A wind turbine including a hub to which the rotor blades are arrangeable, wherein the hub is rotatable around a rotating axis is provided. The wind turbine further includes a generator including a rotor arrangement and a stator arrangement, wherein the rotor arrangement and the stator arrangement are rotatable with respect to each other around the rotational axis. Further the rotor arrangement is coupled to the hub. The wind turbine further includes a grounding system which is fixable to a nacelle of the wind turbine, wherein the grounding system is configured for transferring lightning current between the rotor arrangement and the nacelle and for providing an EMF shielding of the generator, wherein the generator is arranged along the rotational axis of the hub between the hub and the grounding system.

Wind turbines are located offshore or onshore, and are higher than nearby houses or trees for producing electric energy from wind energy. Because of this, the wind turbines are prone to lightning strike because of their height. If the wind turbine is hit by a lightning stroke, the lightning current flows through the blades of the wind turbine and through the generator used for converting wind energy into electric energy. This means that the generator and other electronical parts used in the wind turbine may be damaged due to the lightning current. Furthermore, the lightning current flowing through the wind turbine after a lightning stroke causes an electromagnetic field which can disturb the electromagnetic field of the generator itself or other components external to the generator.

Wind turbine comprising a grounding system for transferring lightning current and for providing EMF shielding


A device for fastening onto a vehicle a load carrier of the type provided with a strut extending transversely across the vehicle roof, support feet disposed at the ends of the strut and abutting against the vehicle roof, and clamping units which, for fastening the load carrier to the vehicle roof, are movable in clamping directions substantially transversely of the direction of travel of the vehicle. The device includes securement means having engagement members which are designed for interconnection with corresponding engagement members on the clamping units. The securement means have narrow neck portions which extend behind decoration or sealing strips on the vehicle. The securement means are provided with anchorage portions which are anchored on the vehicle.

Such devices for fastening a load carrier onto a vehicle are previously known in this Art. In these devices, the clamping units are often designed as catches which extend with a shank, for example into a door opening to the vehicle body so that the clamping unit hereby grasps about a more or less distinct corner portion between that wall which defines the door opening and a roof surface on the vehicle body connecting therewith.
In many modern vehicle bodies, the above-considered clamping technique is not possible since the above-mentioned corner region between the vehicle roof and the wall portion defining the door opening does not have the correct alignment or is not so distinct that the clamping unit can exercise any grip.
In other vehicle designs, the vehicle door extends up into the side edge area of the roof, for which reason no distinct edge portion exists at all about which the clamping unit may grasp.
The problems of fastening load carriers to vehicle bodies of the above-outlined types are so great that no hestitation has been shown in this Art in accepting the costs of providing, recessed in the roof, specific anchorages for the load carriers. Naturally, this involves complications in design and construction, and also considerably greater expense. Furthermore, such special anchorages are not suited for fastening of other than certain make-specific load carriers.

Device for fastening onto a vehicle, a load carrier


A holder for carrying golf balls is disclosed which has a frame member and a two pair of loop members. The loop members have a diameter greater than half the diameter of a ball but less than the diameter and are retained on the frame in a spaced relationship. A belt clip fixed to the frame attaches the unit to the users clothing.

Golf is one of the most popular participator sports in the U.S. and spreading throughout the world. The sport provides players, of all ages, with the challenge to aim and shoot a ball several hundred yards into a small hole. The problem is that many times from point A to point B the ball gets lost or damaged. Once a ball is lost, the player must put a replacement ball into play. Unless the player is carrying a spare ball, he must return to his bag or cart to obtain a replacement ball. It is not unusual for a player to lose one or two balls on a single hole.
Many patents have issued on various means to secure a ball, ether golf or tennis, on a player's clothing. However, for the invention to be commercially successful, the cost of the device must be kept reasonable. The manufacturing cost of the items from which the device is assembled, is generally a major factor affecting the pricing. The cost of the assembly operation is another major cost item. Although the material expense in most of the prior art devices is minimal, the complex construction involved would tend to raise the cost of manufacture. Another major problem in the introduction of a new product to a marketplace, is the cost of manufacture of prototypes and the cost of manufacturing small initial runs of the product. When introducing a new product to the marketplace, few entrepreneurs are willing to make large investments until the product has proven its commercial feasibility. The prior art is replete with golf ball holders and tennis ball holders which have technical merit but which have failed to achieve commercial viability. For example the device of U.S. Pat. No. 3,873,009, discloses a ball holder designed to secure a single ball on a belt. The base has a clip for mounting the holder and interlocking members for joining several holders to one another. A connector tongue is joined at one end to the base and the other to a resilient retaining ring which holds the ball in place. The Goudreau patent is, in the preferred embodiment, formulated from plastic. The tongue 24 and tongue 60 are connected at protrusion 62 and recess 26, thereby producing a connection at a high torque area which is subject to stress each time the ball is inserted or removed.
The Steere patent, U.S. Pat. No. 4,065,040, illustrates a beltmounted device for holding a ball between two opposing metal loops with laterally extending legs joined together by vertical arms. The user's belt is woven through the vertical arms to hold the device in place. The device is composed of several parts which require specific and relatively complex manufacturing. In order to work accurately, the two opposing metal loops must be mirror imaged.
The Fowler patent, U.S. Pat. No. 2,665,830, discloses a device which can be attached to the users belt and used to carry balls and other accessories. The construction of the Fowler device appears to require substantial equipment in that the former must be stamped out and then bent to shape.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,661,129 to Seaton discloses a single ball holder which attaches to the belt. The U shaped portion hooks over the belt and the ball holding rings extend outwardly at right angles to the U shaped portion. The balls are locked in between the two rings and, during removal and insertion, put pressure at the joints connecting the rights to the U shaped portion.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,708,061 issued to Kotchka illustrates a spring system which is affixed to a curved base. The helically wound spring is secured to the base through loops or raised portions in the base; the base is secured to the users belt through use of a U shaped belt hook. The formation of the base and attachment of the spring system and belt hook requires substantial tooling and machinery.
In the Kinard U.S. Pat. No. 3,768,709, a bent wire ball holder is disclosed. U shaped portions form a securing portion which is used to hold the device on clothing. A pair of wire loops extend from the U shaped portions to hold the ball in place. The Kinard device requires a substantial amount of bending and, the fact that the wire must be flexible enough to allow for the unit to be bent into shape and for the balls to be inserted, also allows for distortion of the base and ball holder portions.
Similar to the aforenoted patent is U.S. Pat. No. 2,074,180 to Hatley. Again, the flexibility of the wire to allow for bending into shape also allows for the wire to be distorted.
In U.S. Pat. No. 1,911,256, Andrew, a clip on device which slips over the wearer's belt is disclosed. In one embodiment, the balls are slipped into a partial ring and in a second embodiment, the balls are slipped into vertically placed "fingers". The manufacture on this patent can be difficult in that there are a lot of protrusions and critical dimensions.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,062,482 Szalony, discloses a one piece device for holding balls. The balls are secured vertically with a garment clip extending from the top ball.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,777,933, Joliot and 4,082,209, Sanders, both disclose ball holders incorporating a rigid cylindrical housing with clipping means to secure it to clothing.
A wire ball, cigarette, etc. holder is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,757,698 to Goodman. U.S. Pat. No. 4,433,803 discloses a belt which has vertically placed dual ball holders. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,226,350, the end of a key chain is fitted with a ball which slips into a base secured to a wall or the like.


A spark control module, for an engine speed and an engine load: for a first predetermined period, supplies spark to each cylinder of the engine at a predetermined spark timing set for the engine speed and the engine load. For a second period following the first predetermined period, the spark control module: provides spark to a first one of the cylinders at a first spark timing that is retarded relative to the predetermined spark timing; and supplies spark to all of the other cylinders of the engine at the predetermined spark timing. The storage module selectively stores in memory: a first torque output of the engine measured during the first predetermined period; and a second torque output of the engine measured during the second period.

The background description provided here is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
Internal combustion engines combust a mixture of air and fuel in cylinders to produce drive torque. Air flows into an intake manifold through a throttle valve. Air flows into the cylinders via intake valves. Fuel injectors inject fuel for the cylinders, such as directly into the cylinders. Spark plugs initiate combustion.
An engine control module (ECM) controls spark timing of the cylinders. The ECM may retard the spark timing from a predetermined spark timing under some circumstances. Retarding the spark timing may reduce engine torque output relative to the use of the predetermined spark timing. Retarding the spark timing may also increase a temperature of exhaust produced by the engine.

Spark control systems and methods for engine torque estimation


The invention provides a short-circuit protective circuit for a constant-voltage power-supply circuit. The constant-voltage power-supply circuit can realize a short-circuit protection with a simple circuit configuration in a power-supply circuit provided with a plurality of power-supply lines. A regulator is connected to one of a plurality of power-supply lines, and a constant voltage is outputted from an output terminal of the regulator through an output line. An output voltage from the regulator is inputted to constant-voltage circuits as a reference voltage, and output constant voltages from the constant-voltage circuits are supplied to the other output lines. A voltage detection circuit is connected to the other output lines, wherein if a voltage drop occurs in any output line, a detection signal is outputted to an operation circuit, thereby turning off an output control terminal of the regulator. Accordingly, the output of the regulator is stopped so that all of the output lines are stopped all at once. The invention is cost-efficient because the invention uses only one regulator to control multiple power-supply lines.

As for a constant-voltage power-supply circuit, a voltage of a power-supply line is controlled to maintain a constant voltage by connecting a regulator to the power-supply line, wherein if a load circuit is short-circuited at an output side of the regulator owing to some causes, a voltage drop occurs, so that a large current flows into the regulator, causing the breakage of the regulator owing to overheat of the regulator.
To cope with such a problem, a short-circuit protective circuit is provided in the constant-voltage power-supply circuit. For example, JP 5-252649A discloses potential detection means for detecting whether the difference between an input voltage and an output voltage of a regulator exceeds a prescribed voltage wherein the output of the regulator is prohibited by controlling an output control input terminal of the regulator. Further, JP 9-34569A discloses that an output voltage is fed back to keep a transistor ON so that a regulator IC keeps its operation to maintain a stabilized output wherein if a load circuit of the output terminal is short-circuited, the voltage is not fed back to the transistor and as a result, the supply of output from the regulator IC is blocked. Still further, JP 2002-358130A discloses the function of a control circuit for turning on and off the output of a regulator IC by detecting an output voltage from an output terminal of the regulator IC.
All of the prior art references set forth above use the regulator provided with the output control terminal for a constant-voltage power-supply circuit, wherein if a voltage at an output side of the regulator drops owing to a short circuit, the voltage is fed back so as to input a stop signal to the output control terminal, thereby stopping the regulator. However, if such a circuit configuration is used for a power-supply circuit provided with a plurality of power-supply lines, the regulator has to be disposed for each power-supply line, resulting in the increase of cost. Further, even if one power-supply line is short-circuited to stop the supply of power, the remaining power-supply lines continue to supply power so that there is a possibility that the short-circuited load circuit influences upon the load circuits connected to the remaining power-supply lines. If the supply of power continues, the waste of power consumption is unavoidable.


A flexible flat connector cable electrical contact including a first connection section adapted to be connected to an electrical conductor of a flexible flat conductor (FFC) cable; and a second connection section electrical coupled to the first connection section and adapted to be electrically connected to another member. The first connection section includes at least one staple feature having a hole and only two outwardly extending lances at the hole. Each lance has a pointed tip adapted to pierce through the electrical conductor of the FFC cable. The lances are adapted to be deformed back towards the electrical conductor to form a stapled connection of the first connection section to the FFC cable with only the two lances at the staple feature.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an electrical connector and, more particularly, to an electrical connector which is adapted to pierce through a flexible flat conductor cable.
2. Brief Description of Prior Developments
Flex cables, such as flexible flat conductor (FFC) cable, also known as flexible printed circuit (FPC) cables, are generally well known in the art. U.S. Pat. No. 4,749,368 discloses a contact strip terminal which can be attached to a flex cable.
Known flex cable electrical contacts or terminal products use conductor piercing types of connections. This is extremely good and desirable for space considerations as well as good electrical contact and precise locationing. However, conductor piercing types of flex cable connections are limited in their ability to address (terminate to) a flex cable where the thickness of the conductor exceeds 0.006 inch thickness. There is a need for a flex cable contact which can be attached to a flex cable where the conductor thickness is 0.008 inch and greater.
A current solution is to remove the insulation from the flex cable and crimp individual conductor 'Wire Type' connectors to the conductors. There is a need for a flex cable electrical contact which can be attached to a conductor of a flex cable without the need for removing insulation from the flex cable before the connection, but still use a conductor piercing type of connection rather than an individual conductor 'Wire Type' connectors.

Electrical contact with stapled connection


A centrifugal compressor includes a rotor assembly with a shaft and a plurality of impellers, bearings located at ends of the shaft and configured to support the rotor assembly, a sealing mechanism disposed between the rotor assembly and the bearings, and a gas bearing disposed between the plurality of impellers for supporting the shaft and receiving a working gas from an impeller downstream from a location of the gas bearing.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to compressors and, more specifically, to a mid-span gas bearing in a multistage compressor.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A compressor is a machine which increases the pressure of a compressible fluid, e.g., a gas, through the use of mechanical energy. Compressors are used in a number of different applications and in a large number of industrial processes, including power generation, natural gas liquification and other processes. Among the various types of compressors used in such processes and process plants are the so-called centrifugal compressors, in which the mechanical energy operates on gas input to the compressor by way of centrifugal acceleration, for example, by rotating a centrifugal impeller.
Centrifugal compressors can be fitted with a single impeller, i.e., a single stage configuration, or with a plurality of centrifugal stages in series, in which case they are frequently referred to as multistage compressors. Each of the stages of a centrifugal compressor typically includes an inlet volute for gas to be compressed, a rotor which is capable of providing kinetic energy to the input gas and a diffuser which converts the kinetic energy of the gas leaving the impeller into pressure energy.
A multistage compressor 100 is illustrated in FIG. 1. Compressor 100 includes a shaft 120 and a plurality of impellers 130-136 (only three of the seven impellers are labeled). The shaft 120 and impellers 130-136 are included in a rotor assembly that is supported through bearings 150 and 155.
Each of the impellers 130-136, which are arranged in sequence, increase the pressure of the process gas. That is, impeller 130 may increase the pressure from that of gas in inlet duct 160, impeller 131 may increase the pressure of the gas from impeller 130, impeller 132 may increase the pressure of the gas from impeller 131, etc. Each of these impellers 130-136 may be considered to be one stage of the multistage compressor 100.
The multistage centrifugal compressor 100 operates to take an input process gas from inlet duct 160 at an input pressure (Pin), to increase the process gas pressure through operation of the rotor assembly, and to subsequently expel the process gas through outlet duct 170 at an output pressure (Pout1) which is higher than its input pressure. The process gas may, for example, be any one of carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, butane, methane, ethane, propane, liquefied natural gas, or a combination thereof.
The pressurized working fluid within the machine (between impellers 130 and 136) is sealed from the bearings 150 and 155 using seals 180 and 185. A dry gas seal may be one example of a seal that can be used. Seals 180 and 185 prevent the process gas from flowing through the assembly to bearings 150 and 155 and leaking out into the atmosphere. A casing 110 of the compressor is configured so as to cover both the bearings and the seals, and to prevent the escape of gas from the compressor 100.
While additional stages can provide an increase in the ratio of output pressure to input pressure (i.e. between inlet 160 and outlet 170), the number of stages cannot simply be increased to obtain a higher ratio.
An increase in the number of stages in a centrifugal compressor leads to multiple problems. The bearings which support the shaft are outside a sealed area that includes the impellers. An increase in the number of stages necessitates a longer shaft. A longer shaft cannot be safely supported by the bearings for the same operating speed, which become further apart as the shaft length increases making the shaft more flexible.
As the rotor assembly gets longer, the shaft becomes flexible therefore decreasing the rotor natural frequencies. When operating at higher speeds, the decrease in the fundamental natural frequencies of the rotor assembly tends to make the system more susceptible to rotor-dynamic instability, which can limit the operating speed and output of the machine.
The other issue is the forced response due to synchronous rotor imbalance. When the operating speed coincides with a rotor natural frequency, the machine is defined to be operating at a critical speed, which is a result of rotor imbalance. The compressor must pass through several of these natural frequencies or critical speeds before reaching the design operating speed.
As the compressor passes through critical speeds, the vibration amplitude of the rotor must be bounded by damping from bearings. However, with a long shaft, the majority of the rotor-dynamic energy is transferred to bend the rotor instead of energy dissipation at the bearings. This results in low damped rotor modes and high amplification factors at rotor resonances that can lead to casing and impeller rubs and even catastrophic failure of the machine.
At higher speeds past the rotor critical speeds, fluid induced forces are generated between the rotor assembly and the casing (i.e. fluid induced rotor dynamic instability). These pulsations, stemming from fluid forces can excite destructive or even catastrophic vibrations if not adequately dampened. Rotor-dynamic instability is a different mechanism from critical speeds or imbalance response and often time is much more difficult to address.
It would be desirable to design and provide a multistage centrifugal compressor which includes additional stages without increasing the diameter of the shaft and other design parameters that would drastically change the size and cost of the machine.


An slab CO2 laser includes spaced-apart elongated slab electrodes. A lasing gas fills a discharge gap between the electrodes. An RF power supply is connected across the electrodes and sustains an electrical discharge in the lasing gas in the discharge gap. Either one or two ceramic inserts occupy a portion of width of the electrodes and in contact with the electrodes. A discharge gap is formed between the portions of the width of the electrodes not occupied by the insert or inserts. Provision of the ceramic insert or inserts increases the resistance-capacitance (RC) time constant of the electrode impedance by increasing the capacitive component of the time constant. This hinders the formation of arcs in the discharge, which, in turn enables the inventive laser to operate with higher excitation power or higher lasing-gas pressure than would be possible without the dielectric insert. The ceramic insert also decreases the difference in impedance of the electrodes with and without a discharge. This leads to a better-behaved discharge, and a discharge that is easier to light.

CO2 lasers are commonly used in commercial manufacturing for operations such as cutting or drilling, in particular, in nonmetallic materials. One form of CO2 laser suited for such operations is known to practitioners of the art as a "slab" laser. Such a laser has an assembly including a pair of elongated, slab-like planar electrodes arranged face-to-face and spaced apart to define a gap between the electrodes. The electrodes are usually contained in a gas tight enclosure. The enclosure and the gap between the electrodes are filled with a lasing gas mixture including CO2. A radio frequency (RF) potential is applied across the electrodes to cause an electrical discharge in the CO2 laser gas mixture. The discharge energizes the CO2 lasing gas. A pair of mirrors is arranged, with one thereof at each end of the pair of electrodes, to form a laser resonator. A preferred type of resonator is an unstable resonator. The energized CO2 lasing gas provides optical gain allowing laser radiation to be generated in the resonator. The electrodes form a waveguide or light guide for the laser radiation in an axis of the resonator perpendicular to the plane of the electrodes. This confines the lasing mode of the resonator in that axis. The mirrors define the lasing mode in an axis parallel to the plane of the electrodes. In an unstable resonator arrangement, laser radiation is delivered from (in effect, spilled out of) the resonator by bypassing one of the resonator mirrors.
In a slab laser used for drilling, cutting, and other machining operations a high output power, for example, greater than about 100 Watts (W), and maximum possible efficiency are important. In any given slab laser configuration, available output power generally increases with increasing gas pressure, provided that there is sufficient RF power to maintain a full discharge. Further, when operating in a pulsed-mode, faster rise and fall times for the pulses are possible at the higher pressure. A common problem limiting the output power of a slab laser is instability of the RF discharge. As RF power to the discharge (pump power) is increased to increase output power, the discharge eventually becomes unstable and is constricted into arcs. This adversely affects mode quality and efficiency of the lasers. This problem is exacerbated by higher gas pressures. Another problem in RF-energized slab lasers results from a substantial difference in RF impedance across the electrodes when there is no discharge (an "unlit" condition) from the RF impedance across the electrodes when there is a discharge (a "lit" condition). This impedance difference causes a change (a drop) in the resonant RF frequency when the discharge is ignited, i.e., the laser is changed from the unlit to the lit condition. Further, increasing gas pressure increases the difficulty of igniting the discharge, i.e., in turning on the laser. There is a need for an improvement of discharge stability in high peak power slab lasers.


A method of forming a semiconductor substrate. A substrate is provided. At least one metal wiring level is within the substrate. A first insulative layer is deposited on a surface of the substrate. A portion of a wire bond pad is formed within the first insulative layer. A second insulative layer is deposited on the first insulative layer. An inductor is within the second insulative layer using a patterned plate process. A remaining portion of the wire bond pad is formed within the second insulative layer, wherein at least a portion of the wire bond pad is substantially co-planar with the inductor.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to the field of semiconductor processing, and more particularly, to a method of forming an inductor above the last metal wiring level, and the structure so formed.
2. Related Art
Conventionally inductors are fabricated within metal wiring levels of a semiconductor device. This type of fabrication requires at least two levels of thick conductive wire and two levels of vias, necessitating the use of at least four masking steps. As a result, conventional inductor fabrication creates high production costs. In addition, conventional inductor fabrication produces inductors that tend to have high parasitic capacitance due to the close proximity of the inductor to the substrate. Finally, the large physical dimensions (height/width) needed to increase inductor quality factor can be incompatible with standard small dimension on chip wires and vias.
Therefore, there is a need in the industry for a method of forming an inductor that solves these and other problems.

Post last wiring level inductor using patterned plate process

International Business Machines Corporation


Techniques are described for configuring intercommunications between multiple computing nodes, such as multiple virtual machine nodes hosted on one or more physical computing machines or systems. In some situations, virtual networks may be established and maintained for groups of computing nodes, such as those operated by or on behalf of various users. Such virtual networks may be established in some situations by automatically configuring various communication manager modules to associate communications from a computing node belonging to a virtual network with one or more networking identifiers associated with the virtual network, such that other communication manager modules may appropriately forward or otherwise process such communications.

Data centers housing significant numbers of interconnected computing systems have become commonplace, such as private data centers that are operated by and on behalf of a single organization, as well as public data centers that are operated by entities as businesses. For example, some public data center operators provide network access, power, and secure installation facilities for hardware owned by various customers, while other public data center operators provide "full service" facilities that also include hardware resources made available for use by their customers. However, as the scale and scope of typical data centers has increased, the task of provisioning, administering, and managing the physical computing resources has become increasingly complicated.
The advent of virtualization technologies for commodity hardware has provided a partial solution to the problem of managing large-scale computing resources for many customers with diverse needs, allowing various computing resources to be efficiently and securely shared between multiple customers. For example, virtualization technologies such as those provided by VMWare, XEN, or User-Mode Linux may allow a single physical computing machine to be shared among multiple users by providing each user with one or more virtual machines hosted by the single physical computing machine, with each such virtual machine being a software simulation acting as a distinct logical computing system that provides users with the illusion that they are the sole operators and administrators of a given hardware computing resource, while also providing application isolation and security among the various virtual machines. Furthermore, some virtualization technologies are capable of providing virtual resources that span one or more physical resources, such as a single virtual machine with multiple virtual processors that actually spans multiple distinct physical computing systems.
While the availability of data centers and virtualization technologies has provided various benefits, various problems still exist. For example, one problem that arises in the context of data centers that virtually or physically host large numbers of applications for a set of diverse customers involves providing network isolation for the applications hosted for each customer, such as to allow communications between the computing systems executing a customer's applications while restricting undesired communications between those computing systems and other computing systems (e.g., computing systems hosted for other customers, computing systems external to the data center, etc.). One traditional approach to providing network isolation in such situations has focused on providing dedicated physical networks to each customer, such as a physical network that includes multiple computing systems interconnected via one or more networking switch, hub and/or bridge devices. Such dedicated networks may provide the desired network isolation for the computing systems of each customer, but come at considerable cost in terms of network design, implementation, and provisioning. In particular, changes to the number and/or type of computing systems deployed by each customer may entail significant changes to the physical networking infrastructure used to connect those systems. Such problems may be exacerbated in the context of virtual hosting environments, where hardware virtualization allows for highly dynamic, flexible reconfiguration of computing environments. Providing dedicated physical networks to each customer in a virtual hosting environment may accordingly eliminate many of the benefits of virtual hosting, such as the ability to dynamically reconfigure the computing environment to meet customer demand, data center administrative needs, etc.
Thus, it would be beneficial to provide techniques that allow intercommunications between computing systems to be dynamically configured, as well as to provide other benefits.

Configuring intercommunications between computing nodes


Process for modification of the position at which electrically-charged ink droplets arrive on a substrate (27), the droplets being charged by charge electrodes (20) connected to a voltage generator, the paths of the droplets being affected by the action of deviation electrodes (23, 24) that deviate the droplets depending on the value of their electrical charge, between N positions defining a frame obtained by a burst of droplets in the form of a straight segment approximately parallel to an X direction along which the substrate advances, process characterized in that an additional random voltage equal to a fraction less than 1 of the difference between the nominal voltages to be applied to the charge electrodes for each droplet and for one of the two immediately adjacent droplets in the frame, is applied in addition to a nominal voltage to be applied to each droplet charging means.

The present invention relates to ink jet printers in which ink droplets are formed and electrically charged and then deviated to strike a print substrate. It relates to a process intended to mask or reduce misalignment defects and a printer applying this process.
It is known that a pressurized ink jet ejected through a print nozzle can be broken into a series of individual droplets, each droplet being individually charged in a controlled manner. Constant potential electrodes along the path of these individually charged droplets deviate the droplets by a variable amount depending on their charge. If it is not required that a droplet should reach the print substrate, its charge is controlled such that it is deviated to an ink recovery reservoir. The operating principle of this type of ink jet printer is well known, and for example is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,160,982 A. As described in this patent and as shown in FIG. 1, this type of printer comprises a reservoir 11 containing electrically conducting ink 10 that is distributed through a distribution duct 13 to a droplets generator 16. The role of the droplets generator 16 is to form a set of individual droplets starting from the pressurized ink in the distribution duct 13. These individual droplets are electrically charged by means of a charge electrode 20 powered by a voltage generator 21. The charged droplets pass through a space between two deviation electrodes 23, 24 and are deviated by a variable amount depending on their charge. The least deviated or undeviated droplets are directed to an ink recovery reservoir 22, whereas deviated droplets are directed to a substrate 27. The successive droplets in a burst reaching the substrate 27 can thus be deviated to an extreme low position, an extreme high position and any number of intermediate positions, the set of droplets in the burst forming a vertical line with height xcex94X approximately perpendicular to a relative direction of advance between the print head and the substrate. The print head consists of the droplet generator 16, the charge electrode 20, the deviation electrodes 23, 24 and the recovery reservoir 22. In general, this head is enclosed in a casing not shown. The deviation movement applied to the charged droplets by the deviation electrodes 23, 24 is complemented by a movement along a Y axis perpendicular to the X axis, between the print head and the substrate. The time elapsed between the first and last droplets in a burst is very short. The result is that despite continuous movement between the print head and the substrate, it can be assumed that the substrate has not moved with respect to the print head during the time of a burst. Bursts are fired at regular intervals in space. If all droplets in each burst were directed towards the substrate, then a sequence of lines with height xcex94X would be printed. In general, only some droplets in the burst are directed towards the substrate. Under these conditions, the combination of the relative movement of the head and the substrate, and the selection of the droplets in each burst that are directed towards the substrate, is a means of printing any pattern such as that shown in 28 in FIG. 1. If the line that is drawn with the droplets in a burst is in a direction X, the relative movement of the head and the substrate in the plane of the substrate is in a direction Y perpendicular to X. The undeviated droplets are directed to the recovery reservoir along a path Z perpendicular to the x, y plane of the substrate. Printed droplets reach the substrate by following paths slightly deviated from direction Z.
If the relative movement of the head and the substrate takes place continuously along the largest dimensions of the substrate, there will usually be several print heads printing bands parallel to each other. One example of this type of use is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 in the patent issued to IBM, as number FR 2 198 410.
If the relative movement of the print head and the substrate in the Y direction takes place along the smallest dimension of the substrate, printing is done band by band, with the substrate performing an intermittent advance movement in the X direction after each scanning. The relative movement of the print head and the substrate is called the xe2x80x9cscanning movementxe2x80x9d. The scanning movement is thus composed of a forward and return movement between a first edge of the substrate and a second edge of the substrate. The movement between one edge and the other edge of the substrate is a means of printing a band of height L, or frequently a part of the band of height xcex94X where xcex94X is usually a sub-multiple of L, without stopping. All bands printed in sequence thus form the pattern to be printed on the substrate. Each time that a band or a part of band is printed, the substrate is advanced by the distance between two bands or parts of bands to print the next band or part of band. Printing may be done during the forward movement only, or during the forward and return movements of the print head with respect to the substrate.
When the pattern to be printed is colored, the different shades of colors are the result of ink impacts from nozzles supplied by inks of different colors being superimposed and placed adjacent to each other. The system for relative displacement of the substrate with respect to the print heads is achieved such that a given point on the substrate is presented in sequence under each of the different colored ink jets. Usually, the print system comprises several jets of the same ink operating simultaneously, either by multiple heads being adjacent to each other or by the use of multi-jet heads, or finally by the combination of these two types of heads in order to achieve high print speeds. In this case, each ink jet prints a limited part of the substrate. The droplets may be produced continuously as described above in relation to FIG. 1. They may also be produced xe2x80x9con demandxe2x80x9d, in other words only when they are necessary for printing needs. In this case, a system for recovery of unused ink is not necessary. Known means of controlling the different jets will now be described with reference to FIG. 2.
The pattern to be printed is described by a numeric file. This file may be formed using a scanner, a calculator aided graphic creation pallet (CAD) transmitted using a calculator data exchange network, or it may simply be read from a peripheral reading a numeric data storage medium (optical disk, CD-ROM). The numeric file representing the colored pattern to be printed is firstly split into several binary patterns (or bitmaps) for each ink. Note that the case of the binary pattern is a non-limitative example; in some printers, the pattern to be printed is of the xe2x80x9ccontonexe2x80x9d type, in other words each position may be printed by a variable number of droplets from 1 to M. Part of the binary pattern is extracted from the file for each jet corresponding to the width of the band that will be printed. FIG. 2, which shows the control electronics of a jet, shows a memory 1 in which the numeric pattern cut into bands is stored, this storage memory containing information about a color. For printing each band, an intermediate memory 2 contains the data necessary for printing the band with the said color. Descriptive data for the band to be printed are then input into a calculator 3 that calculates the charge voltages of the different drops that will form the band for this color. These data are input into the calculator in the form of a sequence of frame descriptions that, when combined, will form the band. The calculator 3 that calculates droplet charge voltages is often in the form of a dedicated integrated circuit. This calculator 3 calculates the sequence of voltages to be applied to the charge electrodes 20, in real time, in order to print a given frame defined by its frame description, as loaded from the intermediate memory 2. An output side electronic circuit 4, called the xe2x80x9cdroplet charge sequencerxe2x80x9d, synchronizes the charge voltages firstly with the times at which droplets are formed, and secondly with the relative advance of the print head and the substrate. The advance of the substrate with respect to the print head is materialized by a frame clock 5, the signal of which is derived from the signal from an incremental encoder of the position of the print unit relative to the substrate. The droplet charge sequencer 4 also receives a signal from a droplet clock 6. This droplet clock is synchronous with the droplet generator control signal 16. It is used to define transition instants of the various charge voltages applied to droplets to differentiate their paths. Numeric data originating from the droplets charge sequencer 4 are converted into an analog value by a digital analog converter 8. This converter outputs a low voltage level and usually requires the presence of a high voltage amplifier 21 that will power the charge electrodes 20. The illustrations of prior art given with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 are intended to make the domain and benefits of the invention clear, but obviously prior art is not limited to the descriptions made with reference to these Figures. Other arrangements of electrodes and recovery reservoirs for unused ink droplets are described in a very extensive literature. An electromechanical arrangement of charge electrode print nozzles and deviation electrodes as described in invention patent number FR 2 198 410 issued to International Business Machine Corporation (IBM) with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3 in this patent could very well be used in this invention. Similarly, the electronic control circuit for the charge electrodes could be illustrated by the circuit described with relation to FIG. 4 in the same patent. Also, data to be printed need not necessarily be in the form of binary files, but they could be in the form of files containing words of several bits, to translate the fact that each position of the substrate may receive several ink droplets of the same color. It can be understood that for printing, and particularly for color printing, the necessary superposition of droplets originating from different nozzles outputting the different ink colors must be very precise. The main print defects that are generated by all known print systems are related to misalignments along the direction of the relative movement between the print head and the substrate. This defect appears as light or dark lines produced when printing in successive scans. These defects may appear in the space between two bands that in principle must be equal to the interval between two adjacent droplets in a single frame, or within a single band, in the space delimiting the areas printed by different jets, or even inside the frame printed by a jet at the space between two adjacent droplets in the frame. These misalignment defects may be caused either by defects specific to some jets in the print head (mechanical or electrical defects) or substrate positioning errors, or errors of the relative positioning between different print heads, or even between jets in the same print head. Various solutions have been proposed to limit or to eliminate misalignment problems, but all these solutions limit the print rate to a value below the nominal print rate, sometimes by a very high factor, or by redundant print heads and therefore at high cost. Some examples of frequently used known solutions for limiting misalignment will be described very briefly below; a first type of solution is based on fine mechanical adjustments of the positions of print heads by means of micrometric tables. This solution is expensive due to the necessary number of micrometric tables, and frequently painstaking due to the number of trial and error attempts that are necessary.
Another frequently used type of solution consists of using a very high overlap ratio between adjacent drops, in order to avoid white misalignments. These white misalignments correspond to the lack of coverage of the substrate. Dark misalignments are less easily seen and it is preferred to have a misalignment defect composed of dark lines rather than a misalignment defect composed of white lines. The solution consisting of increasing the overlap ratio between adjacent droplets is efficient to compensate for defects within a single band and to a certain extent misalignment defects between bands, but it has the disadvantage that it requires a very large quantity of ink per unit area of substrate and causes difficulties in drying or deformation of the substrate.
A third type of solution for eliminating misalignment defects on printers operating in scanning consists of printing the substrate partially during each scanning. The substrate is completely covered by increasing the number of times that the substrate is scanned. Printing in several passes in this way uses several strategies for interlacing the positions of droplets from different jets. One example of interlacing even and odd lines is given in patent number U.S. Pat No. 4,604,631 issued to the RICOH Company. One advantage of this solution, frequently related to a high overlap ratio, is that it enables a substrate drying time, but it reduces the print rate by a factor of between 2 and 16.
The performances of colored graphic print systems are naturally moving towards higher and higher resolutions and rates, consequently there is an increasingly critical need to efficiently limit misalignment problems without making compromises that reduce print rates.
The process according to the invention is intended to mask some misalignment problems without modifying the print speed.
This invention does not necessitate a high droplet overlap ratio. It can achieve high print rates with a relatively small number of print heads. When the overlap between adjacent droplets is minimized, a misalignment defect can remain, and particularly a white misalignment defect that appears regularly. This defect is very perceptible to the naked eye when it is regular. The perceptibility of a defect of this type can be reduced by superposing an additional noise voltage onto the nominal droplet charge voltage, in order to vary the nominal position of each droplet so that there is a random dispersion in its real position. Due to this dispersion in the real position of each droplet around its nominal position, the misalignment defect no longer appears as a continuous straight line and therefore becomes less perceptible to the naked eye.
Therefore, the invention relates to a process for modification of the position at which electrically-charged ink droplets arrive on a substrate, in an adjustable and sequential manner by charge electrodes, the droplets originating from a print head, deviation electrodes being provided to modify the paths of the droplets between N nominal positions from a first position X1, a last position XN, and Nxe2x88x922 intermediate positions, the N positions defining a frame in the form of a straight segment parallel to an X direction of the substrate, process characterized in that a nominal voltage is applied to the droplet charge electrodes, superposed with an additional random algebraic voltage thus masking a misalignment fault by dispersion of the real position of each droplet around its nominal position.
The average amplitude of this noise voltage will depend on the row j of the droplet in the frame. Preferably, the maximum amplitude of the additional noise voltage will be equal to a fraction less than 1 of the smallest difference between the nominal voltage Vj to be applied to the row j droplet and the nominal voltage Vj+1 or Vjxe2x88x921 to be applied to one of the droplets immediately adjacent to the row j droplet in the printed frame, in other words row j+1 and row jxe2x88x921 droplets.
Since the values of the differences in the charge voltages applied to adjacent printed droplets are fairly similar, the maximum value of the random additional voltage could be assumed to be a fraction of an average value, this average value being the average value of differences in nominal voltages between two adjacent droplets printed in the frame.
Preferably, the minimum amplitude of the additional noise voltage will be equal to the value of the voltage difference that can be obtained by varying the value of the least order bit of an analog digital converter, the output of which supplies a high voltage amplifier coupled to the droplet charge electrodes.
Preferably, the amplitude of the additional noise voltage will correspond to a random numeric value generated by a pseudo-random number generating algorithm. The correspondence between the random numeric value and the additional noise voltage will be a result of the application of this numeric value to the digital analog converter. The regular dark or light misalignment defect will no longer appear, or will be less obvious.
The invention also relates to a printer provided with means of performing the process according to the invention, in this case a printer with a continuous deviated jet projecting droplets in rows 1 to N in bursts, the droplets in a burst being directed or not directed towards a print substrate depending on data that define a pattern to be printed, the printer having at least:
a print head, this head comprising associated means of separating at least one ink jet into droplets and a charge electrode for droplets, means of deviating some of the droplets towards the print substrate,
means of controlling the printout including a means of injecting the charge into the droplets to be directed towards the substrate depending on their row in the burst, coupled with the droplet charge electrode,
characterized in that the means of controlling the printout comprise a random additional voltage generator coupled to droplet charge injection means, the droplet charge injection means taking account of the value of the random voltage generated by the additional random voltage generator to modify the charge voltage of each droplet as a function of the generated random value, the droplets of each row thus being dispersed around a central position corresponding to the position that they would have had without any additional voltage.
In the preferred embodiment of the invention for a printer operating by scanning, the printer also comprises a position detector detecting the position of a mark printed before each first frame of a band, this detector outputting a value representative of a variation between the real and nominal positions of the substrate, and in that the print control means also comprise a calculator that calculates the dynamic translation correction voltage xcfx86 for the substrate advance, this calculator determining a dynamic translation correction voltage xcfx86 for the substrate advance for each droplet in a burst as a function of its row, this correction voltage taking account of a value of a variation in the advance of the substrate output by means coupled to the detector and calculating a value of the difference from a nominal position, the calculator that calculates the dynamic translation correction voltage xcfx86 for the substrate advance being coupled to means of injecting the droplet charge, the means of injecting the droplet charge taking account of the value of the substrate advance correction voltage generated by the calculator that calculates the dynamic translation correction voltage xcfx86 for the substrate advance to modify the charge voltage on each droplet as a function of the dynamic translation correction voltage xcfx86 for the substrate advance.

Process and printer with masking of defects


A planetary gear damper is provided having a ring gear, a plurality of planet gears meshed with the ring gear, and a sun gear meshed with the planet gears. The planetary gear damper provides for torsional damping which has long travel and provides low rate damping.

With internal combustion engines, diesel or gasoline, the ignition of fuel in the cylinder causes torsional acceleration, also described as vibrations. Newer commercial diesel engine manufacturers and commercial vehicle manufacturers are configuring vehicles to run at lower and lower engine revolutions per minute (RPM) at highway speeds. Peak torque output of the afore described engines are also being designed at lower engine RPMs. The high torque lower RPM combination for engines causes a need for torsional dampers that are "soft" and have long travel. The "soft" or low rate damper helps dampen drive line torque spikes and also tunes the driveline so that resonant frequencies are lower than the normal operating range of the engine. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a damper apparatus and method of utilization thereof which achieves low rate damping.


Implementations of the present application provide data interaction and offline credit payment methods and devices. In one implementation, a credit payment code generated by a server is obtained by scanning and parsing a two-dimensional code presented on a mobile computing device for making a payment. The credit payment code is then decrypted based on asymmetric key decryption to obtain a credit payment token. The credit payment token is parsed to obtain security content included in the credit payment token. The payment associated with the credit payment code is then determined to satisfy the security content and the payment is verified with the server that generates the credit payment code at a predetermined time.

Conventionally, magnetic stripe credit cards are usually used for payment. However, users usually encounter problems such as skimming fraud and identity theft. At present, although some new credit cards employ smart card carriers to improve security, many transactions are still conducted by using magnetic stripe credit cards. In addition, payment limits of credit cards are usually high, and the users need to visit credit card issuers to adjust the limits. If magnetic stripe information is duplicated or credit cards are lost, the users may suffer heavy losses. Therefore, security coefficients of these magnetic stripe credit cards are relatively low. Moreover, network-based payment is usually performed through bank card (including credit card) transfer, and the user's funds need to be processed in real time during the payment.

Data interaction method and device, and offline credit payment method and device


An impact absorbing, modular helmet that prevents or reduces injury to the user and other parties in a collision is described. The helmet has layers on the outer side of the hard casing that increase the time of impact and thereby reduces the intensity of the impact forces to reduce their injury potential. The layers may be made up of uniformly consistent impact absorbing polymer material, a polymer layer filled with air or a polymer honeycombed structure. These impact-absorbing layers may also be made and used as an independent, detachable, external protective cover that may be attached universally over hard casing helmets.

This invention relates generally to protective headgear and, more specifically, to an impact absorbing, modular helmet that reduces damage to the user and other parties in a collision.
Protective headgear or helmets are worn by individuals to protect against head injuries. The use of helmets is often a mandatory requirement for driving bicycles and certain other motor vehicles, in high impact sports and in material handling areas and other potentially hazardous conditions.
While the use of safety helmets has been just that—to reduce or completely protect the user from any top, lateral and penetration impact to the user's head, recent events have shown that in high impact sports such as football, there has been an increasing use of the helmet as an initial contact point while tackling and blocking. Helmets are now often being used as a weapon (unintentionally or otherwise), to cause physical harm to opponents.
Commonly used protective headgear uses a hard outer casing with an impact-energy absorbing padding placed between the outer casing and the user's head. These hard casing helmets have several disadvantages. Such hard casing helmets actually permit the generation of a high-impact shock wave and then try to minimize its effects by the use of shock absorbing material. In sports such as baseball or cricket, where the helmet's primary purpose is to protect the head from the impact of a high velocity ball, the generation of such a high-impact shockwave (when a ball strikes the hard outer casing of the helmet) often results in the sudden movement of the head and neck in the direction of the ball and if the impact is high enough, it may lead to a concussion (striking of the brain matter to the skull with moderate force) or even a contusion (striking of the brain matter to the skull with high force) and may also lead to skull fracture.
Published research suggests that the human skull can fracture at decelerations as low as 225 G's and that concussions can occur at substantially lower decelerations. Research has shown that to offer maximum protection to the head, the rate of deceleration should be as low as possible.
Further, when such hard casing helmets are used by young school children while playing football, even though the impact force is low, considerable damage can happen, for instance, if a child's palm is caught between two helmets—at the time of collision.
Hence, it is the object of the present invention to overcome the abovementioned problems and create a novel and improved versatile, durable protective helmet

Multi-layered, impact absorbing, modular helmet


Methods and apparatus for updating a database using a multi-dimensional data model in which data corresponding to the database are organized in multi-dimensional data blocks. Each data block has summary information associated therewith corresponding to a current state of evolution of the associated data block. Dependency information is maintained in the data model which identifies data dependencies within and among the data blocks. A list of change entries identifies changes made to the data blocks and times at which the changes were made. A request to apply a change entry to a data block is received. The change entry is applied to the data block, including generating a dependency list of data blocks whose data depends directly or indirectly from the updated data block. The data blocks in the dependency list are processed in accordance with a dependency update algorithm to update the data blocks in the dependency list.

The present invention relates to techniques for analyzing large data sets and, more specifically, to methods and apparatus for efficiently running "what if" scenarios with large, multi-dimensional data sets.
The term "data management software" encompasses a vast array of solutions for manipulation of business data which can be loosely organized into three categories, On-Line Transaction Processing (OLTP), data warehousing, and On-Line Analytical Processing (OLAP). Each of these categories has certain advantages and drawbacks, which were discussed in the above-referenced application.
In short, OLTP relates to a class of solutions that facilitate and manage transaction-oriented applications, typically for data entry and retrieval transactions in a number of industries including, for example, banking, airlines, mail order, supermarkets, and manufacturing. It is an important goal of an OLTP system that the data stored in the system is readily accessible to ensure a high degree of responsiveness. It is also important to provide locking mechanisms to ensure, for example, that when an individual reserves a resource, e.g., an airline seat, that resource is no longer available to others in the system. Thus, in OLTP systems, storing of data in more than one place is disfavored, emphasizing instead a heavy reliance on joint processing of the different tables to combine data. OLTP systems are very effective for real-time transaction processing, but not particularly suited to reporting functions employing aggregate queries, e.g., show all of the people who are flying on a particular flight more than twice a month.
Data warehousing employs different data schemas, which are better suited to support relatively sophisticated reporting functions. However, there may be a tremendous amount of duplication of data. In the OLTP context, this duplication is not acceptable, since a change to a single piece of data would need to be duplicated in many places in the data warehouse tables instead of just a single location. On the other hand, data warehousing is advantageous from a reporting perspective in that it allows the creation and maintenance of summary tables which aggregate information which correspond to queries in which a particular business might be particularly interested, for example, passenger loads for specific routes by fiscal quarter. While data warehousing systems are highly optimized to generate static reports, they do not efficiently support analysis of the data in which the questions are not known in advance. For example, a sales manager may look at a static report and see that nation-wide sales of a specific product during a particular month were lower than expected. However, because of the static nature of the report, the reason for the shortfall may not be apparent. In such a situation, the sales manager would like to be able to drill down into the data to determine, for example, whether there are any identifiable disparities (e.g., regional, temporal, etc.), which might serve as an explanation. These types of capabilities fall within the domain of OLAP.
OLAP systems organize data to allow the kind of ad hoc analysis which would allow the sales manager to zero in on the data that might explain the disparity identified in the static report. This is to be contrasted with OLTP solutions which are highly optimized for retrieving detailed data and typically very poor at providing summaries. The OLAP approach is also to be contrasted with data warehousing solutions that would be required to maintain an impracticable number of summary tables to duplicate such functionality. A significant issue with OLAP solutions relates to the fact that they are typically only optimized for batch processing (as opposed to transaction processing which is characterized by near real-time updating). Due to the large amount of highly interdependent summary information in the data underlying an OLAP system, the updating of any piece of detailed data tends to be computationally expensive in that many different summaries on many different levels of the hierarchy will typically need to be invalidated and recalculated. Thus, instead of supporting the interactive updating of data, most OLAP systems typically employ batch recalculations. There are OLAP solutions that attempt to strike various compromises to at least give the appearance of interactive updating. For example, some solutions limit the data set or indices upon it, such that it fits in main memory and then interactively recalculate all data values upon retrieval. Other solutions employ scripting techniques to isolate and update subsets of data between batches. Unfortunately, these approaches only partially mitigate the inefficiencies associated with updating multi-dimensional data sets. As a result, while OLAP systems are effective at the ad-hoc querying of data to assist in identifying and locating issues, they are relatively ineffective at the ad-hoc update or "what-if" scenario analysis needed to understand the implications of making changes to address those identified issues.
The above referenced patent application describes a number of techniques by which large, complex data sets may be more efficiently invalidated and recalculated to reflect changes. Change logging is employed in the maintenance of summary information for large data sets, in combination with dependency checking among data blocks for different levels of hierarchical data in such data sets. As a result, the time required to update or recalculate the underlying data is closer to being a function of the number of changes made rather than, as with most OLAP solutions, a function of the size of the data set or the number of dimensions. Furthermore, the described techniques also allow the running of multiple "what if" scenarios using the same underlying data set substantially simultaneously. Different users can run these multiple peer scenarios in parallel. Alternatively, a single user may have multiple levels of scenarios, that is, child scenarios based on the results of a parent scenario, none of which is currently practicable in the conventional OLAP domain. As the complexity of the users' "what if" scenarios increases, there is an increased need for a well-structured system that enables performing changes and updates and that supports rich analytics, compared to what is possible in conventional OLAP systems.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Methods and apparatus for maintaining consistency during analysis of large data sets


A bore formed within a body of material storing a magnetic field at a sattion level, establishes a linear path along which an electron beam is focussed after the bore is ionized to form a plasma channel therein. The driving current of the beam is sharply decreased to cause simultaneous decay of the stored magnetic field from a saturation level inducing an electric field concentrated in the plasma channel to accelerate travel of trailing electrons in the beam with a high accelerating gradient.

This invention relates generally to the acceleration of electrically charged particles or electrons based on magnetic field decay mechanism.
Relatively recent progress has been made in electron beam accelerators of the high current type. For example, induction linear accelerator systems have been developed wherein several local accelerators apply electric fields to a cluster of traveling electrons. A time varying magnetic field is utilized in such systems to effect electron beam acceleration, wherein the accelerating gradient is proportional to the change in magnetic field flux. Most of such linear induction accelerators require ferromagnetic cores that are very bulky and heavy, as well as relatively high electric current.
It is therefore an important object of the present invention to provide an electron beam accelerator that requires less core material than heretofore deemed necessary and yet provides a higher accelerating gradient.
Further objects associated with the foregoing object of the invention, include the development of accelerators that are very compact and light, and involve use of a relatively low energy electron beam.

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy


A method of inhibiting cell proliferation in mammals which comprises the local delivery of an inhibitory amount of dipyridamole. Inhibiting cell proliferation is useful for the treatment of proliferative diseases such as vascular restonesis, scleroderma, psoriasis, and rheumatoid arthritis. This method includes the local delivery of dipyridamole to the proliferative site by various techniques including local delivery catheters, site specific carriers, implants, direct injection, or direct application.

Proliferative diseases such as vascular restenosis, scleroderma, psoriasis, and rheumatoid arthritis share the fundamental mechanism of excessive proliferation of cells in a specific tissue or organ. In each of these diseases, the excessive proliferation of cells contributes significantly to the pathogenesis of the disease.
For example, the excessive proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells contributes to the reocclusion of coronary arteries following percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA), atherectomy, laser angioplasty and arterial bypass graft surgery. See "Intimal Proliferation of Smooth Muscle Cells as an Explanation for Recurrent Coronary Artery Stenosis after Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary Angioplasty," Austin et al, Journal of the American College of Cardiology 8:369-375 (Aug. 1985).
Vascular restenosis remains a major long term complication following surgical intervention of blocked arteries by percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA), atherectomy, laser angioplasty and arterial bypass graft surgery. In about 35% of the patients who undergo PTCA, reocclusion occurs within three to six months after the procedure. The current strategies for treating vascular restenosis include mechanical intervention by devices such as stents or pharmacologic therapies including heparin, low molecular weight heparin, coumarin, aspirin, fish oil, calcium antagonist, steroids, and prostacyclin. These strategies have failed to curb the reocclusion rate and have been ineffective for the treatment and prevention of vascular restenosis. See "Prevention of Restenosis after Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary Angioplasty: The Search for a `Magic Bullet`, " Hermans et al., American Heart Journal 122:171-187 (July 1991).
The excessive proliferation of fibroblast and mesenchymal cells is associated with rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis. The inflammatory process that is characteristic of rheumatoid arthritis results in the release of growth factors that induce active proliferation of mesenchymal cells. This proliferation is associated with the production of excessive amounts of enzymes capable of destroying the connective tissues that comprise the joint. Pharmacologic agents that inhibit the proliferative response would be effective in repressing some of the destructive potential of rheumatoid arthritis. See "Recent Insights into the Pathogenesis of the Proliferative Lesion of Rheumatoid Arthritis," Harris, Arthritis and Rheumatism 19:68-72 (January-February 1976).
Scleroderma (systemic sclerosis) is a multisystem disease affecting primarily the vascular, cutaneous, musculoskeletal, gastrointestinal, pulmonary, cardiac, and renal systems. The apparent diffuse clinical features of systemic sclerosis are thought to be linked by a distinctive vascular lesion in the various target organs. This vascular lesion has inflammatory, proliferative, and indurative phases and is clearly related to the proliferation of the fibroblast and cells capable of fibroblast activity. Controlling this mechanism of fibroblastic activation and proliferation may be useful in treating or preventing systemic sclerosis. See "Pathogenesis of Systemic Sclerosis: A Vascular Hypothesis," Campbell et al., Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism 4:351-368 (May, 1975).
In the pathogenesis of proliferative diseases, excessive cell proliferation occurs as a result of the presence of various growth factors and cytokines such as platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), epidermal growth factor (EGF), fibroblast growth factor (FGF) and interleukin-1 (IL-1). For example, growth factors produced by cellular constituents in the blood and the damaged arterial vessel wall mediate the proliferation of smooth muscle cells in vascular restenosis. A novel method of administering dipyridamole to inhibit cellular proliferation caused by various growth factors is therefore useful for the treatment of proliferative diseases such as psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma, and vascular restenosis. The American Journal of Medicine 70:1231-1236 (June 1981).
Dipyridamole is commonly prescribed as an antiplatelet or phosphodiesterase inhibitor. It has been studied independently or in conjunction with aspirin and/or prostacyclin for the treatment of vascular restenosis. The results of these studies have demonstrated that dipyridamole, when systemically administered, is ineffective in treating or preventing vascular restenosis in patients. Hermans et al., American Heart Journal 122: 171-187 (July 1991); Harker et al., Arteriosclerosis 10: 828a (September-October, 1990); and FitzGerald, The New England Journal of Medicine 316:1247-57 (May, 1987).
The present invention provides for the use of dipyridamole as an antiproliferative agent. The invention discloses the local delivery of dipyridamole as a method of inhibiting cell proliferation and is useful for the treatment of proliferative diseases such as restenosis, scleroderma, psoriasis, and rheumatoid arthritis.

Local delivery of dipyridamole for the treatment of proliferative diseases


A light fixture disposed in an ambient environment. The light fixture can include at least one light source, and a sensor module that measures a parameter, where the parameter is used to operate the at least one light source. The light fixture can also include an antenna assembly coupled to the sensor module, where at least a portion of the antenna assembly is disposed on an exposed component, where the exposed component has a substantially unobstructed line of sight with the ambient environment, where the antenna assembly is used to measure the parameter in the ambient environment.

In an effort to conserve energy, one or more sensors (e.g., occupancy sensors, ambient light sensors) are used in lighting systems. In such a case, these sensors can be integrated with a control system. For example, when an occupancy sensor detects that one or more people are in a volume of space, a control system for one or more light fixtures in a lighting system will provide power and/or control signals to those light fixtures, causing those light fixtures to illuminate. Conversely, when the occupancy sensor fails to detect that one or more people are in a volume of space, a control system for one or more light fixtures in a lighting system will cause those light fixtures to stop illuminating.

Integrated antenna assemblies for light fixtures


A liposome formulation containing a Vinca Alkaloid and an anion in an aqueous phase of the liposome. The liposomes also comprise distearoylphosphatidyl choline, cholesterol and disteraroylphosphatidylglycerol. A method for enhancing the efficacy and tumor targeting properties of liposomal vinca alkaloid formulations containing unilamellar vesicles.

Important anti-tumor agents exist known as dimeric catharanthus alkaloids also known as the vinca alkaloids. The vinca alkaloids are obtained from the fractionation of extracts of the Periwinkle Plant (Vinca rosea) which is a species of myrtle. There are four generally known extracts that are active dimeric alkaloids which include vinblastine, vincristine, vinleurosine and vinrosidine. Vinblastine and vincristine are the two most common and important clinical agents. Vinblastine is primarily used in combination with bleomycin and cisplatin in the treatment of metastatic testicular tumors. Vinblastine also promotes beneficial responses in lymphoma and is active in Kaposi's sarcoma, neuroblastoma, and Letterer-Siwe disease (Histiocytosis X). It is also known to be active in carcinoma of the breast and choriocarcinoma in women.
Vincristine is the preferred treatment in childhood leukemia. Vincristine also has similar clinical activity to that of vinblastine. For example vincristine is effective in the treatment of Hodgkin's Disease. It is also useful in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma when used in combination with such agents as bleomycin and doxorubicin. Vincristine is also used to elicit responses in patients with neoplasms such as Wilms' tumor, neuroblastoma, brain tumors, rhabdomyosarcoma, carcinoma of the breast, bladder and tumors that present themselves in male and female reproductive systems. Vincristine is also used in combination with doxorubicin and bleomycin in the treatment of Kaposi's sarcoma. The effectiveness of the vinca-alkaloids is in their ability to cause mitotic arrest at metaphase in dividing cells during the cell cycle, thus arresting cell division in metaphase. Although the above agents have been effective as anti-cancer agents there have been associated with the use of these agents serious cytotoxic effects on normal cells. For example, bone-marrow depression is common. Neurotoxicity is another serious side effect associated with Vincristine. Alopecia and hair loss are also associated with the use of vinblastine and vincristine. Other toxicities include anemia, polyuria, dysuria, gastrointestinal irregularities, thrombocytopenia and cardiotoxicity.
In an effort to decrease the toxicity of the vinca-alkaloids and to increase their therapeutic effectiveness, workers have attempted to utilize liposomal formulations of vincristine and vinblastine to overcome these problems.
Liposomes are microscopic vesicles made, in part, from phospholipids which form closed, fluid filled spheres when dispersed with water. Phospholipid molecules are polar, having a hydrophilic ionizable head group and two hydrophobic tails consisting of long fatty acid chains. Thus, when sufficient phospholipid molecules are present with water, the tails spontaneously associate to exclude water while the hydrophilic phosphate heads interact with water. The result is a bilayer membrane in which the fatty acid tails converge in the newly formed membrane's interior and the polar heads point in opposite directions toward an aqueous medium. These bilayer membranes can be caused to form closed spheres known as liposomes. The polar heads at the inner surface of the membrane point toward the aqueous interior of the liposome. At the opposite surface of the spherical membrane, the polar heads interact with the surrounding aqueous medium. As the liposomes are formed, water soluble molecules can be incorporated into the aqueous interior, and lipophilic molecules will tend to be incorporated into the lipid bilayer. Liposomes may be either multilamellar, like an onion with liquid separating many lipid bilayers, or unilamellar, with a single bilayer surrounding an entirely aqueous liquid center.
There are many types of liposome preparation techniques which may be employed and which produce various types of liposomes. These can be selected depending on the use, the chemical intended to be entrapped, and the type of lipids used to form the bilayer membrane. The requirements which must be considered in producing a liposome preparation are similar to those of other controlled release mechanisms. They are as follows: (1) high percent of chemical entrapment; (2) increased chemical stability; (3) low chemical toxicity; (4) rapid method of production; and (5) reproducible size distribution.
The first method described to encapsulate chemicals in liposomes involved production of multilamellar vesicles (MLVs). Methods for encapsulating chemicals in MLVs are known in the art.
Liposomes can also be formed as unilamellar vesicles (UVs), which generally have a size less than 1 .mu.m. There are several techniques known in the art which are used to produce unilamellar liposomes.
Smaller unilamellar vesicles can be formed using a variety of techniques. By dissolving phospholipids in ethanol and injecting them into a buffer, the lipids will spontaneously rearrange into unilamellar vesicles. This provides a simple method to produce UVs which have internal volumes similar to that of those produced by sonication (0.2-0.5 L/mol/lipid). Sonication, extrusion (through filters) of MLVs also results in dispersions of UVs having diameters of up to 0.2 .mu.m, which appear as clear or translucent suspensions.
Another common method for producing small UVs is the detergent removal technique. Phospholipids are solubilized in either ionic or non-ionic detergents such as cholates, Triton X, or n-alkylglucosides. The drug is then mixed with the solubilized lipid-detergent micelles. Detergent is then removed by one of several techniques: dialysis, gel filtration, affinity chromatography, centrifugation, ultrafiltration. The size distribution and entrapment efficiencies of the UVs produced this way will vary depending on the details of the technique used.
Smaller unilamellar vesicles can be formed using a variety of techniques, such as applying a force sufficient to reduce the size of the liposomes and or produce smaller unilamellar vesicles. Such force can be produced by a variety of methods, including homogenization, sonication or extrusion (through filters) of MLV's. These methods result in dispersions of UVs having diameters of up to 0.2 .mu.m, which appear as clear or translucent suspensions. Other standard methods for the formation of liposomes are know in the art, for example, methods for the commercial production of liposomes include the homogenization procedure described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,753,788 to Gamble, a preferred technique, and the method described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,935,171 to Bracken, which are incorporated herein by reference.
The therapeutic use of liposomes includes the delivery of drugs which are normally toxic in the free form. In the liposomal form the toxic drug may be directed away from the sensitive tissue and targeted to selected areas. Liposomes can also be used therapeutically to release drugs, over a prolonged period of time, reducing the frequency of administration. In addition, liposomes can provide a method for forming an aqueous dispersion of hydrophobic drugs for intravenous delivery.
When liposomes are used to target encapsulated drugs to selected host tissues, and away from sensitive tissues, several techniques can be employed. These procedures involve manipulating the size of the liposomes, their net surface charge as well as the route of administration. More specific manipulations have included labeling the liposomes with receptors or antibodies for particular sites in the body. The route of delivery of liposomes can also affect their distribution in the body. Passive delivery of liposomes involves the use of various routes of administration, e.g., intravenous, subcutaneous and topical. Each route produces differences in localization of the liposomes. Two common methods used to actively direct the liposomes to selected target areas are binding either antibodies or specific receptor ligands to the surface of the liposomes. Antibodies are known to have a high specificity for their corresponding antigen and have been shown to be capable of being bound to the surface of liposomes, thus increasing the target specificity of the liposome encapsulated drug.
Since the chemical composition of many drugs precludes their intravenous administration, liposomes can be very useful in adapting these drugs for intravenous delivery. Many hydrophobic drugs, fall into this category because they cannot be easily dissolved in a water-based medium and must be dissolved in alcohols or surfactants which have been shown to cause toxic reactions in vivo. Liposomes, composed of lipids, with or without cholesterol, are nontoxic. Furthermore, since liposomes are made up of amphipathic molecules, they can entrap hydrophilic drugs in their interior space and hydrophobic molecules in their lipid bilayer. Although methods for making liposomes are well known in the art, it is not always possible to determine a working formulation without undue experimentation.
Efforts have been made to increase the therapeutic ability of anticancer or antineoplastic drugs in general and vincristine in particular. Efforts have also been made to reduce the toxic side effects associated with the use of these agents. Further, work has been done to increase the circulation time and accumulation in tumors of the various agents encapsulated within the liposomes. Examples of the work that has been done with tumor uptake is discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,019,3692 and U.S. application Ser. No. 07/835931 filed on Jul. 3, 1991 (PCT); both of these documents are incorporated by reference. Specific work performed on liposomal vincristine is also shown in references such as D. Layton and A. Trouet, Europ. J Cancer (1980) 16:945-50; J. Vaage et al., Int. J Cancer (1993) 54:/959-64; and L. D. Mayer et al., Cancer Chemother. Phamacol. (1993) 33:/7-24. Much work remains to be done in developing liposomal formulations which are stable on storage and which are capable of enhanced tumor targeting.
Thus, it is a desideratum to provide for a liposomal formulation with enhanced tumor targeting properties and which provides an increase in therapeutic value over free drug and offers decreased toxicity. It is an object of the invention to provide a liposomal formulation that is stable in that the formulation will not aggregate over time.

Vinca alkaloid vesicles with enhanced efficacy and tumor targeting properties


A barbecue grill is disclosed having a plurality of vertical leg members, a cooking vessel, a bracket for securing the vertical leg members and supporting the cooking vessel, wherein the bracket has a pair of oppositely disposed shelf attachments. Each of the shelf attachments has a pair of horizontally and vertically offset extensions with slots therein, and at least one side shelf has a pair of horizontally and vertically offset pins on opposite sides thereof adapted to slide within respective ones of the slots for selectively: 1) locking the shelf in a horizontal position; 2) pivoting the shelf downwardly from the horizontal position to a vertical position; and 3) removing the shelf from the bracket.

Well known outdoor barbecue grills typically comprise a frame portion having a plurality of vertical leg members, a cooking vessel supported on the frame portion, a hinged lid, and one or more side and front shelves. It is well known to provide brackets for selective pivotal movement of the side and front shelves.
Examples of well known prior art outdoor barbecue grills are disclosed in the following U.S. Pat. Nos.: 4,895,068 (Hannigan et al); 4,667,652 (Bunton); 4,979,437 (Giebel); 4,924,846 (Peacock et al); 5,076,257 (Raemer et al); 5,076,256 (Raemer et al); 5,090,398 (Raemer et al) and U.S. Pat. No. Des. 282,619 (Fitzgerald et al).
One disadvantage of the known prior art barbecue grills is that the assembly thereof is often complicated and time consuming. For example, where the barbecue grill includes a large number of small parts such as brackets, bolts, nuts, screws, etc., the purchaser of the grill may become frustrated in assembling the unit due to misplacement or loss of many small parts, as well as instructions which are difficult to understand, and parts which are difficult to connect, etc.


Devices and methods for providing a mobile source of power for many different types of situations are provided. A portable emergency alternating current (AC) energy (PEACE) Supplier can serve as a mobile source of power for users with photovoltaic (PV) and/or energy storage systems during power outage situations caused by normal or extreme scenarios. A Supplier can also be used to provide power when weather conditions result in insufficient solar energy for the user's needs.

Power outages occur for a variety of reasons, including natural disasters or overloading of the power grid. Photovoltaic (PV) cells or storage systems can be used to harness solar energy and minimize the effects of certain types of power outages. However, solar energy is not reliable and can be affected by cloud cover and other weather-related factors.

Systems and methods for power management

The Florida International University Board of Trustees


Method of transferring isochronous data from a source over a clocked channel to a sink. The data is compressed by a compression ratio responsive to a depth of a first variable stack. The compressed data is stored in the first stack and clocked by the channel. Compressed data on the channel is expanded and stored in a second variable stack. The variable stack is clocked to maintain the second variable stack at a constant depth.

This invention pertains to digital communications and more particularly is concerned with isochronous channel interfaces.
Digital communications isochronous channel interfaces offer the capability of adapting, at the channel input, data from a source that is not synchronized to the channel and restoring the data, at the channel output, to its original condition. A typical source is telemetry that is generating a continuous data stream timed independently of the channel clock source and that is often unstable with momentary rate perturbations. To be successful, the source data rate must be lower than the channel traffic rate. One technique employs stuff bits to fill the gap between the rates. The stuff bits are identified and discarded during data recovery at the channel output. Channel traffic rates are available in discrete increments and force the system designer to the next available increment above the telemetry data rate, thus often causing costly overhead.
Consider an interface between two networks wherein one network has a clearly specified frequency reference but the other network does not. The timing characteristic of the second network is unknown. The interface should accommodate any timing condition, including unpredictable drift. Since the data is not digitized analog where resampling is a solution, an isochronous process is required.
Two current techniques to accommodate an isochronous interface are bit stuffing and oversampling. Both techniques require that the source data rate be lower than the channel traffic rate. The difference between the data rate and the channel rate is called the overhead. The bit stuffing approach requires moderate overhead of 10 to 20%. The overhead is used for framing of the data and for identification of the stuff bits so that they can be removed accurately at the channel output. The actual overhead is often higher since many networks and components have incremental channel traffic rate configuration capability.
For example, consider a 64 kbps .+-.5% data rate to be interfaced to an ISDN channel. A 20% framing and bit stuffing overhead would raise the required channel traffic rate to 80 kbps. However, the next incremental traffic rate available on the ISDN channel is 128 kbps, therefore 100% overhead is incurred.
The oversampling technique is effective for very low rate data streams since the data is sampled at several times the data rate. The transitions of the data are sensed and transmitted for reconstruction at the output of the channel. This technique is very high in overhead and appends an inherent jitter onto the reconstructed data.