Compositions in powder form of sterols or stanol esters, and milk powder and/or proteins are disclosed. A process of making the compositions is also disclosed. The suitability of incorporation of the compositions in powder form in food products, for example beverages and milk products, is also disclosed.

The addition of sterols and stanols to foods for their cholesterol-lowering properties and the resulting prevention of future diseases, such as atherosclerosis, heart disease and hypertension, has been known for years.
Since phytosterols and stanols are insoluble in water and only poorly soluble in fats and oils, the incorporation of these cholesterol-lowering agents in food preparations, cosmetic or pharmaceutical products poses considerable problems. The unfavorable solubility behavior of the substances results not only in poor dispersibility, but also in reduced bioavailability and in unsatisfactory stability of the food preparations. Accordingly, the prior art proposes numerous formulations for solving these problems.
Efforts to increase solubility included the formulation of esters of the sterols, as described, for example, in European patent application EP 1275309 A1, or esters of the stanols, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,502,045, which had slightly improved processability, but which also showed lower hypocholesterolaemic activity in relation to the free sterols. However, the esterified derivatives also show insufficient solubility to allow simple incorporation. Apart from the fact that the esterified sterols behave differently in their bioavailability, they also have other formulation properties through their different physicochemical character and necessitate the use of other auxiliaries.
Numerous patent applications describe how the availability of sterols can be improved by reducing their particle sizes, mainly by micronization. German Offenlegungsschrift DE 102 53 111 A1 describes powder-form phytosterol formulations with a mean particle size of 0.01 to 100 μm which can readily be redispersed in water. A process for the production of a sterol dispersion, in which the sterols have a particle size distribution of 0.1 to 30 μm, is disclosed in International patent application WO 03/105611 A2.
However, the micronization of the sterol particles is often not in itself sufficient to enable good incorporation to be achieved. Although the bioavailability of the finely dispersed particles can be improved by increasing the surface, the micronized particles show poor wetting behavior, readily aggregate and generally float on water-containing surfaces. In many cases, the ground sterol can only be dispersed in a beverage by special methods involving intensive mixing. However, intensive mixers are not normally available to the end user of the food manufacturers.
Accordingly, many manufacturers combine micronization of the sterols with the additional use of emulsifiers. One example of this are the preparations described in European patent EP 0897671 B1 which contain sterols and sterol esters with a particle size of at most 15 μm in a mixture with selected emulsifiers, the ratio by weight of emulsifier to sterol in the aqueous phase being less than 1:2. A particular disadvantage of these known preparations is that they tend to agglomerate.
Emulsifiers commonly used in foods are monoglycerides and polysorbates (U.S. Pat. No. 6,623,780 B1, U.S. Pat. No. 6,376,482 B2, WO 02/28204 A1). Powder-form sterol ester formulations having a low protein content and also containing mono- and diglycerides as emulsifiers are disclosed in International patent application WO 03/086468 A1. Even though these emulsifiers are distinguished by high compatibility and have been known for some time as food emulsifiers, efforts are being made to reduce the quantity in which such emulsifiers are used or even to avoid them altogether because emulsifiers also influence the bioavailability of other substances present in the foods or can adversely affect the stability of the formulations. Avoiding emulsifiers was also the goal of the sterol formulations disclosed in European patent EP 1059851 B1 which contain thickeners for better dispersibility. However, these preparations are not sufficiently stable.
Numerous other methods for improving solubility and dispersibility, such as formulation as emulsions, microemulsions, dispersions, suspensions or complexing with cyclodextrins or bile salts, are described in International patent application WO 99/63841 A1, which also mentions formulation in the form of preparations. PEG, PVP, copolymers, cellulose ethers and esters are proposed as carriers. The direct use of food bases as carriers for powdered sterols is also known, cf. EP 1 003 388 B1.
The choice of proteins as carriers for unesterified sterols and stanols is disclosed in WO 01/37681. Synergistic effects of sitosterol and soya proteins are described in EP 0669835 B1.
The problem addressed by the present invention was to provide compositions which would be free from the disadvantages described above and which would enable sterol and/or stanol esters to be simply and effectively dispersed in foods without any need for emulsifiers, more particularly such emulsifiers as lecithins, monoglycerides, diglycerides, polysorbates, sodium stearyl lactate, glycerol monostearate, lactic acid esters and polyglycerol esters. In addition, the sterol and/or sterol ester compositions would be simple to produce and would be distinguished over prior art compositions by good storage stability.


A compact, easily stowed removable drain line for a Recreational Vehicle holding tank provides a rigid straight line flow path to prevent puddling or trapping of waste flows between Recreational Vehicle holding tank and sewage dump station. The invention also provides for minimal force transfer into the holding tank structure and the drain valve, minimizing the possibility of accidental damage or rupture of these sensitive components. In particular, no exposed components exist during movement of the Recreational Vehicle, minimizing the risk of breaching of sewage during over road movement, and the invention particularly protects against damage from accidental movement of the vehicle while attached to the sewage dump station.

This invention relates to the field of drain apparatus for emptying sanitary holding tanks installed in recreational vehicles and travel trailers. Such vehicles contain toilets and other sources of sanitary sewage; being mobile, the collected sewage is stored in holding tanks which must be emptied periodically. Most Recreational Vehicle parking facilities, trailer parks and many on road servicing establishments have suitable sewage dump station facilities, usually in the form of a ground level connection into which sewage may flow or be pumped.
Since the holding tank on a Recreational Vehicle must be located at a lowest point on the vehicle for gravity flow of sewage, the drain is similarly low. Thus the drop from vehicle drain to sewage dump station is quite small. This results in puddling and trapping of sewage in lines draining from the vehicle. In consequence, there is spillage of sewage, and contamination which is difficult to clean.
This has led to the abandonment of flexible bellows tubing as a drain line, and the adoption of various structures in an attempt to obtain a suitable drain apparatus.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,915,081 to Warren discloses a permanently affixed telescoping drain showing a construction in which each successive pipe section is larger than its preceding section. Both ends of the pipe are rigid, and the connection to the trailer is a pivoting joint. The device is suspended below the trailer. Seals and locknuts are described to hold the telescoping sections together. This unit is most similar to the telescoping device shown in the sales catalog you disclosed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,133,347 to Mercer discloses a removable drain in which a bellows tube is held in a rigid tube. This patent clearly discloses the use of the standard removable fittings on each end of the drain to fit to standard trailer and sewage dump station connections. The actual drain tubing is the known bellows extensible tubing.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,854,349 to Foreman discloses a fixed tubing section, permanently affixed to the underside of the camper, and containing an extensible bellows tube for connection to a sanitary sewage dump station.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,623,500 to Hoy discloses a semicircular conduit for supporting a bellows drain line to prevent sag and to guide the drain line.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,023,959 to Mercer (the inventor in the '347 patent above) discloses a motorized system for extending a bellows drain tube and then for pulling back on the bellows once it is connected to the sewer pump out to reduce sag.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,844,121 to Duke discloses a drain line which is attachable to a trailer drain outlet, and which has a series of rigid telescoping tubes. The tubes nest, smaller inner tube nearer the trainer; the tubes are locked together with a compression nut. Rigid inlet and outlet connectors are shown, and a washout connection for a water hose is provided on the inlet connector. Standard interconnects are shown (FIG. 4, item 50).
U.S. Pat. No. 4,779,650 to Sargent et al. shows a rigid telescoping tube drain, permanently affixed to the trailer. This patent shows a bellows outer covering which seals the sliding joints, but the device is a continuous telescoping rigid tubing construction, including rigid rotating joints at the trailer end.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,141,017 to Trottier shows a fitting for connecting a drain to a trailer sanitary system with a hose connection and valve for back flushing the line. This design is an improvement over the flush shown in Mercer '347 as it permits blockages in the dump valve to be cleared as well as cleaning the line after dumping.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,496,959 to Wolfe is a early design for a telescoping drain tube made of rigid sections.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,514,230 to Feazel is an earlier patent showing a vehicle drain.
The current art is permanently mounted rigid plastic telescoping lines affixed to the trailer holding tank through a ball joint and valve. These lines are, of necessity, the lowest mounted portions of the Recreational Vehicle or trailer. They are invariably made of plastic, to avoid corrosion and failure, and are therefore fragile. Any damage to these lines as by impact or thrown road debris, can breach the integrity of the entire sewage holding system, rendering the entire toilet and drain system in the Recreational Vehicle unusable. Such accidents can equally result in major sewage spills and contamination.

Removable recreational vehicle sanitary drain connector


The present invention includes systems and methods employing branded virtual characters across multiple network platforms throughout various stages of complex transactions (eg, selling insurance). These characters initially engage prospective customers on a network platform, such as a social network, and persist over time across other network platforms (eg, university and company websites) to educate consumers until they are ready to purchase—from their “trusted advisor”—particular products and services offered by various providers. Even after completing transactions, these characters continue to provide various services, such as notifying a customer whose circumstances have changed of a relevant product or service, while remaining available to answer questions and provide information upon demand. By employing a semi-automated model, the system of the present invention can answer many questions via predetermined vignettes and automated answers generated by expert systems, while still utilizing live human experts (often transparently) when necessary.

1. Field of Art
This application relates generally to the field of online sales and distribution systems and, in particular, to an interactive system that facilitates complex transactions by employing branded characters that persist across multiple platforms throughout the various stages of such transactions.
2. Description of Related Art
Since the advent of the Web in the early 1990s, online transactions conducted via the Internet have continued to grow at exponential rates. Virtually every conceivable product or service is currently available online, whether directly to consumers or among businesses at various stages of the distribution chain.
As technology has improved, online transactions have proliferated due to the development of transaction processing infrastructure, greater bandwidth and storage capacity, as well as improved interactivity and the use of high-quality graphics, animation and even video to showcase products and services online. For example, digital products such as software and music can easily be purchased and downloaded today from a vast array of online merchants. Transactions involving "physical" products, such as clothes and furniture, are not much more complex, with online shipping arrangements replacing the download process. In addition, many services are performed online today with relative ease, from learning how to type to renewing a vehicle registration.
Nevertheless, certain types of products and services are less amenable than others to effective online distribution. Transactions involving such products and services are relatively complex in that they require consumers not merely to compare features and prices, but also to educate themselves to determine not only which product or service to purchase but whether or when to purchase a particular product or service based upon personal profile and other information specific to consumers and their families. For example, insurance products and other financial services often involve a host of other factors beyond features and prices, such as differing payouts across a wide range of hypothetical future scenarios.
It is well known in the insurance industry, for example, that one of the key obstacles to selling insurance products is the high cost of customer acquisition. Whether employing a direct sales force or independent agents and brokers (or a combination of the two), insurance carriers face the problem of leveraging relatively expensive insurance agents and brokers among prospective customers who span a wide range of demographic profiles and who, to put it simply, do not trust insurance salesmen. Young adults represent a particularly difficult demographic in that they are less likely to think "long term," and rarely purchase optional insurance coverage beyond the basic health plan offered by their employer or policies required for regulatory reasons, such as auto insurance.
Moreover, insurance products are inherently complex, which increases not only the cost of customer acquisition but also the length of sales cycles. Demonstrating the value to a prospective customer of a particular insurance product, such as a long-term disability policy, often requires obtaining personal information about the customer, as well as educating the customer about the potential benefits provided by the policy in various future scenarios. An insurance agent might be very knowledgeable about the details of long-term disability policies, and yet know next to nothing about term life insurance. Servicing multiple areas of expertise requires a greater number of agents and brokers, or at least ones with greater expertise, further increasing customer acquisition costs.
It is not surprising then that insurance carriers, as well as agents and brokers, are looking to the Internet for ways to leverage limited human resources to target large numbers of prospective customers with an array of complex products requiring multiple areas of expertise. For example, companies such as Univers Workplace Solutions of Hammonton, N.J. and Impact Technologies of Charlotte, N.C. provide technology that assists employers and financial service providers in automating certain aspects of the sales process for employee benefits and various financial services, including certain insurance products. In 2007, Assicurazioni Generali SpA, a major European insurer, announced the opening of its Generali Virtual island in Second Life, staffed with live agents (though this does little more than mimic how insurance is sold today).
Yet an automated solution to this problem is hampered by the inherent complexity of these products and their relatively long sales cycles. While attempts have been made to employ artificial intelligence (Al) technology to simulate intelligent agents that can provide automated responses to user queries (see, eg, U.S. Pat. No. 7,103,585) or perform sales transactions (see, eg, US Pat App No 20010032140), no fully automated solutions to selling complex insurance and other financial service products have yet emerged.
Moreover, as noted above, prospective customers do not trust insurance salesmen and do not typically initiate the process of searching for insurance products to purchase. They are often unaware of the need for such products and unwilling to take the time to be educated as to when they should purchase a particular product. LIMRA (the Life Insurance Marketing and Research Association) routinely gathers statistics that illustrate the decline in the purchase of life insurance policies, for example, citing many of these same reasons and noting that prospects need proactive contact to motivate them to purchase policies.
Companies such as Virtuoz of San Francisco, Calif. and Oddcast Inc of New York, N.Y. have sought to employ lifelike avatars to appeal to customers and provide a more "human" experience during what is otherwise an impersonal automated sales process. Other companies, such as Millions of Us LLC of Sausalito, Calif. have utilized virtual worlds, online gaming and social media as part of immersive brand marketing campaigns designed to create brand awareness.
Yet, such technology has not been employed to engage consumers throughout the entirety of a complex sales and distribution process. What is needed is a system that can attract prospective customers and retain them throughout the various stages of a long and complex sales cycle.

Persistent sales agent for complex transactions


A tubular coupling system and method; the system and method in at least certain aspects, using a coupling member with an interior protective ring that has at least one inner energizing member which, upon compression, forces the body of the coupling member against an interior wall of the coupling thereby inhibiting corrosive material from contacting the coupling's interior wall or, in the event some corrosive material does enter this area, holding the interior protective ring against the coupling's interior wall so that the corrosive material remains in and does not exit this area, thus inhibiting or preventing a continuous flow of corrosive material.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to tubular coupling structures; protection rings for such structures; in one particular aspect, to combinations of a pipe coupling, a protective interior ring, and two pieces of pipe coupled together by the coupling; and to corrosion-resistant threaded connection parts and assemblies for use with clad or lined tubulars, e.g., but not limited to, oil and gas well tubing and casing, piping in chemical and other plants, oil and gas pipelines, and the like.
2. Description of Related Art
Many tubulars are used to convey corrosive or erosive materials. Many piping systems and pipelines transport fluids that are highly corrosive to the carbon steel used in the pipe. In the drilling for and the production and injection of oil and gas, corrosion-resistant alloy pipe, e.g., casing or tubing, is now used in the drilling of oil and gas wells into zones that produce highly corrosive fluids. To overcome corrosion problems, and as well known to those skilled in the art, it is common to use lined steel pipe, with liners made of plastic, stainless steel, or other corrosion-resistant materials.
Certain typical multiple-walled pipe, e.g., a lined steel pipe, is a dual or double-walled pipe in which the inner wall is a liner tube made of a corrosion-resistant material that serves as a conductor for the corrosive fluid, and an outer wall or pipe that is designed to provide strength to withstand the internal pressures of the corrosive fluid, as well as external forces such as external pressure, mechanical loading, etc. In certain tubulars, there are limitations on the length of such double-walled pipes due to conditions to which the pipes are subjected on site. Thus, in the case of tubing or casing strings and in the production of oil and gas, each joint of pipe is usually about 24-44 feet long while the tubing or casing string itself may be thousands of feet long. Accordingly, and as is well known in making up such tubing or casing strings, successive joints of tubing/casing are connected together using couplings until the desired length of string is achieved. Similarly in pipelines successive pieces of pipe are joined by couplings.
It is desirable, where successive joints of the lined or clad pipe are joined to one another by means of a coupling that the interior of the coupling is protected from corrosion. Many prior art coupling and seal systems attempt an effective coupling structure e.g., and not by way of limitation, as disclosed in the subject matter of U.S. Pat. Nos. 590,811; 1,909,075; 2,040,786; 2,233,734; 2,805,872; 4,679,831; 5,282,652; 5,470,111; 5,689,871; 6,312,024; 6,863,313; and U.S. application Ser. No. 10/513,213 filed May 5, 2003, all of which patents are incorporated fully herein for all purposes.


A carbon electrode having a functional moiety that forms a charge-transfer complex with a nitro-containing compound covalently attached to a surface of the electrode, and a process of preparing such an electrode are provided. Also provided are sensing systems integrating the carbon electrode and methods utilizing same for electrochemical detection of nitro-containing compounds.

The present invention, in some embodiments thereof, relates to detection of chemicals and, more particularly, but not exclusively, to novel electrodes, and to systems and methods employing same, which are usable in electrochemical detection of nitro-containing chemicals such as nitro-containing explosives.
An 'explosive' is a chemically-unstable molecule having a rapid rate of autodecomposition, with the accompanying evolution of large amounts of heat and aseous products. There has been a great increase in the development of trace and ultra-trace explosive detection in the last decade, mainly due to the globalization of terrorist acts, and the reclamation of contaminated land previously used for military purposes.
In addition, the availability of raw materials for the preparation of explosives, together with the growing access to information on preparing these explosives, allows for almost anyone with sufficient will and internet access to prepare a bomb. The vast number of people passing through borders, public places, airports etc. poses a huge challenge for current day security screening technologies. The same challenge applies to homes and buildings security. The ultimate goal is to be able to rapidly and effectively screen every passing person, without the need to delay the traffic of people, and without human contact if possible.
Explosives, especially concealed ones, have a very low vapor pressure or 'signature' in the surrounding air. The effective vapor pressure of explosives can be reduced by a factor of up to 1000, with the use of plastic packages. Detection methods for traces of explosives therefore continue to be plagued by the low volatility of many target analytes.
One of the most commonly-used high explosives over the last 100 years is 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT), which poses not only a direct security threat, but also great environmental concern due to soil and water contamination near production, storage and test sites.
Analytical procedures in use today for the trace detection of explosives typically involve collecting vapor samples and analyzing them with a sensitive method. Several methodologies have been reported for detecting TNT and other explosives. These are based on electrochemistry, ion-mobility spectrometry, gas chromatography, high-performance liquid chromatography, surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy, nuclear quadruple resonance' and neutron activation analysis photoluminescence, surface acoustic-wave devices, microcantilevers, fluorescent polymers, surface plasmon resonance, quartz crystal microbalance, immunosensors and other methods. These methods are reliable for explosives detection, but involve time-consuming procedures, high costs and operation by well qualified staff, which limits their application in field conditions.
Additional methods involve trained animals including dogs, mice and bees and utilize their highly sensitive sense of smell for traces explosive detection. These methods however require intense and expensive training of the animal, and handling by an expert.
Electrochemical detection methods utilize electrodes, immersed in an electrolyte, and connected to a potentiometer, which measures the current that flows between the electrodes upon potential application. Typically, during an electrochemical reaction the electrode potential is varied; and an electric current flows between the electrodes that is characteristic of the presence of an electrochemically reactive substance in the electrolyte. Electrochemical detection methods and devices are typically highly sensitive, relatively simple, hand held, low cost and reliable.
The utilization of electrochemical based sensors for the detection of nitro-containing compounds is straightforward: the nitro groups are highly electrochemically-reactive and can be easily reduced to amines by applying typical negative potentials [Bratin et al. Analytica Chimica Acta 130, 295-311, (1981)]. Numerous strategies have therefore been suggested for designing a working electrode for the detection of nitro-based explosives. Currently reported designs are variable and include, for example, noble metals and their alloys, carbon electrodes chemically modified with ferrocene or quinone derivatives, glassy carbon modified with mesoporous ordered carbon, hemin analogues (phtalocianines and porphirynes), glassy carbon modified with a conducting polymer (porphyrin-thiol), carbon/TiO2 composite electrode, carbon/Sn core-shell electrode, glassy carbon modified with porphyrin/graphene mix, graphene-modified glassy carbon electrode, Two-dimensional molecular imprinting alkane-thiols modified gold nano-particles and screen-printed electrode.
However, the required adsorptive voltammetry, rotating disk electrode, long accumulation, stripping voltammetry, low stability surface modification, pre-concentration and deaeration often complicate the protocol of detection and limit the practical application of these designs in detecting nitro-containing explosives.
An efficient design of an electrode for electrochemical detection of nitro-containing compounds should perform high stability, fast kinetics of the reduction reaction, high sensitivity, and a short measurement time.
One of the most pronounced limitations in electrochemical measurement under atmospheric conditions is the presence of dissolved oxygen in a sample. The dissolved oxygen concentration in aqueous electrochemical solution is about 0.25 mM (about 8 ppm) [Julia, P. L. C. & Coso, E. B. Homenatge professor Josep M. Costa (eBooK) 2a part. Trends in electrochemistry and corrosion at the beginning of the 21st century. (Publicacions i Edicions de la Universitat de Barcelona, 2004)] and is much higher in non-aqueous electrochemical solutions [Achord, J. M. & Hussey, Analytical Chemistry 52, 601-602, (1980)]. Therefore the dissolved oxygen concentration is higher by several orders of magnitudes than that of the nitro explosive analyte. As a result, the current of dissolved oxygen reduction is sufficiently intense to cause a partial masking of nitro aromatics and complete masking of nitro-amines peaks [Bratin et al., 1981, supra].
This limitation is typically treated by deaeration; the oxygen is removed by means of bubbling inert gas, for example argon or nitrogen. Typically, 10-15 minutes of deaeration are required in order to obtain efficient oxygen removal in a sample of approximately 5 ml. This lengthy procedure is not in line with the requirements for real time detection of nitro-containing explosives [W. Chen, Y. Wang, C. Bruckner, C. M. Li, Y. Lei, Sensor Actuat B-Chem 2010, 147. 191-197].
WO 2011/154939 and WO 2014/111944 describe nanodevices which utilize functionalized nanowires for detecting nitro-containing compounds. The nanowires feature a functional moiety that interacts with a nitro-containing compound by forming a charge-transfer complex therewith.
WO 2005/050157, WO 2006/090401, and WO 2007/029245 teach systems for detecting traces of nitro-aromatic compounds in air, which utilize carbon electrodes modified by amino-aromatic compound or nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compounds.
Additional background art includes Chaubey, A. & Malhotra, B. D. Mediated biosensors. Biosens Bioelectron 17, 441-456, (2002); Zang et al. Analytica Chimica Acta 683, 187-191, (2011); U.S. Pat. No. 6,872,786; Chen et al. Sensor Actuat B-Chem 147, 191-197, (2010); Filanovsky, B. et al. Adv Funct Mater 17, 1487-1492, (2007); Grigoriants, I. et al. Electrochim Acta 54, 690-697, (2008); Guo et al. Electroanal 23, 885-893, (2011); Chen et al. Chemistry—An Asian Journal 6, 1210-1216, (2011); Wang et al. Sensors-Basel 11, 7763-7772, (2011); Cizek, K. et al. Analytica Chimica Acta 661, 117-121, (2010); Galik et al. Electroanal 23, 1193-1204, doi:DOI 10.1002/elan.201000754 (2011); WO 2010/112546; WO 2010/227382; WO 2015/059704; WO 2017/098518; Engel, Y. et al. Angew Chem Int Edit 49, 6830-6835, (2010); Dwivedy et al. Journal of Chromatography A 29, 120-125 (1967); and Lichtenstein, A. et al. Nat Commun 5, (2014).

Electrochemical detection of nitro-containing compounds


A bulletin board is provided by a backboard mounted within a frame, with a plurality of semicircular rods successively mounted in a desired spaced apart relationship on said board, the rods being concentric with one another and of successively decreased diameter, with a plurality of alligator-like clips being slideably hung from each of said rods. The spacing of the rods is adjustable.

Various bulletin board designs have been developed over the years. Some of the simplest designs utilize cork bulletin boards for permitting memos, messages, or sheet paper for display, to be thumb tacked or pinned onto the bulletin board surface. Other designs have provided message racks, paper racks, and display systems, incorporating slidable clothes pegs, or clips, for retaining messages and memos. There is a need in the art for further development of bulletin boards to facilitate the movement of messages thereon, and the efficient retrieval of a particular one of the messages, memos, or other items attached to the bulletin board for later review or retrieval.


A method or system for managing packet flow is disclosed. The packets each include an inserted application identifier identifying a registered application. The method includes receiving packets destined for one or more resources, determining, by a packet processor, the inserted application identifier for each of the respective packets received and managing the packet flow of each received packet sent from a security node based at least in part on the inserted application identifier of the received packet.

Computer system resources such as web servers and database services may be directly accessible through networks such as LANs, WANs, and the Internet. Communication between computer systems over a network typically takes place through transmitted data structures called packets. A packet may include data being transported from one system to another system. Such data is generally referred to as payload. A packet may also include other data that defines the structure and nature of the packet, and information indicating the origin and destination of the packet and information indicating other packet characteristics such as information in network and transport layer headers. A stream of packets may constitute a communication from one system to another system.

Access, priority and bandwidth management based on application identity


A driver assistance system for authorizing an autonomous, piloted parking of a vehicle into and out of a target standing surface includes a sensor system detecting measuring values during at least one drive of the vehicle from a first position in a vicinity and outside of the target standing surface to a second position inside the target standing surface and from the second position back to the first position, an analysis device determining based on the detected measuring values, properties of the vehicle and the capability of control-, regulation- and sensor-devices of the vehicle for an autonomous and piloted parking into and out of a parking space, whether the vehicle is capable of an to autonomous or piloted parking into the target standing surface and out of the target standing surface; and a memory device, wherein the driver assistance system is constructed to store an authorization data set for the autonomous or piloted parking into and out of the target standing surface in the memory device when the analysis device determines that the vehicle is capable to autonomous or piloted parking into the target standing surface and out of the target standing surface.

The present invention relates to a driver assistance system and method for approving an autonomous or piloted garage parking.
The following discussion of related art is provided to assist the reader in understanding the advantages of the invention, and is not to be construed as an admission that this related art is prior art to this invention.
For many years driver assistance systems have been an important aspect in the field of development of motor vehicles. In most cases driver assistance systems are electronic or electronically controlled additional devices in the (motor) vehicle for supporting the driver or user in certain driving situations. Driver assistance systems can serve for making the operation of a motor vehicle more comfortable and/or safer.
Examples for driver assistance systems are the anti-blocking system (ABS), the driving dynamic control (ESP), the adaptive high beam assistant, the rain sensor, the emergency brake assistant, the distance control assistant, the lane change assistant, the lane recognition assistant or stop assistant and the traffic sign recognition.
A further example for driver assistance systems are parking support systems or parking assistance systems which make it easier for a driver to park the motor vehicle into a parking lot or which park the motor vehicle into a parking lot entirely autonomously.
Parking assistance systems usually have one or multiple sensors with which the vicinity of the motor vehicle is scanned for obstacles and/or free spaces. When a parking lot is recognized, the parking assistance system either provides information for the driver for the correct parking of the motor vehicle or—in the case of active park steering assistance systems—autonomously performs all processes required for the correct parking, and autonomously controls the vehicle systems required for these processes.
According to the current state-of-the-art it is possible to have a park assistant steering the motor vehicle into a parking lot. In principal this requires a driver who oversees the process, actively initiates the process and continuously attends the process (for example by actively actuating the key, gas and brake control etc.). A goal of development are piloted or autonomous parking systems without involvement of a person in the actual parking process. A direction within this development is autonomous garage parking in which the driver can place his car in a defined position in a region to be defined, exit the car, activate the parking function and leave the car behind.
It would be desirable and advantageous to provide an improved driver assistance system for authorizing an autonomous or piloted garage parking in situations of a multitude of possible garage standing surfaces or target standing surfaces.

Driver assistance system and method for authorizing an autonomous or piloted garage parking


A magnetohydrodynamic engine comprises an inlet means having a propeller for compressing combustion products, a combustion chamber and a magnetohydrodynamic generator of electro current. A combustion chamber comprises inlet means for introducing a fuel mixture and an oxidizer respectively. A combustion chamber also comprises the magnetohydrodynamic drive of combustion products. A combustion chamber is adapted to produce the high pressure combustion products having an ionic media. A magnetohydrodynamic generator of electro current is adapted to generate an electro current by electro-magnetic induction in result of passing combustion products across the magnetic field. A magnetohydrodynamic engine is adapted for powering an automobile having the electrodrive, to propel marine vessels and to generate an electro-current as stationary power plant.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the automobiles having the electro drive (AHED).
2. Prior Art
AHED are produced in great variety of constructions. The maximum speed of AHED is limited. A mileage of AHED is limited by the capacity of the electro accumulator. Existing AHED are not provided with the magnetohydrodynamic engine (MHDE).

Automobile having the magnetohydrodynamic engine


A microelectronic component carrier package and method of its manufacture. A non-conducting component carrier having vertical risers and guide channels permits the rapid and accurate routing of microelectronic component leads with respect to the leadframe. Specially shaped perforations in the leadframe adjacent to and aligned with the guide channels receive the leads, strip away the necessary amount of insulation, and sever the leads to the proper length in one manufacturing process step. The leads are joined to the leadframe by an interference fit, conventional bonding technique (such as solder or thermal compression bonding), or other techniques. The perforations further provide for stress relief of the leads in the assembled package, and permit the joints between the leadframe and leads to reside outside of the package, thereby minimizing the overall volume of the package. The perforations may also be used as masks for laser energy used to strip insulation from the leads in the vicinity of the perforations.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to miniature non-semiconductor electrical and electronic elements used in printed circuit board applications and particularly to an improved microelectronic component carrier package and method of manufacturing the same.
2. Description of Related Technology
Dual in-line chip carrier packages (DIPs) are well known in the field of electronics. A common example of a DIP is an integrated circuit, which is typically bonded to a ceramic carrier and electrically connected to a lead frame providing opposed rows of parallel electrical leads. An example of an electronic circuit configured in a DIP is a toroid. A toroid is a doughnut shaped piece of magnetic material, together with one or more coils of current carrying wire, typically between AWG 24 to AWG 50, which are wrapped about the doughnut so that the magnetic flux is almost completely confined within it.
The DIPs are traditionally grouped together on a printed circuit board. The DIPs may be integrated with the printed circuit board by inserting the leads of the DIP into holes on the printed circuit board. Alternatively, the DIPs may be surface mounted, having their leads attached to the surface of the printed circuit board with solder. The integrated circuit and ceramic carrier are normally encased in a rectangular plastic or ceramic housing from which the leads extend. Plastic chip carriers are more widely used in commercial and industrial applications where the environment is less sever and where cost is a factor.
The continuing miniaturization of electrical and electronic elements and high density mounting thereof have created increasing challenges relating to fabrication and reliability. Accordingly, there is a need to be able to fabricate increasingly small and reliable microelectronic packages which contain the miniaturized electrical and electronic elements, and to do so at a minimum cost.
Due largely to their design and construction, prior art methods of manufacturing microelectronic component packages require a lengthy series of process steps including drawing and aligning the fine leads associated with the components into proper position, cutting them to the desired length, placing the lead ends in contact with the leadframe, heat stripping and terminating the leads within the package to form a permanent junction, and encapsulating the leads and carrier. This series of steps necessarily requires substantial hand-labor and processing time, thereby adding significantly to the cost of producing each device.
FIG. 1 shows a typical prior art component package formed by the aforementioned process. The disadvantages of the component package shown in FIG. 1 is that it occupies an appreciable volume within the package, thereby necessitating a larger overall package. Additionally, the lack of electrical separation between individual leads in this system may increase the probability of electrical faults between leads as well. Since the individual leads are hand-cut and hand-positioned prior to mating the subassembly to the leadframe, sometimes the leads are mis-cut or mis-positioned allowing the leads to touch each other, causing a short circuit or not touch the leadframe causing an open circuit. Manufacturers are in need of an assembly system and a method to insure that the leads are cut to a consistent length and that the leads remain electrically isolated after they are connected to a leadframe.
Currently, there are few tools available to assist the manufacturer in cutting the leads frames to a consistent length. Manufacturers need a tool specifically designed for this purpose. In addition, it would be preferable if the tool could facilitate the joining of the leads to the leadframe as part of the cutting process. The tool should also be able to handle the mass production of component carriers so that the leads of more than one component carrier can be cut at a time.
Accordingly, it would be most desirable to reduce the number of processing steps necessary to manufacture a microelectronic component package, while at the same time allowing for the overall size of the package to be reduced, and its reliability increased.

Microelectronic component carrier and method of its manufacture


A vehicle radiator core support, includes: a support main body including upper and lower support portions, and paired side support portions connecting right and left ends of the upper and lower support portions; and a center brace connecting intermediate parts of the upper and lower support portions. At least the lower support portion and the center brace are integrally formed. A lower-side connection portion is disposed where the lower support portion connects to the center brace, and a lower-side connection portion cross section has a U-shape opening toward a front or rear of the vehicle. A lower-side adjacent portion is disposed at a part of the lower support portion adjacent to the lower-side connection portion, such that a partition wall is between the lower-side connection and adjacent portions, and a lower-side adjacent portion cross section has a U-shape opening opposite to that of the lower-side connection portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a radiator core support for a vehicle, and more particularly, to improvement of a radiator core support that includes a center brace.
2. Description of Related Art
There has been known a radiator core support for a vehicle including (a) a support main body including an upper support portion and a lower support portion that are substantially horizontal and parallel to each other, and paired side support portions that are substantially vertical and parallel to each other, and that connect right ends of the upper support portion and the lower support portion to each other, and connect left ends of the upper support portion and the lower support portion to each other, the entire support main body having a rectangular frame shape, and (b) a center brace that connects intermediate parts of the upper support portion and the lower support portion to each other. A device described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2004-338668 (JP 2004-338668 A) is an example of the radiator core support. In this device, a fan motor stay functions as the center brace (reinforcing member).


A guitar neck is formed with a protruding trapezoidal heel which extends into a pocket formed at the neck end of the body. Motion of the heel within the pocket is limited by the sides of the pocket, and by a lip which protrudes from the pocket floor to engage with the neck upwardly of the neck heel.

Construction of musical instruments has for millennia presented a challenge to the world's artisans. Many competing requirements of a fine instrument must be balanced by the craftsman. Paramount is the maintenance of the proper pitch relationships of the notes sounded. In addition the instrument should permit accurate manipulation to give the musical performer the creative response desired. Secondary requirements from a musical standpoint, but of keen interest from an economic standpoint, are the appearance and cost of the instrument.
Guitars of one sort or another have been played since at least the sixteenth century. Early guitars were of hollow body construction. The hollow body provided resonance and acoustical amplification to the plucked strings. So long as the guitar was played in chamber groups and before small audiences, the natural sounding of the hollow body acoustic guitar was of sufficient volume. With the increasing use of the guitar as an accompanying and lead instrument in twentieth century popular music, great strides were made in producing instruments which could carry to a larger audience, and which could be heard within a multi-piece band. The development of an acoustic guitar with great volume culminated with the large guitars of the 1930's, for example the Martin D-28 and the Gibson archtop Super 400.
Changing musical styles and performance venues, however, placed demands in terms of volume which even the most advanced acoustical designs could not satisfy. Popular performers required instruments which could penetrate the high ambient noise of a honkytonk or crowded dance hall. Many pioneer guitar designers worked to address the problem by providing electric amplification to the vibration of the guitar strings. Adolph Rickenbacker produced a prototype electric guitar in 1931. Known as the "Frying Pan," this elemental electric guitar consisted of a wooden neck connected to a minimal solid body. This guitar employed a simple transducer or pickup comprised of two horseshoe magnets enclosing a coil beneath the strings. In a guitar pickup, vibrations of the metal guitar strings induce a current in the coil, which is then conveyed by a cord or cable to a separate amplifier.
By providing artificial amplification to the vibrations of the strings, the shape of the guitar body was freed from the restrictions imposed by acoustic design considerations. An extreme example of this was the prototype solid body electric guitar designed by Les Paul in 1939-1941 known as "The Log." This guitar connected a wooden guitar neck to a rectangular block of wood with pickups mounted on it. The traditional S-curved sides of an acoustic guitar were merely screwed onto the central block--serving only an ornamental purpose.
Further developments in solid body guitar construction included the Fender Broadcaster and Telecaster of 1950-1951, and the Fender Stratocaster of 1954. Both body styles became extremely popular, and variations of these instruments, as well as accurate replicas, are still manufactured and played today.
Solid body guitar construction, although requiring less demanding constructions techniques than the thin wood bending required for acoustic guitars, is nonetheless an exacting process. Guitar performers desire an instrument that will stay "in tune" through protracted performances, that will be responsive to minute variations in performance technique, and that will yield a satisfying and rich sound. The timbre or "tone" of the guitar is of almost mystical concern to guitar players and afficionados, and each guitar manufacturer takes exquisite care to address this concern. While the independent guitar maker may painstakingly custom craft each instrument to achieve the desired results, the quantity manufacturer of guitars must, in order to keep costs at a reasonable level, work from a design which is repeatable and consistent.
One source of degradation in the integrity of the structure of the solid body guitar is the joint between the guitar neck and the body. To make adjustment of the string height and other neck characteristics possible, the neck is usually provided as a separate element from the body. Movement of the neck with respect to the body is highly undesirable, as such movement will affect the pitch and intonation of the strings as well as the feel and playability of the instrument. Typically, the neck has a protruding planar surface which slides into position on a mating planar surface on the body and is connected by screws. In body styles with a deep cutaway on one side of the neck to allow access to the higher ranges of the instrument, the neck can pivot or shift with respect to the body. This motion of the neck causes the instrument to go out of tune, can shift the strings off of the neck making the instrument unplayable, and causes creaking noises and further deteriorates the integrity of the neck joint. Through-neck guitar construction, such as that found in the Bigsby-Travis guitar of the 1940's, in which the neck continues through the body, alleviates this pivoting, but makes repair and neck adjustment more difficult. The neck may also be connected by a dovetail type joint to the body, and then glued in place. This presents the same drawbacks as through-neck construction. Another approach seen on guitars manufactured by Valley Arts Guitars of California, a company owned by Samick Corp., involves fixing a metal bracket to the bottom face of the neck at the neck joint, positioning a mating bracket in the pocket of the body at the neck joint and clamping the two brackets together. This feature is sold under the trademark INTERLOCK.RTM.. Yet another approach has been to form a rectangular protrusion on the neck which engages within a rectangular pocket recessed within the body. Yet the manufacture of such an assembly to the necessary close tolerances requires wood shaping techniques within a recessed pocket.
What is needed is a guitar of economical construction with structural features which preserve the position of the neck with respect to the body to provide an instrument of improved stability and tone.


A gas laser oscillator achieving a substantial increase in laser output is provided. This gas laser oscillator includes a permeable screen plate at a position of a laser gas passage and can increase the laser output substantially by suppressing and uniformizing laser gas pulsation in a discharge tube.

FIG. 12 schematically illustrates an example of a conventional axial-flow type gas laser oscillator. Referring to FIG. 12, a description is provided hereinafter of the conventional axial-flow type gas laser oscillator.
In FIG. 12, discharge tubes 101 are formed of a dielectric such as glass. Electrodes 102, 103 are provided on the periphery of discharge tube 101 and connected to power source 104. Discharge space 105 is located between electrodes 102, 103 inside discharge tube 101. Totally reflecting mirror 106 and partially reflecting mirror 107 are fixedly disposed at respective ends of discharge spaces 105 and form an optical resonator.
Laser beam 108 is output from partially reflecting mirror 107. Laser gas circulates through laser gas passage 110 of the axial-flow type gas laser oscillator and flows in direction 109. Heat exchangers 111, 112 function to lower the temperature of the laser gas that is raised by discharge in discharge space 105 and operation of blower 113. Blower 113 circulates the laser gas and produces a gas flow of about 100 m/sec in discharge space 105. Laser gas passage 110 and discharge tube 101 are connected by laser gas inlet section 114.
A description is provided next of operation of the conventional gas laser oscillator having the above structure.
The laser gas blown by blower 113 passes through laser gas passage 110 and is introduced into discharge tube 101 from laser gas inlet section 114. With the laser gas introduced into discharge tube 101, the discharge is caused in discharge space 105 by electrodes 102, 103 connected to power source 104. In discharge space 105, the laser gas is excited by obtaining this discharge energy. The optical resonator formed of totally reflecting mirror 106 and partially reflecting mirror 107 causes the excited laser gas to be in a resonant condition, and laser beam 108 is output from partially reflecting mirror 107. This laser beam 108 is used for laser beam machining or the like.
There is a conventional structure including a chamber that is provided at some position of the laser gas passage for storing the gas temporarily. This structure suppresses and uniformizes pulsation of the gas by storing the laser gas temporarily in the chamber. Such a structure is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Laid-Open Patent No. H07-142787.
Another attempt is made to damp the pulsation by providing, at some position of the laser gas passage, a resonance chamber set to include a resonance frequency of a compression wave of the laser gas and absorbing vibrational energy of the compression wave by means of a sound absorbing porous material affixed to an inner surface of the container. This structure is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. H02-285686.
The above-described conventional axial-flow type gas laser oscillator, however, has the following problem.
It is desirable that the laser gas should flow stably in discharge tube 101 of the axial gas laser. The stable gas flow stabilizes the condition of the discharge, whereby laser output can be taken efficiently with respect to electrical input to discharge tube 101. If the laser gas flow has the pulsation, such as a pressure change of about tens to hundreds of hertz over time, the condition of the discharge becomes unstable. Consequently, the laser output is reduced.
The axial-flow type gas laser oscillator structurally requires blower 113. An impeller of blower 113 is rotated generally at hundreds of hertz to blow the laser gas. For this reason, the gas flow problematically has the pulsation or the compression wave that synchronizes with the impeller's rotation at hundreds of hertz.
To address this problem, the above-mentioned structure has the chamber that is provided at some position of the laser gas passage for storing the gas temporarily. This structure attempts to suppress and uniformize the pulsation of the gas by storing the laser gas temporarily in the chamber. Although this structure can reduce the pulsation to some extent, the structure is not sufficiently effective in improving the decline in laser output.
The attempt, which is made to damp the pulsation by providing, at some position of the laser gas passage, the resonance chamber set to include the resonance frequency of the compression wave of the laser gas and absorbing the vibrational energy of the compression wave by means of the sound absorbing porous material affixed to the inner surface of the container, is also not sufficiently effective in improving the decline in laser output.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


In the presence of an indication of change of configuration containing the characteristics of a new configuration of fingers of a “Rake” receiver, continue performing the combination by using the old configuration (fng1, fng2, fng3) and, only when all the fingers of the new configuration have delivered information, the combination is performed by using the new configuration (fng1, fng3, fng4).

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the processing of incident signals within a signal receiver. The invention therefore applies advantageously to a receiver which combines several components of multi-path signals mutually delayed by different time delays before reaching the receiver. Such a receiver is for example present in code division multiple access (CDMA system) wireless communication systems and is currently designated by those skilled in the art by the name of "Rake" receiver. The invention relates more particularly to the processing of the signals within a "Rake" receiver during a change of configuration of the fingers of the receiver.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a wireless communication system, a base station communicates with a plurality of remote terminals, such as cellular mobile telephones. Frequency division multiple access (FDMA) and time division multiple access (TDMA) are the conventional multiple access systems for delivering simultaneous services to a certain number of terminals. The basic idea underlying the FDMA and TDMA systems consists in dividing the available resource, respectively into several frequencies or into several time slots, such that several terminals can operate simultaneously without causing interference.
Telephones operating according to the GSM standard belong to the FDMA and TDMA systems in the sense that transmission and reception take place at different frequencies and also in different time slots.
Unlike these systems using frequency division or time division, CDMA systems (code division multiple access) enable the multiple users to share a common frequency and a common time channel by using a coded modulation. Amongst the CDMA systems we can cite the CDMA 2000 system, the WCDMA system (wide band CDMA) or the IS-95 standard.
In CDMA systems, as is well known to those skilled in the art, a scrambling code is associated with each base station and is used to distinguish one base station from another. In addition, an orthogonal code, known to those skilled in the art as the OVSF code, is allocated to each remote terminal (such as for example a cellular mobile telephone). All the OVSF codes are mutually orthogonal which distinguishes one channel from another.
Before transmitting a signal over the transmission channel to a remote terminal, the signal has been scrambled and spread by the base station using the scrambling code of the base station and the OVSF code of the channel.
In CDMA systems, we can still distinguish those that use a distinct frequency for transmission and reception (CDMA-FDD system) from those which use a common frequency for transmission and reception, but distinct time domains for transmission and reception (CDMA-TDD system).
The invention applies advantageously to communication systems of the CDMA type and more particularly to systems of the WCDMA type with terrestrial radio access (UTRA FDD/TDD).
The incident signal received by a mobile telephone for example comprises different versions delayed in time from the signal initially transmitted, which versions are the result of the multi-path transmission characteristics of the transmission environment between a base station and the telephone. And each path introduces a different delay.
The "Rake" receiver in a cellular mobile telephone operating in a CDMA communication system is used to carry out temporal alignment, descrambling, despreading, channel correction and combination of the delayed versions of the initial signals in order to deliver the information streams (symbols) contained in the initial signals.
A "Rake" receiver is generally formed of several "fingers". Each finger is intended to demodulate a given path received at a given instant. The baseband demodulation consists essentially in a descrambling and a despreading. Next, the signal after despreading undergoes a channel correction, generally consisting of a phase correction and an amplitude correction. All these operations relating to demodulation are performed, within each finger, in several demodulation units respectively associated with various physical transmission channels.
To perform the combination of the delayed versions of the initial signals, a "Rake" receiver conventionally performs in theory the summation of the contributions delivered as output from all the fingers, in a static manner. Stated otherwise, the fingers are assumed to be active all the time and the configuration of the fingers is assumed not to change. Also, if fingers nevertheless have to be activated or deactivated, that is to say if the configuration of the fingers has to be modified, then this must be performed in theory at an appropriate moment in time.
Having said this, in practice, and in conventional "Rake" receivers, this static theoretical behavior cannot be guaranteed since the drive unit RMU (Rake Management Unit) will in general change the configuration of the fingers by adding or removing fingers in an arbitrary manner so as to optimize performance. However, when adding or removing these fingers in an arbitrary manner, a loss of symbols generally occurs, leading to errors.
FIG. 1 illustrates such a drawback.
More precisely, in this figure is considered an initial configuration in which three fingers, for example the fingers fng1, fng2 and fng3, are active. Next, at a given instant, the configuration of the fingers changes through the removal of the finger fng2 and the addition of a new finger, namely the finger fng4.
Represented in FIG. 1 are the relative instants of arrival of the outputs of the fingers (contribution of the symbols) and the result of the combination at the output of the means of combination.
The references Si at the bottom of the figure designate the symbols at the output of the means of combination while in the remainder of the figure the references Si designate the contributions of the various fingers in respect of these symbols.
Thus, in this example, before the arrival of the fifth symbol (contribution) S4 at the finger fng1, the finger fng2 is replaced with the finger fng4.
On account of the latency of the finger fng4, that is to say the time required for this finger to deliver a symbol contribution, two symbol contributions of this finger, namely the contributions of symbols S4 and S5, are missing. Consequently, and since in this example the finger fng4 is delayed by more than a symbol with respect to the other fingers, the symbols S3 and S4 emanating from the means of combination are formed only from the contributions stemming from the fingers fng1 and fng3.
Moreover, the symbol S5, and in fact all the following symbols, is composed of a mixture of contributions corresponding to different symbols (the symbol S5 emanating from the finger fng1, the symbol S5 emanating from the finger fng3 and the symbol S6 emanating from the finger fng4) and, consequently, this results in an error at the output of the means of combination.
Numerous situations may thus arise as a function in particular of the spreading factor, of the instant of modification of the configuration, of the finger considered, etc. with more or less serious consequences for the performance of the "Rake" receiver.
Accordingly, there exists a need for overcoming the disadvantages of the prior art as discussed above.

Method of processing signals within a “Rake” receiver having several fingers during a change of configuration of the fingers, and corresponding “Rake” receiver


A laser projection system is disclosed. The laser projection system includes a laser light source that is configured to selectively provide laser light. The system also includes an input beam deflection unit receiving the laser light and configured to deflect the laser light. The input beam deflection unit is configured to selectively change the angle of deflection of the laser light. A selection lens is also a part of the laser projection system and is configured to refract the laser light. A mask having at least one aperture is used. The mask receives the refracted laser light from the selection lens. A selected area of the mask is selectively illuminated by the refracted laser light. Further, a collection lens receives at least a portion of the laser light from the at least one aperture and refracts the portion of laser light. Further still, the laser projection system includes a redirection unit that receives the refracted portion of the laser light from the collection lens and the redirection unit deflects the portion of the laser light to a target.

The disclosure relates to laser imaging projectors and laser marking systems. More particularly, the disclosure relates to systems and methods for laser projection and marking using a laser beam selectively directed onto and through an aperture in a mask. More particularly still, the disclosure relates to the generation and projection of a randomly selected image along a single axial path.
Conventionally, laser light is projected onto the surface of a material to produce a two dimensional image for applications such as entertainment, printing, semiconductor manufacturing and tissue removal. Three basic techniques are employed to achieve these processes. They are mask generation, raster generation and vector generation. These three techniques are analogous to the differences in the printing industry between type setting, dot matrix printing, and XY plotting.
In type setting a selection of pre-fabricated relief dies, representing individual letters, are aligned in a printing fixture plate to form the desired text image. The dies on the plate are coated with ink and pressed onto the paper, forming the desired text with a single impact of the printing plate. This technique is typically used for high speed, high quality production of fixed images such as newspaper printing.
In a laser mask system, a laser image is projected onto a substrate material, such as paper, by passing the laser light through a mask or stencil having a cutout of the desired text image. The laser image impacts the material to be processed with pulses of laser light, creating the desired text image presented by the mask on the material. For example, the laser beam may cause a visual change to the surface impacted by means of vaporizing surface material (e.g. ink on paperboard), causing a surface change (e.g. glass) and/or causing chemical reaction to the surface material (e.g. some plastics). See FIG. 1.
A character generated by a conventional dot matrix printer is formed by a partially filled matrix of ink dots. A typical implementation contains five vertical columns by seven horizontal rows of dots. A print head for such a device may contain seven pins aligned in a vertical column. Selected pins from the column are engaged to strike a ribbon in front of the paper. This will deposit one column of selected ink dots on the paper, creating the first column of the character. The print head will move horizontally across the paper to the second column of the character and the process is repeated. After a series of five such strikes, the entire five by seven character is generated. Subsequent text is generated by repetition of the process.
Unlike type setting, the next character to be printed can be selected at random. This technique is generally used for medium speed printing of low-resolution images such as computer printouts.
In a conventional multiple laser system, several lasers are aligned to form a vertical column of laser dots. The selected lasers are fired simultaneously to create one vertical column of the image. As the product being processed moves horizontally relative to the lasers' position, sequential columns of laser pulses are generated to form the complete character or desired image. Similarly, a variety of single axis laser scanning systems produce the same effect by deflecting a single laser beam in a vertical axis, while turning the laser beam on and off to produce a vertical column of laser dots.
In a conventional XY plotter, an image or character is generated in a process very similar to handwriting. It positions a pen at the start of the image above the paper, then lowers the pen to the paper and moves the pen the two axis of the image plane, X and Y, to draw a segment of the image. The pen is next lifted off the paper and repositioned to the beginning of the next segment. Subsequent segments are sequentially generated in the same manner to form the entire image over time. This technique can produce type setting quality images with the dynamic image generation of dot matrix printing over a large area. It is typically used for low volume printing processes such as architectural plans.
In a conventional vector laser system, the laser beam can be positioned anywhere on a flat surface within the laser processing area and it can be moved in any desired direction within the X and Y axis of the processing area. In general, the laser is turned off during the positioning function and it is turned on during the controlled motion. These functions permit the sequential generation of the segments of images or characters, creating the entire image over time.
Some current masking systems include the disadvantage that they require high power lasers to illuminate the multiple characters of a mask. Further, the masks of other conventional systems require changing in order to provide for new characters or designs. In such systems, characters on a mask may not be selected at random or upon a command from a computer controlled system. Masks for a particular need must be developed in advance of usage. Masks tend to be a considerable expense in using conventional mask systems. In yet other conventional mask systems, masks may be used in which multiple characters may be included on the mask, in which case the mask must be moved (indexed) to select different characters. In such systems, the exit beam may be configured to exit the system along a single axial path. In yet still other conventional mask systems, the mask may have multiple characters or images and the beam may be moved to select the desired character or image. In such systems, the beam will not remain along a single axial path.
Accordingly, there is a need for a laser projection and/or marking system that may project at random selected characters and/or designs from a mask. Further, there is a need for a laser projection and/or marking system in which a mask does not need to be changed and/or moved (indexed) in order to provide different characters and/or designs. Further, there is a need for a laser projection and/or marking system that utilizes masks and requires lower powers than conventional mask systems. Further still, there is a need for a laser projection and/or marking system that is configured to select chosen characters and/or designs from a mask yet maintain an exit beam along a single axial path.
It would be desirable to provide a system and/or method that provides one or more of these or other advantageous features. Other features and advantages will be made apparent from the present specification. The teachings disclosed extend to those embodiments which fall within the scope of the appended claims, regardless of whether they accomplish one or more of the aforementioned needs.

Random laser image projector system and method


An organic electronic device of the present invention includes a substrate, at least two electrodes formed on the substrate, a conductive organic thin film that is formed on the substrate and electrically connects the electrodes, and a coating film for coating at least a portion of the electrodes. The conductive organic thin film is a polymer of organic molecules containing a conjugated-bondable group, and one end of each of the organic molecules is chemically bonded to the surface of the substrate and the conjugated-bondable groups in the organic molecules are polymerized with other conjugated-bondable groups to form a conjugated bond chain. The coating film electrically connects the electrodes to the conductive organic thin film and achieves a smaller connection resistance than that in the case where the electrodes and the conductive organic thin film are connected directly. As the coating film, a film made of metal selected from gold, platinum, and silver, a conductive polymeric film, or a monomolecular film that is chemically bonded to the electrodes can be used.

Conventionally, inorganic materials, a typical example of which is silicon crystals, have been used for electronic devices. However, such inorganic materials have a disadvantage that as the devices are made finer, crystal defects become critical, and the device performance disadvantageously depends largely on the crystals.
On the contrary, conductive organic thin films have been given attention as a material that can cope with the development of device miniaturization because the properties of the conductive organic thin films hardly deteriorate even when they are subjected to fine processing. The applicant already has suggested organic thin films containing a conjugated bond chain such as polyacetylene, polydiacetylene, polyacene, polyphenylene, polythiophene, polypyrrole, and polyaniline (e.g., JP H2(1990)-27766A, U.S. Pat. No. 5,008,127, EP-A-0385656, EP-A-0339677, EP-A-0552637, U.S. Pat. No. 5,270,417, JP H5(1993)-87559A, and JP H6(1994) JP6-92971A).
An electronic device using a conductive organic thin film (hereinafter, referred to as "organic electronic device") generally has a structure in which two electrodes formed on a substrate are connected electrically by a conductive organic thin film. As the electrodes, inorganic materials such as metals are used. In such an organic electronic device, it is required that electrical connectivity between the electrodes is good, and with this requirement, there is a demand for further improvement in connectivity between each of the electrodes and the conductive organic thin film.

Organic electronic device and method for manufacturing the same


An electrical connector for electrically connecting a printed circuit board (PCB) to an electrical device, comprising a lower insulator mounted on the electrical device and an upper insulator relatively movable to the lower insulator. The upper insulator has a groove for receiving a board edge of PCB and a flexible printed circuit (FPC) having an end adjacent to the groove and a elastic urging plate. The FPC extends through the lower insulator and connect ed to the electrical device. The elastic urging member is bent into a "V" shape and is brought into contact with an inclined surface formed on the lower insulator when the upper insulator is moved towards the lower insulator. Thus, the bent portion of the urging member pushes the end of FPC into the groove to establish contact connection of conductors of the FPC with pads on the PCB. Thus, connection and disconnection of PCB with the edge connector can be made without insertion and removal force against the contact force between the pads and the FPC.

This invention relates to an electrical connector for electrically connecting a printed circuit board to an electrical device, and, in particular to an edge connector for receiving a board edge portion of a printed circuit board to connect pads formed on a surface of the board edge portion to an electrical device such as another printed circuit board.
In a prior art, there is well known an edge connector of a type described above which comprises an insulator having a board receiving groove for receiving a board edge portion, and a plurality of contacts fixedly mounted in the insulator. The insulator is mounted on an electrical device to be connected with the printed circuit board. Each of the plurality of contacts is made of metal plate to have a fitting portion to be fixedly fitted to the insulator, a contact portion cantilevered at the fitting portion and extending to the board receiving groove, and a terminal portion extending from the fitting portion outside the insulator for connecting with the electrical device.
Under a condition where the electrical connector is mounted on the electrical device, when the board edge portion of the printed circuit is inserted into the board receiving groove, each of pads formed on the board edge portion comes into contact with the contact portion of each of the contacts. Thus, the printed circuit board is electrically connected to the electrical device through the contact between the pad and the contact.
In order to insure a reliable sufficient contact force between the pad and the contact portion, the contact portion is partially protruded into the board receiving groove so that the cantilevered contact portion is elastically deformed by the board edge portion inserted into the board receiving groove. The elastic recovering force of the deformation provides the contact force.
In the known edge connector, there needs any insertion force for inserting the board edge portion into the board receiving groove to deform the contacts. The insertion force is increased as the number of pads and contacts is increased, resulting in difficulty of the insertion of the board edge portion. Applicatton of large insertion force often deforms the printed circuit board to result in break of the printed circuit. Further, when the board edge is inserted into the board receiving groove, friction force is caused between the printed circuit board and the contact portion. This often results in wear of the printed circuit board itself and pads formed thereon.

PCB edge receiving electrical connector of ZIF type with FPC contacts

Japan Aviation Electronics Industry, Limited


The present disclosure discloses an apparatus and a method for detecting first and subsequent drops of follicle fluid falling into a test tube during an aspiration process. A pair of optical devices (emitter and detector) is positioned at opposite side of the test tube. The emitter emits a beam of light towards the detector. As soon as a drop of the follicle fluid falls into the test tube, a signal processing circuitry detects a change in intensity of the light received by the detector. Further, the intensity of beam is compared with a pre-defined intensity. Based on the comparison, if the difference between the pre-defined intensity and intensity is greater than a pre-defined threshold value, the signal processing circuitry generates an electrical signal indicating the detection of the first drop of the follicle fluid falling into the test tube.

In medical science field, one of the treatments for infertility is 'IVF' (In Vitro Fertilization, universally known as the Test Tube Baby). As part of the treatment procedure, it is required that an oocyte (egg) is extracted from female patient in an operation theatre with the female patient under anesthesia.
In the present day situation, an Ultrasound Oocyte Recovery procedure is performed for extracting oocyte from the ovaries within a female patient. In the said procedure, a vaginal ultrasound probe with an attached needle guide is passed into the female's vagina under sterile conditions and the needle is passed through the top of the vagina into the ovary. The follicles are then aspirated until the oocyte is obtained. For aspiration, a vacuum is applied to the end of the test tube tubing end.
In a typical situation, a doctor who is performing the oocyte recovery procedure has his/her both hands occupied in holding the ultrasound probe and the attached needle. He/she may be constantly observing the ultrasound monitor to help him/her guide the needle tip to reach the correct spot in the ovary where the oocyte can be reached and aspirated. To start the aspiration procedure, a foot pedal is pressed. Along with the follicle fluid the oocyte flows inside the needle. At certain stage of the oocyte recovery procedure, the outflow of the follicle fluid may collapse the follicle and at this point the foot pedal has to be released to neutralize the vacuum on the needle tip.
In certain situations it may happen that the passage within the needle or the tubing leading to the test tube gets blocked by a tissue fragment. At this stage the needle has to be extracted out of the patient and a higher level of vacuum may be applied to the set-up. The higher level of vacuum applied may help to remove the blockage in the pathway.
The drops of follicle fluid falling into a test tube directly indicate that there is no blockage in the needle or the tubing. In the situation where there is blockage, very few or no drops may be seen falling into the test tube. In present day situation, a constant watch on the droplets falling is maintained by a person assisting the doctor. The assistant may orally communicate with the doctor, constantly. Droplets falling are expected to begin the moment the doctor presses the foot switch and further the droplets stop falling the moment when the foot switch is released.
Since this droplet status is relayed by the assisting person, delay in communication and loss in continuity may occur. It is required that the doctor gets a uninterrupted and accurate status information of the drops falling into the test tube so that the doctor's vision is dedicated to the ultrasound screen at the time of the operation.

Drop detection of human follicle fluid in a test tube

SHIVANI SCIENTIFIC INDUSTRIES PRIVATE LIMITED


A conference management apparatus, a document registration method, a program and a conference system for easily registering a document for one or more agenda items registered for a conference are provided. A conference management apparatus for managing a conference held among a plurality of terminal apparatuses includes a generation unit configured to generate identification information of a document registration screen used for registering a document for one or more agenda items registered for a conference and send the identification information of the document registration screen to a terminal apparatus of a user registering a document for the agenda item, and a document registration unit configured to, based on a screen data obtaining request specifying the identification information of the document registration screen, send screen data of the document registration screen to the terminal apparatus which is a source of the screen data obtaining request, and register the document the user has registered for the agenda item in the document registration screen displayed on the terminal apparatus of the source of the screen data obtaining request, the document being associated with the agenda item.

Conventionally, a network conference support system is known in which an agenda list is stored. For example, in the agenda list, for each of meeting agenda, a presenter is associated with a presentation document the presenter uses in his presentation (e.g., refer to Patent Document 1).
In a conference system in which a conference is conducted by displaying a document on a client terminal, a mechanism exists in which conference information and a document of a conference to be held are registered in a conference server apparatus. It should be noted that regarding the document registration, a document is not only registered to a conference, but also registered to one or more agenda which are registered to the conference.
In a conventional conference system, however, in the case where different users register a document to different agenda, it is necessary for a user to understand agenda in which the user registers his document, registering a document to agenda takes more time than registering a document to a conference, and a mistake is likely to occur.
Embodiments of the present invention are made in view of the above, whose objective is to provide a conference management apparatus, a document registration method, a program, and a conference system which make it easy to register a document to one or more agenda registered to a conference.

Conference management apparatus, document registration method, program, and conference system


The present invention relates to novel bacterial isolates identified by their 16S rRNA DNA, that cause periodontal disease in companion animals, polynucleotide sequences contained therein, polypeptides encoded by such polynucleotide sequences and vaccines comprising such bacteria, polynucleotides, or polypeptides. Also provided are methods for treating and preventing periodontal disease and kits for detecting and treating periodontal disease kits for detecting and preventing periodontal disease. In addition, methods for assessing the efficacy of a vaccine against periodontal diseases in an animal are provided.

The vast majority of experimental data concerning periodontal diseases is based on studies of humans or bacteria isolated from humans. Relatively little is known with respect to periodontal disease in non-human animals, such as companion animals, and in particular, dogs and cats.
Periodontal disease comprises a group of infections involving supporting tissues of the teeth. These range in severity from mild and reversible inflammation of the gingiva (gum) to chronic destruction of periodontal tissues (gingiva, periodontal ligament, and alveolar bone) with eventual exfoliation of teeth.
From a microbiological standpoint, several features of this disease are of interest. The bacterial etiology is complex, with a variety of organisms responsible for the initiation and progression of disease in humans. Many, if not all, of these organisms may also be present in periodontally healthy individuals and can exist in commensal harmony with the host. Thus, disease episodes may ensue from a shift in the ecological balance between bacterial and host factors, as a result of, for example, alteration in the absolute or relative numbers of certain organisms, changes in pathogenic potential, or modulation of particular host factors. The local environment imposes a variety of unique constraints upon the constituent microbiota of the supragingival tooth surface and the subgingival crevice (the channel between the tooth root and the gingiva that deepens into a periodontal pocket as disease progresses).
Both the calcified hard tissues of the tooth and the epithelial cells of the gingival are available for colonization. These tissues are exposed to host salivary secretions and gingival crevicular fluid (a serum exudate), both of which contain molecules that interact directly with bacteria and alter prevailing environmental conditions. In addition, it is known that in humans, successful colonizers of the teeth and subgingival area must coexist with many (over 600) other species of bacteria that inhabit these regions. Study of the pathogenesis of periodontal diseases in humans is thus complicated by the ecological intricacy of the microenvironment.
The classification of the various manifestations of periodontal disease in humans is continually changing, and it will suffice to mention that diseases range in severity, rate of progression, and number of teeth affected and that different age groups can be susceptible following the eruption of primary teeth. The nature of the pathogenic agents varies among these disease entities, as well as among human patients and even between different disease sites within a patient. In general, however, severe forms of the disease are associated with a number of gram-negative anaerobic bacteria. Of this group, in humans, most evidence points to a pathogenic role for Porphyromonas (formerly Bacteroides) gingivalis. The presence of this organism, acting either alone or as a mixed infection with other bacteria, and possibly in concert with the absence of beneficial species and certain immunological responses in the host, appears to be essential for disease activity.
Colonization of the oral cavity requires that the bacteria first enter the mouth and then localize at and attach to the available surfaces. Host factors which function to prevent bacterial colonization include the mechanical shearing forces of tongue movement along with saliva and gingival crevicular fluid flow. Successful oral colonizers therefore possess a variety of attributes to overcome host protective mechanisms. The sessile plaque biofilm that subsequently accumulates on the hard and soft tissues of the mouth is a dynamic system composed of diverse microbial species. In humans, P. gingivalis is usually among the late or secondary colonizers of the oral cavity, requiring antecedent organisms to create the necessary environmental conditions.
Initial entry of P. gingivalis into the human oral cavity is thought to occur by transmission from infected individuals. Other vectors would therefore also appear to be operational. These studies indicate that individuals are colonized by a single (or at least a predominant) genotype, regardless of site of colonization or clinical status. Strains of many different clonal origins, in contrast, are present in different individuals. This supports the concept that P. gingivalis is essentially an opportunistic pathogen, with virulence not being restricted to a particular clonal type.
The human oral cavity provides a variety of surfaces to which P. gingivalis can adhere. There are the mineralized hard tissues of the teeth, along with mucosal surfaces including those of the gingiva, cheek, and tongue.
While a great deal is known about periodontal disease in humans, as described above, very little is known about the same disease in companion animals. Fournier, D. et al., "Porphorymonas gulae sp. nov., an Anaerobic, Gram-negative, Coccibacillus from the Gingival Sulcus of Various Animal Hosts", International Journal of a Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology (2001), 51, 1179-1189 describe several strains isolated from various animal hosts, including a strain, P. gulae spp. nov., designated ATCC 57100. The authors hypothesize that strains for the animal biotype of P. gingivalis represent a Porphyromonas species that is distinct from P. gingivalis. There is no mention of a vaccine useful in treating periodontal disease in companion animals. Hirasawa and Takada, in "Porphyromonas gingivicanis sp. nov. and Porphyromonas crevioricanis sp. nov., Isolated from Beagles", International Journal of Systemic Bacteriology, pp. 637-640, (1994), describe two bacterial species isolated from gingival crevicular fluids of beagles. These species are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,710,039 and 5,563,063. Nowhere do the authors suggest the use of these species in a vaccine to treat periodontal disease. International Application PCT/AU98/01023, having publication number WO 99/29870, described various P. gingivalis polypeptides and nucleotides. However, no evidence of vaccines effective in preventing periodontal disease in companion animals is provided. Even though there is a great amount of information known about the human disease, little has been accomplished by way of preventing or treating the disease, even in humans.
There remains a need for a safe and effective vaccine for treating and preventing periodontal disease in companion animals.
Genco et al. (Trends in Microbiology 6: 444-449, 1998) describe a rat model for investigating Porphyromonas gingivicanis-mediated periodontal disease. Grecca et al. (J. Endodontics 27: 610, 2001) describe radiographic evaluation of periradicular repair after endodontic treatment of dog's teeth with induced periradicular periodontitis.
Prior to the present invention, there has been no animal model available for assessing the efficacy of a vaccine against one or more periopathogenic bacteria in a defined and quantitative manner.


A method of forming blind holes in a sheet material is provided. The method includes forming a recessed segment in the sheet material, stamping the recessed segment between a tapered punch and a pad to form a blind hole having a sealed end and a sidewall, wherein the pad includes a profiling pin that is enclosed by the sealed end and the sidewall. The method further includes forming a material channel interposed between the tapered punch and a tapered die, and compressing the material channel to generate a material flow into the sidewall. The material channel may be narrowed to allow more material flow into the sidewall for additional sidewall thickness.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for processing a sheet of material. More particularly, it relates to methods of forming blind holes in a sheet of material.
2. Description of the Related Art
A blind hole is a hollow projection with an opening at one end and closed at the opposite end. Blind holes have wide applications ranging from locking mechanisms to electronic devices. They are useful in situations where through holes would render a less refined appearance than desired. Blind holes are also useful in applications requiring air-tightness, such as in hard disk drives where airflow may contaminate the interior of the hard drive. In such applications, blind holes may be formed in the casing for mounting printed circuit boards (PCB), motors, and semiconductor chips.
A conventional method of forming a blind hole begins by drilling a through hole in sheet material. One end of the through hole is then closed by placing a seal over that end. One problem arising from this method is that the depth of the hole is limited to the thickness of the sheet material. Using a thicker sheet of material will enable the construction of a deeper blind hole. However, in portable devices, where weight and form factor are crucial having a thick sheet of material is not practical. Another problem arises with the use of seals to close the through hole. The typical seals or plugs may not provide an airtight seal, and hence the seal would not be an adequate seal for a blind hole of a hard disk drive casing.
Another method of forming a blind hole is by controlling the depth of drilling into a sheet material. Unfortunately, one of the problems arising from this method is that the depth of the hole is limited to the thickness of the sheet material. Further, drilled material bits may be trapped in the blind hole and require additional effort to remove. Removing the debris from the blind hole is usually accomplished by using compressed air, which may lodge flying debris on other parts of the sheet material.
Another conventional method of forming a blind hole begins by compressing the sheet material against a die having an orifice therein. A portion of the sheet material is then extruded into the orifice by the compression to form an extruded portion by employing a ram press. A post is then forcibly inserted into the extruded portion of the sheet material so that the extruded portion forms a hollow projection around the post The insertion of the post is controlled so that a through hole will not be formed.
When the post is withdrawn, a blind hole or hollow projection having a closed end at the sheet material is formed. One problem with this compression method is that a recess or indentation may be formed at the side of the compressed sheet when the sheet material is forcibly extruded into the orifice. This deformation may be a thinned and weakened spot in the closed end of the blind hole. Another problem is that the sheet material experiences stretching and stress from the compression, which may weaken the sheet material or even cause failure.
Additionally, with this method, the sidewall height of the blind hole projecting or extruding from the sheet material can be increased, but at the expense of the sidewall thickness of the blind hole sidewall. To achieve an increased extrusion height, a post having a larger diameter is required. Accordingly, the sidewall is necessarily thinned out to provide material for the increased height. If the blind hole is further tapped to cut screw threads, the sidewall will be weakened and prone to breakage.
In view of the foregoing, it is therefore desirable to have a method and apparatus for forming blind holes in a sheet material hating increased projection or extrusion height and greater sidewall thickness.

Method and apparatus for forming blind holes in sheet material