A heterodyne interferometric optical fiber displacement sensor using a laser diode. The frequency and the intensity of the laser diode beam are periodically modulated by an injection current. The laser diode beam is routed to a rod lens via a first optical fiber, an optical fiber coupler, and a second optical fiber. The interference light resulting from the interference between the light reflected from the exit surface of the rod lens and the light reflected from an object surface is routed to a third optical fiber via the optical fiber coupler, which is then detected by a photodiode attached to the end of the third optical fiber. From the output of the photodiode, a given frequency component is extracted using a bandpass-filter. The extracted signal is converted into a pulse signal. The frequency change of the pulse signal (equivalent to a doppler frequency shift caused by the movement of the object surface) is accumulated using an electronic circuit. Then, the accumulated value is used to calculate the displacement of the object surface.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a heterodyne interferometric optical fiber displacement sensor. More particularly, this invention is concerned with a heterodyne interferometric optical fiber displacement sensor capable of measuring a displacement of an object and an absolute distance from the sensor to the object using a laser diode whose oscillation frequency can be modulated linearly by a drive current.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heterodyne interferometric displacement sensors based on frequency modulation have been known in the past. One example is described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 63-101702. In this sensor, a triangular waveform current is applied to a laser diode in order to modulate the oscillation frequency and light emission intensity of the laser diode. Then, the laser beam is divided into reference light and object light by a beam splitter. The object light irradiates an object's surface. The reflected light, which is light reflected from the object's surface, is then superimposed on the reference light. A time lag occurs between the reflected light and the reference light because of a distance from the sensor to the object's surface. This time lag causes the frequencies of the reflected light and the reference light to differ from each other. Therefore, the reference light and object light cause a heterodyne interference. The beat frequency is associated with the distance from the sensor to the object's surface. Therefore, when the beat frequency is measured, the displacement of an object under test can be obtained.
However, since the foregoing conventional heterodyne interferometric displacement sensor does not employ any optical fibers as light paths of the laser beam, it is sensitive to any environmental disturbance. It is large in size because of incorporation of the beam splitter. Furthermore, to measure the beat frequency correctly, measurement is only carried out when the object is stationary. This hinders the real-time measurement of a moving object.
On the other hand, a photothermal displacement detection optical fiber interferometer that employs an optical fiber as a light path of laser beams has been proposed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 63-82344. However, in this interferometer, a half mirror and a dichroic mirror are placed between a light source and the optical fiber. Owing to the mirrors, excitation light emitted from an excitation light source for displacing a sample photothermally and detection light emitted from a detection light source for detecting a photothermal displacement using optical interference enter one end of an optical fiber, and interference light that is reflected from an emission surface at the other end of the optical fiber and from a sample surface and returned through the optical fiber enters a photoelectric converter. Therefore, no optical fiber is present between the light source and one end of the optical fiber, or between one end of the optical fiber and the photoelectric converter. Consequently, the interferometer is, like the aforesaid prior art, easily affected by an environment and large in size.

Heterodyne interferometric optical fiber displacement sensor for measuring displacement of an object


An aircraft door has a trough substantially closed by an outer planking (21) except for a vent that vents the space enclosed by the trough and the planking to the atmosphere outside of the aircraft. The door also includes a door stiffening door framing that is preferably but not necessarily mounted inside the trough or between a radially inner wall of the trough and an inner door cladding or covering. The trough is formed by a radially inwardly recessed portion of the outer door skin.

This application is based on and claims the priority under 35 U.S.C. xc2xa7119 of German Patent Application 100 35 349.5, filed on Jul. 20, 2000, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
The invention relates to an aircraft door comprising at least a door framing and an outer skin connected therewith, which takes up pressure loads.
An aircraft comprises, as a rule, a passenger door, a freight gate and/or a freight trap door. The passenger door, the freight gate and the freight trap door are referred to in the following text by the term: door. The door has a wall hereinafter referred to as outer skin which conforms itself to the surrounding surface contour of an aircraft fuselage when the door is in the closed position, so that a seamless transition exists between the fuselage surface and the outer skin. This conforming of the outer skin to the fuselage contour exists in the circumferential direction of the fuselage and in the longitudinal direction of the fuselage.
The outer skin is connected to a door framing that provides the required stiffness to the outer skin. The door framing forms an internal door structure and must be distinguished from a door frame that surrounds a door opening in the fuselage. The outer skin forms an uninterrupted surface, which during flight does not produce any additional drag, while safely sealing the door opening of the aircraft fuselage. The outer skin corresponds to a so-called load bearing section or part of the door which is exposed to dynamic loads. This means, that during flight the outer skin must take-up pressure loads and aerodynamic loads. Pressure loads occur due to the pressure difference between the cabin interior and the outer atmosphere. Aerodynamic loads are, for example caused by vortices or atmospheric flows along the outer surface of the aircraft body. The outer skin of the door is, however, also exposed to so-called operating loads which are caused, for example by the preparation for passenger entering or leaving the aircraft when a stair or freight chute must be positioned to face the door. These operating loads may, in the most adverse instance, damage the outer skin. Such damage may, in the long run, be a cause for material failures of the outer skin during flight.
The outer skin of known doors is made of sheet metal having a substantially constant material thickness which is connected by rivets to the door framing. Other doors are also known wherein the outer skin and the door framing are manufactured as a single piece by casting. In both instances a door operating mechanism is installed in the intermediate spaces of the door framing. The operating mechanism includes electrical and mechanical subassemblies at least for opening and closing the door. The door framing is covered on its side facing into the cabin by a cladding. The cladding is a so-called no load bearing section or part of the door, which, compared to the outer skin need to take up substantially smaller loads. It is a disadvantage of known doors that they have a relatively large weight and that they cause relatively high production cost.
It is an object of the invention to further and noticeably reduce the weight of an aircraft door while satisfying the safety requirements and to also lower the manufacturing cost relative to known doors. Another object of the invention is to vent the inner space of an aircraft door to the outer atmosphere.
The outer skin of the present aircraft door is displaced radially inwardly relative to the surface contour of the fuselage, i.e. lowered or offset in the direction of the fuselage interior. Thus, a trough is formed. This trough or the inwardly displaced, offset surface of the outer skin is covered by a planking in an aerodynamically advantageous manner. For aerodynamic reasons the planking itself is adapted to the surface contour of the fuselage. The planking does not completely seal the trough formed by the outer skin. There should remain a venting connection in the form of a small covered vent opening, or of a small vent tube, or channel in order to achieve a pressure equalization inside the trough relative to the outer atmosphere that surrounds the aircraft. Thus, the offset outer skin which according to the invention forms the bottom of the trough continues to be exposed to the pressure difference between the outer atmosphere and the inner cabin pressure so that substantial pressure loads are kept off the planking that covers the trough outwardly except for the vent which assures that atmospheric pressure prevails on both sides of the planking.
It is an advantage of the invention that displacements caused by the pressure load gradient on the outer skin cannot be adversely effective in an aerodynamic sense on the outer skin. No additional measures need to be taken in order to noticeably reduce these displacements, whereby the effort and expense for manufacturing the door is reduced.
The invention has the further advantage that the effort and expense for a thermal insulation of the door can be noticeably reduced, because the trough shaped hollow space between the outer planking and the xe2x80x9couterxe2x80x9d skin or rather the trough bottom can be used as an additional insulation.
Furthermore, the door operating mechanism for opening and closing the door can be installed advantageously in the trough shaped hollow space between the stiffening members forming the door framing. This door framing is at least connected with the outer skin or trough bottom and can carry or hold, for example, the outer planking.
According to a further embodiment of the invention only the outer skin itself is offset inwardly without also offsetting a skin flange extending in a circumferential direction around the trough. The skin flange of the outer skin is adapted to the surface contour of the fuselage to extend flush with the surface contour. A stiffening is achieved by this xe2x80x9ctrough shapedxe2x80x9d configuration of the outer skin, whereby it becomes possible to avoid rib elements that were required heretofore. The present doors require either ribs or beams to form the framing but not both ribs and beams. This feature brings an advantage in the weight reduction and in the manufacturing.
In connection with this embodiment, the planking can merge into the contour of the flange of the outer skin. The planking would, in this case, only cover the surface of the offset outer skin but not the skin flange.
According to a further embodiment it would, however, be possible that the planking also fully covers the skin flange of the outer skin. The flange, thus, would also be offset somewhat inwardly relative to the surface contour of the fuselage. Thus, the planking could itself fit into the surface contour of the fuselage.


A computer virus scanning system is described in which during the scanning operation a measurement value indicative of the amount of data processing performed is calculated and this measurement value used to trigger breaks in the virus scanning operation. The triggered breaks can be used to perform a determination as to whether or not the virus scanning operations should be early terminated. One possibility is to measure the total size of the data processed during the virus scanning operation and calculate a ratio of this compared to the size of the computer file being virus scanned. If this calculated ratio exceeds a predetermined threshold, then virus scanning may be terminated. Another possibility is to associate a complexity value with each of a plurality of tests applied in the virus scanning operation. A total for these complexity values may be used to trigger the breaks and also to trigger early termination upon exceeding of respective threshold levels.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of data processing systems. More particularly, this invention relates to the field of the detection of computer viruses within computer files.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is known to provide anti-virus systems that are able to detect computer viruses within a computer file. A problem with such known anti-virus systems is that computer virus writers may seek to target the anti-virus system itself and exploit features of that anti-virus system in order to harm the computer system upon which the anti-virus system is running. As an example of this, it is known to produce files that are highly compressed versions of much larger files knowing that an anti-virus system will have to decompress the file in order that it can scan for viruses within it. If the decompressed file size is sufficiently large, then the amount of data requiring to be handled, even though it may contain very little information, may itself cause problems to an anti-virus system, e.g. it may exceed the amount of physical memory available requiring the extensive use of virtual memory thus significantly impacting the performance of the system conducting the anti-virus scan or in some cases even exceeding the amount of virtual memory available.
It is known to provide anti-virus scanning systems that will time-out a virus scanning operation if the system clock indicates that a predetermined duration for that virus scanning operation has been exceeded. However, such an approach has the disadvantage that a slow or stressed/overloaded (possibly deliberately) computer system may inappropriately terminate a virus scanning operation using such a simple expired time approach.
Measures that allow reliable breaks to be triggered during a virus scanning operation whilst reducing their own vulnerabilities are strongly advantageous.

Providing break points in a malware scanning operation


A catalyst containing alkali metal, chromium, iron, lead, phosphorus and oxygen, and a process for the preparation of unsaturated lower aliphatic acids and esters of such acids by catalytic oxidative dehydrogenation of the corresponding saturated acids and esters using the catalyst.

Unsaturated lower aliphatic acids and esters, and particularly methacrylic acid and its esters, are used in the preparation of polymers which find wide commercial applicability.
The preparation of such unsaturated lower aliphatic acids and esters is typically carried out by the catalytic oxidative dehydrogenation of the corresponding saturated acids and esters. A wide variety of catalysts has been proposed for such reactions. However, the catalysts previously proposed share one or more deficiencies. Earlier catalysts, for example, frequently result in an undesirably low conversion in the catalytic process or low selectivity for the desired unsaturated acid product. Others exhibit short catalytic life or higher cost than would be commercially acceptable. Accordingly, continued effort has been directed toward the development of better catalysts for this oxidative dehydrogenation reaction.


An information display panel has a plastic frame surrounding two transparent foils (4, 5), that form an envelope. The frame (1) is formed from two halves interconnected by locking couplings so that peripherally welded seams are eliminated.

The invention relates to an information system display panel in which cylindrical pins or holes for hanging in holding devices of stands, folders or the like are arranged in the region of the ends of one edge of a plastic frame holding a pocket formed by transparent films.
There are known display panels of the abovementioned type in which the frame and the edges of the pocket formed by the transparent films are joined together by welding, one of the transparent films being welded permanently into the frame along four edges and one of the transparent films being welded permanently into the frame along three edges. The known welded joins not only entail an undesirably high expenditure of energy, they are also not fully satisfactory with regard to the working result which can be achieved with them. The invention is based on the object of providing a display panel of the type under consideration which, while taking ecological aspects into account, can be produced cost-effectively and meets high requirements with regard to its appearance. This object is achieved according to the invention by the frame comprising two frame halves which are joined together by locking couplings and hold at least three respective edges of two transparent films forming the pocket.

"Durable" Hunke & Jochheim GmbH & Co. KG


Clinical information, molecular information and/or computer-generated morphometric information is used in a predictive model for predicting the occurrence of a medical condition. In an embodiment, a model predicts risk of prostate cancer progression in a patient, where the model is based on features including one or more (e.g., all) of preoperative PSA, dominant Gleason Grade, Gleason Score, at least one of a measurement of expression of AR in epithelial and stromal nuclei and a measurement of expression of Ki67-positive epithelial nuclei, a morphometric measurement of average edge length in the minimum spanning tree (MST) of epithelial nuclei, and a morphometric measurement of area of non-lumen associated epithelial cells relative to total tumor area. In some embodiments, the morphometric information is based on image analysis of tissue subject to multiplex immunofluorescence and may include characteristic(s) of a minimum spanning tree (MST) and/or a fractal dimension observed in the images.

Physicians are required to make many medical decisions ranging from, for example, whether and when a patient is likely to experience a medical condition to how a patient should be treated once the patient has been diagnosed with the condition. Determining an appropriate course of treatment for a patient may increase the patient's chances for, for example, survival, recovery, and/or improved quality of life. Predicting the occurrence of an event also allows individuals to plan for the event. For example, predicting whether a patient is likely to experience occurrence (e.g., presence, recurrence, or progression) of a disease may allow a physician to recommend an appropriate course of treatment for that patient.
When a patient is diagnosed with a medical condition, deciding on the most appropriate therapy is often confusing for the patient and the physician, especially when no single option has been identified as superior for overall survival and quality of life. Traditionally, physicians rely heavily on their expertise and training to treat, diagnose and predict the occurrence of medical conditions. For example, pathologists use the Gleason scoring system to evaluate the level of advancement and aggression of prostate cancer, in which cancer is graded based on the appearance of prostate tissue under a microscope as perceived by a physician. Higher Gleason scores are given to samples of prostate tissue that are more undifferentiated. Although Gleason grading is widely considered by pathologists to be reliable, it is a subjective scoring system. Particularly, different pathologists viewing the same tissue samples may make conflicting interpretations.
Current preoperative predictive tools have limited utility for the majority of contemporary patients diagnosed with organ-confined and/or intermediate risk disease. For example, prostate cancer remains the most commonly diagnosed non-skin cancer in American men and causes approximately 29,000 deaths each year [1]. Treatment options include radical prostatectomy, radiotherapy, and watchful waiting; there is, however, no consensus on the best therapy for maximizing disease control and survival without over-treating, especially for men with intermediate-risk prostate cancer (prostate-specific antigen 10-20 ng/mL, clinical stage T2b-c, and Gleason score 7). The only completed, randomized clinical study has demonstrated lower rates of overall death in men with T1 or T2 disease treated with radical prostatectomy; however, the results must be weighed against quality-of-life issues and co-morbidities [2, 3]. It is fairly well accepted that aggressive prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening efforts have hindered the general utility of more traditional prognostic models due to several factors including an increased (over-diagnosis) of indolent tumors, lead time (clinical presentation), grade inflation and a longer life expectancy [4-7]. As a result, the reported likelihood of dying from prostate cancer 15 years after diagnosis by means of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening is lower than the predicted likelihood of dying from a cancer diagnosed clinically a decade or more ago further confounding the treatment decision process [8].
Several groups have developed methods to predict prostate cancer outcomes based on information accumulated at the time of diagnosis. The recently updated Partin tables [9] predict risk of having a particular pathologic stage (extracapsular extension, seminal vesicle invasion, and lymph node invasion), while the 10-year preoperative nomogram [10] provides a probability of being free of biochemical recurrence within 10 years after radical prostatectomy. These approaches have been challenged due to their lack of diverse biomarkers (other than PSA), and the inability to accurately stratify patients with clinical features of intermediate risk. Since these tools rely on subjective clinical parameters, in particular the Gleason grade which is prone to disagreement and potential error, having more objective measures would be advantageous for treatment planning. Furthermore, biochemical or PSA recurrence alone generally is not a reliable predictor of clinically significant disease [11]. Thus, it is believed by the present inventors that additional variables or endpoints are required for optimal patient counseling.
In view of the foregoing, it would be desirable to provide systems and methods for treating, diagnosing and predicting the occurrence of medical conditions, responses, and other medical phenomena with improved predictive power. For example, it would be desirable to provide systems and methods for predicting disease (e.g., cancer) progression at, for example, the time of diagnosis prior to treatment for the disease.

Method and system for determining the risk of occurrence of prostate cancer

Fundação D. Anna de Sommer Champalimaud e Dr. Carlos Montez Champalimaud


A communication system determining a virtual number of a receiver's terminal included in a call connecting request signal when a caller's terminal makes a call connection request to the receiver's terminal and providing a ring back tone or a sound message corresponding to the virtual number, and a method thereof are disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a communication system and a call connecting method thereof, and more particularly, to a communication system determining a virtual number of a receiver's terminal included in a call connecting request signal when a caller's terminal makes a call connection request to the receiver's terminal and providing a ring back tone or a sound message corresponding to the virtual number, and a method thereof.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An existing call reception waiting sound service (for example, ColorRing by SK Telecom, RingToYou by K T Freetel, or Feeling Service by LG Telecom), which is a service allowing a user to subscribe to a web site providing a call reception waiting sound service through the Internet to set a desired call reception waiting sound (for example, a music, a ring tone, or the like), provides the music or the ring tone set by the user (receiver) to a caller for a call waiting time of the caller. Currently, this service has been provided in a general telephone as well as a mobile communication terminal.
Meanwhile, a virtual number providing service capable of allocating a virtual phone number instead of an actual phone number and using the virtual phone number for a predetermined period has been provided. When the virtual number providing service as described above is used, exposure of information on an actual phone number or a cellular phone number may be prevented and a single terminal may receive calls made to several receiving phone numbers.
The call reception waiting sound service and the virtual number providing service as described above have provided the music set by the receiver to the caller or have provided only a basic function allowing the actual phone number not to be exposed using the virtual phone number.

Communication system and call connecting method thereof


A rotary magnetic damper comprises a first, rotary damper element, a second, static damper element and a rotary input coupled to the rotary damper element. The coupling between the input and the rotary damper element is such that rotation of the rotary input causes the rotary damper element to progressively magnetically engage the static damper element whereby to progressively increase a damping force created by the damper. The rotary damper element may be a magnet or magnets mounted on a carrier which threadingly engages a screw driving element such that as the input rotates the carrier, it and the rotary damper element translate axially along the screw driving element towards the static damper element.

Rotary magnetic damping systems are used in a number of applications, for example in applying a braking force to an actuator, for example in an aircraft system.
A rotary magnetic damping system typically comprises first and second elements which rotate relative to each other. One of the elements is magnetic, and the other of an electrically conductive material. The relative rotation of the elements induces eddy currents in the electrically conductive material which in turn generates a magnetic field. This magnetic field opposes the field of the magnet, such that a braking force is generated on the movable element.
In aircraft systems there has been a movement to powering actuators for operating various components, such as flight control surfaces, undercarriage components, thrust reversers and so on, electrically rather than hydraulically. This saves weight, which is beneficial in aircraft. Situations may occur, however where if there is a disconnect or failure between the drive motor and the actuated element, external forces acting on the activated element, for example gravity or aerodynamic forces, may cause the surface and the attached actuator to run away. Systems must be employed to absorb the energy of such a runaway situation.
It would be desirable to provide a rotary magnetic damper which may address this situation.


An image (e.g., a picture) is received from a communication device. The image has associated metadata that is captured while the image is taken. For example, the metadata may be a location, a date, and a time of the picture. One or more object(s) (e.g., a car) along with characteristics of the object(s) in the image are identified. For example, a characteristic may be an action associated with the object, such as a person is running. In response to analyzing the one or more objects for the one or more characteristics in conjunction with the metadata, one or more potential workflows are determined (e.g., a workflow to call the police). A list that identifies the one or more potential workflows is sent to the communication device. Input to select one of the one or more workflows is received, which initiates the selected workflow.

With the proliferation of mobile communication devices and the Internet, users have the ability to easily capture and send pictures/videos. The pictures/videos can be used to supplement conversations with other users. For example, a user may take a picture and post the picture on a web site as part of an ongoing social media discussion.
In other systems, pictures may be used for routing a communication session in a contact center. For example, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2009/0190741 discloses that a client application may be used to take a picture that is used for routing a communication session in a contact center. In this case, the user requires a specific client application and the user needs to know the specific back-end service for accessing the contact center.

Service implementing a work flow based on image analysis


Apparatus for making holes through a layer of glass batch to enhance run-off of liquid includes a plurality of tapered members adapted for vertical reciprocation to penetrate the batch layer. At least a lower portion of each member is provided with a three-dimensioned shape corresponding generally to the shape of a hole to be produced in the batch layer, the shape having a relatively wide upper portion and a relatively narrow lower portion with tapering side surfaces therebetween oriented to produce lateral compaction of batch upon vertical insertion into the batch layer.. At least a lower portion of each member is provided with a three-dimensional shape corresponding generally to the shape of a hole to be produced in the batch layer, the shape having a relatively wide upper portion and a relatively narrow lower portion with tapering side surfaces therebetween oriented to produce lateral compacting of batch upon vertical insertion into the batch layer.

This invention relates to improvements in the rate of melting glass in a tank-type melting furnace whereby the output of a particular furnace may be increased at a given energy consumption, or, conversely, the energy consumption may be reduced for a given throughput. More particularly, the invention deals with improvements in the manner in which raw glass batch materials are fed to a glass melting furnace so as to enhance the rate the raw ingredients are brought to a liquid state.
In a typical glass melting furnace of the regenerative or recuperative type, a body of molten glass is maintained in the furnace and raw glass batch materials are fed through an inlet at one end or a side of the furnace onto the surface of the pool of molten glass. There, the batch materials usually form an unmelted layer on the surface of the molten glass pool which may extend a considerable distance into the furnace until it becomes melted into the pool of molten glass. At the opposite end or side of the furnace, melted and reacted glass is withdrawn from the pool of molten glass through an outlet opening.
It has been recognized that the floating layer or blanket of unmelted batch ingredients acts as a thermal insulator which limits the rate at which the temperature of the batch is raised sufficiently to enter a liquid state. Therefore, liquefaction of glass batch usually is limited to a relatively thin layer at the surface of the batch blanket. In order to overcome this problem, attempts have been made in the past to increase the surface area of the batch blanket exposed to the flames in the furnace. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,030,905 shows an arrangement for plowing furrows transversely across a batch blanket. Such an arrangement may produce an increase in batch surface area and some slight improvement in run-off of melted batch, but possesses certain drawbacks. Plowing the furrows causes batch to be piled up more deeply on either side of each furrow, thereby further insulating the underlying batch from the overhead sources of heat. Furthermore, any enhancement in run-off by plowing is limited because the furrows do not extend to the underlying molten glass and because some of the loose batch material tends to fall back into the furrow behind the plow.
Another approach to breaking up a batch blanket is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,994,710 wherein an inverted T shaped member is employed to chop the batch blanket into pieces. Such an arrangement appears most suitable for a location relatively far into the furnace where melting of the batch blanket has already progressed to an advanced stage. It would be desirable to improve run-off as early as possible in the melting process. Additionally, by being located within the main body of the melting furnace, the T bar of the patent requires cooling which detracts from any net thermal gains. Also, operating on the batch blanket within the main body of the furnace carries with it the risk of increased dusting of the batch materials which can carry over into and have an adverse effect on the regenerator or recuperator system of the furnace. However, carrying out such a chopping operation on an upstream portion of the batch blanket would not appear to be advantageous since the buoyant batch material would be pressed into the molten glass temporarily and then rise again.
Another prior art approach has been to bring the batch ingredients into more intimate contact with the molten glass such as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,533,826 and 2,749,666. The object of this approach is to take advantage of conductive heat from the molten glass, but it has now been found that the major source of heat (typically about seventy percent) for melting the batch is the overhead radiant heat from the combustion flames in the furnace. Therefore, covering the batch with molten glass can be disadvantageous in that it reduces the amount of radiant heat received by the batch. It would be desirable to increase rather than decrease the impingement of radiant energy on the batch materials.
Other attempts have been made to improve batch melting by reducing the thickness of the batch blanket such as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,327,887; 3,193,119; and 4,004,903. While reducing batch blanket thickness may generally be desirable, the approach in each of these patents has the drawback of reducing surface area exposed to overhead flames and inhibiting run-off of melted batch. Furthermore, in many commercial glass melting operations, a primary objective is to maximize throughput of a given furnace. In such a case, the batch blanket would already cover a maximum area and any reduction in batch blanket thickness would undesirably reduce the throughput of the furnace. The last mentioned patent overcomes this dilemma somewhat by compacting the batch blanket, but, nevertheless, a flat upper surface is the result.
It is also known to produce a plurality of discrete batch piles by employing a plurality of small batch feeders such as in U.S. Pat. No. 3,127,033. Such an approach appears to be quite limited as to throughput because of the small size of the inlets through which batch is fed.
Two types of batch feeders are in widespread commercial use in the glass industry. The first being the reciprocating tray type as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,916,262 and 3,780,889 and the second being the rotary type as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,829,784. The reciprocating tray type feeder inherently tends to form a series of ridges extending laterally across the batch blanket. However, these ridges are not as steep as would be desired for the sake of enhancing run-off nor do the furrows between the ridges provide a sufficiently free path for run-off. After melting of the batch blanket has progressed substantially, the ridges typically become separated into floating masses known as "logs." However, break-up of the batch blanket does not occur as early as would be desired. The rotary type feeder produces a nearly level batch blanket with only a shallow treadmark on the surface produced by the rotary feeder blades. Hence, the rotary type feeder is particularly characterized by poor run-off.
While the prior art appears to recognize some advantages for increasing the surface area of the batch blanket and for minimizing the thickness of the batch layer, these improvements have heretofore been implemented in embodiments which favor one of the improvements to the exclusion of the other. Furthermore, it appears that the prior art has not fully appreciated nor used the advantages attendant to enhancing run-off of melted material from a batch blanket.

Apparatus for improving glass melting by perforating batch layer


Method and apparatus related to implementing and/or utilizing different polarization antennas with different corresponding average transmit power levels are described. Inter-cell interference is mitigated by having different cells with different power relationships between polarizations antennas. For example, a first base station transmits at a high average power level on its vertical polarization antenna and transmits at a low average power level on its horizontal polarization antenna. Concurrently, a second base station, which is adjacent to the first base station, transmits at a low average power level on its vertical polarization antenna and transmits at a high average power level on its horizontal polarization antenna. In some hexagonal deployment schemes a base station has at most two adjacent base stations using the same power level to antenna polarization direction relationship as it is using.

In a wireless communications system, there is typically a fixed amount of bandwidth available for communications. As more and more individuals start to utilize wireless services and as service providers continue to offer new and varied wireless services, the demand and competition for those limited resources continues to increase. Therefore, there is a need for new and inventive methods and apparatus to boost system capacity.
In a multi cell cellular system, alot of approaches have been proposed to mitigate the inter-cell interference and boost system capacity. However there are problems associated with these proposed approaches. For example, spatial multiple input multiple output (MIMO) techniques need inter-element spacing which is a problem in ever shrinking mobile devices. Another problem with spatial MIMO techniques is that in a rank deficient scattering environment spatial MIMO does not prove to be very effective.
The interference between a vertically polarized antenna and a horizontally polarized antenna is typically very small as compared with interference resulting due to spatial antenna arrays. Two differently polarized antennas can create two parallel channels similar to two channels using different frequency bands. It would be beneficial if methods and apparatus were developed which exploited these attributes associated with using different polarized antennas.
In view of the above discussion, it would be desirable if improved methods and apparatus could be developed to mitigate the inter-cell interference and/or increase the system capacity.

Methods and apparatus for using antennas with different polarization and signal transmit powers


Disclosed is a permanent magnet which is suitable for use for a field system of an electric motor or the like and which is constituted by a single piece of magnetic material in which S and N poles are alternately continuously formed through non-magnetic flux regions or weak magnetic flux regions interposed therebetween, and further disclosed is a magnetization apparatus for magnetizing such a permanent magnet. The magnetization apparatus comprises a first magnetic flux generation unit provided on one surface of a single piece of magnetic material for generating N-pole magnetic flux, a second magnetic flux generation unit provided adjacently to the first magnetic flux generation unit on the one surface for generating S-pole magnetic flux, and a third magnetic flux generation unit provided between the first and second magnetic flux generation unit on the one surface for passing therethrough part of magnetic flux generated by the first and second magnetic flux generation unit and for generating magnetic flux for canceling the magnetic flux passing through the third magnetic flux generation unit, whereby N and S poles are formed in domains of an object to be magnetized opposite to the first and second magnetic flux generation units and non-magnetic flux regions or weak magnetic flux regions are formed in domains of the object to be magnetized opposite to the third magnetic flux generation unit.

The present invention generally relates to a permanent magnet having alternately continuously formed N and S poles and an apparatus for producing such a permanent magnet. The present invention particularly relates to a permanent magnet which has a non-magnetic flux region or a weak magnetic flux region between adjacent poles and which is suitable for use in an armature or a field system of an electric motor, and relates to a magnetization apparatus for producing such a permanent magnet.
Conventionally, an electric motor has been a typical example of an apparatus having a permanent magnet constituted by alternately continuously formed N and S poles. In a DC motor, for example, a cylindrical or disc-like permanent magnet has been used for a field system or an armature of the motor. In this case of the cylindrical or disc-like permanent magnet having, for example, four magnetic poles, those magnetic poles are distributed in such a manner as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B respectively, with circumferential field intensity as shown in FIG. 2.
Since there is no non-magnetic flux region or no weak magnetic flux region provided between adjacent magnetic poles as apparently seen from FIG. 2, it has been difficult to improve the efficiency and characteristics of electric motors.
FIG. 3A shows a typical example of a magnetization apparatus for producing the conventional permanent magnet having four poles as shown in FIG. 1A, and FIG. 3B shows the operation of the magnetization apparatus of FIG. 3A. In FIG. 3A, the magnetization apparatus is constituted by a magnetizing yoke 20 preferably made of a ferromagnetic material and a magnetizing coil 22 connected to a DC power source 26 through a switch 28. The reference numeral 24 designates an object of a magnetic material to be magnetized (hereinafter simply referred to as "magnetized object"), the magnetized object being, for example, cylindrical. The coil 22 is wound around each of projection portions 20a to 20d of the magnetizing yoke 20. A direct current is made to instantaneously flow in the coil 22 so that magnetic flux flows, for example, from the projection portion 20b into the projection portion 20a through the magnetized object 24 as shown in FIG. 3B. As a result, magnetization is performed on the magnetized object 24 in a manner so that S and N poles are formed in regions 24a and 24b of the magnetized object 24 respectively. The field intensity formed by the magnetization is distributed as shown in FIG. 3C. As seen from the drawing, no non-magnetic flux or no weak magnetic flux region exists.
In order to provide a weak magnetic flux region between adjacent poles, therefore, there have been conventionally known such permanent magnets as shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B. FIGS. 5A and 5B and FIGS. 6A and 6B, in which a plurality of permanent magnet pieces separated from each other and each having one pole are stuck to each other through adhesives, metal fittings, or the like.
Those permanent magnets constitute armatures of electric motors. FIGS. 4A and 4B show an armature in which permanent magnet pieces are fixed by using pressing metal fittings. FIG. 4A is a cross sectional front view taken on line A--A of the side view of FIG. 4B. In this case, permanent magnet pieces 2 are fixed on a yoke 8 by pressing metal fittings 4 having screw portions. The reference numeral 6 designates a rotary shaft. In this case, although the pressing metal fitting portions form weak magnetic flux regions, there has been a disadvantage in that it is troublesome to fix the permanent magnet pieces by means of the pressing metal fittings so that the working efficiency is poor to thereby increase the cost. FIGS. 5A and 5B and FIGS. 6A and 6B show armatures in which permanent magnet pieces are fixed by a tie wire and a thin stainless steel pipe respectively. FIG. 5B and 6B are cross sectional side views taken on lines A--A of the front views 5A and 6A respectively. In FIGS. 5A and 5B and FIGS. 6A and 6B, permanent magnet pieces 2 are fixed onto yokes 8 by a stainless steel tie wire 10 and a thin stainless steel pipe 12 respectively. In either case, although the stainless steel portions between the magnet pieces form weak magnetic flux regions, there has been a problem in that fixing work is troublesome to thereby increase the cost and in that the magnetic force of the permanent magnet is reduced because of using the tie wire or the pipe and the distance between the armature and a field system is increased because of the thickness of the tie wire or the pipe to thereby further reduce the magnetic force so that the performance of the armature is reduced. Further, there has been possibilities that adhesion portions are deteriorated by time aging or fixing portions are loosened by vibrations to cause such a trouble that permanent magnet pieces come off from the yoke.

Permanent magnet and magnetization apparatus for producing the permanent magnet


The invention relates to a process for casting novel motor vehicle wheels from metal, such as from an aluminum alloy, which wheels have a rim ring and a hub part connected by supporting radial elements. According to the present process the casting mold is formed by a plurality of molded core parts that are mainly ring- and/or disk-shaped and which are axially assembled while still attached to their mold sections and are centered relative to each other by the relative adjustment of the mold sections. The parting plane of the core parts runs perpendicularly to the wheel axis. This permits one-piece wheels to be cast with great accuracy, which wheels have few, if any, visible mold seams.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for casting a motor vehicle wheel from metal, especially from an aluminum alloy, said wheel having a rim ring and a hub part connected thereto by supporting radial elements.
2. Description of State of the Art
Because of the special shape of the rim well, motor vehicle wheels cast from an aluminum alloy are manufactured in such fashion that a bi- or multipartite radially-openable mold is used for forming the rim well section. However, the precision that can be achieved in this manner as regards true-running, uniform wall thickness, etc., make it necessary for the cast blank to be finished by a costly machining procedure. All additional elements to be mounted, such as fan rings, trim coverings, especially trim coverings for purposes of air guidance for example, have to be manufactured as separate elements and then mounted on the cast wheel body, such as by bolting. Then, after machining and assembly of the additional parts, additional finishing is required to balance the finished motor vehicle wheel.

Process for casting a motor vehicle wheel from metal, and a motor vehicle wheel produced by such process


The present invention utilizes low-friction, stepped triggering of successively higher-pre-loaded, counterdirected, nested stages in a compact configuration to efficiently multiply an input force. The present invention thus presents a novel force-multiplying mechanism for incorporation in any apparatus taking advantage of its ability to convert a force of a given magnitude into a force of greater magnitude. Such devices include, but are not limited to, those utilizing hydrostatic pressure for actuation of flotation, marking, and retrieval devices, those actuated by barostatic, mechanical, and pneumatic pressure, and those which trigger chemical (including pyrotechnic), electrical, mechanical, and pneumatic devices. There is theoretically no limit to the force multiplication inherent in the design, given the option of successive stages and ever-increasing driving forces.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of methods and apparatus for the multiplication of force.
2. Background Art
There are a number of situations and circumstances that require the multiplication of a first force into a second force. For example, it may be necessary to transform a relatively weak force into a relatively strong force. It may also be necessary to transform a large force into a smaller force. Such applications require a "force transformer" to accomplish the desired transformation. The force transformer includes a triggering mechanism for receiving a first force of a first level and actuating a transformation means, transformation means, and actuating means for applying a second force of a second level.
A force transformer that converts a small force into a larger force is referred to as a "force multiplier". A force multiplier converts a received force of a first low level into an output force of a second higher level. In many cases, the applied low level force is used as a triggering force to activate the force multiplier. The force multiplier, when activated, provides a higher level actuating force to perform a desired function. An example of a force-multiplying system is the power steering system of an automobile, which transforms the relatively low force arm movements of a driver to more powerful forces for turning the wheels of the car.
Other applications for force multipliers include those that rely on atmospheric, hydrostatic, or mechanical pressure to trigger the application of a large force. One such application involves the flotation, marking, and retrieval of inadvertently-submerged objects to which the device is attached based upon actuation by hydrostatic pressure corresponding to a preselected depth.
Automatic flotation devices employing hydrostatic pressure-activated mechanisms for initiation of inflation of flotation elements from compressed gas sources have been proposed for the flotation, marking, and retrieval of inadvertently-submerged objects. Among such objects considered for flotation have been relatively small items, such as fishing rods and reels and firearms. Among those considered for marking and retrieval have been relatively larger items, such as outboard motors and boats.
Such devices typically consist of a pressure sensing means, a gas storage means, a gas release means that is responsive to the pressure sensing means, and a bladder or balloon that is inflated with the released gas to provide buoyancy, causing the balloon to float to the surface, marking the position of the submerged object or lifting the submerged object to at or near the surface.
A common drawback in the designs of the various mechanisms proposed for such flotation, marking, and retrieval has been the size or the mechanical inefficiency of their actuation mechanisms. Initiation of the inflation sequence in any compressed gas device involves piercing a metal seal on the gas container supplying the inflation gas. The piercing of the seal requires, typically, a relatively high pre-loaded spring force to drive the piercing implement through the seal. Because the spring-loaded piercing mechanism must be restrained from moving before actuation by a force equal to that to which it has been loaded, a significant force is required at actuation to overcome the friction inherent in the restraining mechanism. Because the actuation force in a hydrostatically-activated apparatus is derived from its pressure-responsive diaphragm, and because the level of that force is directly related to the surface area of its diaphragm, the relatively high actuation forces required in compressed gas devices have caused such apparati to be of impractically or undesirably large size in order to ensure reliable actuation.
Prior art devices intended for the flotation of inadvertently-submerged objects and based upon hydrostatic actuation of inflation of flotation elements with compressed gas are described in Bannister U.S. Pat. No. 2,687,541, and Smith U.S. Pat. No. 2,853,724. The Bannister patent utilizes the mechanical advantage of a wedge design to spread the legs of a spring catch to trigger a spring-loaded piercing mechanism. The Smith patent employs an overcenter lever trigger design to the same effect. These prior art devices do not provide efficient gain in the force multiplier component. That is, the amount by which the force is multiplied is relatively small. As a result, the prior art devices are large, and not suited for applications where small size is a requirement. For example, a device for retrieving keys that are dropped into water should be small, so that a user can be comfortable carrying it. The prior art devices are not suitable for that application.


The present invention is directed to certain N-amino- and N-hydroxy-quinazolinone compounds and synthetic methods for synthesis thereof, which compounds may find use in combinatorial libraries. More specifically, the invention is directed to the synthesis of 3-hydroxy- and 3-amino-4(1H)-quinazolinones via the reaction of an appropriate 2-aminobenzamide compound with a carboxylic acid or acyl halide at ambient temperature performed on a solid support or in solution.

There is a great interest in synthetic methods directed toward the creation of large collections of small organic compounds, or libraries, which could be screened for pharmacological, biological or other activity. Often referred to as combinatorial chemistry, the synthetic methods applied to create vast combinatorial libraries are performed in solution or in the solid phase, i.e., on a solid support. Further, solid-phase synthesis makes it easier to conduct multi-step reactions and to drive reactions to completion with high yields because excess reagents can be easily added and washed away after each reaction step. Solid-phase combinatorial synthesis also tends to improve isolation, purification and screening. However, the more traditional solution phase chemistry supports a wider variety of organic reactions than solid-phase chemistry.
Typically, combinatorial methods involve the addition of various structural components sequentially, either in a controlled or random manner to a core chemical structure in order to produce all or a substantial portion of the possible combinations that can result from the different possible reactions at each stage. The efficient use of this technique can create thousands of compounds for pharmacological screening in a rapid fashion.
Methods for screening libraries of compounds for binding properties to a receptor include methods wherein each member of the library is tagged with a unique identifier to facilitate identification of compounds having binding properties, or where the library comprises a plurality of compounds synthesized at particular locations on the surface of a solid substrate. The receptor may be appropriately labelled with a radioactive or fluorescent label that enables one to ascertain whether binding to the receptor of interest has occurred. Correlation of the labelled receptor bound to the substrate, which has its location on the substrate, identifies the binding ligand as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,143,854.
In contrast to the standard combinatorial chemistry approach which results in libraries with maximum diversity, there is a trend toward the design of more targeted libraries, particularly of small compounds, which minimize redundancy and improve screening efficiency.
One particular class of compounds that would be useful for inclusion in targeted libraries is quinazolinone compounds such as N-hydroxy-quinazolinones and derivatives thereof. Quinazolinone compounds possess a diverse array of beneficial pharmaceutical and chemical properties. For example, certain quinazolinones are known to possess antipyretic, hypotensive, antibacterial, antifungal or central nervous system (CNS) activity, as well as the ability to inhibit enzymes of biological importance, such as metalloenzymes.
C. Schapira and S. Lamdan (J. Heterocyclic Chem., 9:569-576 (1972)) disclose the action of various simple acylating agents on 2-aminobenzohydroxamic acid, which afforded 3-hydroxy-4(3H)-quinazolinones (hydroxamic acids), as well as several ethers and esters derived therefrom.
H. Kohl and E. Wolf (Liebigs Ann. Chem., 766:106-115 (1972)) disclose that O-alkyl N-acylaminobenzhydroxamates are readily cyclized to 2-substituted-3-alkoxyquinazolinones.
M. Ghelardoni and V. Pestellini (Annali di Chimica, 64:445-453 (1974)) disclose the synthesis of fused-ring systems containing the 4-quinazolone nucleus. These compounds are obtained by condensation of o-aminobenzoylhydrazine or o-aminobenzohydroxamic acid with compounds containing both carbonyl and carboxyl groups, such as phthalaldehydic acid or levulinic acid, or with cyclic anhydrides, such as phthalic anhydride or succinic anhydride.
K. Tanaka et al. (Chem. Pharm. Bull., 36(7):2323-2330 (1988)) disclose the synthesis of 3-Hydroxy-4-oxo-3,4 dihydroquinazolinones, which exhibited metal chelating abilities, analgesic activities, and inhibition of the growth of microorganisms. The 3-hydroxy-4-oxo-3,4-dihydroquinazolinones were prepared, for example, by reacting a 2-aminobenzohydroxamic acid with acetic anhydride or formic acid.
Although, a variety of syntheses of quinazolinones using solution-phase techniques have been reported, there is a need for a general method of synthesis of such compounds, especially in the solid phase. In other words, there is a need for a solid-phase synthesis that allows one to synthesize a multiplicity of quinazolinones on a variety of solid supports, as well as a need for preparing and screening a library of quinazolinones for pharmacological or biological activities.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an efficient method for obtaining a library of N-hydroxy- and N-amino quinazolinones, particularly 3-hydroxy-quinazolinones and 3-amino-quinazolinones, wherein the starting materials are amenable to large scale synthesis.
Citation or identification of any reference in this section of this application shall not be construed as an admission that such reference is available as prior art to the application.

Compositions containing N-amino- and N-hydroxy-quinazolinones and methods for preparing libraries thereof


A piece of jewelry to be worn by a wearer, having a spray mechanism mounted on the piece of jewelry, and a reservoir for containing a fluid mounted on the piece of jewelry, to dispense a fluid, such as a fragrance or scent, to the body of the wearer. The manipulation of the reservoir by the wearer actuates the spray mechanism and dispenses fluid from the reservoir.

It is a common practice for individuals to apply fragrance or perfume to themselves, their clothing or their environment, as part of a personal hygiene regime. The rapid dissipation and evaporation of a fragrance after first application on a wearer's body requires re-application of the fragrance by the wearer. A person can carry a fragrance bottle for re-application throughout the day; however, this method can be inconvenient and cumbersome. A separate container is required to hold the fragrance, which must be carried by the wearer. There is a need for a convenient and attractive means of re-application of a fragrance.
In response to this problem, a number of arrangements have been disclosed which provide for personal jewelry that dispenses a fragrance. The principal benefit of jewelry that dispenses a fragrance is that the user is not required to carry a separate fragrance bottle or other dispenser in order to reapply a fragrance.
Some arrangements permit constant emissions of the fragrance from the personal jewelry, generally through diffusion of a scent through openings in the jewelry over time. Other arrangements include outlets which permit the slow dissemination of a fragrance from a reservoir to the body part in contact with the jewelry. These arrangements can be problematic, however. They typically do not permit the wearer to apply or re-apply the fragrance on the wearer's body. In addition, there is little control over the rate at which the fragrance is diffused, which may result in the scent being either too weak or too strong. The wearer cannot control the intensity of the fragrance or apply the fragrance upon demand.
There are a number of designs which require the removal of a control element to permit application of a fragrance on the body by the wearer, or to control the rate of diffusion of the constantly fragrance-emitting jewelry. However, the use of the removable element to apply a fragrance can be awkward for a number of reasons. The control elements tend to be quite small, and generally comprise small pins or rods. These can be difficult to manipulate, and may be easily lost by the wearer.
The use of a spray pump in a fluid dispenser to permit application of a fragrance on the body is known in the art. U.S. Pat. No. 4,023,712 discloses a spray container device for spraying sprayable compositions which is suspended around a wearer's neck. Such arrangements utilize a fluid dispenser with spray pump, however, the fluid dispenser does not form an integral part of the jewelry, and comprises a cap or lid which may be lost. U.S. Pat. No. 5,217,143 discloses an actuator mechanism for a fluid dispenser using a spray pump incorporated into a bangle, however, this arrangement is not easily or readily transferrable to other forms of jewelry.
It is desirable to provide a spray fluid dispenser in the form of a jewel, which can be incorporated into jewelry. This permits the use of a jewel shaped fluid dispenser in the production of diverse jewelry pieces, such as rings, earrings, brooches, pendants and the like.


The present invention provides a preventive agent for fouling organisms, which comprises, as an effective ingredient, at least one compound selected from compounds represented by general formula (1) ##STR1## [wherein R.sup.1 is a lower alkyl group, or a phenyl group which may be substituted with a halogen atom(s) and/or a lower alkyl group(s); each X.sup.1 is a halogen atom; n is an integer of 1-5; when n is 2 or more, X.sup.1 s may be the same or different; and Y.sup.1 is a hydrogen atom or a group --Z--Y.sup.2 (Z is a carbonyl group or a sulfonyl group, and Y.sup.2 is a substituted or unsubstituted aryl group or a lower alkyl group], or salts thereof. The present preventive agent for fouling organisms, which contains a compound(s) other than organotin compounds as an effective ingredient, has high safety, prevents the settlement of fouling organisms to ships, in-water structures, fishing nets, etc. at a low effective ingredient content, and exhibits an antifouling effect stably over a long period of time.

Shells and algae such as barnacles, oysters, mussels, hydroids, tube worms, bryozoans, tunicates, bryozoans (Ex. Bugula), sea weeds (Ex. Ulva), sea weeds (Ex. Enteromorpha), sea weeds (Ex. Ectocarpus) and the like settle to and propagate on ship hills, in-sea-water facilities (e.g. buoys), in-water structures (e.g. part of dam facilities), feed pipes of cooling water for condenser used in steam power plant or for heat exchanger used in petrochemical plant, etc. (these parts and facilities are in constant contact with water), fishing nets for cultivation or for fixed net fishing, etc., when these parts, facilities and materials have not been subjected to any treatment. These fouling organisms invite increased resistance of water supply and reduced thermal conductivity, and bring about disadvantages such as reduced function of facility and the like. In fishing nets, the settlement of the above-mentioned organisms causes stopping-up of meshes and resultant oxygen shortage, scratching of fish (this reduces the commercial value of fish), and infection of fish with diseases caused by microbes, etc. In order to prevent the settlement and propagation of such sea-water or pure-water fouling organisms, antifouling agents containing an organotin compound as an effective ingredient have been used heretofore. With antifouling agents containing an organotin compound or the like, however, there have recently arisen social problems that environments such as rivers, ocean and the like are polluted and further that said agents give harm to human bodies via fish. Hence, a regulation has been established on the use of organotin compounds, and the use and production of said organotin compounds are under mandatory control.
Meanwhile, organic compounds other than organotin compounds have been studied as an antifouling agent for the same purpose. However, preventive agents for fouling organisms, containing conventional organic compounds have not been satisfactory in antifouling property.
It is an object of the present invention to solve the above-mentioned problems and provide a preventive agent for fouling organisms, containing, as an effective ingredient, an organic compound other than organotin compounds, having high safety and exhibiting a high antifouling effect at a low dosage.
In order to achieve the above object, the present inventors made a study on the preventive activities of various organic compounds for fouling organisms. As a result, the present inventors unexpectedly found out that some of 3-oxopropionitrile derivatives have high preventive activities for fouling organisms and that the use of said compound can achieve the above object and can provide a preventive agent for fouling organisms, having a high antifouling effect. The present invention has been completed based on these findings.


A hard disk controller integrated circuit of a SCSI target device comprises a sequencer which causes a SCSI bus to transition from a command bus phase to a data transfer bus phase during execution of an autoread or an autowrite SCSI command without waiting for a communication from a microprocessor of the SCSI target device. In some embodiments, the command is determined to be either an autotransfer command or a non-autotransfer command. If the command is a non-autotransfer command, then the sequencer does not proceed directly to the data transfer phase but rather requires microprocessor intervention before proceeding to the data transfer phase. In some embodiments, an autotransfer command (such as an autoread or an autowrite command) is carried out by the disk drive controller integrated circuit with only two interrupts being generated to the microprocessor: one after receiving the autotransfer command from the initiator; and one after data transfer of the autotransfer command is complete. The hard disk controller integrated circuit automatically sends the status byte and command complete message if there is no potential queue tag collision as indicated by a cleared tag not okay flag.

The Small Computer System Interface (SCSI or commonly called the "SCSI bus") is a popular device independent parallel bus. The SCSI bus can, for example, be used to removably connect multiple devices including hard disk drives, printers and other input/output peripheral devices to a host computer. For background, the reader is referred to "Fast Track To SCSI", Integrated Circuits Division of Fujitsu Microelectronics, Inc., published by Prentice Hall (1991), the SCSI-1 specification, and the SCSI-2 specification (documents X3.131 and X3T9.2 of the American National Standards Institute).
FIG. 1 (PRIOR ART) is a simplified block diagram illustrating one possible SCSI bus configuration. Both an initiator device 1 as well as a target device 2 are shown coupled to a SCSI bus 3. SCSI bus 3 comprises nine data conductors (eight for data and one for parity), nine control conductors, and other power and ground conductors. Devices 1 and 2 are coupled in parallel to the bus conductors, corresponding SCSI terminals of each device being coupled to the same corresponding bus conductor. Typically each conductor is resistively coupled to a voltage of an inactive state. To "assert" a signal onto a conductor, a device must drive to conductor to a voltage of an active state against the resistive coupling of the conductor. If not driven, a conductor will return to its inactive state.
Each device connected to a SCSI bus is classified as either an initiator or as a target. Initiator devices cause target devices on the bus to perform commands whereas target devices perform commands for the initiators. There can be multiple initiators and multiple targets on a SCSI bus.
Target device 2 in FIG. 1 is a hard disk computer peripheral device comprising a hard disk controller integrated circuit 4, a buffer memory 5, a first microprocessor 6, a second microprocessor 7, a hard disk 8, head electronics and actuator 9, and read channel electronics 10. If, for example, initiator 1 were to attempt to write data to disk 8, then the initiator 1 would output a write command onto the SCSI bus 3. The SCSI bus is initially in a "bus free phase" in which the SCSI bus is idle. To initiate the write command, initiator 1 asserts a BSY signal onto an OR-tied BSY control conductor of SCSI bus 3, thereby causing the bus to enter an "arbitration bus phase". During the arbitration bus phase, each initiator arbitrates for the bus with the other initiators by asserting the appropriate one of the data conductors of the SCSI bus corresponding with a SCSI identifier (SCSI ID) unique to the initiator. Because each SCSI ID has an assigned priority, the initiator with the highest priority, in this case initiator 1, determines that it has the highest priority by detecting the other data conductors. The highest priority initiator, here initiator 1, asserts a select signal SEL onto a SEL conductor of the bus to indicate to other initiators and targets that the bus is busy.
After winning control of the bus through arbitration, initiator 1 selects the target device of interest, in this case target 2, in a "selection bus phase". Initiator 1 asserts its SCSI ID as well as the SCSI ID of the target onto the data conductors of the SCSI bus. When the target detects its SCSI ID on the data conductors, the target responds by asserting the BSY signal onto the OR-tied BSY conductor. The bus free, arbitration, and selection bus phases are control phases.
With initiator 1 now in control of SCSI bus 3, and with target 2 identified as the target, target 2 requests a SCSI command from initiator 1 in a "command bus phase". The SCSI bus has a C/D signal and an associated C/D conductor for distinguishing control and data on the bus. The C/D signal being asserted indicates control information is being passed over the bus whereas the C/D signal being deasserted indicates data being passed over the bus. The SCSI bus also has an I/O signal and an associated I/O conductor for indicating the direction of flow of information across the bus. The I/O signal being asserted indicates information flow from target to initiator whereas the I/O signal being deasserted indicates information flow from initiator to target. Accordingly, the target asserts the C/D signal indicating control information and deasserts the I/O signal indicating information flow from initiator to target. Initiator 1 then responds by sending the command over the bus to target 2 byte by byte using two control conductors of the SCSI bus, the REQ and ACK conductors, for handshaking. Each SCSI command, called a SCSI command descriptor block (CDB) consists of multiple bytes, either six, ten or twelve bytes. The command contains information which includes a SCSI operation code indicating the type of command to be performed.
FIG. 2A (PRIOR ART) is a diagram illustrating the fields in the SCSI operation code byte of a SCSI command CDB. The first byte, byte 0, of all SCSI commands is a SCSI operation code. A group code of 0 indicates that the command is a six-byte command; a group code of 1 or 2 indicates that the command is a ten-byte command; and a group code of 5 indicates that the command is a twelve-byte command.
FIGS. 2B, 2C and 2D (PRIOR ART) are diagrams illustrating six-byte, ten-byte, and twelve-byte commands, respectively. The transfer length field, if required by the command specified by the command code of the SCSI operation code, specifies the number of blocks (or bytes) transferred upon execution of the command. Whether the transfer length information of the transfer length field is in bytes or blocks is determined by the type of command. If the command is a write command, the command descriptor block includes a logical block address (LBA) of the first block to be transferred as well as the number of blocks to be transferred during execution of the write command.
Hard disk controller integrated circuit 4 comprises a SCSI interface portion 11 for interfacing with the SCSI bus 3, a disk controller portion 12 for interfacing with the hard disk 8, and a buffer manager portion 13 for controlling a flow of data through buffer memory 5 between the SCSI interface portion 11 and disk controller portion 12. It is the SCSI interface portion 11 which receives commands from the SCSI bus 3.
For a write command, the read/write head of disk 8 must usually be moved in a seek operation to an appropriate location on disk where the data is to be written. Accordingly, microprocessor 7 is instructed to move the head to the correct location by microprocessor 6. While the seek operation is being carried out, data can be received from the initiator 1 over SCSI bus 3 for later writing to disk 8. SCSI interface portion 11 therefore configures the buffer manager portion 13 to store incoming data into buffer memory 5.
When the target 2 is ready to receive data, the target 2 deasserts the I/O signal and deasserts the C/D signal thereby causing the bus to enter a "data out phase". Initiator 1 then sends byte after byte of data to target 2 over the SCSI bus using the REQ and ACK signals for handshaking. Successive bytes of data are placed in buffer memory 5. When the seek operation is complete, the disk controller portion 12 begins writing data received from the buffer memory 5 to disk 8.
After, for example, all the data of the write command has been received into buffer memory 5, the target 2 may cause the bus to enter a "status bus phase" by asserting the C/D and I/O signals and by deasserting a signal MSG on an associated control conductor MSG. The target 2 then sends to initiator 1 a status byte indicating whether or not the command was executed without error.
If, for example, the write of information to disk 8 was successful, then target 2 may cause the bus to enter a "message in phase" by asserting the C/D, I/O and MSG signals. With the bus in the message in phase, target 2 may send initiator 1 a SCSI defined message. If, for example, a command complete message is sent, then initiator 1 will be able to examine the status byte after completion of the command. Target 2 releases SCSI bus 3 by releasing the BSY signal whereupon the SCSI bus reenters the bus free phase. Whereas the bus free, arbitration and selection phases are called control phases, the command, data, status and message phases are called information transfer phases.
In order to reduce the cost of a target SCSI hard disk drive peripheral, the first and second microprocessors 6 and 7 may be combined into a single microprocessor. Such a single microprocessor is, however, frequently interrupted to control SCSI bus operations. The response of the microprocessor to other tasks may therefore be undesirably slow. If, for example, a SCSI write command is to be sent to the target, then the microprocessor may be interrupted after the initiator 1 has selected the target. This interrupt allows the microprocessor to set up facilities in the SCSI interface to receive the command bytes. After the command bytes have been received into the SCSI interface (for example into a first-in-first-out memory), the microprocessor is again interrupted. This allows the microprocessor to interpret the meaning of the command bytes.
Because the same type of information may be contained in different ones of the bytes of six-byte, ten-byte and twelve-byte SCSI command descriptor blocks, the microprocessor may read the various bytes of the command descriptor block out of a first-in-first-out memory into which the bytes were initially written, determine what type of information is contained in each byte dependent upon whether the command descriptor block is a six-byte, ten-byte or twelve-byte command descriptor block, and then write selected bytes of the information into predetermined memory locations accessible by the microprocessor for future use.
If the command is determined to be a write command, then the microprocessor would configure the rest of the target including the buffer manager to accommodate the data to be transferred during subsequent execution of the command. Then after the data transfer is complete, the microprocessor is again interrupted by the hard disk controller integrated circuit to indicate that it is time to send the status byte and the command complete message byte to initiator 1. The microprocessor then can load the status byte and command complete message byte into a FIFO and enable an operation to shift to FIFO out, thereby placing the status byte and command complete message bytes onto the SCSI bus. After the placing of status and command complete message bytes onto the SCSI bus, the microprocessor is again interrupted alerting the microprocessor that the operation is completed.
Not only is the microprocessor burdened by the need to determine the locations of different types of information in different types of command descriptor blocks and the need to handle numerous interrupts in the execution of a command, but the microprocessor may also be interrupted in the event that more data is written to the disk drive peripheral than the disk drive peripheral has room to accommodate in its buffer memory. If, for example, the buffer memory 5 is full when additional data is to be received from the bus, then the microprocessor will be interrupted by the hard disk controller integrated circuit. This allows the microprocessor the opportunity to instruct the SCSI interface to disconnect itself from the SCSI bus so that the bus can be used to transfer information between other devices. Then, after the disk drive peripheral again has the ability to receive additional data from the initiator, the microprocessor is again interrupted so that the microprocessor can instruct the SCSI interface portion 11 to again arbitrate for the bus and to reselect the bus in a SCSI "reselection bus phase". Additional interrupts may therefore be involved in disconnecting from the bus and then reconnecting to the bus. Moreover, such disconnecting and reconnecting can occur multiple times when executing a single SCSI command leading to still more microprocessor interrupts. A hard disk controller integrated circuit is therefore desired which reduces microprocessor overhead in parsing command descriptor blocks and which reduces the number of microprocessor interrupts in a SCSI bus target when executing a SCSI command.

Method of flagging the completion of a second command before the completion of a first command from the same initiator in a SCSI controller


Detection of components (22-24) missing from sealed packages (16) is accomplished by combining a multiplicity of electrical outputs representing the mass in volumes of the package (16) and comparing the combined value with a standard value for packages (16) including all components (22-24). In the preferred form, the mass is represented by the absorption of x-rays, with the packages (16) being conveyed on a conveyor (18) between an x-ray radiator (12) generating a fan-shaped x-ray beam (14) and a line array (20) of individual detectors (20a, 20b, etc.). The detectors (20a, 20b, etc.) detect radiation after passing through the package (16) and provide a numerical electrical signal equal to the amount of radiation detected. If the sum of the multiplicity of numerical electrical signals is less than the standard value, the package (16) is rejected from the conveyor (18) by a rejection device (30).

The present invention generally relates to the detection of missing components in a package, particularly to an x-ray scanner and processing system for detecting missing components in a package, and specifically to an x-ray scanner and processing system for detecting missing components which can have a variety of positions within a package.
A number of products are marketed in the form of multiple components which are included within a sealed package, with the consumer removing the components from the package at a location remote from the point of purchase and combining those components to form the final product. As the components are located within the package, the manufacturer as well as the consumer are unable to verify whether or not the package includes all components until after the package is opened. As many products are now mechanically packaged, packages where all the components are not there, where multiple components are present, and like deficiencies will be created depending upon machinery reliability. As such packaging errors are a major cause of consumer complaints especially when packages do not include all the necessary components to produce the final product, there exists a need for systems to detect whether the proper components are present in the package without requiring the opening of such packages.
One manner of such detection is by weighing the final package after sealing. This suffers from several shortcomings including reliability of correctly weighing the individual packages as they are being conveyed on a conveyor. Similarly, the weight of a component may be such that if one component were omitted (or a duplicate included), the package including the remaining components would be within the range of weights for the package including all components manufactured within the normal manufacturing tolerances.
Also, the components could be manufactured including identifiers which can be sensed outside of the package. However, it can then be appreciated that this has limitations in the number of identifiers which can be included in a single package and still be separately identifiable, typically requires extra manufacturing steps, and results in false negatives as the components could be present in the package but either the identifiers were omitted or could not be sensed from outside of the package.
X-ray scanning systems have had wide commercial success in the detection of contaminants in a package. Typical applications would be detecting metal in food products, bone portions in fillets, lumps or clumps in powdered or semi fluid components, or the like. Although prior x-ray scanning systems have been utilized for detecting missing components, use of x-ray scanning systems were generally limited to packages where the components are in a consistent position within the packages. Example packages would include egg cartons, TV dinners, and the like.
X-ray scanning detection systems are desirable for several reasons including but not limited to they do not require use of identifiers, do not require any modifications to the production line upstream from the detection system, do not leave marks or have the potential of damaging the sealed package and the like. Thus, a need exists for an x-ray scanning system which is able to detect which packages include one or more missing components where the components can have a variety of arrangements or positions within the package and which do not generate a substantial number of false negatives.

Detection of variable positionable missing components utilizing x-rays


A mixing device comprises a circular disc of fin sections positioned so as to create openings in the inner and outer regions of the mixing device that generate oppositely rotating flows of exhaust gas. Each fin section may be identical, and may be created by a stamping process. The smooth surface of each fin section reduces creases, and thus, is less prone to urea buildup.

Many vehicles utilize catalysts in exhaust systems to reduce emission. In lean exhaust conditions, such as with regard to diesel exhaust or other lean burning conditions, catalyst may utilize reductant other than burnt fuel.
One such aftertreatment device is a Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) system which uses a catalyst to convert NOx to nitrogen and water. A urea-based SCR catalyst may use gaseous ammonia as the active NOx reducing agent, in which case an aqueous solution of urea may be carried on board of a vehicle, and an injection system may be used to supply it into the exhaust gas stream. Further, a mixing device (e.g., a flow mixer) may be utilized to increase flow mixing within the distance/packaging constraints of the exhaust passage.
In one mixing approach, namely U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2008/0250776 (Brown, et al.), a mixing apparatus is provided which comprises a retainer ring having a first plurality and a second plurality of fins extending from the retainer ring which are operable to impart a rotational velocity component in a first direction and in a second direction opposite the first direction, respectively. The fins are formed integrally with the retainer ring by stamping a blank from sheet metal and bending to the desired shape. More specifically, the first plurality of fins are bent to an angle Θ (120-160 degrees) and the second plurality of fins are bent to an angle Φ (190-235 degrees).
The inventors of the present application have recognized a problem in such previous solutions. First, it may be difficult to manufacture such an apparatus since different fins must be bent at different angles in different directions. For example, as described above and shown in Brown's FIGS. 3-5, some fins are bent at obtuse angles whereas other adjacent fins are bent at reflex angles. Second, the creases where the fins are bent may be likely to collect urea. Such localized urea deposits may result in less of the urea being directed toward the catalyst, and thus reducing the effectiveness of the catalyst, and likewise, the SCR system.
Accordingly, in one example, some of the above issues may be addressed by an exhaust system for an engine, comprising an exhaust passage receiving engine exhaust gas and a mixing device arranged within the exhaust passage comprising a circular disc of fin sections. Each fin section has a straight edge and a curved edge, wherein the straight edge is positioned adjacent to a curved edge of a first neighboring fin section and the curved edge is positioned adjacent to a straight edge of a second neighboring fin section.
In this way, by linking one fin section via its straight edge to another fin section via its curved edge, it is possible to create openings in the inner and outer regions of the mixing device that generate oppositely rotating flows of exhaust gas. As such, the mixing device enhances flow mixing downstream of the mixing device, while operating within the packaging constraints typical of an exhaust passage. Further, since each fin section may be identical, the fin sections may be easily manufactured, for example, via a stamping process. Thus, the fins may be manufactured at a low cost while still providing a robust mixing device. Moreover, the smooth surface of each fin section is free from creases, and thus, is not prone to urea buildup.
It should be understood that the summary above is provided to introduce in simplified form a selection of concepts that are further described in the detailed description. It is not meant to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, the scope of which is defined uniquely by the claims that follow the detailed description. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any disadvantages noted above or in any part of this disclosure.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A variable volume transfer duct for maintaining an optimum volume of buffer gas in the transfer duct of a two-stroke engine during operation in order to minimize short circuit loss of fresh charge at all load levels during engine operation. The variable volume transfer duct that has two pieces, a top and a bottom duct wherein the bottom duct is aligned with and slidably disposed within the upper duct. Control means are provided for raising and lowering of the bottom duct to vary the transfer duct volume accordingly. A control means controls recirculates exhaust gas, or the secondary air, as buffer gas that fills the top of the transfer passage and regulates the buffer gas according to engine load conditions such that it provides a larger amount at higher loads and a lesser quantity at lighter loads.

This invention relates to a design for two-stroke engines that reduces the exhaust pollutants, short circuit loss of fresh charge, promote lean burning ability of the engine, and stratify the charge and thus improve the overall emission and efficiency characteristics of the two-stroke type internal combustion engine. Two-stroke engines are known for their simplicity and high specific output. However, they have drawbacks of poor emissions and efficiency characteristics. It is estimated that fuel consumption and hydrocarbon emissions of two-stroke engines are 1.5 to 2.0 times and 10-20 times that of equivalent four-stroke engines respectively. Some small utility engines produce up to 50 times the pollution of trucks, per horsepower per hour. High unburned hydrocarbon emissions arise because in a carburetted two-stroke engine the scavenging process is carried out by the fresh mixture of air and fuel. Some of the air-fuel mixture mixes with the residual exhaust gas as it scavenges the cylinder and a small fraction of the charge is lost due to short circuiting. The net effect is that 25-40% of the charge may be wasted resulting in high fuel consumption and high levels of unburned hydrocarbons. In order to eliminate the problem, it has been proposed by Nagesh S. Mavinahally, through his patent application Ser. No. 08/120,545 and disclosure documents 338055 and 336827 to additionally provide a buffer gas in the transfer passages/ducts to enter the cylinder during the scavenging process ahead of fresh charge to prevent or minimize short circuit loss of fresh charge into the atmosphere. It has been demonstrated by him and others that the concept of providing buffer gas can minimize the loss of fresh charge. The buffer gas enters the upper part of the transfer duct displacing the fresh charge remaining from the previous cycle into the crankcase chamber. The amount of buffer gas that is retained in the duct is dependent upon the duct volume and the gas allowed to flow into the ducts. But the volume of the duct depends on the length of the duct from the port to the crankcase chamber. However, it is experienced that the amount of buffer gas introduced into the transfer duct is to be regulated and is dependent on the engine load. With a fixed volume of the transfer duct, as the amount of buffer gas flow is increased to an amount more than the volume of the transfer duct the excess buffer gas simply mixes with the fresh charge diluting it in the crankcase chamber. It is experienced that excessive dilution is detrimental to engine performance at lower loads, which may increase the emission and deteriorate efficiency. It is understandable that more amount of buffer gas is required at higher loads due to larger percentage of short circuit loss and converse is true at lighter loads. It is therefore important to have an optimum amount of buffer gas in the transfer duct.
The amount of buffer gas that remain in situ between the live crankcase content of live mixture and the closed transfer/auxiliary scavenging port to the cylinder is an important factor. It is dependent on the volume of the transfer passage. With its given fixed volume in more conventional engines, increasing the introduction of buffer gas does not guarantee its effectiveness, unless it remains in the transfer duct. An amount greater than the duct's volume simply mixes with the live mixture diluting it in the crankcase chamber.

Continuously variable volume scavenging passage for two-stroke engines


A streaming media encoder for encoding and delivering media content is disclosed. The streaming media encoder has a media input interface for receiving a media stream, a media encoder for receiving the media stream from the input interface and encoding the media stream, thereby producing an encoded media stream. The media encoder has a first confidence monitor for displaying a video image from the received media stream, a second confidence monitor for displaying a video image from the encoded media stream, and a network interface for providing the encoded media stream to a network.

As the use of the Internet has become ubiquitous more services are being offered online. This includes not only interactive services for which the Internet is widely known, such as email, online shopping, online banking, and customized information services, but has also come to include services that have traditionally been non-interactive, such as the provision of radio programming and television programming. Streaming media, in primitive forms, has been present on the Internet for some time. However, as greater numbers of users gain access to high speed data lines through school, through work, or through a home based broadband solution more people will come to see the Internet in general, and streaming media in particular, as a viable alternative for the delivery of media content. This includes daily programming such as typically appears on network broadcasting stations as well as special event programming such as movies and sporting events.
Streaming media delivery is both promising and problematic. With traditional media delivery vehicles such as broadcasting and cable or satellite feeds, users typically must plan to be available when the broadcast is available or make other arrangements on their own. However with streaming media and Internet content, users expect delivery to be at their discretion. This can raise a variety of issues for providers as they attempt to deal with what is essentially replicating the broadcast event for every viewer. In addition to current and ongoing programming, providers are also faced with the problem of legacy programming that may still prove valuable, if it can be provided, more or less on-demand when viewers so request. The vast amount of programming currently available, as well as the large volume of non-digital legacy programming, can create problems associated with the scale or size of a given operation as well as with the technical difficulties involved in the delivery.
Therefore what is needed is a system and method for dealing with the issues discussed above and related issues.

Streaming media encoder with front panel control interface


Provided is an apparatus for detecting bio materials and a method for detecting bio materials by using the apparatus. The apparatus includes a bio material reacting unit, an optical source unit, and a detecting unit. The bio material reacting unit includes bio sensing materials immobilized on gold nanoparticles. The optical source unit emits light toward the bio material reacting unit. The detecting unit measures variations of surface absorbance of the gold nanoparticles by detecting light transmitted through the bio material reacting unit before and after a bio material is bound to the bio sensing materials.

The present invention disclosed herein relates to an apparatus for detecting bio materials and a method for detecting bio materials by using the apparatus, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for detecting bio materials by measuring surface absorbance variations of gold nanoparticles.
Biosensors are used to detect an optical or electric signal varying according to selective reaction and binding between an analysis-target assay and a biological receptor capable of recognizing a specific bio material. That is, biosensors are used to determine the existence of a bio material or analyze a bio material qualitatively or quantitatively. Materials such as enzymes, antibodies, and DNAs that can selectively react or couple with specific materials are used as biological receptors (i.e., sensing materials). Various physicochemical methods, such as a method of detecting an electric signal varying according to the existence of an assay and a method of detecting an optical signal varying according to a chemical reaction between a receptor and an assay, are used as signal detection methods for detecting and analyzing bio materials.
In a typical bio material detection method (label detection method), a specific antibody is labeled with a material such as a radioisotope or a fluorescent material, and then a corresponding antigen is quantitatively detected by measuring variations of radiation or fluorescence caused by a reaction between the specific antibody and the corresponding antigen. However, such a bio material detection method requires complicated processes and high process costs due to, for example, an additional process necessary for labeling a specific antibody with a fluorescent material emitting a specific color.
Therefore, recent research has been conducted on a label-free detection method that does not use a label material such as a fluorescent material emitting a specific color. That is, much research has been conducted on optical biosensors such as a surface plasmon biosensor, a total internal reflection ellipsometry biosensor, and an optical waveguide biosensor.
Generally, such label-free optical biosensors using surface plasmon, total internal reflection, or an optical waveguide are configured by an optical source unit capable of emitting light, a reacting unit adapted for reacting antibodies and antigens, and an optical detecting unit adapted for detecting an optical signal. Generally, a device such as a light-emitting diode and a laser is used as the optical source unit, and a spectrometer is used as the optical detecting unit.
However, in the case of using a spectrometer as the optical detecting unit, the sensitivity of the optical detecting unit may vary largely according to the direction of light incident on the reacting unit. Furthermore, to measure an optical spectrum, the optical source unit should be a frequency variable optical source unit, or the optical detecting unit used to detect variations of an optical signal should be a spectrometer. Therefore, very complicated optical systems are required for configuring the optical source unit and the optical detecting unit, and thus the manufacturing costs of a biosensor increase.

Apparatus for detecting bio materials and method for detecting bio materials by using the apparatus

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute