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The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Begonia, botanically known as Begonia semperflorens, and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name xe2x80x98Doublet Pinkxe2x80x99.
The new Begonia is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Poland. The objective of the breeding program is to create new Begonia varieties having compact plant habit and numerous fully-double flowers.
The new Begonia originated from a cross made by the Inventor in 1990 in Poland of a proprietary Begonia seedling selection identified as BD1 as the female, or seed, parent with a proprietary Begonia seedling selection identified as MD7 as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Begonia was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross in a controlled environment in Poland in 1996. The selection of this plant was based on its compact plant habit and numerous double flowers. These characteristics differentiate the new Begonia from its parent selections.
Asexual reproduction of the new Begonia by terminal cuttings taken in a controlled environment in Poland, has shown that the unique features of this new Begonia are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
The new Begonia has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environments such as temperature, daylength, light intensity, nutritional and water status without, however, any variance in genotype. The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Doublet Pinkxe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Doublet Pinkxe2x80x99 as a new and distinct cultivar:
1. Somewhat upright, rounded, uniform, and compact plant habit.
2. Small dark greenish bronze leaves.
3. Freely branching, dense and bushy growth habit.
4. Continuous and very freely flowering habit.
5. Showy, fully double pink-colored flowers that are displayed above and beyond the foliage.
6. Tolerant to pathogens common to Begonias. | {
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The invention relates to a swashplate drive, comprising a shaft rotatably journalled in a frame and carrying a plate which cooperates with one or more drive rods, each of which has a drive rod head having two spherical recess surfaces which are contacted by the spherical surface of two sliding bodies, the other, flat side of the bodies cooperating with two running surfaces on the plate, each of the running surfaces on the plate being formed by a set of straight lines, each of which extends at least substantially in a radial plane through the axis of the shaft and is tangent at each running surface to an associated torus, the center lines of the two tori being formed by two ellipses which are situated one above the other in parallel planes.
A drive of the described kind is known from Netherlands patent application No. 7,308,702 laid open to public inspection to which U.S. Pat. No. 3,968,699 corresponds. The plate in this known drive is rigidly connected to the shaft in the direction of rotation as well as in the tilting direction.
As a result of the described construction of the plate, it is achieved that the play between the plate, the sliding bodies and the recess surface is constant over the entire circumference. However, this is true for only one position of the plate relative to the shaft.
Swashplate drives are known in which the plate is tiltable relative to the shaft; see, for example, the Netherlands patent application No. 7,410,532 laid open to public inspection to which U.S. Pat. No. 4,030,404 corresponds. The stroke of the pistons connected to the piston rods in this drive can be changed by tilting of the plate. The sliding bodies in this known drive have a slightly arched surface and extend over flat, parallel running surfaces on both sides of the plate, the centers of the recesses in which the sliding bodies are accommodated being coincident. It is thus possible to keep the play between the plate, the sliding bodies and the recesses constant over the entire circumference of the plate and for all positions of the plate relative to the shaft.
However, this drive has a drawback in that the arched surfaces of the sliding bodies are subject to substantial wear, so that in this case, involving a tiltable plate, line contact between plate and sliding bodies is desirable, without introduction of excessive play variations. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to setting a measurement aim region in a displacement sensor, and in particular, to a setting method for a measurement region having plural areas as aims each different in refractive index from the others, in a case where a transparent object such as glass is as a measurement aim object.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a non-contact displacement sensor (adopting a laser or the like as a light source) using a triangular distance measuring method, a light projecting element illuminates a measurement aim object with light directed thereto and information on which position of a light receiving element light reflected from the measurement aim object is converged to is employed to thereby measure a distance to the measurement aim object.
In a case where a transparent object such as glass is measured as a measurement aim with such a displacement sensor, however, two kinds of reflected light which are generated from a front surface and back surface of the glass are usually generated. Such a glass often has a back surface with a film such as a metal coat or the like even though a front surface has no coverage, and in a case where such a glass with a film is measured, a difference in reflected light quantity occurs between the front and back surfaces due to difference in refractive index. Examples thereof are a glass plate used as a Brown tube of a television receiver, a glass plate of a liquid crystal panel or the like. In such a case, if an emitted light quantity of the light projecting element and a light receiving sensitivity such as a light receiving gain of the light receiving element are adjusted in order to be adapted for one surface, a light receiving state on the other surface cannot be held to be proper (a received light quantity is excessively large or small), which makes positions of the front and back surfaces hard to be correctly acquired.
Besides, in a case where a glass measurement is conducted, there are incoming light by reflection from the front and back surfaces or a multiple reflection. In such a situation, a necessity arises for individual surfaces to be separately recognized with respect to light receiving positions in order to stably measure a surface displacement of the glass or a thickness of the glass. As a measure therefor, an area in the vicinity of a light receiving position which is desired to be measured is set as a measurement aim region, thereby enabling the set measurement aim region to be stably measured.
In a case where, as shown in FIG. 11A, in setting of a predetermined laser light emitting quantity and a light receiving sensitivity, a glass plate is measured as a measurement aim object, reflected light quantities from the front surface and back surface of a glass are clearly different from each other with respect to an image obtained from the receiving light element, leading to a chance of disabling either of both quantities to be measured. In setting of a predetermined laser light emitting quantity and a predetermined light receiving sensitivity, as shown in FIG. 11B, there often occurs a case where a received light image of only one of the front surface and back surface is obtained due to an excessively large difference in reflectance between the front and back surfaces of the glass. In such a case, if a laser light emitting quantity is increased or a light receiving sensitivity of the entire pixel region of a light receiving element is enhanced, so that stable measurement is secured for one surface from which a smaller received light quantity is given, saturation occurs for the other reflecting surface, having produced a problem that stable measurement is disabled.
In order to cope with such a situation, for example, a measurement region is, as shown in FIG. 11C, limited to a region enclosed by dotted lines, and a laser light emitting quantity or a light receiving gain is adjusted only for the region to thereby enable light from a surface on which measurement is desired to be stably received without exerting an adverse influence on the other surface.
A displacement sensor has been known that enables plural regions having respective arbitrary sizes to be discretely set in the entire pixel region of an image pick-up element (refer to, for example, WO 2001/057471).
In a case where a received light quantity from a surface with a smaller reflectance cannot be, as shown in FIG. 11(b), observed on a screen image obtained from a light receiving element because of a setting state of a light receiving sensitivity at that time, there is a high possibility that a sensitivity matching a surface from which a larger received light quantity given is set while not taking notice of the presence of the surface with a smaller reflectance. Though it is desirable to detect all the reflecting surfaces and to set the measurement aim regions on the respective surfaces, it can be said to be difficult to take notice of even a necessity for such an operation. In a case where reflecting surfaces are remote from each other and an image on one reflecting surface resides outside the measurable range of displacement measurement on a light receiving element, the image is not on the light receiving element; therefore, the reflecting surface cannot be found despite of all the effort of searching therefor and a measurement aim region cannot be set thereon. In such a case, operator in charge has a chance to regard it due to unskilled setting of a sensitivity despite the fact that the problem is caused by a distance between a glass, which is a detection aim, and a displacement sensor to repeat a try-and-error approach and to thereby increase time and labor to be consumed thereon. Since, in such a way, an image of a surface with a low reflectance has a possibility of the presence, even if the image is not observed and a case arises where a surface, which is low in reflectance as a measurement aim, cannot appear on an image of a light receiving element because of being outside the range of displacement measurement, an operation of setting a measurement region is of difficult determination having to give a consideration to a range of a displacement sensor, a spacing between reflecting surfaces of a measurement aim object and an installment spacing between the displacement sensor and a reflecting surface in addition to a necessity therefor, which is hard to take the operation to be performed by the operator at a job site with ease.
A problem has been pointed out that a user is necessary to be participated in such an operation, which loses an operational efficiency.
In a case where, in such a way, an approximate position of a measurement aim region is visually recognized by a user with a received light waveform displayed on a monitor or the like and thereafter a measurement region is set by manual input, a measurement region can be set in the situation shown in FIG. 11A, grasping with some accuracy which position a second reflecting surface is present at, while since it is not known where a second reflecting surface is present in a situation shown in FIG. 11B, a complicated operation is requested, in order to recognize the position, that a laser light emitting quantity of a light projecting element and a light receiving sensitivity of a light receiving element are adjusted in advance of setting of a measurement region, which have pointed a problem of a great reduction in operational efficiency. | {
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Satellite television reception is typically accomplished with a system that includes both indoor and outdoor components. Satellite signals typically do not penetrate into indoor locations. Accordingly, a satellite reception system typically includes a satellite antenna placed or installed outdoors. The satellite antenna may be in communication with a set-top box or other client device that is located near a television or monitor. The set-top box will typically include a tuner and other electronic components that are operable to processes satellite signals into a format suitable for display on the monitor.
A particular satellite antenna may be associated with a number of set-top boxes or client devices. Typically, the satellite antenna will provide each set-top box with a block of signals on a number of frequencies. The set-top box will then process the block of frequencies to extract a particular channel for display on a TV or monitor. In this arrangement, a dedicated line is provided from the satellite antenna to each set-top box. Typically, a coaxial cable provides the connection between the satellite antenna and the set-top box. Each set-top box generally requires a dedicated coaxial cable that is connected to the satellite antenna and that carries a full block of satellite signals. Thus, if a residence or other building houses multiple set-top boxes, each may require a separate connector run to the antenna. | {
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The invention relates to an automatic thread tension adjusting device of a sewing machine.
Generally, a sewing machine has an upper drive shaft rotatable to vertically reciprocate a swingable needle to penetrate a fabric to be sewn and also to reciprocate a thread take-up lever to supply an upper thread from a supply means to the needle and tighten a stitch to be formed. The sewing machine has a loop taker rotatable in association with the upper drive shaft to catch the upper thread for interlocking the upper thread with a lower thread to form the stitch, the upper thread being extended between an upper thread supply and the needle and through at least the thread take-up lever. To tension the upper threads a pair of spring biased disks frictionally clamp it. This clamping pressure is variably adjustable depending on stitch type, fabric thickness, and the type of thread being used. In same designs a computer is used to process these variables so that the clamping pressure is set at the most optimum level for a particular sewing condition. Such an arrangement is usually very complicated and lacks the flexibility to adapt to the many different sewing conditions.
Therefore, the invention is very simple in structure and very reliable in operation, and further may be produced at a lower cost. | {
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(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to traffic control between communication nodes in ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) communication, and more particularly to an apparatus and a method for ATM traffic supervisory control wherein an idle cell or an administrative cell is used for the traffic control.
ATM is a specific packet oriented transfer mode using an asynchronous time division multiplexing technique. The multiplexed information flow is organized in fixed size blocks, called cells (ATM cell). An ATM cell consists of an information field and a header. The primary role of the header is to identify cells belonging to the same virtual path and virtual channel (VP/VC) connection. Cells are assigned on demand, depending on the source activity and the available resources. Cell sequence integrity on a virtual channel connection is preserved by the ATM Layer.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
In recent years, B-ISDN (Broadband-Integrated Service Digital Network) has appeared on public switched telephone networks as the next stage of the network. The B-ISDN realizes an even more flexible broadband communication network that makes various services including, e.g., voice communication, data communication, very high speed file transfer, communication between local area networks (LAN), and HDTV (high definition television) services, etc., possible, and therefore uses ATM technology described above that is applicable to multi-mediam communication services.
FIG. 1 schematically shows an example of a configuration between communication nodes in a B-ISDN network. In FIG. 1, a subscriber terminal (TE; terminal equipment) 11 is connected to a communication node 12 in accordance with a user network interface (UNI). A DSU (Digital Service ,Unit) 15 is used to send or receive an ATM cell described above between communication nodes 12 in accordance with a node network interface (NNI). An internal structure of each communication node 12 consists of, e.g., ATM adaptation layer (AAL) 13, ATM switch (ATM-SW) 14 and control unit therefor, etc. The AAL 13 performs segmentation of higher layer information into a size suitable for the information field of an ATM cell and reassembly of the contents of an ATM cell information field into higher layer information between the subscriber terminal 11 and the ATM switch 14.
FIG. 2 shows a basic cell structure of an ATM cell. The ATM cell consists of a five octet header containing information of, e.g., a destination path and channel, etc., and a 48-octet information field containing various information, e.g., voice or data, which is segmented by every 48-bytes, and sent from a terminal 11 shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 shows a structure of the header in which coding schemes are adopted according to the network node interface (NNI). In FIG. 3, the first twenty-eight bits are available for routing; 12 bits for a virtual path identifier (VPI) and 16 bits for a virtual channel identifier (VCI). The VPI indicates a communication path and the VCI indicates a channel used in the indicated communication path. A payload type (PT) field (3 bits) indicates a type of information written in the information field. A cell loss priority (CLP) field (1 bit) is used for congestion control, and if the CLP is set (CLP value is 1), the cells are subject to being discarded, depending on network conditions. If the cell is not set (CLP value is 0), the cell has a higher priority. A header error control (HEC) field covers the entire cell header and the code used for this function, that is a CRC (Cyclic Redundancy Check) code, is capable of either single-bit error collection or multiple bit error detection.
FIG. 4 and 5 show examples of the header structure of an ATM cell. The former is the header of an idle cell used to delineate a boundary between adjacent cells, that is a so-called "HEC delineation". The idle cell has specific header values, i.e., VPI/VCI bits and PT bits are all zero, and only a CLP bit is 1 as shown in FIG. 4, and also the HEC bit pattern of the idle cell is fixed at "01010010" as the result of CRC calculation. The HEC delineation described above is performed by detecting the fixed pattern of the HEC field of an idle cell. The latter is the header of an administrative cell. The administrative cell is identified by the value of PT bits "110" as shown in FIG. 5, and used for management of resources.
Again, in FIG. 1, data, which is segmented by the AAL 13, sent from a terminal 11, is applied to a communication path set up by an ATM switch 14. The ATM switch 14 performs high speed ATM switching operation using data (VPI/VCI) of the cell header. However, when detecting the condition of congestion caused by, e.g., an excess of input data over channel capacity, etc., during data transfer, the ATM switch 14 discards partial data from the terminal 11, depending on the path conditions. In such a case, the ATM switch 14 checks the ClP bit of a cell header, and the cell of which the ClP bit is 1 is discarded prior to the cell of which the CLP bit is 0. Usually, the CLP bit of such a voice cell that has a large amount of redundancy and little influence on the cell discard described above is set (CLP value is 1), and conversely the CLP bit of a data cell is not set (CLP value is 0). FIG. 1 illustrates that terminals 11 of both sides combined with respective communication nodes 12 are connected to each other through VP 16 and VC 17.
As described above, in ATM communication the cell discard described above is caused by the condition of congestion. This is very different from conventional STM (Synchronous Transfer Mode) communication in which predetermined data is transferred in a fixedly assigned time-slot so the data discard as described above is never caused. Therefore, in the conventional STM communication there is no need to collect traffic information. Conversely, in the ATM communication there is need to collect traffic information for traffic control so as to manage and keep a network in good condition.
However, in a prior art, a conventional traffic supervisory control apparatus continuously or statistically measures the number of incoming valid information cells and uses the measured cell count as traffic control information (refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2-272939). In that way, there is a problem that it cannot detect a burst traffic condition that is caused by a concentration of cells incoming or outgoing for a short time, though ATM basically has the character of burst data transmission. Also, in the case of constructing a new network or extending an existent network, it is necessary to set several system parameters for traffic control of the new or existent network, depending the network conditions. However, in such a case there is a problem that it is very difficult to set the parameters described above, particularly to set the most suitable threshold value for starting the operation of the traffic control, and therefore enormous simulation of traffic in the network described above is required in order to precisely decide the parameters.
Further, since cell discard as described above is caused in the ATM communication, it is necessary to conveniently exchange communication paths when the condition of congestion is caused or expected by ordinal monitoring of the paths. In this case, conventionally, each communication node described above sends traffic information thereon together with a network control signal to a network management unit for performing the network management through a so-called control path. However, the traffic information, e.g., the number of cells sent and received for a unit-time, etc., increases in proportion to an increase in the number and so the rate of circuit capacity occupied by the traffic information increases, so that the rate of circuit capacity available to the network control signal decreases, and thereby there is caused a problem that enough circuit capacity for transferring the network control signal to perform the real-time network control cannot be secured. This problem is significant-in that the centralized control over total networks becomes difficult, in particular that for a network in a congested condition, which needs the real-time control most of all.
Furthermore, in a prior art ATM cells having a specific value of VPI/VCI are used as a transmission medium of network control information and network supervisory information. Thus, the cells are easily influenced by an ATM switch unit, and therefore there is a problem that the cell transmission is delayed by fluctuation of ATM switches and a queuing of the cells at the ATM switch unit. | {
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Generally, joints in a hydraulic excavator, which is a type of construction equipment, and arm supporting joints in a crane, which is also a type of construction equipment, have a structure in which a shaft inserted in bearings can be repeatedly and relatively swung within a fixed rotation angle, and a high surface pressure of 60 MPa or more can be received. Therefore, as this type of bearing assembly, a sliding bearing assembly using material having superior abrasion resistance can be used, and it is used by interposing lubricating oil, grease, wax, etc., having a high viscosity between sliding surfaces thereof. In such a sliding bearing assembly, it is necessary to sufficiently supply lubricating oil to the sliding surfaces, and as a result, a smooth bearing action can be obtained by preventing metallic contact to avoid abrasion, even if it is used under a high surface pressure. Therefore, a bush for the sliding bearing assembly is made of materials such as heat-treated carbon steel, high strength brass, etc., and in recent years, sintered material containing 10 to 30 weight % of Cu can be specifically used, for example, as described in Patent Publication 1.
The Patent Publication 1 is Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. Hei 11-117940. | {
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A code repository is typically a searchable, categorized, and/or internet accessible location that users may access to browse, search and download source or compiled library code. Uses of code repositories may include open source projects, proprietary development projects, and/or projects that create libraries for later use. A code annotation is a special form of syntactic metadata that can be added to source code. Classes, methods, variables, parameters, and/or code packages may be annotated. Unlike comments, annotations may be actionable in that they may be embedded in files generated by a compiler, and may be utilized by an execution environment to be retrievable at run-time.
Challenges may exist however, when program code files need to be searched (e.g., to find a source and/or solution to a coding problem/error). Specifically, it is presently difficult to efficiently and/or accurately search for specific methods and/or libraries across a set of code repositories from within an IDE. | {
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This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from the prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-287721, filed Sep. 21, 2000, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a magnetic disk drive having a single-pole perpendicular recording head and a perpendicular recording medium, and a position error signal generation method.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, magnetic disk drives employing perpendicular magnetic recording that can increase the recording density as compared to longitudinal magnetic recording are becoming popular. An example of such a magnetic disk drive employing perpendicular magnetic recording performs perpendicular magnetic recording/reproduction by combining a composite head formed from a single-pole perpendicular recording head and magnetoresistance effect type reproduction head (GMR head or the like) and a two-layered perpendicular magnetic recording medium. FIG. 1 shows the head output terminal waveform of the servo section when data perpendicularly magnetically recorded on a recording medium by this scheme is read out.
AGC shown in FIG. 1 represents a portion for amplitude gain control. An SIM portion corresponds to a servo index mark that indicates the start of servo data. A CYL portion corresponds to servo cylinder information and servo sector number information. A PAD portion corresponds to data for timing adjustment. A to D portions correspond to A to D burst signals. Since the signals are read by a head for directly detecting the magnetic field of a GMR head or the like, a signal having a signal amplitude of xe2x88x921 is detected even at a portion without any magnetization reversal (CYL portion or D portion), as shown in FIG. 1 (for the descriptive convenience, the signal amplitude is normalized to xc2x11).
The A to D burst signals are recorded on a track as, e.g., a pattern shown in FIG. 2. In this example, the A and B burst signals are located with a xc2xd phase shift for the target track. The C burst signal is located on the target track without any shift. The D burst signal is located with a full phase shift from the target track. For this reason, in the head output terminal waveform shown in FIG. 1, the amplitudes of the A to D burst signals appear as xe2x88x921 to 0, xe2x88x921 to 0, xe2x88x921 to +1, and xe2x88x921, respectively.
FIGS. 3A and 3B are block diagrams showing circuits for generating a positioning signal by conventional schemes. FIG. 3A shows an analog differentiation scheme, and FIG. 3B shows a digital differentiation scheme.
Referring to FIG. 3A, a head 1 is a composite head. A single-pole perpendicular recording head is employed for recording, and a GMR head is employed for reproduction. A signal read from the head 1 has the waveform shown in FIG. 1. A head amplifier (IC) 2 amplifies the signal read from the head 1. Since the low-frequency cutoff frequency of the head amplifier 2 at this time is several hundred kHz to 1 MHZ, the head amplifier 2 passes no DC (Direct Current) component, and the baseline of the waveform varies.
A variable gain amplifier (VGA) 3 determines the gain for the output signal of the head amplifier 2 in accordance with the output signal from an amplitude gain controller (AGC) 4. The AGC circuit 4 controls the variable gain amplifier 3 such that the AGC portion shown in FIG. 1 has a predetermined amplitude. A low-pass filter (LPF) 5 reduces high-frequency noise in the output signal from the variable gain amplifier 3.
A differentiator 6 executes analog differential processing for the output signal from the low-pass filter 5 so as to eliminate the variation in baseline and equalize the output waveform from the head with a servo waveform for normal planar recording. The output waveform from the differentiator 6 is the same as the servo waveform for normal planar recording.
An analog/digital converter (ADC) 7 samples the output signal from the differentiator 6. The sampling frequency is about 10 times the burst signal frequency. A finite impulse response circuit (FIR) 8 generates a reproduced signal on the basis of the output signal from the analog/digital converter 7.
A servo demodulation circuit 9 obtains the absolute value of the signal sampled by the analog/digital converter 7 and adds the signals in each burst section, thereby demodulating the burst amplitude. The signals are added in order to improve the S/N ratio of a position signal by the integration effect. From the thus obtained burst signal, a position signal is calculated by (A burst signal amplitude xe2x88x92B burst signal amplitude)/(A burst signal amplitude +B burst signal amplitude).
In the digital differential scheme shown in FIG. 3B, a 1-D arithmetic device 10 as a digital differentiator is arranged in place of the analog differentiator 6 shown in FIG. 3A. In this case, the 1-D arithmetic device 10 is placed on the output side of the analog/digital converter 7 to execute 1-D arithmetic operation for the output signal from the variable gain amplifier 3, thereby executing digital differential processing.
As described above, to eliminate the variation in baseline and equalize the output waveform from the head with the servo waveform for normal planar recording, in the prior arts, the output from the head amplifier is differentiated. A position error signal is generated on the basis of the differentiated signal.
However, the differential processing increases noise in the high-frequency region of the signal, degrades the S/N ratio, and increase variance of the position error signal.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a magnetic disk drive and position error signal generation method which restores a head output terminal signal without a distortion without executing differential processing and thus generating a position error signal with less variance.
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a magnetic disk drive comprising: a composite head formed from a single-pole perpendicular recording head which writes a signal on a perpendicular recording medium and a magnetoresistance effect type reproduction head; an amplifier which amplifies an output signal from the head; an analog/digital converter which samples the signal amplified by the amplifier; a DC component restoring circuit which restores a DC component removed by the amplifier using the signal output from the converter; a signal restoring circuit which restores the output signal from the head on the basis of the DC component restored by the DC component restoring circuit and the signal output from the converter; and a demodulation circuit which generates a position error signal on the basis of the output signal restored by the signal restoring circuit.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a position error signal generation method applied to a magnetic disk drive having a composite head formed from a single-pole perpendicular recording head which writes a signal on a perpendicular recording medium and a magnetoresistance effect type reproduction head, an amplifier which amplifies an output signal from the head, and an analog/digital converter which samples the signal amplified by the amplifier, the method comprising: restoring a DC component removed by the amplifier using the signal output from the converter; restoring the output signal from the head on the basis of the restored DC component and the signal output from the converter; and generating a position error signal on the basis of the restored output signal.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out hereinafter. | {
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This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
Various different types of antennas are used in the automotive industry, including amplitude modulation (AM) and/or frequency modulation (FM) radio antennas, satellite digital audio radio service (SDARS) antennas, global navigation satellite system (GNSS) antennas (e.g., global positioning system (GPS) antennas, etc.), cellular antennas, etc. Automotive antennas may be installed or mounted on an exterior vehicle surface, such as the roof, trunk, or hood of the vehicle to help ensure that the antennas have unobstructed views overhead or toward the zenith. The antennas may be connected (e.g., using one or more RF coaxial cables, etc.) to one or more electronic devices (e.g., a radio receiver, a touchscreen display, a navigation device, a cellular phone, etc.) inside the passenger compartment of the vehicle, such that the antennas are operable for transmitting and/or receiving signals to/from the electronic device(s) inside the vehicle.
It can be challenging to have good signal quality and higher performance with the conductive loss (e.g., RF coaxial cable loss, etc.) between the electronic devices, especially at higher frequency bands (e.g. 5.9 gigahertz (GHz)), and/or signal compression, etc.
Corresponding reference numerals indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a process for preparing highly viscous organopolysiloxanes, and to highly viscous organopolysiloxanes prepared thereby.
2. Background Art
For the preparation of polysiloxanes having high viscosity, a number of methods exist, based predominately on condensation reactions. For instance, a standard method is to prepare silanol-functional, highly viscous polysiloxanes from low-viscosity hydrolyzates of chlorosilanes, usually dimethyldichlorosilane, by condensing them at relatively high temperature, usually under the action of acidic catalysts, and liberating water in the process.
In a similar manner, silanol-functional polysiloxanes can be condensed with methoxysilanes to liberate methanol. For this purpose, catalysts and relatively high temperatures are usually required in order to achieve industrially acceptable conversion rates. For instance, the standard process for preparing typical commercial amino-functional siloxanes is the base-catalyzed condensation of aminoalkyl methoxysilanes with a short-chain hydrolyzate of dimethyldichlorosilane at elevated temperature.
In view of the reaction temperatures of 100° C. and higher, and a reaction time of over several hours, a process for preparing highly viscous polysiloxanes is desirable which is either rapidly complete or proceeds at low temperature such as room temperature, or both.
DE-A 2500020 describes a process for preparing aminosiloxanes in which silanol-terminated polysiloxanes are reacted with a-aminosilanes which bear an alkoxy group. The reaction proceeds at moderate temperatures with elimination of alcohol. However, it is only possible with this technique to prepare comparatively unstable α-aminosiloxanes and also only in difunctional telechelic form.
Highly viscous polysiloxanes can also be obtained by polyaddition reactions, as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,241,034 and 6,252,100. EP-A 874 017 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,451,909 disclose polyaddition reactions in emulsion for the preparation of highly viscous polysiloxanes. However, it is common to all of these polyaddition methods that metal catalysts are required for the progress of the reaction, and these are often undesired. In the presence of N-containing sil(ox)anes, catalyst inhibition also occurs, so that it is barely possible, if at all, to carry out an efficiently catalyzed polyaddition. | {
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Hepatitis A virus (HAV) is the causative agent of one form of hepatitis that may produce symptoms that include fever, fatigue, nausea, abdominal pain, diarrhea, loss of appetite, and jaundice over less than two months. Of those infected with HAV, about 10% to 15% have a prolonged or relapsing symptoms over a six to nine months following infection. Immunity to HAV, based on the individual's production of anti-HAV immunoglobulin G (IgG), follows both symptomatic and asymptomatic infections.
Although the incidence of HAV infections has dramatically decreased in parts of the world in which vaccination for HAV (e.g., by using inactivated HAV) has been widely used since the late 1990's, epidemics of HAV infections (greater than 700 cases per 100,000 population) may occur in non-immune populations where poor sanitary conditions exist, even temporarily, e.g. following an earthquake. HAV is shed in feces of infected persons and is usually transmitted by the fecal-oral route. Community-wide outbreaks may result from food-borne transmission that occurs when an HAV-infected food handler contaminates food during preparation, or when food materials are contaminated during growing, harvesting, packing, or processing in the distribution system. Transmission may also result from contact with HAV-contaminated serum, blood products, or contaminated needles, e.g., by transfusion or injection drug use. Persons at risk of HAV infection include those who have household or sex contacts with HAV-infected persons, persons who have clotting-factor disorders (e.g., hemophilia) or chronic liver disease, persons who travel in countries where hepatitis A is common, men who have sex with men, illegal drug users, and children who live in areas with high rates of hepatitis A (e.g., >20 cases per 100,000 population).
HAV is a 27-nm RNA virus (picornavirus) that contains a plus-sense single-stranded RNA genome of about 7.5 kb, for which a single serotype has been found worldwide. HAV replicates in the liver, is excreted in bile, and is shed in feces during the acute phase of an infection (up to 10.sup.8 virus per ml). The incubation period is usually two to six weeks before symptoms appear. Diagnosis of hepatitis A cannot be differentiated from other types of viral hepatitis by symptoms or other clinical features (e.g., elevated serum aminotransferase levels). Typically, hepatitis A diagnosis is confirmed by serological testing that provides positive results for the presence of anti-HAV immunoglobulins (Ig). Anti-HAV IgM is generally present five to ten days before the onset of symptoms and is undetectable in most patients by six months later, whereas anti-HAV IgG appears early during infection and remains detectable for the individual's lifetime. HAV RNA can be detected in the blood and stool of most persons during the acute phase of infection by using nucleic acid testing methods, e.g., amplification by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and nucleic acid sequencing, which has been used to identify the genetic relatedness of HAV following community-wide infections (Dato et al., Morbidity Mortality Wkly. Rpt., 2003, 52(47): 1155-57; LaPorte et al., Morbidity Mortality Wkly. Rpt., 2003, 52(24): 565-67). These methods, however, are not generally used for diagnostic purposes.
In the USA, about 100 persons die each year from acute liver failure due to hepatitis A (death rate of about 0.015%). Even in nonfatal hepatitis A cases there are substantial costs associated with HAV infections, including the costs of patient hospitalization, outpatient visits, and lost workdays. Public health costs associated with hepatitis A outbreaks include locating and administering immune globulin to people exposed to an infected individual or infectious source (e.g., contaminated water or food) within two weeks of exposure. Substantial psychological costs and economic losses may result from the perceived risk of infection, particularly for community-wide outbreaks. Because of the relative ease of HAV transmission in contaminated food and water, and the morbidity associated with hepatitis A, HAV is a potential agent for use in biological terrorism.
There exists a need to accurately detect the presence of HAV in biological and environmental samples. There exists a need to rapidly diagnose HAV-infected individuals. For example, because immune globulin must be administered to a person within two weeks of HAV exposure to be effective, there exists a need for a rapid and accurate assay to promptly evaluate food handlers with hepatitis symptoms and report HAV-positive sources to public health agencies. There is a need to detect HAV present in contaminated materials, such as water and food, to prevent community-wide outbreaks or epidemics resulting from use or consumption of these materials. There is also a need to detect HAV contamination in products that may be used in medical treatment, e.g., blood or serum used for transfusions or for the manufacture of factors derived from human fluids.
The present invention responds to these needs by disclosing oligonucleotide sequences used in nucleic acid testing methods to detect the presence of HAV nucleic acid (HAV RNA or cDNA derived from RNA) in a sample. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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High-density polyethylene which is in use in wide applications such as films, pipes, bottles and the like, has been conventionally prepared by using a Ziegler-Natta catalyst or a chromium catalyst. However, because of the nature of such catalysts, there has been limitation on the control over the molecular weight distribution or composition distribution of the polymer.
In recent years, several methods have been disclosed for preparation of an ethylene polymer having excellent moldability and mechanical strength, including an ethylene homopolymer or an ethylene.α-olefin copolymer of relatively small molecular weights and an ethylene homopolymer or an ethylene.α-olefin copolymer of relatively large molecular weights, according to a continuous polymerization technique, using a single-site catalyst which facilitates the control of the composition distribution, or a catalyst having such the single-site catalyst supported on a carrier.
In the publication of JP-A No. 11-106432, disclosed is a composition prepared by melt-blending a low molecular weight polyethylene with a high molecular weight ethylene.α-olefin copolymer, which are obtained by polymerization in the presence of a supported, geometric constraint type single-site catalyst (CGC/Borate-based catalyst). However, since the molecular weight distribution of the composition is not broad, fluidity of the composition may become poor. In addition, although the claims of the above-mentioned patent application do not disclose a preferred range of the carbon number of α-olefin that is to be copolymerized with ethylene, in the case of the carbon number being less than 6, it is expected that sufficient mechanical strength would not be exhibited. Further, because the molecular weight distribution (Mw/Mn) of the single-stage polymerization product is broad, it is also expected that the product's mechanical properties such as impact strength and the like would be insufficient, as compared with the single-stage product of narrower molecular weight distribution. Moreover, the anticipation that a broad composition distribution of the single-stage polymerization product would result in deterioration of the above-mentioned strength is obvious from the cross fractionation chromatography (CFC) data described in “Functional Materials,” published by CMC, Inc., March 2001, p. 50, and the cross fractionation chromatography (CFC) data described in FIG. 2 in the publication of JP-A No. 11-106432.
In the publication of WO 01/25328, disclosed is an ethylene polymer which is obtained by solution polymerization in the presence of a catalyst system comprising CpTiNP(tBu)3Cl2 and borate or alumoxane. This ethylene polymer has a weak crystalline structure due to the presence of a branch group in the low molecular weight component, and thus the polymer is expected to have poor mechanical strength. Also, since the molecular weight of the low molecular weight component is relatively large, it is expected that the polymer has low fluidity. Moreover, although the claims of the above-mentioned patent application do not disclose the preferred range of the carbon number of α-olefin that is to be copolymerized with ethylene, it is believed that when the carbon number is less than 6, sufficient mechanical strength would not be exhibited.
In the publication of EP 1201711 A1, disclosed is an ethylene polymer which is obtained by slurry polymerization in the presence of a catalyst system comprising ethylene.bis(4,5,6,7-tetrahydro-1-indenyl)zirconium dichloride with methylalumoxane supported on silica. Among such ethylene polymers, a single-stage polymerization product has a wide molecular weight distribution (Mw/Mn), and thus it is expected that the impact strength and the like would be insufficient as compared with a single-stage product of narrower molecular weight distribution. Further, it is inferred that a broad molecular weight distribution means heterogeneity of the active species, and consequently there is a concern that the composition distribution broadens, thereby resulting in deterioration of fatigue strength. Moreover, in some Examples of the above-mentioned patent application, a single-stage polymerization product of small molecular weight and a single-stage polymerization product of large molecular weight are melt-kneaded. In this kneading method, crystalline structures that are continuous over more than 10 μm are often produced, and thus it is expected that sufficient strength would not be exhibited.
In the publication of JP-A No. 2002-53615, disclosed is an ethylene polymer which is obtained by slurry polymerization using a catalyst system comprising methylalumoxane and a zirconium compound having a specific salicylaldimine ligand supported on silica. Although the claims of the patent application do not disclose the preferred range of the carbon number of α-olefin that is to be copolymerized with ethylene, in regard to the ethylene polymer obtained from 1-butene (number of carbon atoms=4) which is used as the α-olefin in Examples of the patent application, the carbon number is small, and it is envisaged that sufficient mechanical strength would not exhibited.
In general, an ethylene polymer shows a multimodal molecular weight distribution. When the intermodal molecular weight differences are large, mixing with melt-kneading is difficult, and thus multistage polymerization is typically employed. Multistage polymerization is in general often carried out in a continuous manner. In the case of such multistage polymerization, a distribution is usually created in the ratio between the residence time in a polymerization vessel which is under a polymerizing environment that would produce a low molecular weight product, and the residence time in a polymerization vessel which is under a polymerizing environment that would produce a high molecular weight product. In particular, in the case of a polymerization method in which the polymer is produced in a particulate form, such as the gas-phase method or slurry method, there may exist differences in the molecular weight among different particles. Such difference in molecular weight has been recognized even in the cases of using the Ziegler catalysts as described in the publication of Japanese Patent No. 821037 or the like. However, the catalyst is multi-sited, whereas the molecular weight distribution is broad. Accordingly, polymer particles are well mixed with each other even upon conventional pelletization by melt-kneading. On the other hand, in the case of using a singe-site catalyst, since the molecular weight distribution is narrow, the polymer particles are often not mixed sufficiently with each other during conventional pelletization by melt-kneading. Thus, in some cases, the history of polymer as having been in a particulate form was reflected in the mixture, and this caused disorder in the fluidity to adversely affect the appearance or sufficient exhibition of mechanical strength. Also, such ethylene polymer showed a tendency that the coefficient of smoothness which is determined from the surface roughness of extruded strands increased.
The ethylene (co)polymer prepared using a Ziegler catalyst as described in Japanese Patent No. 821037 or the like has methyl branch groups in the molecular chain as a result of side production of a methyl branch group during the polymerization reaction. It was found that this methyl branch group was embedded in the crystal, thus weakening the crystal (see, for example, Polymer Vol. 31, p. 1999 (1990)), and this caused deterioration in mechanical strength of the ethylene (co)polymer. Further, in regard to the copolymer of ethylene and α-olefin, when the copolymer contained almost no α-olefin, a tough and brittle component was produced; on the other hand, when an excessive proportion of α-olefin was used in copolymerization, a soft component with weak crystalline structure was produced, and thus it may cause tackiness. Moreover, since the molecular weight distribution was broad, there were problems such as the phenomenon of a low molecular weight product adhering to the surfaces of molded products as a powdery substance, and so on.
The ethylene polymer that is obtained by polymerization using a metallocene catalyst as described in the publication of JP-A No. 9-183816 or the like has methyl branch groups in the molecular chain, as a result of side production of a methyl branch group during the polymerization reaction. This methyl branch group is embedded in the crystals, thereby weakening the crystalline structure. This has been a cause for the lowering of mechanical strength. Also, an ethylene polymer with extremely large molecular weight has not been disclosed heretofore.
An ethylene polymer that is obtained by polymerization in the presence of a chromium-based catalyst exhibits low molecular extension because of the presence of a long-chained branch group, and thus has poor mechanical strength. Further, as a result of side production of a methyl branch group during the polymerization reaction, there exist methyl branch groups in the molecular chain. These methyl branch groups are embedded in the crystals and weaken the crystalline structure. This has been a cause for the lowering of mechanical strength. Further, in regard to the copolymer of ethylene and an α-olefin, when the copolymer contained almost no α-olefin, a tough and brittle product was produced; on the other hand, when α-olefin was copolymerized in an excessive proportion, tackiness was caused or a soft component with weak crystalline structure was produced.
The ethylene polymer that is obtained by polymerization in the presence of a constrained geometry catalyst (CGC) as described in the publication of WO 93/08221 or the like has methyl branch groups in the molecular chain, as a result of side production of a methyl branch group during the polymerization reaction. These methyl branch groups are embedded in the crystals and weaken the crystalline structure. This has been a cause for the lowering of mechanical strength. Further, the molecular extension was low because of the presence of long-chained branch groups, and thus the mechanical strength was insufficient.
An ethylene polymer that is obtained by high pressure radical polymerization has methyl branch groups or long-chained branch groups in the molecular chain, as a result of the side production of methyl branch groups or long-chained branch groups during polymerization. These methyl branch groups are embedded in the crystals, thereby weakening the crystalline strength. This has been a cause for the lowering of mechanical strength. Further, the presence of long-chained branch groups resulted in low molecular extension as well as a broad molecular weight distribution, and thus the mechanical strength was poor.
In regard to the ethylene polymer that is obtained by cold polymerization using a catalyst containing Ta- or Nb-complexes as described in the publication of JP-A No. 6-233723, since the ratio (Mw/Mn) of the weight average molecular weight (Mw) and the number average molecular weight (Mn) as measured by GPC was small, the moldability might be insufficient. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Mechanically governed diesel engines have long been used in hazardous and other sensitive environments. Hazardous environments include environments that have flammable or explosive vapors or dust such as those found in oil fields or in coal mines. The presence of these vapors and dust pose a possibility of a runaway condition of the engine due to ingestion of these ambient combustible vapors and dust through the air intake of the engine and subsequent combustion in the cylinders. Other sensitive environments may include use at or near heavily populated and enclosed sites such as in large or tall buildings with engines driving a water pump or generator.
For use in these hazardous or sensitive sites, various aftermarket components are installed on the engine to provide an engine shut down if there is an indication that the engine is not working properly, for example, it is in a runaway condition. For engine shut down in the event of a runaway condition, a shut down system may include closure of an intake air flap or actuation of a halon injection system as well as a fuel shut off system that is activated when the engine achieves or exceeds a trigger point; i.e., an actuation set point at a certain speed.
For many automatic shut down devices, various government or other certification agencies require periodic testing to determine if the shut down systems are properly working and properly maintained. For runaway speed shut down systems, these tests are often conducted at runaway speeds, for example, tested at 2400 rpm on a 2100 rpm rated engine. These runaway speed conditions are easily achieved on a mechanically governed engine by adjustment of the fuel rack to cause a runaway condition that reaches the trigger point. Once the overspeed runaway condition is met, it can be determined if the automatic shut down system operated according to expectation and specifications.
One of the great improvements to the diesel engine in recent times is the incorporation of electronic controls. These electronically controlled diesel engines, also referred to as electronically governed diesel engines, most commonly incorporate an electronic control module (ECM). The ECM is loaded with a set of running calibrations, most commonly referred to as a primary or main rating along with a droop component commencing at the full load speed when the horsepower output drops to zero at higher speeds. Electronic control modules provide many advantages over mechanically governed diesel engines, including more precise control of fuel, emission vapors, and various other engine functions and provide for better reliability and less maintenance of the control settings. In summary, electronically controlled diesel engines provide a more reliable, cleaner and more fuel efficient engine. As a consequence of the many advantages provided by electronic controls, the electronically controlled diesel engine has seen a great rise in popularity.
However, there are still many markets and applications that have not opened to these otherwise advantageous electronically controlled diesel engines. Electronically controlled diesel engines have not yet been allowed to be used in building basements for use as a water pump for fire control. In addition, oil fields and coal mines are still dominated by mechanically governed diesel engines.
The reasons for the lack of entry of the electronically controlled diesel engine in these particular marketplaces in spite of its obvious advantages in fuel economy, superior emission control and performance is due to a single cause; namely, there is no available test to determine the operability of the shut down system during overspeed. Once the calibrations have been set in the electronic control module, the controls to date have not provided for an overspeed testing of the shut down system or, for that matter, any type of testing of any shut down system that may be connected to the engine.
What is needed is a testing method for an electronically governed engine for determining the operability of an overspeed and other automatic shut down systems. What is also needed is a testing method for an electronically governed engine for determining the operability of an overspeed shut down system for the engine during actual overspeed conditions. What is also needed is a testing method that allows testing calibrations to be entered into the electronic control module to provide an output signal from the electronic control unit to actuate the overspeed shut down system. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Performance characteristics of snowmobiles, including ride comfort and weight balance, depend upon a variety of systems and components, including the snowmobile suspension. Modern snowmobile suspensions typically include two systems, a front suspension system for the skis and a rear suspension system for the track.
The rear suspension of a snowmobile supports an endless track driven by the snowmobile engine to propel the machine. The track is supported beneath the vehicle chassis by a suspension that is designed to provide proper weight balance and ride comfort by absorbing some of shock as the snowmobile traverses uneven terrain. Most modern snowmobiles utilize a slide rail suspension which incorporates a slide rail along with several idler wheels to support the track. The slide rail typically is suspended beneath the chassis by two or more suspension arms, each arm being attached at its upper end to the chassis of the snowmobile and attached at its lower end to the slide rail. The mechanical linkage of the slide rail to the suspension arms and to the snowmobile chassis typically is provided with springs and one or more shock absorbers, the springs being loaded to urge the slide rails downwardly away from the snowmobile chassis, and the shocks providing dampening forces for improved ride comfort.
A variety of configurations of suspension arms, springs, shocks, and shock rods have been utilized to alter the characteristics and feel of the ride given by a particular suspension system. U.S. Pat. No. 5,265,692 shows a snowmobile track suspension having a pair of generally parallel suspension arms connecting the slide rail to the snowmobile chassis. The lower end of the rear suspension arm has a pivot mount that is movable longitudinally of the slide rail. When this pivot is located at its forward most portion of longitudinal movement (i.e., at the forward end of a longitudinal slot), the suspension arms form a parallelogram with the snowmobile chassis and the slide rail so that upward movement of the front suspension arm is transmitted through the slide rail to the rear suspension arm, causing the slide rail to move upward in an orientation that is generally parallel to the snowmobile chassis. Thus, the front end of the slide rail cannot move higher than the back end of the slide rail. The longitudinal slot into which the lower end of the rear suspension arm is pivotally mounted permits the back end of these slide rails to move higher than the front end of the rails.
In light of the varying characteristics that can be built into a suspension system, a variety of competing suspension systems have been made commercially available, and different types of suspension systems commonly are employed on different types of machines, depending upon their primary usage (e.g., racing, touring, etc.). A need remains for an adjustable suspension system adaptable to perform across a variety of terrain and under diverse conditions. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Safety deposit box systems are well known and may be found within the vaults of most financial institutions. Safety deposit box systems are basically comprised of a compartmental housing wherein each compartment within the housing receives a storage box. Means are provided for locking each storage box within its respective compartment. Most financial institutions prefer a plurality of sizes of safe deposit boxes for rental to customers at differential rates. Accordingly, safe deposit box systems are available in a plurality of different box sizes or a combination of box sizes, e.g. 3".times.5" boxes, 3".times.10" boxes, 5".times.5" boxes, 5".times.10" boxes or 10".times.10" boxes, etc.
To accommodate demands by financial institutions for a particular size safety deposit box or groupings of different sized safety deposit boxes, it has been known to provide modular safety deposit box systems. With such systems, a limited number of standardized components, i.e. shelves and dividers, are used to create the different sized compartments within a standard housing. Many such systems are typically assembled through tabs on components extending into complimentary slots or notches in other components. Still other systems are assembled by welding the standardized components in place. With respect to the former type of assembly, because the respective components are basically not fastened to each other, the components must be made of fairly rigid material to provide the structural stability lost through the loose fitting components. With case assemblies which are welded together, thinner material may be utilized to form the compartments, but the labor costs to assemble a security deposit box system are generally undesirable.
The present invention overcomes these and other problems and provides a modular safety deposit box system which utilizes components formed of relatively thin metal sheeting which are secured together by adhesive material or spotwelding to form a rigid, sturdy safety deposit box system. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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In electrophotographic image forming apparatuses such as copiers, printers and facsimiles, a developer has an important role in finally visualizing an image and technical development thereof is very actively made. Particularly, a mainstream dry two-component developer is formed of a particulate magnet called a carrier and a particulate resin including a colorant called a toner.
The carrier is a magnetic powder including a core material and a thin resin layer formed thereon for the purpose of controlling resistivity, imparting chargeability and improving durability, and is prepared by coating a coating liquid on the core material, burning and sifting.
Japanese published unexamined application No. 2010-282168 discloses using a burner such as an electric oven and rotary kiln in a burning process of preparing a carrier.
However, these burners heat heaters to heat air, and the heated air heats the particulate carrier. The particulate carrier is indirectly heated through air having low heat conductivity. Therefore, the energy efficiency is low and a specific energy consumption (an energy requited to produce a unit weight [kWh/kg]) is large.
In order to solve this problem, using a high-frequency induction heating in the burning process of preparing a carrier is discussed.
The high-frequency induction heating is a method of heating metals, using an electromagnetic induction phenomenon. Two iron losses called an eddy-current loss and a hysteresis loss heat the conductive core material of a carrier.
The eddy-current loss is an iron loss generating a Joule heat because an eddy current caused by a magnetic line generated from a conductive line a high-frequency current flows through flows through the core material having electrical resistance.
The hysteresis loss is an iron loss generating a heat when a magnetic flux generated in the core material causes a hysteresis phenomenon when a high-frequency current flows through a coil.
In the high-frequency induction heating, the core material is heated by a heat generated from each of the two iron losses to dry a solvent remaining in a coated film and heat a resin. Therefore, each core material can directly be heated not through a medium such as air, and the high-frequency induction heating is expected to be a burning method having a very small specific energy consumption.
However, a voltage, a current and a frequency are thought limited in using a high-frequency induction heater. Hereinafter, the limitation is explained.
FIG. 16 is a circuit diagram of a resonance LCR circuit included in a high-frequency induction heater.
In the resonance LCR circuit in FIG. 16, the following relationship is satisfied:Vc=Q×V wherein Vc represents a voltage resistance of a condenser and V represents a source voltage.
Further, the following relationship is satisfied as well:
Q = 1 R L C wherein R represents a resistance, L represents an inductance and C represents a condenser capacity.
When “Q” formula is substituted in “Vc” formula, the following relationship is satisfied:
Vc = 1 R L C V
Therefore, the source voltage V is represented by the following formula:V=Vc·R·(C/L)0.5 (1)wherein V represents the source voltage, Vc represents the voltage resistance of a condenser, R represents the resistance, C represents the condenser capacity, and L represents the inductance.
In the induction heating, the larger an intensity of a magnetic field formed of a current flowing a coil, the larger a calorie supplied to a carrier per a unit time, and the productivity is increased. The intensity of a magnetic field is proportional to the number of coil turns per a unit length and a current. The source voltage V needs increasing to increase a current flowing through a circuit having the fixed resistance R and the fixed inductance L. From the formula (1), when a carrier having a fixed resistance R is burned with a coil having a fixed inductance L, the voltage resistance of a condenser and the condenser capacity need increasing to increase the source voltage V. However, the source voltage V is limited because the voltage resistance and the capacity of a condenser are both limited.
Typically, a current is represented by the following formula:I0=V0/R0 wherein I0 represents a circuit current, V0 represents a source voltage and R0 represents a circuit resistance.
Therefore, I0 is thought limited when V0 is limited.
A current frequency in the resonance circuit is represented by the following formula:f=1/2π[1/(L·C)]0.5 (2)wherein f represents a frequency, L represents the inductance and C represents the condenser capacity.
The higher the frequency of a current, the lower a depth of penetration of an induction current generated in a conductive material to be heated. Therefore, the higher the frequency of a current, the more efficiently a small particulate carrier can be heated. However, from the formula (2), when a carrier is burned with a coil having a fixed inductance L, the condenser capacity C must be decreased to increase the current frequency f, but the condenser capacity C is limited. Further, as the formula (1) shows, when the condenser capacity C decreases, the source voltage V decreases as well, which is not necessarily be effective to increase burning efficiency, and the current frequency f is limited as well. In addition, the high-frequency induction heater has a fixed rated frequency, a high-frequency oscillator included therein cannot be oscillated with a frequency out of the fixed rated frequency.
From the formula (2), it is obvious that decreasing the inductance L enables the source voltage V and the current frequency f to increase without receiving limit of the condenser capacity C. Effective means of decreasing the inductance L include decreasing the number of coil turns. However, the intensity of a magnetic field is proportional to the number of coil turns per a unit length and a current. Therefore, when the number of coil turns is decreased while the number of coil turns per a unit length is maintained, the coil has a short length and a heating area narrows. When the number of coil turns is decreased while the length of the coil is maintained, an electric power required to burn a specific amount of a carrier increases, and a specific energy consumption is thought to deteriorate.
In this manner, the source voltage V, a circuit current I and the frequency f are limited in burning a carrier by a high-frequency induction heater, the oscillating capability of the high-frequency oscillator is not fully drawn, resulting in poor specific energy consumption.
Because of these reasons, a need exist for a method of preparing carrier for electrophotography, which has high productivity and low specific energy consumption. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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In recent years, there have been a variety of requirements, such as improved fuel efficiency and compliance with emission regulations for internal-combustion engines. In response to these requirements, in diesel-engine vehicles, a method of improving fuel efficiency by increasing the supercharging pressure of a turbocharger, improving engine output ratio and thereby achieving a reduction in engine size have been widely adopted. Further, in order to comply with emission regulations, a low-pressure loop (LPL)-EGR system for increasing the amount of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) gas has been increasingly adopted.
In a compressor of a turbocharger equipped with an LPL-EGR system, the compressor outlet temperature is increased when the supercharging pressure of the turbocharger is increased, and soot-containing deposit originated from an engine oil are formed in the compressor (hereinafter, such deposits are referred to as “compressor deposits”). Since this deposit formation reduces the turbocharger efficiency, the output temperature must be controlled in order to prevent the formation of such deposits. Accordingly, increasing the output temperature by inhibiting the deposit formation has been studied. Non-patent Literature 1 describes that the evaporation characteristics of an engine oil affects the deposit formation and the deposit formation can be suppressed by limiting the amount of light fraction in the oil. Patent Literature 1 describes that sludge formation in the turbo mechanism of an engine equipped with a direct-injection turbo mechanism is inhibited by reducing the amount of light fraction of a lubricant composition.
Patent Literature 2 discloses a lubricant composition which is used for reducing the total hydrocarbon emissions from a diesel engine and comprises a Fischer-Tropsch-derived base oil and at least one additive. Patent Literature 3 discloses a lubricant composition which provides improved fuel efficiency characteristics while maintaining desirable wear performance and NOACK volatility, and discloses that when a Fischer-Tropsch-derived base oil is not used, volatility control is not lost. However, neither Patent Literature 2 nor Patent Literature 3 describes deposit reduction focusing on the distillation characteristics of the Fischer-Tropsch-derived base oil.
Patent Literature 4 discloses a lubricant composition for attaining lubricity and heat resistance at high temperatures in a turbocharger lubricant, which lubricant composition comprises a combination of base oils each having a specific kinematic viscosity and additives. However, Patent Literature 4 does not describe that deposits are attributed to the distillation characteristics of the base oils. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Various systems have been developed for automated transmission of documents or other information over the public telephone lines to the facsimile machine of an information requestor. For examples of such systems, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,910,765; 4,893,333; 4,918,722; 4,864,254; 5,068,888; and 5,072,309. By using a facsimile-based information service, a user can virtually instantaneously obtain a hard copy of a document from, for example, a library or other central information source, thus avoiding the delays attendant with mail services or the expenses involved in personal delivery.
Because of the time advantages inherent in facsimile transmission of information, it has become virtually a standard of doing business. However, there are a number of problems associated with delivering requested information or documents from a central information source which must be overcome for such schemes to become practical and widespread. For example, the person requesting the information must be identified in some fashion. Obviously, this can be done by verbal communication over the phone, or assigning each user an identification number which is inputted via touch tone phone. However, this requires each user to keep track of the identification number, and makes routing of information to anyone else difficult.
Another problem associated with facsimile retrieval of information from a central data source is the expense of conducting such exchange via the public telephone network. If the central data base, for example, is in Washington, D.C. and the requestor is in California, the long distance charges for transmission of a document of any size can be prohibitively expensive.
Another complication that must be dealt with by any efficient system is the necessity for billing charges incurred by the user. Of course, any facsimile information system must include means for identifying the information requestor (a telephone number, tax number, an established account number, et cetera) but, again, accounting personnel will be needed to correlate the charges for a particular facsimile transmission with the requestor, establish a charge for the service, and bill it to the customer. Again, this increases the total cost and inefficiency of the system.
Clearly, it would be desirable to provide a facsimile information system and method which automatically routes information to the correct individual, minimize the cost of long distance telephone service, and automatically calculate a charge and bill it to the customer without the necessity of human intervention. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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“Resistive heaters” for generating Joule heat by applying currents to thin-film resistors are widely used for various applications. Examples of such resistive heaters include micro-sized resistive heaters placed on circuit substrates or semiconductors such as silicon. A large number of attempts have been made to solve problems due to the size of the micro-sized resistive heaters. See, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication Nos. 58-134764, 3-164270, and 61-219666 and Japanese Patent No. 2811209. Techniques relating to these resistive heaters are usually used to heat specific micro-regions (several micrometers square) or relatively large-area regions which are several millimeters to several centimeters square such that semiconductor devices mounted on such regions are heated.
In a case where a square region or a rectangular region which has a small aspect ratio and which is therefore close to a square shape is heated, the shape of a resistive heater placed in the region is not particularly limited. Therefore, a desired object can be readily achieved by allowing the resistive heater to have such a shape that the temperature distribution in the region can be desirably adjusted. For the electrical resistance of resistive heaters, since a large number of holes can be bored in a sheet-shaped resistive heater, the electrical resistance of the heater can be readily adjusted by varying the size and/or number of the holes as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 58-134764.
For the resistive heater for heating the square or rectangular region, the temperature distribution obtained by the resistive heater and the electrical resistance of the resistive heater can be adjusted by varying the shape of the resistive heater.
The electrical resistance of the resistive heater is a key factor to determine the necessary performance, for example, the maximum voltage, of an external circuit for driving the resistive heater. If the resistive heater has a large electrical resistance, an extremely high voltage must be applied to the driving circuit. In consideration of the voltage (about 5 to 12 V) of a power supply, connected to a control circuit (usually including semiconductor devices), for controlling the temperature, there is a problem in that these circuits cannot be connected to a common power supply. Thus, it is necessary to adjust the electrical resistance of the resistive heater.
On the other hand, an optical component, for example, “a thermooptic phase shifter”, used for optical communication includes a resistive heater (see, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 6-34926). This resistive heater includes a resistor having a width of several micrometers to several tens micrometers and a length of about 2 to 5 mm. The length of the resistor is extremely greater than the width thereof. Therefore, this resistive heater is different from that resistive heater in that the resistor has a narrow line shape (a narrow stripe shape). The thermooptic phase shifter includes an optical waveguide section having a width of about 5 μm and a length of about 2 to 5 mm. In order to selectively heat the optical waveguide section having such a shape using this resistive heater, the resistor must also have a narrow line shape.
Since the resistor has a width of several micrometers, it is difficult to arbitrarily adjust the electrical resistance of the resistor by varying the shape thereof in the same manner as that described above. This is because a micromachining technique is necessary to shape the resistor.
The resistor is allowed to have a thickness of up to several hundreds nanometers because of the reason due to a semiconductor process used to form the thermooptic phase shifter. That is, the thickness of the resistor is limited. The number of materials for forming the optical waveguide section is not very large because such materials must have good machinability, high stability, and high adhesion to a glass material for forming the optical waveguide section.
As described above, in the resistive heater included in the optical component, there is a limitation that the resistor must have a narrow line shape; hence, it is very difficult to prepare a heating element (in particular, a heating element with low electrical resistance) with desired electrical resistance properties by improving the shape of the resistor. Furthermore, it is not easy to adjust the thickness of the resistive heater or change a material for forming the resistive heater as required because of process and material constraints.
There are known techniques relating to the present invention as described below.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-301219 discloses a thermal print head including a wire resistor. The thermal print head, as specified in claim 1 of this patent document, includes “a linear resistor, a power supply line, a grounding line, and an integrated circuit device, wherein the integrated circuit device includes a plurality of transistors each including respective first electrodes connected to the power supply and respective second electrodes connected to the grounding line and also includes a plurality of pads for connecting the second electrodes to the grounding line and the resistor generates heat when a current is applied to the resistor by bring the transistors into conduction”. According to such a configuration, the following advantages can be achieved: “the second electrodes can be connected to the pads with short wires, the wires therefore have low resistance, a difference in wiring resistance between the transistors is small, electricity consumption is low, the life of a battery included in the thermal print head is long if the thermal print head is of a portable type, the thermal print head can be driven with a low-voltage battery because a voltage drop due to the wiring resistance is small, the quality of an image formed by the thermal print head is high because a difference in wiring resistance between the transistors is small and because a difference in temperature between portions of the resistor is small”.
In the thermal print head disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-301219, the resistor and the power supply line are connected to each other with a plurality of spaced wires and the first electrodes of the transistors are connected to the resistor with wires. The first and second electrodes of the transistors correspond to the drains and sources of MOS transistors, respectively. If one of the transistors in the integrated circuit device is turned on, a current flows from the power supply line to the grounding line through the resistor and the transistor. Since the current flows in two wires for connecting the power supply line to the resistor and flows in a portion of the resistor that is sandwiched between the two wires, the resistor portion can be selectively heated.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-008901 discloses a thin-film resistor, a hybrid IC, and a microwave monolithic integrated circuit (MMIC). In the thin-film resistor, “a first electrode and second electrode connected to thin-film resistor portions have narrow, irregular sections extending in the direction that the first and second electrodes face to each other; sides of the irregular sections of the first and second electrodes are arranged at predetermined intervals; and the thin-film resistor portions are arranged between the sides facing to each other”. That is, in the thin-film resistor, an end section of the first electrode is shaped so as to have an interdigital shape so that the irregular electrode sections are formed, an end section of the second electrode is shaped so as to have an interdigital shape so that the irregular electrode sections are formed, and the electrode sections are engaged with each other in such a manner that the interdigital electrode sections of the second electrode are placed in spaces between the interdigital electrode sections of the first electrode. The thin-film resistor portions are separately placed in spaces between the interdigital electrode sections engaged with each other.
According to such a configuration, the following advantages can be achieved: “the thin-film resistor can be shaped so as to have a size close to the width of wires and a region for forming the thin-film resistor can therefore be formed so as to have a desired characteristic impedance”.
If the operational stability and reliability of resistive heaters are regarded as most important, tantalum nitride (TaN) is usually used to prepare resistors. Thin-film heaters, made of TaN, for semiconductor circuits have a large electrical resistance because the resistivity of TaN is usually high, 200 to 300 μΩ·cm, under conditions for stably forming layers. If, for example, a TaN layer is processed into fine wires having a thickness of 200 nm a width of 10 μm, and a length of 2 mm, the wires have an electrical resistance of 2 to 3 kΩ. In order to allow a wire resistor, made of TaN, having such an electrical resistance to generate 300 mW of heat, the voltage necessary to energize the wire resistor is very high, 17 to 30 V.
An attempt to prepare a small-sized, precisely controllable heating element including a TaN wire resistor causes a problem, i.e., an increase in the size of a driving power supply. Hence, the attempt is impossible. This can be applied to titanium nitride (TiN), as well as TaN, having a relatively large resistivity. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
This disclosure relates to the field of mobile communications and more particularly to improved methods and systems for mobile communication facility usage and social network creation.
2. Description of Related Art
Online search driven by Web-based search engines has proven to be one of the most significant uses of computer networks such as the Internet. Computer users can employ a variety of search tools to search for content using different user interfaces and search methods. In some circumstances, mobile device users can also access Internet search tools to search for content. However, users of many mobile devices such as cell phones encounter difficulties using search technologies intended for conventional online use. Difficulties include the inability to display appropriate content, difficulty entering queries and taking other suitable actions such as navigation in an environment adapted to full screen displays, full-sized keyboards, and high-speed network connections. Furthermore, Internet search engines are currently unable to optimally deliver search results for a mobile communication facility because these search engines are specifically designed for the Internet and not mobile uses. A need exists for improved search capabilities adapted for use with mobile communication devices. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to aqueous dispersions of encapsulated polyisocyanates which have improved pot life and to their use in compositions containing waterborne isocyanate-reactive compounds.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Water dispersible polyisocyanates and processes for achieving water dispersibility of hydrophobic polyisocyanates through chemical modification are known and disclosed in, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,176,118, 4,144,267, 4,142,030, 4,097,422, 4,052,347, 3,959,348 and 3,959,329. It is also known to use hydrophobic polyisocyanates in combination with aqueous solutions or suspensions as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,105,594 and 4,129,696. Further, it is known from British Patent 1,186,771 to use external surfactants or additives which are not reactive with isocyanate groups to achieve dispersibility of these hydrophobic isocyanates in water. Aqueous dispersions of hydrophobic polyisocyanates can also be generated in the absence of surfactants or additives using mechanical devices which provide high shear forces.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,904,522 is directed to the preparation of water dispersible polyisocyanates for use in fiberglass binder applications. In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 4,663,377 is directed to the use of water dispersible polyisocyanates in adhesive applications.
The disadvantage of all of these products is that after they are dispersed in aqueous media, they begin to react with water, which means these products have a limited potlife. Waiting too long to apply the product usually results in precipitation and/or formation of insoluble, non-film forming ureas. Even when these products are applied directly after the aqueous dispersions are formed, there is a problem. If film formation occurs before the water/isocyanate reaction is complete, subsequent carbon dioxide formation will result in bubbles in the film rendering it useless for coatings applications. Although undesirable, porous films may still be acceptable as binders for adhesive applications when large surface areas are formed and the resulting polyurethane/urea acts as a spot-type glue between, e.g., fibers, the carbon dixoide gas formation has no negative impact on performance.
One solution for this problem that will lead to non-porous films is to block the isocyanate groups of the water dispersible isocyanate prior to dispersing it in water as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,522,851, 4,098,933 and 4,284,544. The disadvantage of the blocked isocyanate groups is that they require elevated temperatures (above 100.degree. C.) to achieve deblocking and cure and cannot be used as crosslinkers for aqueous systems at room temperature.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide aqueous polyisocyanate dispersions which have improved pot lives, may be cured at room temperature and exhibit film forming properties.
Surprisingly, this object may be achieved in accordance with the present invention by reacting the dispersed polyisocyanates with polyamines in order to encapsulate them. | {
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Fluorine compounds are extremely important as, for example, functional materials, compounds for medicines and agrochemicals, electronic materials, and other various chemical products, as well as the intermediates of these.
Fluoride, hydrogen fluoride, sulfur tetrafluoride, etc., have been used as fluorinating agents to obtain a target fluorine compound by fluorinating a variety of organic compounds as a starting material. These fluorinating agents, however, are difficult to handle due to, for example, their toxicity, corrosiveness, and explosion risk at the time of reaction, and thus require special devices or techniques.
A reaction for introducing a fluorine atom into an organic compound by using nucleophilic substitution with fluoride ion has recently been developed, in addition to various fluorinating agents used for the reaction.
Iodine pentafluoride (IF5), for example, is known as a powerful fluorinating agent with high oxidizing power; however, this is a dangerous liquid fluorinating agent because it reacts with moisture in air and decomposes while generating HF. Non-patent Literature 1 recently reported that IF5 having such features becomes a stable white solid in air when mixed with pyridine-HF and is effective for fluorination of various sulfur compounds.
Further, bromine trifluoride (BrF3) is a liquid that has oxidizing power stronger than that of IF5. BrF3 is usable in fluorination of various kinds of substrates, and is used, for example, to produce uranium hexafluoride in nuclear fuel processing. However, BrF3 is a toxic and corrosive liquid, and is a strong irritant to the eyes or skin. In air, BrF3 has the problems of decomposing within a short period of time, generating hydrogen fluoride, and the like. Further, BrF3 reacts vigorously with general-purpose solvents, such as methylene chloride, at room temperature. Thus, the solvent used with BrF3 is limited when BrF3 is used as a fluorinating agent. Accordingly, the use of BrF3 requires special knowledge and devices, and the practical use of BrF3 in a wide scope has not yet been achieved at present, although BrF3 has a high reactivity as a fluorinating agent. | {
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Music is used in a variety of products and works. For example, music is often used in products such as web applications, computer games, and other interactive multimedia products. Music is also often used in other works such as television advertising, radio advertising, commercial films, corporate videos, and other media.
Working with music during the production of products and works that use music can be complicated and time consuming. For example, if the music in use is from a music library, it is of a fixed duration and tempo and therefore requires that the user of the music engage in the time consuming task of editing the music to alter it to fit the requirements of the product or work being produced.
If music is being produced by a composer of music, it is often the case that the producers of the product or work and the composer will engage in several time consuming iterations of producing the music and altering the music before the music fits the requirements of the product or work being produced.
If the music is being produced by a software application, such as those available in the present market that are designed to generate music for use in a product or work, it is often the case that the use of the software application is time consuming, requires extensive musical skill and knowledge, or is limited in it's ability to generate music that meets the requirements of the product or work being produced.
Music generating machines and processes have been invented in the past. Software applications exist that allow skilled composers of music to generate music. The Digital Performer™ software produced by Mark of the Unicorn, Inc. is an example of such software. Also, software applications exist that assist less-skilled composers in generating music. The Soundtrack software produced by Apple™ is an example of such software. Also, software applications exist that allow non-skilled users to generate music. The SmartSound™ Sonicfire™ Pro software produced by SmartSound Software, Inc. is an example of such software and is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 5,693,902.
The machines and processes like those noted above have several shortcomings. For example, a user of the machine or process must be a skilled composer of music. This excludes many users who need music but do not have the skills to generate it. A user of the machine or process must spend considerable time to generate the music. This excludes many users who need music but do not have the time required at their disposal. The machine or process is unable to generate music at user specified tempos. The machine or process is unable to generate music that has beginnings, endings, or transitions within the music that are esthetically appropriate.
The present invention is preferable over previous music generating machines or processes for several reasons. The present invention does not require the user to be a skilled composer of music. It allows the user to generate music in a very short period of time. The music generated is of the specified duration if the duration was specified by the user. The generated music is also of the specified tempo if the tempo was specified by the user.
The music generated by the present invention has a musical structure, which is a hierarchy of musical elements. These elements are assembled in a prioritized and sometimes temporally overlapping manner as a function of the user specified criteria. This manner of assembly results in generated music that is composed of sections appropriate for the beginning, middle, and ending of the music, as well as appropriate transitions between those sections. Such appropriate sections define “unique qualities” of the music produced and are referred to as “esthetically appropriate.”
Thus, the music generated by the present invention has beginnings and endings, comprised of a hierarchy of unique elements that occur in a manner that is esthetically appropriate. In addition, transitions within and between the generated music elements occur in a manner that is esthetically appropriate as a result of appropriate transitions between those sections.
It is therefore an objective of the present invention to teach a machine and process that generates music given a set of simple user-specified criteria.
Another object of the present invention is to enable music generation wherein a user may specify the duration and tempo of the music to be generated that may then be played or stored for retrieval and use at a later time.
It is also an objective of the present invention that the music generated has unique qualities that are desirable to users that use music in their products or works. The generated music should be of the specified duration if the duration was specified by the user. Also, the generated music has esthetic qualities that are desirable to users that use music in their products or works. For example, the generated music has beginnings and endings that occur in a manner that is esthetically appropriate. In addition, transitions within the generated music occur in a manner that is esthetically appropriate. | {
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There are a multiplicity of reasons for providing a trench in a paved roadway such as a city street, road, highway or the like. The provision for water lines, cable television lines, telephone lines, mounting reflectors, adding road supports, are just a few of the reasons a trench may be necessary. However, with the crowding of roadways as the trenching operation occur, some licensing authorities have issued contracts that limit trenching systems to the use of single lane of roadway, with the remaining lane (s) to be open to vehicular traffic, In addition, the operations are to proceed as fast as possible, with fast clean-up of debris required. Set-up time to begin each work day, as a result have become an important cost factor since in many instances the trenching equipment must be trailered back to a off-site storage location as the conclusion of the work day.
Under these circumstances, trenching systems have included the use of adjuncts to the cutting saw to aid in the daily clean-up operations, such as compressed air and water as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,900,094 and/or the use of additional clean-up equipment such as manual labor, as contemplated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,640,551. Under both of these occasions, there is a need for a large work crew to clean the paved roadway and remove the debris dislodged from the roadway.
While I am aware of side-by-side conveyors for use with such trenchers including single disc and multiple disc saws, such conveyors of which I am aware are difficult to set-up on a daily, reoccurring basis, present difficulties in off-loading the debris to a waiting dump truck especially where only one lane is available for such operations, are clumsy in operations especially if the trench is not a straight line from start to finish point and require a rather large clean-up crew. | {
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Numerous devices have been developed which assist the X-ray technician with properly positioning a patient prior to and during X-ray secessions. These prior devices recognize the need to correctly position the patient and stabilize the patient for achieving usable X-rays without the need for repetitious shots. This devices are extremely useful for situations where the patient may be mobilized and positioned on a specialized table or X-ray equipment, however a portable device, like the present invention solves many problems with positioning patients who are unable to be brought to one of these specialized imaging devices.
McKenna, U.S. Pat. No. 5,499,415 discloses a patient trauma table for use in trauma situations where the patient may be positioned for imaging and for surgical intervention. This device is extremely useful, however this device is not portable and cannot be used with existing operating beds and other hospital beds. One aspect of the present invention is that it allows the existing hospital beds to be utilized as imaging beds if necessary.
Other patient support tables are disclosed in the following Patents: Sebring, U.S. Pat. No. 5,156,166; Van Steenburg, U.S. Pat. No. 4,912,754; Rice, U.S. Pat. No. 4,842,259; and Masuzawa U.S. Pat. No. 4,841,585. Those support table recognize the problems with correctly positioning the patient for X-ray and other imaging procedures, however theses devices do not provide a simple portable device for the purpose of stabilizing a patient laying on a normal hospital bed.
Prior to the present invention, when a patient is not able to be transported the technician must attempt to properly align and stabilize the patient wherever the patient is found. The present invention solves the problem of aligning and stabilizing patients when portable X-ray equipment must be used to go to a patient, or when a patient is brought to X-ray equipment on a bed and cannot be removed from the bed. | {
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The invention relates to cleaning processes and systems. In particular, the invention relates to fluoride ion cleaning.
Aeronautical and power generation turbine components, such as blades, shrouds, and vanes, are often formed from superalloy materials, including but not limited to, nickel-, cobalt-, and iron-nickel-based superalloy materials. During service, turbine components are exposed to high pressure and high temperature environments and may form complex, chemically stable, thermal oxides. These oxides comprise, but are not limited to, oxides of aluminum, titanium, chromium, and combinations thereof.
Turbines are periodically overhauled in order to prolong life or enhance performance. During these overhauls, the turbine components may be subjected to various repair operations, including welding or brazing. The presence of chemically stable thermal oxides reduces the ability of a superalloy to be welded or brazed. Therefore, removal of these oxides by cleaning the turbine components prior to repair is important for successful turbine overhaul.
When only superficial repairs are required, grit-blasting or grinding can effectively remove surface oxides, although, these cleaning operations can result in inadvertent and undesirable loss of the base alloy, compromising turbine efficiency and reliability. To avoid outright excavation of the affected areas, repair of hard-to-reach surfaces, including internal passages and highly concave sections, such as cooling holes, cracks, and slots, generally requires a cleaning process that minimally degrades or damages the base alloy.
Batch thermo-chemical cleaning processes have been proposed for cleaning turbine components. Batch thermo-chemical cleaning processes attempt to remove oxides from crevices and hard-to-reach surfaces, while leaving the base alloy intact. The chemically stable oxides are generally resistant to conventional cleaning processes, such as, but not limited to, vacuum- and hydrogen-reduction or acid- and caustic-etching.
Several high-temperature, reactive-atmosphere batch cleaning processes have been proposed to affect cleaning of chemically stable oxides from turbine components. These processes generally rely on the high reactivity of fluoride ions. Processes that use fluoride ions for cleaning are collectively known as xe2x80x9cfluoride ion cleaningxe2x80x9d (FIC) processes.
Variants of the FIC process include a xe2x80x9cmixed-gas process,xe2x80x9d that employs a hydrofluoric (HF)/hydrogen (H2) gas mixture; a xe2x80x9cchromium fluoride decomposition process,xe2x80x9d that employs solid chromium fluoride and hydrogen gas for cleaning; and a xe2x80x9cfluorocarbon decomposition process,xe2x80x9d that employs polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and hydrogen gas for cleaning. FIC processes are conducted at elevated temperatures, where solid (s) metal oxide (MO) is converted to vapor-phase (v) metal fluoride (MF) following a reaction having the general form:
2HF(v)+MO(s)xe2x86x92H2O(v)+MF(v)xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(1)
Differences between the various FIC processes include the fluoride ion source, reaction temperature, and reaction control mechanisms, and the composition of reaction byproducts. These differences, in turn, define a cleaning capability of each cleaning process. Both the fluorocarbon decomposition and chromium fluoride decomposition processes rely on finite sources of fluoride (PTFE or chromium fluoride, respectively). Prolonged process cycles can exhaust the fluoride source, causing the cleaning reaction to stop prematurely. The conventional mixed-gas FIC process uses an external, gaseous HF source and provides continuous control of fluoride activity through adjustment of the HFxe2x80x94H2 ratio.
Accordingly, a need for an enhanced FIC process for cleaning articles exists.
A cleaning method and system are provided for in the invention. The method comprises placing the article in a chamber, subjecting the article to a gaseous atmosphere consisting essentially of carbon, hydrogen, and fluorine; and heating the article to a temperature in a range greater than about 1500xc2x0 F. (815xc2x0 C.) to about 2000xc2x0 F. (1100xc2x0 C.) to affect cleaning of the article.
The invention also sets forth a system for cleaning articles. The system comprises means for defining a chamber; means for subjecting the article to a gaseous atmosphere, the gaseous atmosphere consisting essentially of carbon, hydrogen, and fluorine; and means for subjecting the article to the gaseous atmosphere at a temperature in a range greater than about 1500xc2x0 F. (815xc2x0 C.) to about 2000xc2x0 F. (1100xc2x0 C.) to clean the article.
These and other aspects, advantages and salient features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, which, when taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings, where like parts are designated by like reference characters throughout the drawings, disclose embodiments of the invention. | {
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The present invention relates to a bearing submerged for use in molten metal and a continuous hot-dip plating apparatus using the bearing.
Hitherto, sliding bearings are used as molten metal immersion bearings for a continuous hot-dip plating apparatus, etc. because of the simplicity of their construction and convenience of their installation thereof. However, in these conventional bearings, metal compound fine particles which are called dross and oxide fine particles (those fine particles are referred to as solid particles hereunder) easily to penetrate between a shaft and a bearing during its rotation, and serve as abrasive grains to violently wear the bearing sliding members. Further, biting of solid particles raises frictional resistance, whereby smooth rotation is prevented.
In order to prevent the penetration of the solid particles between the sliding surfaces, a bearing having a construction covering the entire periphery of the shaft with carbon material is proposed in JP A 5-70915 (1993). However, with only the construction that the bearing covers all the periphery of the shaft, once solid particles penetrate between the sliding surfaces of the shaft and the bearing, and once the sliding surface of the shaft or the bearing are worn, a gap between the sliding surfaces of the shaft and the bearing increases and the solid particles easily penetrate further, as a result, the wear increases with increasing speed. Further, in order to prevent the penetration of the solid particles when the bearing covers the entire periphery of the shaft, it is necessary to control precisely the gap. However, since in practice changes in dimension or deviation in axes occur due to thermal expansion of the bearing submerged in molten metal, it is impossible to control precisely the gap.
Further, JP A 3-177552 (1991) discloses a method in which pins are set up on the sliding surface of a bearing or a plate is arranged to provide a convex shape on the sliding surface of the bearing, and solid particles penetrated between the sliding surfaces of the shaft and the bearing are scraped off thereby. However, this method does not solve the problem of solid material penetration because frictional resistance becomes large, solid particles become easy to penetrate from the concave shape on the sliding surface, etc.
Further, when molten metal immersion bearings of conventional construction are used for a continuous hot-dip plating apparatus, since play occurs due to wear of bearing portions and the quality of products is detracted, nowadays it is necessary to exchange the bearings frequently. | {
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This description relates to characterizing states of subjects.
In diagnosing a medical condition of a patient, for example, a doctor can apply her experience and knowledge to health-related information about the patient (for example, age, weight, body temperature, symptoms, medical history) to classify the medical condition. Frequently, the health-related information includes images captured by a variety of modalities (x-ray, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging). Correlations exist between health related information about populations of patients and medical conditions of those patients that enable an experienced doctor to make an accurate diagnosis. It is commonplace for the doctor then to create a medical report that captures the health-related information and the diagnosis.
Traditionally medical reports are created by hand on paper and stored in paper files associated with the patients. The language used on medical reports to describe medical conditions has become standardized in many cases, and skilled doctors are accustomed to making careful use of the standardized language so that other people who read the reports will find them clear and understandable.
Computer-based systems have been developed to aid medical professionals in accumulating, storing, and analyzing health-related information about patients and in producing clear and accurate medical reports quickly and easily. Among other things, there are templates available that help the doctor to consistently use well accepted terminology and to produce medical reports that are complete and accessible quickly to others.
The quality and accuracy of the classification and characterization of states of subjects varies widely depending on the skill, experience, education, training, and other factors associated with the people doing the classification and characterization. For example, in some areas of the world, pathologists perform their work less effectively, less efficiently, and less accurately than in other areas of the world, due largely to less adequate or suboptimal educational opportunities, among other things. | {
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1. Technical Field
Present invention embodiments relate to context accumulation, and more specifically, to determining data associated with the same entity based on properties or behaviors of entity features.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Entity resolution may be used to determine data associated with the same entity (e.g., person, animal, business, object, etc.). For example, two or more customer records may contain slightly different data (e.g., first names of Bill and William), but still be associated with the same person or entity. An entity may include various features or characteristics (e.g., name, address, date of birth, etc.). The entity features may be used to determine a confidence or score indicating a degree of certainty that different data records are associated with the same entity.
Entity resolution may be utilized within a single data source or across plural data sources to identify duplicate data records and/or associate data records with a common entity. Systems performing entity resolution and relationship discovery use feature-specific rules. In these types of systems, a series of new rules is introduced in response to adding a new identifying feature for an entity. For example, after a new identifying feature pertaining to loyalty club number is added for a person entity, a skilled user introduces a series of new rules indicating the manner in which the new loyalty card number feature is weighed for entity resolution (in conjunction with other entity features). However, the quantity of new rules for these systems rapidly becomes unmanageable as additional entity types (e.g., person, animal, business, object, etc.) and features are introduced. | {
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A Web site is a directory of files stored on a server or several servers that may be accessed by a client over a network (e.g., the Internet). A Web site contains one or more hypertext markup language (HTML) files called Web pages that are often related or linked to each other. Additionally, a Web site may also contain other types of files such as text files, pictures, movies, sound clips, and so forth. The World Wide Web (Web) is a collection of Web sites whose servers are connected to the Internet. Each Web site in the Web has a unique address, referred to as a universal resource locator (URL), which indicates the protocol required for accessing the Web site and the Internet protocol (IP) address or domain hosting the Web site.
Though the Web contains a vast wealth of information on most every topic imaginable, finding specific information quickly on the Web can be a daunting task. To help with this problem, programs called “search engines” enable users to navigate through the myriad of Web sites on the Web to find the information that they want. A search engine typically has a graphical user interface (GUI) in which a user enters a search query. A search query may include one or more keywords, words to exclude, a phrase, or a sentence. A search query may also specify a language, acceptable file formats, dates, and occurrences of keywords. After receiving a search query, the search engine sorts an index of Web sites and returns a list of URLs of Web sites that are relevant to the search query. A user may become overwhelmed if the number of URLs retrieved by the search engine is very large. Therefore, the user may wish to limit the search results to those Web sites that the user knows and trusts. | {
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1. Field
One embodiment of the invention relates to a storage medium such as an optical disk, a reproducing method, and a recording method of the storage medium capable of recording and reproducing information by using a laser beam with a short wavelength such as a blue laser beam.
2. Description of the Related Art
As is well known, in recent years, with prevalence of personal computers or the like, media for storing digital data has been increasingly important. For example, currently, an information storage medium capable of digitally recording and reproducing video image information and audio information or the like for a long period of time is prevalent. In addition, an information storage medium for digital recording and reproduction is used for a mobile device such as a cellular phone.
Here, an information storage medium of this type is often utilized as being formed in the shape of a disk because the medium has a large capacity of recording information; and has random access performance which can make a search for desired recording information speedily; and moreover, the medium is small in size and light in weight, excellent in storage property and portability, and inexpensive.
In addition, as an information storage medium of such a disk shape, currently, there is mainly used a so called optical disk capable of recording and reproducing information in a contactless manner by irradiating a laser beam. This optical disk mainly conforms to a compact disk (CD) standard and a digital versatile disk (DVD) standard, and has compatibility between these standards.
There are three types of optical disks, i.e., a read-only type which is not capable of recording information such as a CD-DA (Digital Audio), a CD-ROM (Read Only Memory), a DVD-V (Video), or a DVD-ROM; a write-once type which is capable of writing information only once such as a CD-R (Recordable) or a DVD-R; and a rewritable type which is capable of writing information any number of times such as a CD-RW (Rewritable) or a DVD-RW.
Among them, as a disk capable of recording information, a write-once type optical disk using an organic dye for a recording layer is the most prevalent because of its low manufacturing cost. This is because, if an information recording capacity exceeds 700 MB (Mega Bytes), there is almost no need of erasing recorded information and rewriting new information and only one recording will suffice eventually.
In a write-once type optical disk using an organic dye for a recording layer, after a recording area (track) defined by a groove has been irradiated with a laser beam, if a resin substrate is excessively heated at a point equal to or greater than its glass transition point Tg, an organic dye film in the groove generates an opto-chemical reaction, and a negative pressure is generated. As a result, the resin substrate is deformed in the groove. A recording mark is formed by utilizing the resulting deformation.
A typical organic dye used for a CD-R in which wavelength of a laser beam for recording and reproduction is about 780 nm includes a phthalocyanine based dye such as IRGAPHOR Ultragroon MX available from Ciba Specialty Chemicals. In addition, a typical organic dye used for a DVD-R in which wavelength of a laser beam for recording and reproduction is about 650 nm includes an azo metal complex available from Mitsubishi Kagaku Media Co., Ltd.
In the meantime, in a next generation optical disk which achieves recording and reproduction with higher density and higher performance as compared with a current optical disk, a blue laser beam having a short wavelength in the order of 405 nm is used as a laser beam for recording and reproduction. However, an organic dye material capable of achieving practically sufficient recording and reproducing characteristics by using such a light beam having a short wavelength has not been developed yet.
In Japanese Patent Application KOKAI Publication No. 2002-74740, there is disclosed an optical storage medium including a recording layer formed of an organic dye compound in which a wavelength showing a maximum absorption is longer than a wavelength of a recording light beam. However, in Japanese Patent Application KOKAI Publication No. 2002-74740, for example, there is nowhere described a configuration of enhancing performance of an optical disk itself such as durability in the case where a mark recorded in an optical disk has been continuously reproduced by a blue laser beam pickup. In the case where a certain track has been continuously reproduced, there is a need for preventing signal degradation. A write-once type optical disk using a dye excellent for reproduction light stability is desired.
As described above, a storage medium using a conventional organic dye material is not sufficient in reproduction durability count. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention directs itself to a portable dental cleaning system which includes a hollow apple-shaped lower housing defining an internal reservoir chamber fluidly coupled to a liquid passage member for passing water into the oral cavity of a user. In particular, this invention relates to a portable dental cleaning system wherein the apple-shaped lower housing includes an upper opening for insert of a water faucet end and a lower opening threadedly coupled to a tubular liquid conduit member. Still further, this invention relates to a portable dental cleaning system where a liquid tubular conduit member is coupled on opposing ends to an apple-shaped lower housing and a liquid passage member including a hand hold portion and a water jet tip outlet section. Still further, this invention relates to a portable dental cleaning system which includes an upper housing matingly engaged to a lower housing when not in use to provide an aesthetic effect of an apple overall shape.
2. Prior Art
Other systems for insert of water into the oral cavity at a high speed to clean gums and tissue are generally not able to allow for differing volumes of water passing from a water faucet. Some prior art systems do not provide for a constant flow through type liquid system wherein water pressure may be substantially controlled by the user through use of a water reservoir internal chamber and changing outlet conduit diameters. More in particular, some prior art systems do not provide for an overall elemental combination which allows for an aesthetic effect to be provided when such systems are not in use. | {
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The invention relates generally to medical implants used to regulate the flow of fluids within the body. The invention may be applied, for example, to ophthalmic implants for treatment of glaucoma. The invention also relates to delivery devices for implanting such implants, to methods of implanting such implants, and to methods of manufacturing such implants.
Medical implants used to regulate the flow of fluids within the human body are known and used. One application for the use of such implants is in the treatment of glaucoma. Typical ophthalmic implants utilize drainage tubes for the release of aqueous humor from the eye to relieve the intraocular pressure (IOP).
Several disadvantages have at times been associated with prior implants. For example, implants using valve mechanisms to regulate fluid flow have risked malfunction due to defects in and/or failure of such valve mechanisms. Depending on such factors as the site of implantation, some implants have tended to clog while in use due to tissue covering the inlet end or the outlet end of the drainage tube. In addition, prior implants at times have required insertion operations that are complicated, costly, and time-consuming, for example requiring suturing of the implant once it is in place.
The assignee of this patent application is also the assignee of other patents and patent applications describing and illustrating implants directed at overcoming some of the drawbacks associated with prior implants, as well as delivery devices for such implants, methods of using such implants, and methods of manufacturing such implants.
For example, implants, delivery devices, methods of use, and methods of manufacturing are described and illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,868,697 and 5,702,414, both of which are owned by the assignee of this application, and both of which are hereby expressly incorporated by reference into this application.
Further examples of such implants, delivery devices, methods of use, and methods of manufacturing are also described and illustrated, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,203,513 filed Nov. 20, 1997, which is also owned by the assignee of this application, and which is also hereby expressly incorporated by reference into this application.
One object of the invention is to provide a flow regulating implant and an associated delivery device that enable the implant to be inserted in a relatively simple and efficient procedure.
In one embodiment in accordance with the invention, an implant having a tube for permitting fluid flow has an outer flange at the outlet end and one or more retention projections near the inlet end. An introducer or delivery device for implanting the implant has a central bore for accommodating the implant during the implantation procedure. The implant and delivery device are designed so that when the implant is loaded in the delivery device, the retention projection or projections of the implant protrude from the delivery device to act as a hook or hooks during the procedure.
In accordance with a method of using the implant and delivery device according to an embodiment of the invention, the implant is loaded in the delivery device with the retention projection protruding from the delivery device. The delivery device and implant then penetrate the tissue through which drainage is desired, for example, the sclera of an eye. Once the retention projection has fully penetrated through the tissue, the delivery device is withdrawn. The retention projection acts as a hook engaging the inside surface of the tissue, causing the implant to stay implanted in the tissue when the delivery device is withdrawn.
The retention projection may be made, for example, of an elastic material, so that it is able to be flexed inward against the tube of the implant during penetration through the tissue. Alternatively, the retention projection may be designed to lie initially relatively flat against the tube for easier penetration and to prevent tearing of the tissue, with a mechanism for extending the retention projection outwardly when the implant is implanted.
Another object of the invention is to provide a simple and efficient method of manufacturing a flow regulating implant. In a method for manufacturing an implant according to an embodiment of the invention, the device may be molded out of a suitable material, for example, silicone. To provide the tube passage of the implant, a thin wire may be used during the molding process. The implant alternatively may be constructed out of stainless steel or any other suitable material.
A further object of the invention is to provide a flow regulating implant with beneficial flow characteristics. Thus, the implant may have various mechanisms for changing the configuration of the flow path. For example, a flow controlling rod or other obstruction may be placed in the tube passage for changing the dimensions within the tube passage. This rod or obstruction may be temporary. For example, it may be made of absorbable (biodegradable) material that is eroded and absorbed. Alternatively, it may be constructed in such a way that it may be removed from the tube passage or advanced into the tube passage at a period of time after implantation. For example, one or more strands, such as sutures, may be placed in the tube passage and withdrawn or advanced by a physician as desired at a later time or times.
An implant according to the invention has other applications aside from the field of intraocular implants. For example, the implant may be used for drainage of a hydrocele sac, regulating flow between the hydrocele sac and the subcutaneous scrotum. Persons of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that other applications of an implant in accordance with the invention are possible, as are various modifications of the embodiments described herein, without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the claims. | {
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Various types and structures of air pads are known. Many are difficult to produce on a large scale and at a low enough cost to be widely accepted in the marketplace. The present invention has been developed to provide an air pad which can be economically produced on a commercial scale and provide improved performance compared to previous air pads.
The air pad of the present invention includes first and second plastic film portions that are joined to one another forming two or more air chambers with integral, interconnecting air passages therebetween. Both the air chambers and the air passages contain foam.
The plastic film portions can be joined together by a heat joining process such as dielectric welding or sealing, also known as radio frequency welding, as well as a variety of other plastic heat joining processes including, but not limited to, ultrasonic welding, vibration welding, induction welding, microwave welding, friction welding, etc. In addition, adhesive bonding of the plastic sheets can be used in some embodiments of the air pad.
In one method of manufacturing the air pad, a layer of sheet foam is placed between the two plastic film portions. The plastic film portions are joined by radio frequency welding. During the joining process, the plastic film portions, in the areas surrounding the air chambers, are fused together to join the film portions. Additionally, where the plastic film portions are joined, the cellular structure of the foam layer between the plastic film portions is collapsed. The collapsed foam material forms a part of the fused joint between the plastic film portions.
In another method of manufacturing the air pad, a foam body is pre-molded or pre-formed in the shape of the air chambers and interconnecting air passages. The plastic film portions may also be pre-molded into the shape of the air chambers and interconnecting air passages. The plastic sheets are then joined together with the pre-molded foam body therebetween, substantially filling the air chambers and air passages.
The air pad is preferably manufactured as a sealed air tight pad. If desired, an inflation valve, or pump, to inflate the air pad, such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,566,137, hereby incorporated by reference, can be added to the air pad to enable the air pressure within the pad to be varied.
The air pad of the present invention can be used to provide impact protection for various parts of the body. When an impact is received, air will flow from one or more of the chambers, through the interconnecting air passages, to adjacent chambers in response to an increased air pressure within the chambers receiving the impact. The foam, within both the air chambers and the interconnecting air passages, slows the flow of air between chambers. This regulation or restriction of the air flow from one chamber to the next, prevents the air chambers from deflating as quickly as air chambers in a pad with no restriction of the air flow between chambers.
The air pad can be used to provide impact protection within protective equipment such as that worn during athletic events. This includes shin guards, knee pads, elbow pads, shoulder pads, within a flexible fabric or elastic cover, etc. The air pad can also be used to provide impact protection as a pad within a substantially rigid shell such as a helmet, shoulder pad, elbow pad, etc. The air pad can also be used in low or no impact applications where additional cushioning is desired for comfort, as opposed to impact protection. These uses include, but are not limited to, shoulder straps and handles for luggage, briefcases, computer cases, golf bags, back packs, etc. The air pads can also be used in shoes, shoe tongues, etc..
Since the air pad is made by placing a foam sheet between two layers of plastic and then fusing the plastic together between the desired air chambers, it is simple to manufacture the pad. As a result, economical manufacture on a commercial basis is possible. A wide variety of sizes and shapes can be made. Different performance characteristics, i.e., impact spreading and cushioning can be achieved by different foam thicknesses and types of foam.
Further objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following description and the appended claims when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to multidimensional data display apparatus, a method for displaying a multidimensional data and a multidimensional data display program, suitable for analyzing multidimensional data.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is desired that more dimensions can be confirmed visually at one time in analysis for discovering segments regarded as promising from multidimensional data, for example, in customer's market analysis for marketing. A three-dimensional display method in which dimensional data of two dimensions are selected as axes from multidimensional data, and number of data is displayed in each cell region formed by the axes disposed orthogonally has been known as a display method capable of listing multidimensional data. Display methods capable of listing more dimensions have been also proposed. One of the display methods is a method in which dimensional data of another dimension is further used as an axis, and XY table representations sliced by members belonging to this axis are arranged to increase the dimensions by one artificially. Another one of the display methods is a method in which each cell region of an XY table is colored in accordance with number of data belonging thereto so that a result of analysis of dimensional data of another dimension is expressed in the cell region. Further, there has been also known a display method like a three-dimensional scatter diagram in which data are expressed by dots in an XYZ space where three dimensions selected from multidimensional data are disposed orthogonally with respect to one another (for example, see JP 2000-293281 A). In addition, there has been also proposed a display method for supporting a data analysis work with two kinds of manners of hypothesis finding and hypothesis testing linked complementarily in data analysis for multidimensional data (for example, see JP 2001-273315 A). | {
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Miniaturization is allowing sensing functionality to be embedded in many devices that previously could not house such functionality. Examples include cameras, microphones, and/or speakerphones, which were previously stand-alone devices, and are now being embedded within telephones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and watches. The embedding of these devices has turned the cellular telephone from a simple communication tool to an efficient spy mechanism and violator of the personal rights, dignity and freedom of human beings.
Currently this function is being implemented by posting signs that disallow the use of these devices in a specific area. Human beings, (e.g., security guards), may be used to physically locate the presence of these devices and prevent their usage. However, it is very difficult for human beings to police the usage of commonly used articles in crowded areas. The size of these devices allows users not to declare the presence of one or hide it in a fashion not detectable by humans.
There are also existing standalone radio beacon devices that inform devices carrying beacon receivers that the use of the specified devices is prohibited in the vicinity of the beacon. However, the usage of radio beacons has not yet gained immense popularity due to the fact that the beacon reception can be blocked, additional hardware, (not in-line with the cellular hardware roadmap), has to be incorporated into cellular phones to implement such beacons, and can only be used as a “go-no” approach.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to have a method and apparatus that controls the operation of a camera embedded in a cellular phone, using the existing cellular infrastructure, whereby target is alerted that it is being sensed and unauthorized sensing by such sensing devices is restricted. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to storage containers, and more particularly, to storage containers for recorded media.
2. Background of the Invention
In recent years, optical discs have emerged as one of the most popular mediums for storing audio, video and computer information. To accommodate the wholesale and retail distribution of the disc, numerous storage containers have been developed. These storage containers typically include a base supporting a central hub to engage an ˜aperture in the center of the disc. The base is generally hinged to a lid so as to open and close the storage container like a book. This design is well suited for use by the consumer, but may pose certain security risks in the retail environment. In the recent years, retailers have reported numerous incidents of theft involving the unauthorized removal of discs from the their storage containers. Labels and shrink wrap have been proposed in the past as a way to deal with this problem. However, these proposals have had limited success because of the ease at which labels and shrink wrap can be opened with a sharp item. Accordingly, there is a need for a storage container which is designed to discourage theft in the retail environment. | {
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Conventional aircraft rely on forward thrusters and wing design to generate the required lift for take-off and to maintain cruising altitude. These aircraft however require more powerful engines and wing sizes of greater thickness and size for landing and take-off than are required to maintain the aircraft's speed and altitude at normal cruise height. The engines are thus heavier and the wings create more drag than is necessary to sustain the aircraft at cruising altitudes. In addition, conventional aircraft require very strong and relatively heavy landing gear in order to sustain the forces involved in landing the aircraft at their required landing speeds. The excessive weight of these components reduces load carrying capacity and efficiency during normal flight of the aircraft.
Various known modified aircraft have been arranged for vertical take-off to avoid the problems normally associated with taking off and landing of conventional aircraft. These modified aircraft generally use separate engines for vertical and horizontal thrust or require complex mechanisms to generate both the vertical and horizontal thrust and maintain directional stability. These known designs are thus generally complex and costly and result in reduced efficiency and economy. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to compositions suitable for the treatment, removal and/or containment of paint overspray, paint particles, and/or the various nonvolatile components of paints, lacquers, enamels and the like. More specifically, this invention relates to compositions containing organic materials which can disperse and solubilize paint constituents in an aqueous medium. This invention also pertains to paint overspray treatment compositions which remain effective over prolonged periods of use on a variety of different paint formulations.
2. Discussion of the Relevant Art
Large quantities of paint of various kinds, including lacquers, varnishes, enamels, and certain specialty paints such as urethane-based paints, catalyzed two-component paints, base coat/clear coat combination paints, high solids enamels or lacquers, and the like, are used to coat finished products in industries such as automotive manufacture and the like. These paints, lacquers and varnishes are generally solvent-based; however, certain of these paints can be water-based. Some are considered low solids paints (i.e. materials containing about 20 to about 30% solids) while others are considered high solids paints (i.e. those containing above 50% solids).
These coatings or paint materials are generally sprayed onto the piece to be painted or coated in an enclosed area such as a paint spray booth. In this operation, substantial quantities of solvent and oversprayed paint are discharged into the spray booth and the air drawn therein. Paint spray booths provide a means for capturing and containing paint overspray components. The method of choice is to contain the solid overspray material components in a suitable liquid material.
Paint spray booths generally include a chamber, a duct system for passing air through the chamber, and a sump containing circulating liquid located in the bottom of the chamber which can be directionalized in the spray booth chamber to form a curtain of liquid to contact the over-sprayed paint particles and volatile organic solvents and collect portions thereof. The paint spray booth also contains a gas discharge means such as a stack for discharging excess air or gaseous material. The paint spray booth is equipped with baffles or eliminators to reduce particulate carryout to acceptable levels such that most of the solids are retained in the paint spray booth washwater.
The liquid employed in paint spray booth applications is most preferably a hydrophilic material capable of removing solid particulates from the air. The liquid chosen is ideally economical and safe to use. The hydrophilic material of choice typically is comprised of water to which various chemicals are added to provide detackifying properties. Water-based compositions are also desirable for their general ease and safe handling during operation and during spray booth clean-up and maintenance. There are several drawbacks with such water-based systems. These include inconsistent paint kill and detackification, deposits on surfaces, accumulation of paint sludge, increased wet-sludge handling and disposal, and the weak performance of water-based systems as paint dispersants or solubilizers.
In contrast to water systems, various organic solvent systems have been proposed for use in paint spray booth applications; i.e. a solvent composition employing a solvent such as n-methyl pyrrolidone as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,019,138 to Farrah and U.S. Pat. No. 4,941,491 to Goerss. In solvent compositions, problems may be encountered during other operations in the paint spray booth employing water, such as routine cleaning maintenance and fire protection. In addition, the fluid properties of the solvent are likely to cause changes in the performance of the spray booth. Thus, paint spray booths may require modifications to successfully utilize solvent-based systems. It can be readily appreciated that such measures may be cumbersome and expensive.
Heretofore, one improvement has been to employ oil-in-water formulations in which water, oil and various additives are combined to form a suitable emulsion as the hydrophilic liquid of choice. The use of such oil-in-water emulsions is taught in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,378,235, 4,396,405, 4,523,932, 4,563,199, 4,444,573, 4,544,026, 4,750,919, and 4,919,691, all of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Oil-in-water emulsions have been employed to contain greater volumes of paint solids than contained in water alone. However, the amount contained in such compositions is generally no greater than 4-6% by volume. There is no evidence to indicate that the oil-in-water emulsions currently in use dissolve or solubilize the paint which they contact. Thus, the capacity of the emulsion is limited to its dispersion capabilities and this is generally a function of the concentration of oil. In order to be effective, oil-in-water emulsions generally contain in excess of 25% by volume oil. In large capacity spray booths, this represents a significant material handling activity as well as increased operating expense.
These oil-in-water emulsions are generally weak alkaline emulsions which are easily broken. In order to maintain the material in an emulsified state, it is necessary to employ emulsion stabilizing additives, paying close attention to composition pH, and in many instances, requiring continued mechanical agitation.
Many of the patents previously enumerated provide various approaches for addressing some or all of the shortcomings inherent in oil-in-water emulsions. Of these, U.S. Pat. No. 4,919,691 to Patzelt et al has been one of the more effective. U.S. Pat. No. 4,919,691 to Patzelt et al discloses an oil-in-water emulsion which includes a process oil, a suitable oil-in-water emulsifier; and a non-polar organic solvent chosen from the group consisting of dialkyl esters of dibasic acids (DBE) such as dimethyl adipate, dimethyl glutarate, or dimethyl succinate in combination with water. Such additives were included in oil-in-water formulations to increase paint solids capacity in the emulsion and improved paint solids recovery. However, oil-in-water formulations containing DBE have significant drawbacks. DBE readily hydrolyses to form water-soluble products which are difficult to remove from water. The products of hydrolysis consume caustic, which thereby lowers the pH of the emulsion, thus jeopardizing its already poor stability. Thus, both caustic and DBE must be replenished to ensure emulsion stability and effectiveness. This fact, and the fact that DBE is non-recoverable from the spent material, represent significant drawbacks for any program utilizing oil-in-water formulations containing DBE.
Given the problems encountered with the various hydrophilic liquids currently available, there has been some incentive for manufacturers to switch to alternative technologies for paint spray containment and recovery. However, paint spray booths generally represent major items of capital investment so that wholesale replacement would be prohibitively expensive. Thus, it is highly desirable to develop a liquid composition which performs better and overcomes some of the drawbacks attributable to the circulating fluid in existing paint spray booth systems.
In Ser. No. 08/038,011 which is currently pending, the inventors proposed a paint overspray treatment composition which is composed of a carbonyl compound selected from the group consisting of secondary alcohol esters, condensation products of secondary alcohol esters and carboxylic acid and mixtures thereof in combination with a surfactant and water. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,200,104 which is the parent application of Ser. No. 08/038,011, the inventors proposed a paint overspray treatment composition which is composed of a carbonyl compound selected from the group consisting of secondary alcohol esters, condensation products of secondary alcohol esters and carboxylic acid, and mixtures thereof in combination with an emulsifier and water. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,198,143, the inventors proposed an enhanced paint overspray treatment composition which is composed of alcohol esters, condensation products of alcohol esters and carboxylic acid and mixtures thereof in combination with an emulsifier, a surfactant and water.
It was heretofore posited that the use of organic additives such as emulsifiers or surfactants was required to ensure emulsion stability or performance. This belief was due, in part, to knowledge derived from the performance of paint overspray treatment emulsions which contained materials other than secondary alcohol esters which were unable to interact effectively with contained paint. In such systems, use of surfactants, emulsifiers or combinations of the two were required to disperse or maintain the paint in the composition. Ongoing research into the particular chemistry of secondary alcohol esters and condensation products of secondary alcohol esters with carboxylic acid has lead to the unexpected discovery that such materials have heretofore unappreciated inherent properties for interacting with paint solids to render the paint dispersible in the composition.
The ability to provide an effective paint overspray treatment solution which does not require separate surfactant or emulsifier componants is highly desirable from a standpoint of cost savings and ease of use.
It would be desirable to provide a composition which has a greater capacity for containing paint either by solubilization, dispersion, or a combination of the two. It would also be desirable to provide a stable aqueous composition in which contained paint is maintained rather than settling out freely.
It is also desirable that the aqueous composition be made up of chemically stable components which retain their effectiveness in composition for a protracted period of time and which can be readily separated and recovered from the composition when required. It is also desirable that all components in the composition be economical and safe to handle and use. Finally, it is desirable that the composition employed require lower concentrations of active ingredients to achieve effective paint containment than previously obtainable and that the paint sludge thus contained be recoverable in a form which is easy to handle and process. | {
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Stereoscopic applications require calibration of the intrinsic and extrinsic camera parameters. Intrinsic camera parameters, such as focal length and principal point offset, may be determined using a traditional camera calibration approach such as using a checkerboard of known dimensions. Extrinsic camera parameters, such as the rigid body motions between the camera coordinate systems or between a camera and the laser (or world) coordinate systems, may in some cases also be determined using the checkerboard approach. However, accurate extrinsic camera calibration requires a calibration scene similar in dimension (width and depth) to that of the intended application. The determination of extrinsic parameters in certain applications, such as long-range applications, would require an impractically large checkerboard.
Thus, extrinsic calibration methods for long-range applications generally use an array of 3D control points with accurately known positions in the world coordinate system. Construction of the 3D control points is time consuming, expensive and must be specifically constructed for each test site and stereoscopic application. Accordingly, an extrinsic camera calibration method is needed that does not require an accurate array of 3D control points, that requires minimal setup time, and that naturally expands to the required scene dimensions. | {
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In today's busy world, many households depend on electronic messaging, voice messaging or answering machines in order to communicate with others. Voice mail and electronic mail have become preferred methods of communicating with family, friends and acquaintances who cannot be reached directly, particularly those who live outside of a local calling area.
Important messages are often left unheard or unread for an extended period of time, sometimes because it can be inconvenient to check for messages. Many people simply forget to sign onto an email system or to promptly check their answering machine or voice mail system for the presence of messages. Moreover, some systems include an automatic deletion feature wherein voice messages and e-mails are automatically removed after a certain number of days, thus resulting in the possibility that some messages are never heard or read.
There are devices available wherein checking for messages is made more convenient. For instance, an audible signal can be provided in the form of a special telephone dial tone to alert a user that unheard voice mail messages are present. This, however, requires a person to go to the telephone to listen for the special dial tone, often to find no messages present. Although visual message indicators such as light accessories are available, such devices are often not effective. For electronic mail, many systems place an indicator on a service provider's home page to indicate whether mail messages are waiting. This disadvantageously requires visual contact and an affirmative act.
An additional inconvenience associated with retrieving messages from voice mail and electronic mail is that one must be within physical proximity of the telephone or the computer in order to provide the telephone pad control or the keyboard and cursor manipulation necessary to control the playback commands.
Electronic message retrieval can be even more restrictive than voice message retrieval because it requires the user to remain at the personal computer in order to access, read and respond to the message. In addition, a user must typically go through a sign-on sequence before they can check for the presence of messages, with no assurance that messages are present. This process wastes time with disadvantageous and irritating inconvenience when no messages are present.
An automatic, convenient method of announcing to a user that messages are present would eliminate this waste of time, increase the convenience of using electronic messaging and/or voice messaging and eliminate unnecessary efforts that result when no messages are present. A new and improved messaging system would free electronic messaging and voice messaging operations from the physical limitations of the workstation or telephone. It is, therefore, to the provision of such an improvement that the present invention is directed. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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As a method of thermally igniting (self-igniting) a gaseous mixture of hydrocarbon and air, various methods are proposed. For example, for an internal combustion engine, ignition methods such as, for example, a premixed charge compression ignition method and an HCCI (Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition) method are proposed. Starting premix type combustion as a result of pilot injection or the like in a common rail system of diesel engine belongs to such ignition methods.
For example, as for the internal combustion engine, such ignition methods have drawn attention since those ignition methods can achieve higher heat efficiency than the ignition method with spark ignition, and reduce the emission level of nitrogen oxides (NOx). However, those ignition methods have a drawback in that it is difficult to control the timing of thermal ignition.
Conventionally, ignition control devices have been proposed that control timing of thermal ignition of a gaseous mixture in a combustion region. For example, patent document 1 describes an ignition timing control device of a premixed charge compression ignition engine as an ignition control device of this kind. This ignition timing control device generates oxygen radicals by radiating laser beam oscillated by a laser generation device and collected by collecting lens toward the combustion chamber. In the combustion chamber, the oxygen radical is reacted with water vapor to form OH radical (hydroxyl radical), and the OH radical is reacted with hydrocarbon to form alkyl radical. Owing to this ignition timing control device, low-temperature oxidation reaction can be accelerated, and timing of self-ignition can be controlled. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Because of the importance of three-dimensional (3D) structure (microenvironment) to the cell function, a goal in metabolic and tissue engineering is to control the spatial arrangement of cells to mimic the 3D ordering of cells in native tissues. To date, many efforts toward this goal have focused on two-dimensional (2D) patterns using photolithography or microcontact printing of a single cell type. The 2D cell patterns provide two types of micrometer-scale regions, one in which the cells adhere, while the other has low cell adhesion. The design intent is for the cells to adhere selectively to the patterned regions of high adhesion.
The aforementioned lithographic process is somewhat successful for one cell type; however, culturing more than one cell type requires differential adhesion between the two cell types. The lithographic process falls short of the true 3D mark required to create the proper microenvironment for cell growth.
Current approaches, to include transplantation, transfusion of cells into a preformed implantable biocompatible matrix, or 2D in vitro culturing of tissues, require both expensive and timely custom fabrication and tremendously invasive surgeries.
A recent review article by Jung et al. articulates the importance of topographical and physiochemical modification—the microenvironment—of the material surface to enable patterning of living cells. See D. R. Jung, R. Kapur, T. Adams, K. A. Giuliano, M. Mrksich, H. G. Craighead, and D. L. Taylor, Critical Reviews in Biotechnology 2001, 21, 111, which is expressly incorporated herein in its entirety by this reference. The article provides several examples of the precise control of the architecture of multiple cells via precise engineering of the material surface (cell patterning). It is shown that selective phenotypic and genotypic control of living tissues is provided by surface topographic and physiochemical treatments. Surface is italicized above to illustrate that while this technology is highly successful for such applications as cell-based assays for drug discovery and planar biosensor arrays, it does not satisfy the 3D requirements for metabolic and tissue engineering.
Existing tissue and organ losses are treated by transplantation of an organ from a donor, through surgical reconstruction, or by the use of a mechanical-type substitute. Most potential recipients die waiting for available transplant organs. Those fortunate enough to receive a donor organ are relegated to a lifetime of immunosuppression therapy. The option of surgical reconstruction, although usually involving the patient's own tissues, again is not appropriate for many situations and is associated with significant morbidity. The burden to the patient and the health-care delivery system due to the extensive surgery often required and the high number of repeat procedures is no longer inline with the objectives of modern treatment preferences. Mechanical devices, such as kidney dialysis machines, provide a therapeutic value but represent a mere life-sustaining function for now and in the future.
Thus, a need exists to recreate the 3D relations among cells and bioactive substances that are necessary to normal tissue morphogenesis and organ functions through a tool that introduces the new constructs with minimal trauma to the host. A need exists for a tool that combines additive and subtractive processes in one integrated embodiment. For biological and/or medical applications, this is especially true if the tool can be integrated with minimally invasive surgery (MIS) techniques. A need also exists for technologies that enable such a tool and its use, including pumping systems, material delivery and mixing systems, position control systems, material dispensing systems, material destruction and removal systems, material temperature control systems, imaging and detection systems, and therapeutic systems. | {
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There has been a long felt need for compact cameras that can be used to capture several images on a single sheet of film stock. Of particular interest are inexpensive compact cameras of this type that can provide high-quality images. Such cameras are especially desired as one-time-use cameras and simple rental cameras.
Apparatuses that allow the capture of multiple images on a single sheet of light sensitive silver halide film have been known for some time. In one example of this type, multiple small lenses and a complex sequential shutter mechanism enable the capture of multiple sequential images of an ongoing activity to form the so-called “golf” stop-action camera as described by U.S. Pat. No. 5,649,250. In such a stop-action camera, each of the sequential images occupies only a small portion of an otherwise standard film frame. In a commercial example of a camera of the type that is described in the '250 patent, eight distinct images are captured per 135-format film frame instead of one image as in a standard camera. The image resolution recorded per scene by such cameras is greatly reduced. There are many reasons for this. First, all but the most expensive lens systems are less than perfect at faithfully transmitting fine detail because of the inherent fall-off in high frequency response that can be caused by deviations in the design, manufacture or arrangement of such systems. However, lens systems that are used to capture images on only a portion of a film stock are particularly vulnerable to such deviations precisely because they are required to faithfully transmit high spatial frequency information, and even minor deviations can significantly compromise the ability of the image capture system to capture images having fine detail. Further, some type of film stock can exhibit less than perfect recording of fine detail because of the intrinsic fall-off in high frequency response inherent in camera speed films due to the particulate nature of the silver halide grains.
High frequency information necessary for good sharpness in an image can also be lost when a smaller image frame is later enlarged to provide a final viewable image. The necessity for this greater degree of enlargement is inherent in employing only a partial frame to record an image. In the camera described in the '250 patent, image capture and reproduction involves an extra 8× reduction followed by an extra 8× enlargement relative to a standard 135-format frame with concomitant resolution losses at both steps.
Thus, what is needed is a camera that allows multiple images to be recorded on a single frame of film stock without causing unacceptable losses in the appearance of fine detail in the captured image. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to systems and methods for improving customer service.
2. Background of the Invention
It is much easier for a merchant to retain an existing customer than to acquire a new customer through advertising. However, it can also be very expensive to maintain sufficient staff to provide great customer service. It can also be difficult to establish an appropriate staffing level that will provide proper customer service without excess staffing. Often, if customer service is inadequate, this fact will not appear in data available to management until many customers have been lost. With so much competition, a customer will often simply go elsewhere rather than take the time to make a complaint.
The systems and methods disclosed herein provide an improved approach for characterizing customer dissatisfaction and adjusting staffing levels appropriately. | {
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Various strategies have emerged in the quest to develop commercially viable, energy advantageous vehicles that use electrical energy in full or in part to propel the vehicle. Of great interest in the context of this invention is the way in which electrical energy is stored, controlled, and replenished in these different strategies.
The increasingly well-known Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) strategy combines a combustion engine with an electric drive system. The electrical energy in the HEV is typically stored in batteries. The battery types or chemistries used to date include lead acid, Nickel Cadmium (NiCd), Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH), lithium ion, zinc air, and others. Automotive manufacturers including Ford, GM, Mitsubishi, Nissan, and Toyota, to name a few, produce HEVs for the commercial markets. Electrical energy replenishment in the HEV comes from two sources: 1) electrical energy derived from the combustion engine powering an electrical generator, and 2) energy recaptured from regenerative braking wherein the electric drive motors reverse roles under braking conditions and become electrical generators. The first source, combustion engine generation, can operate whether the vehicle is in motion or at rest, but only when the combustion engine is running and consuming fuel. The second source, regenerative braking, only operates when the vehicle is decelerating. Both sources may operate concurrently.
A subtle yet important variation of the HEV is the Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV). Otherwise similar to the HEV, the PHEV adds a third source for replenishment of electrical energy in the batteries: 3) electrical grid power connected via an external power cord. Unlike combustion engine generation and regenerative braking, plug-in grid replenishment is only useable when the vehicle is at rest, in the proximity of an electrical outlet, and then only practical when the vehicle is to be parked for some period of time.
The Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) is similar to the PHEV but lacks the combustion engine component. Batteries and the electric drive are the sole source of propulsion for the BEV. Replenishment is by plug-in only, and as previously stated, only when the vehicle is at rest near an electrical source. Current BEVs are best suited to short and mid range cycles of operation (20 to 200 mile range) requiring recharging periods of several to many hours in between excursions.
A fourth category of sources for battery energy replenishment applicable to HEV, PHEV, or BEV strategies includes all other electrical sources that can be substituted for the grid as a plug-in source. For example, solar power from vehicle born or stationary photovoltaic generators units can and has been demonstrated.
Recent emphasis to improve the practicality of BEVs has been placed upon faster recharging technology. For example, Phoenix Motorcars of Ontario, Calif. and Altair Nanotechnologies, Inc. of Reno, Nev., U.S.A. report a BEV having 35 kWh (kilowatt-hour) battery energy with a 130 plus mile range that can be recharged at a “fast charge station” in as less than 10 minutes. Several hurdles challenge this approach, however. First and most importantly, the energy density, both gravimetric (energy per unit weight) and volumetric (energy per unit volume) is generally inversely related to a batteries maximum electrical current and power handling capabilities. The higher the electrical discharge or charge current the battery can sustain, the lower the energy density tends to be. The fast recharge time comes with the penalty of heavier, larger, batteries and correspondingly reduced vehicle range. Secondly, a 10 minute charge time for a 35 kWh battery implies electrical power requirements in excess of 230 kW, perhaps 40-50 times or more greater than the typical residential electrical service in total, which is why specially equipped “fast charge stations” are specified.
Another electric vehicle strategy is the Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV). The FCEV uses hydrogen or other fuel cell technology produce electrical power for the electric motor propulsion system. Although the FCEV strategy typically includes auxiliary electrical energy storage subsystems in the form of either batteries or so-called “ultra-capacitors” for the purpose of capturing regenerative braking energy and other electrical functions, the primary fuel source is typically the fuel in the cells, such as compressed hydrogen, and refueling does not typically involve recharging in the ordinary battery sense.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,187,423 discloses an electrical vehicle energy replenishment system offering uninterrupted operation for electric vehicles by removing batteries from a vehicle and by placing recharged batteries into the vehicle. What is referred to in the '423 patent as “uninterrupted operation” most likely means short interruptions for exchange (versus no interruption). The '423 patent further describes the battery replacement to be accomplished using a semi-automatic lifting device having powerful automatic gripping connectors, the lifting device being capable of handling one or two batteries simultaneously. The '423 patent also discloses a prerequisite condition for the application of the battery interchange system, namely an adequate battery standard providing control over battery attributes including dimensions, voltage, peak current, internal impedance, minimum capacity/weight ratio, and minimum life expectancy.
The '423 patent begins to address the problem of limited operation duty cycle standing in the way of wide spread acceptance of the plug-in recharge electric vehicle variants (motorists often prefer not to have to be “plugged in” for extended periods). However, there are new issues or problems created in the '423 patent disclosure. One issue is the requirements placed upon the replacement (exchange) mechanisms contemplated, those mechanisms being semi-automatic and powerful in nature. It would be preferable if simple, low power, or completely manual replacement or exchanges were possible.
At the other end of this spectrum, as the number of batteries in a given vehicle could be quite large compared to the one or two batteries contemplated in the '423 patent, it is preferable if the entire, large complement of batteries could be exchanged in one cycle by a fully rather than semi automated process. Another issue impeding the system contemplated in the '423 patent is the broad degree of battery standardization envisioned as a preliminary condition to the use of the system. As battery and electric drive technology advances, often in rapid fashion, a system requiring many attributes of the technology to remain fixed will be costly to update and maintain. A better system would require few rather than many aspects of battery and exchange technology to be invariant.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,631,536 discloses an apparatus and methods for the rapid exchange of a discharged or partially discharged battery in return for a charged unit for battery powered vehicles aimed at eliminating the need for a customer to wait during recharging. The '536 patent raises the idea of a vehicle using and its user exchanging multiple batteries but identifies a constraint that the multiple batteries be closely matched in their electrical characteristics to function efficiently together. The '536 patent further proposes a “central database” to track information of all individual batteries to facilitate the matching process when multiple batteries are to be deployed or exchanged. Both concepts, that of a close, intra-group battery matching requirement, and that of a central database are seen as limiting and therefore drawbacks in the context of the present invention.
The present invention contemplates a highly modular, intelligent, quick exchangeable vehicle battery system that addresses many of the shortcomings of preceding BEV strategies. The advantages of the invention will be explained in detail below. However, it is useful as background to examine in survey the parameters of the BEV system. In particular, it is helpful to examine some of the factors involved, including the characteristics of electric drive trains and vehicles, in order to develop an appreciation for the size and nature of the batteries required for a practical vehicle application. The following discussion aims to identify these factors and suggests ballpark values useful throughout the ensuing discussion.
In addition to the battery subsystem, an electrical vehicle propulsion system comprises a power electronics unit, battery charging control circuitry, and an electric traction motor. One commercially available system is offered for sale by AC Propulsion, Inc. of San Dimas, Calif. The AC propulsion system is specified to operate with battery supply voltages of 240 to 450 V. Vehicle power levels of 150 kW (approximately 200 HP) or higher are possible. Continuous operating power in the range of 50 kW (approximately 70 HP) is not unusual. Efficiencies on the order of 85% to 90% are realistic (the amount of battery energy resulting in useful work done propelling the vehicle). Many factors affect the energy efficiency (mileage) of a vehicle including size, weight (number of passengers), aerodynamics, terrain and other conditions, as well as the operating habits of the driver. A small to mid-size exemplary vehicle might achieve average electrical mileage performance in the range of 5 miles per kWh (200 Wh per mile). The same vehicle might achieve satisfactory acceleration and road performance given a peak power level of 85 to 135 HP or about 63 to 100 kW.
The efficiencies and characteristics of the exemplary vehicle described above demand certain characteristics in the batteries. For example, the energy content of the batteries will influence the range of the vehicle in the same way that the liquid fuel content of a combustion engine vehicle determines its range. In both cases, the efficiency of the vehicle drive train comes in to play. In the case of the electric vehicle, we have already mentioned that the efficiency of the propulsion system including the electronics unit, the regenerative charging unit, and the electric traction motor might be in the range of 90%. In addition one must consider the efficiency of the batteries themselves (some energy is lost via power dissipated within the batteries because of internal electrical resistance). This will of course depend on the particular type of batteries being used and the conditions under which the batteries are used. Lithium ion batteries are becoming increasingly attractive for BEV applications because of their high energy density. A lithium-ion rechargeable battery might operate with efficiencies in the range of 95%. The combined efficiency of the propulsion system and the batteries therefore would then be approximately 85%. Thus the net vehicle mileage of 5 miles per kWh at the wheel is reduced to about 4.3 miles per kWh in the batteries. It should be noted that the preceding discussion of efficiencies in the BEV drive train does not include any losses attributable to gearing or mechanical transmission.
The characteristics of a popular lithium-ion battery cell, the ubiquitous 18650 size cylindrical cell, include a nominal diameter of 18 mm and the nominal length of 65 mm of the cell. Variants of this cell are used extensively to power laptop computers. Such cells are readily available in capacities ranging from 1 Ah up to nearly 3 Ah. They deliver most of their energy and charge over a fairly narrow voltage range of 3.5 to 4 V. Peak operating currents ranging from 4 to 10 A or higher depending upon chemistry subspecies may be found. For the sake of this discussion, we will consider a “typical cell”, one delivering 2.2 Ah at 3.6 V and 2.2 A (1 C rate). The same cell in new condition would deliver about 8 Wh energy to its load at an 8 W power level over a one-hour interval during a complete discharge from the fully charged state. Peak power capability could be in the range of 16 W or higher. This average cell weighs in at about 45 grams having a cylindrical volume of about 18 cubic centimeters.
From an energy standpoint, the exemplary vehicle described above, getting around 4.3 miles per kWh, would need approximately 4,400 of the typical cells just described to drive a distance of 150 miles. Given a sustained power delivery of just 8 W per cell, these 4,400 cells would provide a sustained vehicle power of about 35 kW (about 48 HP). Peak power for acceleration would be about 70 kW (about 95 Hp). This collection of cells would weigh around 200 kg (435 lb.) and require a space within the vehicle of about 92 liters (3.3 cubic feet). By comparison, the cell count required for a 75 mile range would weigh 100 kg (217 lb.), a 35 mile range 45 kg (100 lbs.), etc.
It should be well noted that the 18650 size cylindrical cell described above is only one of a large number of cell geometries and types contemplated in the present invention for electric vehicle application. Other cell geometries include 26650 and 26700 cylindrical cells manufactured by suppliers such as A123 Systems of Watertown, Mass. and E-One Moli Energy Corp. of Taiwan. These are higher power, lower energy density cells. Compared to the 18650 cell described above, the larger A123 26650 cell delivers 2.3 Ah at 3.3 V and up to 70 A (30 C rate) continuously or 120 A peak, delivering perhaps 6 Wh energy to its load at 100 W power levels. It weighs approximately 70 grams and has a cylindrical volume of about 34.5 cubic centimeters. The E-One Moli Energy 26700 cell delivers 2.9 Ah at 3.8 V and up to 15 A (5 C rate) continuously, delivering perhaps 11 Wh energy to its load at 50 W power levels. It weighs approximately 100 grams and has a cylindrical volume of about 37 cubic centimeters.
The foregoing analysis shows that a collection of batteries large enough to have sufficient energy for reasonable driving ranges (35 miles or greater) weigh more than most humans would be comfortable handling. Generally vehicle weight is a significant variable determining vehicle mileage (energy efficiency), heavier vehicles getting lower mileage than lighter ones. One can also see that a weighty cache of batteries, while needed for extended range driving, equates to excess weight in shorter excursions detracting unnecessarily from vehicle operating efficiency. When short excursions are planned, it would be advantageous to adjust the amount of batteries on board so that the vehicle weight would be lessened and its efficiency improved.
As batteries age and go through an increasing number of charge and discharge cycles they wear out. This wear manifests itself in a decrease in battery capacity. The rate at which capacity is lost over time and use depends in complex ways on the chemistry of the battery, temperature, rate of charge, rate of discharge, depth of discharge and state of charge, time, and other factors. From the standpoint of the electric vehicle application, the “age” of the batteries will determine a reduction in the maximum range of the vehicle. Put another way, at any point in time, the maximum driving range of a vehicle with fully charged batteries will be a function of not only the number of batteries but also the cycle age of the batteries. In short, older batteries are depreciated and valued less than newer batteries with higher capacities.
Previous BEV applications operate under the tacit assumption that the batteries “built in” to the vehicle would discharge, charge, and age together as a synchronized group. Although the maximum operating range of such vehicle decreases over time and is expected, the previous BEV system provides no mechanisms to allow disparately aged or charged batteries to be efficiently utilized. Such mechanisms are provided by the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,465,986 B1 issued Oct. 15, 2002 discloses battery interconnection networks electrically connected to one another to provide a three-dimensional network of batteries. Each of the interconnection networks comprises a battery interconnection network having a plurality of individual component batteries configured with compound series parallel connections. A plurality of rows of individual component batteries are connected in parallel. A plurality of columns of individual component batteries are interconnected with the plurality of rows with each column having a plurality of individual component batteries connected in series with an adjacent individual component battery in the same column and electrically connected in parallel with an adjacent individual component battery in the same row.
McDowell Research Corporation of Waco, Tex. produces a Briefcase Power System for powering transceivers with an advertised DC input range of 11 to 36 VDC and an AC input range of 95 to 270 VAC at 47 to 440 Hz. No outputs are specified in the advertisement at www.mcdowellresearch.com.
Automated Business Power, Inc. of Gaithersburg, Md. produces an Uninterruptible Power Supply Transceiver Power Unit with advertised DC input range of 9 to 36 VDC and AC input range of 85 to 270 VAC at 47 to 440 Hz. Two outputs are specified both at 26.5 VDC, one at 5.25 A and one called auxiliary at 1 A. Battery chemistry is not specified in the advertisement at vww.abpco.com, but indications are given that non-compatible battery types including primary Lithium battery (BA-5590/U), NiCd (BB-590 U), NiMH (BB-390A/U) or any other non-compatible type shall not be useable.
There is a need for a lightweight intelligent energy system for use in a variety of applications including for use in energy supply systems for homeland defense, military, industrial and residential use. There is also a need for light-weight energy systems including battery systems for use in vehicles, cars, trucks, military vehicles and the like which can be refueled by swapping individual batteries or groups of batteries at energy filling stations much like the typical gas stations. | {
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This invention relates generally to lenses and to photodetectors which may be used, for example, for digital imaging devices including cameras and scanners.
Photodetectors are used to detect light in a digital imaging device. A large number of photodetectors may each detect a light intensity value for a given pixel. These light intensity values are digitized and used to form a digital depiction of a particular image. Such imaging devices are used in digital cameras, scanners and other devices.
The imaging device may be formed, for example, using complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology. Imaging devices made using CMOS technology include active pixel sensors (APS) and passive pixel sensors (PPS). Alternatively, the imaging device may use charge coupled device (CCD) technology. All of these devices can be made of particularly small size.
Imaging arrays of particularly small size may have a fill factor problem. The fill factor is the fraction of the total amount of light that falls on any given pixel.
Ideally, the amount of light that falls on each photodetector is designed to be as high as possible to improve the signal to noise ratio. In order to improve the fill factor with small photodetectors, a microlens may be situated over the photodetector. The microlens focuses all the light incident on a pixel onto the photodetector and therefore improves the fill factor of the photodetector.
Conventional lens systems used in imaging devices employ high quality refractive lenses which are more expensive. These lenses, with high numerical apertures, may be used to reduce chromatic aberrations and dispersion.
Dispersion and chromatic aberrations result in focal shifts that affect different colors (i.e. different wavelengths of is light) differently. Dispersion, may be measured and expressed as an Abbe or V number. Even with expensive refractive lenses focal length variations due to temperature and wavelength may degrade performance.
Therefore, it would be desirable to have a lens system with improved characteristics. | {
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Ballistic modifiers for double base propellants are used to modify burning characteristics of double base propellants. A double base propellant generally contains an energetic polymer, such as nitrocellulose, plasticized into a gel by an energetic plasticizer, such as nitroglycerine. Additives may be included in these double base propellants to improve the mechanical or ballistic properties of the propellant. One such additive is termed a ballistic modifier, which alters the inherently high dependence of the burning rate on chamber temperature and chamber pressure.
The objective in ballistic modification of double base rocket propellants is to obtain plateau or mesa burning over a desired range of pressure and burning rate levels. These terms come from the shape of a log-log plot of the burning rate equation for double-base propellants which is given as: r=CPn or log r=n log P+log C, where r is the burning rate, P is the combustion chamber pressure, C is a constant for each propellant composition at any one temperature, and n is a constant for non-modified propellants but is a variable in modified propellants. In plateau- or mesa-burning propellants, “n” varies from very high positive values to zero or low negative values. Thus, a plot of log r against log P would give a straight line with a slope of “n” for a non-modified propellant, whereas a “plateau” shaped line or a mesa-shaped line exists for modified propellants. The performance of a ballistic modifier is measured in terms of the rate increase and pressure extent of plateau burning. Super rate defines the concept of substantially increasing burn-rate at any given pressure over burn-rates obtained from non-modified propellants.
There is a need in the art to provide improved modifiers for double base propellants. The present invention addresses this and other needs. | {
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The prior art includes closed-loop adaptive optical systems which use conventional adaptive optical approaches such as deformable mirrors, wavefront error sensors (WESs), drive electronics and processors with N servo-loops, where N equals the number of resolvable pixels to be controlled. The number of resolvable pixels to be controlled may be on the order of a few hundred to over ten thousand.
Another approach to closed-loop systems includes an optical scheme to replace the N hard-wired servo-loops, and exploits a spatial light modulator (SLM) in an all-optical closed-loop configuration (U.S. Pat. No. 5,046,824; D. M. Pepper). In this system, a local reference beam is required that is coherent with respect to an incoming aberrated beam. The local reference beam coherently combines with the input beam to form a spatial interference pattern that is applied to and thereby activates the SLM. The generation of the local reference beam is rather challenging and it thus complicates the system architecture. For example, the local reference beam may be generated by spatially filtering a part of the incoming beam, phase shifting this spatially filtered beam (for quadrature interference), and then recombining it interferometrically with the incident beam to form the necessary fringe pattern.
Another approach involves sampling a diffraction-limited sub-aperture of the incoming beam (possibly amplifying a single speckle), phase shifting it, and then interfering it with the remainder of the incoming aberrated beam.
Yet another approach is to phase-lock a local oscillator to the incoming distorted beam.
Yet another approach employs a radial shearing method, whereby a sub-aperture of large wavefront radius is used as the local reference. However, this approach is very inefficient in terms of processing the incoming photons and, in addition, limits the spatial frequency compensation capability of the adaptive optical system.
The above examples all suffer from a relatively low photon efficiency. Moreover, since a common path is not used for the interfering beams, the system is sensitive to vibrations, and further, a long coherence length source is needed for the aberrated beam with a coherence length greater than any path difference in the system.
An example of an adaptive optical closed-loop system of the prior art is shown in FIG. 1. This prior art system includes a spatial light modulator (SLM) 1, which functions as an integrated wavefront error sensor and spatial phase modulator in a monolithic package. The SLM 1 may be a liquid crystal light valve, a MEMS-based device, etc. The SLM 1 is a two-port device, whose basic function is to transfer an input intensity pattern at an input port 2 (in the form of an image, an interference pattern, etc.) into an output optical phase map. The input port 2 of SLM 1 typically consists of a photoconductive surface 2 with spatially resolvable (e.g., pixelated) channels, whereas the output port 3 consists of an optically addressable array of optical phase shifters (e.g., a liquid crystal thin film, an array of MEMS membranes, an array of electro-optic phase shifters, etc.). The SLM 1 may be configured in a reflection or transmission architecture—a reflection architecture is shown in FIG. 1 and the other figures. Typically, a high resolution imaging system (not shown) is associated with the SLM 1, which imaging system is used to address the two ports of the SLM 1. The imaging system may include a monolithic micro-lenslet array as a means by which to address the output port 3 (for minimal phase curvature and distortion), since, typically, piston-only corrections are required. Then, a multilens systems is preferably used to provide a one-to-one imaging of the output port 3 of the SLM 1 to its input port 2 so that all resolvable pixels of the wavefront beam are mapped from the front to the back side of the SLM 1. Typically, a non-inverting, unity magnification, flat-field three-element telecentric imaging system is employed to provide for this system need. These imaging system details are known to those skilled in the art and thus for the sake of brevity, are not discussed in further detail here.
The reader is directed to the following references for additional information regarding SLM's and this area of technology: (1) “Spatial Light Modulator Technology—Materials, devices and Applications”, edited by Uzi Efron, Marcel Dekker, Inc. publisher, pp 619–643, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated wherein by reference; (2) “Single-pixel demonstration of innovative adaptive optics by use of a charge-transfer membrane light modulator”, by P. V. Mitchell et al., Optic Letters, vol. 18, no. 20, Oct. 15, 1993, pp 1748–1750, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated wherein by reference; and (3) Characteristics of innovative adaptive-optics that use membrane-based spatial light modulators”, C. J. Gaeta et al., J. Opt. Soc. Am. A, Vol. 11, No. 2, February 1994, pp 880–894, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated wherein by reference.
The object of the prior art system of FIG. 1 is to scrub wavefront distortion which has occurred to a beam 15 due to it having passed through a region 14 which imposed the wavefront distortion on beam 15, the distorted beam being identified by numeral 4 in the figures as it exits region 14. The system of FIG. 1 receives an input field, such as the wavefront-distorted (aberrated) beam 4, and generates, in real-time, a “scrubbed” output beam 5, which is relatively free of aberrations compared to the distorted input beam 4 (the amount by which the beam is scrubbed will depend on the effective gain and dynamic range of SLM 1). The distorted input beam 4 is referred to as the external reference, since it references the external distortions 14 that need to be corrected. Examples of path aberrations/distortions 14 include the effects of propagation through a turbulent atmosphere, a turbid liquid, a multimode optical fiber, an optical amplifier, etc. As a result of the adaptive optical processing by the system, the aberrated input beam 4 is stripped of most of its phase distortions, and emerges as a relatively clean plane wave 5 with minimal loss of photons. The operation of this system is referred to as “wavefront scrubbing.”
In addition to wavefront scrubbing, the system can also be used to generate a phase-conjugate replica 11 (a wavefront-reversed and aberration-reversed beam) of a readout beam 6. In this case, the same architecture may be used, but, in addition, a plane wave readout beam 6 is directed into the reverse direction of the scrubbed output beam 5, as shown in FIG. 1. After reflection by the SLM 1, the readout beam 6 emerges as a phase-conjugate replica 11 of the input beam 4 and, therefore, “undoes” the initial distortions imposed on the input beam 4 by region 14 when transiting through the same (but in a reciprocal direction) aberrated path 14, and it emerges from region 14 as an aberration-reduced output beam 12.
In general, the adaptive optical system senses the wavefront distortion of the input beam 4 by sampling a portion of the external reference beam 8, using, for example, a beam splitter 7 preferably just after the SLM 1. This sampled external reference 8, which has some residual aberrations from region 14 since the scrubbing is not 100% effective, is then directed to the backside of the SLM (to the photoconductive input port 2), where it interferometrically combines with a coherent non-aberrated beam referred to as a local reference beam 9. The resultant interference pattern is an intensity mapping of the phase distortion of the external reference 8 relative to the local reference 9. Note that the local reference beam 9 is typically a plane wave. In general, upon convergence, the servo aspect of the adaptive optical system of FIG. 1 results in a corrected output beam 5 that possesses the same phasefront as that of the local reference beam 9 (limited by the open-loop gain and dynamic range of the servo system and particularly of SLM 1). In order for this system to properly function, the local reference beam 9 is phase-shifted relative to the external reference beam 8 by preferably 90 degrees so that this pair of reference beams 8, 9 are preferably in quadrature and optimal convergence of the servo loop is achieved. Phase shifter 10 imposes a 90 degree phase shift on the local reference beam 9. Note that this phase shift is the only operation required by an outside processor to enable the system to function. Thus, a single servo-control will, in essence, provide sufficient information for millions (for example) of equivalent adaptive optical piston actuators (the output pixels of the SLM) to properly set the phasefront across the device for compensation of the wavefront distortions of the input beam 4. This system has been demonstrated to be capable of providing wavefront compensation of distorted laser beams. Note that, in the case of laser beams, a separate coherent source is used for the local reference beam 9, the coherence length of which is sufficient so as to enable the pair of reference beams 8, 9 to form an interference pattern of high fringe contrast on the photoconductive port 2 of SLM 1.
The local reference beam 9 may, in principle, be generated by beam splitting part of the external reference beam 8 and spatially filtering it using a conventional pinhole 20 with an amplitude stop of fixed diameter, as shown in FIG. 2. This approach is referred to as “self-referencing”, since the local reference beam 9 is derived from the external reference beam 8 itself. In this case, a spatial filter 20 with an amplitude-stop fixed diameter pinhole is used, and a downstream optical phase shifter 10 is used for quadrature operation of the interferometer (basically, a Mach-Zehnder interferometer 16 with one beam being a plane wave and the other beam possessing many spatial modes—Mach-Zehnder interferometers 16 typically have two legs which cause an interference pattern, with one of the legs having a phase shifter 10 therein). The resultant output interference fringe pattern is then imaged onto the input port 2 of SLM 1.
The performance of such prior art systems generally suffer from the following limitations: (1) A separate path is required for the generation of the local reference, which can lead to vibration-induced or thermally induced degradation of the system (the interferometric legs of the prior art systems must be maintained with a precision of a fraction of a wavelength (approximately λ/10) in path-length-differential to assure quadrature operation); (2) Since photons are lost in the spatial filtering operation of FIG. 2, that system is not photon efficient and suffers from significant losses; (3) The added path length dictates the need for a laser or an optical source whose coherence length exceeds the path-length differences in the Mach-Zehnder interferometer (path length differences between the two interfering beams 8, 9); and (4) The fact that the pinhole embodiment (FIG. 2) has a fixed diameter can lead to a degradation in performance. (It is to be noted that in accordance with one aspect of the present invention, the system may employ an amplitude pinhole with a variable diameter. In this case, the system has been shown, in simulations, to improve the convergence performance and dynamics (response time and Strehl ratio) of the closed-loop system.)
The prior art further teaches that a coherent local reference 9 may be generated by expanding (i.e., magnifying) part of the external reference beam 8 so that a fraction of the magnified wavefront is nearly planar (a portion of a spherical wave is nearly planar when the radius of the spherical wave becomes large as a result of magnifying the beam). This approach is discussed in the Jun. 1, 2000 issue of Optics Letters (Vol 25, No. 11).
However, when using this approach, the performance of the system is compromised for reasons which include the following: (1) Only a small fraction of the photons is utilized, resulting in a loss of performance; (2) Low order spatial frequencies are not processed, thereby limiting the spatial bandwidth of the system and resulting in a non-planar converged wavefront; and (3) Controlling the phase of the beams to realize quadrature of the external and local reference beams is not addressed in this approach. This limits the performance of the system as well as its robustness with respect to vibrations and other noise sources, as well as the need for a long coherence-length source, since the feedback-loop interferometer is not a common-path interferometer (as is utilized in the embodiments disclosed herein). | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to lighted headwear, and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to a lighted cap with at least one recessed light source and at least one lens.
2. Description of the Related Art
Current lighted headwear typically incorporates multiple light emitting diodes (LEDs) into the brim of a hat to illuminate an area in front of a wearer. A primary drawback of such current lighted headwear is that they do not provide sufficient light for many activities. The lights typically provide a pool of diffuse illumination extending five (5) to twenty (20) feet in front of the wearer, as shown in FIG. 13. This is insufficient to illuminate objects at a distance or to function as a flashlight or torch, as is often expected by consumers.
Current lighted hat designs typically use light emitting diodes (LEDs) because they deliver the brightest light relative to the LEDs small size, require less power to operate for longer periods of time, and provide light that can be directed in a particular direction. Incandescent light bulbs, argon bulbs, krypton bulbs, and xenon bulbs require much more battery power to operate for any length of time, which is undesirable as C and D size batteries do not fit in a hat very well, and require some sort of cone shaped device to direct the light coming from the bulb, which would be difficult to fit into a brim of a hat without destroying the integrity of the basic hat/cap design.
Based on the foregoing, it is desirable to provide lighted headwear that provides a narrow beam of light that is focused in one area.
It is further desirable to provide lighted headwear that provides illumination to objects at a further distance than is currently offered.
It is further desirable to provide such illumination via LED or similar miniaturized light technology. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an air dryer device for drying compressed air of compressed air system, such as an air brake for a vehicle.
2. Prior Art
One conventional air dryer device as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,487,617 comprises a base member, a cylindrical housing mounted on the base member, an absorbent container mounted on the base member and accommodated within the housing in concentric relation thereto to form a closed space or purge chamber therebetween for storing compressed air for regenerating the absorbent material in the absorbent container. The base member has an air inlet connected to a source of compressed air, an upwardly-opening hollow portion, and an upwardly opening cavity. A plate is interposed between the base member and the housing and hence between the base member and the absorbent container. The plate covers the hollow portion to provide a valve housing in which a drain valve is accommodated. The plate also covers the cavity to provide an air passage through which the air inlet communicates with the interior of the absorbent container. With the use of the plate, the valve housing and the air passage can be provided relatively easily with a less complicated construction of the base member. A seal member is interposed between the plate and the base member. The plate is secured at its marginal portion to the base member by bolts together with the housing. It has been found that when the plate is warped or deformed upwardly toward the housing due to a pressure differential between the purge chamber and the air passage, the seal member fails to properly seal between the plate and the base member. | {
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The present invention relates to a computer housing for a personal computer. and more particularly to a quick-detachable computer housing convenient for maintenance.
A regular computer housing is generally comprised of a mainframe shell holding a mother board, a power supply device and other necessary component parts, a frame assembly fixedly fastened the mainframe shell on the inside to hold a hard diskdrive, a floppy diskdrive and a CD-ROM player. In case a part of the computer housing is damaged it is difficult to detach the damaged part from the computer housing for a repair work or replacement. | {
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The invention relates to a cosmetic and personal care gel product that is gelled using a polyamide as a gelling agent in the oil phase. More specifically, the invention relates to a stable emulsion based compositions comprising a polyamide gelling agent in the oil phase.
Many gelled cosmetic emulsions rely on gellants, waxes, fillers, heavy oils, and plasticizers for developing the structure to make a gel or stick composition. The structure built by these agents and materials give the product a balance of rigidity and firmness depending on the desired product. For example, the structure of lipstick is traditionally formed by a blend of wax and oil. However, these adjuvants, particularly waxes, have a disadvantage in that they contribute to opacity which diminishes the color of the pigment. The product therefore, has a dull, lackluster and pale appearance. To overcome this problem, enhanced amounts of pigment are added to the composition. Another drawback to the addition of wax is that it adheres poorly to the skin and compromises the longevity of wear of the product. For example, many commonly used cosmetic products, such as foundation, concealer, eyeliner, and lipstick, which contain these materials are subject to fading, smudging, and flaking. Such products also have a matte appearance that is not always desirable. In addition, other adjuvants such as heavy oils can feel uncomfortable on the skin and have a distinct oily feel that may also be unpleasant. Therefore, to address these issues, alternative gelling agents have been sought and specific polyamides have been used to gel cosmetic products.
The use of polyamides in cosmetic products has been known. For example, polyamide resins have been used in an anhydrous lipstick as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,148,125. The method of making polyamides is disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,450,940. The polyamide resin has also been used in a deodorant or antiperspirant gel or stick as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,275,054 and 5,500,209 because of its odor absorbing properties. None of these references, however, discloses an emulsion gelled with the non-siloxane based polyamide in combination with an ethylene oxide containing emulsion stabilizer. The stick, soft gel, or clear gel compositions disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,051,216, 5,603,925, and 5,998,570 and European Patent Application Nos. EP 1 068 855 and EP 1 068 856 are unstable emulsions, single phase compositions, or use a siloxane based polyamide. The siloxane polyamides have been developed because of their alleged ability to, in addition to gel the composition, provide a less tacky composition. However, the siloxane based polyamides are not compatible with a wide variety of oils, for example, hydrocarbon oils, and because they are less tacky, their adhesion properties are significantly impaired, making them less desirable in products that require minimally an initial phase of adhesion during the application of the product to the skin or hair. Therefore. it is desirable to use other polyamides in cosmetic emulsion systems because products such as mascara, for example, need a certain degree of tackiness when being applied but afterwards, upon drying the tackiness of the mascara needs to transition to a comfortable feel on the lashes. Until now, it has not been known to fine-tune the tacky nature of a cosmetic dual phase product containing the polyamide resin as a gelling agent. The compositions heretofore have either been too tacky or not tacky enough for products that need to exhibit varying degrees of tackiness over time and during their use. Thus, the emulsions of the present invention gelled with a non-siloxane polyamide has heretofore not been known. A need for a stable cosmetic emulsion gelled by a polyamide resin system that adheres to the skin and functions in a variety of cosmetic emulsion systems still remains. The emulsion system of the present invention is also desirable because it allows water-soluble ingredients to be incorporated into the product containing the emulsion.
The invention relates to gelled cosmetic compositions, and specifically, oil-in-water or water-in-oil emulsions, which comprises at least one alkylene oxide containing emulsion stabilizer and at least one non-siloxane based polyamide resin. The prepared emulsions, while they are not themselves clear, are substantially transparent after application to the skin. Use of the polyamide resin as a gelling agent per se is not new, however, its incorporation into the color compositions of the present invention containing the C1-5 alkylene oxide, for example, ethylene oxide or propylene oxide, as an emulsion stabilizer is surprising. The cosmetic emulsions of the present invention also comprise a color component present in an amount greater than about 2.0 percent by weight of the composition. The ability to gel a color cosmetic emulsion with the polyamide resin as the primary gelling agent is particularly challenging because the polyamide is very polar and emulsions containing large quantities of polyamide tend to be tacky and are difficult to stabilize in the presence of colorants.
The present invention also includes methods of making the emulsion systems of the present invention which can include multiple emulsion systems. The emulsion products are especially transparent and transfer resistant when they are applied to the skin and allowed to dry. The compositions containing these emulsions have an enhanced brightness and clarity with respect to their color on the skin after application thereon due to the transparent film that adheres to the skin without being tacky. The emulsion systems of the present invention dry faster than other polyamide containing systems, and are long wearing even after the water evaporates. In addition, gels and sticks made with the emulsion system of the present invention are less brittle, experience a substantial lack of syneresis, and have a creamier texture because the three-dimensional structure formed by the polyamide resin is interrupted partially by the water phase.
The gelling system of the present invention is at least one non-siloxane based polyamide resin and at least one C1-5 alkylene oxide containing emulsion stabilizer. The polyamide resin as used herein is defined to be a polymer having recurring units of amide groups as an integral part of the main chain of the polymer and a terminal end group of acid, amine, or ester. The polyamide gelling agent can be used to produce a soft gel or a stick composition in an emulsified system. Therefore, it is preferable that the polyamide resin not be extensively cross-linked by hydrogen bonds. The polyamides are characterized as thermoplastics as opposed to thermosets. Based on complex fatty acids, esters, and amines, the polyamides used in the present invention are water insoluble. The polyamide is available in a solid form of 100 percent polyamide or as a percentage of polyamide in mineral oil, usually about 80 percent. Examples of commercially available polyamides which are useful in the present invention are Versamid 1655, by Cognis (formerly Henkel Corporation), Ambler, Pa. which is prepared from dimers of C18 unsaturated fatty acids which are partially hydrogenated, azelaic acid (nonanedioic acid), ethylene diamine, hexamethylene diamine and stearic acid, Unirez and Uniclear, a series of polyamides from Arizona Chemicals Corporation, Jacksonville, Fla. or Elvamide from DuPont, Del. a terpolymer of nylon 6, nylon 66, and nylon 610. Additional polyamides are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,820,765, 5,719,255, 5,807,968, 6,111,055, and 6,054,517, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. These references fail to recognize the ability to make a stable emulsion product, and thus, fail to recognize the benefits of a water containing cosmetic emulsion incorporating a polyamide gelling agent and an C1-5 alkylene oxide containing surfactant. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,783,657 is an anhydrous system, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,998,570 discloses that water is preferably removed when forming the polyamide, and compositions comprise a nonaqueous liquid as solvent, preferably a low-polarity liquid.
The water phase of the cosmetic emulsion of the present invention comprises about 0.05 to 90.0 percent, and preferably 1.0 to 70.0 percent by weight of the emulsions. While the water phase is primarily water, it can take the form of a variety of aqueous solutions such as rose water, tea, and the like. Therefore, the water phase is well suited to deliver water-soluble actives and other water dispersible agents, such as for example, film-formers, surfactants, and emollients. The non-aqueous phase can include any type of cosmetically acceptable volatile or non-volatile oil including oily esters depending on the application of the product and the degree of gelling desired. Examples include, but are not limited to, hydrocarbon oil such as isododecane, silicone oils such as cyclomethicone, polyorganosiloxanes such as phenyl-methicones and dimethicones, castor oil, and hydrogenated vegetable oil. Preferably, in a mascara, the oil is volatile, such as for example, a volatile hydrocarbon oil or silicone oil; while a lipstick is a mixture of both volatile and non-volatile oils and the amounts of each depends on the type of lipstick desired. Suitable non-volatile hydrocarbons include, but are not limited, to isoparaffins, squalane, or petrolatum, or mixtures thereof. Regardless of the amount of volatile and/or non-volatile oil, the entire oil phase is present in an amount of about 5 to about 95 percent, preferably 10 to 80 percent by weight of the composition, and more preferably about 10 to 40 percent.
The emulsions of the present invention are prepared by adding a gelling sufficient amount of the polyamide resin to the oil phase. The amount of polyamide resin used in the present invention is from about 1 to about 90 percent, preferably about 2 to 40 percent by weight of the composition. The amount of polyamide is a xe2x80x9cgelling sufficient amountxe2x80x9d and as used herein means an amount of polyamide in the oil phase to bring about an increase in the viscosity of the emulsion; preferably the viscosity increases by 25 percent, more preferably by 50 percent, and most preferably by 75 percent. This increase in viscosity is sufficient to form a thickened gel or form a solid having the hardness of a stick as the thickness of gels and sticks are known in the art. At lower levels, the polyamide aids in forming a gel, whereas, higher levels are used to make stick products. Although it is difficult to quantitatively distinguish between a cosmetic gel and stick, a gel is, in general, more viscous than a liquid; but, it is not as rigid or self-supporting as a stick. It is accepted by one of ordinary, skill in the art that a gel maintains a certain degree of deformity, whereas, the stick is free-standing and is substantially rigid.
Another component of the present invention is the C1-5 alkylene oxide containing emulsion stabilizer. Preferably, the emulsion stabilizer is an ethylene oxide or propylene oxide. It is surprisingly discovered with the present invention that a stable emulsion comprising the polyamide resin as the gelling agent can be achieved. Although, it is known to gel alcoholic based systems and oil based systems with the polyamide resin, until now, these systems have primarily been single phase. In particular, stable dual phase compositions, and especially, stable cosmetic emulsions, have not been known to contain a non-siloxane based polyamide gelling agent as they experience stability problems. The non-siloxane based polyamides arc known to be tacky. Therefore, their use is limited and most appropriate for coatings, paints, inks, epoxies, adhesives and the like. Their use in cosmetics has also been limited primarily to single phase systems such as anhydrous lipsticks and deodorants. However, the ability to formulate these types of cosmetics is quite different than the challenges presented by formulating a cosmetic emulsion, especially a stable emulsion in a color cosmetic.
The method of preparing the emulsions of the present invention entails basic steps known in the art for preparing emulsions. The non-siloxane based polyamide and the other ingredients in the oil phase may be prepared separately but arc combined or added to the oil phase before combining with the aqueous phase to make the emulsion. The present emulsions, containing the gelling system, can be prepared with the polyamide as the primary gelling agent in the gelling system or with other naturally derived or synthetic gellants or thickening agents, known and commonly used by one skilled in the art, such as for example, cetyl dimethicone copolyol, acrylates copolymer, dextrin fatty acid esters, carbopols, dibenzyl monosorbitol acetal, polyethylene wax, beeswax. carnauba wax, candilla wax, bayberry wax, rice wax, acylglutamic acid diamide, esters, fatty alcohols, and the like can be used in the oil phase of the present invention. Preferably, however, the compositions of the present invention are wax-free.
Surprisingly, it has been found that the presence of an ethylene oxide containing surfactant stabilizes the emulsion system containing the polyamide as the gelling agent. The ethylene oxide containing surfactant is known to be temperature sensitive, and therefore, when used in emulsions, experiences stability problems. Considering the difficulty of formulating a cosmetic emulsion, and in addition, the difficulty of incorporating the non-siloxane polyamide gelling agent in the emulsion, it is surprising that greater stability is achieved using the ethylene oxide containing emulsifier. While not wishing to be bound to any particular theory, it is believed that stability and enhanced gelling is achieved with the ethylene oxide containing emulsifier because it is capable of hydrogen bonding with the polyamide gelling agent. The emulsion stabilizer can be a single surfactant or a combination of surfactants. The emulsion stabilizers aid in rendering the polyamide resin compatible in the dual phase system, and enhance not only the stability of the emulsion containing the non-siloxane based polyamide resin as the gelling agent, but may also affect the gelling activity of the polyamide resin. Because the polyamide resin is water-insoluble when used as a gelling agent in the emulsion, stability problems are known to arise. In particular, agglomeration occurs or the phases separate in a short time, for example, in about few hours to about a few months. However, the present invention has discovered that this problem can be remedied with the emulsion stabilizer which can be present in the oil phase, the water phase, or both. As a result, the polyamide resin is rendered compatible in the emulsion stabilizer at room temperature and/or at elevated temperature. In addition, the emulsion is stable for about 6 months, preferably about 1 year, and more preferably about two years as measured by accelerated stability testing methods, known to one of ordinary skill in the art.
More preferably, the emulsion stabilizer of the present invention is primarily ethylene oxide containing surfactants, ethoxylated alcohols, and emulsifiers such as polyethlyene glycol esters. Specifically, the emulsion stabilizer can be cetyl dimethicone copolyol/polyglyceryl-4 isostearate/hexyl laurate, PEG-30 dipolyhydroxystearate, sorbitan tristearate, glyceryl stearate/PEG-100 stearate, glyceryl olivate, polysorbate 20, stearic acid, or laureth-7. Examples of solvents, include but are not limited to, emollients such as low polarity liquid emollients, straight chain and branched fatty alcohols, cetyl alcohol and isocetyl alcohol, monohydric or polyhydric alcohols, such as propylene glycol and dipropylene glycol, fatty acid esters, such as cetyl acetate/acetylated lanolin alcohol.
In yet another embodiment, the emulsion is stabilized by the addition of nitrogen containing soap-based emulsifiers, or alkanolamides of fatty acids, preferably, lauramide MEA or stearamide MEA, and derivatives thereof The lipstick containing, for example, lauramide MEA (monoethanolamine), is particularly effective in providing stability against the development of syneresis even when the lipstick is in the form of a water-in-oil emulsion.
Other features of the emulsions of the present invention include their substantial transparency when applied to the skin, good adherance to the skin without being tacky, and their substantial transfer resistance. The emulsions can be wax-free because the need to build structure with large amounts of wax is eliminated by the presence of the polyamide gelling agent. The use of the polyamide gelling agent in the presence of the water phase of an emulsion system is an improvement over traditional wax-based emulsions because wax forms an opaque oil phasc (i.e., when light scatters off of the wax microstructure). The opaque oil phase renders the color less brilliant because it interferes with the true appearance of the color even when applied to the skin. Further, wax has poor adhesion properties to the skin. Therefore, it is not long wearing. Although it is widely used in mascara, lipstick, and other products, the presence of wax can cause these products to transfer easily from the skin to other unwanted substrates (e.g., clothes, cups), the color fades quickly, and smudging and flaking are common problems as well. However, the polyamide gelled emulsions of the present invention adhere well to the skin. Strong adherance to the keratinous substrate is believed to be by hydrogen bonds between the polyamide and the keratin. The surprising benefit of the present invention is the ability to achieve opposing properties of adherance to the skin without a tacky feeling to the emulsion product. It is commonly found that measures taken to increase the adhesiveness of a composition result in a corresponding increase in the tackiness of the composition. However, the emulsions of the present invention overcome this mutual exclusivity and have both a pleasant creamy feel and good adherance to the skin.
In addition, to gelling a stable emulsion, the polyamide functions to maximize the color integrity because the emulsion is substantially transparent or semi-transparent when applied and allowed to dry on the skin. As used herein, xe2x80x9csubstantially transparentxe2x80x9d means that greater than 75 percent light can be transmitted through the oil phase; preferably, 80 percent; and more preferably, 90 percent. Thus, the term xe2x80x9ctransparencyxe2x80x9d as employed herein refers to invention cosmetic stick products which have translucent or transparent light transmitting properties, and refers to a clear body which has the property of transmitting light without appreciable scattering, so that objects beyond are entirely visible. The term xe2x80x9ctranslucentxe2x80x9d refers to a body which is partly transparent. The body admits and diffuses light, so that objects beyond are visible but cannot be clearly distinguished. The term xe2x80x9copaquexe2x80x9d refers to a body which is impervious to visible light. An opaque body lacks any degree of transparency.
The cosmetic emulsions of the present invention also include a colorant component comprising one or more colorants. The term xe2x80x9ccolorantxe2x80x9d as used herein includes pigments, dyes, stains, colorants, combinations thereof, and the like. Any cosmetically acceptable colorant can be used in the emulsions of the present invention. The color of the product after addition of the colorant is intense and bright upon application to the skin. Suitable organic pigments can be, for example, natural pigments, monomeric and polymeric synthetic pigments, or combinations thereof. Exemplary organic pigments include, but are not limited to, phthalocyanine blue and green pigments and azo-type red pigments such as naphthol red pigment. Other suitable aromatic pigment compounds include, but are not limited to, azo, triphenyl methane, indigo, anthraquinone, and xanthine dyes which are referred to as DandC, and FDandC pigments, such as for example, FDandC blue No. 1, FDandC green No. 5, FDandC red No. 40, and FDandC yellow No. 5. Also useful are lakes which are pigments formed by the precipitation and absorption of organic dyes in an insoluble base, such as alumina, barium, or calcium hydrates. Particularly preferred lakes are primary FDandC or DandC Lakes and blends thereof Colorant concentrations will vary depending upon the desired color or tint of the cosmetic product, but the colorant component generally will be greater than 2.0 percent, and preferably, greater than 5.0 percent by weight of the total composition.
The colorant can also be an inorganic pigment. The inorganic pigment is present in low amounts and preferably, the inorganic pigment has a small particle size, for example, a submicron particle size that will disperse and permit the cosmetic product to maintain a clear appearance. Examples of inorganic pigments include, but are not limited to, iron oxides (yellow, red, brown or black), ultramarines, chromium hydroxide green, chromium oxide, titanium dioxide (white), ferric ferrocyanide, ferric ammonium ferrocyanide, and mixtures thereof. The pigments can be ground by, for example, a rolling mill, or alternatively, the pigments can be purchased pre-ground in a blend containing, for example, water, polysaccharides, and black iron oxide. The ability to incorporate dyes, pigments and colorants is challenging in an emulsion system, especially one that contains the non-siloxane based polyamide as the gelling agent, and the ethylene oxide containing emulsion stabilizer. However, surprisingly, the color of the cosmetic emulsions of the present invention, after application to the skin, provides maximum color impact. The color is deep, brilliant and crisp.
The active ingredients incorporated in the emulsions of the present invention having a polyamide as the gelling agent preferably do not include antiperspirant actives especially those that are acidic metal salts. Examples of actives that can be used in the present invention include, but are not limited to, sunscreen actives, whitening agents, such as for example, antioxidants, antimicrobials, analgesics, anesthetics, anti-acne agents, antidermatitis agents, antipruritic agents, anti-inflammatory agents, antihyperkeratolytic agents, anti-dry skin agents, antipsoriatic agents, antiseborrheic agents, antiaging agents, antiwrinkle agents, self-tanning agents, wound-healing agents, corticosteroids, or hormones. The incorporation of the active in the formulation is determined by its solubility and/or stability in combination with non-siloxane polyamide gelled emulsions of the present invention. The term xe2x80x9csunscreenxe2x80x9d as used herein refers to any material which is capable of protecting skin from ultraviolet radiation having a wavelength of from about 280 to about 400 nm, by effectively absorbing such radiation, and/or reflecting or scattering such radiation away from the surface of skin. Examples of sunscreens with which the compositions of the present invention can be combined in this context are titanium dioxide, zinc oxide, benzophenones, octyl dimethyl PABA, amyldimethyl PABA, octyl methoxycinnamate, 2-ethoxy p-methoxycinnamate, oxybenzone, homosalate, phenyl. salicylate, avobenzene, glyceryl p-aminobenzoate, ethyl-p-glycosylimido benzoate and the like. In a formulation, the sunscreen agent is used in the amounts normally used for that agent. Preferably, the active is non-acidic. The selection of the mode of delivery for additional active ingredients, however, is limited to the mode of delivery chosen for the compositions.
The cosmetic product can be, but is not limited to, a lipstick, lip gloss or other lip product, a solid, or gel fragrance or perfume product, cleanser, toner, an eye product, such as a mascara, eyeliner or an eye gel, compact emulsion foundation, concealer, moisturizing skin lotion or cream, hair stick or gel, and any other makeup, or skin or sun care product that is in a gel or stick form. In a preferred embodiment, the product is a mascara or lipstick product. The base of the lipstick or mascara has sufficient clarity such that the color is bright and luminous, i.e., they are transparent, semi-transparent, or transluscent. The products of the present invention are long wearing, non-smudging, and non-flaking.
Further, the clear cosmetic product can contain other optional components as long as they do not interfere with the gelling properties of the polyamide. Examples include, but are not limited to, one or more preservatives such as, for example, propyl paraben, butyl paraben, mixtures thereof, or isoforms thereof, as well as butyl hydroxy toluene or butyl hydroxy anisol (BHT or BHA); fragrances (such as pinene); flavoring agents; waterproofing agents (such as PVP/eicosene copolymer); surfactants, such as silicone copolyols or fatty acid glycerol esters. and oil-soluble actives, such as tocopherol and its derivatives or retinol and its derivatives; and the like. | {
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Medical devices comprising catheter shafts and catheter balloons are used in an increasingly widening variety of applications including vascular dilatation, stent delivery, drug delivery, delivery and operation of sensors and surgical devices such as blades, and the like. The desired physical property profile for the balloons used in these devices varies according to the specific application, but for many applications a high strength robust balloon is necessary and good softness and trackability properties are highly desirable.
Commercial high strength balloons having wall strengths in excess of 20,000 psi have been formed of a wide variety of polymeric materials, including PET, nylons, polyurethanes and various block copolymer thermoplastic elastomers. A particular application which has a very high pressure requirement is reopening of stenoses which develop at or in long-term shunt, ports or grafts employed for repeated blood access, for instance with dialysis patients. Such stenoses are often highly calcified and essentially must be subjected to very high pressure for successful treatment. Moreover, frequently the vessels into which the access devices are connected are quite large. Consequently there is a need for balloons whose pressure profile allows for use of pressures in excess of 20 atm at balloon diameters which can exceed 5 mm.
Documents relating to fiber reinforced medical balloons include U.S. Pat. No. 4,896,669, Behate; U.S. Pat. No. 4,706,670, Andersen; U.S. Pat. No. 5,647,848, Jorgensen; U.S. Pat. No. 5,201,706, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,330,429, Noguchi; U.S. Pat. No. 5,827,289, Reiley; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,156,254, Andrews.
In commonly owned copending application U.S. application Ser. No. 10/889,574, filed Jul. 7, 2004, published as US 2006-0008606 A1, published Jan. 12, 2006, high strength composite fiber reinforced balloons for medical devices are described. Such balloons are prepared by applying a web of fibers to the exterior of a preformed underlying balloon and encasing the web with a matrix material to form a composite balloon. The fiber web is applied to at least the cone portion of the underlying balloon form. Either the cone portion of the underlying balloon form, or the web fibers applied to said cone portion, or both, have a friction-enhancing material coated thereon.
The art referred to and/or described above is not intended to constitute an admission that any patent, publication or other information referred to herein is “prior art” with respect to this invention. In addition, this section should not be construed to mean that a search has been made or that no other pertinent information as defined in 37 C.F.R. §1.56(a) exists.
All US patents and applications and all other published documents mentioned anywhere in this application are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
Without limiting the scope of the invention a brief summary of some of the claimed embodiments of the invention is set forth below. Additional details of the summarized embodiments of the invention and/or additional embodiments of the invention may be found in the Detailed Description of the Invention below. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to slingshots and more particularly to improved foldable slingshots having a wrist brace.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The earliest slingshots took the form of a handle having a forked element attached or integral therewith. The most common examples of these prior art slingshots and those with which most people are familiar are the slingshots fashioned by youngsters using a crotch cut from the branch of a tree. More sophisticated slingshots of this type have been developed recently, but all suffer from the same disadvantages, foremost of which is lack of accuracy due to the difficulties in holding the wrist steady while shooting. Consequently, there have been developed slingshots that include a wrist brace whose function is to engage the wrist and stabilize the slingshot so that the user can hold it more steady when discharging the shot. Slingshots of the wrist brace variety have taken numerous forms including wrist braced slingshots of the foldable type. The latter, and particularly prior art foldable, wrist braced slingshots having a frictionally and detachably secured wrist brace means have not been entirely satisfactory since most fail to maintain the desired stable, fixed or locked position necessary for accurate shotmaking and are not designed mechanically so that the wrist-brace is attached in such a manner that the hand grip can also be used to store ammunition.
These shortcomings of prior art slingshots were overcome by the foldable slingshot described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,250,861 to Howard Ellenburg. The present invention is an improvement over the slingshot described in this patent. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to a tape cassette and more particularly to an improved tape cassette which can be horizontally inserted and removed from a tape machine.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventional compact tape cassettes are illustrated in FIG. 1 which comprises a plan view wherein the upper half of the cassette casing has been removed. In FIG. 1, a lower half of the cassette casing 1 has a central opening portion 2 formed at the front surface side. Openings 3a and 3b are arranged in symmetrical positions of the front surface and small windows 4a and 4b are located on both sides of the central opening 2. Partition plates 5a and 5b separate the right and left opening portions 3a and 3b from the inside of the lower half 1 of the tape cassette and capstan insertion through holes 6a and 6b are formed for receiving the capstan therein. Positioning openings 7a and 7b are formed in the cassette and a pad 8 is attached to a resilient spring member 8' within the central opening portion 2. Erase preventing concave portions 9a and 9b are formed in symmetrical positions at the rear of the lower half of the cassette 1.
Hubs 10a and 10b are mounted symmetrically within the lower half 1 and upper half of the cassette and the hubs 10a and 10b are positioned by inner surface rims not shown of the upper and lower halves of the cassette casing and are arranged to have predetermined axial distance therebetween. When the cassette casing is loaded into a tape recorder, reel shafts 14a and 14b are inserted from the underside of the cassette casing into the hub apertures 11a' and 11b' and a capstan 15 is inserted from the underside in the capstan through the openings 6a and 6b positioning pins 6a and 6b are received within the positioning openings 7a and 7b respectively, so as to accurately position the tape cassette. During record or playback mode of the tape recorder, the tape T is transported by a pinch roller 17 which is inserted from the front surface of the cassette into the opening 3a and 3b which is provided at both sides of the central opening 2 so as to press or grip the tape T against the capstan 15 so that the tape 15 will be driven by the capstan 15 from a tape supply reel which is normally mounted on the left hand hub 10a and the tape is transported by a guide pin 12a, a guide roller 13a and over a front tape path by a record and/or playback head 18 which is in close contact with the tape and is then delivered by a guide roller 13b and a guide pin 12 b to the take-up hub 10b where it is wound. An erase head 19a is illustrated in FIG. 1.
Since the tape cassette is loaded and/or unloaded to or from the tape recorder in the axial direction of the reel shafts 14a and 14b and the capstan 15 and due to positional deviations in the tape cassette, clearances have been provided in prior art cassettes between the lower half of the cassette casing and the hubs 10a and 10b, respectively. Additionally, such clearances are provided for the rotary drive between the engaging projections 11a' and 11b' of the hub apertures 11a and 11b formed within the hubs 10a and 10b and extensions 14a and 14b of the reel shafts 14a and 14b into which the reel shafts 14a and 14b are engageably inserted.
When the tape T is transported and rewound, it is possible that the hubs 10a and 10b will swing relative to each other and the tape T can be injured when it is wound with the edge portion of the tape contacting the inside of the upper and lower halves of the cassette casing to cause damage and also to result in a deteriorated audio signal during record or playback operation. Due to the clearances in the rotary direction between the engaging extensions 11a' and 11b' of the hub apertures 11a and 11b of the hubs 10a and 10b and the projections 14a' and 14b' at the reel shafts 14a and 14b causes a servo response when the tape T starts to run and is stopped and this is very undesirable and unsatisfactory.
Also, since when the tape cassette is loaded or unloaded into or from the tape recorder in the axial direction of the reel shafts 14a and 14b and the capstan 15, it is required that the tape recorder be provided with a loading and/or unloading mechanism for loading and unloading the tape cassette and the construction of such apparatus becomes very complicated and the loading and unloading of the tape cassette becomes very difficult particularly for an automatic changer mechanism for the tape cassette. An extremely complicated mechanism is required for an automatic change and thus the conventional tape cassette is unsuitable for use wth automatic changer mechanism. | {
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Recently, it has become significantly difficult to reduce the size of an integrated circuit in accordance with the scaling rule. As one of the reasons, it has been difficult to restrain short-channel effect in a MOS (Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor) type FET (Field Effect Transistor) as an elementary element in an integrated circuit. For solving this problem, there has been proposed an FET having a double gate structure (Non-patent reference 1: Applied Physics, The Japan Society of Applied Physics, 2003, Vol. 72 (9), pp. 1136-1142). A double-gate structure FET may have three configurations depending on arrangement of a source electrode, a drain electrode and two gate electrodes as described in Non-patent reference 1, and among these, FinFET (Fin-type channel FET) is believed to be practically used because an existing integrated circuit process may be easily applied to it.
FIG. 29 schematically shows a common FinFET as described in Non-patent reference 1. The FinFET is formed in an SOI (Silicon on Insulator) layer on a Si substrate 1 and a buried oxide film 2. The SOI layer has pads for a source electrode 3 and for a drain electrode 4, which are connected via a fin 5. There is formed a hard mask 9 in the upper surface of the fin 5 under a gate electrode 6 and there is formed a gate insulating film 7 between the side surface of the fin 5 and the gate electrode 6. By forming such a structure, channels are formed in both side surfaces of the fin 5, to realize a double gate structure. Such a FinFET is called as a double-gate type FinFET.
Besides a double-gate type FinFET, a triple-gate type FinFET is also known, in which a channel is formed in the upper side of the fin 5 as shown in FIG. 30 (Non-patent reference 2: 2003 Symposium on VLSI Technology Digest of Technical Papers, 2003, pp. 133-134). A triple-gate type FinFET is different from a double type FinFET in that a gate insulating film 7 is formed instead of a hard mask 9 in the upper side of the fin 5 under the gate electrode 6.
Meanwhile, for an existing bulk MOS device, a strained Si technique has been investigated for improving channel mobility and increasing a channel speed to improve an ON current while a supply voltage is reduced. In this technique, a Si lattice spacing is changed by applying stress to Si in a channel, to modulate a Si band structure. As a result, in a Si conduction band, degeneracy is broken to increase an electron occupancy of a double degeneracy valley with a light effective mass and interband scattering between a double degeneracy valley and a quadruple degeneracy valley is inhibited, resulting in improvement in mobility. In a valence band, it is believed that mobility is improved by breaking of degeneracy, inhibition of interband scattering between a light hole band and a heavy hole band and reduction in an effective mass.
Strain Si techniques can be generally classified into two types, depending on the way of applying strain to a channel Si.
A first method involves epitaxial growth of a Si layer on a relaxed SiGe layer (FIG. 1 in Non-patent reference 3; Applied Physics, The Japan Society of Applied Physics, Vol. 72 (3), 2003, pp. 220-290). First, as shown in FIG. 31, on a Si substrate 1 are sequentially formed a gradient type SiGe buffer 17 and a lattice-relaxed SiGe 18. In the gradient type SiGe buffer 17, a composition ratio X of Ge in SiGe is increased from 0% to x % (x is generally about from 10 to 30 or 40) toward the upper surface of the substrate. In the lattice-relaxed SiGe 18, SiGe is grown to relax a lattice while maintaining a high composition ratio X of Ge in SiGe. Since a lattice constant of Ge is larger than that of Si, lattice-relaxed SiGe has a larger lattice constant than that of Si. Therefore, a Si layer grown on a lattice-relaxed SiGe 18 such that the lattice matching occurs, has a larger lattice constant than that of a bulk Si and thus becomes a strained Si 19. When manufacturing a MOS type FET using such a strained Si layer as shown in FIG. 31, strain introduced in a channel improves mobility.
As shown FIG. 32, there is another method in which on a buried oxide film 2 is formed a lattice-relaxed SiGe 18 to form a SGOI (SiGe on Insulator) structure, on which a Si layer is grown to give a strained Si 19 (FIG. 3 in Non-patent reference 3).
Previous experimental results for a (100) plane have shown that a substrate Ge concentration x=25% (corresponding to about 1% strain) improves mobility by about 60 to 80% for electrons and about 20 to 50% for holes (FIG. 2 in Non-patent reference 3).
However, a relaxed SiGe layer giving strain to a channel Si layer has many dislocations and defects, so that it transfers dislocations and defects to the channel Si layer, leading to tendency to ingenerate dislocations and defects in the channel Si layer. Thus, when using the first method, a single MOS transistor may operate while it is difficult to operate an integrated circuit. Even if the integrated circuit operates, it is difficult to ensure a process yield.
The second method involves utilization of process strain. As process strain, strain generated by a capping layer or an STI (Shallow Trench Isolation) and so on can be used (Non-patent reference 4: International Electron Device Meeting Technical Digest, 2001, pp. 433-436). For example, as shown in FIG. 33, a nitride film is used as a capping layer 20 and a tension of the nitride film is utilized to apply strain to Si in a channel.
However, in the second method, strain is hard to be directly applied to a channel and it is difficult to control the amount of strain. It is because a capping layer or STI giving strain is distant from a channel region and thus strain is applied to the channel region via another substance. | {
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This invention relates to a hepatocyte-growth agent which promotes growth of hepatocytes, more specifically to a hepatocyte-growth agent which comprises a polysaccharide or a derivative thereof and a hepatocyte-growth factor, in which said hepatocyte-growth factor is stabilized and further, its growth activity is heightened.
In recent years, a proteinaceous factor derived from humans, which can promote the growth of hepatocytes, namely, a human hepatocyte-growth factor (hereinafter sometimes abbreviated as "hHGF") has been found in the plasma of patients with fulminant hepatic failure (Japanese Provisional Patent Publication No. 22526/1988). Further, there has been a proposed amino acid sequence and a gene (cDNA) sequence which codes hHGF protein (Japanese Provisional Patent Publication No. 72883/1991), and a method for producing hHGF protein using this cDNA and a transformant thereof (Japanese Provisional Patent Publication No. 285693/1991). It has been recognized that hHGF has mitogenic activity for hepatocytes in vitro. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a personal GPS navigation device. A personal GPS navigation device is any electronic device that can process GPS location data and display the location of the device on a map. The device may be a dedicated navigation device, or a general purpose electronic device, such as a personal digital assistant, smart phone, mobile telephone, laptop or palmtop computer. The device may be portable or fixed in a vehicle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Personal navigation devices are becoming increasingly common. A particularly successful approach is to connect a PocketPC™ powered PDA (personal digital assistant) to a GPS receiver: the PDA, when running navigation software, becomes a GPS based personal navigation device. Another successful format is the dedicated GPS device, used by hikers, sailors etc. In some countries, mobile telephones will have to be equipped with a GPS receiver in order to be able to send the location of that telephone in the event of an emergency, greatly increasing the adopting of GPS technology as a mass market technology. Portable GPS receiver devices have also been used in personal safety devices as described in, for instance, U.S. Pat. No. 6,480,557 to Rog, et al. entitled “Portable GPS-receiver for a personal safety system”, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
GPS device have also been incorporated into road vehicles and integrated into road map data bases to provide navigation and vehicle tracking systems as described in, for instance, U.S. Pat. No. 4,837,700 to Ando, et al. entitled “Method and apparatus for processing data in a GPS receiving device in a road vehicle” and U.S. Pat. No. 5,225,842 to Brown, et al. entitled “Vehicle tracking system employing global positioning system (GPS) satellites”, the contents of both of which patents are hereby incorporated by reference.
One common feature of current personal GPS navigation devices is that they can display a GPS information screen, such as the screen shown in FIG. 1B. The GPS information screen shows: how many GPS satellite signals are being received and their individual strength at 3a; the location co-ordinates of the device at 3b; the speed of the device at 3c; the direction of movement of the device at 3d; the relative orientation of GPS satellites that a signal is being picked up from at 3e. The GPS information screen is useful when getting a first GPS fix. Once a fix has been established, most users then switch to the map mode, which causes a map to be displayed on the screen of the personal navigation device, indicating the location of the device with an arrow. | {
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The detection and discrimination of biological aerosols from an ambient aerosol became a heightened concern during first Gulf War with Iraq in 1991. As a result of this perceived threat, the development of biological aerosol detectors for use as triggers in a system context began in earnest. The flurry of activity to develop this capability is evidenced by various works published in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada.
Aerosol sensors that were being developed and field-tested were a departure from the instruments that had been developed for much of aerosol science in previous decades. Present day needs typically require very small concentrations of biological aerosols to be detected. For example, single aerosol particles in a liter of air, in a background of a very large number of ambient aerosol particles, or 100's to 1000's of particles per liter of air. The first instruments of this type simply measured the particle size through optical scattering or aerodynamic means. Rapid advances included measuring the particle shape in addition to size and measuring a fluorescent light scatter in multiple bands, with or without measurement of particle size. | {
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FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing the state of a two-axle truck 1 for a railway car when traveling along a curved track.
As shown in FIG. 7, when the truck 1 is traveling along a curved track, the force F1 to the left and right (referred to in this description as the “lateral force”) to between the wheel 3 on the outer side of the wheelset 2f on the front side in the direction of travel (referred to below as the front wheelset) and the rail 5 on the outer side of the curved track increases.
FIG. 8 is an explanatory view showing the relationship between the wheels 3 of the front wheelset 2f when traveling along a curved track and the rails 5 of the is curved track.
As shown in FIG. 8, when a truck is traveling along a curved track, the attack angle α which is the relative yawing angle between the front wheelset 2f and the rails 5 (as shown in FIG. 8, on a curved track, the direction in which the wheelset faces the outer rail is given a positive value) increases. Therefore, excessive sliding of the wheels 3 in the lateral direction (referred to as lateral creep) develops. As a result, as shown by the arrow in FIG. 7, yawing develops in the truck 1, and a lateral force F1 develops in the front wheelset 2f of the truck 1.
On the other hand, in the wheelset 2r on the rear side in the direction of travel (referred to below as the rear wheelset), there is almost no lateral displacement, and there is almost no difference in the radius of rotation of the left and right wheels 3. Therefore, the necessary difference in the wheel radius between the inner and outer rails 5 (referred to as the pure rolling radius difference) cannot be obtained, and excessive sliding of the wheels 3 in the longitudinal direction (referred to as longitudinal creep) develops. The longitudinal creep force F2 in the rear wheelset 2r which develops in this manner causes an increase in the lateral force F1 in the front wheelset 2f.
Non-Patent Document 1 listed below describes that there is a large possibility that firstly longitudinal creep in the rear wheelset and secondly lateral creep in the front wheelset are the primary causes of rail corrugation which develops in the inside rail of a sharp curved track. Thus, it is thought that the occurrence of this rail corrugation can be suppressed if lateral creep (lateral pressure) of the front wheelset and longitudinal creep of the rear wheelset can be decreased.
Patent Document 1 listed below discloses, with the intension of decreasing the lateral pressure, an invention which varies the rigidity of the front and rear axle box suspensions which rotatably support the front wheelset and the rear wheelset, respectively, and an invention in which the wheels of the rear wheelset are independent of each other. Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent No. 2738114 Non-Patent Document 1: “Properties of Trucks and Tracks When Traveling Along a Sharp Curve and Their Effect on Rail Corrugation”, J-Rail 1995 (1995 Railway Technology Joint Symposium in Japan) | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical-conductive assembly, and in particular to an electrical-conductive assembly for a signal cable and a connecting line, which is capable of reducing signal attenuation.
2. Description of Prior Art
With the advance of science and technology, more and more signals have to be transmitted via a signal cable. A plurality of connecting line is connected to the signal cable, so that the signals can be transmitted by these connecting lines from the signal cable to several desired locations. According to the existing level of this art, the signal cable has to be cut. One end of the cut signal cable is connected to one end of the connecting line via terminal elements. Then, the terminal elements are inserted into a terminal trough of a connector, so that the signal cable can be electrically connected to the connecting line. The other end of the connecting line is inserted into an electronic device. By means of the connector, the signals from the signal cable can be transmitted to the connecting line and finally transmitted to the electronic device.
However, signal cores inside the signal cable are not electrically connected to cores of the connecting line directly. Instead, the electrical connection between the signal cable and the connecting line is achieved by the terminal elements and the terminal trough of the connector, which inevitably generates signal attenuation and increased impendence. Thus, the manufacturers in this field attempt to propose a connector which is capable of reducing the signal attenuation. However, such an improvement is restricted because a certain degree of signal attenuation is inevitably generated as long as the signal cable is cut and an additional connector is provided.
Therefore, the present Inventor aims to solve the above-mentioned problems. | {
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As light projecting systems and television devices become more and more sophisticated, there is a general desire to achieve a high-power conversion efficiency. Therefore, light-emitting semiconductor devices such as, for example, light-emitting diodes (LED), are used as light sources. There are various different ways to produce grey scale or color pictures based on highly sophisticated and miniaturized optical light-guiding means that are electrically controlled. One example is the use of a digital micro mirror device (DMD) for light projection, such as that based on the DLP® technology of Texas Instruments. DMD-based technologies, and also other light projecting technologies, need very fast switching light-emitting semiconductor devices in order to display pictures according to current quality standards. However, conventional architectures and circuits used for switching LEDs fail to provide sufficiently precise and quick switching behavior. | {
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In general, a seat belt is a primary safety device to protect a driver and passenger(s) from any abrupt traffic accident. In light of such importance, the fastening of seat belts is now mandatory under the many current traffic laws. To this end, a device to prevent the start of an engine without fastening of a seat belt has been under development.
As illustrated in FIG. 1, a seat belt assembly is shown where a seat belt retractor 10 is installed within the lower side of a center pillar of a car body, and the seat belt 11, coupled with the seat belt retractor 10, is inserted into the upper part of an anchor plate. When the tongue of the seat belt is inserted into the buckle of the seat belt, a person is fastened into the seat belt.
The seat belt 11 can be fastened with a slow pulling, but sudden rapid pulling cannot release the seat belt, due to the emergency locking retractor.
Further, after fastening the seat belt, the belt begins to retract slightly within the retractor, and adjust tightly to the human body. Thus, the belt presses across the user's upper body, and he feels some discomfort on the fastening of the seat belt. | {
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Many packaging applications use resealable containers to store various types of articles and materials. These packages may be used to store and ship food products, non-food consumer goods, medical supplies, waste materials, and many other articles.
Resealable packages are convenient in that they can be closed and resealed after the initial opening to preserve the enclosed contents. The need to locate a storage container for the unused portion of the products in the package is thus avoided. As such, providing products in resealable packages appreciably enhances the marketability of those products.
Some types of resealable closure mechanisms are opened and closed using slider closure mechanisms. Typical rescalable slider closure mechanism designs include a separator or plow-type structure at one end that opens the mechanism when the slider travels in one direction along the mechanism. The side walls of the slider are tapered at the opposite end so as to close the mechanism when the slider travels along the mechanism in the opposite direction. Side seals on the side of the resealable closure mechanism keep the slider from sliding off the package in either direction.
Concerns are raised regarding resealable slider closure mechanisms. One such concern is that attaching the slider to the closure mechanism can be difficult because the plow must be fitted between and under the closure profiles. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of acid-catalyzed organic reactions and particularly to methods of conducting acid-catalyzed reactions of organic compounds which reactions are promoted by strong acids. The invention also relates to novel acidic compositions useful in such reactions.
2. Description of the Art
The ability of sulfuric acid to catalyze a variety of organic reactions is well known. It is also known that urea (a chalcogen compound useful in this invention) and sulfuric acid will combine to form adducts including the monourea-sulfuric acid adduct and the diurea-sulfuric acid adduct. For instance, D. F. du Toit, Verslag Akad. Wetenschappen, 22, 573-4 (abstracted in Chemical Abstracts, 8, 2346, 1914) disclosed that urea forms certain compounds with oxalic, acetic hydrochloric, nitric and sulfuric acids. L. H. Dalman, "Ternary Systems of Urea and Acid. I. Urea, Nitric Acid and Water. II. Urea, Sulfuric Acid and Water. III. Urea, Oxalic Acid and Water"; JACS, 56, 549-53 (1934), disclosed the phase relationships between the solid phase and saturated solutions containing urea and sulfuric acid at 10.degree. C. and 25.degree. C. The Sulfur Institute, Sulfur Institute Bulletin No. 10 (1964), "Adding Plant Nutrient Sulfur to Fertilizer", disclosed that urea reacts with sulfuric acid to form two complexes of "urea sulfate" which are useful fertilizers. Methods of manufacturing certain combinations of urea and sulfuric acid are disclosed by Verdegaal et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 4,310,343 and by Jones in U.S. Pat. No. 4,116,664.
A wide variety of organic conversions are catalyzed by the proton-donating ability of strong acids. Such reactions have been extensively investigated and have been widely discussed in the literature. For instance, the Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, Third Edition, John Wiley and Sons, New York, 1980, discusses a variety of organic reactions that are catalyzed by strong acids including mineral acids, transition metal halides such as Friedel-Crafts catalysts, conjugate Friedel-Crafts catalysts, and others. Kirk-Othmer defines acid-catalyzed reactions as those in which a proton is transferred from the catalyst to the reactant which is thereby converted to an unstable state which immediately leads to the reaction under consideration. (Volume 5, page 33). While the proton donation mechanism of acid-catalyzed reactions referred to in Kirk-Othmer may or may not account for the reactions that take place in all acid-catalyzed reactions, it is known that strong acids promote numerous reactions including oxidative addition, reductive addition, esterification, transesterification, hydrogenation, isomerization (including racemization of optical isomers), hydrolysis and alcoholisis, alkylation, olefin polymerization, Friedel-Crafts reactions, demetalization of organics, and nitration reactions, among others. Strong acids known to be capable of promoting such acid-catalyzed organic reactions include sulfuric acid, nitric acid, hydrochloric acid, transition metal halides including the so-called Friedel-Crafts catalysts, for example, the halides of aluminum, gallium, boron, titanium, vanadium, tin and others, and conjugate Friedel-Crafts catalysts also known as Bronsted-Lewis superacid mixtures (Kirk-Othmer, V. 11, 295) such as mineral acid adducts of transition metal halides.
All of the known strong acid catalysts, and the methods involving their use for the promotion of acid-catalyzed organic reactions, suffer from one or more disadvantages. For instance, the strong mineral acids promote side reactions which form undesired by-products, destroy the organic feed material or product, and/or consume or deactivate the catalyst. Sulfuric acid is a strong sulfating, sulfonating, oxidizing, and dehydrating agent, and by virtue of those activities, it is consumed in most organic reactions by side reactions involving these mechanisms. Furthermore, the sulfonating and oxidizing activities of sulfuric acid result in the sulfonation and oxidation of organic feedstocks and/or products. Similar deficiencies exist with the other strong mineral acids such as hydrochloric and nitric acids. Hydrochloric acid chlorinates the reactants and thereby consumes the feed to produce unwanted chlorinated by-products. Nitric acid oxidizes and/or nitrates organic compounds. Hydrofluoric acid fluorinates organic reactants and products. The transition metal halides, including the Friedel-Crafts catalysts, are difficult to handle in that they must be isolated from water and reducing agents. Such catalysts also halogenate organic feedstocks and products.
Accordingly, a need exists for improved methods of conducting acid-catalyzed organic reactions and for improved acid catalysts for use in such reactions which will promote the desired acid-catalyzed organic reaction yet reduce or eliminate the side reactions normally associated with acid-catalyzed organic reactions.
It is therefore a principal object of this invention to provide novel methods for the acid-catalyzed conversion of organic compounds.
Another object is the provision of novel methods for conducting acid-catalyzed reactions of organic compounds in the presence of compositions which comprise sulfuric acid.
Another object of this invention is the provision of novel acid catalysts comprising sulfuric acid which are effective for conducting acid-catalyzed organic reactions.
Another object of this invention is the provision of novel compositions which are useful for conducting acid-catalyzed organic reactions.
Another object of this invention is the provision of novel catalysts comprising sulfuric acid which have improved activity in the presence of lipophilic materials.
Yet another objective of this invention is the provision of novel methods for catalyzing organic reactions with sulfuric acid.
Another object is the provision of novel methods for the oxidative addition of organic compounds.
Yet another object is the provision of novel methods for reductive addition of organic compounds.
Another object is the provision of novel sulfuric acid-containing compositions useful for conducting organic reactions.
Another object is the provision of novel methods for the esterification and transesterification of organic compounds.
Yet another object of this invention is the provision of novel methods for hydrogenating organic compounds containing olefinic unsaturation.
Another object is the provision of novel methods for isomerizing organic compounds.
Yet another object is the provision of novel methods for the hydrolysis, alcoholisis, thiolosis, and amination of organic compounds.
Another object is the provision of novel methods for the alkylation of organic compounds.
Yet another object is the provision of novel methods for polymerizing olefinic compounds.
Yet another object is the provision of novel conjugate Friedel-Crafts catalysts.
Another object is the provision of novel Friedel-Crafts catalyzed organic reactions.
Yet another object of this invention is the provision of novel methods for demetalizing organic compounds.
Another object is the provision of novel methods for nitrating organic compounds.
Other objects, aspects and advantages of this invention will be apparent to one skilled in the art in view of the following disclosure and the appended claims. | {
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U.S. Pat. No. Re. 30,408, reissued Sept. 30, 1981, to the assignee of the present application, discloses railway brake appratus including a brake cylinder device and a control valve device. The usual air reservoirs associated with conventional pneumatic brake equipment are eliminated in the disclosed apparatus in favor of storing the compressed air within the brake cylinder device itself. The brake cylinder device embodies a pair of tandem-connected pistons of unequal diameter, the larger piston cooperating with the brake cylinder body to form on the respective opposite sides of this piston two chambers that are charged with compressed air via the train brake pipe, and in which chambers the air required for use by the brake apparatus, including the brake cylinder device, is stored. The aforementioned control valve device operates in response to variations in the train brake pipe pressure to control the transfer of air stored in the brake cylinder device, so as to develop differential forces across the respective pistons thereof, and thereby effect a brake application and brake release.
In addition to the typical packing cup type pressure seals associated with the respective pistons of this brake cylinder device, there are several additional areas in which dynamic sealing is required, all of which are critical in the sense that leakage thereat affects the desired operation of the brake cylinder device.
Further, passageways are required in the body of the brake cylinder device to conduct pressure between the control valve device and brake cylinder operating components. It is well known that the expense in the manufacture of a casting increases with the complexity in the configuration of these passages, as well as in the shape of the casting itself. | {
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Significant improvements in animal performance, efficiency and carcass and meat quality have been made over the years through the application of standard animal breeding and selection techniques. However, such classical animal breeding techniques require several years of genetic evaluation of performance records on individual animals and their relatives and are therefore very expensive. Other efforts have been made to improve productivity and quality through the application of such management practices as the use of feed additives, animal hormonal implants and chemotherapeutics. However, there is significant political and regulatory resistance to the introduction and use of such methodologies. Such methodologies are also non-inheritable and need to be applied differently in every production system.
There is a need for methods that allow relatively easy and more efficient selection and breeding of farm animals with an advantage for an inheritable traits such as circulating leptin levels, feed intake, growth rate, body weight, carcass merit and carcass composition. The economic significance of the use of genetic markers that are associated with specific economically important traits (especially traits with low heritability) in livestock through marker-assisted selection cannot therefore be over-emphasized.
The physiological regulation of intake, growth and energy partitioning in animals is under the control of multiple genes, which may be important candidates for unraveling the genetic variation in economically relevant traits (ERT) in beef production. Polymorphisms in these candidate genes that show association with specific ERT are useful quantitative trait nucleotides for marker-assisted selection.
Bovine chromosome 14 (BTA14) harbors several quantitative trait loci (QTL) that affect intramuscular fat (marbling) (see, e.g., Casas et al., J Anim Sci. 2000 March; 78(3):560-9) and subcutaneous fat depth (SFD) (see, e.g., Moore et al., J Anim Sci. 2003 August; 81(8):1919-25) in beef cattle. Recent studies have implicated the corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH) gene product in enabling mobilization of energy to cope with stress by stimulating hepatic gluconeogenesis, thus, influencing fat metabolism. Functional studies of the CRH gene in other species (including in mouse (see, e.g., Stenzel-Poore et al., Endocrinology. 1992 June; 130(6):3378-86) and swine (see, e.g., Seasholtz et al., J Endocrinol. 2002 October; 175(1):89-97) have suggested that CRH is highly associated with body composition (protein and lipid metabolism). The bovine CRH gene is located on BTA14 (see, e.g., Barendse et al., Mamm Genome. 1997 January; 8(1):21-8).
CRH is a growth inhibitor causing the release of glucocorticoids that in turn stimulate the production of both pro-opiomelancortin (POMC) and leptin, which are highly associated with obesity in mammals. Additionally, CRH is most known as a stress hormone. Stress stimulates hepatic gluconeogenesis that will influence fat and protein metabolism in peripheral tissue of animals. For example, a recent study on a porcine CRH gene showed that it functions as a major regulator of neuroendocrine response to stress. It mobilizes energy to cope with stress by stimulating hepatic gluconeogenesis and influencing fat metabolism. Therefore, CRH has a high impact in regulating energy homeostasis, and consequently, it affects body composition (fat deposition) and growth (see, e.g., Murani et al., Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2006 Apr. 7; 342(2):394-405).
There is a pronounced need in the art for useful markers for intramuscular fat (marbling) (see, e.g., Casas et al., 2000, J Anim Sci. 2000 March; 78(3):560-9) and subcutaneous fat depth (SFD) (see, e.g., Moore et al., J Anim Sci. 2003 August; 81(8):1919-25) in beef cattle.
It remains advantageous to provide further SNPs that may more accurately predict the meat quality phenotype of an animal and also a business method that provides for increased production efficiencies in livestock cattle, as well as providing access to various records of the animals and allows comparisons with expected or desired goals with regard to the quality and quantity of animals produced.
Citation or identification of any document in this application is not an admission that such document is available as prior art to the present invention. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
The biotechnological production of biologically active proteins is essential for the development of novel therapeutic and diagnostic tools and procedures. The majority of these synthetically produced peptides is at present obtained from animal cell cultures. In spite of rapidly accumulating knowledge in this field, some aspects of the in vitro production systems such as, for example, cell proliferation and cell death, are still not entirely controllable.
Industrial processes employing animal cells, particularly permanent animal cell lines, require cell numbers in the order of 108 to 1012 cells. According to GMP (good manufacturing practice), the production of a new lot of product has to be started by thawing a frozen cell stock from the master cell bank. The overall efficiency of the culturing and manufacturing process largely depends on the time period necessary for the first cycles of multiplication of the cells starting from a small frozen inoculum.
Speeding up the growth of the cell population can be achieved by supplementing the culture media with nutritional supplements or growth factors. For instance, it is known in the art to use glutamine dipeptide in replacement of monomeric glutamine, because the dimeric form of glutamine is more stable under cell culture conditions. Either way, however, glutamine as a monomer and as a dipeptide serves as a nutrient and is resorbed and metabolized by the cells of the cell culture.
Growth factors may be, for instance, components of animal sera. Their main disadvantage is that they are usually not well defined. Moreover, the use of components of direct animal origin is presently discouraged in pharmaceutical industry due to the danger of transferring viruses, prions or other possibly pathogenic agents from the animal body to the desired end product, e.g., the bioactive proteins. Alternatively, recombinant growth factors, such as insulin or members of the interleukin family, may serve as suitable growth stimulants. Another possibility is to use safe, chemically defined culture media free of any protein component. However, as a rule the generation time in protein-free media is longer than in media supplemented with serum.
Therefore, there is a great demand for techniques capable to intensify and accelerate the growth and/or product yield of cultured animal cells as well as the cell viability during incubation, particularly for industrial scale manufacturing processes. The present invention will contribute to satisfying this demand. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
This invention relates to pulse detection and, more particularly, to a pulse detector which accurately detects pulses read from a magnetic disk by a magnetic head which may exhibit residual magnetism. The invention also relates to a discriminator which uses the detected pulses to discriminate between offset errors and gain errors in the pulse detecting channel.
In conventional hard disk drives, servo information typically is recorded for the purpose of maintaining the head or heads of the drive in accurate registration with a track being scanned. In earlier hard disk drives comprised of multiple disks, it was conventional to dedicate the entire surface of one disk to servo information; and a separate servo head was used to read that information from which positional, or tracking errors were detected. A closed loop feedback arrangement adjusted the servo head relative to the servo tracks being scanned thereby so as to correct for tracking errors. Since the servo head was included in a stack of heads, tracking error correction of the servo head resulted in tracking error correction of all of the heads.
More recently, servo information has been disposed in limited portions of each track on each disk surface; and the same head normally used to read or write useful data is used to read this servo information. Typically, a servo pattern is recorded in a sector header, with headers being disposed uniformly in each track. Although various types of servo patterns have been proposed, their primary objective is to produce a signal which represents the magnitude and direction of a tracking error. One type of servo pattern produces a pair of positive pulses of intermediate amplitude followed by a single negative pulse of large magnitude when scanned. If the head drifts to one side of the track, the amplitude of one of the positive pulses exceeds the amplitude of the other, and the amplitude of the negative pulse is reduced. Hence, the direction of the tracking error is detected as a function of which positive pulse amplitude increased, and the amount of this error is detected as a function of the difference between the peaks of the positive pulses.
Another type of servo pattern is formed as two (or more) bursts of magnetic domains, both offset from the center of the track in opposite directions. Because of this equal offset, when the head is centered on the track, the pulses derived from one burst will be of equal amplitude to the pulses derived from the other burst. If the head drifts to one side of the track, the pulse amplitudes derived from one burst will be greater than the pulse amplitudes derived from the other. Thus, by determining which of the bursts results in greater pulse amplitudes, the direction of the tracking error is detected. Similarly, the magnitude of this tracking error is sensed as a function of the difference between those pulse amplitudes. Typically, amplitudes of the pulses derived from the bursts are sensed by peak detection. Since each magnetic domain results in a pulse pair, one being positive-going and the other being negative-going, the pulses first are full-wave rectified and then these full-wave rectified pulses are detected.
In the foregoing peak detection arrangement, it is expected that the positive excursions above a base line (or AC reference level) produced when a burst of magnetic domains is scanned is equal to the negative excursions below that base line. However, it has been found in practice that the head which reads the servo pattern may exhibit residual magnetism. As a result, the positive excursions above the base line differ from the negative excursions below. This residual magnetism may be thought of as a bias on one side of the head gap but not the other, and may be produced during a data write operation. Data normally is written on a track until a servo pattern is reached, whereafter the same head is changed over to its read mode to sense the servo pattern for the purpose of error correction. During this write-to-read transition, residual magnetization may remain as a function of the direction that flux last passed through the head, that is, the direction of the flux used to write the last piece of data.
As a result of this residual magnetization, the base line of the pulses derived from one burst is shifted, but a similar shift is not present in the pulses derived from the other burst. Because of the offset in the bursts, the residual magnetism at one end of the gap will have the effect of biasing the base line of the pulses derived from the burst that is offset in the direction of that end. A similar bias effect is not present in the pulses derived from the burst that is offset in the direction of the other end of the gap. Consequently, when the pulses are full-wave rectified, prior to detecting their peaks, as is conventional, the peaks detected from the pulses that have been biased above (or below) the base line will be greater than the peaks which are detected from the pulses that have not been so biased. Thus, even though the head may be centered accurately on a track, the peak voltage level detected from the pulses derived from one burst will differ from the peak voltage that is detected from the pulses derived from the other burst. This peak differential is interpreted erroneously as a tracking error. Hence, even though the head is in proper registration with a track, a "correction" will be made, with the result that the head now will be shifted into misregistration. This occurrence, which typically follows a write-to-read transition, is referred to as Write Induced Position Error, or WIPE.
Another difficulty encountered in typical disk drive operations is the general inability of a typical pulse detecting channel to discriminate between offset errors and gain errors. An offset error is produced when the preamplifier circuit normally included in the write channel, having been heated by a write current when writing data, generates an output offset different from that from the immediately preceding read operation. This new offset then is coupled into the read channel by a high pass filter. As a result, the pulses produced by the read channel exhibit a corresponding shift either upwardly or downwardly, depending upon the direction in which the offset is generated.
At a write-to-read transition, as when the servo pattern is sensed following a write operation, the gain of the playback amplifiers, and more particularly, the gain of the read channel, may need adjustment. For example, at the beginning of the servo pattern, the gain of the read channel may be too high and automatic gain control (AGC) operates to adjust this gain to its proper level. Conversely, if the gain of the read channel is too low at the beginning of the servo pattern, AGC operation increases the gain to its proper level.
The envelope of the pulses derived from, for example, the offset servo bursts, is used to detect both offset and gain errors. However, when the pulses are full-wave rectified, it often is difficult, if not impossible, to discriminate between gain and offset errors. Consequently, the proper corrective operation is not easily implemented. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention is related to the field of integrated circuits and, more particularly, to meeting government-imposed export restrictions for integrated circuits.
2. Description of the Related Art
The governments of various countries may impose export restrictions on high performance computer systems and/or integrated circuits that include processors. The export restrictions may be implemented for security reasons, for example. High performance processing power can be used for simulating weapons designs, such as nuclear weapons. Additionally, high performance processing power can be used to perform powerful encryption and/or to break powerful encryption algorithms.
The government of the United States of America (the “U.S. government”) imposes export restrictions on computer systems and integrated circuits that include processors. The export restrictions are based on the performance level of the processors, as measured in Million Theoretical Operations Per Second (MTOPS). The U.S. government defines the maximum MTOPS that may be exported to a particular foreign country. If the MTOPS of a given integrated circuit is less than or equal to the maximum MTOPS, that integrated circuit may be exported to the foreign country. If the MTOPS of the given integrated circuit is greater than the maximum MTOPS, that integrated circuit may not legally be exported to the foreign country unless a specific license is granted by the U.S. government for the particular export transaction. In some cases, the U.S. government may prohibit any export over the MTOPS limit. The manufacturer of an integrated circuit which exceeds the MTOPS limit for a country may either choose not to export the integrated circuit to that country, or may negotiate with the U.S. government for an increase in the maximum MTOPS (or for a license for the export transaction, in some cases).
The U.S. government currently imposes export restrictions on a variety of different countries, grouped into levels (or tiers). Countries in the first tier have no export restrictions applied (any MTOPS level may be exported). Countries in the second tier have a first MTOPS limit below which export is allowed (although record keeping may be required as to what entities the export was made to). Export above the first MTOPS limit is generally not allowed unless an individual license is granted approving each export transaction. Countries in a third tier have a second MTOPS limit lower than the first MTOPS limit, and the second MTOPS limit is used, similar to the first MTOPS limit, for the second tier countries. For countries in a fourth tier, no export is allowed. For practical purposes for many manufacturers, if a given integrated circuit exceeds the applicable MTOPS limit, the manufacturer may not export the integrated circuit to the affected country. The costs of obtaining the license for the transaction may exceed the profit available in the transaction. Also, as mentioned above, the government may not grant the license. Thus, the integrated circuit manufacturer may be prevented from exporting integrated circuits to some countries.
Since the export restrictions are based on the theoretical number of operations performed by the integrated circuit per second, the operating frequency of the integrated circuit is a factor in the MTOPS of the integrated circuit. Typically, manufacturers offer their integrated circuit products at several different operating frequencies (also referred to as “speed grades”). Over time, the speed grades at which an integrated circuit is sold may increase (e.g. as the design is improved, the semiconductor manufacturing process with which the integrated circuit is built is improved, etc.). At some point, the MTOPS of a new speed grade may exceed the MTOPS limit even if lower speed grades do not. Thus, the manufacturer may be forced to limit which speed grades of a given integrated circuit may be exported, even if some speed grades are exportable. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a recording medium detecting system.
2. Related Art
Recently, there are more laws and regulations issued for prevention of information leakage, such as those concerning protection of private information, privacy mark, information security, and others. However, it is still difficult to prevent leakage of information such as private information and confidential information printed on paper completely, because printed paper is much easier to bring out and store. Thus, there is an urgent need for a method of preventing leakage of confidential information recorded on recording paper while preserving the convenience in use of the recording paper. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Floating floor systems are known in the art. In existing floating floor systems, the floor panels are typically interlocked together via chemical adhesion. For example, the floor panels of existing floating floor systems generally comprise a lower lateral flange and an upper lateral flange extending from opposite sides of the floor panel body. At least one of the upper and/or lower lateral flanges has an exposed adhesive applied thereto. In assembling/installing such a floating floor system, the lower flanges of the floor panels are overlaid by the upper flanges of adjacent ones of the floor panels. As a result, the exposed adhesive interlocks the upper and lower flanges of the adjacent floor panels together. The assembly/installation process is continued until the entire desired area of the sub-floor is covered.
Recently, attempts have been undertaken to develop floating floor systems in which the floor panels mechanically interlock. One known mechanical interlocking floating floor system utilizes teeth and tooth slots on the upper and lower flanges respectively that mate with one another to create a horizontal interlock between the floor panels. One problem, with these existing mechanical interlocking systems is that the teeth are not easily alignable with the slots, thereby making the installation/assembly process difficult. Additionally, these mechanical interlock systems are limited to providing horizontal locking and, thus, ledging between adjacent floor panels can become an issue.
It is generally known in the art that floorboards with a wood based core may be provided with a mechanical locking system and methods of assembling such floorboards by angle-angle, angle-snap or vertical folding. Floor panels of resilient material, such as LVT (Luxury Vinyl Tile) are traditionally glued down to the subfloor or bonded at the edges to each other.
The known methods of assembling floorboards with a wood based core that are mentioned above are difficult to use when assembling resilient floor panels, as resilient floor panes are not rigid and have a thin profile, thereby allowing the floor panels to be easily bent. Thus, the use of the angle-angle method is difficult. In addition, the use of the angle-snap method is rendered impracticable since it requires a force to be applied at an opposite edge in relation to the edge of the floor panel which is intended to be connected, by e.g. a hammer and a tapping block, and the resilient core of the resilient floor panel absorbs the applied force and will likely undergo some damage which may be visually undesirable for an end user. The known vertical folding methods are also difficult to apply due to the increased flexibility of the resilient floor pane allowing the resilient floor panels to disengage more easily than a rigid based floorboard using the same method.
The angled type of a lock on the long side, the short side, or both is significantly more difficult to install than a lock that can be pushed down or snapped down vertically. However, the vertical fold or push down type locks currently in the market can easily pop open or exhibit “ledging” on square edge products due to subfloor irregularities or any significant relative vertical movement between two locked planks.
The issue with ledging is becoming increasingly pronounced, as do-it-yourself (DIY) type products need to have a square edge (and not a beveled edge) because these products must be price competitive, which means that the DIY products cannot have a thick wear layer which is needed for a beveled edge product. Consequently, a square edged DIY product is needed in which the risk of ledging or popping open is minimized or essentially eliminated. Therefore, one benefit of this invention is that it makes it possible for a DIY type product with a thin wear layer to have square edges without the risk of ledging or popping open.
Thus, a need exists for an improved floating floor system, floor panel, and method of installing the same that utilizes a mechanical interlocking system. Such a need is especially felt for resilient floor panels, such as LVT panels. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field
The disclosed concept pertains generally to power connectors. The disclosed concept also pertains to electrical connection elements for power connectors. The disclosed concept further pertains to methods of suppressing arcing in power connectors.
2. Background Information
Power connectors are used in many different electrical applications, such as, for example, in commercial applications (e.g., employed with stoves and fryers) and in shipping industries (e.g., with refrigeration equipment). Typically, power connectors include a line side receptacle, which is electrically connected to a power source, and a load side receptacle. The line side receptacle has a number of metallic sleeves. The load side receptacle has a number of metallic pins. In operation, the pins are inserted into the sleeves in order to provide an electrical pathway between the line side receptacle and the load side receptacle.
A substantial drawback with power connectors is known as “hot plugging,” which occurs when the integrity of the metallic pins and sleeves is compromised. For example, when the pins are inserted into the sleeves, electricity is permitted to flow therethrough. When this connection is made, a significant amount of switching energy is focused on the pins and the sleeves, which can undesirably result in the pins and sleeves melting and/or being welded together (e.g., “hot plugging”).
There is thus room for improvement in power connectors and in electrical connection elements therefor.
There is also room for improvement in methods of suppressing arcing in power connectors. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to the propulsion system's of lever propelled bicycles.
2. Background of the Invention
In the bicycle industry, there are the alternative types of bicycles that are propelled by lever machines, which pivots back and forth, instead of in the conventional manner of the rotational of crank arms. What the Lever Enhanced Pedaling System (LEPS) has to offer is low pedaling resistance. Low pedaling resistance occurs when there is no significant upward force from the bicycles pedaling components, resulting in an increase in torque while pedaling this type of bicycle. The upward force from a conventional bicycle comes from the crank arm being in the 90 degree or near vertical position, resulting in the area of applied force (pedals) coming closer to the fulcrum (crank axle) horizontally distance wise. Thus, the closer the area of applied force is to the fulcrum, the greater the effort there must be to propel the bicycle forward. So one may experience a fluctuation of pedaling force when pedaling a conventional bicycle, after noticing that when the forward pedal of the bicycle is pressed downward while in its 180 degree or near horizontal position, pedaling torque increases. This is because the area of applied force is the most furthest away from the fulcrum. The LEPS, however, maintains its area of applied force at a distance from its fulcrum, that is more constant or in a near linear path (FIG. 2) while the pedals are being pressed downwards. This linear path is not exactly linear, but slightly curved. This curved path is sufficient enough to maintain a near constant level of torque while pedaling this bicycle. This constant level of torque establishes a mechanical advantage that is above that of all conventional bicycles using a rotational pedaling configuration.
Mechanical advantage is not limited to just torque per pedal, but also must include range to torque ratio. In order for a pedaling system to have more mechanical advantage, it must have more torque with equal amount or more pedaling range than the conventional bicycle. This is why the LEPS has adopted a propulsion system with a roller chain that is configured to pull the rear wheel drive component into rotation around the smallest diameter possible. The essential part of this rear wheel drive component that the roller chain pulls is a cylinder 14 (FIG. 4 & FIG. 6) or drive cylinder, which is closely occupied by the axle 18 of the rear wheel. Thus, the sprocket was omitted from this mechanism, because it would reduce the pedaling range of the bicycle due to the nature of its large diameter. This means that the roller chain 2 would rotate the cylinder 14 around the axle 18 of the rear wheel, after it was wrapped around said cylinder (FIG. 6), which would rotate the rear wheel connected to the cylinder.
Experiments were conducted on such a mechanism, which resulted in a sufficient amount of pedaling range, but then a problem remained which had to be solved. When the chain 2 wrapped the cylinder 14 and itself, torque would increase as well as the diameter of the chain's circular position, generating an uneven amount of torque. Thus, a new chain arrangement was invented in order to prevent the chain from wrapping around itself, while facilitating the chain 2 wrapping around the drive cylinder 14 at least 1¾ times. This 1¾ wrap around chain configuration allowed for 1¾ wheel revolutions per pedal, which exceeds performance standards for single speed bicycles. In order for this wrap around chain system 2 to actually work, it would be essential to cut the length of the chain 28 to or near to the circumference of the drive cylinder 14 so it could be wrapped around the drive cylinder 14, while the ends of the chain 28 are almost touching each other. The first end of this chain 28 would have its first chain bore occupied by a steel rod 32, which would be used to fastened this end of the chain to a radial drive disk 24 connected to the drive cylinder 14 by the welding process. Then, the second portion of the chain 30, which continues to wrap around the drive cylinder 14 would be offset in connection to the former chain portion 28. This offset connection would be at the last chain link bore of the first chain 28 mentioned and the first chain link bore of the second chain 30. Both bores would be aligned with a spacer 34 between them the latter's bore aligned as well. Then a steel rod 48 would occupy these bores and be used to fastened the assembly 2 together (FIG. 5B). The spacer 34 would act as a means to prevent the roller chain pins (28 & 30) from colliding with each other while the chain 2 is being wrapped adjacently around the drive cylinder 14. The other end of the second chain member 30 would be connected to the lever machine 46, around the load point 4 and this load would be pulled in a rearward direction. The LEPS's lever machine 46 and reciprocal system 56 has a mechanical design that would make the LEPS wrap around chain propulsion system original and produce new mechanized results due to such an arrangement. For example, the component in U.S. Pat. No. 4,574,649 awarded to Seol has a cable 7 that moves through the grooves of pulley wheels 13 and each end of the cable is attached to a separate roller chain. The LEPS has a cable 8 that moves through four pulley wheels (10 & 22) and each end is directly connected to a radial drive member 26 as well as it's member drive cylinder 14, but not separate roller chains 28. Furthermore, each roller chain 28 is connected to a separate radial drive member 24 that are welded to member drive cylinders 14. This new arrangement results in a drive radius that is smaller than most lever propelled bicycles in its field and this smaller drive radius allows each roller chain assembly 2 to rotate the connected rear wheel at more revolutions per pedal than if a sprocket was used. Each reciprocal cable 8 pulls and rotates it's connected drive cylinder 14, while reeling in it's member roller chain assembly 2.
Another feature that distinguishes the LEPS from Soel's invention is the length of the lever machine 46. The LEPS has the area of applied force (pedals) 42 distance to the load (roller chain connection) 4 more than twice the distance than the load is to the fulcrum in its highest gear and this is why such a mechanized configuration will have more mechanical advantage. Other different features include a reciprocal cable system 56 that moves inside the bicycle's frame 40 instead of on the outside of it. Furthermore, the way the roller chain 30 is connected to the load bolt 4 on its member lever machine 46 is different than the prior art. The chain 30 is partially wrapped around the load bolt 4, while partially overlapping it self (FIG. 5A) in order to adjust tension on the chain 30 after calibrating the reciprocal cable system 56 connected to the drive cylinder 14. Each reciprocal cable end 8 is designed to alternately wrap its member transmission chain assembly 2 while it is being pulled. After tension in the reciprocal cable 8 is established, tension in the roller chain must be established by wrapping the roller chain 2 around the drive cylinder 14 that is not wrapped with the reciprocal cable 8. Then tension on the roller chain 2 should be established by pulling the roller chain 30 around the load bolt 4 until it is tight and bolting the overlap of the chain 30 to its longer portion by inserting bolts 16 (FIG. 5A) in aligned chain link spaces. This connection must then be fastened in place with nuts. The other side of the reciprocal cable 8 should be wrapped around the drive cylinder 14, but the roller chain 2 should be unwrapped around member drive cylinder 14 and tension on this roller chain 2 should be established like the former mentioned roller chain. The reason why tension on the cable 8 and roller chains 2 are important is because tension on such components will allow maximum forward travel per pedal when they engage the drive cylinder 14 or when a rider pedals the bicycle.
The Propulsion mechanism for lever propelled bicycles (U.S. Pat. No. 4,630,839) awarded to Seol has many differences when compared to the LEPS's chain wrap around system that would establish the latter system as original offering novel results. The device invented by Seol has separate transmission chains the pull it's radial drive member in a forward direction in contrast to the LEPS's system, which pulls its radial drive member in a rearward direction. The rearward pull system gives its lever machine more design options, because it lever machine 46 can be lengthened beyond the axle 18 of the rear wheel. This design option allows the LEPS's lever machine 46 to be stretched rearward to increase mechanical advantage without compromising standard wheel base length or ergonomic pedal position. Further differences between the former mentioned invention and the LEPS is the position of propulsion chain engagement. The chain of the former invention has two propulsion chains that engage symmetrical radial members (12 and 12a, FIG. 2) that are connected by the same axle. This chain engagement is close to either pedal when a pedal is in its peak position. This position may be close enough to snag the hem of a rider's pants if it were caught in this engagement. The propulsion chain engagement of the LEPS is within the rear tube of its frame 40, thus making it free from entangling a rider's clothes.
The Lever driven bicycle (U.S. Pat. No. 5,988,662) awarded to Staehlin has various distinctions when compared to the LEPS's system that makes the latter new and unique. The Lever driven bicycle has its fulcrum on the axle of the rear wheel, while the fulcrum 44 of the LEPS is connected to the frame 40 of the bicycle behind the axle 18 of the rear wheel. Having a fulcrum 44 connected to the rear frame 40 has the advantage of easy rear wheel removal for maintenance purposes. After the axle 18 of the LEPS is removed from the rear wheel, the rear wheel can be dropped out for repairs. The Lever driven bicycle would be difficult to repair because the rear reciprocal system would be attached to its lever machine, while the axle is connected to the bore of each symmetrical lever machine composing the fulcrum. Because the axle of the rear wheel is directly and indirectly connected to the frame of this lever propulsion system, is why it would be very difficult to remove this wheel for maintenance. This is why the LEPS's wrap around chain propulsion system will have an advantage over such a system. Furthermore, the reciprocal system of the Lever driven bicycle is too close to the fulcrum. This closeness would generate multiplied pressure from the effort spread out from the longer rigid mass of material composing the lever machine leading the fulcrum. Thus, this pressure may cause the components of the reciprocal system to break down earlier than components of the average bike. The LEPS has a reciprocal system 56 that is further away from its member fulcrum 44, thus the system would last longer. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The present invention generally relates to routing customer contacts, such as telephone call routing. More particularly, the present invention relates to a process for dynamically routing customer contacts to service providers who have bid for the opportunity to receive such contacts.
Consumers interested in acquiring services must first find a service provider who is capable of providing the required services. Typically, this means perusing a telephone directory and selecting a service provider from the often long list of service providers. In some areas of the country, this requires that the consumer determine which service providers are sufficiently close to the consumer geographically so as to attend to their needs in a reasonable time frame and for a reasonable cost. This process can become frustrating and time consuming, particularly if the consumer must leave messages for service providers who are not currently available to take their calls. In such an instance, the consumer is faced with the choice of leaving a message and hoping that the service provider will contact them shortly, or leaving multiple messages with multiple service providers until reaching a service provider who is available, and then dealing with the return calls of service providers whose services are no longer necessary.
Many consumers now own computers and have access to the Internet. Searches can be conducted to find service providers on the Internet. Some of these service providers have web-sites which provide information that can be valuable to the consumer. Traditionally, service providers and other businesses on the Internet have paid for each “hit” or each time an on-line user clicks or otherwise selects their link to arrive at their web-site. This requires two steps, identifying a service provider on a web-site and then generating a phone call or e-mail request. Moreover, such hits have been found not to be overly promising as the on-line user may surf the web by selecting and viewing several web-sites before calling a business or service provider. Accordingly, such “hits” often typically only cost the web-site owner a few cents as acquiring business from a given hit is unlikely.
There are many disadvantages, however, that present themselves to the consumers that conduct on-line shopping for service providers. First, appropriate Internet searches must be conducted in order to arrive at the service providers in question. Next, the on-line customer must determine which service providers are in their geographic location or which suits their service needs, and select among a plurality of the service providers. This, of course, assumes that the customer owns a computer and has the necessary Internet connection. Moreover, it is estimated that approximately seventy percent (70%) of small and medium businesses do not have active web-sites. Thus, there are millions of service providers such as restaurants, plumbers, and other small businesses that do not conduct transactions on-line or have any web presence whatsoever.
Ingenio, Inc., has developed an on-line based pay-per call system for routing telephone calls made by consumers to advertisers, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,704,403. The advertiser, such as a service provider, registers so as to have its name and telephone number (typically a unique toll free number for that particular service provider/advertiser) presented on the Internet. When an on-line consumer searches for a particular service, a list of service providers/advertisers is presented to the consumer. A consumer can select from this list and dial the service provider's telephone number. If the service provider is not available, a message is left with the service provider. A predetermined flat fee is charged for each call made to the service provider. The '403 patent describes this fee as being paid by the potential customer, such that the service provider is compensated for the time in taking the customer's call. The '403 patent further discloses that a per minute fee is also charged to either the service provider or the potential customer after an initial time period, such as 10-minutes. The theory behind this fee is that if a potential customer is on the phone with a service provider for a significant amount of time, the likelihood that the service provider will actually sell goods or perform services for the customer increases. Thus, the service provider does not need to pay for dead-end “hits” or maintain a web-site or other Internet presence.
However, the Ingenio system also has several drawbacks. First, the consumer must have a computer and Internet access. Next, the consumer must conduct an on-line search to find the list of service providers for the service that the consumer is in need of. This may not take into account the consumer's geographic location. The consumer then selects a single service provider, and if that service provider is not available the consumer must leave a message. Although the '403 patent discloses technology which facilities the service provider returning the consumer's telephone call, the consumer is still left with the unenviable option of waiting for the service provider to return his or her call, or calling other service providers on the list. While benefiting various service providers who otherwise do not have an Internet presence, the Ingenio system does little to benefit the consumer. Moreover, the '403 patent does not take into account other contact or customer originated contact means, such as satellite-enabled voice-links, VOIP contacts, or electronic messages.
Accordingly, there is a continuing need for a dynamic contact routing system which charges a service provider only for contacts received, but which meets the needs of the customer as well, thus overcoming the drawbacks described above. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides other related advantages. | {
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Locomotives and transit vehicles, as well as other large traction vehicles used for heavy haul applications (off-highway trucks), commonly use an electrical propulsion system that includes various high power electrical components, such as generators, rectifiers, converters, traction motors, dynamic braking grids, cooling blowers, and the like. These components may fail over time due to various reasons, one of them being electrical grounds that may be caused by insulation degradation. For example, locomotives may operate in environments subject to varying conditions, such as causative of freezing and thawing, which can degrade an electrical insulation exposed to such varying conditions by causing cracks.
The propulsion system of a locomotive has many insulated windings, and excessive leakage current could develop over time due to various factors, such as aging, moisture, abrasions, dirt built-up and the like. This is especially true for the traction motors since moisture often gets into these components because of their location and exposure to relatively harsh environmental conditions. Failures due to excessive electrical leakage currents in an electrical system of locomotives are a leading cause of system shutdowns and locomotive mission failures.
Leakage current detectors have been used on many kinds of electrical equipment to protect the equipment from damage that could arise in the presence of a large electrical current and/or to protect personnel from injury, and there may be substantial industrial background on leakage current monitoring by techniques used in electrical utility or industrial applications. Ground faults may occur as a result of a fault in any of a number of different system components. In the context of a locomotive, such components by way of example can include the propulsion drive system, batteries, and auxiliary equipment. Within the propulsion drive system, ground faults can occur in one or several components, which include generator, rectifier, cabling, traction motor, dynamic brake resistor, and blower motor.
A known difficulty in dealing with ground conditions in a locomotive is that many of such conditions may be transitory in nature. Often when a ground fault condition occurs, the affected portion of the electrical system is deactivated, and the locomotive is scheduled for repairs. However, once the locomotive is shopped for repairs, the system may no longer exhibit abnormal grounds and the maintenance personnel cannot identify the source of the fault. This is often because the excessive leakage current is caused by moisture in the electrical components. By the time the locomotive is shopped, the moisture has dried out, thus eliminating the high leakage currents. The amount of moisture that is able to penetrate the insulation system and result in high leakage currents often depends in part on the condition of the insulation system. A healthy system experiences relatively small change in leakage current as a result of changing moisture conditions, whereas a system with degraded insulation may experience large changes in leakage current that is moisture dependent.
In view of the foregoing considerations, it is desirable to have early warning of leakage current development, (i.e., an incipient ground fault) in the electrical propulsion of the locomotive so that action may be taken before there is a locomotive disabling failure. More particularly, it would be desirable that such an action enables continued operation of the locomotive propulsion system so that the locomotive can fulfill a mission and be able to return on its own power to a locomotive service shop for a thorough check and repair.
It would be further desirable to have the ability to determine in real time the specific equipment that causes the incipient ground fault, as that condition occurs, so that service personnel can retrieve at a later time that information and be able to focus on that specific equipment once the locomotive eventually arrives to the locomotive service shop, without trying to mimic the environmental conditions that may have contributed to the occurrence of the incipient ground fault or without having to spend valuable resources and time on troubleshooting fault-free equipment. | {
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Over the last decade, baud rate of digital optical signal in data communication has seen dramatic increase from around 10 Gbaud, to 28 Gbaud, and to 56 Gbaud. Not surprisingly, even higher baud rates are forth coming. Optical data communication involves electro-optic signal conversion. However, one of the main challenges facing this ever increasing baud rate is how to effectively and efficiently handle signal connection between an optical sub-assembly (OSA), which houses various modules that handle electro-optic signal conversion, and a main printed circuit board (PCB) which handles digital signal processing in the electrical domain.
The OSA provides optical to electrical (O/E) and/or electrical to optical (E/O) signal conversion, which are generally referred to as O/E or E/O conversion within the industry. For example, an OSA that handles electrical to optical signal conversion is generally referred to as a transmitter OSA (TOSA) while an OSA that handles optical to electrical signal conversion is generally referred to as a receiver OSA (ROSA). Both TOSA and ROSA are key components or sub-assemblies inside an optical transceiver that is widely used in equipment of data center and telecommunication service provider's network system. Optical transceivers that adopt small form factor (SFF) are a corner-stone of modern data centers. SFF may include, for example, SFP, QSFP, and OSFP.
An OSA (TOSA and ROSA) typically includes components such as laser diode (LD), photo detector (PD), planar lightwave circuits (PLC) and/or free-space based optical mux/demux, and electronic integrated circuits (IC's), such as laser driver, trans-impedance amplifier (TIA), and so on. As is simplistically illustrated in FIG. 7(a), and according to current art, a TO-CAN or box-based OSA 11 generally includes one or more of the above components contained in its own package, which is connected to an outside main PCB 10 through two transitional connections 13 and 14. A first transitional connection 13 is made from the OSA 11 to a flexible printed circuit (FPC) 12. The FPC 12 is then connected to the main PCB 10 through a second transitional connection 14. In other words, a FPC is used as a transitional medium to interconnect the OSA 11 with the main PCB 10. The two connections 13 and 14 made at the OSA end and the main PCB end are commonly through soldering or epoxy. Being a separated part both to the OSA and to the main PCB, the FPC provides a flexible connection between OSA 11 and main PCB 10. The use of a separate FPC is important in order to increase product yield and reliability that are often associated with the mechanical manufacturing tolerance of each components.
On the other hand, with the baud rate of digital data transmission going above 20 Gbaud, the effect of signal degradation caused by the two transitional connections 13 and 14 (between the OSA and the FPC and between the FPC and the main PCB) becomes more and more critical and sometimes becomes simply intolerable by the system. For example, for baud rate of digital signal of data transmission that is 50 Gbaud and beyond, due to manufacturing limitation in precision tolerance of the OSA, FPC, and PCB modules, and their assembly through soldering, impact on signal degradation brought upon by the above interconnect approach are so significant that they can no longer be ignored.
To mitigate the above concerns of signal degradation, so far the direction of industry is heading toward soldering (or through the use of epoxy) the OSA directly onto the main PCB, bypassing the use of the traditional FPC as a transitional medium, as is simplistically illustrated in FIG. 7(b). Under this situation, electrical signals associated with the OSA 21 are connected through wire bonding 22 directly to the main PCB 20. However, this approach comes with the disadvantage that after the OSA-PCB assembly is finished, the OSA 21 can no longer be easily removed from the main PCB 20 for rework or repair, particularly after the encapsulation 23 is added onto the OSA portion 21 in order to protect bonding wire 22 and prevent humidity effect. Consequently, this approach of directly wire-bonding OSA module onto main PCB brings with it significant impact on the overall production yield. | {
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1. Field
An aspect of the present disclosure relates to a display device.
2. Description of the Related Art
As interest in information displays and demand for portable information media increase, research and commercialization has focused on display devices.
Particularly, recently, as the requirement for high resolution display device increases, the size of a pixel has decreased. On the other hand, the structure of a circuit included in the pixel has been gradually complicated. | {
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In order to form an image in an image forming apparatus of the electrophotographic system, an electrostatic latent image is first formed on a photosensitive member. The electrostatic latent image is then developed with a developer (toner) on a developing roll to form a toner image. This toner image on the photosensitive member is transferred to any of various recording material such as paper and OHP sheets as needed. The toner image transferred is fixed thereto by a system of heating, pressing, solvent vapor or the like, whereby a printed image is formed. The toner remaining on the photosensitive member without being transferred to the recording material upon the transfer is recovered by a cleaning step. As a cleaning method, a method, in which a cleaning blade is brought into contact with the surface of the photosensitive member to remove the remaining toner, is widely used in that the device is simple.
In recent years, image forming apparatus of the electrophotographic system have been spread over offices, and a proportion of full-color image forming apparatus to monochromatic image forming apparatus has been recently increased. With the trend to full-color image forming apparatus, high-quality toners having various properties such as better image reproducibility, durability upon printing and environmental stability are required for toners (generally 4 color toners of cyan, magenta, yellow and black) used in development.
From the viewpoint of image reproducibility among the properties required, it is effective that toner particles are formed as particles having a spherical form, a small particle diameter and a narrow particle diameter distribution. As a process for producing such toner particles, there have been polymerization processes such as a suspension polymerization process, in which a polymerizable monomer composition containing a polymerizable monomer, a colorant and various additives is formed into droplets in an aqueous medium and then polymerized to form colored polymer particles; and an emulsion polymerization aggregation process, in which a polymerizable monomer emulsified is polymerized to synthesize fine binder resin particles, and the fine binder resin particles are then aggregated together with fine colorant particles to produce toner particles.
However, the toner particles having a spherical form and a small particle diameter have involved a problem that when the cleaning method making use of a cleaning blade is applied to the toner particles, cleaning failure is easy to occur. As a method for improving the cleaning ability of the resulting toner particles, a method for controlling the shape of toner particles has heretofore been investigated.
On the other hand, inorganic photosensitive members of selenium type, silicon type, etc. have been mainly used as photosensitive members, but organic photosensitive members are mainly used at present. The polarity of a photosensitive member charged includes a positively charged system and a negatively charged system, and the negatively charged system is general for the organic photosensitive member. However, the negatively charged system is indicated as involving a problem of ozone generation. Thus, an organic photosensitive member of the positively charged system, which is little in ozone generation, has come to be put to practical use for environmental measure.
Under the foregoing circumstances, there is a demand for development of a high-quality positively charged developer for development of electrostatic images, which meets the requirements attending on the trend to full-color image forming apparatus and can correspond to the positively charged system.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-345975 has proposed a positively charged toner containing a resin, a parting agent and colorant particles, wherein the concentration of a cationic surfactant on the surfaces of toner particles is higher than in the central portions of the toner particles. The cationic surfactant is an alkyl group-containing quaternary ammonium salt, and the toner particles are formed by the emulsion polymerization aggregation process. This publication describes that a negatively charged external additive is used as an external additive.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-18251 (corresponding to US 2005/0277047 A1) has proposed a positively charged developer for development of electrostatic images, which contains a copolymer comprising an acrylamide having an amine or ammonium salt in its molecule in surface portions (outer layers) of toner particles. This publication describes that a negatively charged external additive is preferred as an external additive.
However, these toners are not sufficient in environmental stability and insufficient in environmental stability in a high-temperature and high-humidity environment in particular, and so more improvement has been desired. | {
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Flow meters are well known devices that can be used to measure the rate of flow of a fluid such as a liquid or gas through a pipe. Known flow meters monitor various conditions such as the rate of loss of heat from a heated sensor or differential pressures to provide an output representative of flow conditions within the body of a flow meter. Each type of known flow meter has its advantages and disadvantages but with many flow meters and in particular thermal loss flow meters it is difficult to pre-calibrate a meter without a precise knowledge of the operational environment in which that meter is to be fitted. As a result, it is often the case that flow meters are delivered to the end user on the basis that after installation they will be adjusted such that the flow meter output does represent a true measure of the flow through the meter. Such an approach requires highly skilled technicians to install meters and it would clearly be highly desirable to rely upon factory-calibration to a much greater extent than is possible at present. | {
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The present invention relates generally to fishing lures and, more particularly, it relates to a molded, elastomeric plastic lure adapted to retain a slowly-dissolvable pellet of a fish-attracting olfactory agent in an internal cavity. The lure may be used, in particular embodiments, for trolling, jigging off the bottom, and for surf casting.
Many fishing lures have been proposed heretofore including means for retaining live minnows, or a pervious bait bag, or other means for holding a live or dead bait or pieces of fish. The object in all cases to allow water to pass through the retaining means and pick up a fishy "smell" which acts as an attractant for the game being sought. Typical of many patents in this area are Nos. 3,688,430, 3,748,772, 3,273,277 and 3,031,791. | {
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FIG. 1 is a block diagram that illustrates a typical mechanism for digital content access control. A mobile phone operator 100 includes a portal 150 by which one or more mobile phones 125-140 communicate with one or more content producers 105-120 via a network 175 such as the Internet. Mobile phone operator 100 also includes a product catalog 145 that includes a description of digital content 155-170 stored by digital content producers 105-170. A particular digital content producer controls access to digital content stored by the digital content producer. Thus, authenticators 180-195 control access to digital content 155-170, respectively.
A user desiring access to digital content 155-170 stored by a digital content producer 105-120 uses a mobile phone 125-140 to issue an access request to a particular digital content producer 105-120. The digital content producer 105-195 authenticates the user making the request. The authentication typically includes prompting the user for a username and a password if the username and password is not included with the initial access request. Upon successful user authentication, the digital content producer 105-120 may grant access to the digital content 155-170. Alternatively, the digital content producer 105-120 may issue a token that may be presented at a later time and redeemed in exchange for access to the digital content.
Unfortunately, the bandwidth available for communications with digital content producers 105-120 is relatively limited. If the available bandwidth is exceeded, a user may be denied service. This problem is exacerbated as the number of users increases.
Accordingly, a need exists in the prior art for a digital content access control solution that requires relatively less communication with digital content producers. A further need exists for such a solution that is relatively secure. Yet another need exists for such a solution that is relatively scaleable. | {
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The field of this invention relates to water distillation apparatuses and more particularly to a water distillation apparatus which could be readily mounted at any desired location that is exposed to the sun.
Pollution is defined as the contamination of one substance by another so that the former is unfit for its intended use. Water is essential to animal life. Chemically, water is a good solvent for many substances. This means that water is readily susceptible to pollution.
In many parts of the United States and the world, drinking water contains excessive pollutants. Also, drinking water standards in some cities permitt the water to contain over a thousand parts per million of pollutants because it is not economically feasible to have those pollutants removed from the drinking water. Human beings consume this water, Many of these pollutants remain within the body of the human being. Excessive collecting of these pollutants can become toxic to the human being.
Within the past few years, there has evolved businesses which sell distilled water which is to be used for consumption purposes. However, this distilled drinking water is available only to heavily populated areas. In a great many rural areas, brackish water is a serious problem. If the water is only midly brackish, these rural people consume it and eventually become used to it. If the water is too brackish, they are required to ship in drinking water from other areas.
There have been previous attempts to design individual water distillation apparatuses. The prior art type of water distillation apparatuses generally utilize input energy in the form of electricity. Known types of water distillation apparatuses are what is commonly referred to as reverse osmosis or a filtering arrangement. One disadvantage of these known types of water distillation apparatuses is that they be located near a source of electrical energy. Also, they require periodic maintenance in the form of cleaning and replacement of filters. Further, these known types are quite complex in construction and therefore expensive. Because of their expense, as well as their other disadvantages, such water distillation apparatuses have not been able to be employed in widespread use.
It would be desirable to design a water distillation apparatus which could be manufacturered relatively inexpensively and which required no artificial energy input permitting the water distillation apparatus to be utilized within any normal environment. | {
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This disclosure relates to electromagnetic communication, and more particularly to the characterization of single or multiple devices in a system.
A gas turbine engine typically includes a fan section, a compressor section, a combustor section and a turbine section. Air entering the compressor section is compressed and delivered into the combustor section where it is mixed with fuel and ignited to generate a high-speed exhaust gas flow. The high-speed exhaust gas flow expands through the turbine section to drive the compressor and the fan section. The compressor section typically includes low and high pressure compressors, and the turbine section includes low and high pressure turbines.
Detailed knowledge of gas turbine engine and other machinery operation for control or health monitoring requires sensing systems that need information from locations that are sometimes difficult to access due to moving parts, internal operating environment or machine configuration. The access limitations make wire routing bulky, expensive and vulnerable to interconnect failures. The sensor and interconnect operating environments for desired sensor locations often exceed the capability of the interconnect systems. In some cases, cable cost, volume and weight exceed the allowable limits for practical applications.
Application of electromagnetic sensor technologies to address the wiring constraints faces the challenge of providing reliable communications in a potentially unknown environment with potential interference from internal or external sources. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image dependent gamut mapping method for mapping source colors of an image to destination colors reproducible by a printing apparatus, said source colors and destination colors being part of a color space comprising a lightness axis, each source color having a lightness component within a range between a source white point and a source black point on the lightness axis, and each destination color having a lightness component within a range between a destination white point and a destination black point on the lightness axis, the method comprising the steps of determining a composed transfer function which maps the source white point onto the destination white point and the source black point onto the destination black point and applying the composed transfer function on each lightness component of source colors of at least a part of the image.
2. Background of the Invention
A digital image consists of pixels that are defined as points in a color space, e.g. an RGB color space, an XYZ color space or an L*a*b* color space. In an RGB color space, each pixel is defined by three coordinates that represent the red, green and blue color component of the pixel respectively. In a L*a*b* color space each pixel is defined by three coordinates which represent the lightness of the pixel, its position between red/magenta and green and its position between yellow and blue, respectively. Each coordinate represents a property of each point in the color space.
A gamut may be defined as a specific part of the color space. For example, an image gamut of a digital image may be defined as the part of the color space that contains only those points of the color space, which are also part of the representation of the colors of the digital image in the color space. A printer gamut of a printing apparatus may be defined as the part of the color space that contains all of the colors that can be printed by the printing apparatus. The printer gamut is often smaller in size that the image gamut. This means that a point of the image gamut may be outside the printer gamut and cannot be printed according to the coordinates of that point. Normally, points of the image gamut of a first digital image are mapped on the points of the printer gamut in a particular way. This mapping results in a second digital image and the printing apparatus is able to print this second digital image.
It is recommended to implement a mapping from a first digital image to a second digital image, as described above, in such a way that at least one property of the pixels in the digital image is maintained; for example, if one wants to maintain a perceived lightness of the first digital image or local details of the first digital image. An algorithm for mapping digital images may be used in many of the currently available color management software, which may be implemented in a controller of a printing apparatus. Often, such an algorithm contains a mapping of a color space towards the same color space, which is decomposed into a scaling step in the directions of the three coordinate axes of the color space and an offset step. Such an algorithm scales the complete digital image gamut in three directions and normally takes into account the possible ranges of the coordinates in the printer gamut. Such an algorithm may take into account a deviating axis of a property of the printer gamut, e.g. a lightness axis. This results in a so-called black and white point correction algorithm. A printer displays color images in its unique way. A printer may be calibrated using look-up tables (LUTs) or with an ICC style color management, which relies on color profiles to ensure that images are reproduced and displayed accurately. Part of creating an LUT may be a black and white point correction.
A black and white point correction is an operation that matches perceived black (black point of the first image) to the darkest printer lightness and perceived white (white point of the first image) to the brightest printer lightness. It is critical for a pleasing reproduction of images. Black and white point correction may be automatically included in a gamut mapping algorithm or it may be performed as a pre- or post-processing step in addition to a gamut mapping.
Such a gamut mapping may be defined by using a solution of a optimization problem as, for example, disclosed in publication “Space sensitive color gamut mapping: A variational approach”/R. Kimmel, D, Shaked, M. Elad and I. Sobel (HP) or in publication “A framework for image-dependant gamut mapping”, in Proc. SPIE, Color Imaging/J. Giesena, E. Schuberth, K. Simon, D. Zeiter and P. Zolliker (Gretag).
These publications define a gamut mapping as an outcome of a parameterized mathematical optimization problem that allows constraint of the degree to which objectives like contrast preservation, hue preservation, saturation preservation and the continuity of the mapping can be violated while maximizing the printer gamut exploitation. A disadvantage of the approach is that the optimization problem is defined over millions of pixels and therefore computationally rather expensive.
In a publication of N. Moroney (HP), “Local color correction using non-linear masking” in Proc. IS&T/SID Eighth Color Imaging Conference, a local contrast enhancement algorithm is described that is based on non-linear masking. The algorithm is equivalent to deriving a specific tone reproduction curve for each pixel in the image. The work focuses on image enhancement in total and comprises an estimation of a compression function per processed pixel, which is rather cumbersome.
A starting point for the method according to the present invention is that the lightness axis of the color space comprises the source white point, the source black point, the destination white point and the destination black point. The method comprises the steps of defining a composed transfer function which maps the source white point onto the destination white point and the source black point onto the destination black point, and applying the function on the lightness components of each source color. Such functions are known from the prior art, and may be visualized by a sigmoidal function or another continuous function. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method for an electronic device for detecting and identifying a peripheral device, and more particularly to a method for an electronic device for automatically detecting and identifying a peripheral device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional portable electronic devices, such as cell phones or personal digital assistants, identify different peripheral devices via different corresponding connecting ports. For example, a portable electronic device may connect to earphones and chargers via different connecting ports. Given miniaturization demands, decreasing the amount of connecting ports through integration may decrease area required thereof. However, an efficient method for an electronic device for automatically identifying peripheral devices is required for integrated connecting ports. | {
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The invention concerns an ozonizer having a first electrode and a second electrode between which a discharge gap is formed, a dielectric being arranged between the first electrode and the second electrode.
The invention moreover concerns a method for the manufacture of an ozonizer.
An ozonizer of this kind is known from DE 195 11 001 A1.
The known ozonizer comprises a, for example, tubular support element made of glass, on the outer side of which a first metallic electrode is applied by thermal spraying. Applied in turn onto this metallic electrode, by thermal spraying, is a dielectric film which can be made, for example, of aluminum oxide, titanium oxide, or hafnium oxide. A discharge gap for ozone generation is provided between the dielectric film and a concentrically arranged outer electrode.
What is used as the dielectric in the known ozonizer is not the glass tube, but only the sprayed-on ceramic film. The glass tube thus serves only as a support element.
A relatively high ozone yield is achieved with this arrangement, since the dielectric is configured only as a relatively thin film and it is known that ozone yield, to a first approximation, is proportional to the dielectric constant and inversely proportional to the thickness of the dielectric. The ozone yield is, at the same time, further increased by the fact that what is used as the dielectric, instead of glass, is aluminum oxide, titanium oxide, hafnium oxide, or a mixture thereof, which results in a higher dielectric constant.
The known ozonizer nevertheless suffers from certain disadvantages. For example, in order for the thermally sprayed dielectric film to have sufficient dielectric strength, it must have a film thickness on the order of approximately 1 mm. Application of a film of this kind by thermal spraying is relatively complex and expensive. In addition, newer ozonizers are usually no longer operated from the standpoint of maximum ozone yield (i.e. mass fraction of ozone generated as a function of electrical energy used), but rather an effort is made to achieve the greatest possible ozone concentration in the oxygen mass flow used as the basis. An effort is thus made, possibly with greater use of electrical energy, to minimize oxygen consumption while generating a predefined quantity of ozone. A high oxygen concentration can only be achieved, however, with higher operating voltages. In the ozonizer known from DE 195 11 001 A1, however, the dielectric strength is relatively limited, since the thermally sprayed dielectric film has a relatively high porosity and is naturally, for cost reasons and for reasons of improved ozone yield, coated only with a film thickness on the order of 1 mm.
As compared to conventional glass ozonizers in which the glass tube is equipped with an inner electrode and the glass tube itself serves as a dielectric, what is achieved according to DE 195 11 001 A1 is thus a higher ozone yield but a lower ozone concentration than with conventional glass ozonizers.
It is thus the object of the invention to create an improved ozonizer which allows the greatest possible ozone concentration to be achieved, simultaneously with a relatively good ozone yield. | {
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The need to exchange data between computers has never been greater. For example, new demands on traditional Point-of-Sale applications require immediate (near real time) sales data to be transmitted from retail stores to their central office. Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)'s goal of paperless electronic commerce between customers and suppliers requires that computers be able to exchange order and payment information 24 hours a day. And multinational corporations with offices around the world need to be able to exchange files, send faxes, and conduct voice and multimedia sessions with employees at any time of day for minimal cost.
Existing methods for exchanging data (including fax and voice) between two geographically distant computers or fax machines utilize (1) dial-up point-to-point connections over the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN); (2) dedicated transmission connections (also known as private lines or leased lines); and (3) dial-up data network connections, like the Internet. Method 1 requires one computer to initiate a data exchange with the other by using the PSTN to establish a long distance phone call during which the two computers exchange data. This Method 1 is cost effective for weekly or monthly exchanges of small amounts of data. However, it is undesirable for lengthy data transfers, due to the toll time charges associated with long-distance phone calls.
Method 2 utilizes dedicated transmission lines between two computers for exchanging data. For frequent exchanges of large amounts of data, Method 2 is more cost effective than Method 1 but typically requires a fixed monthly payment for the dedicated transmission line, regardless of the amount of data exchanged. As with Method 1, the computers are able to exchange data at any time, although dedicated transmission lines do not incur the overhead or delay associated with Method 1.
Method 3, using dial-up data networks, like the Internet, to transfer data, improves upon Methods 1 and 2 since there are (typically) no long-distance fees associated with connecting to the Internet. Another benefit is that Internet Service Providers (ISP) provide access to the Internet at rates significantly lower than the rates for dedicated transmission lines.
For two computers to exchange data over the Internet at any time, they must be connected to the Internet 24 hours a day or connected at predetermined times, or use a person at one computer to place a telephone call to a person at the other computer to tell him/her to become connected with the Internet. Unfortunately, when the data transferred is infrequent and/or small in size, the cost of 24-hour connection to the Internet can be greater than the costs associated with a direct point-to-point connection over the PSTN between the two computers. And connecting at predetermined times precludes the transmission of real-time or near real-time data and does not provide any flexibility, for example, if heavy data traffic slows the communication.
A more cost effective method would combine the best features of Methods 1 and 3 to allow data transfers over the Internet, but not require that both computers maintain a 24-hour connection to the Internet or rely on a predetermined connection schedule. It would be ideal if there were a way that both computers would automatically, without human intervention, be able to connect to the Internet only when data exchange is required so that connect-time charges would be kept to a minimum. | {
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Bee venom refers to the toxic substance that is produced by workers bees and has been used in the therapy of diseases.
For the application of bee venom to the body, previously, worker bees which had been caught were forced to sting an affected site or only the stingers, after being detached from worker bees, were inserted into an affected site. However, it is difficult to control the injection amount or concentration of bee venom in this manner, which makes the objectification and generalization of the bee venom therapy impossible and may generate side effects such as shock.
If given the ability to adjust the amount and concentration of drug depending on the body condition and constitution of the patient, bee venom therapy can be safely used without inducing any side effects. Bee venom therapy has spread to some degree over the U.S. and the Europe. In the early 1990s, the subcutaneous injection of purified bee venom for the treatment of inflammation and pain was approved by the FDA, and it is produced under the brand name of Apitoxin. Recently, bee venom collectors have been located over a vast area in bee farms and thus, a large amount of bee venom is collected.
However, the bee venom collected via the collectors of bee farms contains significant amounts of contaminants such as dust, soil, etc., and impurities such as honey, pollen and propolis. These foreign materials change the composition of bee venom, degrading the physiological activity of bee venom. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Various temperature control assemblies, suited for carrying beverage containers and keeping them cool or warm are known. Exemplary types of containers are described by U.S. Pat. No. 5,570,588 to Lowe; U.S. Pat. No. 5,421,172 to Jones; U.S. Pat. No. 5,241,835 to Ascome; U.S. Pat. No. 4,812,054 to Kirkendall; U.S. Pat. No. 3,998,072 to Shaw; U.S. Pat. No. 4,383,422 to Gordon et al.; U.S. Pat No. 4,388,813 to Gardner et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,005,374 to Spitler; U.S. Pat. No. 4,393,665 to Gardner et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,974, 658 to Starratt; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,019,340 to Conklin. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
This invention relates generally to a method and apparatus for atomizing a liquid. More specifically, this invention is concerned with an easily cleaned and/or serviced atomizing nozzle which finds particular utility with difficult-to-handle liquids and which is capable of atomizing the liquid into uniform droplet sizes.
The process of atomization is of noteworthy importance in several branches of engineering including the chemical industry for operations involving drying, evaporating and absorption, the coating industry wherein paint is applied by a spraying technique, the agriculture industry for crop stimulation and protection, etc. Atomizing of a liquid is typically accomplished by forcing the fluid under pressure through a nozzle into the atmosphere where the liquid contracts into droplets.
Nozzle designs may often assume the configuration of a cylindrical nozzle body which is covered at one end by a transversely extending orifice plate or disc. The disc is typically releasably affixed to the end of the nozzle body by a conventional threaded ring connector. An illustration of such a nozzle configuration is disclosed, inter alia, in Vehe et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,679,137 issued July 25, 1972 and assigned to the assignee of the subject application. The disclosure of this Vehe et al. patent is hereby incorporated by reference as though set forth at length.
While nozzle configurations, such as disclosed in the Vehe et al. patent, have been utilized with at least a degree of acceptance in the past, room for significant improvement remains.
More particularly, conventional nozzle orifice discs are often fabricated from somewhat thick brass sheet stock for considerations of strength and corrosion resistance. Apertures within the disc are often accurately bored with a diameter of a few hundredths inch or less. Accordingly, conventional nozzle orifice discs are somewhat expensive to manufacture.
Moreover, in many instances a "fan" spray pattern is desired. Such a spray pattern may be effected by forming a circular nozzle disc with a disc shape configuration and boring one or more rows of radially extending apertures through the disc-shaped disc. Accurately boring radial apertures merely heightens the previously noted manufacturing intricacy and expense.
During an atomizing operation, fines suspended within the liquid medium being dispensed tend to clog the aperture or apertures in the disc. Operational clogging dictates "on the job/in the field" shutdowns for servicing. In this regard an operator would typically release pressure from the fluid being dispensed and remove the threaded attachment collar to free the orifice disc for manual inspection and cleaning. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that during the foregoing procedure liquid within the nozzle body will in all likelihood spew onto the hands and forearms of the operator. In some instances, this occurence is merely objectionable and disconcerting. In other instances, it becomes mandatory that an operator's hands are properly isolated from direct contact with the liquid being atomized. Examples of such liquids would include vehicles carrying indelible pigments or an agricultural control fluid which is highly toxic by inhalation and/or skin absorption. A specific example of the latter is paraquat, which is a generic name for a 1,1'-dimethyl-4-4'-bipyridinium salt. Paraquat is a yellow solid herbicide which is soluble in water and is highly toxic by skin absorption.
An associated difficulty may be occasioned if it is desired to alter a spray flow pattern. In this regard, the system is again typically shut down and the orifice disc is replaced with one having a more appropriate aperture pattern. In making such a changeover, operator contamination may again present a difficulty as outlined above.
Another significant concern in atomizing operations is the tendency of atomized fluids to contract into droplets of variant sizes. As an example, conventional spray nozzles which would be designed to produce droplets having a mean diameter of 150 microns will also typically generate droplets ranging in size from 1 to 2 microns up to 300 or 400 microns in diameter. While the foregoing range in droplet sizes may be acceptable in some applications, in many instances finer control of droplet size during atomization would be highly desirable.
In this latter connection in large scale agriculture, it has been found in dispensing herbicides and pesticides that fine droplet sizes tend to be blown or drift away from a desired zone of application while very large droplet sizes tend to coalesce and drip from leaf surfaces without producing a desired biological action. In a similar vein in the spray painting industry, very fine droplets tend to be drawn into an overhead exhaust system while very large droplets tend to form undesirable globules upon a coated surface.
In the past, at least one device has been found to provide significant potential with respect to controlling droplet size during an atomization process. In this connection, attention is re-invited to the previously identified Vehe et al. patent. In this Vehe et al. patent, a jet stream vibratory atomizing device is disclosed wherein a magnetostrictive shaft is mounted within the interior of a nozzle body and functions to induce vibrations within a liquid dispensed through an orifice plate to break a liquid into uniform droplet sizes downstream of the orifice plate.
While the Vehe et al. structure offers considerable potential with respect to accurately dispensing a liquid, room for significant improvement remains.
It has been found that placement of a magnetostrictive vibratory shaft within the interior of a nozzle body represents at least a potential sealing problem as well as providing an obstruction to the flow of fluid through the nozzle body. Additionally, it would be desirable to enhance droplet size formation and/or to minimize energy input while maintaining acceptably accurate droplet control.
The problems suggested in the preceding are not intended to be exclusive but rather are among many which may tend to reduce the effectiveness of prior art atomizing assemblies. Other noteworthy difficulties may also exist; however, those presented above should be sufficient to demonstrate that atomizing methods and apparatus appearing in the prior art have not been altogether completely satisfactory. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Conventionally, a printed circuit board, which is mainly utilized in electric equipment, has been made of fiberglass and epoxy resin, which is a sort of thermosetting resin. A method for recycling the printed circuit board according to a prior art has been available only for retrieving and recycling printed metallic material composing a printed circuit wiring. Therefore, after separating and retrieving the printed metallic material, residual insulating material and so on are only available for thermal energy by incinerating them, or bury in the ground as a waste.
In the above prior art, the printed metallic material is retrieved. However, the insulating material such as thermoplastic resin and the like composing a board material are not retrieved as reusable material, and this residual insulating material causes an increase of the waste. Therefore, this is an important requirement to reduce emission of the waste and carbon dioxide for the preservation of the environment on the earth. Also it is an important requirement to utilize the resources on the earth efficiently. In the present state of affairs, not only a manufacturer of a printed circuit board but also a manufacturer of electric equipment, which utilizes a printed circuit board, has a long-pending requirement to establish a method for recycling a printed circuit board so as to retrieve and to recycle both the printed metallic material and the insulating material.
Considering the above requirements, the object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus of recycling a printed circuit board so that both a printed metallic material and an insulating material composing a printed circuit board are separated and retrieved, and that those retrieved materials are available for recycling. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device and, more particularly, to a liquid crystal display device of active matrix type using thin film transistors or the like.
2. Prior Art
In a liquid crystal display device of active matrix type, non-linear device (e.g., switching devices) are disposed in a manner to correspond to a plurality of pixel electrodes arranged in matrix, respectively. The liquid crystal in each pixel is always drive, in principle, (at a duty ratio of 1.0). In comparison with the so-called “simple matrix type” which employs a time division driving system, therefore, the active system has better contrast and has become an indispensable technique particularly in a color liquid crystal display device. A typical example of the switching devices is a thin film transistor (TFT).
A liquid crystal display circuit (or a liquid crystal display panel) is constructed: by superposing a lower substrate, which is formed, over a lower transparent glass substrate with reference to a liquid crystal layer, sequentially with a thin film transistor, a transparent pixel electrode, a passivation film for the thin film transistor, and a lower orientation film for orienting liquid crystal molecules; and an upper substrate, which is formed over an upper transparent glass substrate sequentially with a black matrix, a color filter, a passivation film for the color filter, a common transparent pixel electrode and an upper orientation film, such that their orientation films are opposed to each other; by bonding the two substrates by a sealing material arranged around the edges of the substrates; and by sealing up the liquid crystals between the two substrates. Incidentally, a back light is arranged at the side of the lower substrate.
Here, the liquid crystal display device of active matrix type using the thin film transistors is known in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 309921/1988 or on pp. 193 to 210 of Nikkei Electronics entitled “Active Matrix Type Color Liquid Crystal Display of 12.5 Type Adopting Redundant Construction” and issued on Dec. 15, 1986 by NIKKEI McGRAW-HILL, for example. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
This invention pertains to the field of transmitters and in particular to transmitters which are used in a battery-powered communication devices.
Battery-operated communication devices, such as cellular telephones or portable two-way radios, are extensively used for aerial transmission of communication messages to other communication devices within a communication system. Such communication devices include transmitters having modulating circuitry for communication messages as well as a power amplifier for amplifying the modulated signals before transmission through an antenna.
Frequency modulated (FM) transmitters are conventionally used in a variety of communication devices. An FM transmitter generally includes a class C power amplifier which provides a constant output power when modulated, thus drawing a constant current from its battery. The class C power amplifiers provide higher efficiency at increased distortion which, as is well known in the prior art, does not significantly affect system performance in FM applications.
However, newly developed, time division, multiplexed (TDM) communication systems utilize linear modulation techniques, such as QPSK, or Quad QAM, rather than frequency modulation. A linear modulator requires highly distortionless power amplifiers for transmission of the communication signals. Generally, in these applications, class AB type power amplifiers are used which, as a result of operating below the saturation region, are less efficient than class C type amplifiers. The AB type amplifiers provide non-constant output power which may have a variance in transmitter output ranging from 3 dB to 7 dB. Thus, current drain from the battery is also non-constant and may reach peak points when maximum power is being delivered by the power amplifier.
Generally, a battery power supply performs best at room temperature by presenting a low impedance which allows optimum current to be delivered to the communication device. However, as the temperature decreases, a higher impedance is presented which, under heavy load currents, limits the voltage that can be supplied to the communication device. The inefficient peak current drain situations encountered using class AB type power amplifiers, therefore, may degrade performance of the communication device at low temperatures and cause spurious transmission failures.
Currently, power amplifiers are protected from excessive heat by reducing the output power when the ambient temperature exceeds a predetermined level. However, this approach is aimed at protecting the power amplifier and does not address the problem of energy delivering capability of the battery at very low temperatures.
In many systems it has been recognized that it is not necessary for a communication device to continuously transmit at maximum capable power. This recognition has been the basis for concepts such as "Turbo Power," where the communication device initially operates at less than full power, then increases it when needed. However, this approach also does not consider the effect of temperature on the energy-delivering capability of the battery supply. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Hard disk drives have become a dominant persistent data storage medium for computers since their introduction in the 1950's. The storage capacity of hard disk drives has steadily increased over the years while cost per unit of storage has decreased. For example, areal density of the magnetic disks has doubled every two to four years without significant increase in per-unit cost. As a result, hard disk drives continue to have advantages over competing storage technologies such as solid-state drives at least in terms of price per unit of storage.
New magnetic storage technologies are being developed to maintain this rate of areal density growth of hard disk drives. Some of these technologies include heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR), bit-patterned recording (BPR), shingled magnetic recording (SMR), and two-dimensional magnetic recording (TDMR). For these technologies, increased areal density will likely result in reduced track pitch, such that reading back data from the tracks becomes more challenging. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to an optical pickup and optical read/write apparatus which writes information on an optical storage medium such as an optical tape and read the information being written in parallel.
2. Description of the Related Art
An optical tape drive system which performs read and write operations on an optical tape medium using a plurality of optical pickups at the same time by utilizing a high density optical recording technique has been proposed as an optical read/write apparatus that can be used effectively for the purpose of bulk data archival and storage. Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2006-286070 (which will be referred to herein as “Patent Document No. 1” for convenience sake) discloses an example of such an optical tape drive system.
Meanwhile, in a conventional magnetic tape drive system, a write head and a read head are arranged separately with respect to a track on which data is going to be written. And by writing data and reading the data being written simultaneously, verification can be made to see if the data has been written just as intended. In this manner, high speed processing can get done with a sufficiently high degree of reliability ensured.
It is known that such a verify technology is also applicable to an optical read/write apparatus that is designed to read and write data from/on a disc medium such as a magneto-optical (MO) disc, a Blu-ray Disc (BD), a DVD or a CD using an optical pickup. According to such a technology, a light beam that has been emitted from a laser light source is split through a diffraction grating into a zero-order light beam and ±first-order light beams, with which a storage layer is irradiated. In this case, a write operation can be performed by irradiating the storage layer with the zero-order light beam and a verify operation can be performed by detecting the ±first-order light beams. Such a technology is called a DRAW (direct read after write) technology. According to such a technology, an error check can be made right after data has been written, and therefore, the processing can get done quickly and the transfer rate can be increased. A read/write apparatus that adopts the DRAW technology is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 6-162532 (which will be referred to herein as “Patent Document No. 2” for convenience sake), for example.
An optical read/write apparatus needs to perform a focus control and a tracking control appropriately during read and write operations. Particularly when an optical tape is used as an optical storage medium, the tracking control needs to be performed in accordance with the properties of the tracks of the optical tape, which are different from those of a normal optical disc.
Examples of known tracking control methods for optical disc drives include the push-pull (PP) method, the advanced push-pull (APP) method, and the correct far field (CFF) method, which are disclosed in Patent Document No. 2 and Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publications No. 8-306057 and No. 2000-306262 (which will be referred to herein as “Patent Documents Nos. 3 and 4”, respectively, for convenience sake), respectively.
However, none of these known optical read/write apparatuses can obtain a tracking signal that is suitably used in an optical storage medium such as an optical tape where the tracking position may change significantly during reading or writing.
Thus, the present disclosure provides an optical read/write apparatus that can stabilize the tracking performance even when dealing with an optical storage medium such as an optical tape where the track position may change significantly during the operation. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
The subject of the present invention is a connection device for an electronic box. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
The present invention pertains to the field of computer systems. More particularly, this invention pertains to the field of integrating a system management memory into a memory controller for a system management interrupt handler that is independent of both BIOS and operating system.
A large majority of today""s personal computer systems implement a system management interrupt (SMI). An SMI signal is asserted to a processor to alert the processor that an SMI event has occurred. The SMI signal is typically asserted to the processor by a system logic device that includes a memory controller. The system logic device may assert the SMI signal for any of a large number of possible reasons. For example, the SMI signal may be asserted if a system resource seeks access to a certain range of memory or to a particular input/output address. These memory and input/output addresses can be programmable via a set of registers that typically reside in the system logic device. The SMI signal may also be asserted if certain system events occur. For example, a computer system may be implemented with a variety of timers for timing a variety of system events. The SMI signal may be asserted if any of these timers expire.
An assertion of the SMI signal indicates to the processor that the processor should begin to fetch instructions from an address stored in one of the processor""s registers. This register is sometimes referred to as the system management memory base address register. The memory space located at the address indicated by the system management memory base address register may be referred to as system management memory (SMM). The SMM has stored therein an SMI handler routine. The SMI handler may be implemented to perform any of a wide variety of functions. For example, the SMI handler may perform power management functions, or may try to correct system malfunctions.
The SMM, and therefore the SMI handler, is under control of the computer system""s Basic Input/Output System (BIOS). The BIOS is typically designed and implemented by one of several BIOS software companies. The SMI handler is typically installed in the computer system during the system manufacturing process.
Often, there is a need to make changes to the SMI handler after the manufacturing process. One such situation can occur when a chipset manufacturer desires to provide a solution for an erratum or desires to either enable new features or disable old features. These desires can be met by altering the SMI handler. However, a chipset manufacturer""s product may be utilized in computer systems built by dozens of different computer system manufacturers. Further, these system manufacturers typically use any of a number of BIOS software companies to design and implement the SMI handler. Therefore, if the chipset manufacturer needs to have the SMI handlers modified, it must negotiate with many different parties to have the changes made. The chipset manufacturer may also try to negotiate with operating system vendors to have the operating systems implement the chipset manufacturer""s requests. Neither of these alternatives is desirable, in larger part to the large amount of time and effort required to perform the negotiations and to implement the chipset manufacturer""s requests. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
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