Two flow control ceramic discs (22 and 24) for a thermostatic valve (10) have ports (30, 32, 38 and 40) to adjust water flow from a closed to a full open position. Ceramic disc (24) has a contoured opening (38 and 40) that has a wide section (84) and a narrow section (85) that provide regulation fields with significant different capacities of flow rates.

The field of this invention relates to a thermostatically controlled mixing valve and more particularly to a thermostatic controlled mixing valve with a volume control feature incorporated therein.
Mixing valves are well known and common in the plumbing field. These valves provide a flow of mixed water from separate hot and cold water supplies. Secondly, thermostatic control for handle mixer valves are well known. One reason for thermostatic control is to eliminate constant readjustment of the valve when the temperature of the hot water supply fluctuates. The temperature of the hot water supply may vary substantially. Furthermore, the pressure within the cold water line may also vary changing the proportions of hot and cold water flow and thereby fluctuating the temperature of the mixed water.
Known thermostatic valves have packaging problems and are often significantly bulkier than standard mixing valves that do not incorporate the thermostatic regulation. This bulkiness is due to the flow path that has always been used for thermostatic faucets, namely the supply inlets approach the centrally located thermostatic valve from a radially outer position.
When thermostatic valves are incorporated into mixer valves, the volume or flow control valves may be installed either downstream or upstream from the thermostatic valve element. When the flow is regulated downstream of the thermostatic element within the mixed water flow, installation of non-return valves are needed in order to prevent the possibility of communication between the hot water supply and the cold water supply. When the flow control of the hot and cold water supplies is upstream of the thermostatic valve before the water is mixed, the return valves are not needed. For this economic reason, most thermostatic mixing valves have the volume control upstream of the thermostatic element.
However when the flow is regulated with respect to the hot and cold water supplies, the thermostatic device is unable to maintain the constant temperature due to the variations of the flow rates. It is well known that when hot and cold water supply pressures are approximately equal or with the hot supply pressure being only slightly lower than the cold water pressure, the difference in flow rate or variation between the hot and cold water supplies is increased when the total flow is reduced and the rise in temperature can sometimes become significant. On the other hand, if the hot water supply pressure is substantially lower than the cold water supply pressure, as is often the case due the increased corrosion of the hot water pipelines, the difference in the flow rate or variation of the flow rate between the hot and cold water supplies is decreased as the total flow rate is reduced.
Contoured apertures in a pair of disc plate valves have been known to contour the water flow profile between the hot and cold water supplies. However, these plate valves are set to move both rotatably and translationally with respect to each other to mechanically control both the total flow rate and the temperature mix of the hot and cold water.
A thermostatic mixing valve has been developed that includes two inlets for hot water and cold water, a mixing chamber, passages between the inlets and the mixing chamber, an outlet for the mixed water which runs from the mixing chamber, an expanding thermostatic element placed, at least in part, within the outlet so that it will be in contact with the mixed water. A slide valve is activated by the thermostatic element and acts on one or both of the inlet passages to maintain the mixed water at a constant temperature. The inlets are located in a central body situated inside the slide valve activated by the thermostatic element. A pair of valve plates crossed by passages for the water are positioned to control total flow rate through the inlets for the hot water and cold water without affecting the outlet for the mixed water. The valve plates are controlled by rotation of an external body or housing of the thermostatic mixing valve. A thermostatic mixing valve of this kind has proved to be very advantageous, yet (like other types of thermostatic mixing valve) it can prove to be inconvenient in certain conditions.
If a thermostatic mixing valve, which is designed to be able to deliver a determined rate of flow, supplies a device downstream which, due to its own high resistance only allows delivery of a much lower rate of flow, the fall in pressure at the inlet produced by the pair of valve plates is greatly reduced in comparison to the fall in pressure at the inlet produced by the downstream device and the pressure inside the thermostatic mixing valve is close to the pressure in the supply pipes. If a considerable difference in pressure then occurs between the hot and cold water supplies, for example because of the actuation of a device with high rate of flow that uses primarily hot or cold water upstream from thermostatic valve, the valve will then be unstable and will start to oscillate, because of the cross-flow which occurs inside the thermostatic valve. The oscillation will cause malfunctioning and temperature instability in the mixed water delivery downstream from the thermostatic valve. This situation may occur when a thermostatic mixing valve is designed to supply a relatively high rate of flow, such as for example 50 or 60 liters per minute at 3 bars but is used with a much lower delivery rate, for example 9 liters per minute due to the resistance or restriction at the outlet on certain downstream devices. This situation occurs, for example, when the thermostatic mixing valve is installed to supply a bank with multiple outlets, each of which is equipped with its own on/off valve, and the user makes use of only one outlet. More generally, the situation occurs when the thermostatic mixing valve is capable of supplying many devices and only one or a few of these devices are actually in operation at any given time.
In fact, the user could in theory prevent this instability by accurate regulation of the thermostatic mixing valve, so as create a resistance at the inlet that proportional to the resistance at the outlet. However, this is not possible in practice, because well-known thermostatic mixing valves do not offer sufficiently sensitive regulation at low rates of flow. Furthermore, since the rate of flow is limited at the outlet of a device with high restriction or resistance, the user is not aware of the effect of the regulation at the downstream device and is therefore not in a position to decide whether the regulation he has carried out is adequate to avoid the noted problem.
This problem which also occurs with other kinds of thermostatic mixers, has usually been remedied by installing a pressure controller in the supply pipes upstream of the thermostatic mixing valve. This pressure controller, however, increases the size, complexity and expense of the installation and renders the device less reliable.
What is needed is a compact thermostatic valve that is easily assembled and controls the temperature of the mixed water output. What is also needed is a thermostatic control built into a valve with flow control that provides proper thermostatic control at a wide range of flow rates.
In accordance with an aspect of the invention, a thermostatic mixing valve has a cold water inlet port and a hot water inlet port in communication with a base having two supply ports. A handle body is rotatably mounted onto the base and is operably connected to a first valving surface with two inlet passages therethrough that are operably positioned adjacent the two supply ports for controlling total flow rate into the housing. A thermostat element is operably connected to a second valving surface to move the second valving surface between a first and second seat for controlling the relative flow from the first and second inlet passages in response to the temperature of fluid in the mixing chamber.
The ports and the first valving surface are incorporated in two concentrically mounted plates that can be rotated with respect to each other and provided with openings therethrough for the controlled passage of the fluid through the two plates. The opening in one of the valve plates which control the inlet pipes for hot water or cold water is constructed so as to sub-divide the whole field of regulation determined by the relative rotation of the plates into at least two successive fields. The first field of regulation is positioned adjacent to the shut off position is and formed by a narrow section of the opening. The second field of regulation is positioned and after the first is formed by a wide section of the opening. The first and second fields are preferably inserted into both the hot water and cold water passages.
When the thermostatic mixing valve has to supply one or more devices, which provide a low flow rate, it is positioned into its first field of regulation, which occurs as soon as the thermostatic mixing valve is moved from its closed position. The narrow section of at least one of the inlet passage openings then causes a relatively marked fall in pressure, even in the presence of a low flow rate caused by high resistance at the outlet, and renders the thermostatic mixing valve practically and advantageously stable to even significant differences in pressure between the supply pipes. When the thermostatic mixing valve is used to supply devices with large flow rates, the thermostatic valve is positioned to its second field of regulation. The wide section of the inlet opening enables delivery of large flow rates. Under the condition, any differences in pressure between the hot and cold supply, even if significant, do not cause temperature fluctuation problems.
It is desirable to provide an intermediate field of regulation interposed between the two fields of regulation determined by the narrow and large sections in the openings respectively. The intermediate section has a width which is intermediate between those of the other two fields of regulation.
It is also possible to use inlet passage apertures for both valve plates which have special shapes. Preferably, one of the valve plates (for example the fixed one) should have inlet openings which have the conventional shape of an elongated curved slot. The other valve plate (for example the moveable one) should have inlet openings shaped with different passage sections to determine the two or more distinct fields of regulation of the thermostatic mixing valve.
In one embodiment of the invention, the inlet openings of one of the valve plates are in the shape of elongated slots. At least one of these has a first section of reduced width, a second section of enlarged width and, optionally, an intermediate section of width which is intermediate between the widths of the first and second sections. In another embodiment of the invention, the inlet opening of one of the valve plates has large, uniform width. At least one of these openings has only a first section that extends fully through the plate. A second section has a limited depth and does not fully pass through the valve plate. An optional intermediate section of greater depth than that of the second section can be provided between the first section and the second section.
In another embodiment of the invention the openings include sections that fully passes through the plate and at least one section of limited depth that does not fully pass through the valve plate which has a narrower width and is adjacent a narrow slot section.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, visible indicators on parts of the thermostatic mixing valves inform the user which field of regulation the thermostatic mixing valve is operating in at any given time. In addition or alternatively for the visible indicators, devices with an elastic or detest release, can give the user a tactile warning of passage of the thermostatic mixing valve from one to another field of regulation. This device is useful in making it very easy for the user to identify the field of regulation of the thermostatic mixing valve which is most suitable.
In this fashion, a compact thermostatic cartridge is provided. The cartridge can be housed in a mixer valve flow regulator with volume or flow rate control disc plates that have contoured apertures to assure set flow ratios between the hot and cold water supplies independent of the total flow rate through the disc plates.

Thermostatic mixing faucet having improved stability


A process for producing a supercapacitor cell, comprising: (a) Continuously feeding a conductive porous layer to a cathode material impregnation zone, wherein the conductive porous layer contains interconnected electron-conducting pathways and at least 70% by volume of pores; (b) Impregnating a wet cathode active material mixture (containing a cathode active material and an optional conductive additive mixed with a liquid electrolyte) into pores of this porous layer to form a cathode electrode; (c) Preparing an anode electrode in a similar manner; and (d) Stacking an anode electrode, a porous separator, and a cathode electrode to form the supercapacitor, wherein the anode electrode and/or the cathode electrode has a thickness no less than 100 μm; and/or wherein the anode or cathode active material constitutes an electrode active material loading no less than 7 mg/cm2 in the anode or the cathode.

Electrochemical capacitors (ECs), also known as ultracapacitors or supercapacitors, are being considered for uses in hybrid electric vehicles (EVs) where they can supplement a battery used in an electric car to provide bursts of power needed for rapid acceleration, the biggest technical hurdle to making battery-powered cars commercially viable. A battery would still be used for cruising, but supercapacitors (with their ability to release energy much more quickly than batteries) would kick in whenever the car needs to accelerate for merging, passing, emergency maneuvers, and hill climbing. The EC must also store sufficient energy to provide an acceptable driving range. To be cost-, volume-, and weight-effective compared to additional battery capacity they must combine adequate energy densities (volumetric and gravimetric) and power densities with long cycle life, and meet cost targets as well.
ECs are also gaining acceptance in the electronics industry as system designers become familiar with their attributes and benefits. ECs were originally developed to provide large bursts of driving energy for orbital lasers. In complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) memory backup applications, for instance, a one-Farad EC having a volume of only one-half cubic inch can replace nickel-cadmium or lithium batteries and provide backup power for months. For a given applied voltage, the stored energy in an EC associated with a given charge is half that storable in a corresponding battery system for passage of the same charge. Nevertheless, ECs are extremely attractive power sources. Compared with batteries, they require no maintenance, offer much higher cycle-life, require a very simple charging circuit, experience no "memory effect," and are generally much safer. Physical rather than chemical energy storage is the key reason for their safe operation and extraordinarily high cycle-life. Perhaps most importantly, capacitors offer higher power density than batteries.
The high volumetric capacitance density of an EC relative to conventional capacitors (10 to 100 times greater than conventional capacitors) derives from using porous electrodes to create a large effective "plate area" and from storing energy in the diffuse double layer. This double layer, created naturally at a solid-electrolyte interface when voltage is imposed, has a thickness of only about 1 nm, thus forming an extremely small effective "plate separation." Such a supercapacitor is commonly referred to as an electric double layer capacitor (EDLC). The double layer capacitor is based on a high surface area electrode material, such as activated carbon, immersed in a liquid electrolyte. A polarized double layer is formed at electrode-electrolyte interfaces providing high capacitance. This implies that the specific capacitance of a supercapacitor is directly proportional to the specific surface area of the electrode material. This surface area must be accessible by electrolyte and the resulting interfacial zones must be sufficiently large to accommodate the so-called electric double-layer charges.
In some ECs, stored energy is further augmented by pseudo-capacitance effects, occurring again at the solid-electrolyte interface due to electrochemical phenomena such as the redox charge transfer.
However, there are several serious technical issues associated with current state-of-the-art ECs or supercapacitors:    (1) Experience with ECs based on activated carbon electrodes shows that the experimentally measured capacitance is always much lower than the geometrical capacitance calculated from the measured surface area and the width of the dipole layer. For very high surface area carbons, typically only about 10-20 percent of the "theoretical" capacitance was observed. This disappointing performance is related to the presence of micro-pores (<2 nm, mostly <1 nm) and ascribed to inaccessibility of some pores by the electrolyte, wetting deficiencies, and/or the inability of a double layer to form successfully in pores in which the oppositely charged surfaces are less than about 1-2 nm apart. In activated carbons, depending on the source of the carbon and the heat treatment temperature, a surprising amount of surfaces can be in the form of such micro-pores.    (2) Despite the high gravimetric capacitances at the electrode level (based on active material weights alone) as frequently claimed in open literature and patent documents, these electrodes unfortunately fail to provide energy storage devices with high capacities at the supercapacitor cell or pack level (based on the total cell weight or pack weight). This is due to the notion that, in these reports, the actual mass loadings of the electrodes and the apparent densities for the active materials are too low. In most cases, the active material mass loadings of the electrodes (areal density) is significantly lower than 10 mg/cm2 (areal density=the amount of active materials per electrode cross-sectional area along the electrode thickness direction) and the apparent volume density or tap density of the active material is typically less than 0.75 g/cm−3 (more typically less than 0.5 g/cm−3 and most typically less than 0.3 g/cm−3) even for relatively large particles of activated carbon.
The low mass loading is primarily due to the inability to obtain thicker electrodes (thicker than 100-200 μm) using the conventional slurry coating procedure. This is not a trivial task as one might think, and in reality the electrode thickness is not a design parameter that can be arbitrarily and freely varied for the purpose of optimizing the cell performance. Contrarily, thicker samples tend to become extremely brittle or of poor structural integrity and would also require the use of large amounts of binder resin. These problems are particularly acute for graphene material-based electrodes. It has not been previously possible to produce graphene-based electrodes that are thicker than 150 μm and remain highly porous with pores remaining fully accessible to liquid electrolyte. The low areal densities and low volume densities (related to thin electrodes and poor packing density) result in relatively low volumetric capacitances and low volumetric energy density of the supercapacitor cells.
With the growing demand for more compact and portable energy storage systems, there is keen interest to increase the utilization of the volume of the energy storage devices. Novel electrode materials and designs that enable high volumetric capacitances and high mass loadings are essential to achieving improved cell volumetric capacitances and energy densities.    (3) During the past decade, much work has been conducted to develop electrode materials with increased volumetric capacitances utilizing porous carbon-based materials, such as graphene, carbon nanotube-based composites, porous graphite oxide, and porous mesocarbon. Although these experimental supercapacitors featuring such electrode materials can be charged and discharged at high rates and also exhibit large volumetric electrode capacitances (100 to 200 F/cm3 in most cases, based on the electrode volume), their typical active mass loading of <1 mg/cm2, tap density of <0.2 g/cm−3, and electrode thicknesses of up to tens of micrometers (<<100 μm) are still significantly lower than those used in most commercially available electrochemical capacitors (i.e. 10 mg/cm2, 100-200 μm), which results in energy storage devices with relatively low areal and volumetric capacitances and low volumetric energy densities. A typical graphene sheet is shown in FIG. 2.    (4) For graphene-based supercapacitors, there are additional problems that remain to be solved, explained below:
Nano graphene materials have recently been found to exhibit exceptionally high thermal conductivity, high electrical conductivity, and high strength. Another outstanding characteristic of graphene is its exceptionally high specific surface area. A single graphene sheet provides a specific external surface area of approximately 2,675 m2/g (that is accessible by liquid electrolyte), as opposed to the exterior surface area of approximately 1,300 m2/g provided by a corresponding single-wall CNT (interior surface not accessible by electrolyte). The electrical conductivity of graphene is slightly higher than that of CNTs.
The instant applicants (A. Zhamu and B. Z. Jang) and their colleagues were the first to investigate graphene- and other nano graphite-based nanomaterials for supercapacitor application [Please see Refs. 1-5 below; the 1st patent application was submitted in 2006 and issued in 2009]. After 2008, researchers began to realize the significance of nano graphene materials for supercapacitor applications.
List of References:
    1. Lulu Song, A. Zhamu, Jiusheng Guo, and B. Z. Jang "Nano-scaled Graphene Plate Nanocomposites for Supercapacitor Electrodes" U.S. Pat. No. 7,623,340 (Nov. 24, 2009).    2. Aruna Zhamu and Bor Z. Jang, "Process for Producing Nano-scaled Graphene Platelet Nanocomposite Electrodes for Supercapacitors," U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/906,786 (Oct. 7, 2004) (U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2009-0092747).    3. Aruna Zhamu and Bor Z. Jang, "Graphite-Carbon Composite Electrodes for Supercapacitors" U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/895,657 (Aug. 27, 2007) (U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2009-0059474).    4. Aruna Zhamu and Bor Z. Jang, "Method of Producing Graphite-Carbon Composite Electrodes for Supercapacitors" U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/895,588 (Aug. 27, 2007) (U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2009-0061312).    5. Aruna Zhamu and Bor Z. Jang, "Graphene Nanocomposites for Electrochemical cell Electrodes," U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/220,651 (Jul. 28, 2008) (U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2010-0021819).
However, individual nano graphene sheets have a great tendency to re-stack themselves, effectively reducing the specific surface areas that are accessible by the electrolyte in a supercapacitor electrode. The significance of this graphene sheet overlap issue may be illustrated as follows: For a nano graphene platelet with dimensions of l (length)×w (width)×t (thickness) and density ρ, the estimated surface area per unit mass is S/m=(2/ρ (1/l+1/w+1/t). With ρ≅2.2 g/cm3, l=100 nm, w=100 nm, and t=0.34 nm (single layer), we have an impressive S/m value of 2,675 m2/g, which is much greater than that of most commercially available carbon black or activated carbon materials used in the state-of-the-art supercapacitor. If two single-layer graphene sheets stack to form a double-layer graphene, the specific surface area is reduced to 1,345 m2/g. For a three-layer graphene, t=1 nm, we have S/m=906 m2/g. If more layers are stacked together, the specific surface area would be further significantly reduced.
These calculations suggest that it is critically important to find a way to prevent individual graphene sheets to re-stack and, even if they partially re-stack, the resulting multi-layer structure would still have inter-layer pores of adequate sizes. These pores must be sufficiently large to allow for accessibility by the electrolyte and to enable the formation of electric double-layer charges, which typically require a pore size of at least 1 nm, more preferably at least 2 nm. However, these pores or inter-graphene spacings must also be sufficiently small to ensure a large tap density (electrode mass per unit volume). Unfortunately, the typical tap density of graphene-based electrode is less than 0.3 g/cm3, and most typically <<0.1 g/cm3. To a great extent, the requirement to have large pore sizes and high porosity level and the requirement to have a high tap density are considered mutually exclusive in supercapacitors.
Another major technical barrier to using graphene sheets as a supercapacitor electrode active material is the challenge of depositing a thick active material layer onto the surface of a solid current collector (e.g. Al foil) using the conventional graphene-solvent slurry coating procedure. In such an electrode, the graphene electrode typically requires a large amount of a binder resin (hence, significantly reduced active material proportion vs. non-active or overhead materials/components). In addition, any electrode prepared in this manner that is thicker than 50 μm is brittle and weak, having a great tendency to delaminate and micro-crack. These characteristics have made the supercapacitor electrode thickness not a design parameter, but a manufacturing-limited feature. A supercapacitor designer cannot freely increase the electrode thickness. There has been no effective solution to these problems.
Therefore, there is a clear and urgent need for supercapacitors that have a high active material mass loading (high areal density), active materials with a high apparent density (high tap density), high electrode thickness with structural integrity and without significantly decreased electron and ion transport rates (e.g. without large electron transport resistance), high volumetric capacitance, and high volumetric energy density. For graphene-based electrodes, one must also overcome problems such as re-stacking of graphene sheets, the demand for large proportion of a binder resin, and difficulty in producing thick graphene electrode layers.

Continuous process for producing electrodes for supercapacitors having high energy densities


A communication system (10) comprises a plurality of clients (12) including a first client (18) and a second client (20). Within the communication system (10), continuity of one or more of a plurality of broadcast events (14) is provided between the plurality of clients (12). The first client (18) monitors a broadcast event (34). Thereafter, the second client (20) launches monitoring of the broadcast event (34) in response to an occurrence associated with the broadcast event (34).

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to communication systems and in particular to communication systems incorporating capabilities to provide continuity of monitoring broadcast events among a plurality of clients.
2. Description of the Related Art
Television viewing of sports events has become a national pastime worldwide. To meet the needs of sports fans, nationwide, regional and local sports programming is available on a multitude of sports channels. Sports fans interests include both live home team games and national sports events and programming. For example sports channels provide sports fans with live NBA, NHL, Major League Baseball, PGA Tour golf; bowling, ATP and WTA tennis action as well as continued home team coverage from the collegiate and scholastic levels. One sports network alone provides over 4,500 professional live events annually. Sports television is live television at its best. Fans of all descriptions sit on the edge of their seats, glued to the screen, anticipating the graceful reaction of an athlete at the peak of his or her ability. The combination of highly trained, determined athletes and the finely tuned teamwork of TV producers, commentators and technicians create compelling programs.
To meet the needs of sports fans not able to always be in front of their television, many sports network are now providing alternative viewing avenues. For example, access to sporting events is available through online website sources including sports news, information, listings, real-time sports score tracking, games and special features about sports programming. Further sports radio programs provide spectators with live action through audio channels. Viewer interaction with others viewing a particular sporting event is currently available through the Internet using their personal computers.
Recently, viewers have been given the opportunity for wireless participation in sporting events. For example, viewers during the Super Bowl XXXVI were given the opportunity to vote via their cell phones on action, controversial moments or predictions from the game. Savvy football fans around the world could have their opinions known on Internet-enabled wireless devices by navigating via the Internet through the use of short, memorable numbers instead of lengthy URIs. Thousands of fans used their web-enabled mobile phones, as well as their personal computers, to vote and to view overall poll results.
One problem with today's currently available technology is the inability for a sports fan to automatically and continuously track a sporting event they are watching on television when they need to become mobile. This problem also exists with other broadcast events like concerts or soap operas. A partial solution to this problem is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,167,235, issued Dec. 26, 2000 to Sibecas et al. and titled "Method And Apparatus For Providing Additional Information To A Selective Call Device About A Broadcast" which is assigned to the assignee of the present invention, and which is incorporated by reference herein. This invention describes a technique in a selective call communication system and in a broadcast communication system to provide additional information about a broadcast to a selective call device. The transfer of connection information (e.g. URI, Information service address and sub-address) is covered by the described invention.
Recently, standards addressing the convergence of television and web-enabled devices have been emerging. One of the most popular of these standards is the Advanced Television Enhancement Forum (ATVEF); a specification developed and supported by some of the biggest names in the broadcasting, computer, and consumer electronics industries. ATVEF proposes a Web browser on a television set. Further, it proposes the insertion of web content into the television broadcast signal ATVEF uses mechanisms called triggers to alert receivers to incoming content enhancements. Triggers are sent over the broadcast medium and contain information about enhancements that are available to the user. Among other information, every trigger contains a standard Universal Resource Indicator (URI) that defines the location of the enhanced content. ATVEF content may be located locally—perhaps delivered over the broadcast network and cached to a disk—or it may reside on the Internet, another public network, or a private network. Although providing enhancement to television broadcasts, standards such as ATVEF do not address the requirement to continue viewing a broadcast once mobile.
One drawback to the above methods and systems is that it may be difficult to convince sports broadcasters to carry information in their video feed that would make it easier for someone to stop watching their program. Also, implementation within all sports programs of the extra information would take time, effort, and money.
The use of quality media (e.g. songs, images, and videos) in a sports score tracking application is useful; however there are problems with implementation. For example, since this content tends to be large, it is not desirable to transfer this data over a wide area wireless network because of the higher cost and longer download time associated with this channel. The typical solution to this problem would be to reduce the "richness" of the media or to use "canned content." Use of canned content is typically performed by storing in the device all of the media that may want to be presented to the user such as images of team members, images of team uniforms, audio of team songs, video of teams scoring, and team names. The stored content is then references by the broadcast to indicate when to present it to the user. However, due to its large file size and wide variety of possible content, it is not desirable to permanently store all possible media in the device.
Therefore, what is needed is a system and method for the transferring of broadcast information between different clients allowing the seamless viewing of a broadcasted event.

System for providing continuity of broadcast between clients and method therefor


This invention relates to a liquid composition for personal cleansing and hydrating of human skin containing a cleaning agent such as an anionic, amphoteric or non-ionic surfactant, and a hydrating agent such as glycerol. The compositions of this invention substantially block transepidermal water loss.

The present invention refers to compositions for personal cleaning and hygiene, especially hydrating toilet soaps, comprising a system balanced with cleaning and hydrating agents. Advantageously, the compositions of this invention have a suave action on the eyes and skin, and are biodegradable.
In a more specific way, without excluding other embodiments, the compositions of the present invention are in liquid form, that is to say, they are easy and pleasant to use, being also adaptable to be employed in flexible tubes, commercial, household and hospital dispensers, and the like.
Unexpectedly, the use of the compositions of the invention is intended for washing and personal body hygiene, besides skin and hair cleaning, effective skin hydration unlike a feeling of hydration created, for instance, by occlusive products, which only prevent water from draining out of the skin, as widely known in the prior art.
The compositions of the present invention provides, in an unusual manner, personal cleaning and hygiene, effective skin, hydration, a good foaming, biodegradability and a suave action on the skin and eyes, which makes its use advantageous for children and people having sensible skin.
Under normal conditions, the human health skin is covered by a layer of fatty substances which actuate as a barrier against aggressions from the environment. Within a dynamic balance with the moistness of this environment, such a barrier allows the water contained therein to evaporate to some extent.
During the washing, in contact with either soap or detergent substances in general, this superficial layer is partly removed, whereby the evaporation rate increases, thus causing the skin to dry up. Further as a result of the removal of the superficial fatty layer, there is the direct action of the components of the formulation of soap or detergents on the skin, often causing redness, wrinkling and even wounds in cases of greater sensitivity and/or long exposition.
The technique itself of using compositions for personal cleaning and hygiene, namely the washing, favors the drying of the skin, that is to say, one spreads and rubs the composition on the skin with some water, forming foam, and then rinses it with running water. Under these conditions, the superficial fatty material is removed by the rinsing water together with the cleaning product, thus leaving the washed surface unprotected. Therefore, even toilet soaps having high glycerin or polyol contents, which are traditionally considered hydrating substances, have not succeeded in preventing the skin from becoming dryer and more sensible, because they do not remain on the skin.
It is well known that the addition of emollient substances to personal cleaning compositions aims at mitigating such effects of drying and sensibility, but the use thereof is compulsorily limited, because they are antifoaming and do not actually cause hydration.
This kind of problem does not occur with lotions, creams and other products intended especially for hydrating the skin, since they are applied onto the skin and remain thereon in prolonged contact. Therefore, they are not products such as those of the present invention, which are also intended for body cleaning and hygiene.
The compositions of the invention manage to combine in an unusual way the simultaneous action of cleaning and hydrating the skin effectively, through a balanced system of cleaning and hydrating agents, which, in the face of the prior art, could not be regarded as presenting such properties. In addition, a cosmetically acceptable foaming, a suave action on the skin and eyes and biodegradability are obtained.
The prior art mentions formulations of products for personal cleaning and hygiene, but they are different from the present invention, namely:
Patent Document E 0330369 discloses skin-conditioning liquid compositions, based on silicone emulsions and high glycerine contents, which are spread over the skin so as to form a superficial layer, in order to be effective. This type of product, different from that of the invention, is not intended for skin cleaning.
Patent Documents GB 1427341 and GB 20057297 disclose the composition of a creamy toilet soap having high glycerin contents (maximum of 50% and 20% respectively) for personal washing, which aims at preventing the composition from drying at the discharge nozzle of the dispenser and providing it with storage stability. This document does not seek or foresee that effective hydration of the skin will take place through the use of the disclosed soap.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,312,771 discloses a liquid soap composition containing form 9 to 11 parts by weight of glycerine and/or glycol propylene such that the quite stable viscosity obtained will always be the highest possible at room temperature. The formulation disclosed simultaneously does not seek or foresee that effective skin hydration occurs.
Patent Document No. E 0,485,212 discloses a liquid detergent composition for personal washing comprising up to 15% hydrating agent (for example, glycerol), which aims at obtaining from in an adequate amount, in spite of the presence of emollients mentioned as being intrinsically antifoaming. The formulation disclosed do not seek or foresee that effective skin hydration will occur.
In view of the non-existence of a composition for simultaneous personal cleaning and hygiene with effective hydration effect in the prior art, the present invention has been developed, which deals with compositions for personal cleaning and hygiene, characterized by comprising a cleaning agent and a hydrating agent in a balanced combination and by providing a value of transepidermal water loss approximately equal or lesser than that of the skin per se.
The measurement of transepidermal water-vapor loss (TEWL) allows one to stimulate the water flow through the stratum corneum of the skin, and this technique has been widely used for determining the barrier function of the skin against the aggressin of detergents and evaluating body cleaning products, especially as regards hydration. The publications mentioned below illustrate, by way of non-limiting example, the above statements:
Finkaj, M. D. and Crowe, D. M., "The use of Evaporimetry to Evaluate Soap Induced Irritation on the Face." "Skin", 4, 311-321 (1988); PA1 Kajs, M. T. and Gartstein, V. "Review of the Instrumental Assessment of Skin: Effects of Cleansing Products" J. Soc.Cosm. 42, 249-271 (1991); PA1 Wilson, D., Berardesca, E. and Maiach, H. I. "In-vivo Trans-epidermal Water Loss and Skin Surface Hydration in Assessment of Moisturization and Soap Effects." J.Cosm. Sci. 10(5), 201-211 (1988); PA1 Rothman, S. "Physiology and biochemistry of the Skin". The University of Chicago Press, Chicago (1954); PA1 Leveque, J. L., Garson, J. C. and de Rigal, J. "Trans-epidermal Water Loss From Dry and Normal Skin" J. Soc. Cosm.Chem. 30, 333 (1979); PA1 Van de Valg, P. G. M., Nater, J. P. and Belumink, E. "Skin Irritance of Surfactants as Assessed by Water Vapor Loss measurements." J. of Invest. Dermatol. 82(3) 291-293 (1984); PA1 Batt, M. D. and Fairhurst, E. "Hydration of the Stratum Corneum. Int." J. Cosm.Sci. 8, 253-264 (1986). PA1 CTFA Cosmetic Ingredient Handbook--NIKITAKIS, J. M. Editor,--The Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association Inc. USA--1st edition, 1988. PA1 Harry's Cosmeticology--Winkinson, J. B. and Moore, R. J., Editors--Langman and Scientific and Technical, USA 7th Ed., 1982.
The cleaning agent used in the present invention comprises a surfactant, either in isolation or in combination with an emollient agent.
Surfactants, emollients and hydrating agents, mentioned as being components of the compositions of the present invention, are in solution products known to those skilled in the art, and information about them can be found, for instance, in publications such as:
Unless otherwise stated, the percentages given below refer to the weight of the composition.
Preferably, the amount of the cleaning agent in the present invention is of from 9 to 19% by weight of the composition.
Advantageously the surfactant of the cleaning agent of the present invention is chosen from the anionic, amphoteric or non-ionic surfactants, preferably a mixture thereof. Within the composition of the invention the contents thereof may vary preferably from 9% to 19%, and more preferably range from 11 to 17% by weight of the composition. When a mixture of anionic, amphoteric and non-ionic surfactants is used, the percentages thereof, preferably can vary from about 2.5% to 5%, 3.5% to 7.0% and 5.5% to 11.0%, respectively, by weight of the composition.
Preferably, the anionic surfactants are chosen from the alkyl ether sulfates, the sulphosuccinates and the acylisothyanates, as for instance, triglyceryleter sodium sulphate.
Preferably, the amphoteric surfactants are chosen from the alkyl imidazolins and the alkyl aminoacids such as betaines, cocoamidopropylbetaine and cocoanphocarboxylglycinate.
Preferably the non-ionic surfactants are chosen from the alkanolamides and the polyethylene glycol derivatives, as for instance, polyethylene glycol laurate sorbitan, lauryl polyglycose and sodium carboxylate laurylether.
Ready-for-use compositions comprising the cited surfactants are available on the market.
The emollient agent, component of the cleaning agent of the present invention, can be defined as one or more ingredients that help to maintain the skin soft, suave and flexible. Preferably an amount ranging from about 0.5% to 10%, more preferably from 1.0% to 5% by weight of such a component is used, based on the weight of the composition.
Preferably the emollient agent is a mixture of etoxylated and propoxylated cetyl alcohol and ethoxylated lanolin.
The hydrating agent of the present invention is preferably chosen from the list made up of polyhydric alcohols (for example, glycerol, sorbitol, mannitol, xylitol, polyethylene glycol, 1,2,6-hexanotriol, inositol), alkylene glycols (for example 1.3-buthylene glycol, diethylene glycol, triethylene glycol) and derivatives of the glutamic acid (for example, sodic pyroglutanate) or mixtures thereof. More preferably, the hydrating agent is either glycerol or sorbitol, either individually or in mixture with each other or with one or more hydrating agents. Also preferably the contents of the hydrating agent in the compositions of the invention range from 5% to 25%, more preferably from about 18% to 23% by weight of the composition.
Carriers such as water can be used in the compositions of the invention in the amounts usually employed in the art. The use of such components as well as their specificity are well known by those skilled in the branch of the compositions of the present invention.
The compositions of the invention can also contain, optionally, without departing from the scope of the invention, a wide variety of additives known by those skilled in the art, for instance perfumes, dyes, preserving agents, thickeners, opacifiers, antioxidants, hydrating agents, stabilizers, disinfectants, emulsifiers, etc., taking into account the additional specific needs or properties which one desires to reach.

Glycerin liquid soap with a high moisturizing effect

Johnson & Johnson Consumer Products, Inc.


A driving system for an industrial truck, comprising: a combustion engine, an electric motor fed from a battery, a gear assembly the inputs of which are coupled to the shaft of the combusion engine and the electric motor and the output of which is coupled to the driven shaft of the driving system.

Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Combustion engine driven industrial trucks require a transmission to provide the desired torque at the desired speed. It is known to use a change-speed mechanism including a clutch for this purpose. However, such a system is unacceptable for industrial trucks. Therefore, it is also known in driving systems to provide hydrodynamic transducers in combination with single-step transmissions and multi-step transmissions. This solution proves disadvantageous at slow driving speeds because efficiency is not good in this operating condition. Furthermore, a clutch function is required to independently operate the lifting function.
The disadvantages of the hydrodynamic solution are not encountered in a hydrostatic driving branch. However, what opposes the relatively high efficiency when driving at a slow speed is the bad efficiency at faster driving speeds. Another drawback is the relatively large construction expenditure due to the high hydraulic pressures up to 400 bar and the system""s susceptibility to defects, particularly with regard to leakage.
Finally, in the industrial truck field, it is also known to perform the transmission of forces by means of an electric transmission. In an electric transmission, all the energy generated by the combustion engine is converted into electric energy by means of a generator. Then, this electric energy is reconverted into mechanical energy by means of an electric motor. The drive controls for electric motors are capable of adjusting any gear ratios between the generator and the electric motor. Hence, a system of this type has the advantage of being regulable particularly well. A drawback, however, are the low efficiencies due to the high losses in the controls and electric machines.
The existing solutions in driving combustion engine operated industrial trucks, as a rule, involve considerable energy losses in certain operating situations. Furthermore, the existing systems are incapable of returning energy in braking. Furthermore, emissionless operation is impossible, which nearly rules out the use of such industrial trucks in closed rooms. Another disadvantage of the former driving systems lies in the fact that the components of the systems require to be designed for peak loads. The mean load acting on the components, however, clearly is below such values. Thus, a large construction expenditure is incurred that is not needed for the mean.
DE 198 03 160 has made known a two-branch driving system for automobiles which is intended to better meet the requirements to power-driven vehicles in a stop-and-go operation in conurbations. The known system is a so-called hybrid drive with a first electric machine disposed on a driving shaft of the hybrid drive and a second electric machine the two of which are always operable as a generator and an electric motor and which are coupled to each other and to the combustion engine via a two-branch gear transmission. The second electric machine is positioned on a shaft with which a rotary brake is associated which is controllable in dependence on the driving condition of the power-driven vehicle and by which the respective shaft can be located. It is by means of such a driving system that a more favourable efficiency behaviour of power-driven vehicles and a long service life of the drive are intended to be ensured.
DE 197 47 459 has made known a two-branch driving system for tractors and agricultural machinery which has a mechanical drive and an adjustable hydrostatic transmission. This driving system is intended to increase efficiency via the mechanical branch. In addition, a driving system of this type may obtain a higher speed as compared to simple hydrostatic driving systems. The known driving system, as a rule, does not need the same forward movement and reverse movement speed as is the case in industrial trucks. The earlier described hydrid driving system does not make it possible either to reverse at a maximum speed.
It is the object of the invention to provide a driving system for industrial trucks that enables a large range of speed adjustability at a uniformly good efficiency and does not limit the manoeuvrability of the vehicle. In addition, one embodiment is also intended to make possible emissionless operation in closed rooms at least temporarily.
The inventive driving system for industrial trucks provides a two-branch system wherein the primary branch provides a mechanical no-clutch connection between the combustion engine and a gear assembly whereas an electric motor is coupled with no clutch to the gear assembly in a secondary branch.
In another aspect of the invention, if necessary, a gear ratio transmission may be provided which approximately is incorporated into the combustion engine branch. It may be designed as a transmission with a fixed gear ratio, a adjustable transmission or a change-speed transmission. The second or secondary driving branch has a battery, a drive control, and an electric motor. The two driving branches are led to combine in a gear assembly. The gear assembly may be a differential or planetary mechanism.
For a reversal of the direction of travel, it may be opportune to integrate a change-over transmission in the driving system. Such a change-over transmission, however, may also be unnecessary because the direction of travel can be changed by reversing the sense of rotation of the electric motor.
Preferably, a governor is provided in order to provide a speed regulation according to a desired-value signal. The governor controls the electric motor, the combustion engine, and any brakes that might exist. The desired-value transmitter actuated by the vehicle operator produces a desired speed value which, for a regulation of the drive, is compared to the respective actual value. By actuating the desired-value transmitter or another appropriate operating device (e.g. a switch for the direction of travel or a dual pedal), the vehicle driver informs the governor in which direction and at which speed he wishes to drive. If the vehicle is at stoppage at this point the change-over transmission either is shifted to the gear ratio belonging to the desired direction of travel following an actuation of the operating device or the driving behaviour is imparted to the electric motor by an appropriate signal. Shifting the change-over transmission preferably is not done directly by the driver, but the governor in dependence on the actual state of travel and the position of the operating device. This ensures that the change-over transmission is shifted only if the input and output shafts are at stoppage or at least at an approximate stoppage (with the designation xe2x80x9cinput and output shaftsxe2x80x9d referring to the change-over transmission rather than to the driving system here). This permits to dispense with a mechanism for synchronizing the numbers of revolutions and, moreover, no shocks will occur and no wear will result owing to the shifting operation. If the direction of travel is reversed by the electric motor there will no problems whatsoever in this respect.
In the inventive driving system, if the vehicle is intended to be stopped, but the combustion engine has been started by means of the electric motor and is rotating at an idle speed the electric motor has to rotate at the same speed as the combustion engine, but in an inverse sense. For a start-up, the electric motor is braked in a counterclockwise sense of rotation. Thus, energy is generated which can be fed to the battery. An appropriate connection requires to be provided to this end. If the vehicle is sped up further the electric motor may also drive the vehicle actively. At this point, energy requires to be drawn from the battery. In the invention, the vehicle may also be driven exclusively by electricity, for example, in order not to emit any exhaust gases in roof-covered rooms. Conversely, the vehicle may also be driven exclusively by a combustion motor.
For the rest, the combustion motor may be used for charging the battery via the electric motor and the electric motor may serve as a starter for the combustion engine. In order to clearly control the flux of energy it may be required to incorporate single or several brakes.
The inventive systems has a series of advantages. It is of a simple structure since an adjustable transmission is unnecessary. The combustion motor need not be designed for a maximum power. The dynamo and the starter for the combustion engine may be omitted. A further advantage is that the braking energy can be recovered in part. In addition, it is possible to drive with no exhaust gases.