The present invention provides a device for test loading a fuselage barrel, in particular in the aviation and aerospace industry. The device comprises a first and a second pressure bulkhead for sealing the fuselage barrel at the end faces thereof in a pressure-tight manner. The device further comprises a support device which may be coupled to the first pressure bulkhead, on the one hand, and to the second pressure bulkhead, on the other hand, extending through the fuselage barrel. Moreover, the device comprises a loading device which may be coupled to the support device, on the one hand, and to a portion of the fuselage barrel, on the other hand, for introducing loads into the fuselage barrel. The resulting advantage is that gravitational force and/or acceleration forces acting on the masses arranged in the fuselage barrel, for example cargo, in particular during the flight phase may be simulated by means of components which are exclusively arranged within the fuselage barrel, which is pressurized during the test. Thus a provision of through-holes in the fuselage skin for passing through hydraulic cylinders and the sealing of said holes relative to the fuselage skin, as in the device known to the applicant, are avoided.

When test loading fuselage barrels, there is the requirement for said fuselage barrels to be pressurised. Moreover, there is the further requirement to simulate gravitational force and/or acceleration forces acting on the masses, for example passengers or cargo, located in the fuselage barrel.
An approach known to the applicant for test loading, therefore, provides that a fuselage barrel is configured with radial recesses, through which hydraulic cylinders are passed which, on the one hand, act on a frame arranged outside the fuselage barrel and, on the other hand, on the cargo deck and/or passenger deck of the fuselage barrel.
With this approach which is known to the applicant, it has proved disadvantageous that the recesses initially have to be provided in the fuselage barrel, which is associated with a considerable cost. Moreover, it has also proved to be disadvantageous that the hydraulic cylinders and/or the piston rods thereof have to be sealed relative to the fuselage skin by means of sealing collars, in order to prevent pressure escaping from the fuselage barrel. This is also associated with a considerable cost.
It is therefore the object of the present invention to avoid the disclosed drawbacks above.
According to the invention, this object is achieved by a device having the features of claim 1.
Accordingly, a device is provided for test loading a fuselage barrel, in particular in the aviation and aerospace industry. Said device comprises a first and a second pressure bulkhead for sealing the fuselage barrel at the end faces thereof in a pressure-tight manner. The device further comprises a support device which may be coupled to the first pressure bulkhead, on the one hand, and to the second pressure bulkhead, on the other hand, extending through the fuselage barrel. Moreover, the device comprises a loading device which may be coupled to the support device, on the one hand, and to a portion of the fuselage barrel, on the other hand, for introducing loads into the fuselage barrel.
The idea underlying the present invention is that the means required for simulating the loads which result from the masses arranged in the fuselage barrel and act on the fuselage barrel, are arranged inside and not outside the fuselage barrel, as in the approach known to the applicant. Thus the requirement of providing the radial recesses in the fuselage skin, as disclosed above, is also dispensed with. Moreover, the requirement of sealing the hydraulic cylinders relative to the fuselage skin, which is costly, is also dispensed with. Thus, by means of the device according to the invention, the desired test loading of the fuselage barrel costs considerably less.
Advantageous embodiments and improvements of the invention are set forth in the sub-claims.
According to a preferred development of the device according to the invention, the support device may be coupled by means of a fixed bearing to the first pressure bulkhead and by means of a loose bearing to the second pressure bulkhead. Thus a distortion between the support device and the fuselage barrel is avoided, i.e. the fuselage barrel may freely deform, for example in bending tests, without bending moments in the region of the coupling points between the support device and the pressure bulkhead being introduced therein. Thus the forces which act in reality may be easily adjusted.
According to a further preferred development of the device according to the invention, the support device comprises a first beam, a second beam and struts coupling said beams. In particular, the first beam, second beam and the struts form a framework. Such a structure provides the support device with the desired rigidity, in spite of the comparatively large distance between the first and second pressure bulkhead.
According to a further preferred development of the device according to the invention, the loading device comprises at least one adjusting member for acting on the first or second beam and a deck of the fuselage barrel.
According to a further preferred development of the device according to the invention, the loading device comprises at least one adjusting member for acting on the first beam and a lower deck of the fuselage barrel and at least one adjusting member for acting on the second beam and the upper deck, the first beam being able to be coupled to the pressure bulkheads. Thus the first beam may be configured to extend relatively precisely along the centre line (longitudinal direction) of the fuselage barrel. Thus the length of the adjusting members, in particular of a piston of a hydraulic cylinder, may be kept relatively small. The adjusting members are preferably configured as hydraulic cylinders.
Preferably, a third beam is a component of the framework, which extends laterally offset to the second beam and is also coupled to the first beam by means of struts. The at least one adjusting member may therefore be arranged such that it is fastened to the first adjusting member and passes through the second and third adjusting member in order to be coupled to one of the decks, in particular the lower deck.
According to a further preferred development of the device according to the invention, the loading device comprises at least one load distribution means which connects the at least one adjusting member to the upper or lower deck, the load distribution means comprising a ramified structure. The term "ramified structure" means that a first component comprises the entire force flux and a plurality of second components are coupled to said component, which respectively comprise a fraction of the force flux, and preferably said second components are respectively coupled to third components, which in turn comprise a fraction of the force flux in the respective second component. The first, the second and preferably third components are thus respectively configured to be adapted to the force flux which flows therein, with regard to their stability. Thus the load distribution means may be produced relatively easily and advantageously.
According to a further preferred development of the device according to the invention, a retaining device is provided which keeps the pressure bulkheads movable relative to one another. Thus the actual conditions to which a fuselage barrel is subjected may be easily adjusted.
According to a further preferred development of the device according to the invention, the retaining device comprises a frame in which one of the pressure bulkheads is fixedly clamped and at least one adjusting means which is coupled to the frame and the other respective pressure bulkhead. As a result of the adjusting means, the loads which occur, for example in the flight phase, may be easily introduced into the fuselage barrel.
In the figures, like reference numerals denote like or functionally equivalent components, unless stated otherwise.


A head parts assembly for a bicycle with a cable collecting device includes two bowl assemblies disposed at two ends of a front vertical pipe to collect brake cables, each of the bowl assemblies includes a bowl, a bearing disposed between the bowl and the front vertical pipe, and a cover for fixing the bearing inside the bowl. The bowl includes an assembling portion and an engaging portion tapering from the assembling portion, the engaging portion engages with the front frame pipe, the assembling portion is an annular structure and defines an opening, an annular rib is formed on an inner surface of the assembling portion, and the bearing is restricted in the opening. The assembling portion has plural penetrating holes penetrating the inner surface and an outer surface of the assembling portion, and the brake cables are inserted into the front frame pipe via the penetrating holes.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a head parts assembly for a bicycle, and more particularly to a head parts assembly for a bicycle with a cable collecting device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As shown in FIG. 1, a conventional bicycle head parts assembly 10 is disposed at two ends of the front frame pipe A to allow for free rotation of the front vertical pipe B with respect to the front frame pipe A. Normally, the brake cables have one ends fixed to the handle bar of the bicycle, and are clamped by a cable-clamping device and then extend along the pipes of the bicycle frame to the front and rear wheels. However, the brake cables are collected at the top tube and the down tube, so the brake cables at the front frame pipe A look very messy, which not only affects the appearance of the bicycle, but also causes safety concerns since the messy brake cables are likely to hook something.
To solve the above problem, the author of the present application has invented a "head parts assembly for a bicycle", as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The head parts assembly 10 comprises an upper bowl 11 and a lower bowl 12, each of which is formed with a plurality of holes 111, 121 extending in the axial direction of the front vertical pipe B. The front wheel brake cables C1 are inserted through the holes 111, 121 and therefore collected in the front frame pipe A. The front vertical pipe B extends to the front wheel brake mechanism. The rear wheel brake cables C2 are inserted through the holes 111 of the upper bowl 11 and into the front frame pipe A, and then run through the top tube A1 and the down tube A2 and finally extend to the rear wheel brake mechanism, so that the brake cables are disposed in a hidden manner to solve the abovementioned problems.
It is to be noted that the holes 111, 121 of the head parts assembly 10 provided for insertion of the brake cables are formed in the vertical direction, so that rain or other liquids are likely to flow through the holes into the front frame pipe A or even into the top tube A1 and the down tube A2, causing corrosion.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the afore-described disadvantages.

Head parts assembly for a bicycle with a cable collecting device


A gear motor is provided with a motor, a decelerator, an output shaft of the decelerator coupled to a driven shaft of a driven machine, and a torque arm for preventing rotation of the gear motor around the driven shaft. One end of the torque arm is fixed to the gear motor and the other end is fixed to an installation seat. The torque arm is provided with a damper mechanism.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a gear motor comprising a motor and a decelerator.
2. Description of the Related Art
Gear motors are used in an extensive range of applications. For example, gear motors are used in underbody of large-scale movable equipment such as cranes, in a system to drive rollers of a belt conveyor, etc. A gear motor usually comprises a power engine and a decelerator, and is used by coupling an output shaft of the decelerator to a driven shaft of a driven machine.
Normally, the driven machine is relatively heavy so that it is necessary to provide means to supply rotation reaction to the gear motor in order to prevent the gear motor itself from being rotated when used to drive the machine. The applicant proposes a technology capable of supplying rotation reaction to the gear motor by means of a torque arm.

Gear motor having an antirotation member


An image forming apparatus is provided. The image forming apparatus includes an image forming device to form images of color toners on corresponding image bearers of at least four image bearers; a transferring device to transfer the color toner images on the image bearers to a transfer medium; and a controller to control the image forming apparatus. The controller performs a compulsory toner consumption processing for the color toners to compulsory consume deteriorated toners. When the compulsory toner consumption processing is performed on three or more toners, compulsory consumption toner images of the color toners are formed on the corresponding image bearers and then transferred to the transfer medium to form a compulsory consumption combined toner image including at least two overlaid image portions, wherein the at least two overlaid image portions are arranged side by side with a space therebetween in a width direction of the transfer medium.

Technical Field
This disclosure relates to an image forming apparatus.
Description of the Related Art
Image forming apparatuses are well known which include an image forming device having plural image bearers and which perform a compulsory toner consumption processing such that a toner image (hereinafter referred to as a compulsory consumption toner image) is forcibly formed on at least one of the plural image bearers to consume the toner, thereby making it possible to discharge deteriorated toner from the image forming device.
For example, there is a proposal for an image forming apparatus which includes, as the plural image bearers, four photoconductors on which yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C) and black (K) toner images are formed respectively. In the image forming apparatus, a narrow Y toner image extending in the main scanning direction (i.e., optical scanning direction when an electrostatic latent image is formed on the photoconductor) is forcibly formed on the Y photoconductor while a narrow C toner image extending in the main scanning direction is forcibly formed on the C photoconductor, and the Y and C toner images are transferred to a transfer belt serving as a transfer medium so as to be overlaid (i.e., to form a combined Y and C toner image). In addition, a narrow M toner image extending in the main scanning direction is forcibly formed on the M photoconductor while a K toner image extending in the main scanning direction is forcibly formed on the K photoconductor, and the M and K toner images are transferred to the transfer belt so as to be overlaid (i.e., to form a combined M and K toner image). In this regard, the Y and C combined toner image and the M and K combined toner image are arranged side by side in the sub-scanning direction (i.e., moving direction of the transfer belt) with a predetermined space therebetween.
It is described in the proposal that since two combined color toner images are formed side by side, the travel distance of the transfer belt in the compulsory toner consumption processing can be reduced so as to be shorter than in a case in which Y, M, C and K toner images are formed side by side without being overlaid.

Image forming apparatus that performs compulsory toner consumption processing


A method for producing a display capsule includes the following steps. A multichromal bead having at least two surfaces differing from each other in optical and electrical characteristics is formed. A dispersing agent on an outer surface of the multichromal bead is applied, preferably via spray coating. The multichromal bead is then encapsulated. The invention is also directed to a method for producing multichromal capsules. A multichromal bead having at least two surfaces differing from each other in optical and electrical characteristics and further includes a charge control additive. A dispersing agent is applied on an outer surface of the multichromal bead to prevent diffusion of the charge control additive from the multichromal bead. The multichromal bead is encapsulated at an encapsulation reaction temperature greater than 40° C.

1. Field of the Invention
The description set forth herein relates generally to a method of producing display capsules. More particularly, the description relates to a method for producing multichromal capsules for use in displays having improved contrast properties and yield.
2. Description of Related Art
Capsules have a variety of uses. Various encapsulation techniques are available to fabricate these capsules. New capsules and encapsulation techniques are desired to expand the applications in which encapsulation technology may be useful. For example, the capsules and encapsulation techniques such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,604,027 to Sheridon, incorporated by reference herein in its entirety, may be used in the manufacture of components for display devices, conventional display devices (some including microcapsules), components for display devices, and the manufacture of such display devices and their components.
Particularly, it is multichromal capsules, such as bichromal beads or twisting particles, in shapes such as balls and cylinders, that are used to make multichromal displays. As used herein the word "bichromal" refers to an item that exhibits at least two colors. Thus, in certain embodiments, the word "bichromal" may include multichromal. Similarly, the word "multichromal" includes bichromal. A bichromal display may be known as electric paper, as described in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,703,074; 5,389,945; 4,438,160; 4,261,653; 4,143,103; and 4,176,854, each of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. A bichromal display includes twisting particles that individually rotate to display a desired surface or a desired aspect of transparency of the particles to an observer.
Twisting particles can be, for example, a ball or bead having two distinct hemispheres with both an optical anisotropy and an electrical anisotropy due to each hemisphere surface having a different color and electrical charge. When used in a display, the twisting particles are generally embedded in a fluid-filled cavity of a substrate. The substrate is then generally bonded between glass or plastic sheets to create a multichromal display. When an electric field is presented over the display, the twisting particles within the substrate rotate in the fluid in reaction to the electric field.
In particular, the prior methods of encapsulating multichromal beads require numerous steps in making a display. A multichromal capsule includes a single multichromal bead or ball centered in an oil layer within a capsule that rotates under electrical stimulus. However, under current manufacturing processes some capsules may contain more than one bead ("multiples"), some capsules may have no beads, and/or the beads may be stuck to the capsule wall instead of centered in the oil layer. Capsules that contain two or more balls do not exhibit good ball rotation and impede free bead rotation in response to the switching electric field because of interferences between the balls, causing a loss in contrast of a multichromal display image. Removal of these defective capsules is difficult or impossible, and further results in poor product yields. Thus, insufficient contrast ratio and low yield are two significant problems with encapsulation processes for producing display capsules.
Additionally, other processes for fabricating multichromal display devices include the so called "swollen-sheet" method, in which bare multichromal beads, randomly mixed and dispersed in a silicone elastomeric sheet, are rendered rotatable by swelling the elastomer in silicone oil. Pockets of oil form around each bead, and the beads detach from the elastomer-bead interface. However, one problem of a display device made by this method is that it may exhibit limited environmental stability. For example, the most effective encapsulation process for bichromal beads involves a reaction performed at about 62° C. Charge control additives are incorporated into the beads during manufacturing to enhance the bead's electrical charge and thereby allow for good bead rotation. However, at temperatures above 40° C., the additive may diffuse out of the beads and prevent encapsulation. Thus, the contrast ratio and stability of the capsule commonly degrade at temperatures greater than 40° C.
Accordingly, a need exists for a method for producing display capsules having single multichromal beads encapsulated to provide enhanced contrast properties and a method for producing display capsules that prevents the leaching of additives in single multichromal beads during the encapsulation process.

Display capsules and a method of manufacturing thereof


A magnetoresistance effect element of the dual spin valve type using a current-perpendicular-to-the-plane (CPP) system where a sensing current flows perpendicular to the stacked faces of a plurality of conductive layers, the magnetoresistance effect element comprises a first unit which includes a free layer and a first pinning layer, a second unit which includes the free layer shared with the first unit and a second pinning layer, a first current control layer which is provided in the first unit and limits the flow quantity of the sensing current, and a second current control layer which is provided in the second unit and limits the flow quantity of the sensing current.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a magnetoresistance effect element using a current perpendicular-to-the-plane (CPP) system, a magnetic head including the magnetoresistance effect element, a head suspension assembly, and a magnetic reproducing apparatus. In the CPP system, a sensing current flows perpendicular to the direction in which a plurality of conductive layers are stacked.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, the size of magnetic recording apparatuses, including hard disk units, has been rapidly getting smaller and so the recording density has been getting higher. This trend is expected to become stronger in the future. To achieve high recording density, it is necessary not only to increase the recording track density by narrowing the recording tracks but also to increase the recoding density (or line recording density) in which recording is done.
To reproduce the signal recorded on a medium, an induction head has been used in the existing techniques. As the recording density gets higher, the recording track width becomes narrower. Consequently, the recording bit size gets smaller, with the result that a sufficient reproduced signal output cannot be obtained with the induction head. To overcome this drawback, head using an anisotropic magnetoresistance (AMR) effect (AMR) has been developed. Such an AMR head has been provided under the name of a shield reproduction head. Recently, by making use of the giant magnetoresistance (GMR) effect, a spin valve GMR head with much higher sensitivity has been used. Use of these reproduction heads enables a reproduced signal output of a sufficient level to be obtained, even when the recording bit size is small.
The development of a magnetic head using a tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) effect element or a CPP-GMR element is in progress and the way of putting the magnetic head into practical use is under investigation. In the existing current-in-plane giant magnetoresistance (CIP-GMR) element, a sensing current flows in the surface of the conductive film. In contrast, in a TMR element or a CPP-GMR element, a sensing current flows in a direction perpendicular to the surface of the conductive film.
A CPP-GMR element has been disclosed in, for example, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI 10-55512 (reference 1) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,668,688 (reference 2). As disclosed in these references, magnetic heads with a high reproducing sensitivity have been developed. Use of them enables the recorded signal to be reproduced, even when the recording bit size becomes smaller.
It is known that, in the CPP-GMR element, since the resistance of the CPP-GMR film is small in the direction of the film thickness, the absolute value of the amount of resistance change is small and therefore a high output is difficult to obtain. In this connection, a CPP-GMR element which uses a current confining effect to realize a suitable resistance and a high rate of resistance change has been disclosed (e.g., refer to Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI 2002-208744 (reference 3) or U.S. Pat. No. 6,560,077 (reference 4)). The current confining effect is to cause current to flow in the conducting parts scattered in a layer composed mainly of an insulating material in such a manner that the current narrows, thereby increase the rate of resistance change. Hereinafter, a layer which produces a current confining effect is referred to as a current control layer. Reference 3 has disclosed a magnetoresistance effect element which has a plurality of current control layers in a single unit composed of a plurality of conductive layers.
When a plurality of current control layers are used, the positions of the conductive parts of the individual current control layers are very significant. As written in [0078] in reference 3, when the positions of the conductive parts (pinholes) of a plurality of current control layers differ from one another, the resistance value itself can be increased. However, recent research has shown that the current confining effect weakens the effect of increasing the rate of resistance change. Since it is difficult to align the positions of the conductive parts of a plurality of current control layers by the existing techniques, some suitable measures should be taken.
In addition, since there is a limit to the thickness of the current control layers, the application of a voltage higher than the breakdown voltage to the insulating material causes dielectric breakdown, or breakdown. This means that there is a limit to a sensing current that can be applied and therefore the output of the element reaches the highest limit. Since the breakdown is one factor which causes deterioration with age, it decreases the long-term reliability of the magnetoresistance effect element.

Current-perpendicular-to-plane magnetoresistance effect device with double current control layers


Silencer of exhaust gases, in particular for motor vehicles, comprising an inlet opening (13) and a cylindrical coat (1) provided with an outlet pipe (29) at its opposing end, said cylindrical coat (1) has an internal division into at least four working sections (5, 6, 7, 8) containing axially arranged elements, especially suppression elements, expansion chambers, a whirl chamber, resonators and twirling, deflecting, and accumulating elements, confined with at least three crosswise arranged partitions (2, 3, 4), while the cylindrical coat (1) opposite to the outlet tube (29) is provided with an inlet section (10) freely encompassing its first working section (5) provided with inlet holes (18) of exhaust gases, said inlet section (10) being attached to the surface of the cylindrical coat (1).

A running engine of a motor vehicle produces noise waves whose carrying medium is the pulsating stream of exhaust gases guided by a pipe from the engine to ambient environment. It is known that the intensity of noise decreases in proportion to the increase of losses. Such loss can rise due to absorption of noise energy, for which various filling materials can be used, such as glass wool, or resonators arranged along the stream of exhaust gases. Also the use of perforated walls for the passage of a noise wave is known, or repeated contractions and expansions, or possibly changes of direction of at least a part of the main stream of exhaust gases, further reflections of noise waves and elongation of the path of exhaust gases, or their cooling. The resulting effect of the silencer depends also upon the ratio of the silencer volume to the working volume of the engine cylinders. The present day design trends of silencers of exhaust gases suggest various combinations and respective arrangements of the mentioned suppressing means. For instance a solution is known according to patent CZ 286939 comprising an elongated case with internal space divided by parallel partitions and partitions with gaps at their ends in alternating arrangement, or having openings in their central part, creating a plurality of chambers with increasing volume in the stream direction of exhaust gases. Such solution can suppress the noise waves of exhaust gases, however, by far not meeting the present day requirements relating to their residual intensity.
Yet another solution is known according to CZ PV 1993-2264 that was adversely terminated after its disclosure. It comprises a chamber accommodating a perforated tube provided with a set of small holes and a plurality of rows of larger holes. The perforated tube contains a reflective hollow body created by a pair of cones with a gap between their broad ends. The end of the perforated tube carries a number of larger holes. This solution ensures higher efficiency of noise waves suppression by using an inserted perforated tube with larger holes and smaller ones through which parts of the exhaust gases pass at different distances into the outer zone of the chamber where their mixing and whirling takes place, whereupon they return to the perforated tube. The present day requirements regarding the size of suppression, however, have not been met by this solution, either.
A further embodiment of a silencer is offered by EP 1 477 642 describing a few silencer alternatives comprising, in an elongated case, an input tube penetrating roughly to ⅔ length from one side and an outlet tube penetrating to about ⅔ length from the opposite side. At least one of them is provided by a set of openings. Openings are also created in the carrying partitions of these tubes. This solution ensuring, in the remaining ⅓ length, a compression of stream of exhaust gases, on the one hand side, and the change of their direction and returning to the system of holes in the carrying partition, on the other hand, induces a change of their velocity and turbulence. A higher intensity of suppression of the noise waves in this embodiment is also ensured by a part of the exhaust gases entering into the outlet tube, where the main part of the stream of exhaust gases escaping to free air gets twirled. Nevertheless, such solution does not achieve the intensity of noise wave suppression, either, as required in the present day motor vehicle.


Consistent with an aspect of the present disclosure, a method is provided for controlling an AC signal, which is supplied to a load and selectively supplied to a utility grid. In response to a fault in the utility grid, the method includes decoupling the AC signal from the utility grid, and determining whether a voltage associated with the AC signal is within a desired band. The method also includes adjusting the voltage associated with the AC signal when the AC signal is outside the desired band, and comparing a magnitude of a current associated with the AC signal with a desired current value to thereby obtain a comparison result. In response to the comparison result, the current associated with the AC signal is adjusted when the voltage associated with the AC signal is within the desired band.

Backup power supplies are often used to supply power when a utility power grid is disabled. Internal combustion engine driven generators are often deployed as backup power supplies. These generators, however, are relatively large and noisy, and output toxic emissions.
Fuel cells are known to generate electrical power through chemical processes having relatively minimal emissions with little environmental impact. Accordingly, fuel cells have been explored as an attractive alternative to conventional backup generators. Unlike generators, however, fuel cells typically cannot be activated within a short period of time. Accordingly, in backup power applications, fuel cells often output electrical power continuously, regardless of whether the power grid is operational. In the event power is cut off, the fuel cell supplies backup power which can be distributed by the grid to critical components, or selected areas of the grid.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,700,804 describes a backup fuel cell coupled to a utility grid through a power converter. The power converter includes an inverter, which receives a direct current (DC) input voltage from the fuel cell, and outputs an AC signal to a utility distribution system.
In certain applications, however, a critical load, such as a bank of computers or a building housing sensitive equipment, is connected to the power converter in addition to the utility power grid. During normal operation, the utility power grid and the power converter supply AC power to the critical load. The current output from the power converter is regulated in a known manner, and the critical load voltage is set to the utility power grid voltage. When a fault occurs in the utility power grid, however, the power converter alone supplies AC power to the critical load. Although, the current is controlled, the voltage associated with the AC power is not, and may depend upon the level of loading of the critical load. Thus, the voltage associated with the AC signal output from the power converter can spike and cause damage to the critical load, or fall below levels required by the critical load.
The present disclosure is directed to overcome one or more of the shortcomings in the prior art.

Combination current hysteresis and voltage hysteresis control for a power converter


An adherent protective coating of a refractory material is produced on the surface of carbonaceous, refractory, ceramic, metallic or other materials serving as components of electrolytic cells operating at high temperature, by applying to such surfaces a well chosen micropyretic reaction layer from a slurry, which when dried is ignited to initiate a self-sustaining micropyretic reaction, along a combustion front, to produce condensed matter forming such refractory protective adherent coating. The slurry is preferably applied in several layers, the first layer(s) to facilitate adherence and the last layer(s) to provide protection, and may contain some preformed non-reactant materials. The electrolytic cells whose components require such coatings are especially those operating at high temperature with a molten salt electrolyte, particularly those for the production of metals, aluminium being the most important. For these cells the invention provides an aluminium-wettable, adherent, refractory, protective coating for the cell-bottom carbon cathode, containing RHM material such as titanium diboride, as well as other refractory protective coatings for cell wall lining and for other cell components. Novel cell designs for the utilization of the different coatings are also provided.

Among the metals obtained in electrolytic cells operating at high temperature in a molten salt electrolyte containing an oxide or compound of the metal to be electrowon, aluminium is the most important and the invention will describe in particular the protection of components of aluminium cells, more particularly the protection of the cell cathode bottom by applying an aluminium wettable, adherent coating.
Aluminium is produced conventionally by the Hall-Heroult process, by the electrolysis of alumina dissolved in molten salt containing cryolite at temperatures around 950.degree. C. A Hall-Heroult reduction cell typically has a steel shell provided with an insulating lining of refractory material, which in turn has a lining of carbon which contacts the molten constituents. Conductor bars connected to the negative pole of a direct current source are embedded in the carbon cathode substrate forming the cell bottom floor. The cathode substrate is usually an anthracite based carbon lining made of prebaked cathode blocks, joined with a ramming mixture of anthracite, coke, and coal tar.
In Hall-Heroult cells, a molten aluminium pool acts as the cathode. The carbon lining or cathode material has a useful life of three to eight years, or even less under adverse conditions. The deterioration of the cathode bottom is due to erosion and penetration of electrolyte and liquid aluminium as well as intercalation of sodium, which causes swelling and deformation of the cathode carbon blocks and ramming mix. In additon, the penetration of sodium species and other ingredients of cryolite or air leads to the formation of toxic compounds including cyanides.
Difficulties in operation also arise from the accumulation of undissolved alumina sludge on the surface of the carbon cathode beneath the aluminium pool which forms insulating regions on the cell bottom. Penetration of cryolite and aluminium through the carbon body and the deformation of the cathode carbon blocks also cause displacement of such cathode blocks. Due to displacement of the cathode blocks, aluminium reaches the steel cathode conductor bars causing corrosion thereof leading to deterioration of the electrical contact and an excessive iron content in the aluminium metal produced.
A major drawback of carbon as cathode material is that it is not wetted by aluminium. This necessitates maintaining a deep pool of aluminium (at least 100-250 mm thick) in order to ensure a certain protection of the carbon blocks and an effective contact over the cathode surface. But electromagnetic forces create waves in the molten aluminium and, to avoid short-circuiting with the anode, the anode-to-cathode distance (ACD) must be kept at a safe minimum value, usually 40 to 60 mm. For conventional cells, there is a minimum ACD below which the current efficiency drops drastically, due to short-circuiting between the aluminium pool and the anode. The electrical resistance of the electrolyte in the inter-electrode gap causes a voltage drop from 1.8 to 2.7 volts, which represents from 40 to 60 percent of the total voltage drop, and is the largest single component of the voltage drop in a given cell.
To reduce the ACD and associated voltage drop, extensive research has been carried out with Refractory Hard Metals (RHM) such as TiB.sub.2 as cathode materials. TiB.sub.2 and other RHM's are practically insoluble in aluminium, have a low electrical resistance, and are wetted by aluminium. This should allow aluminium to be electrolytically deposited directly on an RHM cathode surface, and should avoid the necessity for a deep aluminium pool. Because titanium diboride and similar Refractory Hard Metals are wettable by aluminium, resistant to the corrosive environment of an aluminium production cell, and are good electrical conductors, numerous cell designs utilizing Refractory Hard Metal have been proposed, which would present many advantages, notably including the saving of energy by reducing the ACD.
The use of titanium diboride and other RHM current-conducting elements in electrolytic aluminium production cells is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,915,442, 3,028,324, 3,215,615, 3,314,876, 3,330,756, 3,156,639, 3,274,093 and 3,400,061. Despite extensive efforts and the potential advantages of having surfaces of titanium diboride at the cell cathode bottom, such propositions have not been commercially adopted by the aluminium industry.
The non-acceptance of tiles and other methods of applying layers of TiB.sub.2 and other RHM materials on the surface of aluminium production cells is due to their lack of stability in the operating conditions, in addition to their cost. The failure of these materials is associated with penetration of the electrolyte when not perfectly wetted by aluminium, and attack by aluminium because of impurities in the RHM structure. In RHM pieces such as tiles, oxygen impurities tend to segregate along grain boundaries leading to rapid attack by aluminium metal and/or by cryolite. To combat disintegration, it has been proposed to use highly pure TiB.sub.2 powder to make materials containing less than 50 ppm oxygen. Such fabrication further increases the cost of the already-expensive materials. No cell utilizing TiB.sub.2 tiles as cathode is known to have operated for long periods without loss of adhesion of the tiles, or their disintegration. Other reasons for failure of RHM tiles have been the lack of mechanical strength and resistance to thermal shock.
Various types of TiB.sub.2 or RHM layers applied to carbon substrates have failed due to poor adherence and to differences in thermal expansion coefficients between the titanium diboride material and the carbon cathode block.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,400,061 describes a cell without an aluminium pool but with a drained cathode of Refractory Hard Metal which consists of a mixture of Refractory Hard Metal, at least 5 percent carbon, and 10 to 20% by weight of pitch binder, baked at 900.degree. C. or more and rammed into place in the cell bottom. Such composite cathodes have found no commercial use probably due to susceptibility to attack by the electrolytic bath.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,093,524 discloses bonding tiles of titanium diboride and other Refractory Hard Metals to a conductive substrate such as graphite. But large differences in thermal expansion coefficients between the RHM tiles and the substrate cause problems.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,661,736 claims a composite drained cathode for an aluminium production cell, comprising particles or pieces of arc-melted "RHM alloy" embedded in an electrically conductive matrix of carbon or graphite and a particulate filler such as aluminium carbide, titanium carbide or titanium nitride. However, in operation, grain boundaries and the carbon or graphite matrix are attacked by electrolyte and/or aluminium, leading to rapid destruction of the cathode.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,308,114 discloses a cathode surface of RHM in a graphitic matrix made by mixing the RHM with a pitch binder and graphitizating at 2350.degree. C. or above. Such cathodes are subject to early failure due to rapid ablation, and possible intercalation by sodium and erosion of the graphite matrix.
To avoid the problems encountered with tiles and with the previous coating methods, U.S. Pat. No. 4,466,996 proposed applying a coating composition comprising a preformed particulate RHM, such as TiB.sub.2, a thermosetting binder, a carbonaceous filler and carbonaceous additives to a carbonaceous cathode substrate, followed by curing and carbonisation. But it is still not possible by this method to obtain coatings of satisfactory adherence that could withstand the operating conditions in an aluminium production cell. It has also proven impossible to produce adherent coatings of RHM on refractory substrates such as alumina.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,560,448 describes a structural component of an aluminium production cell which is in contact with molten aluminium, made of a non-wettable material such as alumina which is rendered wettable by a thin layer (up to 100 micrometer) of TiB.sub.2. However, to prevent dissolution of this TiB.sub.2 layer, the molten aluminium had to be maintained saturated with titanium and boron and this expedient was not acceptable.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,004,524 discloses a body of fused alumina or another refractory oxycompound having a multiplicity of discrete inclusions of TiB.sub.2 or other aluminium-wettable RHM cast into its surface. This material is particularly suitable for non-current carrying cathode bottom floors of aluminium production cells, but in the long term even if the material may remain bound to the fused alumina and resist to corrosion, the manufacture at an acceptable cost remains a problem.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,595,545 discloses the production of titanium diboride or a mixture thereof with a carbide and/or a nitride of titanium, zirconium, hafnium, vanadium, niobium, tantalum, chromium, molybdenum or tungsten by carbothermic, carbo-aluminothermic or alumino-thermic reaction, under vacuum or an inert atmosphere, of a glass or microcristalline gel of oxide reactants prepared from organic alkoxide precursors. This glass or gel was then ground and formed into bodies and sintered into bodies of titanium diboride/alumina-based materials as components of aluminium production cells. But such sintered materials are subject to attack and grain-boundary corrosion when in contact with molten aluminium Similar reactions, known as combustion synthesis, self-propagating high temperature synthesis or micropyretic reactions are known (see below, under the heading "Micropyretic Reactions"), but to date these reactions have not been applied to the production of refractory coatings on carbonaceous, refractory or other substrates in such a way, and with the right composition, as to lead to coatings with adequate adherence to survive the operating conditions in an aluminium production cell.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,600,481 proposed making components of aluminium production cells by infiltrating aluminium into a skeletal self-sustaining matrix of alumina or another refractory material which is normally non-wettable by molten aluminium, after having rendered the surface of the matrix wettable by molten aluminium for instance by treating the surface with a wetting agent such as titanium diboride, in particular with a titanium diboride composite material produced according to the previously-mentioned patent. In this case, only a temporary surface wetting was thought to be required to facilitate the infiltration, but in practice it was not easy to produce materials that sufficiently maintained the internal wetting to sustain long operating periods when the component was exposed externally to molten aluminium. Also, the described techniques have not been applied to external surfaces of refractory bodies to make them permanently wettable by molten aluminium.
The methods employed to date have thus not successfully produced adherent protective coatings of refractory materials, in particular aluminium wettable refractory materials such as TiB.sub.2 and other Refractory Hard Metals, on various substrates and in particular on carbonaceous or refractory substrates, that adhere to and remain firmly attached to the substrate in conditions such as encountered in aluminium production cells, the coating providing a permanent and perfectly protective surface that is wetted by molten aluminium.

Application of refractory protective coatings, particularly on the surface of electrolytic cell components


The magazine, having a fixed place in a manufacturing plant, is intended to cooperate with at least one machining device and with a handling device associated with said machining device in order to automatically exchange tools and/or workpieces on said machining device. The magazine comprises a rotating rack having a plurality of storing planes mounted upon another on a support for bearing the objects to be handled. Said rotating rack is designed as a separate constructional unit which is exchangeably inserted in a stationary part of the magazine, which stationary part comprises means for rotating said rotating rack. In this manner, the space needed by the auxiliary devices in the magazine station as well as the moving space of the handling device is considerably reduced, due to the fact that even in a prolonged operation of the manufacturing plant one sole magazine is sufficient, and that thus, for the exchange of the objects to be handled, the action of any grip means is limited to this sole magazine.

Magazines of this kind, and for said purpose, are disclosed e.g. in the publications EP-A1-0,132,599 and EP-A2-0,297,034. They are known under the designation "multi-level revolving storage machines".
If a manufacturing plant is run non-attended and for a prolonged period of time, it may be necessary to place at disposal a considerable number of workpieces and tools, especially if the machining processes are quickly changing. This means that relatively large magazine rooms and handling devices covering wide areas are necessary. In this case, according to the status of the art, for operating one or more processing devices, often a plurality of multi-level revolving storage machines and, e.g., a portal robot are necessary, such as e.g. described in the publication "Moglichkeiten und Trends bei der automatischen Werkstuckhandhabung mit Industrierobotern" ["Possibilities and trends in the automatic workpiece handling by industrial robots"], published in "Zeitschrift fur industrielle Fertigung" 1986, No. 10, 76 (Springer-Verlag). It is known from experience that in this case the material expenditure and the space requirement are important. Furthermore, due to the largeness of the magazine rooms, the interruption time for restocking the magazines at their respective positions is long.


An electromagnetic shield structure (100) has an elongated conductive wall (102) that continuously or discontinuously defines a shielding perimeter and has a flange (104) laying over laterally to form a J-shaped hook (106) in cross section. A conductive cover or lid (108) engages over the standing wall (102) and has a depending side wall skirt (110) that has a flange (112) and forms a J-shaped hook (114) facing opposite from the hook (106) of the elongated wall (102). The cover (108) is pressed onto the wall (102) for assembly, causing the flanges (104) and (112) to deflect and snap over one another in the space between the overlapping skirt (110) and wall (102). The shield enclosure (122) can be disassembled without damage by applying a tool (116) through an opening (118) in the outer one of either the skirt (110) or wall (102), to deflect and disengage the flanges (104) and (112) in the space between the overlapped skirt (110) and wall (102).

Some electrical and electronic circuits generate undesirable electromagnetic emissions and some circuits are adversely affected by electromagnetic emissions from other circuits. There are various causes for electromagnetic emission and for sensitivity to emissions. Current levels, conductor lengths, inductance, high frequency operation, and high slew rates (e.g., from switching inductive loads) contribute to generating electromagnetic interference or "EMI." High amplifier gains, low common mode rejection, low signal to noise ratios and other factors contribute to circuit sensitivity to incoming noise.
One technique for blocking the propagation of emissions, either incoming or outgoing, is to place a conductive barrier such as a metal sheet or screen, across the propagation path. An incident electromagnetic signal induces current in the conductive barrier, but the propagating signal is attenuated, particularly if the barrier is connected along a low resistance path to the applicable signal ground reference.
Therefore, problematic sensitive and/or high frequency circuits are often shielded by grounded conductive barriers. In one example, box-like sheet metal structures wholly or partly enclose around such circuits. In other examples, enclosures are formed of conductive polymers, or coated with conductive foils or conductive paints. The enclosures can be rigid or flexible, and can be box shaped, cylindrical, domed or otherwise shaped to define an enclosure of conductive material around the applicable circuit.
Shielding panels need not be wholly continuous, and there may be cooling interests as well as shielding interests. A conductive enclosure around a circuit can have holes or slots, or can be constructed using a conductive mesh screen. Shields having holes or slots or other openings can be effective as conductive barriers for frequencies at and below a characteristic frequency related to the size of the holes. For relatively higher frequency shielding, any holes through the shield barrier need to be relatively smaller, etc.
In connection with a printed circuit board arrangement, a rectilinear sheet metal box often is used as all or part of the shield barrier. A box can be formed by folding an integral sheet and/or attaching together two or more integral sheets so that the sheets together form a conductive barrier in the required shape.
Assuming the example of a rectilinear box on a printed circuit board, conductive portions of the board can define part of the barrier around a given circuit element, or barriers can be provided on opposite sides if necessary. On a given side, standing conductive walls of thin sheet metal can extend from the plane of the circuit board, e.g., extending perpendicularly upwardly from a folded flange attached to the board, or carried by one or more integral tabs that engage openings on or through the board as attachment pegs, feet, floor panel elements or the like.
The standing wall elements act as the panels of a fence defining a perimeter and keeping the EMI emissions of the circuit in or out. The panels need to be mechanically mounted to remain in position, and electrically connected to one another and to one or more points on the circuit board, typically a common ground point.
Many of the same shielding concerns that are involved in forming an enclosure around elements on a printed circuit card are encountered in building cabinets for apparatus. For example, shielding is advantageous and may be required by regulatory authorities, for equipment such as computer cabinets (e.g., PCs, servers, mainframes, etc.), peripherals (printers, scanners, modems), radio frequency transmission and reception devices (receivers, television sets) and the like. In addition to enclosing sensitive elements on circuit cards, circuit subsets may need enclosures (such as power supplies, disk drives and other devices that are internal to a cabinet). Cabinet structural panels need to be attached, and various ports that might permit propagation of electromagnetic fields, such as backplane circuit connector openings, need to be bridged over or plugged by a conductive cover. Although designers sometimes opt for relatively permanent attachments, it is advantageous if provisions are made whereby such shielding can be disassembled and reassembled or perhaps varied to accommodate different specific combinations of circuit elements in a cabinet or on a circuit card, e.g., to provide connector access to expansion card slots on a computer motherboard.
The need for effective electromagnetic shielding suggests that conductive parts of a shield should be securely affixed, both electrically and mechanically. On the other hand, convenience of assembly and controlling the cost of shielding parts may lead toward less secure or durable structures. What is needed is a good balance of interests.
Shield enclosures typically comprise inexpensive thin sheet metal stampings of aluminum, stainless steel or another material. There may be instances where it is desirable, e.g., for compactness and to reduce internal enclosure dimensions, to provide a shield with a complicated shape, but more often it is desirable to minimize expense by using a minimum of stamping steps, to produce a simple structure such as a box, a cylinder with an end cap, a covered rectangular opening or the like.
An exemplary simple structure could resemble the walls and lid of a shoe box, with a rectilinear perimeter of standing walls and a lid. To provide a connection and facilitate disassembly if necessary, the lid can have resiliently biased gripping structures overlapping the top edges of the side walls.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,552,261—Shlahtichman et al. discloses a push-fit shield enclosure comprising a box with walls covered by a lid having spaced fingers for resiliently gripping over the outside edges of the box walls. U.S. Pat. No. 5,354,951—Lange Sr. et al. discloses an arrangement in which finger-like projections of the walls grasp resiliently around the outer edges of a lid panel. Shield enclosures built by assembling resilient grasping structures are convenient to assemble and can be readily disassembled if necessary, but they are not very secure.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,005,186—Bachman discloses a shield plug that can be fit into an opening in a computer back panel to seal a circuit card connector opening. The plug has resiliently deformable depressions that are intended to become depressed by the edges of an opening in a cabinet wall when the plug is inserted to close the opening. The deformable depressions are spaced from associated flanges by a distance approximately equal to the thickness of the cabinet wall. When the plug is installed, the depressions are resiliently compressed in passing through the opening, and snap outwardly again as the plug is fully seated, holding the plug securely in place. A similar snap fit for affixing the lid of a shielding box structure is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,495,399—Gore et al., wherein resilient depressions and complementary openings are placed in the perimeter walls of a shield box and in the overlapping flanges of a box lid.
Such structures ensure that the lid (or plug or other filling structure) become securely affixed. However, they are somewhat difficult to disassemble. Disassembly that involves prying apart engaged snap fittings and the like often results in damage to the shield structures or to the shielded parts.
It would be desirable to provide a technique whereby simple shielding enclosures could be made without the need for great precision in the size and shaping of the parts, so as to minimize expense. At the same time, however, such shielding enclosures need to be mechanically secure as well as providing dependable low resistance electrical connections. On the other hand, provisions should be made for convenient disassembly when necessary, without substantially compromising the security of the connections in normal use.

Electromagnetic shield assembly with opposed hook flanges


A fence erected on a supporting surface, and a method for erecting the fence. At least two adjacent fence posts are firmly and vertically mounted on a supporting surface such as the ground. Several blocks are fastened to each of the fence posts at predetermined heights. A fence panel is used to connect the fence posts to one another and in so doing erect the fence. The fence panel includes at least two horizontal runners and several vertical poles fastened to the horizontal runners. Notches are formed in each end of the horizontal runners, and the blocks are inserted in the notches, so that the fence panel is supported by the blocks and connects the fence posts to one another, thus erecting the fence.

The present invention relates to fences. More particularly, the invention relates to the erection of a fence.
The prior art teaches how to construct fences. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,477,059, 5,362,030, 4,892,292, 4,553,741, 5,645,270, 3,499,631, 4,074,893, and 5,547,169. What is particularly lacking in the prior art, however, is a disclosure of how to to erect a fence without cribbing, blocking, adjusting, or leveling. The present invention provides a fence which can be erected without making these adjustments.


A threaded joint has a sealing ring radially positioned between a pin and a box and axially positioned on a portion of the pin on an opposite side of the threads of the pin from the nose of the pin. The sealing ring has two protruding annular lips positioned at a skewed angle to the longitudinal axis, two or more radial annular ribs on an external surface, an internal surface, and an at least partly embedded reinforcement ring. When the joint is made up, the sealing ring is in sealing contact with an annular groove of the box by the annular ribs and in sealing contact with the pin by the internal surface. The internal surface of the sealing ring can have a uniform diameter or have radially protruding annular ribs.

Searching for oil or more generally hydrocarbons has become more demanding in terms of hardware and devices in recent years because oil and gas fields or reservoirs are located deeper or in places difficult to reach and below the sea floor. Prospecting for and exploitation of hydrocarbon fields make it necessary to use hardware which is more resistant to environmental challenges such as higher loads and corrosion, which were less important in the past.
Modern joints are generally designed with metal to metal seals made by the contact between two surfaces, usually at one end or at both ends of the threaded portion of the joint, interfering in the elastic range of the modulus of elasticity for an appropriate stress magnitude. However in specific situations, resilient seals are needed instead of or in combination with metallic seals, to prevent penetration of external fluids in the interstices of the threads.
It is therefore a design requirement that the joint seals resist penetration of external or internal fluids, or at least do not allow continuous exchange of fluids that have already penetrated the joint with the surrounding fluids, in order to reduce the corrosion rate.
To solve the mentioned problems various solutions have been provided, one of which consists of inserting a seal ring made of plastic material, e.g. an O-ring, at the extremity of the joint external to the threaded portion.
It is a widespread practice to use O-rings pre-mounted onto the box, but this practice has two disadvantages: the seal rings can be damaged during mounting of the ring and/or during make-up, and O-rings of simple cross-section cannot offer redundant sealing functions.
Seal rings with more sophisticated shapes have also been proposed to increase efficiency and prevent external fluids from penetrating into the gaps of the joint. However such seal rings are subject to large stresses and adverse environmental conditions, both during the initial make-up operation and during operational life, such that their efficiency is much reduced after some time.
Another drawback of such elastic seal rings is the damage caused during the make-up operation because operators in the field can cause shocks between the tubes. The seal ring can thus be torn or suffer permanent deformation which later can jeopardize the sealing efficiency during operational life.
Document WO2004053376 discloses a threaded connection for connecting pipes for hydrocarbon wells with tapered male and female threads; an annular housing is provided in the vicinity of the free end of the female element, which housing receives a portion of a deformable sealing ring, which is radially compressed, while a retaining lip of the ring is immobilized in a further annular housing of the female element by a rib on the male element. However such a lip is a weak and fragile element due to its small cross-section, and its shape requires that the sealing ring be manufactured with a material having high slidability. It may easily break leaving the seal ring unretained and free to move axially. Moreover the seal ring is made of a material with low friction coefficient, reducing the available materials that can be used.
Such a seal ring can be considered as a seal having multiple sealing mechanisms working as a whole. Another disadvantage of this solution is that there is a need to machine customized annular ribs and/or grooves on the pin and box to position the seal ring which entails expensive and lengthy operations. Making the ribs and/or grooves requires high precision machining to provide the correct relative axial position of the rib or groove with respect to the nose of the box after make up. Moreover the seal ring is prone to twisting during make up, which makes operation difficult.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A vehicle floor assembly is made up of a floor and a liner provided underneath and attached to the floor. The liner is made up of a cellulosic or unwoven polymer fabric bonding layer laminated to a polymer fabric reinforcing layer. The polymer fabric of the reinforcing layer can either be woven or unwoven. This vehicle floor assembly has an improved moisture resistance and strength over conventional floor assemblies.

Mobile vehicles such as cars, trucks, vans, recreational vehicles and trailers have become increasingly popular in today's mobile society. As a result of the more extensive use of these vehicles, maintenance problems resulting from the increased exposure of the vehicle's undersiding to corrosive environmental and road conditions have become more of a problem. Of particular concern are the floor assemblies of these vehicles where moisture, dirt and other contaminants from the road surface work their way up through the vehicle floor to cause warping, corrosion or other damage to the vehicle floor.
In view of these problems, several solutions have been proposed for protecting the vehicle floor from road conditions. U.S. Pat. No. 4,930,809 discloses a towable unified floor frame assembly in which a moisture, dirt, insect and pest excluding thin cover is provided underneath the floor frame assembly. This thin covering can be thin plywood, asphalted paper or the like, with or without a net-like reinforcement included therein.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,054,843 discloses a bonded composite insulated floor made up of a deck, supporting plastic beams which are mounted on an underpan, and metal crossing beams which support the underpan. The regions between the deck, plastic beams and underpan are filled with foamed plastic which provides insulation and adhesively and mechanically bond this assembly together.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,456,513 discloses a sound, water and dust barrier for a vehicle which is made up of a central thermoplastic layer covered by thin outer thermoplastic layers.
Although the above discussed patents do present solutions to the problem of protecting a vehicle floor assembly, they also have problems in that the protective structure is expensive, heavy and difficult to install or does not provide adequate protection over a sustained period of use. The present invention was arrived at in order to overcome these problems.


Methods and systems of treating a patient with ischemia pain include providing a stimulator, configuring one or more stimulation parameters to treat ischemia pain in a visceral organ, programming the stimulator with the one or more stimulation parameters, generating a stimulus configured to treat ischemia pain with the stimulator in accordance with the one or more stimulation parameters, and applying the stimulus with the stimulator to one or more stimulation sites in accordance with the one or more stimulation parameters.

Visceral organs within humans and other mammals rely on the flow of blood to function properly. Exemplary visceral organs include, but are not limited to, the pancreas, duodenum, small intestine, colon, liver, spleen, kidneys, adrenal glands, stomach, appendix, and gall bladder, among others.
In some cases, a visceral organ may experience ischemia, which is a restriction or obstruction of blood flow to that organ. Ischemia in a visceral organ may potentially damage the organ, exacerbate an existing detrimental condition, and/or cause pain.
An exemplary cause of ischemia is chronic pancreatitis. Chronic pancreatitis is an inflammatory condition that results in permanent structural changes in the pancreas. Clinical manifestations of this disorder include chronic abdominal pain and pancreatic exocrine and endocrine dysfunction.
One theory regarding the pathogenesis of chronic pancreatitis suggests that increased secretion of pancreatic proteins causes proteinaceous plugs to form within the interlobular and intralobular ducts of the pancreas. These plugs may acts as a nidus for calcification, leading to stone formation within the duct system. The net result is the formation of ductal epithelial lesions which scar and obstruct the pancreatic ducts, thereby causing inflammatory changes and cell loss.
When a patient suffers from a pancreatic or biliary duct obstruction, such as those associated with pancreatitis, the outflow of pancreatic secretions may be obstructed, thus causing increased intraductal pressure. This rise in intraductal pressure may induce or contribute to pancreatic ischemia, which may be a major factor in pain experienced by patients with chronic pancreatitis.
Pancreatic ischemia is typically treated by surgically decompressing ducts within the pancreas using a procedure known as a Puestow procedure. During a Puestow procedure, the abdomen is opened with an incision extending from the lower breastbone to the umbilicus. The pancreas is exposed and the main pancreatic duct is opened. The opened pancreatic duct is then connected to a loop of small intestine so that the pancreas drains directly into the intestines. This procedure is highly invasive and irreversibly reconstructs the organs of the gastrointestinal system. In addition, 11% to 56% of patients do not achieve adequate pain relief with initial operative treatment, and subsequent operations for recurring or persistent pain are common.

Methods and systems of treating ischemia pain in visceral organs

Boston Scientific Neuromodulation Corporation


In order to be able to accurately measure pitch both during running and walking, the invention focuses on the fact that the second harmonic of the body movement can be detected at a high level during running and that the third harmonic of the body movement can be detected at a high level during walking, and is designed to be able to calculate pitch regardless of whether or not the user is running or walking, by using a high-level line spectrum appearing in the area that is at or above 100 times/minute, for example, as the reference wave, and by determining whether this reference wave is the second or third harmonic. Whether the reference wave is the second or third harmonic can be determined based on whether or not a high-level signal is present near a frequency that is 1/3 or 2/3 of the frequency of the reference wave, for example; and pitch can be calculated by determining that the reference wave is the second harmonic if no high-level signal is present in the above frequency band.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a pitch measurement device for measuring a pitch that indicates the frequency at which a body part such as the leg moves while walking or running, to an electronic instrument equipped with a pitch measurement function, and to a pitch measurement method; and more particularly to a technology for determining pitch from the body movement signals detected during running or walking.
2. Description of the Related Art
Pitch counters are known that use a means such as an acceleration sensor that can detect the movements of a body (body movements) to obtain body movement signals and that determine a pitch from these body movement signals. Conventional pitch counters, for example, use a method that first amplifies body movement signals, next converts them into pulses, and then counts the pulses obtained. As shown in FIG. 16(a), the pulse wave obtained using this method has irregular pulse intervals depending on the running state, resulting in large measurement errors even if the pulses are counted by setting a specific threshold value. Therefore, a method has been adopted that improves the detection precision by counting pulses in units of two using a mask signal that can set a specific non-sensitive time during pulse counting, as shown in FIG. 16(a). The pitch indicating the frequency at which the right and left legs or hands move while running is normally between 150 to 200 times/minute, which can be converted into pulse cycles of between 0.3 to 0.4 seconds. Therefore, by using a mask signal with a masking time, or non-sensitive time, of 0.5 seconds, the pulse signals resulting from the conversion of body movement signals can be counted in units of two and pulses can be counted as pulses having pulse cycles of between 0.6 and 0.8 seconds. Therefore, pitches can be measured at high precision.
However, such a method results in extremely large errors if the walking pitch is measured using a mask signal in which the masking time was set for measuring running pitch. That is, as shown in FIG. 16(b), the pitch during walking is between 100 and 150 times. Therefore, a signal with a cycle of between 0.4 and 0.6 seconds is obtained when the body movement signal is converted into pulses. If a mask signal having the same masking time of 0.5 seconds as that used during running is applied to the above signal, pulses will be counted in units of one when the pitch is 100 times/minute, resulting in an error. Therefore, to use a conventional pitch counter to measure running or walking pitch, it is necessary to externally switch the mask signal between running and walking before starting pitch measurement. Pitches cannot be measured accurately if this switching operation is not performed before the start of the measurement, and may sometimes result in totally meaningless data. Furthermore, in an electronic instrument equipped with other multiple functions in addition to the pitch-measurement function, the user must memorize the method of switching mask signals, making the instrument extremely inconvenient to use.
Additionally, when body movement signals are supplied to the aforementioned measurement method using mask signals, it is not possible to use a personal computer, etc. to analyze their pitch unless it is known beforehand whether the data was obtained during walking or running.

Pitch measurement device, electronic instrument, and pitch measurement method


To provide an electronic pedometer in which there is adapted such that a step number is counted by a walk motion of a user, and the step number is not counted by a motion other than a walk of the user. An electronic pedometer has a timepiece case, a signal processing part having been accommodated in the timepiece case, and an acceleration sensor and a slant sensor, which have been accommodated while holding their horizontal states. The signal processing part judges, in a case where the slant sensor has outputted a horizontality signal, whether or not an acceleration signal, that the slant sensor has generated in a horizontality time till a time at which it has thereafter outputted a slant signal, is a true walk signal, when there has been judged to be the true walk signal, it performs a walk addition and, when there has been judged not to be the true walk signal, it performs a signal processing so as not to perform the walk addition.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic pedometer which has an acceleration sensor as a walk sensor, and which is attached to an arm of a user by a band.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An electronic pedometer disclosed in JP-A-2005-309693 has an acceleration sensor as a walk sensor outputting a walk signal corresponding to a walk by detecting the walk of a user, a step number calculation means calculating a step number of the user on the basis of the walk signal, and a belt for attaching the acceleration sensor to a wrist of the user. The acceleration sensor is disposed in an electronic pedometer case such that its sensitivity shaft is located in a predetermined angle range with respect to a longitudinal direction of the belt. The "predetermined angle range" means that the sensitivity shaft of the acceleration sensor exists in a range from 90 degrees to less than 30 degrees counterclockwise with respect to the longitudinal direction of the belt, or a range from 90 degrees to less than 30 degrees clockwise with respect to the longitudinal direction of the belt.
The above conventional electronic pedometer has such an advantage that also a walk, performed without swinging the arm can be detected needless to say about a case where the user normally walks or runs.
However, not limited to the above conventional electronic pedometer, the electronic pedometer having the acceleration sensor as the walk sensor has a problem that a false step number is counted in a case where the user has moved only the arm without walking. Such a case is a case where the user is engaged in desk work such as personal computer work, a case where the user turns a page of a book, or the like.
That is, in the case where the user, who has worn the electronic pedometer having possessed the acceleration sensor, is engaged in a desk work such as personal computer work, the acceleration sensor detects a vibration of the wrist and outputs an acceleration signal. Whereupon, it follows that the electronic pedometer counts the acceleration signal as the step number. In other words, in the electronic pedometer having possessed the acceleration sensor, there is a problem that, if the electronic pedometer outputs the acceleration signal also by a motion of the user other than the walk, the step number is counted, so that the step number larger than a real step number is recorded and displayed.
A problem that the invention is to solve is to make such that, in the electronic pedometer having possessed the acceleration sensor, the acceleration signal having been generated by the motion of the user other than the walk is not counted as the step number.


An automatic immunoassay apparatus utilizes cartridges each having at least two wells, a first well containing solid phase material carrying antigen or antibody, and a second well containing antibody or antigen labelled with labelling compound. The wells may be sealed with a suitable sealing film before use and the sealing film is broken when the cartridge is to be used. The cartridges are transported to a predetermined position on a steppingly movable reaction line and conveyed thereby at a predetermined interval. While the reaction line steps, a sample, labelled antigen or antibody contained in the second well and substrate, if necessary, are added to the first well and stirred at predetermined timings, and reactions between the sample and a reactive solution are measured under control of a control device having a memory storing operator selectable programs for various measuring methods.

The present invention relates to an automatic immunoassay apparatus and a method of using the same.
Immunoassay is generally performed by using various label compounds such as an enzyme, a fluorescent substance such as fluorescein or rhodamine, a luminous substance such as acridinium ester, luminol or isoluminol and a radioisotope such as .sup.125 I, .sup.131 I, .sup.14 C or .sup.3 H Radio immunoassay using a radioactive isotope as a label compound (RIA) and enzyme immunoassay using an enzyme as a label compound (EIA) are well known. Among them, EIA has been utilized widely in particular in the field of clinical test in view of its specificity and sensitivity. In EIA, it is usual to attach an antigen or antibody selected for a specific object, i.e. antibody or antigen, to be measured to solid phase material and the solid phase material carrying the selected antigen or antibody is allowed to contact with the object contained in a sample solution to thereby cause an antigen-antibody reaction to occur therebetween. Enzyme labelling reacted or bound antigen or antibody is separated from non-reacted, i.e., free enzyme labelled antigen or antibody. After the separation which is usually called a Bind/Free (B/F) separation, the activity of enzyme labelling the reacted substance is measured, so that the measuring object in the sample is quantitatively measured.
Therefore, in order to perform EIA, a plurality of very complicated procedures, such as fractional addition of reagent, etc., dilution, agitation, B/F separation, solid phase shift, etc., are required.
Solid phase materials known to be used in EIA are polystyrene beads, magnetic particles, and the inner wall surface of a reaction chamber.
Some improvements on EIA have been proposed. One of them is directed to an improvement of a reagent container to be used in EIA. Japanese Kokai (P) 62-273453 discloses a technique for performing EIA with high sensitivity, in which magnetic particles are used as the solid phase material and the B/F separation is performed by using a special container containing such magnetic particles and a magnetic separating device having a permanent magnet configured correspondingly to the container. Further, Japanese Kokai (P) 1-201156 discloses a technique in which a microplate for containing magnetic particles and a magnetic separator are used. Japanese Kokai (P) 63-281053 discloses a container having a plurality of wells such as reaction wells and sample wells, etc., arranged in a matrix.
On the other hand, a semi-automatic measuring device for measuring a large number of samples has been developed such as shown in E. Ishikawa, "Enzyme Immunoassay", Igaku Shoin, pages 180-207.
It has been known, however, that, in any of the known methods and apparatus, it takes 1 hour to 18 hours to perform the measurement manually even if such magnetic particle is used as the solid material. Even if the conventional semi-automatic device is used, this time can not be reduced sufficiently because some complicated procedures are still necessary as they are currently performed.


A method, computer program product and computer system for assigning logic storage entities of a storage device to multiple partitions of a computer system, which includes associating each logic storage entity to one of the partitions that are allowed to access the logic storage entity; configuring a partition supervisor to control accesses of the partitions to the logic storage entities, so that the partitions can share resources when accessing the logic storage entities; and providing an interceptor in the partition supervisor, so that a request or a response between a select logic storage entity and a select partition is intercepted if the select partition is not allowed to access the select storage entity.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to storage management. More specifically, it relates to assigning logic storage entities of a storage device to multiple partitions of a computer system, so that the partitions only access the logic storage entities that they are allowed to access, and can share resources when accessing the logic storage entities.
2. Background Information
Large computer systems are usually partitioned into a number of logical partitions. Each logical partition represents a division of resources in the system, and operates as an independent logical system. An example of logical partitions is the partitioning of a multiprocessor computer system into multiple independent servers, each with it own processors, main storage, and I/O devices.
A typical resource that each logical partition requires is disk storage. Many systems utilize devices supporting the Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) standards, which define commands, protocols, and electrical and optical interfaces for storage devices. Most storage devices use the SCSI Upper Level Protocol (ULP) to control the devices.
The relationship between SCSI devices is encapsulated by a client-server service-delivery model. The client is called an SCSI initiator and the server is called an SCSI target. An SCSI domain consists of a least one SCSI device, at least one SCSI target and at least one SCSI initiator interconnected by a service delivery subsystem. An SCSI target consists of one or more SCSI logical storage entities, e.g. logic units each with a logic unit number (LUN). For partitions accessing storage devices, a partition is an SCSI initiator, and a storage device is an SCSI target. A storage device (or target) may contain a single LUN, for example, when a small hard disk is used as the storage device. Or, a storage device may contain multiple LUNs, for instance, when the storage device includes external RAID boxes. Each partition must have accesses to all LUNs assigned to that partition, but should not access any LUN that is not assigned to that partition.
A Multiple LUN (Multi-LUN) SCSI target is a target that contains multiple LUNs. A large computer system may contain one or more Multi-LUN SCSI targets, and different LUNs of each multiple LUN SCSI target may be assigned to different partitions. When the SCSI ULP allows an initiator (i.e. a partition) to send commands to a target, all the LUNs contained within the target will be exposed to the initiator. Hence, one partition may see LUNs assigned to other partitions.
To prevent one partition from accessing LUNs assigned to other partitions, all LUNs contained in a target can be assigned to a single partition. However, large storage devices, such as an external RAID storage box, could not be shared between multiple partitions, thus resulting in a waste of resources. Alternatively, a proxy server partition (e.g. a virtual I/O server) can be used to help communicate between partitions and LUNs. The proxy server partition would own all of the LUNs and server portions of those LUNs to other partitions. However, since commands and data would have to be routed through a third party partition (i.e. the proxy server partition), there would be a significant amount of additional processing overhead and data transfer overhead.

Partitioning of a multiple logic-unit-number SCSI target

International Business Machines Corporation


Nonwoven webs comprising a water insoluble α-(1,3→glucan) polymer and methods of forming the nonwoven webs are disclosed. The water insoluble α-(1,3→glucan) polymer comprises 90% or greater α-1,3-glycosidic linkages, less than 1% by weight of α-1,3,6-glycosidic branch points, a number average degree of polymerization in the range of from 55 to 10,000, and a ratio of apparent DPw to true DPw in the range of from 2 to 10. The nonwoven webs can be used for personal hygiene wipes, filtration media, apparel, or other uses.

Nonwoven webs are important materials in industry today. Many of the medical care garments, protective wear garments, mortuary and veterinary products and personal care products in use today are partially or wholly constructed of nonwoven web materials. Examples of such products include everyday items like personal hygiene wipes, diapers, training pants, swimwear, incontinence garments, pads, sanitary napkins, as well as antimicrobial surgical gowns and bandages, protective workwear garments such as coveralls and lab coats and the like. Nonwoven fibrous webs provide tactile, comfort, and aesthetic properties that can approach those of traditional woven or knitted cloth materials. Nonwoven web materials are also widely used as filtration medial for both liquid and gas or air filtration applications (e.g., high efficiency particle air (HEPA) filtration) since they can be formed into a filter mesh of fine fibers having a low average pore size suitable for trapping particulate matter while still having a low pressure drop across the mesh.
Nonwoven web materials have a physical structure of individual fibers or filaments that are interlaid in a generally random manner rather than in a regular, identifiable manner as in a knitted or woven fabric. The fibers of a nonwoven web may be continuous or discontinuous, and, are frequently made from thermoplastic polymer or copolymer resins from the general classes of polyolefins, polyesters, and polyam ides, as well as numerous other polymers.
Various methods have been disclosed for preparing nonwoven webs. In general, the first step is to produce the web of fibers, for example by dry-laid, wet-laid, or molten polymer laid methods. Once the initial webs have been formed, they can be consolidated to increase the structural integrity by bonding at least a portion of the fibers together. Bonding can occur via chemical, mechanical, thermal, solvent bonding, or other methods. Finally, webs can have an optional finishing step which applies one or more treatments to improve the properties of the nonwoven web. Some examples of properties that can be improved by the finishing treatments can include dye uptake, absorbency, repellency, texture, and antimicrobial activity.
The majority of the nonwoven webs on the market today are produced from man-made polymers. There is a continuing need for producing nonwoven webs from polymers made from renewable resources.


An LED illuminating device includes a column-shaped thermally conductive member having a taper-shaped portion at a front end thereof and being electrically conductive; a first insulating layer partially covered on the taper-shaped portion; a taper-shaped member sleeved onto the first insulating layer, covered above the taper-shaped portion, and spaced from the taper-shaped portion by the first insulating layer having a plurality of through holes and being electrically conductive; and a plurality of LED units mounted to the taper-shaped portion, passing through the through holes respectively, and exposed outside the taper-shaped member. Each of the LED units includes at least one LED chip having two electrodes electrically connected with the thermally conductive member and the taper-shaped member respectively. Therefore, the LED illuminating device has preferable efficiency of thermal dissipation for LEDs and provides larger area for mounting LED units thereto.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to light emitting diodes (LEDs), and more particularly, to an LED illuminating device.
2. Description of the Related Art
While a conventional high-power LED is working, it generates high heat. However, none of any better solution to improvement of the dissipation of such heat has been proposed. Particularly, the illuminating device based on such high-power LED will fail to be applied to the daily life of people if the dissipation of the high heat cannot be effectively improved.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,173,839 disclosed a heat-dissipating method of an LED display, in which the LED chip is composed of a thermally conductive tape, an aluminum strip, and a heat sink. The heat generated by the LED chip is partially transmitted outside from a lower side of the LED chip. However, three medium layers are located between the LED chip and the heat sink where the other primary part of the heat is generated, such that the number of the medium layers is so big that the thermal resistance is greater to incur worse efficiency of thermal dissipation.
Further, as disclosed in U.S. Patent Laid-Open No 2006/0098449, an LED is mounted on a flat portion of one end of a heat pipe, and however the flat portion has limited area, such that only few LEDs can be mounted on the flat portion. As known from the drawings, the LED is mounted onto the heat pipe via a base, or a plurality of LEDs are mounted on the same heat pipe via the same base. However, the thermal resistance will still be high if the base is used as the medium layer for thermal conduction. Although it takes advantage of the isothermal performance of the heat pipe for good thermal dissipation, only the flat surface of one end of the heat pipe is available for mounting the LEDs thereto, so the number and the position of the LEDs are restricted. When this heat-dissipating method is applied to the illuminating device, the thermal dissipation of the illuminating device is not effective, so that the range of its application is small and there is some space for improvement. In addition to the method, even if the heat pipe is also applied to the illuminating device, because a very thick base is still located between the LEDs and the heat pipe, under the condition of high thermal resistance, the enhancement of efficiency of the thermal dissipation is still limited. Further, the area of the LEDs is also limited because the heat pipe is mounted to the LEDs.


Methods and apparatus to reduce device power consumption through usage context operation. An operational mode of a mobile device is detected. A usage context corresponding to the operational is determined. A device configuration supportive of the usage context is generated. The device configuration is implemented on the mobile device.

Mobile devices have a limited amount of energy storage (e.g. battery) capacity. This limitation conflicts with the ever increasing amount of functionality that users expect mobile devices to provide. Increases in functionality typically correspond to increases in utilization of system resources which corresponds to reduced battery life. For instance, at a given time, a mobile device may utilize GPS chip to track its location, a Wi-Fi chip to connect to a Wi-Fi network, a Bluetooth chip to for short field communication, and a LTE/3G chip for wide area communication. Not to mention, a myriad of other system resources, such as memory, ASICs, etc. that are used to support these functions. A problem exists in that each of these resources draws power and thereby reduces battery life. Therefore, what is needed is an approach to reduce the amount of power that these resources individually and collectively consume.

Systems and methods for reducing device power consumption through usage context operation


A shade includes a main unit and a plurality of magnetic members. The main unit includes a shade cloth member and a plurality of transverse bars. The shade cloth member is provided with a first tubular portion and a second tubular portion and divided into a first shading portion and a second shading portion. The second shading portion is divided into a plurality of movable shading pieces each provided with a plurality of transverse mounting sleeves. The transverse bars are mounted in the second tubular portion and the mounting sleeves. The magnetic members are mounted in the transverse bars. Thus, the second shading portion can regulate the incident sunlight passing through the shade cloth member by expanding, partially folding or fully folding each of the movable shading pieces to adjust the shading effect of the shade cloth member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a window covering and, more particularly, to a magnetically attractive shade.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional roman shade comprises a headrail, a shade cloth mounted on and extended from the headrail, a plurality of transverse rods mounted on the shade cloth, and a lift cord extended through the shade cloth and secured to the bottom of the shade cloth to move the shade cloth upward and downward. When the lift cord is pulled, the transverse rods are driven and moved to roll or expand the shade cloth. Thus, the shade cloth is lifted and folded by the lift cord to allow passage of the solar rays and is lowered and expanded by the lift cord to provide a shading effect. However, when the shade cloth is fully expanded, the solar rays cannot penetrate the shade cloth so that the indoor light is too weak, and when the shade cloth is fully folded, the solar rays are directly projected into the indoor so that the indoor light is too strong. In addition, the shade cloth has a constant light permeability, so that the shade cloth provides a single shading effect without changing the indoor viewing effect and cannot satisfy the user's different requirements. Further, when the shade cloth is fully folded, the indoor condition is exposed to the ambient environment, so that the conventional roman shade cannot prevent a person from peeping outdoors, thereby decreasing the privacy of the house. Further, the lift cord depends from a side of the roman shade so that the lift cord is easily tangled with a child's neck, thereby causing danger to the child. Further, the lift cord protrudes outwardly from the roman shade and is swayed or deflected easily due to a wind blowing, thereby decreasing the aesthetic quality of the roman shade.