1 may be one of a plurality of complicated curves, as shown in FIG. 11(b). The actual input/output characteristic of the laser oscillator 1 departs from the linear representation shown in FIG. 11(a) because of the effects of aging and the like. For example, as shown in FIG. 11(b), the input/output characteristics of a gas closed-type carbon dioxide (CO.sub.2) laser oscillator changes with the increase of time t. As the laser oscillator ages, the intensity of the output decreases for a given amount of excitation so that it is necessary to increase the excitation (i.e., laser oscillator input signal value) in order to compensate for the decreasing intensity caused by aging. Thus, when time passes from t.sub.0 through t.sub.3 the threshold excitation values (i.e., the values in which the laser output is generated) move towards the right and each subsequent characteristic curve has a gentler slope. Thus, as the laser oscillator 1 ages, the actual input/output characteristic departs from the normal input/output characteristic. Without compensating for this departure, a large error may occur in using the laser oscillator as a source in a machining operation or the like.
Moreover, the conventional apparatus is not provided with a function capable of indicating in a certain form that the input/output characteristic of the laser oscillator diverges significantly from a normal (expected) input/output characteristic, and thus the existence of such divergence is not known to an operator, thereby posing a problem in practical use. Also, the use of the laser apparatus under such divergent conditions may prevent adequate protection of oscillator energizing power supply hardware.

Apparatus for and method of controlling the output of a laser source


The present invention aims to provide a rare earth magnet having sufficiently excellent anticorrosion property. The rare earth magnet 1 according to the present invention to solve the above problems includes a magnet body 10 containing rare earth elements, a substantial amorphous layer 20 formed on a surface of the magnet body 10, and a protecting layer 30 on a surface of the amorphous layer 20, and the amorphous layer 20 contains material identical to main component elements of magnet material contained in the magnet body 10.

In recent years, the rare earth magnet such as an R—Fe—B based magnet (R means a rare earth element such as Nd) has been developed as a permanent magnet presenting a high energy of a 25 or higher MGOe product. For instance, patent document 1 and patent document 2 disclose the R—Fe—B based magnet made by sintering and that made by high speed quenching, respectively. However, these kinds of rare earth magnets contain rare earth elements, which are relatively easily oxidized, as main components resulting in very low anticorrosion property. Problems caused by this are that a magnetic performance decreases at manufacturing and use and/or that reliability of a manufactured magnet is relatively low, and so on. In order to improve such anticorrosion property of rare earth magnets, for example, as described on patent document 3 to 10, a proposal has been made to form a variety of protecting films on the surface of such magnets, so far.
More specifically, with the purpose of improving antioxidation property of the permanent magnet containing rare earths, boron, and iron as main components, patent document 3, for example, proposes the permanent magnet made by covering an antioxidation plated layer over the surface of a permanent magnet body, which contains R (where, R is at least 1 species of rare earth elements) 8 atom percents to 30 atom percents, B 2 atom percents to 28 atom percents, and Fe 4 atom percents to 90 atom percents as main components and has a main phase composed of the tetragonal crystalline phase. This patent document 3 discloses plating a metal Ni, Cu, Zn, and the like or an alloy, that has the anti-oxidizing property, or composite plating composed thereof.
On the other hand, patent document 4 discloses a method of forming the resin-made protecting layer having a thickness ranging from 5 to 25 μm on the surface of a magnet body.
[Patent document 1] Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. SHO 59-46008
[Patent document 2] Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. SHO 60-9852
[Patent document 3] Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. SHO 60-54406
[Patent document 4] Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. SHO 60-63901
[Patent document 5] Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. SHO 60-63902
[Patent document 6] Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. SHO 61-130453
[Patent document 7] Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. SHO 61-166115
[Patent document 8] Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. SHO 61-166116
[Patent document 9] Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. SHO 61-270308

Rare earth magnet, method for producing same and method for producing multilayer body


A fluorescence detection optical system detects fluorescence beams with two or more different wavelengths and maintains a focal position through an automatic focusing function. A multi-channel fluorescence detection apparatus includes the fluorescence detection optical system. The fluorescence detection optical system includes an automatic focusing unit which receives light reflected off a microfluidic device and determines a focal point by using an astigmatic method or a knife edge method, and an actuator which adjusts a position of an objective lens according to control of the automatic focusing unit. In addition, the fluorescence detection optical system may include a plurality of dual band pass filters, dichroic devices, etc., which provide light beams emitted from at least two light sources and transfer fluorescence generated from the microfluidic device to a photodetector.

1. Field
Provided is a fluorescence detection optical system and a multi-channel fluorescence detection apparatus including the same, and more particularly, a fluorescence detection optical system for detecting fluorescence beams with two or more different wavelengths, and for maintaining a constant focal point through an automatic focusing function, and a multi-channel fluorescence detection apparatus including the fluorescence detection optical system.
2. Description of the Related Art
In accordance with the advent of point of care diagnosis, various medical experiments such as gene analysis, external diagnosis, and nucleic acid sequence analysis, for example, have become important, and demand therefor has been increasing. Accordingly, platforms and systems for expediting a substantially large amount of experiments using a substantially small amount of samples have been developed and released. To meet such demand, microfluidic device platforms, such as a microfluidic chip or a lab-on-a-chip ("LOC"), are receiving attention. Microfluidic devices include a plurality of microfluids and microchambers that are designed to control and manipulate a substantially small amount of fluids. Microfluidic devices substantially minimize a reaction time of microfluids. Simultaneously, microfluidic devices react microfluids, and measure reaction results. Microfluidic devices may be manufactured using various methods, and may be formed of various materials according to manufacturing methods.
During gene analysis, for example, to accurately determine whether a sample includes a specific biological material, such as deoxyribonucleic acid ("DNA"), or an amount of the specific DNA, a process of refining/extracting a real biological sample and sufficiently amplifying the refined/extracted sample is needed. Polymerase chain reaction ("PCR") is most widely used among various methods of amplifying a gene. A fluorescence detection method is mainly used to detect DNA amplified through PCR. For example, quantitative real-time PCR ("qPCR") uses a plurality of fluorescent dyes/probes and primer sets to amplify a target biological sample and detect/measure the amplified target sample in real time. For example, qPCR uses a fluorescence characteristic by cutting a TaqMan® probe from a template during DNA amplification. More specifically, as a PCR cycle develops, a number of TaqMan® probes cut from templates exponentially increases, and thus a fluorescence signal level exponentially increases. Such an increase in the fluorescence signal level is measured using an optical system, which enables determination of whether the target sample includes certain DNA or enables performance of quantitative analysis. As the PCR cycle develops, the fluorescence signal level forms an S-curve. A threshold cycle ("Ct") value is set at a point where the fluorescence signal level rapidly changes and the fluorescence signal level is measured thereat. Platforms to which qPCR is applied have been commercially used in various experimental analyses such as external diagnosis, gene analysis, development of a biomarker, and nucleic acid sequence analysis.
A fluorescence detection optical system measures a fluorescence signal level or a change of the fluorescence signal level according to a bio reaction that occurs in a microfluidic device such as a microfluidic chip or a PCR chip. When the fluorescence detection optical system is designed and manufactured, it needs to be considered that a depth of a microchamber of the microfluidic device is merely between several micrometers (μm) and several millimeters (mm). Accordingly, a shape of the microchamber is close to that of a two-dimensional ("2D") chamber since the microchamber has a substantially small depth compared to its width and its length. This means that a range of a focal depth at which a focal point is formed in the microchamber is quite narrow. In particular, when a numerical aperture ("NA") of an objective lens of the fluorescence detection optical system is increased in order to accurately detect fluorescence, the focal depth is further reduced, for example, to several micrometers (μm). Thus, there is a need for precise position-control and precise horizontal-control on the level of several micrometer (μm) between a fluorescence detection optical system and a microfluidic device. If such controls are not precise, focal points formed between chambers in the microfluidic device are formed differently, and thus it is difficult to uniformly and accurately detect fluorescence. Also, if the microfluidic device is attached to or detached from the fluorescence detection optical system, the fluorescence detection optical system needs to maintain its accuracy, and thus a mechanism for attaching or detaching the microfluidic device needs to be precise and thus is complicated, which increases a volume and manufacturing cost of the fluorescence detection optical system.

Fluorescence detecting optical system and multi-channel fluorescence detection apparatus including the same


A method of making an elongated electrical heating element having a resistance wire with a helical portion extending between two lead pins surrounded by compacted insulating powder in an outer casing. The lead pins are attached to a tightly coiled resistance wire by screwing threaded portions at the inner ends of the lead pins into coiled portions at the outer ends of the resistance wire. The lead pins are pulled further apart to stretch the coiled resistance wire to form the helical portion of the resistance wire and then attached to a resistance meter. One of the lead pins is then rotated relative to the other lead pin to adjust the effective electrical resistance of the heating element to an accurate and uniform valve. The resistance wire and lead pins are mounted in an outer casing which further stretches the helical portion to a predetermined length. The outer casing is then filled with insulating powder in a conventional vibrating filling machine. Finally, the casing is compressed to compact the insulating powder around the heating element.

This invention relates to elongated electrical heating elements and more particularly to a method of making such heating elements having uniform accurate resistance values.
Elongated electrical heating elements are commonly used in the injection molding field by integrally incorporating them in heated nozzles. One example is shown in the applicant's U.S. Pat. No. 5,282,735 which issued Feb. 1, 1994. It is well known to make elongated electrical heating elements by compacting a helical resistance wire in a powdered insulative material in an outer casing. As shown in U.S. Pat. No. 1,367,341 to Abbott which issued Feb. 1, 1921, it is also known to connect the inner ends of lead wires to opposite ends of a coiled resistance wire. Some high quality multi-cavity applications require the temperatures of all the different nozzles in the system to be the same. However, heating elements made by current methods have resistance deviations of up to plus or minus five to ten percent. This is not accurate enough to provide sufficiently uniform temperatures between the nozzles for many applications, with the result that separate temperature control stations must be provided for each nozzle in the system. This has the disadvantages to being more costly and subject to malfunctions.


An electronic trip device having a processing unit producing a tripping signal when currents of a power system to be protected exceed preset thresholds for preset times, and a trip storage device connected to the processing unit, the storage device having a storage circuit comprising two terminals, a diode connected in series with a capacitor between the terminals and a resistor connected in parallel with the capacitor, the storage device being able to inject a strong current to charge the capacitor via the diode before tripping and able to inject a weak current when the trip device is put into operation, and to measure the voltage at the terminals of the storage circuit.

The invention relates to an electronic trip device comprising a processing unit producing a tripping signal when currents of a power system to be protected exceed preset thresholds for preset times, and a trip storage device connected to the processing unit.
In state-of-the-art electronic trip devices, the tripping functions supply a circuit breaker opening order when at least one current flowing through a pole of the circuit breaker exceeds a preset current threshold for a time greater than that corresponding to the tripping curve. Among these functions, we can name the long delay function, or thermal function, and the short delay function, or magnetic function.
The long delay function has a threshold which corresponds to the circuit breaker setting current and a tripping time delay generally reversely proportional to the square of the fault current. In normal operation, with the circuit breaker closed, the long delay function simulates heating and cooling of a power system to be protected by making a quantity representative of the thermal state vary. After opening of the circuit breaker, the long delay function no longer operates, in the case of a system-powered trip device, and the thermal behaviour simulation is no longer performed.
Closing of the circuit breaker initializes the quantity representative of the thermal state at a minimum value and does not take account of the heat rise before opening of the circuit breaker and of the cooling during opening. This situation may be damaging for the power system if the opening was caused by a long delay fault trip and the circuit breaker reclosed on an overload, without a cooling delay.
To overcome these drawbacks, some state-of-the-art electronic trip devices comprise devices for storing the fault type indicating the thermal state before tripping, and devices for measuring the time elapsed between tripping and reclosing of the circuit breaker.
State-of-the-art storage and time measuring devices generally comprise a power supply circuit ensuring their operation during the open state of the circuit breaker. In state-of-the-art manner, the power supply circuits comprise capacitors, accumulator cells or batteries to conserve the electrical operating energy.
The electronic components to achieve these devices are costly and bulky, and become incompatible with highly integrated electronic trip devices able to be fitted in circuit breakers of small dimensions. Moreover, the reliability of the components, notably of the power supply circuits, deteriorates rapidly with time and with the ambient temperature of the circuit breakers.

Electronic trip device comprising a storage device


A bracket for use in a meter head of a rotary gas meter supports and secures a plurality of meter components, which have traditionally been mounted in separate housings. The bracket has a first pair of opposing slots for receiving a processor printed circuit board (PCB) and a second pair of slots for receiving a liquid crystal display PCB. The PCBs are held in place with a pair of screws extending through the bracket and through the PCBs. The bracket defines a walled enclosure within which a battery pack may be received. The rear portion of the bracket has legs for mounting the bracket to a metal plate located at a rear portion of the rotary gas meter. The legs also space the walled enclosure and the processor PCB from the metal plate so that some mechanical gearing may be received between the bracket and the metal plate. The processor PCB receives inputs from a reed switch, pressure transducer, and temperature sensor, all of which are located within the rotary head. The processor PCB determines the amount of volume from the reed switch, corrects the volume based upon the pressure and temperature, and then outputs the current reading to the LCD PCB. The bracket permits the mounting of the LCD PCB, a source of electrical power, and a correcting instrument, namely the processor PCB, all within the rotary head.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to gas meters, and more particularly, to a unitary mounting bracket for efficiently mounting a plurality of elements within a gas meter housing.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In general, gas meters can be classified into three categories: (a) diaphragm meters, (b) rotary meters, and (c) turbine meters. Typically, the diaphragm gas meters are used in low flow rates, which include many domestic applications. Rotary gas meters are used in intermediate flow rates, which include commercial and light industrial applications. Finally, turbine gas meters are used in high flow rates, such as with large transmission loads.
A rotary gas meter has a rotary head that is rotated at a rate proportionate to the volume of gas flowing through a certain region, such as through a given diameter of a pipe. The rotary output from the meter head is typically along a horizontal axis and is converted with suitable gearing into a rotary motion along a vertical axis. An instrument drive is typically driven with this vertical rotary motion and drives mechanical components located in another housing. These mechanical components include an electronic pulse switch that supplies an input to a correcting instrument located in the other housing.
The correcting instrument would use the input from the electronic pulse switch, such as a magnetic reed switch, for determining the volume of gas by detecting the number of pulses from the electronic pulse switch. The correcting instrument also adjusts the calculated volume of gas due to variances caused by temperature and pressure.
This conventional rotary head, instrument drive, correcting instrument, and other components make the rotary gas meter rather large and bulky due to the separate housings for the rotary gas meter and for the correcting instrument. The conventional rotary head is also rather complicated due to the mechanical gearing for converting the horizontal motion into a vertical motion and the additional mechanical components for coupling the vertical motion to the electronic pulse switch.

Integrated rotary gas meter head with unitary mounting bracket


A magnetic element is provided. The magnetic element includes a free magnetization layer having a surface area that is approximately 1,600 nm2 or less, the free magnetization layer including a magnetization state that is configured to be changed; an insulation layer coupled to the free magnetization layer, the insulation layer including a non-magnetic material; and a magnetization fixing layer coupled to the insulation layer opposite the free magnetization layer, the magnetization fixing layer including a fixed magnetization so as to be capable of serving as a reference of the free magnetization layer.

The present disclosure relates to a storage element that includes a storage layer storing a magnetization state of a ferromagnetic layer as information and a magnetization fixing layer in which the direction of magnetization is fixed and the direction of the magnetization of the storage layer is changed by causing a current to flow, and a storage device including the storage element.
With rapid development of various information apparatuses such as mobile terminals and large-capacity servers, new high performance features such as high integration, high speed, and low power consumption have been studied on elements such as memories or logic circuits included in various information apparatuses. In particular, semiconductor non-volatile memories have been highly advanced and flash memories such as high-capacity file memories have been proliferated as hard disk drives. On the other hand, development of ferroelectric random access memories (FeRAMs), magnetic random access memories (MRAMs), phase-change random access memories (PCRAMs), and the like is in progress to develop these memories to code storages or working memories and to substitute the currently available NOR flash memories or DRAMs. Moreover, some of the memories have already been put to practical use.
Of the memories, MRAMs are capable of rewriting data rapidly and almost infinitely (more than 1015 times) because data is stored according to a direction of magnetization of a magnetic body, and have already been used in fields of industry automation, airplanes, or the like. MRAMs are expected to be developed into code storages or working memories in the future in terms of a high speed operation and reliability. In reality, difficulties of low power consumption and large capacity have become a problem. This problem is an inherent problem with a recording principle of MRAMs, that is, a method of causing a current to flow in two kinds of address lines (a word line and a bit line) substantially perpendicular to one another and recording information by reversing the magnetization of a magnetic layer of a magnetic storage element at an intersection of the address lines using a current magnetic field generated from each address line, that is, reversing the magnetization using the current magnetic field generated from each address line.
As one of the solutions to this problem, recording types performed without dependency on the current magnetic field, that is, magnetization reversing types, have been examined. Of these types, studies on spin torque magnetization reversal have actively been made (for example, see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-17782, U.S. Pat. No. 6,256,223, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2008-227388, Phys. Rev. B 54, 9353 (1996), and J. Magn. Mat., 159, L1 (1996)).
The spin torque magnetization reversal type storage elements are configured by a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ), as in MRAMs, in many cases. In such a configuration, a free magnetic layer is reversed when a current with a value equal to or greater than a given threshold is caused to flow by applying a torque (which is called a spin transfer torque) to a magnetic layer when spin-polarized electrons passing through the magnetic layer fixed in a given direction enter another free magnetic layer (in which a direction is not fixed). Rewriting "0/1" is performed by changing the polarity of the current.
An absolute value of the current used to reverse the magnetic layer is 1 mA or less in an element with a scale of about 0.1 μm. Further, scaling can be performed to decrease the current value in proportion to an element volume. Furthermore, there is an advantage of simplifying a cell structure, since a recording current magnetic field generation word line, which is necessary in MRAMs, is not necessary.
Hereinafter, an MRAM using spin torque magnetization reversal is referred to as a spin torque-magnetic random access memory (ST-MRAM). The spin torque magnetization reversal is also referred to as spin injection magnetization reversal. An ST-RAM is highly expected to be realized as a non-volatile memory that has the advantages of low power consumption and large capacity in addition to the advantages of an MRAM in which data is rewritten rapidly and almost infinitely.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


An ion conductive intercalation membrane is useful to separate anode and cathode compartments in an electrochemical cell and provide ion transport between the anode and cathode compartments. The intercalation membrane does not receive and release electrons during operation of the electrochemical cell. An electric potential and current source is connected to an anode and a cathode disposed in respective anode and cathode compartments to cause oxidation and reduction reactions to occur at the anode and cathode, to cause electrons to flow through an external circuit coupled to the anode and cathode, and to cause ions to transport through the intercalation membrane to maintain charge neutrality within the electrochemical cell. The electrochemical cell operates at a current density greater than 25 mA/cm2 across the intercalation membrane.

The use of ion conducting membranes or electrochemical transfer walls to transfer ions between two separate compartments of electrochemical cells has been known for a long time. The concept is used commercially in a variety of applications where processes based on one or more electrochemical reactions are improved by separating the reaction that occurs at the anode from the reaction that occurs at the cathode. Classically this separation is achieved using materials that permit cations or anions to be transferred preferentially over the solvent and other chemical species through a micro/nano-porous network (porous ion conducting membranes, for example polymer ion conducting membranes) or through conduction pathways created by the crystal structure of the specific material (dense ion conducting membrane, for example ion conducting ceramic or ion conducting glass membranes). In both cases, migration due to an external electric field causes ions to transfer through the separating material without the ion or the material changing its electronic state.
Conversely, U.S. Pat. No. 8,449,747 B2 describes the use of an electrochemical transfer wall to separate two electrochemical reactions occurring in separate compartments, the wall being made of a material that permits the intercalation of ions into it on the first side of the wall and de-intercalation out of it on the second side of the wall. U.S. Pat. No. 8,449,747 B2 and U.S. Publication No. 2013/0126354 A1 teach that the difference between an ion conducting membrane and electrochemical transfer wall is the diffusion of ions through the electrochemical transfer wall is accompanied by an electron transfer from the wall and then a subsequent electron transfer to the wall. This electron transfer causes the material to undergo a change in electronic structure during the intercalation, the diffusion, and the de-intercalation of the ion.
Under an electric field, porous ion conducting membranes, such as polymer ion conducting membranes, permit the ions to transfer from a first medium to a second medium through micro/nano-porous networks. Depending on presence of counter ions in the pores these membranes can preferentially conduct either positive or negative ions. These membranes are used commercially for a variety of electrochemical processes due to their relatively high conductivity, ease of manufacture and desirable physical properties. Currently, there are many limitations to porous ion conducting membranes or areas which industry requires improvement. Some non-limiting examples of these limitations will now be given.
First they permit the conduction of all similarity charged species, for example a cationic polymer membrane will transfer any positively charge species from a first solution to a second solution as long as it is smaller than the smallest pore diameter, otherwise it will clog the pores and inhibit the transfer of other ions. This is also true for the conduction of anions through anionic polymer membranes. The lack of selectivity in porous ion conducting membranes reduces the benefit of using a membrane to separate the reactions occurring at the two electrodes. In either case when the porous membranes are not under an applied electric field, the separation afforded by the electric field will be lost, and the concentration gradients generated by the electrical field will cause the ions to diffuse back through the membrane. These types of membranes can also foul easily due to ions or other objects present in the electrolyte that are larger than the smallest pore, but smaller than the larger pores, migrating into and become lodged in the membrane, inhibiting any further ion transfer through that pathway. In summary, the inherent properties of porous ion conducting membranes, inhibits them from truly keeping the medium on one side of the membrane from interacting with the medium on the other side of the membrane.
Under an electric field, dense ionic conducting membrane, such as ceramic or glass ionic conducting membranes, permit ions to transfer from a first medium to a second medium through conduction pathways present in their crystal structure or grain boundaries. This permits dense membranes without micro/nano-pores to be used to separate the reactions occurring at the anode and cathode. The transfer of ions in dense ion conducting membranes is therefore selective to ions that can be inserted into the crystal structure of the material without causing an irreversible change to the crystal structure. This selectivity addresses many issues found for porous ion conducting membranes including inhibiting the first medium from contaminating or being contaminated by the second medium, the membranes do not foul due to pore blockage, and they do not permit any back diffusion to occur. Also because the diffusion is occurring within the crystal structure and not from micro/nano-pores the only communication between the two mediums is the ion which can be transferred by the crystal-structure or grain boundary of the material making up of the membrane. Thus, dissimilar mediums can be used that are specifically chosen for the two electrochemical reactions that are occurring at the electrodes. One limitation with dense ion conducting membranes is there are only a limited number of known materials which conduct a limited number of ions at conditions that are amendable to practical applications.
Under an electric field, an electrochemical transfer wall or junction, U.S. Pat. No. 8,449,747 B2, permits ions to transfer from a first solution to a second solution by first intercalating the ion at the interface between the wall and the first solution and then migration of the ion through the wall, followed by the de-intercalation of the ion at the interface of the wall and the second solution. Intercalation and de-intercalation as used herein, refer to a process involving both ion and electron transfer at the interface. Thus, the electronic state of the wall changes as the ion is transferred from a first solution to a second solution. Like ionic conducting ceramic membranes, the electrochemical transfer wall is a non-porous dense layer that is not limited by the issues that are present with porous ion conducting membranes. But unlike, the dense ion conducting membranes, there are numerous materials that are known to undergo intercalation reactions. This increases the number of electrochemical systems that can benefit from separating the reactions occurring at the anode or cathode.
The limitations with electrochemical transfer walls are the requirement of having an electron transfer accompany the ion transfer at the interface of the wall and first solution, the requirement of having a second electron transfer at the interface of the wall and second solution, and the limitation this forces on the current density for which the ion can be transferred across the wall (U.S. Pat. No. 8,449,747 B2, <5 mA/cm2) or higher current densities through more elaborate cell design and setup (U.S. Publication No. 2013/0126354 A1). These limitations narrow the field of use for electrochemical transfer walls to applications that can tolerate low current densities and complicated electron transfer.
There is need for method and device that will permit the transfer of ions between two compartments of an electrochemical system at current densities found with porous ion conducting membranes, but with the benefits afforded by dense ion conducting membranes and with the ability to transport a diverse and large number of ions afforded by electrochemical transfer walls. There are numerous applications where this type of device could find use, such recycling industrial waste, recycling mining waste, removing metals from petroleum residuals, synthesizing different chemicals, removing ions from solution such as desalination.


A decanter centrifuge comprises a bowl and a worm or screw type conveyor. The bowl is rotatable about a longitudinal axis and has a cake discharge opening at one end and a liquid phase discharge opening. The conveyor includes a conveyor hub having at least a portion disposed inside the bowl for rotation about the longitudinal axis at an angular speed different from an angular rotational speed of the bowl. The conveyor further includes a helical screw or worm attached to the conveyor hub and disposed inside the bowl for scrolling a cake layer along an inner surface of the bowl towards the cake discharge opening. An adjustable component on the hub forms a gap between the hub and the inner surface of the bowl so that the gap has a size adjustable independently of hub rotation speed. The adjustable gap enables an optimization of the moisture content of cake exiting the bowl at the cake discharge opening for a given solids throughput and cake rheology. The adjustable component on the hub takes the form of an annular weir or a baffle plate.

This invention relates to a decanter centrifuge. In a specific application, this invention relates to a decanter centrifuge with means for controlling the moisture content of a discharged cake or solids fraction. This invention also relates to an associated method for operating a decanter centrifuge.
A decanter centrifuge generally includes an outer bowl, an inner hub carrying a worm conveyor, a feed arrangement for slurry to be processed, and discharge ports for cake solids and clarified liquid. The bowl includes a cylindrical section and a conical beach section. The bowl and the hub are rotated at high, slightly different angular speeds so that heavier solid particles of a slurry introduced into the bowl are forced by centrifugation into a layer along the inner surface thereof. By differential rotation of the worm conveyor and the bowl, the sediment is pushed or scrolled to a cake discharge opening at the smaller, conical end of the bowl. Additional discharge openings are provided in the bowl, usually at an end opposite of the conical section for discharging a liquid phase separated from the solid particles in the centrifuge apparatus.
One of the goals in centrifuge operation is to produce cakes with a low moisture content. Among factors contributing to a low cake moisture content are a long residence time and a high compacting pressure. The compacting pressure is related to the G level (centrifugal acceleration) and the cake height. The compacting pressure generated by a column of sludge varies with the radial distance from the bowl wall. It is highest at the bowl wall and decreases radially inward. FIG. 10A shows a typical result of raw mixed sewage sludge which is compacted in a laboratory spin tube (1.3 inches in diameter and at a radius of 8 inches) under a force determined by the G level and the cake height. In one test, the cake height is about 2 inches and is compacted under 2000 g. In another test, the raw mixed sewage sludge is subjected to 900 g with a thicker cake pile of 2.6 inches. In both cases, the cake solids profile is stratified with the driest cake at the largest radius, adjacent to the outer wall of the spin tube.
In addition, it is known to form a dip weir along the outer surface of the conveyor hub, at or about the location of the junction between the cylindrical and conical sections of the bowl, to serve in selecting the driest portion of the cake at the discharge end of the bowl. The dip weir blocks the transport of the sludge cake in such a manner that the most compacted part of the cake passes under the dip weir and reaches the cake discharge opening. The dip weir also acts to provide the appropriate resistance to cake flow so as to maintain a large cake thickness upstream of the weir, creating high compacting pressure and long residence time. In conventional practice, the dip weir is fixed to the hub so that the radial gap between the outer edge of the dip weir and the inner surface of the bowl is constant or fixed. The designer must position and dimension the weir to minimize cake moisture content while not increasing cake transport resistance through the gap so as to unduly limit the solids capacity of the machine. The optimal gap height depends on the nature of the cake, the G level, and the cake flow rate or solids throughput. The designer is forced to guess at the correct gap height, guided somewhat by past experience.
Another application for a decanter centrifuge is in three-phase separation (as in oil, water and solids) wherein typically two lighter liquid phases (e.g., oil and water) are discharged at the large end of the decanter centrifuge and the heaviest solid phase, settled adjacent to the bowl wall, is discharged at the smaller conical end of the centrifuge. In a three-phase separation process, centrifugation stratifies the phases because of their density differences. A problem with three-phase separation is that the lightest phase (oil) is typically entrained by the solid phase as it emerges out of the oil-water pool in the conical section. The quantity of oil carried along by the cake solids depends on several factors including the surface velocity of the cake and the product of the centrifugal acceleration and the sine of the climb angle. The surface velocity of the cake is related to the differential speed of the conveyor and the bowl, the cake height or solids throughput, and the cake theological properties.

Decanter centrifuge with adjustable gate control


A mounting device for releasably and securely mounting an entertainment accessory within an automobile having a headrest extending from a seat. The mounting device includes an entertainment accessory and a case that can be releasably attached to the headrest. The entertainment accessory is positioned within the case and the case has a front side, a rear side, and a bottom side. A quick connect device is attached to the case for releasably engaging the headrest. A cover has one edge attached to the case. The cover is movable between a first position and second position. The cover overlaps the bottom side and the front side of the case while in the first position, and the cover serves as a spacer between the seat and the rear side of the case, while in the second position, to orient the case in a generally vertical position.

This invention relates to consumer electronics for use in automobiles and, more specifically, to a mounting system for temporarily, safely and securely installing a display device and an electronic signal generating device in an automobile.
There are two basic types of electronic equipment that are used with automobiles, fixed electronics and portable electronics. Fixed electronics may include video players and monitors that are installed in floor mounted consoles, overhead consoles, and inside of seat backs. Portable electronics are generally televisions and video players that are designed to operate using the accessory 12 volt direct current outlet (typically a cigarette lighter) that is generally provided in automobiles. Unfortunately, these products are not generally able to be securely mounted to the interior of an automobile. This can create a life threatening hazard, as improperly securing portable electronics in an automobile can result in secondary collisions in the event of an accident.
Various devices have been developed for use with consumer electronics and automobiles. For example, Landy (U.S. Pat. No. 5,725,189) shows a floor mounted device which accommodates only a CRT or combination TV/VCR, with no provision for mounting a stand-alone VCR. There is no means of securing this device to the interior of the automobile. The present invention is a padded fabric case which houses a stand-alone video player and another padded fabric case housing a LCD TV. The large case is mounted to the backside center of the two front seats and secures to the automobile by means of four adjustable straps.
Young, et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,338,081) show a multi-purpose storage device which requires removal of the front seat and only mounts in limited types of automobiles. Young states that it is possible to "conveniently store" electronic devices such as tape or audio disk players, however, there are no specific accommodations for mounting these electronic devices. The present invention does not require the removal of a automobile seat and can accommodate both LCD and CRT TV's.
Cormier (U.S. Pat. No. 4,585,196) shows a rigid mounting device which only accommodates a CRT TV or combination TV/VCR. Cormier shows two possible methods of attachment. The first method shows the device mounted over a seat, with two rigid panels covering both the front and back of the seat. This makes the front seat unusable. The second method shows the device mounted over the center armrest of the front seat. Because the arm rest is designed to fold forward and the heavy CRT TV is mounted high this a potential safety issue. The present invention is a padded fabric case as opposed to Corer's rigid frame. The present invention securely mounts to the automobile and has a much lower center of gravity providing a higher level of safety.
Weinblatt (U.S. Pat. No. 4,383,626) shows a rigid mounting device. The device is mounted over a seat, with two rigid panels covering both the front and back of the seat. This makes the front seat unusable. The Weinblatt device also has a platform with two squared edges that are at head level to the driver and front passenger, raising safety concerns. The present invention uses a padded fabric case as opposed to Weinblatt's rigid frame. The present invention securely mounts to backside of the front seat and has a much lower center of gravity providing a higher level of safety.
Scriber, et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,555,466) show a permanently installed built-in device that is neither portable or removable as is the present invention. The TV's are permanently installed into the center backside of the front seats. The TV of the present invention can be installed in the center of the two front seats or on the backside of any headrest in the automobile.
Riday (U.S. Pat. No. 5,177,616) shows a permanently mounted TV attached to the console via a rigid hinged mounting arm. There are no accommodations for a VCR or rear seat viewing as in the present invention. The present invention is portable and accommodates viewing in the rear seat.
Vottero-Fin, et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 4,982,996) show a permanently installed rigid device which only accommodates a CRT TV. The Vottero-Fin device is mounted between the two front seats. The present invention is a portable soft case device which accommodates both CRT and LCD TV's. The present invention is mounted to the backside center of the two front seats and secures to the automobile by means of four adjustable straps.
The present invention provides a mounting system for portable electronics that is capable of easily, releasably, and safely securing a display device and an electronic signal generating device inside a automobile. Thus overcoming the limitations of devices of the contemporary art, discussed above, that either permanently mount inside the automobile or that are designed for combination televisions and video cassette recorders that are not designed for use in moving automobiles. The mounting system of the present invention is designed to facilitate the use of display devices with electronic signal generating devices to entertain passengers in a automobile.
The mounting system uses a self contained case to securely house the display device, the electronic signal generating device, and the associated accessories. The display device is mounted in a small case which can either be positioned inside a larger case or directly mounted to the back of a seat. The first case is releasably attached to the automobile and also functions as a storage and carrying case. The present invention provides a maximum level of safety for users. Each component is secured to prevent injury in the event of an accident.
While attempts have been made to secure video display devices in automobiles, there has been no effort to releasably and safely secure commercially available home-based video game players in automobiles, such as the video game players manufactured by NINTENDO, SEGA and SONY. Because TV reception in automobiles can be poor and because there is a limited repeatable entertainment value in videos, there is a need to be able to releasably and safely secure commercially available home based video game players and associated display devices in automobiles to permit individuals to play video games during automobile trips.
The present invention is directed to releasably and safely securing commercially available home-based video game players and associated display devices in automobiles to permit individuals to play video games during automobile trips. The present invention is a mounting device which safely and securely mounts the home-based video game player to the back of seat of an automobile in a position which permits the home-based video game player to operate.

Mounting system for releasably and securely mounting an entertainment accessory within an automobile


In an apparatus for continuously manufacturing microspheres, a dispersed phase (O) is supplied to a chamber 27 for the dispersed phase inside of a bulkhead member 26 via a supply port 23. Thereafter, the dispersed phase enters into a gap 31 between a plate 22 via a supply port 29 in a base 25. The dispersed phase which enters into the gap 31 grows microspheres (particles) having a certain diameter while passing through a microchannel 33 by pressure applied by, for example, a pump, and is mixed with a continuous phase (W), so that microspheres are produced. The thus-produced microspheres float or are suspended in the continuous phase without needing any particular external force in response to their specific gravity, allowing the microspheres to be generated and withdrawn from a withdrawal port 32 at a significantly reduced pressure in comparison to conventional methods and apparatus.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a manufacturing method for microspheres (including emulsions and fine particles suspended in liquid) used in the food industry, the manufacturing of drugs and cosmetics, etc., and to an apparatus for carrying out the method.
2. Description of Related Art
Techniques in which a biphasic system, for which a separated state is thermodynamically stable, is formed, such as that composed of a water phase and an organic phase which are emulsified to obtain a semi-stable emulsion, are conventionally known. As general, well-known emulsification methods, there have been described in "Science of Emulsions" (Asakura-shoten, 1971), the methods of using a mixer, a colloid mill, a homogenizer, etc., and the method of dispersion with sound waves.
The general methods mentioned above have a disadvantage in that the diameters of dispersed phase particles in a continuous phase are distributed over a wide range.
Therefore, a method of using filtration by means of a membrane comprising polycarbonate (Biochemica et Biophysica Acta, 557 (1979), North Holland Biochemical Press); a method using repeated filtrations through a PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) membrane (Proceedings of the 26th Autumn Meeting of the Society of Chemical Engineers, Japan, 1993); and, a method of manufacturing homogenous emulsions by transferring a dispersed phase into a continuous phase through a porous glass membrane having uniform pores (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 2-95433, 5-220382 and 6-315617), have been proposed.
In addition, a method of manufacturing emulsions via fine pores formed in a membrane filter with a dry etching process or a wet etching process has been proposed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-71150, a method of manufacturing emulsions by transferring a dispersed phase into a continuous phase through a nozzle has been proposed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 60-5223, and a method of producing emulsions using a porous plate has been proposed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 54-116389. In addition, a laminar-flow dripping method (KAGAKU KOOGAKU Vol. 21, No. 4, 1957) is also known.
Furthermore, a method of producing emulsions by transferring a dispersed phase into a continuous phase through microchannels having a predetermined width has been proposed (JAOCS, 74, 1997, pp. 317-321).
The method using filtration through a membrane comprising polycarbonate and the method using repeated filtrations through a PTFE membrane theoretically cannot manufacture emulsions comprising particles larger than the membrane pores and cannot separate particles smaller than the membrane pores. These methods are, therefore, especially unsuitable for producing emulsions comprising large particles.
In the method using a porous glass membrane having uniform pores, when the average diameter of the membrane pores is small, particle diameters are distributed in a narrow range and thus homogenous emulsions can be obtained. When the average diameter of the membrane pores is increased, however, particle diameters become distributed over a wide range so that homogenous emulsions cannot be obtained. In addition, in the laminar-flow dripping method using a nozzle or a porous plate, particle sizes become 1,000 .mu.m or more and are distributed over a wide range so that homogenous emulsions cannot be obtained.
In the method using microchannels having a predetermined width described in--JAOCS, 74, 1997, pp. 317-321--, homogenous emulsions can be obtained. However, as the method is a batch-type method, emulsions cannot be continuously produced. When the diameter of the channels is increased, the size of produced emulsions becomes large, and the emulsions cannot travel and unite with each other, so that homogenous emulsions cannot be obtained.
Therefore, the inventors of the present invention formerly proposed an apparatus which can continuously produce homogenous emulsions in International Publication No. W)97/30783.
The structure of this apparatus is shown in FIG. 14. In this apparatus for producing emulsions, a supply port 101 for a continuous phase (W) is formed in a side wall of a body 100, a supply port 103 for a dispersed phase (O) is formed in the center of a lid 102 which closes an upper opening of the body 100, and one or more withdrawal ports 104 for emulsions (E) are formed at a place apart from the center. A bulkhead member 106 formed between the lid 102 and a base 105 separates the supply port 103 for the dispersed phase (O) from the withdrawal ports 104 for emulsions (E). In addition, a supply port 107 for the dispersed phase (O) is formed in the center part of the base 105, a gap 109 is formed between the base 105 and a plate 108 placed opposite the base 105. In a boundary section 110 formed in the base 105 the dispersed phase (O) and the continuous phase (W) are separated, and, in a microchannel 111 formed in the boundary section 110, the dispersed phase (O) and the continuous phase (W) are mixed.
The dispersed phase (O) supplied to the inside of the bulkhead member 106 via the supply port 103 enters the gap 109 between the plate 108 and the base 105 via the supply port 107 and this dispersed phase (O) enters the continuous phase (W) through the boundary section 110, thereby forming emulsions.
With the above-mentioned apparatus, homogenous emulsions can be continuously obtained. However, it is necessary to supply power in order to withdraw emulsions and there is room for improvement with respect to the cost.

Continuous manufacturing method for microspheres and apparatus

Japan as represented by Director of National Food Research Institute, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

Bio-oriented Technology Research Advancement Institution


A system and method enable a local area network connected mobile device to discover, via an ancillary wireless communication channel, a local area network connected device and install the appropriate driver and network configuration information when the mobile device and network connected device are brought into physical close proximity with each other.

Printers/multifunction-devices designed for use in a network environment routinely offer greater functionality than a simple desktop printer. In addition to offering more printing and post-print options (collation, binding, etc.), network printers frequently come with built-in processors, hard drives for data storage, a web server for communicating on a network, and sophisticated management software.
Once a printer is physically connected to a network, such as an intranet, the printer can be managed directly from a standard web browser or any web-enabled application. The management software enables administrators to monitor, configure, and troubleshoot network printers from a web browser or a web enabled application. In addition, the management software provides hotlinks to product information, software drivers, help-desk, and customer support.
The same scenario may apply to other network connected devices. Examples of network connected devices may include scanners, readers, fax machines, label makers, hard drives, or servers.
Once a printer/scanner/fax or multifunction device is physically connected to a network, a user on the network can install a device driver upon any given mobile device if the user wishes to send print jobs to print or get scans from a scanner, etc. In a networked print environment, installing a printer can be a troublesome task. Many installation programs search the network for all printers that match the one the user is trying to install.
Printers with embedded web servers and hard disks can provide access to the printer driver installer through the printer's embedded web server. However, when the installer program is run from the printer, the installer program may still search for all printers of the selected type, since the installer program does not know from which printer the installer program was run.
The installation program presents the user with a list of all printers of the particular type. The user can pick out which printer the user wants to install. This may prove tedious for the user, since the presented list may contain information not easily understood by the user, such as internet protocol addresses or technical nomenclature established by the network administrator.
The above problems are encountered by mobile user who may be only randomly on site, and even then, only transiently. Mobile users typically want to quickly find a printing and/or scanning device on the network and configure a driver(s) for that device.
Moreover, users often have difficulty finding devices on the networks that span multiple subnets because of technical limitations of network topologies and/or security mechanisms. In the past, users required technical savvy to determine a device's internet protocol address and use that to configure a driver on a personal computer or required outside support to configure a driver on the user's personal computer for the specific printing device.
Technical issues, with regards to network topology and network security mechanisms, have hindered users from easily locating the network connected devices. For example, often times the user's personal computer or laptop resides on a different network than the printing device. This can be quite frustrating when the user is standing next to a printing device and is not able to connect to the printing device because, for example, the wireless network, to which the user's laptop is connected, is on a separate subnet, a subnet that is different than the one that the printing device is on.
Secondly, security mechanisms often results in network restrictions that hinder the use of standard network discovery mechanisms across subnets. Even when a network solution exists that will work across subnets, the network solution usually requires pre-configuration by a technically knowledgeable person with an awareness of the local network configuration.
Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional system enables the installing of a networked printer by allowing a user to browse to a printer's embedded web server and automatically install the correct printer driver for that printer on to the user's computer. If a user at host device 10 (which may be a personal computer), which is connected to network 100 (which may be an intranet, a local area network, a wide area network, and/or the Internet), wishes to enable or establish a printer 20 (which is already on, connected to, the network 100); for example, to enable or establish a printer in this context indicates that the user desire to have the functionality or capability to send print jobs to printer 20 from the user's host device 10; the user needs carry out the appropriate routines; e.g., invoke a printer add wizard; to enable or establish the printer on host device 10.
Printer 20 may be of the type which contains a built-in web server, such as for example, the Xerox CentreWare™ Internet Services. However, any other built-in web server which enables the printer to be managed from a standard web browser or any web-enabled management application may be used. Web servers may be embedded in the printer's firmware, or if the printer has a hard disk, stored on the hard disk.
The user opens any standard Internet browser, such as Internet Explorer™ or Netscape™, on host device 10. The user browses to the printer's web page, using the user's personal computer or work station display 11; i.e., the user's browser locates the desired printer on the network. This is accomplished using any standard network protocol such as a TCP/IP connection. The TCP/IP connection may pass through a network router from the user's host device 10 to the printer 20.
The printer's web page 12 is displayed in the user's browser. From a web page, the user may select a link <Install Printer>. Selection is made by clicking on the hypertext link to install a printer (enable or establish the printer on the host device 10.
If the printing system is set up so that the printer drivers are hosted on the local host device, a web page or window may appear after the user clicks on the link. This web page or window prompts the user to select the particular printer driver to be installed: a <Windows™ Printer Driver Installer> link or a <MacIntosh™ Printer Driver Installer> link.
When the user clicks on the <Windows™ Printer Driver Installer> link, the printer 20 causes the internet protocol address of the printer to be stored on the user's computer. This may be accomplished by firmware in the printer 20 which, in response to activation of the <Install Printer Drivers> link, transmits a cookie to the user's host device 10. The cookie contains the internet protocol address of the printer 20 and may also contain other information. For example, if the printer 20 does not contain its printer driver, the user will need to obtain the printer driver (or other installation files) from a different location if the printing system is set up so that the printer drivers are hosted on the local host device.
On the other hand, if the printing system is set up so that the printer drivers are hosted on a print server or other network connected device or server, the cookie may contain the location of the print server with the appropriate print driver such that when the host device invokes a print job, the print server processes the job, using the print driver, for the printer 20.
Printer 20 may not have sufficient memory to store a printer driver (if it does not have a hard disk, for example), or a more recent, updated version of the printer driver may be released, but not stored on printer 20. In this case, the cookie may contain the address of the data source for the printer driver or other required installation files. The printer driver and other installation information may be located at another printer, such as printer 30, or another web site on the network 100 (or on another network, such as the Internet). When the cookie is received, this information will also be stored on the user's host device 10.
After the internet protocol of the printer 20 is stored at the user host device 10, the printer's web server runs the installation program on the host device. The installation program screen is the first screen the installation program presents. This screen displays the printer 20's IP address and asks the user to confirm installation of the printer driver. If the user confirms by clicking on install link, the installer files are downloaded from either printer 20 (if the installer files are located there) or the other location of the printer driver files. The installer uses the driver data source address to automatically download the correct driver files from the data source and the printer's address to install the printer on the user's host device 10. When a correctly configured printer driver is installed on the user's host device, a final web page is displayed. This system simplifies installation and/or selection of a printer in a multiple printer-networked environment.
However, in many instances an end user, particularly a transient user with a mobile device, may not be sure if the web page displayed in the user's browser is really the web page of the printer the user wishes to install. Indeed, a given mobile device may not have a web interface, yet the user may, for example, still wish to print via the network.
Alternatively, a system for installing a printer driver for a printer connected on a network may provide a link between the seemingly ambiguous networked printer world and a physical connection to which users are accustomed; for example, a user is accustomed to connecting a desktop printer directly to a personal computer via a USB or parallel port.).
Thus, it would be desirable if a user with an intranet connected mobile device or a device with direct device to device wireless communication functionality, having physically located a printer or other network connected device and in close proximity with same, could install the driver for the printer or other network connected device on the mobile device.
Furthermore, it would be desirable if an end user with a mobile device, being physically located in proximity with a printer or other network connected device, could properly configure the mobile device for utilization of the printer or other network connected device. Such a system for installing a network connected device upon an end user mobile device may include a network connected device enabled with ancillary wireless communication as well as a device driver. The end user mobile device is also ancillary wireless communication enabled matching the network connected device's enabled ancillary wireless communication. A device that is ancillary wireless communication enabled allows the device to communicate directly with another device in a wireless environment, such as a radio frequency based communication or a direct optical communication (infrared communication), and also allows the device to be discoverable by another ancillary wireless communication enabled device.
Further, a discovery and installer application may be located on the end user mobile device or may be installed on the network connected device. All this is arranged so that when the end user device is brought within nearby proximity of the network connected device, a discovery connection is invoked and the end user mobile device is rendered responsive to receipt of the network connected device identification and installs the network connected device driver.
In addition, it would be desirable to enable an end user mobile device connection to a network connected device by activating a device discovery software application on an end user mobile device or a network connected device, which may be followed by placing that end user mobile device in close proximity to a network connected device.
At some point, the end user mobile device or network connected device is activated into a discovery mode that causes the end user mobile device or network connected device to be discoverable via an ancillary wireless communication channel which allows the other device to detect it. Upon establishing an ancillary wireless communication connection, the end user mobile device receives, from the network connected device, network identification information and the network configuration information from the network connected device via the ancillary wireless communication channel or connection. This allows configuration of the end user mobile device with the correct network connected device driver information.
Moreover, it would be desirable to enable end user mobile device connection to a network connected device by activating a device discovery software application on an end user mobile device or a network connected device and placing the end user mobile device in close proximity to the network connected device. At some point, thereafter the end user mobile device or network connected device is activated into a discovery mode that causes the end user mobile device or network connected device to be discoverable via an ancillary wireless communication channel; e.g., a low-power radio communication specification, such as Bluetooth™, and detectable by the end user mobile device or network connected device. This allows for sending the network connected device network identification information over the ancillary wireless communication channel to the end user mobile device as well as obtaining network configuration information from the network connected device via the ancillary wireless communication channel so that the end user mobile device may be configured with the correct network connected device driver information.


A controlled deflection roll having a roll shell rotatably mounted at its ends at a stationary roll support. Pressure or support elements are located between the roll shell and the roll support. The bearing or mounting arrangement of the roll shell at the roll support is provided with play, in a direction opposite to the direction of application of the force exerted by the pressure elements. In such play there is effective a force opposing the direction of the force of the pressure elements. If this force is exceeded by the force of the pressure elements, then a control device limits the force exerted by the pressure elements to a value which is not dangerous for the roll shell. According to a preferred construction the control device is constituted by a hydraulic shutoff element which, in the case of a hydraulic controlled deflection roll, opens an outflow channel leading from the pressure line or conduit, and thus, lowers the pressure effective in the pressure line.

The present invention relates to a new and improved construction of a controlled deflection roll, sometimes referred to in the art as a roll with bending or sag compensation.
Generally speaking, the controlled deflection roll of the present development is of the type comprising a stationary roll support or core and a roll shell rotatable about the stationary roll support. The roll shell itself is rotatably mounted at its ends at the roll support in a bearing or support arrangement. At least one pressure or support element is located between the roll support and the roll shell. By means of this pressure or support element the roll shell is rotatably supported at the roll support, and the pressure element is effective, with its supporting force, in a force direction which passes through a pressure plane extending through the lengthwise axis of the roll shell.
One such type controlled deflection roll has been taught to the art, for instance, from U.S. Pat. No. 3,802,044, granted Apr. 9, 1974. With this construction of controlled deflection roll, which has been found to be quite satisfactory in practice, there are provided as the pressure or support elements pistons or punches subjected to a hydrostatic contact pressure and simultaneously forming a hydrostatic bearing with the inner surface of the roll shell. The pistons can all be impinged with the same hydrostatic pressure, or different pressures can act upon groups of such pressure elements or even individual ones of such pressure elements.
It has been found that with a controlled deflection roll of this type, during its assembly into a rolling mill, the danger exists of fracturing the roll shell when the hydrostatic pressure or support elements are impinged with a pressure while there is absent any counter support roll or the surface of such pressure elements is spaced too far from the roll shell. For instance, this situation can arise after regrinding the roll shell of a rolling mill.


An electrical connector junction means for flat conductor cable lying along a floor. The electrical connector junction means includes a base having a substantially flat supporting surface for mounting of the base on the floor and having an opening therethrough for receiving through the opening a flat conductor cable when the base is mounted to the floor overlying the flat conductor cable. A support member is secured to the base and includes at least one mounting surface thereon. A fastener is provided for fastening the conductor of the flat conductor cable and a second conductor to the mounting surface. In a preferred embodiment, the second conductor comprises a conventional round conductor wire and the flat conductor cable includes a suitable terminal connector, both of which are sandwiched between the mounting surface and the head of the fastener. A pedestal housing is also provided for the base and the support member and may include means for mounting of a duplex or other suitable electrical device therein and to which the second conductor is connected.

The present invention relates to electrical connector junction means and more particularly to electrical connector junction means for use with flat conductor cables lying along a floor.
Flat conductor cable was developed as an alternative to present electrical installation practice utilizing troughs or conduit placed below floor level. The flat cables are intended to be placed flush to the floor surface with the necessary branch circuits leading to the desired locations, and with carpeting then placed over the cable to provide a surface suitable for interior use and for personnel traffic. With such a system, it is necessary to provide electrical receptacles in a suitable housing secured to the floor for termination at each of the desired locations. Coupled with this arrangement is the requirement for providing a suitable electrical/mechanical transition and connection between the flat conductors (which are generally of a thin rectangular cross-section) and the conventional round wire conductors to be used for the electrical receptacles.
In the prior art, flat conductor cable has generally been used for telecommunications equipment and not necessarily in a power distributor system for offices, etc. With telecommunication flat cable, it is generally necessary to use complicated devices or couplings for terminating the flat conductor cable and which are adapted to mate with other suitable coupling devices secured to other conductors, such as for example, conventional round wire conductors which are connected to the telephones and/or other equipment. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,030,801 entitled "Electrical Connector Junction for Carpeted Floor", there are provided mating connectors or couplers for providing a transition from the flat conductor cables of a telecommunication system to the conventional round wire conductor or cable which, in that embodiment, extends to conventional telephone equipment or junction boxes. As can be appreciated, such complicated arrangements necessarily take up a good deal of space, as well as being quite complicated to manufacture and install onto the conductor cable. Further, such arrangements relating to telecommunication systems do not necessarily involve or require the same considerations as are concerned with flat conductor cable for use in power distribution systems. For example, power distribution systems generally function at higher voltage than telecommunication equipment. Also, the number of conductors at each junction is small in a power distribution system compared to the number of conductors at the junctions in telecommunication equipment.

Flat conductor cable electrical conductor junction means


Disclosed herein are compositions and methods for treating Type II diabetes. The compositions comprise plant expressed Exendin 4. Particularly exemplified are plant derived compositions that include a CTB-EX4 conjugate that is bioencapsulated in chloroplasts.

Peptides, as therapeutic agents, have several advantages in clinical applications due to their low toxicity and high specificity (Bellmann-Sickert and Beck-Sickinger, 2010). Recently the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved several peptide drugs including Enfuvirtide that inhibits HIV entry into cells, Exenatide that stimulates insulin secretion in type 2 diabetes patients and several peptides for treatment of cancer (Bellmann-Sickert and Beck-Sickinger, 2010). Despite these advantages, therapeutic peptides have several limitations. They are highly prone to proteolytic degradation during storage or when used for oral administration (McGregor, 2008) and require parenteral administration. In addition, these peptides need cold storage due to short shelf life after purification or chemical synthesis. Moreover, repeated injections are often needed but this decreases patient compliance (Hamman and Steenekamp, 2011). Therefore, it has been discovered herein that there is a great need for exploration of less expensive and patient-friendly drug delivery methods.
Type 2 diabetes is caused by combination of beta cell dysfunction and insulin resistance (Scheen, 2003). It is predominantly diagnosed in adults and responsible for 90-95% of the existing diabetic cases (National diabetes fact sheet, 2011). Surplus production of hepatic glucose and reduced uptake of glucose also contribute to excess blood sugar levels (Scheen, 2003). The type 2 diabetic patients exhibit belittled incretin effect, which requires insulin secretion in response to high glucose in the blood (Scheen, 2003). Diabetes is a global rising problem. According to the national diabetes fact sheet 2011, the total cost associated annually for treatment and management of diabetes in the US is $116 billion whereas the indirect costs associated with loss of work, disability and other factors was $58 billion adding up the total cost to $174 billion. The treatment for diabetes includes either oral drugs (small molecules) with or without insulin injections. Globally, the prevalence of diabetes is estimated to escalate from 171 million in 2000 to 366 million in 2030 (Davidson, 2009), which could double the associated costs. Diabetes is a major health and economic burden on society (Wild et al., 2004) and therefore the cost of treatment of diabetes should be addressed.
GLP-1 is a peptide hormone secreted by the L cells of the intestine that stimulates the secretion of insulin from the pancreas (Chia et al., 2005). It has been shown to play an important role in increasing the beta cell mass and has potent antidiabetic effects associated with weight loss (Baggio and Drucker, 2007). But GLP-1 has a very short half-life of less than 2 min because it is degraded by the dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP-IV) serum enzyme into biologically inactive form, thereby lowering the incretin action of the peptide (Kieffer et al., 1995). Thus, it is disclosed herein that DPP-IV resistant GLP-1 analogs are needed for treatment of the type 2 diabetes.
EX4 is a DPP-IV resistant analog of GLP-1 with higher binding efficacy to the mammalian GLP-1 receptor than GLP-1 and functions as an effective agonist (Young et al., 1999). EX4 modulates the glucose level in a glucose dependent manner and increases the sensitivity to insulin and has shown promising biological activities in vivo for treating type 2 diabetes (Young et al., 1999). Exenatide, a synthetic EX4 is the first drug that carries out the function of incretin to be approved by FDA for glycemic control, along with an oral antidiabetic medication. Exenatide is used in injectable form and requires cold storage and sterility. In addition, the requirement for multiple injections decreases patient compliance. Thus, it is disclosed herein that there is a need for alternative methods of production and delivery of EX4 or other therapeutic proteins to reduce the cost and increase patient compliance.

Orally administered plastid expressed cholera toxin B subunit-exendin 4 as treatment for type 2 diabetes

The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania


In one embodiment, a read sensor includes an antiferromagnetic (AFM) pinning layer, the AFM pinning layer being recessed from a media-facing surface in an element height direction to a first height, a first antiparallel pinned multilayer (AP1) positioned above the AFM pinning layer and extending beyond the first height to the media-facing surface, a second antiparallel pinned layer (AP2) positioned above the AP1 and extending beyond the first height to the media-facing surface, and a free layer positioned at the media-facing surface above the AP2 and extending from the media-facing surface in the element height direction to a second height, wherein the element height direction is perpendicular to the media-facing surface, wherein the AP1 and the AP2 are not recessed from the media-facing surface, and wherein the AFM, the AP1, and the AP2 extend beyond the free layer in the element height direction beyond the second height.

The heart of a computer is a magnetic hard disk drive (HDD) which typically includes a rotating magnetic disk, a slider that has read and write heads, a suspension arm above the rotating disk and an actuator arm that swings the suspension arm to place the read and/or write heads over selected circular tracks on the rotating disk. The suspension arm biases the slider into contact with the surface of the disk when the disk is not rotating but, when the disk rotates, air is swirled by the rotating disk adjacent an air bearing surface (ABS) of the slider causing the slider to ride on an air bearing a slight distance from the surface of the rotating disk. When the slider rides on the air bearing the write and read heads are employed for writing magnetic impressions to and reading magnetic signal fields from the rotating disk. The read and write heads are connected to processing circuitry that operates according to a computer program to implement the writing and reading functions.
The volume of information processing in the information age is increasing rapidly. In particular, HDDs have been desired to store more information in its limited area and volume. A technical approach to this desire is to increase the capacity by increasing the recording density of the HDD. To achieve higher recording density, further miniaturization of recording bits is effective, which in turn typically requires the design of smaller and smaller components. One approach to achieve this reduction in component size is to use a magnetic head with a read sensor that has a narrower track width for use with magnetic media having an increased recording density.
However, one of the problems associated with designing and manufacturing a read sensor having a narrower track width is the size of the read gap. Conventional read sensors are not able to reduce the read gap sufficiently to allow for read sensors with narrower track widths which are able to perform as efficiently as needed.

Reader sensor having a recessed antiferromagnetic (AFM) pinning layer