The present invention relates to semiconductor integrated circuits containing memory arrays, and particularly those arrays incorporating array lines having extremely small pitch, and more particularly those having a three-dimensional memory array.
Semiconductor integrated circuits have progressively reduced their feature linewidths into the deep sub-micron regime. Moreover, recent developments in certain memory cell technologies have resulted in word lines and bit line having an extremely small pitch. For example, certain passive element memory cell arrays may be fabricated having word lines approaching the minimum feature size (F) and minimum feature spacing for the particular word line interconnect layer, and also having bit lines approaching the minimum feature width and minimum feature spacing for the particular bit line interconnect layer. Moreover, three-dimensional memory arrays having more than one plane of memory cells have been fabricated containing such so-called 4F2 memory cells on each memory plane. Exemplary three-dimensional memory arrays are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,034,882 to Johnson, entitled “Vertically Stacked Field Programmable Nonvolatile Memory and Method of Fabrication.”
However, the area required for implementing decoder circuits for word lines and bit lines has not achieved such dramatic reductions. Consequently, interfacing the word line decoders and bit line decoders to such tightly spaced word lines and bit lines within such very dense arrays has become extremely difficult, and limits the density of memory arrays otherwise achievable. There remains a continued need for improved decoder structures capable of interfacing with large numbers of array lines having a very small pitch, and particularly if such array lines exist on more than one layer, as in a three-dimensional memory array having more than one plane or level of memory cells.
Additionally, integrated circuits incorporating a passive element memory array require a high-voltage and high-current programming voltage source due to the large number of leakage paths in the array and the high voltage required to program the element conductivity. The leakage current represents a significant portion of the power dissipation of such circuits during programming. There remains a need for improved performance of such circuits, reduced leakage currents when writing, and faster write time of a selected memory cell.


Refrigeration installations comprising a closed circuit in which a heat-transfer fluid (for example glycol water) is forced to circulate between capsules filled with phase-change material and stacked in a tank (made of steel or of concrete) and then led to the zone that is to be cooled (the technology referred to as “encapsulated PCM”) are known. The thinner the wall of the capsules the better the coefficient of heat transfer from the capsules to the heat-transfer fluid. During the phase referred to as the “store-charging” phase, the heat-transfer fluid, cooled by a refrigeration compressor, circulates through the tank at a temperature lower than the temperature at which the phase-change material contained in the capsules changes state and this has the effect of solidifying the phase-change material contained in the capsules and therefore of storing a certain amount of refrigeration energy. During the phase referred to as the “store discharging” phase, the heat-transfer fluid circulates through the tank and, upon contact with the capsules filled with the solidified PCM, picks up stored refrigeration energy and transfers it to the zone that is to be cooled. This circulation causes the phase-change material in the capsules to melt progressively, which means that the phase-change material has to be returned periodically to the solid state (something which is done during the store-charging phases).
Certain phase-change materials, notably water, occupy a greater volume in the solid state than in the liquid state and it is important for the capsule to be able to absorb this increase in volume without sustaining damage. One immediate solution is to partially fill the capsule with the phase-change material, the remainder of the volume being occupied by air and forming a free volume that can be gradually occupied as the phase-change material solidifies, at the expense of an increase in pressure in the capsule. Although simple to implement, this solution has the disadvantage of causing the thin wall of the capsule to stretch in a zone of weaker strength, and of allowing the casing of the capsule to deform by forming a dished shape in a zone of lesser strength of the casing under the effect of the pressure of the heat-transfer fluid.
The repeated nature of these deformations causes weakening of the casing which may ultimately yield.
Document FR2609536 describes a capsule completely filled with phase-change material and comprising a flexible casing which has hollow dished shapes that can be pushed back by the phase-change material as it solidifies, thereby allowing an increase in the internal volume of the capsule. As before, the repeated nature of the deformations of the casing ultimately weakens the latter.
Document FR2732453 itself describes a capsule with a thin and rigid casing containing a spherical absorption body held at the center of the capsule and occupying part of the internal volume of the capsule. The internal volume of the capsule, which is therefore decreased by the volume of the absorption body itself, is completely filled with phase-change material. The absorption body is compressible and therefore able to be compressed by the phase-change material as it solidifies so as to absorb the increase in volume of said material. The spherical shape of the expansion body associated with the spherical shape of the capsule leads the phase-change material to solidify from the periphery toward the center of the capsule without flowing, thereby avoiding the creation of detrimental internal stresses. However, fitting such an absorption body at the center of the capsule and keeping it there are tricky.


1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of medical equipment for respiratory therapy and more specifically to the user interface for a ventilator used for monitoring and controlling the breathing of a patient.
2. Description of the Related Art
Modern patient ventilators are designed to ventilate a patient's lungs with breathing gas, and to thereby assist a patient when the patient's ability to breathe on his own is somehow impaired. As research has continued in the field of respiration therapy, a wide range of ventilation strategies have been developed. For example, pressure assisted ventilation is a strategy often available in patient ventilators and includes the supply of pressure assistance when the patient has already begun an inspiratory effort. With such a strategy, it is desirable to immediately increase the pressure after a breath is initiated in order to reach a target airway pressure for the pressure assistance. This rise in pressure in the patient airway which supplies breathing gas to the patient's lungs allows the lungs to be filled with less work of breathing by the patent. Conventional pressure assisted ventilator systems typically implement a gas flow control strategy of stabilizing pressure support after a target pressure is reached to limit patient airway pressure. Such a strategy also can include programmed reductions in the patient airway pressure after set periods of the respiratory cycle in order to prepare for initiation of the next patient breath.
As patient ventilator systems and their various components, including sensors and control systems, have become more sophisticated, and more understanding is gained about the physiology of breathing and the infirmities and damage which form the requirements for respiratory therapy, the number of variables to be controlled and the timing and interrelationships between the parameters have begun to confront the caregiver with a daunting number of alternative therapeutic alternatives and ventilator settings. Also, in such a complex environment, the interface between the ventilator and the caregiver has often not been adaptable to the capabilities of the operator, thus running the chance of either limiting the choices available to a sophisticated user or allowing a relatively less sophisticated user to chose poorly from the alternatives presented. Thus, it would be beneficial if a ventilator interface guided the user through the setup or therapy modification process, illustrating the relationship between changes, preventing incorrect or dangerous settings and sounding alarms or other audible indications of invalid settings when something is about to done that exceeds limits, but also allowing the advanced and sophisticated user to gain access to the full range of ventilator capabilities through an interface which both presents the various parameters and allows the visualization of their relationships.
Clinical treatment of a ventilated patient often requires that the breathing characteristics of the patient be monitored to detect changes in the breathing patterns of the patient. Many modern ventilators allow the visualization of patient breathing patterns and ventilator function and the caregiver adjusts the settings of the ventilator to fine tune the respiratory strategy being performed to assist the patient's breathing. However, these systems have been, up until now, relatively difficult to use by the unsophisticated user unless a limited number of options are selected. For example, in one prior art system, only a single respiratory parameter may be altered at a time. Moreover, the various respiratory parameters must often be entered into the ventilator controller in a prescribed order, or, where no order is prescribed, certain orders of entry should be avoided, otherwise the intermediate state of the machine before entry of the remaining parameters may not be appropriate for the patient. This inflexible approach to ventilator setup requires additional time and training if the user is to quickly and efficiently use the ventilator in a critical care environment.
Previous systems have also been deficient in that it is often difficult to determine the underlying fault that has caused an alarms to be sounded, and what controls or settings should be adjusted to cure the problem causing the alarm. For example, prior alarm systems have consisted of nothing more than a blinking display or light with an alarm to alert the user that a problem existed. Similarly, many prior art systems provided only limited assistance to a user or technician in setting the parameters to be used during treatment. For example, if a technician attempted to enter a setting that was inappropriate for the patient because of body size or for some other reason, the only alarm provided may have been an auditory indication that the value was not permitted, but no useful information was provided to assist the technician in entering an appropriate setting.
One problem consistently presented by prior art ventilator control systems has been that the user interface has offered relatively little to guide and inform the user during the setup and use of the ventilator. Prior systems typically utilized a single visual display of the operating parameters of the ventilator and sensed patient parameters. Alternatively, prior systems may have numerous fixed numeric displays, certain of which may not be applicable during all ventilation therapies. Even when more than one display has been provided, users typically received limited feedback, if any, from the control system indicating the effect that changing one particular setting had on the overall respiratory strategy. If a parameter was to be adjusted, the display would change to display that particular parameter upon actuation of the appropriate controls, and allow entry of a value for that parameter. However, the user was provided with no visual cue as to how the change in the parameter value would effect the overall ventilation strategy, and thus had no assistance in determining whether the value entered for the parameter was appropriate for the patient.
What has been needed and heretofore unavailable in patient ventilators is a user friendly graphic interface that provides for simultaneous monitoring and adjustment of the various parameters comprising a respiratory strategy. Such an interface would also preferably guide sophisticated users in implementing ventilation therapies, provide guidance on the relationships between parameters as they are adjusted, allow rapid return to safe operation in the event that an undesirable strategy was inadvertently entered, provide alarms that are easily understood and corrected and present all of the relevant information in an easily understood and graphic interface. The present invention fulfills these and other needs.


Aspects of the disclosure relate to computer hardware and software. In particular, one or more aspects of the disclosure generally relate to computer hardware and software that can be used to provide an Internet edge cleansing farm.
Cyber attacks have become more prevalent and have had increasingly negative consequences over today's modern Internet network. Organizations that service customer requests over the Internet at a large scale are candidates for cyber attackers of the modern age. In particular, denial of service attacks are readily used and cyber attackers have found some success with this strategy. Mitigation tactics have been used to deter cyber attackers from implementing denial of service attacks. However, at times, confidential information is passed between organizations and customers. Accordingly, there is a need to mitigate against cyber attacks when confidential information may be involved in the communications between organizations and customers. In addition, cyber attackers are highly agile and adapt well. Accordingly, there is also a need for an adaptable mitigation strategy against cyber attacks.


The present invention relates to a nematic liquid crystal composition and, more specifically, relates to a liquid crystal composition for active matrix (AM) mode and to a liquid crystal display device (LCD) using the liquid crystal composition.
An active matrix mode-liquid crystal display devices (AM-LCD) is attracting a great deal of attention as the likely winner among LCD""s as it enable to display with extreme precision, and is applied for displays such as monitors, note-type personal computers, digital still cameras and digital video cameras. Characteristics required for the liquid crystal composition of AM-LCD are shown in the items (1) to (5) below.
(1) A liquid crystal composition should show a nematic phase in the range of temperature as wide as possible in order to widen the usable temperature range of the liquid crystal display devices (elevating the upper temperature limit of a nematic phase as high as possible, and lowering the lower temperature limit of a nematic phase as low as possible).
(2) Viscosity of the liquid crystal composition should be as low as possible in order to accelerate the response speed of the liquid crystal display device.
(3) Optical anisotropy (xcex94n) of the liquid crystal composition should be able to have a proper value depending on the cell thickness (d) in order to enhance the contrast of the liquid crystal display device.
(4) Values of specific resistivity (specific resistance) on the liquid crystal composition should be increased and the voltage holding ratio of the cell containing the liquid crystal composition should be large, in order to enhance the contrast of the liquid crystal display device. The voltage holding ratio should be large especially at a high temperature region.
(5) Threshold voltage of the liquid crystal composition should be lowered in order to downsize the battery which is the power source to drive liquid crystal display device.
Recently it has been requested keenly to apply for an animation in the LCD and various LCD display modes have been studied. The addressing mode of the AM-LCD employs TN display mode in which the orientation of liquid crystal molecules between the upper and lower substrates is twisted by 900xc2x0. In the TN display mode, it is necessary to keep the product, xcex94nxc2x7d, of optical anisotropy (xcex94n) of a liquid crystal material to be filled in a cell and cell thickness (d xcexcm) at a certain value (for example xcex94nxc2x7d=0.5 etc.) in order to obtain an optimum contrast and to avoid coloration by the interference of the liquid crystal cell when no voltage is applied, as reported by G.Bauer (Cryst. Liq., 63, 45 (1981)). Therefore, if the liquid crystal material having large xcex94n is used, the value of d can be decreased. Response speed (xcfx84) is proportional to viscosity (xcex7) of the liquid crystal material and to d squared, as proposed by E. Jakeman et al. (Phys. Lett. , A, 39 (1972) 69). When the liquid crystal material having large xcex94n is used, the thickness of cell constituting liquid crystal display device can be decreased, and thus xcfx84 can be increased. As such, the liquid crystal composition having large xcex94n and low viscosity is very useful for the liquid crystal display devices.
Also the development of the display intended for outdoor use has been requested with the increase of a portable type display. For being bearable in the outdoor use, materials are requested to have a nematic phase over the wide range of temperature exceeding the temperature range-of environment in use. To widen a nematic phase range of the liquid crystal composition, it is necessary to use liquid crystal compounds having a high clearing point and good miscibility with other liquid crystal compounds. Generally, a compound having a high clearing point, namely having many six member-rings in the chemical structure may be used for elevating the clearing point. However, miscibility at a low temperature region may tend to be a problem in such case.
It is also requested the liquid crystal composition with high reliability such as a high voltage holding ratio (V.H.R.) or large specific resistivity in order to keep a high contrast especially in the AM-LCD.
Based on the background described above, the specification of WO 96/11897 discloses a novel liquid crystal compound having large dielectric anisotropy (xcex94n) together with extremely low viscosity and disclosed a liquid crystal composition comprising the compound for low voltage driving in various modes such as a AM mode or a super twisted nematic mode (STN mode). JP 10-251186 A describes a compound similar to the compound of formula (1-3) in the present invention as the compound having large xcex94xcex5 and small temperature dependence.
The liquid crystal composition for the AM-LCD disclosed in WO 96/11897 described above (the composition does not contain compounds having cyano in the terminal, and compounds having cyano can not be used for the liquid crystal composition of the AM-LCD because of its low voltage holding ratio) has drawbacks that the V.H.R. is low and optical anisotropy is low as is shown in the Comparative Example of the present invention.
JP 10-251186 A discloses a composition using the compound similar to that of formulae (1-1) to (1-3) of the present invention, however, the similar compound has large and positive xcex94xcex5. When such compound is used, viscosity of the composition is increased. Then, the compound has a drawback of low response speed in the LCD. The similar compound has a drawback that xcex94n is small and that a high voltage holding ratio required for the composition of TFT can not be attained by the combination of a cyano compound.
Although liquid crystal compositions were studied, the liquid crystal composition for AM-LCD has been required especially to keep a high voltage holding ratio at a high temperature region in order to enhance the contrast of the liquid crystal display device, to have a wide range of a liquid crystal phase in order to have a wide addressing temperature range, and to have low viscosity in order to accelerate response speed, while maintaining the characteristics (1) to (5) described above. Enlarging xcex94n has also been requested by the requirement being smaller cell gap.
The liquid crystal composition has been always required to be improved though enthusiastic efforts are made for various purposes.
The object of the present invention is to provide a liquid crystal composition especially having a high voltage holding ratio at a high temperature region in order to enhance the contrast of a liquid crystal display device, having a wide range of a liquid crystal phase which means a high clearing point and good miscibility at low temperature, having low viscosity in order to accelerate response speed of the liquid crystal display device, and having properly large xcex94n in order to enhance the contrast in the liquid crystal display device, while satisfying general characteristics required for the liquid crystal composition of the AM-LCD.
The present inventors have made enthusiastic efforts to achieve the above object, have found the liquid crystal composition described below can achieve the purpose of the present invention, and have completed the present invention.
The liquid crystal composition of the present invention is described in the items 1 to 4 below.
1. A liquid crystal composition characterized by comprising at least one compound selected from the group of compounds expressed by formulae (1-1), (1-2) and (1-3) as a first component and comprising at least one compound selected from the group of compounds expressed by formulae (2-1), (2-2), (2-3), (2-4), (2-5), and (2-6) as a second component.
xe2x80x83wherein R1 to R9 each independently represents alkyl or alkoxy having 1 to 10 carbon, alkenyl or alkoxymethyl having 2 to 10 carbon; R10 to R12 each independently represents alkyl or alkoxy having 1 to 10 carbon, alkenyl or alkoxymethyl having 2 to 10 carbon, F, Cl, CF3, OCF3, or OCF2H; X1 to X6 each independently represents F, CF3, OCF3, OCF2H or Cl; Y1 to Y11 each independently represents H or F; Z1 to Z4 each independently represents a single bond or xe2x80x94C2H4xe2x80x94.
2. The liquid crystal composition described in the item 1 described above characterized by comprising 3 to 45% by weight of the first component, and comprising 25 to 97% by weight of a second component each based on the total weight of the liquid crystal composition.
3. A liquid crystal composition comprising at least one compound selected from the group of compounds expressed by formulae (1-1) to (1-3) as a first component, comprising at least one compound selected from the group of compounds expressed by formulae (2-1) to (2-6) as a second component, and comprising at least one compound selected from the group of compounds expressed by formula (3) as a third component
xe2x80x83wherein R13 and R14 each independently represents alkyl having 1 to 10 carbon.
4. The liquid crystal composition in the item 3 described above characterized by comprising 3 to 45% by weight of the first component, comprising 25 to 97% by weight of the second component, and comprising 25% and less by weight of the third component each based on the total weight of the liquid crystal composition.
The liquid crystal display device of the present invention is described in the item 5 below.
5. The liquid crystal display device composed by using the liquid crystal composition in any one of the items 1 to 4 described above.
Followings are explanation of preferable embodiments of compounds constituting the liquid crystal composition of the present invention.
Among the compounds expressed by formula (1-1) as the first component of the liquid crystal composition of the present invention, the compounds expressed by formulae (1-1-1) to (1-1-12) in the following are preferably used. In these formulae, R and Rxe2x80x2 each independently represents alkyl or alkoxy having 1 to 10 carbon, or alkoxymethyl or alkenyl having 2 to 10 carbon.
Among the compounds expressed by formula (1-2) as the first component of the liquid crystal composition of the present invention, the compounds expressed by formulae (1-2-1) to (1-2-12) in the following are preferably used. In these formulae, R and Rxe2x80x2 each independently represents alkyl or alkoxy having 1 to 10 carbon, or alkoxymethyl or alkenyl having 2 to 10 carbon.
Among the compounds expressed by formula (1-3) as the first component of the liquid crystal composition of the present invention, the compounds expressed by formulae (1-3-1) to (1-3-12) in the following are preferably used. In these formulae, R and Rxe2x80x2 each independently represents alkyl or alkoxy having 1 to 10 carbon, or alkoxymethyl or alkenyl having 2 to 10 carbon.
Among the compounds expressed by formula (2-1) as the second component of the liquid crystal composition of the present invention, the compounds expressed by formulae (2-1-1) to (2-1-30) in the following are preferably used. In these formulae, each R independently represents alkyl or alkoxy having 1 to 10 carbon, or alkoxymethyl or alkenyl having 2 to 10 carbon.
Among the compounds expressed by formula (2-2) as the second component of the liquid crystal composition of the present invention, the compounds expressed by formulae (2-2-1) to (2-2-40) in the following are preferably used. In these formulae, each R independently represents alkyl or alkoxy having 1 to 10 carbon, or alkoxymethyl or alkenyl having 2 to 10 carbon.
Among the compounds expressed by formula (2-3) as the second component of the liquid crystal composition of the present invention, the compounds expressed by formulae (2-3-1) to (2-3-20) are preferably used. In these formulae, each R independently represents alkyl or alkoxy having 1 to 10 carbon, or alkoxymethyl or alkenyl having 2 to 10 carbon.
Among the compounds expressed by formula (2-4) as the second component of the liquid crystal composition of the present invention, the compounds expressed by formulae (2-4-1) to (2-4-9) are preferably used. In these formulae, each R independently represents alkyl or alkoxy having 1 to 10 carbon, or alkoxymethyl or alkenyl having 2 to 10 carbon.
Among the compounds expressed by formula (2-5) as the second component of the liquid crystal composition of the present invention, the compounds expressed by formulae (2-5-1) to (2-5-9) in the following are preferably used. In these formulae, each R independently represents alkyl or alkoxy having 1 to 10 carbon, or alkoxymethyl or alkenyl having 2 to 10 carbon.
Among the compounds expressed by formula (2-6) as the second component of the liquid crystal composition of the present invention, the compounds expressed by formulae (2-6-1) to (2-6-9) are preferably used. In these formulae, each R independently represents alkyl or alkoxy having 1 to 10 carbon, or alkoxymethyl or alkenyl having 2 to 10 carbon.
Followings are explanation on the role of compounds constituting the liquid crystal composition of the present invention.
The compounds expressed by formulae (1-1) to (1-3), which are the first component of the liquid crystal composition of the present invention, has features of a very large xcex94n being about 0.13 to 0.25, of relatively small xcex7 being 20 to 60 mPaxc2x7s compared with other three or four ring-compounds, and of a large value of specific resistivity. For this reason, the compounds expressed by formulae (1-1) to (1-3) of the present invention are used for the purpose to enlarge xcex94n, to minimize xcex7, and to adjust threshold voltage, while maintaining a high voltage holding ratio of the liquid crystal composition at a high temperature region. As the compounds expressed by formulae (1-1) and (1-2) have four rings and have very high TNI (the upper temperature limit of a liquid crystal phase) being 100xc2x0 C. to 180xc2x0 C., the liquid crystal compositions having a high TNI can be prepared by the use of these four ring-compounds.
The compounds expressed by formulae (2-1) to (2-6), which are the second component of the present invention, have features of large xcex94n being about 0.03 to 0.18, of large xcex94xcex5 being about 6 to 32, and of a large value of specific resistivity. For this reason, the compounds expressed by formulae (2-1) to (2-6) of the present invention are used for the purpose to keep large xcex94n, to widen a range of a liquid crystal phase, and to adjust threshold voltage lower, while maintaining a high voltage holding ratio of the liquid crystal composition at a high temperature region.
For further detailed explanation, the compounds expressed by formula (2-1), which are the second component of the present invention, have three rings and have xcex94n being about 0.03 to 0.10 and a large xcex94xcex5 value being about 6 to 13. They also have features of relatively small xcex7 and high specific resistivity. For this reason, the compounds expressed by formula (2-1) of the present invention are used for the purpose to decrease xcex7, and especially to adjust threshold voltage and xcex94n, while maintaining a high voltage holding ratio of the liquid crystal composition at a high temperature region.
The compounds expressed by formula (2-2), which are the second component of the present invention, have three rings and have relatively large xcex94n being about 0.10 to 0.14 and a large value of xcex94xcex5 being about 9 to 18. They also have features of relatively small xcex7 and high specific resistivity. For this reason, the compounds expressed by formula (2-2) of the present invention are used for the purpose to minimize xcex7, to keep An relatively large, and especially to adjust threshold voltage being small, while maintaining a high voltage holding ratio of liquid crystal composition at a high temperature region.
The compounds expressed by formula (2-3), which are the second component of the present invention, have four rings and have extremely a high TNI (the upper temperature limit of a liquid crystal phase) of 180xc2x0 C. or higher. They also have relatively large xcex94n being about 0.13 to 0.16 and relatively large xcex94xcex5 being about 10 to 14. Further they have features of relatively small xcex7 and high specific resistivity. For this reason, the compounds expressed by formula (2-3) of the present invention are used for the purpose to elevate the upper temperature limit of a liquid crystal phase of the liquid crystal composition, to keep xcex94n relatively large, and especially to adjust threshold voltage, while maintaining a high voltage holding ratio of the liquid crystal composition at a high temperature region.
The compounds expressed by formula (2-4), which are the second component of the present invention, have three rings and have considerably large xcex94xcex5 being 15 to 32 and xcex94n being about 0.05 to 0.09. They also have features of a large value of specific resistivity. For this reason, the compounds expressed by formula (2-4) of the present invention are used especially to reduce threshold voltage, while maintaining a high voltage holding ratio of the liquid crystal composition at a high temperature region.
The compounds expressed by formula (2-5), which are the second component of the present invention, have three rings and have considerably large xcex94xcex5 of about 15 to 32 and relatively a large value of xcex94n being about 0.1 to 0.15. They also have features of high specific resistivity. For this reason, the compounds expressed by formula (2-5) of the present invention are used especially to enlarge xcex94n and to reduce threshold voltage, while maintaining a high voltage holding ratio of the liquid crystal composition at a high temperature region.
The compounds expressed by formula (2-6), which are the second component of the present invention, have four rings and have extremely high TNI being about 100xc2x0 C. to 130xc2x0 C., considerably large xcex94xcex5 being about 15 to 30 and relatively a large value of xcex94n being about 0.14 to 0.18. They also they have features of a large value of specific resistivity. For this reason, the compounds expressed by formula (2-6) of the present invention are used to elevate the upper temperature limit of a liquid crystal phase, and especially to enlarge xcex94n and to reduce threshold voltage, while maintaining a high voltage holding ratio of the liquid crystal composition at a high temperature region.
The compounds expressed by formula (3), which are the third component of the present invention, have features of xcex94xcex5 being close to 0, of a large value of specific resistivity, of extremely large xcex94n of 0.2 or more which is extremely large, and of a high upper temperature limit of a nematic phase being 250xc2x0 C. or more. For this reason, the compounds expressed by formula (3) of the present invention are used for the purpose to elevate the upper temperature limit of a nematic phase, to adjust threshold voltage, and to enlarge xcex94n considerably, while maintaining a high voltage holding ratio of the liquid crystal composition at a high temperature region.
Summarizing the above, the liquid crystal composition of the present invention has features widening the range of a liquid crystal phase, especially minimizing xcex7 and enlarging xcex94n, while keeping a high upper temperature limit of the liquid crystal phase of the liquid crystal composition based on the first component, and further adjusting the range of the liquid crystal phase, xcex94n, and threshold voltage based on the second component.
Followings are explanation on preferable ratios in the contents of components which constitute the liquid crystal composition of the present invention.
The content of the first component in the liquid crystal composition of the present invention is preferably 3 to 45% by weight and the content of the second component therein is preferably 25 to 97% by weight each based on the total weight of the liquid crystal composition.
For further detailed explanation, the compounds expressed by formulae (1-1) to (1-3) are desirable to be mixed into the composition as much as possible to enlarge xcex94n and to minimize xcex7. However, they may elevate the lower temperature limit of a nematic phase of the liquid crystal composition if they are contained too much in the composition. For this reason, the compounds expressed by formulae (1-1) to (1-3), which are the first component of the present invention, are preferably 45% by weight and less based on the total weight of the liquid crystal composition. The ratio of the first component of the present invention in the liquid crystal composition is preferably 3% or more by weight to enlarge xcex94n, to widen the range of a liquid crystal phase, and to minimize xcex7, while maintaining a high voltage holding ratio of the liquid crystal composition at a high temperature region.
The compounds expressed by formulae (2-1) to (2-6), which are the second component of the present invention, may lower the upper temperature limit of a nematic phase of the liquid crystal composition, increase xcex7, and lower xcex94n, when they are contained in the composition in large quantities. For this reason, the ratio of the compounds expressed by formulae (2-1) to (2-6), which are the second component of the present invention, is preferably 97% and less by weight based on the total weight of the liquid crystal composition. The ratio of the second component in the liquid crystal composition is preferably 25% or more by weight to keep low threshold voltage and to lower the lower temperature limit of a nematic phase, while maintaining a high voltage holding ratio of the liquid crystal composition at a high temperature region.
The compounds expressed by formula (3), which are the third component of the present invention, may elevate the lower temperature limit of a nematic phase of the liquid crystal composition and may increase the threshold voltage because their xcex94xcex5 are close to 0, when they are contained in the composition in large quantities. For this reason, the ratio of compounds expressed by formula (3) of the present invention is preferably 25% and less by weight based on the total weight of the liquid crystal composition.
The method of the preparation on the compounds expressed by formula (1-3) of the present invention, for example, that on the compounds expressed by formula (1-3-2) is described in JP 10-251186 A. On the compounds expressed by formulae (2-1), (2-2) and (2-3), for example, those expressed by formulae (2-1-16), (2-2-11) and (2-3-12), the method of their preparation is described in JP 2-233626 A. On the compounds expressed by formulae (2-4), (2-5) and (2-6) of the present invention, for example, those expressed by formulae (2-4-5), (2-5-5) and (2-6-5), the method of their preparation is described JP 10-251186 A. On the compounds expressed by formula (3), the method of their preparation is described in JP 2-237949 A. Then, each compound constituting the composition of the present invention can be prepared based on prior arts.
To the liquid crystal composition of the present invention, liquid crystal compounds other than those expressed by formulae described above can be mixed in the amount not affecting the object of the present invention. The liquid crystal composition used in the present invention can be prepared by the conventional methods. In general, the method is that various compounds are mixed and dissolved each other at a high temperature. To the liquid crystal composition of the present invention, chiral doping agents such as cholesteryl nonanoate (CN) or CM-43L expressed by the following formula may be added in order to adjust to the required twist angle by inducing the spiral structure to liquid crystal molecules.
The liquid crystal composition of the present invention can also be used for a guest-host mode by adding dichroic dyes such as phthalocyanine type, styril type, azo type, azomethine type, azoxy type, quinophthalone type, anthraquinone type and tetrazine type. It can also be used for a polymer-dispersed type liquid crystal display device, a birefringence control mode or a dynamic scattering mode. It can also be used for in-plane switching mode. Further, it is preferable for OCB mode utilizing its large xcex94n.


Thermal-magnetic trip units used within residential and commercial molded case circuit breakers are generally limited by geometric considerations from providing low current magnetic trip response. U.S. Pat. No. 4,513,268 describes a residential type molded case circuit breaker incorporating a thermal-magnetic trip unit in accordance with the prior art. U.S. Pat. No. 4,951,015 describes a movable core that is designed to move into the gap existing between the core and armature of a magnetic trip unit to reduce the primary air gap and increase the magnetic flux. The movable core effectively allows the circuit breaker to trip at lower current levels. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,179,767, 3,278,707 and 3,278,708 each describe the use of an additional turn of wire around the magnet used within the thermal-magnetic trip unit to increase the magnetic forces on the armature at low currents.
Additionally, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 841,182 entitled "Thermal-Magnetic Trip Unit with Low Current Response" now U.S, Pat. No. 5,173,674 describes a molded case circuit breaker trip unit employing a pivotally-arranged magnet that moves unit employing a pivotally-arranged magnet that moves toward the armature to reduce the magnetic gap separation distance.
The aforementioned thermal-magnetic trip assemblies are found to add to the materials and assembly costs of the residential circuit breakers employing thermal-magnetic trip units.
The addition of supplemental magnets and armatures correspondingly increases the manufacturing tolerances that must be carefully controlled to insure compliance with the relevant industry standards.
One purpose of the invention accordingly is to provide a thermal-magnetic trip unit providing low current magnetic trip response with automatic tolerance compensation at relatively low cost.


1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to anchoring arrangements for floating structures and more particularly to anchoring arrangements for floating structures such as converted tankers.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The traditional anchoring arrangements comprising any of the known types of anchors cater to the anchoring requirements of seagoing vessels and other floating structures, for example, tankers, which are either at a dock or a harbor. Occasionally, certain conventional anchoring arrangements are used to anchor vessels in the open sea. However, it is known that conventional anchoring will not be very effective if the floating structure or vessel is in high seas, especially when it is required to connect a transfer hose or an underwater transfer tube carrying a fluid, for example oil or gas, to the floating vessel. Even with anchoring, a certain degree of shifting of the floating structure, or even a certain degree of rotation of the floating structure, might occur in high seas. At least one consequence of such shifting or rotation is that the transfer hose, for example, tends to get damaged or even disconnected, causing serious consequences. The problem is especially serious in the case of ocean vessels such as converted tankers in high seas wherein there is need for having at least a transfer tube constantly connected to the tanker through the ocean water, invariably to the sea bed or the shore or another vessel. Certain structural arrangements have been used heretofore to cater to the needs of stably and permanently anchoring converted tankers, simultaneously making provision for a transfer pipe or tube connected between the tanker and the sea bed. However, prior art arrangements have always required a significant mass of steel to fabricate the underwater anchoring structure, consequently rendering the equipment expensive from the poin the view of installation and maintenance. Furthermore, it has been found that it is desirable to provide an underwater means which permits relative rotary movement between the tanker superstructure and the anchoring arrangement to make a provision for oscillatory and rotary swaying movements of the tanker superstructure in high seas. Preferably, the underwater means should have a pivot bearing mechanism to easily permit such movement. Also, it is desirable that there should be easy access for maintenance personnel to reach at least part of the bearing mechanism to attend to maintenance and replacement work, preferably in a dry atmosphere. Such facilities are not available in any known prior art anchoring arrangement.
There is, therefore, a great need for an anchoring arrangement devoid of the disadvantages and limitations of prior art and including the more desirable features which are discussed above.
There is also a great need for an anchoring and transfer system which is low in cost and can be installed in a converted tanker using only minimum labor, wherein only a small working area is required at the anchorage. There is also a need for an anchoring arrangement including a transfer system wherein there is excellent accessibility to the anchoring apparatus, and wherein the fluid transfer system is weatherproof, and protected against collision.


Minerals are essential elements for the growth of all organisms. Dietary minerals can be derived from many source materials, including plants. For example, plant seeds are a rich source of minerals since they contain ions that are complexed with the phosphate groups of phytic acid molecules. These phytate-associated minerals may, in some cases, meet the dietary needs of some species of farmed organisms, such as multi-stomached ruminants. Accordingly, in some cases ruminants require less dietary supplementation with inorganic phosphate and minerals because microorganisms in the rumen produce enzymes that catalyze conversion of phytate (myo-inositol-hexaphosphate) to inositol and inorganic phosphate. In the process, minerals that have been complexed with phytate are released. The majority of species of farmed organisms, however, are unable to efficiently utilize phytate-associated minerals. Thus, for example, in the livestock production of monogastric animals (e.g., pigs, birds, and fish), feed is commonly supplemented with minerals and/or with antibiotic substances that alter the digestive flora environment of the consuming organism to enhance growth rates.
As such, there are many problematic burdens—related to nutrition, ex vivo processing steps, health and medicine, environmental conservation, and resource management—that are associated with an insufficient hydrolysis of phytate in many applications. The following are non-limiting examples of these problems:                1) The supplementation of diets with inorganic minerals is a costly expense.        2) The presence of unhydrolyzed phytate is undesirable and problematic in many ex vivo applications (e.g. by causing the presence of unwanted sludge).        3) The supplementation of diets with antibiotics poses a medical threat to humans and animals alike by increasing the abundance of antibiotic-tolerant pathogens.        4) The discharge of unabsorbed fecal minerals into the environment disrupts and damages the ecosystems of surrounding soils, fish farm waters, and surface waters at large.        5) The valuable nutritional offerings of many potential foodstuffs remain significantly untapped and squandered.
Consequently, phytate-containing foodstuffs require supplementation with exogenous nutrients and/or with a source of phytase activity in order to amend their deficient nutritional offerings upon consumption by a very large number of species of organisms.
Consequently, there is a need for means to achieve efficient and cost effective hydrolysis of phytate in various applications. Particularly, there is a need for means to optimize the hydrolysis of phytate in commercial applications. In a particular aspect, there is a need to optimize commercial treatment methods that improve the nutritional offerings of phytate-containing foodstuffs for consumption by humans and farmed animals.


Macronutrients (N, K, Ca, Mg, P, and S) and Micronutrients (Fe, B, Mn, Zn, Cu, Mo, Co, and Ni) are crucial to a plant's growth, development, disease resistance and various metabolic pathways such as photosynthesis. Plant available micronutrient insufficiencies are due to traditional farming methods that have exhausted the soil and to the micronutrient metals existing as water insoluble salts and complexes. Many of the water insoluble forms in the soil involve a metal cation and boron, sulfur, or phosphorous based anions. A deficiency in micronutrients results in poor plant growth and development and thus in diminished yields (Mortvedt 1990). Plant requirements for many of the micronutrients can be as low as parts/million in the plant tissue. It is known that increasing the plant available micronutrient metal ions by addition of complexed metal ions to the soil or to plant foliage or by freeing up micronutrients, bound in the soil as an insoluble salts or complexes, in a plant absorbable form can help to significantly alleviate soil deficiencies and assist in development, growth, and disease resistance of the plants.
Phosphorous is second to nitrogen as the most limiting macronutrient. In the case of phosphorus fertilizer, 40% of landscape soil is considered to contain inadequate levels of phosphorus for woody plant growth. Moreover, most of the phosphorus in the soil is largely inaccessible as it exists in a form that is not soluble in water and thus is not readily available to plants. In some cases, only 0.01% of the total soil phosphorus is in the form of a water soluble ion, the only form which can be absorbed by the plant. Adequate and accessible soil phosphorus is essential for optimal crop yields. Phosphorus enables a plant to store and transfer energy, promotes root, flower and fruit development, and allows early maturity. Phosphorus is also involved in many processes critical to plant development such as photosynthesis where plants utilize organic phosphorous compounds when converting sunlight to energy. Without enough phosphorus present in the soil, plants cannot grow sufficient root structure, which is key to the plant's ability to absorb water and nutrients from the soil. Moreover, woody plants, without sufficient root structure cannot maintain an equilibrium between roots and shoots, which is key to surviving drought, windy weather, and/or pests. Many of the nutrients required by plants are locked into salts and complexes that are water insoluble and therefore not plant available. To overcome these challenges, the agriculture industry has turned to chelates and anionic based polymers to form water soluble complexes with metal cations such as the micronutrients Ca, Mg, Mn, Fe, Cu, Co Ni, Zn, and Mo resulting in freeing up bound macronutrients such as phosphorous. The current delivery system technology of the chelates and polymer based products is water. Water is not only an excellent solubilizing/dispersing medium for chelates and [P(OA)]s, but can solvate a high load of water soluble metal salts. However, the use of water soluble metal salts can form insoluble complexes with chemistries that allow them to be available in the soil but unavailable to the plant.
Coating a fertilizer with water based products can result in severe clumping of the fertilizer granules during blending, or gelling of the [P(OA)]s due to high electrolyte content caused by the fertilizer granule dissolving into the water. Clumping has a negative impact on its effectiveness to complex with metal cations, and/or it requires a drying step for seed coatings to prevent pre-mature sprouting or the growth of mold and mildew, which ultimately destroys the seeds. The use of aqueous based systems also has a deleterious impact on the urease inhibitor NBPT. The agricultural industry needs a technology that is able to easily, safely, evenly, and economically coat fertilizer granules and seeds with non-aqueous, liquid formulations that contain [P(OA)]s that can form water soluble metal cation complexes and free up bound macronutrients such as phosphorous.


A furnace, a reaction column, a heat exchanger, and so on of, for example, a hydrodesulfurization apparatus are exposed to fluids containing high-temperature sulfides during the operation, whereby iron sulfide is formed on the surface thereof. This iron sulfide, when exposed to the air, is hydrolyzed by the action of oxygen and moisture and is converted into polythionic acid, causing the occurrence of stress-corrosion cracking of an austenitic stainless steel used in the equipment.
In order to eliminate this problem, a method in which in stopping the operation, the fluids are withdrawn from the equipment and the inside of the equipment is washed and neutralized with an aqueous solution of an inorganic alkali such as sodium carbonate, caustic soda, or ammonia has heretofore been employed (see NACE Standard, RP01-70, titled "Protection of Austenitic Stainless Steel in Refineries Against Stress Corrosion Cracking by Use of Neutralizing Solutions During Shut Down").
In accordance with the above method comprising washing and neutralizing with an aqueous alkali solution, however, because the surface of the equipment is wet with fluids containing sulfides and repels the aqueous alkali solution, contact of the aqueous alkali solution with iron sulfide formed on the surface of the equipment is achieved insufficiently such that protection from the occurrence of stress-corrosion cracking cannot be ensured. Furthermore, the aqueous alkali solution for washing and neutralization sometimes remains in dead portions of the equipment and pipes to cause corrosion. Moreover, the above method involves such a problem that it is necessary to once withdraw the fluid remaining in the equipment and then introduce the aqueous alkali solution, which makes the operation complicated.


This invention relates to an exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) system for use in a diesel engine for recirculating a controlled rate of exhaust gases to the engine and, more particularly, to such an EGR system employing an electronic control unit adapted to calculate a target EGR ratio based upon engine operating parameters for controlling the rate of exhaust gases recirculated to the engine so as to obtain the calculated target EGR ratio.
In order to minimize emission of noxious pollutants discharged from a diesel engine to the atmosphere, it is the current practice to suppress combustion by recirculating a controlled rate of exhaust gases to the engine through an EGR passage having therein an EGR valve and connecting the engine exhaust passage to the engine intake passage downstream of the throttle valve. The rate of exhaust gases recirculated to the engine, which has a significant effect on both emission of nitrogen oxides and production of carbon fine particles, is determinative on not only the position of the EGR valve but also the position of the throttle valve across which a pressure differential exists in aid of introducing exhaust gases into the intake passage from the EGR passage. For example, the rate of exhaust gas flow through the EGR passage increases as the EGR valve moves in an opening direction for the same throttle valve position or as the throttle valve moves in a closing direction for the same EGR valve position. The position of the throttle valve, which also determines the rate of air flow to the engine, should be controlled properly to maintain optimum engine output performance in accordance with engine operating conditions.
Exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) control systems are well-known which involve an electronic control unit for providing accurate EGR ratio open-loop control. Such an electronic control unit calculates a target value for the EGR ratio meeting with requirements relating to engine output and exhaust performances as close as possible based upon engine operating parameters such as engine speed, accelerator pedal depression (indicated by fuel injection pump control sleeve or control rack position), fuel injection timing, engine coolant temperature, engine oil temperature, and the like and controls the EGR valve and throttle valve positions to obtain the calculated target EGR ratio. Such EGR ratio open-loop control has the distinct advantage in extremely fast response to engine operating condition changes.
In case where a deviation occurs between the calculated target EGR ratio value and the actual EGR ratio requirement due to errors in measurement in making and assembling engine parts such as the EGR valve and the throttle valve, changes in the engine part characteristics with the passage of time caused by mechanical wear and accumulated carbons on the engine parts, and the like, however, the EGR open-loop control system cannot correct the target EGR ratio value for the deviation. In addition, with an emission control device such as a soot collector located in the engine exhaust system for purifying engine exhaust emissions, the EGR open-loop control system cannot provide accurate EGR ratio control due to exhaust pressure changes caused by soot collected in the emission control device.
The present invention provides an improved and novel exhaust gas recirculation control system which open-loop controls the EGR ratio in accordance with a target EGR ratio value calculated based upon engine operating parameters and which, each time the vehicle travels a predetermined distance, calculates an actual EGR ratio value based upon measurements of the rate of air flow to the engine and the rate of exhaust gases recirculated to the engine and corrects the calculated target EGR ratio value for the deviation between the actual and target EGR ratio values, thereby eliminating the limitations and drawbacks inherent in previous EGR open-loop control systems.


Alignment characteristics of magnetic fields have been used to achieve precision movement and positioning of objects. A key principle of operation of an alternating-current (AC) motor is that a permanent magnet will rotate so as to maintain its alignment within an external rotating magnetic field. This effect is the basis for the early AC motors including the “Electro Magnetic Motor” for which Nikola Tesla received U.S. Pat. No. 381,968 on May 1, 1888. On Jan. 19, 1938, Marius Lavet received French Patent 823,395 for the stepper motor which he first used in quartz watches. Stepper motors divide a motor's full rotation into a discrete number of steps. By controlling the times during which electromagnets around the motor are activated and deactivated, a motor's position can be controlled precisely. Computer-controlled stepper motors are one of the most versatile forms of positioning systems. They are typically digitally controlled as part of an open loop system, and are simpler and more rugged than closed loop servo systems. They are used in industrial high speed pick and place equipment and multi-axis computer numerical control (CNC) machines. In the field of lasers and optics they are frequently used in precision positioning equipment such as linear actuators, linear stages, rotation stages, goniometers, and mirror mounts. They are used in packaging machinery, and positioning of valve pilot stages for fluid control systems. They are also used in many commercial products including floppy disk drives, flatbed scanners, printers, plotters and the like.
Moreover, commercial, consumer, and industrial products and fabrication processes abound with a myriad of fasteners, latches, hinges, pivots, bearings and other devices that are conventionally based on mechanical strength and shape properties of materials rather than magnetic field properties because the magnetic field properties have been inadequate or otherwise unsuitable for the application.
Therefore there is a need for new magnetic field configurations providing new magnetic field properties that can improve and extend the operation of existing magnetic field devices and potentially bring the benefits of magnetic field operation to new devices and applications heretofore served only by purely mechanical devices.


The present invention relates to dollies, or carts, adapted to transport large sheets of material across floors and the like.
It has long been a problem to move single large sheets of metal, glass, stone and ceramic about in manufacturing plants and in the field. As an example, a conference table may have a large stone or glass sheet top, for instance, a 5xc3x9710 foot rectanguloid or 6 foot diameter disk weighing 300 or more pounds. Typically, such a top rests on a detachable base, to facilitate transport. When such a large table top is be carried into an office building lobby, up an elevator, and through a finished office, care is needed to protect the top and things along the path. The same problems obtain when glaziers transport large sheets of glass any distance. As another example, in a fabrication shop, a sheet of steel or other material might need to be casually moved from one work station to another. Not only are such large sheet objects awkward to handle, but particularly in the field, it is important that the sheet be handled in a safe way which damages neither the sheet nor other things.
A common way to handle a large sheet is to have at least two or more workers manually carry the sheet. Other times, a conventional flat dolly is employed, even though the sheet tends to be unstable and prone to come off such a type unit. Lashing the sheet to the dolly is awkward and inconvenient.
Prior inventors have addressed the problem in various ways by designing special dollies. Many such dollies have xe2x80x9cAxe2x80x9d frames or other sloped structures mounted on their surface, to support the sheet. The angle at which the sheet is carried is fixed. The prior art dollies are often not suited for carrying round or oval sheets, as characterize many table tops. In general, the prior art A-frame type dollies are bulky and heavy; and, they are costly. They may be suited for certain factory settings. But, in the field it is inconvenient to transport such dollies due to their bulk and weight. The bottom line is that the dollies taught by the prior art tend to not be used because they are unsuitable for applications where a fragile environment, e.g., a finished office or living space, must be traversed.
Thus, there is a continuing need for a dolly which stably carries both rectangular and flat sheets, and which dolly is light, transportable, and economic to produce. And, experience shows that this may not be easy, because a large sheet mounted on a dolly can easily comprise an unstable combination.
An object of the invention is to provide means for transporting both large rectangular and large circular sheet objects. A further object of the invention is that such means be light in weight, convenient to use, easy to transport, and economic to fabricate.
In accordance with the invention, a sheet to be transported is placed edgewise on the base of a rectangular frame dolly base having four wheels, preferably swivel caster wheels. The frame of the dolly base is formed of two lengthwise running side beams and two opposing end members; and, it has a central rectangular opening. A sheet being transported leans against the vertical surfaces of a stanchion comprised of spindles and a horizontal top bar. The stanchion is mounted offset from the longitudinal centerplane of the base. As a rectangular sheet is being carried, it rests along a plane defined by the top surfaces of the front and rear members. When a circular sheet is transported it is cradled within the space between the front and rear members, and its lower edge is at an elevation less than said plane.
For stability during transport, the sheet center of gravity lies within the vertical projection of a no-contact zone, as preferably do the lower and upper parts of a sheet which contacts respectively the base and the stanchion. The no-contact zone is a region defined by the innermost portions of circles of rotation of swivel caster wheels where they touch the floor and swivel around their pivot axes. The inner surfaces of the stanchion which contacts the sheet lie along a vertical plane. That vertical plane is located within bounds of the no-contact zone, called Zone Z herein. Likewise, on the opposing side of the base, the inside of the frame hole of the base is also located within the no-contact zone vertical projection, to desirably position the bottoms of circular sheets placed on the dolly. More preferably, the stanchion and interior of the base frame are located within a sub-portion of the Zone Z, which is called Zone Y. Zone Y is defined by the innermost portions of the circles of rotation of the outer circumferences of the swivel wheels. In the preferred invention, the sheet lies against the stanchion at an angle with the horizontal of 75-90 degrees, preferably 75-85 degrees, most preferably 80-85 degrees.
Preferably, there a retention bar sticking up from the base surface at said opposing side, within the no-contact zone bounds, to position the bottom edge of a rectangular sheet. The retention bar serves the same purpose as the interior of the base frame does for circular sheets; and, when the retention bar extends across the opening of the base frame, it is substitutional for the inner edge of the base frame in determining where a circular sheet bottom will rest. The top surfaces of the end members comprises a resilient frictional material, e.g., rubber underlain by wood. Since the sheet weight is concentrated at two spaced apart points, local deformation of the resilient surface helps stop sideways slipping of the sheet. More preferably, the stanchion, frame hole and retention bar components of the dolly are analogously positioned with respect to a smaller zone, called the no-wheel zone, which lies within the no-contact zone. The no-wheel zone is defined by the innermost circumferential points of the wheels themselves, as compared to where they contact the floor.
In further accord with the invention a second horizontal bar, which is vertically adjustable, runs between the spindles of the stanchion. This provides an adjustable support which is particularly useful for small circular sheets. Preferably, the stanchion is removable from the base, by having the spindles mounted in sockets, or clamped to the base. Alternatively, the stanchion is hinged to the base, so it can be folded flat along the top surface. These features facilitate transport of the dolly to the point of use.
The dolly of the invention is useful for stably transporting a variety of shapes of sheets and economic to construct. The dolly configuration minimizes chance for damage to the sheet edges or by bending fracture during use. And even while providing these advantages, the dolly is light weight, adapted to easy transport, and economically made.
The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become more apparent from the following description of the best mode of the invention and accompanying drawings.


This invention relates to the steering of beams of electromagnetic radiation, such as light beams, by relative translation of lens arrays in combination with phase shifters.
Coherent beams of electromagnetic radiation are scanned for use in communication systems, radar, weapons, welding, supermarket label checking, and optical disc reading and writing. Very often, the transmitted beams are made up from a combination of plural individual beams.
The scanning function may be provided by gimballed, mechanically moveable mirrors, lenses or reflectors. However, the mass of such structures may impede the ability to scan in a random fashion, although repetitive scanning at high speeds may be possible. An article entitled "Binary micro optics: an application to beam steering", by Goltsos et al., published by Lincoln Laboratory in connection with the SPIE: OE LASE 89, 1052 (January 89) describes the relative translation of a pair of microlens arrays for beam steering. As described in the article, beam steering is accomplished by relative translation of a pair of microlens arrays cascaded in the path of an array of light beams. The translation of the microlens arrays is in a direction lateral to the beam direction, and the magnitude of the motion which is required for scanning is less than the diameter of the individual lens of the array.
FIG. 1a illustrates a portion of a cascade of two microlens arrays. In FIG. 1a, a scanner designated generally as 10 includes a first microlens array 12 which includes individual lenses 14, 16, 18 and 20. Adjacent light beams illustrated as 22, 24, 26 and 28 fill the apertures of lenses 14, 16, 18 and 20, respectively. Lenses 14-20 cause the light beams to converge toward focal points (not illustrated). A second microlens array 32 includes diverging or defocussing lenses 34, 36, 38 and 40. Microlens array 32 is capable of translation relative to microlens array 12 in a direction of arrows 41. When the lenses of the microlens arrays 12 and 32 are registered, i.e., when the corresponding lenses are coaxial as illustrated in FIG. 1a, the output light beams, illustrated as 42, 44, 46 and 48, propagate parallel to the direction of propagation of incoming light beams 22, 24, 26 and 28, respectively.
FIG. 1b illustrates as plots 52, 54, 56 and 58 the phase of the wave fronts associated with light beams 42, 44, 46 and 48, respectively, as a function of distance from an arbitrary reference point relative to the lens arrays. The spaces between plots 52, 54, 56 and 58 represent regions in which the light beams have a small amplitude. In FIG. 1b, plots 52, 54, 56 and 58 are, in effect, portions or continuations of the same straight dash-line 51 having the same phase. Other plots could be made at other distances from the lens arrays, with the phases increasing gradually with increasing distance from the lens arrays, and with the phases recurring if reduced by subtraction of multiples of 2.pi..
As illustrated in FIG. 1a, the output apertures of the lenses of array 32 are not filled. If the output apertures were filled, plots 52, 54, 56 and 58 of FIG. 1b would run together to create a continuous phase front representing a coherent beam of light, the direction of propagation of which is normal to the phase front.
FIG. 1c illustrates a portion of scanner 10 of FIG. 1a, with lenses 36 and 38 of lens array 32 translated vertically upward (in the direction of arrow I) relative to corresponding lenses 16 and 18 of lens array 12, and with the input light beams 24 and 26 illustrated as not completely filling the input aperture to enable the beam paths to be clearly depicted. As illustrated, output beams 44 and 46 propagate in a direction different from that of the incoming beams, i.e. the beams have been scanned. FIG. 1d illustrates the phase of the wave fronts of beams 44 and 46. As illustrated in FIG. 1b, phase fronts 64 and 66 exhibit a slope, the normal to which defines the direction of propagation of the beam. As also illustrated in FIG. 1d, there is an offset, which is illustrated between arrows 50, which represents the offset between the phases of adjacent continuations of beams 44 and 46 of FIG. 1c. If this phase offset is zero or zero plus a multiple of 2.pi., the beams are in-phase for the illustrated direction of propagation, and a beam maximum occurs. In general, however, the phase offset will vary with the scanning direction, with the result that for some scanning directions the individual beams will be mutually out-of-phase with another beam, resulting in destructive interference. This in turn results in a far-field scanned radiation pattern which contains grating lobes or angles at which the radiated energy is high, and other angles at which the radiated energy is low. The result of translating a lens array in one direction is to gradually reduce the amplitude of one grating lobe, while the adjacent grating lobe becomes larger. The Goltsos et al. article suggests the use of a scanning mirror at the system input for fine or vernier beam steering. Such a scanning mirror has the disadvantages of a mechanical system referred to above, and in addition, causes the beams to enter the lenses of the lens array at an angle, which reduces the efficiency of the lens. This may be particularly important when two lens arrays are involved, because the entry at an angle occurs in both lens arrays, so the losses are cascaded. It is desirable to scan in a manner which allows the beam(s) to be directed at any angle, and not just at angles at which grating lobes occur.
FIG. 2a illustrates a lens array similar to that of FIG. 1, with the lenses of the two arrays registered, and FIG. 2b illustrates the same arrangement with one of the arrays laterally offset by translation in the direction of arrow I. In FIG. 2, elements corresponding to those of FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals. In FIG. 2a, circular input light beams 24 and 26 are centered on axes 6 and 8, respectively, and fill the apertures of converging lenses 16 and 18, pursuant to the Goltsos et al. suggestion. Lenses 16 and 18 focus the light to form converging beam portions 74 and 76, respectively, which come to a focus at a focus plane 99. From focus plane 99, diverging beam portions 84 and 86 propagate toward the input apertures of converging lenses 234 and 236, respectively. As illustrated, the spacings are such that beam portions 84 and 86 do not fill the apertures of lenses 234 and 236. Lenses 234 and 236 collimate the beams to produce parallel output beams 44 and 46, respectively, which are centered on axes 4 and 6, respectively.
FIG. 2b illustrates the result of moving lens array 32 of FIG. 1a downward, in the direction of arrow I. As illustrated, light beams 84 and 86 intercept lenses 234 and 236 in a region in which the lens curvature causes output beams 44 and 46 to be deflected or scanned downward.
FIG. 3a is identical in subject matter to FIG. 1c, and is included as a reference for comparison with FIG. 3b. In FIG. 3b, array 32, which includes diverging lenses 36 and 38, has been moved or translated upward in the direction of arrow I, thereby causing exit beams 44 and 46 to be deflected downward.
By comparison of FIGS. 2b and 3b, it is apparent that deflection of output beams in a given direction in accordance with the Goltsos et al. arrangement requires that the output lens array be moved in the direction of the desired deflection in the case of converging lens array, and in a direction opposite to the desired scanning direction for a diverging lens array.
In FIG. 4, an arrangement similar to that of FIG. 2 has had its output lens array 32 translated upward by an amount .DELTA. in an attempt to increase the scan angle. As illustrated, translation .DELTA. is sufficient to cause diverging light beam portion 84 to illuminate portions of both lenses 234 and 236. This may be viewed as a form of overfilling of the aperture of lens 234. As illustrated, output beam 244 is deflected or scanned upward by lens 234. That portion of beam 84 falling onto lens 236, however, is deflected downward. When overfilling of the aperture occurs in this manner, the far-field peak beam amplitude decreases, because the effective aperture decreases. Put another way, translation of the moving lens array in the direction of the arrow in any of FIGS. 2, 3 or 4 may result in a secondary portion of each beam (246) being directed away from the main scanned beam (244). The energy which goes into the secondary beam is not available for the main beam, and the secondary beam amounts to a scanning sidelobe which may not be desired. The undesirable effect of overfilling also occurs with the arrangement of FIG. 3. It would be advantageous to be able to translate the lenses to achieve additional scanning, with less loss of peak amplitude.


The present invention relates to an apparatus for imprinting checks, money orders, and other negotiable instruments.
Existing apparatus for imprinting negotiable instruments, employ moveable independent type segments, which when punctuation indicia is desirable, that is, periods, commas, or foreign currency symbols, such apparatus requires several internal and external components to be modified, redesigned, and retooled to accommodate such punctuation indicia. Additionally, existing check writers or apparatus for imprinting negotiable instruments employ an independently sliding prefix plate which allows the elimination of a space or series of easily altered symbols to be imprinted in front of the dollar amount. This prefix plate commonly imprints THE SUM tightly in front of the dollar amount, thus minimizing the opportunity for criminal alteration of the dollar amount. However, due to the various dollar amount capacity check writers manufactured, which may include anywhere from between five (5) to thirteen (13) independent type segments, several different sizes and configurations of these prefix plates must be produced to fit the various capacity check writers produced. Accordingly, this variation in size and configuration of prefix plates causes confusion in the ordering of replacement prefix plates as well as operational problems due to the incorrectly sized and dimensioned prefix plate malfunctioning in the check writer. Also, the present cross-sectional configuration of the prefix plate has proven to create oscillation inconsistencies and poor imprint quality.
At present, available manual check writers or apparatus for imprinting negotiable instruments use one of two common inking methods. The first method includes use of an ink roller or ink pad device. This method requires the operator to periodically reink the device which produces inconsistent imprints and presents a messy inconvenience to the operator. The second method includes the use of an inked fabric ribbon. This inking method also requires the operator to periodically change the internal ribbon, an operation which has proven to be a difficult and messy procedure. For this reason, maximum security dye based inks are not commonly used in the manufacture of the ribbon fabric of such ink ribbon assemblies for check writing machines. Another problem encountered with the use of an ink ribbon assembly in check writers involves the self-reversing mechanism used with such ink ribbon assemblies. Because the self-reversing mechanism is a tension driven application, successful activation of the mechanism requires that proper tension be maintained at all times on both the ribbon and take-up spools, a result which is difficult to control and to maintain with such replacement ink ribbon assemblies.


Butanol is an important industrial chemical, useful as a fuel additive, as a feedstock chemical in the plastics industry, and as a foodgrade extractant in the food and flavor industry. Each year 10 to 12 billion pounds of butanol are produced by petrochemical means and the need for this commodity chemical will likely increase. 2-Butanone, also referred to as methyl ethyl ketone (MEK), is a widely used solvent and is the most important commercially produced ketone, after acetone. It is used as a solvent for paints, resins, and adhesives, as well as a selective extractant and activator of oxidative reactions.
Methods for the chemical synthesis of 2-butanone are known, such as by dehydrogenation of 2-butanol, or in a process where liquid butane is catalytically oxidized giving 2-butanone and acetic acid (Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry, 6th edition, 2003, Wiley-VCHVerlag GmbH and Co., Weinheim, Germany, Vol. 5, pp. 727-732). 2-Butanone may also be converted chemically to 2-butanol by hydrogenation (Breen et al., J. or Catalysis 236: 270-281 (2005)). Methods for the chemical synthesis of 2-butanol are known, such as n-butene hydration (Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry, 6th edition, 2003, Wiley-VCHVerlag GmbH and Co., Weinheim, Germany, Vol. 5, pp. 716-719). These processes use starting materials derived from petrochemicals and are generally expensive, and are not environmentally friendly. The production of 2-butanone and 2-butanol from plant-derived raw materials would minimize greenhouse gas emissions and would represent an advance in the art.
Methods for producing 2-butanol by biotransformation of other organic chemicals are also known. For example, Stampfer et al. (WO 03/078615) describe the production of secondary alcohols, such as 2-butanol, by the reduction of ketones which is catalyzed by an alcohol dehydrogenase enzyme obtained from Rhodococcus ruber. Similarly, Kojima et al. (EP 0645453) describe a method for preparing secondary alcohols, such as 2-butanol, by reduction of ketones which is catalyzed by a secondary alcohol dehydrogenase enzyme obtained from Candida parapsilosis. Additionally, Kuehnle et al. (EP 1149918) describe a process that produces both 1-butanol and 2-butanol by the oxidation of hydrocarbons by various strains of Rhodococcus ruber. The process favored 1-butanol production with a selectivity of 93.8%.
The production of 2-butanol by certain strains of Lactobacilli is also known (Speranza et. al. J. Agric. Food Chem. (1997) 45:3476-3480). The 2-butanol is produced by the transformation of meso-2,3-butanediol. The production of 2-butanol from acetolactate and acetoin by these Lactobacilli strains was also demonstrated. However, there have been no reports of a recombinant microorganism designed to produce 2-butanol.
There is a need, therefore, for environmentally responsible, cost-effective processes for the production of 2-butanol and 2-butanone. The present invention addresses this need through the discovery of recombinant microbial production hosts expressing 2-butanol and 2-butanone biosynthetic pathways.


Various devices/systems may include an embedded platform comprising an operating system, applications and various other files. For example, the various devices/systems may include portable ultrasound machines, Global Positioning System (GPS) devices, Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), devices that power large construction machinery and/or the like. The operating system, the applications and important user data may be configured into a run-time image on which the devices/systems boot up and operate. For instance, Windows Embedded Technology, including the Embedded Windows operating system, integrates an existing Information Technology (IT) infrastructure and enables various services, such as management, security, data synchronization with a network or another device/system, usage profiling, location services, advertising services, business intelligence and line-of-business applications, access to data regarding device capabilities and services and/or the like.
The Embedded Windows operating system includes an optional feature known as filters (e.g., write filters), which redirect a user's change made on the operating system to an overlay, instead of making the change on the hard disk. As result, the operating system is protected from malicious/accidental modifies and remains in a same state through a device/system reboot. The current design of write filters may employ a RAM-based or a disk-based overlay (e.g., hard disk) as the overlay type. A size limit for the overlay media is predefined, such that filter may access part of a physical RAM or hard disk without impacting the user's normal activities. As more changes are made to the operating system, the overlay increases in size (e.g., a number of bytes). Eventually, the overlay media exceeds the size limit, which causes a crash, an unexpected reboot and other deleterious effects.


Systems that track objects in an event, such as participants in an athletic event, are known. For example, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2008/0129825 to DeAngelis et al., which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses systems and methods to facilitate autonomous image capture and picture production. A location unit is attached to each tracked object (e.g., participants in an athletic event). An object tracking device receives location information from each location unit. A camera control device controls, based upon the location information, at least one motorized camera to capture image data of at least one tracked object.
It is also known to manually create video and still images of an event. For example, a video feed of an event (e.g., an American football game) is typically generated by highly trained camera persons and highly trained production staff who select camera shots and combine graphics into the video feed. Video images and/or still picture production can be partially or fully automated using systems and methods disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2008/0129825.
In many American football games, two ‘standard’ views are manually filmed using two digital video cameras; one on the sideline, and one in an end zone. These views are then manually ‘broken down’ by humans watching the videos, clipping them into plays, and identifying interesting attributes of each play. One of the most obvious attributes is simply who was on the field for each team at a given time. This is also one of the most difficult things to determine from the video since the resolution is not sufficient to clearly determine each of the players' numbers, thus making it difficult to identify all of the players.


Generally speaking instantaneous feed error between the Label Stop Sensor (LSS) and the Thermal Print Head's (TPH) burn line always varies depending upon the type of label, forces acting upon label and ambient conditions. The LSS is a positional sensor, identifying the edge or gap or black mark of the label.
Without instantaneous feed error correction the quality of the print registration would be challenged. Print registration is the accuracy of the position of the printed image on the label and effects print quality.
There are systems known in the art for determining label positions. For example US Publication 20130244872A1 discloses a thermal printer with an optical registration system especially for use with labels having fluorescent stripe patterns. However, no line feed correction calculation is provided for. Likewise, U.S. Pat. No. 8,029,083 discloses a label printer to determine the position of a label. However, the '083 reference makes no provision for the determination and correction of line feed error for the label.
Therefore, a need exists for a system and method of determining the position of labels on the line feed of a label printer, determining the line feed error of the label, and correcting the line feed error before the burn line on the label printer.


Computing systems generally utilize non-volatile storage media, such as hard disk drives, to store information, and to ensure the availability of stored information across power cycles. In some instances, computing systems or applications executed by computing systems require that data be committed to a disk drive in a specific order, such that subsequent read requests to the disk drive result in retrieval of the expected data.
However, the systems and protocols used to interact with storage devices such as disk drives may be unable to ensure such a specific order of writes. For example, multithreaded systems may allow multiple applications or processes to access a disk drive simultaneously or near-simultaneously, and in doing so, may reorder various operations performed by the applications or processes. Further, current disk drives or other non-volatile storage media can utilize volatile cache memory in an attempt to increase speed and efficiency of the drive. Use of cache memory, and protocols associated therewith, may result in reordering of operations prior to commitment to a non-volatile memory. Reordering of operations to the non-volatile memory may result in unexpected values being written to or read from the non-volatile memory by the computing system, and therefore result in errors.
To compensate for the out-of-order environment in which writes can be committed to the non-volatile memory, an application has the option to ensure that all of its previous writes have completed before completion of the next write by performing an application file operation flush, which causes all data of all previously completed writes to be forced out of the system and committed to the storage device's permanent media. However, implementation of a flush command on the storage device is generally time consuming, and can degrade performance. Consequently, many storage subsystems (or software/firmware/hardware associated therewith) decline to perform flush commands. Ignoring a program's (e.g., application's or operating system's) flush commands may increase performance relative to performing the commands, but results in potential data inconsistency.
An alternative technique for ensuring data consistency is to serialize all ordered writes throughout the host computing device and mark each one as a Forced Unit Access (FUA). Use of FUA writes ensures that each write is committed to non-volatile media before the command is completed. However, due to the delay in completion, FUA commands tend to be significantly slower than a typical write command. As a result, many storage subsystems (or software/firmware/hardware thereof) fail to respect a program's request to perform FUA writes.


This invention relates to an alcohol reclaiming circuit for use in an absorption refrigeration system for maintaining the system at a constant high level of operation.
It has long been recognized in the absorption refrigeration art that the addition of alcohol to the working fluids contained within the system greatly enhances the overall performance of the system. Although the exact mechanism involved is not fully understood, the results obtainable can be dramatically demonstrated in practice. Often times, an increase in performance in excess of thirty percent (30%) can be immediately realized by the introduction of a small amount of alcohol into the system. However, it has heretofore been difficult, if not impossible, to sustain this high level of operation for any appreciable period of time. Experience has shown that the gain in performance that is initially achieved continually diminishes with time until the gain is ultimately reduced to zero. It has heretofore been the common practice to add more alcohol to the system When performance drops below a predetermined level. This procedure, however, is not entirely satisfactory in that it requires continual monitoring of the system's performance, produces an undesirable buildup of alcohol within the system, and results in unwanted variations in overall machine performance.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods of forming a chemical casing in a well bore penetrating a weak unconsolidated zone or formation.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Rotary drilling methods are commonly utilized in the drilling of oil and gas wells. That is, the well bore which extends from the surface into one or more subterranean oil and/or gas producing formations is drilled by a rotary drilling rig on the surface which rotates a drill bit attached to a string of drill pipe. The drill bit includes rotatable cutting surfaces so that when the drill bit is rotated by the drill string against subterranean strata under pressure a bore hole is produced.
A drilling fluid is circulated downwardly through the drill string, through the drill bit and upwardly in the annulus between the walls of the well bore and the drill string. The drilling fluid functions to maintain hydrostatic pressure on formations penetrated by the well bore and to remove cuttings from the well bore. As the drilling fluid is circulated, a filter cake of solids from the drilling fluid forms on the walls of the well bore. The filter cake build-up is a result of initial fluid loss into permeable formations and zones penetrated by the well bore. The presence of the filter cake reduces additional fluid loss as the well is drilled.
In addition to removing cuttings from the well bore and forming filter cake on the well bore, the drilling fluid cools and lubricates the drill bit and exerts a hydrostatic pressure against the well bore walls to prevent blow-outs, i.e., to prevent pressurized formation fluids from flowing into the well bore when formations containing the pressurized fluids are penetrated. The hydrostatic pressure created by the drilling fluid in the well bore may fracture low mechanical strength formations penetrated by the well bore which allows drilling fluid to be lost into the formations. When this occurs, the drilling of the well bore must be stopped and remedial steps taken to seal the fractures which are time consuming and expensive.
In order to insure that fracturing of low mechanical strength formations penetrated by the well bore and other similar problems do not occur, it has heretofore been the practice to intermittently seal the well bore by cementing pipe referred to in the art as casing or liners in the well bore. The points in the well bore during its drilling at which the drilling is stopped and casing or liners are installed in the well bore are commonly referred to as “casing points”. Casing or a liner is placed in the well bore above each casing point and a sealing composition such as a hydraulic cement composition is pumped into the annular space between the walls of the well bore and the exterior surface of the casing or liner disposed therein. The hydraulic cement composition is permitted to set in the annulus thereby forming an annular sheath of hardened substantially impermeable cement therein. The cement sheath physically supports and positions the pipe in the well bore and bonds the pipe to the walls of the well bore whereby the undesirable migration of fluids between zones or formations penetrated by the well bore is prevented. This technique of cementing pipe in the well bore as the drilling progresses has a number of disadvantages including the time and expense incurred in placing and sealing the pipe as well as the reduction in the well diameter after each casing point. That is, the well diameter must be reduced below each casing point so that a smaller casing can be lowered through the previously placed casing and sealed in the well bore.
Another problem that occurs in the drilling and completion of well bores is that when the well bore is drilled into and through unconsolidated weak zones or formations formed of clays, shales, sand stone and the like, unconsolidated clay, shale and sand slough off the sides of the well bore which enlarges the well bore and often causes the drill bit and drill pipe to become stuck whereby drilling must be stopped and remedial steps taken.
Thus, there are needs for improved methods of drilling well bores whereby unconsolidated weak zones or formations are consolidated and the mechanical strength of the well bore is increased during drilling without the need to stop drilling for prolonged periods of time.


Recent video coding schemes such as HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding), MVC (Multiview Video Coding) or SVC (Scalable Video Coding) support inter-picture prediction using previously coded reference pictures. The classification of reference pictures may be different depending on, e.g., their Picture Order Count (POC) distance from a target picture, view layer for SVC and view id for 3D video and MVC. Nevertheless, conventional coding scheme applies the same motion vector prediction for all types of reference pictures regardless of their view id, view layers and whether they are short or long term reference pictures. For example, performing POC-based scaling on a motion vector (MV) which points to a long term reference picture (LTRP) may result in the scaled motion vector having an extremely large or small magnitude. In such a case, the accuracy and efficiency of the motion vector prediction process becomes suboptimal.
HEVC supports spatial motion vector prediction and temporal motion vector prediction. In spatial motion vector prediction, the motion vector of a target prediction unit (PU) is predicted using a motion vector of a previously coded neighbouring PU. Both the target PU and the neighbouring PU are located within a current target picture. In temporal motion vector prediction, a motion vector of a target prediction unit (PU) is predicted using a motion vector of a collocated block. The collocated block is located within a previously coded collocated picture and the collocated block is coded using a motion vector pointing to a reference picture (which may be referred to as a collocated reference picture). The term collocated generally indicates that the coordinates of the collocated PU within the collocated picture are the same as the coordinates of the target PU within the current target picture. However, due to variable coding unit and prediction unit sizes in HEVC, the current PU and collocated PU may not be perfectly aligned (i.e. their coordinates may not be exactly the same), and a predetermined selection scheme is used for selecting the collocated PU.
A motion vector predictor (MVP) may be obtained by scaling the motion vector of a neighbouring PU or a collocated PU based on certain characteristics of the motion vector such as its temporal distance (i.e., picture order count (POC) value difference) between the target picture and its corresponding reference picture. For example, the motion vector of a collocated PU may be scaled according to the POC distance to produce a temporal MVP for the current PU according to the following equation:MVP=(tb/td)*nmv
where:                MVP=temporal motion vector predictor derived from the motion vector of collocated block/PU;        nmv=motion vector of the collocated block/PU;        tb=signed POC distance/difference from the current picture to the reference picture referred by the target block/PU;        td=signed POC distance/difference from the collocated picture to the reference picture referred by the collocated block/PU.
Generally, in spatial prediction, for deriving “td”, the target picture is the current picture and its reference picture is the collocated reference picture. In temporal prediction, for deriving “tb”, the target picture is the collocated picture and its reference picture is the collocated reference picture. For deriving “tb”, target picture is the current picture and its reference picture is the current reference (i.e., referred by the target PU, either from RefList0 or RefList1) for both spatial and temporal prediction.