This invention relates to an electronic component for surface mount technology (SMT), having a component body comprised of an electrically insulating material, and at least one conductor element mounted on said body, which conductor element is comprised of electrically conducting material and has a contact region which is exposed to the exterior of the component body, which contact region serves to connect the component to a printed circuit board (PCB) or the like.
Customarily, an electronic component is connected to a PCB by inserting the conductor elements of said component into bores provided in the PCB, and then soldering the conductor elements in said bores.
To simplify the automated mounting of electronic components onto PCBS, in recent years a soldering technology has been developed which is known as SMT (surface mount technology), as a replacement for the traditional bore soldering technology. With SMT, the contact regions of the conductor elements are placed against a surface region of the PCB which region is typically coated with a soldering paste comprising materials which can be caused to produce a soldered joint. The soldering paste is then heated by IR radiation, to produce a connection between the electronic component and the PCB. This technique is known as the "reflow method". Alternatively, a vapor phase soldering process may be used, wherein the entire electronic component is enclosed in a space filled with a solvent and steam; the heat of condensation of the steam on the cold electronic component brings about the solder joint. However, this technique is objectionable because it poses environmental problems. The reflow method will now be described, with reference to FIGS. 3a and 3b of the accompanying drawings.
The fixing of an electronic component in the form of a plug connector, to a PCB (230, in FIG. 3a) will be described, with reference to FIG. 3a of the drawings: The plug connector is comprised of a body 210 of insulating material having a plate-shaped bottom member 212 and a wall 214 extending perpendicular thereto. Two conductor elements 220 pass through the bottom member 212. Outside of the body 210 the conductor elements have exposed contact regions 222, and inside of body 210 the conductor elements have plug-like regions 224 which can be inserted in a contact socket.
To fix the plug connector to the PCB according to the known "reflow method", the contact regions 222 are applied to a region of the PCB bearing a soldering paste, and then said paste is melted by means of infrared (IR) radiation applied to the contact region in the directions indicated by arrows 226, and the melted solder is allowed to solidify. The result is a strong and durable connection between the PCB and the plug connector.
To avoid shadow formation, caused by neighboring components, and which interferes with the action of the IR irradiation on the contact region, it has been proposed to chamfer the body 210 at the transition between the plate-shaped bottom member 212 and the wall 214 extending perpendicularly thereto (see inclined surfaces 218 FIG. 3b). This state of the art is disclosed, for example, in German OS 42 03 605 A1. If the other geometric parameters are left unchanged, the introduction of the chamfer increases the maximum angle of incidence, .alpha., with respect to the PCB (230), of the IR radiation incident on the contact region 222 without shadow formation. The chamfer feature enables a higher density of electronic components to be mounted on the area of the PCB using the surface soldering technique, due to the fact that the maximum angle of incidence of irradiation is increased by the chamfers 218, which in turn reduces the minimum separation between components which is required to avoid formation of shadows by neighboring components.
Although the mounting density of components on a PCB can be greatly increased by the feature, the maximum achievable angle of incidence .alpha. is still limited, and thus the maximum achievable mounting density is limited, e.g. by the constraints imposed generally by the geometry of the component, namely the extent of the wall 214. Further, a problem is presented with the customary arrangement of electronic components fixed to a PCB by means of surface soldering techniques, namely that the range of angles at which the IR radiation may be supplied to the contact region is small, and the greater the mounting density the smaller becomes said range of angles. For a given IR source, this reduces the IR power available for melting, and thereby increases the time required to achieve melting.


In facility producing metal sheet materials, in particular a steel-sheet process line, when making the conveying rolls rotate at a high speed to run steel sheet, slip and walk of the steel sheet, sticking of dust and buildup on the surfaces of the conveying rolls, and other phenomena occur. At the time of processing, if slip of the steel sheet occurs, slip flaws are formed on the surface of the steel sheet, and the surface quality is impaired. If walk occurs, the processing speed falls and the productivity drops.
Further, if dust sticks and buildup occurs on the surface of the conveying roll, the shape of the dust and the foreign matter is transferred to the surface of the steel sheet whereby the surface quality is impaired and the grade of the steel sheet dramatically falls. Not only that, touchup to remove the foreign matter stuck to the surfaces of the conveying rolls becomes necessary and the productivity drops.
Such a problem is particularly remarkable in hearth rolls in continuous annealing furnaces processing sheets in a high speed atmosphere.
Slip and walk of the steel sheet occur due to insufficient frictional force between the steel sheet and rolls. Therefore, to prevent slip and walk, it is necessary to increase the surface roughness of the conveying rolls to raise the coefficient of friction and to secure frictional force to suppress rising of the steel sheet. On the other hand, sticking of dust on the surface of the conveying rolls is the phenomenon of iron powder, sludge, or other foreign matter on the surface of the steel sheet sticking to the surfaces of the conveying rolls, while buildup is the phenomenon of iron, manganese oxide, etc. on the surface of the steel sheet sticking and building up on the surfaces of the conveying rolls.
To prevent these, it is effective to suppress sticking and catching of the iron powder, sludge, and foreign matter on the surface of the steel sheet causing sticking of dust and iron and manganese oxide etc. forming the source of buildup. It is necessary to reduce the surface roughness of the conveying rolls. That is, if adjusting the surface roughness of the conveying rolls to achieve both the prevention of slip and walk of the steel sheet and suppression of sticking of dust and buildup, optimization becomes difficult due to the contradictory nature of the measures.
As measures for suppressing slip and walk of the steel sheet and sticking of dust and buildup on the surfaces of the rolls, the method of forming a flame sprayed coating on the surfaces of the rolls, then dulling it (Japanese Patent Publication (A) No. 7-57904), the method of dulling the surface, then forming a flame sprayed coating (Japanese Patent Publication (A) No. 7-47766 and Japanese Patent Publication (A) No. 9-157826), the method of forming a flame sprayed coating, then polishing it (Japanese Patent Publication (A) No. 10-168527 and Japanese Patent Publication (A) No. 10-168528), and the method of dulling the surface, then forming a flame sprayed coating and further polishing it (Japanese Patent Publication (A) No. 7-22773, Japanese Patent Publication (A) No. 7-1021, Japanese Patent Publication (A) No. 7-39918, and Japanese Patent Publication (A) No. 2005-105338) have been proposed.
However, with each of these methods, achievement of both prevention of slip and walk of the steel sheet and prevention of sticking of dust and buildup on the surfaces of the rolls was difficult.
That is, in the method proposed in Japanese Patent Publication (A) No. 7-57904, lasers are used to drill holes. The side walls of the holes become sharp, so clogging by dust more easily occurs. Further, the lasered parts suffer from microcracks, so the surface roughness becomes larger and sticking of dust and buildup easily occur. Further, in the method proposed in Japanese Patent Publication (A) No. 7-47766 and Japanese Patent Publication (A) No. 9-157826, the surface of the flame sprayed coating becomes a rough surface as flame sprayed and sticking of dust and buildup easily occur. Further, with the method proposed in Japanese Patent Publication (A) No. 10-168527 and Japanese Patent Publication (A) No. 10-168528, the surface roughness Ra becomes smaller and slip and walk of the steel sheet easily occur. Further, the method proposed in Japanese Patent Publication (A) No. 7-22773, Japanese Patent Publication (A) No. 7-1021, and Japanese Patent Publication (A) No. 7-39918 reduces the surface roughness of only projecting parts formed at the surface of flame sprayed coatings. There was the problem that when conveying steel sheet softened at a high temperature, the inclined parts near the projections contacted the steel sheet and easily formed buildup at the rolls.
Further, Japanese Patent Publication (A) No. 2005-105338 proposes shot blasting or brushing to treat the surface of the flame sprayed coating and set the ratio R/R′ between a roughness parameter R (any of Ra, Rq, Rp, Rv, and Rz) measured based on JIS B0633 setting the cutoff value to an initial value and a roughness parameter R′ measured setting the cutoff value to 1/10 of the initial value to 4 or more so as to suppress buildup. However, with this method, the fine relief of the surface of the flame sprayed coating could be reduced, but there was the problem that the shot blasting or brushing ended up causing the formation of a new modified layer on the surface of the flame sprayed coating and due to this sticking of dust and buildup could not be completely prevented.


Distributed processor architectures are in use in base stations of radio systems, both at the level of the whole base station and at the unit level. In distributed processor architectures, several processors can attend to similar tasks, such as in digital signal processing, where several digital signal processors are connected to each other. Sub-units of such distributed processor architectures can also contain other components, for instance memories and application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC).
Usually, such sub-units connected to each other boot automatically. Each sub-unit and a processor in it can be booted independently, for instance by means of boot software stored in a non-volatile memory, such as a flash memory, connected to each processor.
As regards sub-processors executing similar functions, their boot software is usually the same. The disadvantage of the prior art solutions is that non-volatile memories with identical boot codes must be connected to all sub-processors. Thus, more components are required and much printed board space is consumed. Therefore, also costs are increased. Further, when a printed board of a unit formed by the process architecture is manufactured, more solder joints are required, whereby also the manufacturing is slower and the sensitivity to failure and the failure density in the device increase.


In any communication environment including a central equipment and a plurality of remote equipments, especially in digital communication systems operating in multipoint, the central equipment has to control frequently the presence of each remote equipment. Indeed, in any hierarchical system, internal resources are allocated for each remote equipment. The management of such resources must be performed as rapidly as possible after use, as soon as the remote equipment disappears. Such resources can be control blocks, traffic queues, timers, semaphore software . . . As the total resources of the central equipment are size limited, the non-release of unused resources can result in refusing to serve new remote equipments.
A classical method to avoid such a drawback consists for the central equipment to poll successively the remote equipments and invite them to transmit an information confirming they are alive. Unfortunately, the polling protocol results in an overhead, that is the portion of bandwidth consumed to implement the protocol, which is all the more important since the time required to detect that a remote equipment has disappeared is short.


Network switches (also known as a switching hubs, bridging hubs, MAC bridges or simply “switches”) are computer networking devices that connect other devices together in a computer network. Network switches are typically used in complex data networking environments to, for example, interconnect various devices within one or more subnetworks. Some network switches use packet switching to receive, process, and forward data to destination devices. Switches can be used for electrical switching, optical switching that enables signals in optical fibers or integrated optical circuits to be selectively switched from one circuit to another, or a combination of electrical and optical switching.
Typical network switches include a plurality of circuit boards with associated switch circuitry (e.g. line cards and fabric cards) that are interconnected via backplane or midplane circuit boards within an enclosure. Although some cards include handles for manually removing the cards from the enclosure, conventional handles (particularly for optical cards) do not have locking features to hold the cards in place. Additionally, such handles typically require manual manipulation to eject the cards from the enclosure.
As is known, line cards typically include a modular electronic circuit designed to fit on a separate printed circuit board (PCB) and interface with a data communications network, and can provide transmitting/receiving ports for a local area network (LAN) and/or a wide area network (WAN). Fabric cards can include one or more switch elements for implementing the stages of the switch fabric. The line cards and fabric cards can be mounted to the backplane and/or midplane in a motherboard/daughterboard relationship in which the backplane or midplane extends transversely across the enclosure. In this arrangement, the backplane/midplane is perpendicular to the flow of cooling air through the enclosure, and can block or otherwise impede the flow of cooling air, resulting in relatively high operating temperatures that can reduce the longevity and/or performance of switch components. Another factor that can affect cooling is the efficiency of the air inlets and air outlets on the switch enclosure. Conventional network switches utilize fans to move cooling air through the enclosure and maintain the electronic components at suitable operating temperatures. Typically, perforated sheet metal is used to form air inlet and outlet vents on the front and back of the enclosure, respectively. Although such material can provide suitable covers for the enclosure, limitations on the size of the perforations limit the amount of air flow into the enclosure and can result in less than optimum cooling.
In conventional network switches, the central processing units (CPUs) are typically mounted to line cards. As a result, upgrading CPUs in a conventional switch generally requires removal and replacement of line cards to change out the CPUs. CPU technology, however, tends to advance at a relatively quick pace, which can lead to relatively frequent line card removal and replacement for CPU upgrades in conventional switches. In view of the shortcomings associated with conventional network switches, it would be advantageous to develop a network switch that provides, among other things, efficient cooling and relatively easy component replacement.


Security systems are presently limited in their ability to detect contraband, weapons, explosives, and other dangerous objects concealed under clothing. Metal detectors and chemical sniffers are commonly used for the detection of large metal objects and some kinds of explosives, however, a wide range of dangerous objects exist that cannot be detected with these devices. Plastic and ceramic weapons developed by modern technology increase the types of non-metallic objects that security personnel are required to detect. The alternative of manual searching of subjects is slow, inconvenient, and would not be well tolerated by the general public, especially as a standard procedure in, for example, airports.
Known prior art X-ray systems suggested for detecting objects concealed on persons have limitations in their design and method which prohibit them from achieving the low dose and high image quality which are prerequisites of commercial acceptance.
Radiation exposure is an important consideration in X-ray concealed object detection systems. The United States National Council on Radiation Protection (NCRP), in NCRP Report No. 91, "Recommendations on Limits for Exposure to Ionizing Radiation", 1987, addresses this issue. In this report, the NCRP states that a radiation exposure of less than 1000 microRem per year in excess of environmental levels is negligible, and efforts are not warranted at reducing the level further. Persons employed in security facilities or frequently traveling by airlines may be subjected to many hundred security examinations per year. A yearly radiation exposure of 1000 microRem permits a single scan exposure within the range of 1 to 10 microRem for the general public. In accordance with the NCRP recommendations, radiation levels significantly higher than this present a non-trivial health risk.
An inspection system which operates at a low level of radiation exposure is limited in its precision by the small number of X-rays that can be directed against a person being searched. X-ray absorption and scattering further reduces the number of X-rays available to form an image of the person and any concealed objects. In prior art systems, this low number of detected X-rays has resulted in unacceptably poor image quality.
Radiant energy imaging systems have been proposed to detect concealed objects. The system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. Re. 28,544 of Stein et al. projects a scanning pencil beam of X-rays through the subject's body where the beam will be transmitted or absorbed depending upon the concealed object, if any. A detector is scanned vertically behind the subject to collect transmitted X-rays. Stein et al. comment that, "although the detector 25 is shown behind the object being scanned for responding to the radiant energy transmitted through the object being scanned, it is within the principles of the invention to position the detector in the region between the radiant energy source and the object being scanned to respond to the scattered energy." However, the X-ray tube potential is set at up to 150 Kilovolts and is specifically chosen to transmit X-rays through the person being examined. Operation of the X-ray tube at 150 Kilovolts or even at 100 Kilovolts would negate benefits of imaging by backscatter detection, e.g., low dose scanning. This technique requires the subject to be exposed to a substantial radiation dosage, especially if the subject is scanned often, e.g., a frequent flyer.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,839,913 of Annis et al. teaches a flying spot scanning system for baggage inspection which uses X-ray-induced fluorescence to permit detection of concealed objects. Since fluorescence is dependent upon atomic number, each object emits a fluorescent radiation line which is unique to its atomic number Z. Scattered, transmitted and fluorescence signals are generated to distinguish objects from the background. The energy level of the source must be sufficient to excite a selected fluorescence radiation line so that the fluorescent radiation line has sufficient energy to escape the object. Thus, it may be necessary to expose the object to relatively high X-ray energy in order to detect certain materials, which would be unacceptable for personnel inspection systems.
Another baggage inspection system is disclosed (U.S. Pat. No. 4,799,247 of Annis et al.) which has detectors for both transmitted and backscattered X-rays to independently produce signals from the same incident beam. The separate signal may then be used to enhance each other to increase the system's accuracy in recognizing low Z materials. Clearly, with the incident beam being of sufficient energy to provide both transmitted and backscattered signals, the X-ray energy must be relatively high, similar to that of Stein et al., making such a system undesirable for personnel inspection. A similar technique is described by Glockmann et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 4,884,289) for baggage inspection where both transmission and backscatter is used.
Systems of the foregoing prior art that apply to body scanning are designed to detect radiant energy that has been transmitted through the body, scattered from the body, or emitted from the body. In the prior art systems, images are produced by characteristics of the subject's body and any object concealed under the subject's clothing. The system operator then inspects each image for evidence of concealed objects.
For various reasons the prior art systems do not adequately detect plastics, ceramics, explosives, illicit drugs, and other non-metallic objects. One reason in particular is that these materials share the property of a relatively low atomic number (low Z). Low Z materials present a special problem in personnel inspection because of the difficulty in distinguishing the low Z object from the background of the subject's body which also has low Z. Detection of low Z materials is addressed in the Annis '247 patent, but only for baggage. As mentioned above, this technique exposes a live subject to radiation levels which are excessive.
It would be desirable to provide an X-ray inspection system for detecting concealed objects carried by a person which is capable of detecting low Z materials as well as metals, but which does not expose the subject to radiation doses significantly higher than normal environmental radiation levels. It is to such a system that the present invention is directed.


Search engines use several techniques for sorting or sorting pages arising from a search. Among the known techniques for exploring a set of web pages, some rely on semantics, a page being ranked as being all the more relevant if it comprises a large number of occurrences of the word or words searched for. These techniques are sensitive to a practice, known as “spamming”, aimed at causing the words commonly used by surfers in their search query to appear a very large number of times in a given page, this having the effect of causing the page to appear frequently to be relevant.
Other techniques are based on the topological structure of the web. These techniques take account at one and the same time of the existing links between the pages considered and properties of the pages themselves, such as whether a page belongs to a domain or to a network subdomain of the web. These techniques are generally based on a graph representation of the pages to be processed. They are appropriate to the classification of pages complying with given topological properties in the graph. These techniques are sensitive to a variant of the practice of “spamming” aimed at referencing a given page a large number of times, this having the effect of locally falsifying the topological characteristics of the graph of the web.
Some of the techniques utilizing the topological structure of the web consist in effecting a classification of the web pages by allocating to the various pages a rank which is dependent on the relations of one page with the others.
An example of such a procedure, known by the term “PageRank”, is used in the implementation of the Google™ search engine and is described in the document: “The PageRank Citation Ranking: Bringing Order on the Web”, by L. Page, S. Brin, R. Motwani and T. Winograd; Technical Report, Computer Science Department, Stanford University, 1998.
The PageRank procedure orders the pages as a function of their visibility on the web. In this procedure, random navigation from page to page around the web following the hypertext links is simulated. This navigation corresponds to that operated by a user accessing the web when the latter randomly activates one of the hypertext links located in a displayed page, so as to access another page. This procedure carries out a probabilistic analysis of this simulated navigation so as to determine the probability of the user being located in a given page during random navigation from page to page such as this. The rank of a page is all the higher the higher the number of times this page is cited by other pages.
Such a procedure provides a ranking which is not necessarily relevant as regards the search performed by a user, the best ranked pages (of highest rank) not necessarily being the pages corresponding best to the user's expectation.
Furthermore, this procedure does not make it possible to identify in the set of documents thematic communities or communities of interest, apt to steer the user more rapidly to an interesting page, nor even to perform a classification of the documents found by thematic community.


(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a heat sensitive transfer medium for use in thermographic recording which comprises combining a color former-containing transfer sheet with a developer-containing receiving sheet.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
As the heat sensitive transfer medium for use in thermographic recording, there have hitherto be known the one which comprises a transfer sheet formed by providing a heat-sublimable dye layer on a substrate and a receiving sheet which receives a dye image sublimed and transferred from said transfer sheet by heat-printing from the back (the substrate surface) of the transfer sheet, and the one which comprises combining a transfer sheet formed by providing a heat-fusible material and pigment or dye-containing transfer layer on a substrate with a receiving sheet which receives an image fused and transferred from said transfer sheet by heat-printing from the back of the transfer sheet. The former transfer medium is defective in that due to the use of the heat-sublimable dye, the dye image on the receiving sheet is inferior in preservability and consequently there is a necessity of overcoating the transferred image, while the latter transfer medium is defective in that because of having the transfer layer formed by dispersing pigment or dye in the heat-fusible material, when a large amount of pigment is contained in said layer in order to obtain a high density image, the transfer efficiency deteriorates, whereby it becomes difficult to obtain a high density image, and when using a large amount of heat-fusible material in order to improve the heat sensitivity, furthermore, as the result of said large amount of heat-fusible material transferring on the side of the receiving sheet, the separation of the transfer sheet from the receiving sheet can not be done smoothly to cause the fine line image area to lack definition.
On the other hand, a heat sensitive transfer medium (for instance, such as the medium disclosed in British Pat. No. 1,053,905), which comprises supporting on a substrate separately two kinds of materials, for instance the color forming agent such as benzoindolinospyropyran and the developer such as phenolic compound, which form color by their mutual thermal reaction, and contacting these supporting layers (transfer layer and receiving layer) facing each other to effect heat-printing, is also known, but the medium of this type is observed to be defective in that since the medium of this kind is of reaction type, if the transfer layer transfers only toward the receiving layer at the time of facing contact, the color formation is not effected to the full, thereby producing a low density image, while if the heating conditions are effected at higher temperature and for longer times in order to promote the sufficient reaction, the image on the receiving sheet surely becomes a high density image, but the color forming reaction proceeds also on the transfer sheet to thereby cause image formation.
We previously proposed, as the heat sensitive transfer medium which had improved the above mentioned drawbacks, the one prepared by incorporating a large amount of oil-absorptive porous filler in the receiving layer formed on the receiving sheet. The heat sensitive transfer medium of this type surely can obtain a high density image by a large number of transfer, but is still not satisfactory in respect of the uniformity of image density.
In addition, it was difficult for the above mentioned conventional heat sensitive transfer mediums to obtain images which are superior in the mechanical strength such as friction resistance, abrasion resistance and the like.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus primarily for the purpose of nonintrusive scanning of cargo containers for nuclear based weapons which is intended for use during container transfer between a ship and land transportation.
More particularly it relates to a buffer crane having radiation emission scanning apparatus arranged for nonintrusive interrogation or inspection of cargo containers while each container is being transferred between a ship and quay side land transportation without slowing the quay crane container transfer cycle.
Still more particularly, the present invention is a mobile cargo container buffer and scanning crane which transfers cargo containers between land transportation and a quay crane pickup buffer position and which suspends the cargo container being transferred at a predetermined inspection position for radiation emission examination by a craneboard apparatus before depositing the cargo container at the intended transfer buffer deposition position.
Specifically it relates to a mobile platform having a bridge crane mounted thereon for transferring cargo containers between either a quay crane pickup position, or quay side land transportation, and a predetermined inspection position on said platform where it can be non-intrusively inspected by a longitudinally reciprocating radiation emission inspection apparatus while functioning as a buffer operation. The container is then either deposited on land transportation such as a truck trailer chassis or deposited on the buffer position for pickup by a quay crane for transfer to a ship.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In view of recent terrorist activities throughout the world, considerable effort is being given by analysts to improving security measures with respect to the maritime industry and United States port operations. At the present time, based on the Automated Tracking System, an intelligence based search system used by U.S. Customs, it has been estimated that the probability that contraband will be discovered in containers that are entering the U.S. is less than 50 percent. Thus, the maritime industry provides a delivery system for weapons of mass destruction and every other container could possibly conceal an atomic weapon which, if exploded in a U.S. port, in addition to causing massive destruction, would essentially end international trade.
The methods to be employed to improve U.S. port security may prove severely detrimental to port productivity. The ideal performance standard is 100 percent inspection of inbound containers to U.S. ports. Rather than physically unloading and inspecting the contents of every container, a more efficient alternative is to non-intrusively inspect each container such as by x-ray, and when more sophisticated means of nonintrusive inspection are developed, such as gamma ray scanning and neutron analysis, implementing the use of those developments in addition to x-ray based systems.
The use of x-ray machinery in one manner or another for the purpose of inspecting containers is discussed in the prior art literature. However, implementing prior scanning systems has essentially added processing steps to port operations, and the size of the machinery and complexity of the processing steps have essentially interrupted the established system of port operations. This factor causes problems when attempting to integrate the technology into cargo container handling.
The problem with instituting high-energy x-ray scanners for cargo container examination, apart from safety concerns, is that the equipment will reduce port productivity by disrupting highly developed port operations and consuming valuable terminal space. The primary disadvantage is the interruption of the cargo container transfer process between ship and shore. Most importantly, it interferes with the quay crane offloading cycle time which is crucial to a ship's berthing time at the dock which must be kept at a minimum.
The inspection procedure requires holding a container immobile so that it can be x-rayed. While the cycle times for the x-ray process may ultimately be reduced by improved technology, all of the presently considered means for effecting the x-ray process require either stopping the container movement for processing (usually during unloading in U.S. ports and, if required, during loading at foreign ports) or multiple additional handling steps of the container during the transfer process by taking it out of the normal handling cycle, and to an extra handling step, at an x-ray position for processing, and then returning the container into the transfer cycle.
The present invention permits integration of the x-ray process into the buffer station method of crane operation disclosed in applicant's above-referenced patents such that the inspection process can occur concurrently with the cargo container transfer between ship and shore without interruption of the quay crane transfer cycle.
The mobile cargo container scanning crane contemplated according to the present invention departs substantially from the conventional concepts and designs contemplated by the technical literature, and, in doing so, provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of nonintrusive cargo container inspection during transfer between ship and shore as described above, but it accomplishes the result in a different and improved manner by producing a transfer cycle with a buffer-inclusive procedure for container inspection which is easily integrated into the container transfer cycle for faster processing times and more efficient port operation.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the side airbag apparatus, which protects the occupant of a vehicle against injury in the event of side collision by inflating the airbag into a vehicle cabin. More specifically, the present invention relates to the side airbag apparatus, which can surely protect the occupant of a vehicle against injury by inflating airbags into a vehicle cabin from a seat of a vehicle.
2. Description of Revelant Art
The airbag apparatus, which deploys the airbag instantly and protects the occupant of a vehicle against injury in the event of collision of a vehicle, has been well known. Among this kind of airbag apparatus, the side airbag apparatus, which deploys the airbag towards the region between the occupant and the door so as to protect an occupant of a vehicle against injury, has been used against the occurrence of the side collision.
As an example of these types of conventional side airbag apparatus, there is provided the side airbag apparatus disclosed in Japanese unexamined patent publications H9-323 607.
In the conventional side airbag apparatus, since the airbag is inflated by high-pressured gas, which is supplied at constant rate, the rate of inflation and the pressure of the airbag cannot be controlled. Thereby, in case of the airbag apparatus equipped with two airbags, if one airbag deploys toward a weak part, such as a flank and the other airbag deploys toward a strong part, such as a leg, of the body, the weak part of the body may be damaged because both airbags are inflated at the same rate of inflation.


This invention relates to motor vehicle accessories, and more particularly, to reflective safety devices.


A refining element is generally formed with a pattern of bars and intermediate grooves. The bars and grooves are formed in different ways, depending on which fibrous material is worked and the degree of refining desired and, thus, in the case of lignocellulosic material, the pulp quality which is desired. The bars have an upper surface and side surfaces so that longitudinal edges are formed between the upper surface and respective side surface. The bars can be, for example, continuous or discontinuous, and can be arranged in different patterns. The working of the fibrous material is substantially carried out by the bars of the refining elements. The refining gap is formed so that the fibrous material, seen in the radial direction, passes from the inside outwardly. Farthermost inward in the refining gap the refining elements are normally formed so as to bring about a first disintegration of the material and to advance the material outwardly in the refining gap. A certain defibering, i.e. separation of the fibers of the lignocellulosic material, also takes place in the inner portion of the refining gap where the distance between the refining surfaces is the greatest. Thereafter, that distance decreases outwardly in order that the desired working or refining of the fibrous material shall be obtained.
During the refining of fibrous material of high concentration, and above all at high energy inputs, it has been found necessary to place flow restrictions, so-called dams, in the grooves of the refining elements in order to prevent unworked material from passing out through the refining gap. These dams, however, form an obstacle for the steam developing in the refining gap during the refining. A high steam pressure is thereby created in the refining gap. This high steam pressure has a negative effect on the capacity and operational stability of the refiner. It also implies a limitation on the possible energy input. The developed steam, thus, will be forced by the flow restrictions upwardly out of the grooves, and will disturb the material flow through the refining gap.
One way of solving this problem would be to supply dilution water to the refining gap in order to thereby condense the steam. This, however, results in reducing the material concentration to a low level, and thus in a deteriorated pulp quality.
During the working or refining of fibrous material with low concentration no steam development takes place, and the material is partially transported by the liquid flow out of the refining gap. Also in this case dams are usually used to prevent unworked material from passing out through the refining gap. It can imply, however, that the flow through the refining gap will be much too low.


Visual inspection is widely used in the tire manufacturing process and even more commonly relies on the skill of the operators tasked with checking for the absence of visible imperfections at the surface of the tires in order to ensure the compliance thereof.
However, with the advances in the computing power of computer-based means, tire manufacturers are developing automatic inspection means to assist the operators tasked with the visual inspection. To this end, it is possible to use an inspection device comprising lighting means and cameras which are positioned in such a way as to scan the exterior and interior zones of the lateral beads and of the tread of the tire that is to be inspected. The viewing field of each camera is angularly limited. In order to obtain complete images of the inside and of the outside of the tire, the tire has to be turned about its axis with respect to the lighting means and with respect to the cameras. The digital images obtained are then processed and compared against reference images in order to determine whether there might be any surface and appearance anomalies in the tire. For further details, reference may for example be made to patent applications EP-A2-1 959 227, EP-A1-2 023 078 and EP-A1-2 172 737.
In order to carry out such an inspection with a good degree of precision, use is generally made of an image acquisition device equipped with a laser lighting means that allows a line of light to be projected onto the tire and with a matrix camera capable of capturing the light reflected off the tire and which is oriented at a triangulation angle. The triangulation angle is the angle formed between the optical axis of the laser lighting means and the optical axis of the camera.
In order to be able to detect very small imperfections at the surface of the tire, the triangulation angle generally chosen is relatively large. As a result, the overall size of the image acquisition device is large.
Now, in order to be able to capture a complete image of at least half the interior surface of the tire in a single rotation thereof, it is necessary to install a plurality of image acquisition devices penetrating the interior space of the tire.
Given the overall size of each image acquisition device it may therefore be particularly tricky if not to say impossible to achieve this installation for certain tire sizes, for example for tires in the current size range for passenger vehicles.
The present invention seeks to overcome this disadvantage.


The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was developing new surface vehicles to support long range lunar exploration and the development of a lunar outpost. These vehicles will be heavier and will travel greater distances than the Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV) developed for the Apollo program in the late 1960s. Consequently, new tires will be required to support up to ten times the weight and last for up to one hundred times the travel distance as compared to those used on the Apollo LRV, thereby requiring operational characteristics similar to passenger vehicles used on earth. However, conventional rubber pneumatic tires cannot function acceptably on the moon.
For example, rubber properties vary significantly between the cold temperatures experienced in shadow (down to 40 K) and the hot temperatures in sunlight (up to 400 K). Further, rubber degrades when exposed to direct solar radiation, without atmospheric protection. Finally, an air-filled tire is not permissible for manned lunar vehicles because of the possibility of a flat tire. To overcome these limitations, a tire design was developed for the Apollo LRV and was successfully used on Apollo missions 15, 16, and 17. This tire was woven from music wire, which was robust to lunar temperature variations and solar radiation, operated in vacuum, and did not require air for load support. This structure further functioned to contour to the lunar terrain, which facilitated traction and reduced vibration transfer to the Apollo LRV.
Because of the new weight and distance requirements for lunar vehicles, a tire with greater strength and durability would be desirable.
One conventional wheel and non-pneumatic tire assembly has a variable diameter which, in addition to changing its diameter, may also change its width, thereby increasing the area of the wheel that engages the ground. Thus, this non-pneumatic tire may be adjusted to increase a vehicle's performance according to the terrain over which it is traveling. This tire has arching members with first and second ends connecting a wheel hub. The arching members extend outwardly in an arc between the first and second ends. The arching members form a plurality of flexible hoops spaced circumferentially around the hub and extending radially outward from the hub.
More specifically, the conventional non-pneumatic tire forms a cage composed of thirty-eight equally spaced radially extending hoops that arch between axially outer rims of a hub. The hoops are made of helical steel springs filled by wires cut to a desired length and threaded through the center of the springs. The conventional hub may be expanded/contracted axially for varying the diameter of the tire.
The original wire mesh design of the Apollo LRV tire was found to not be readily scaleable. Specifically, the increase in wire diameter to create a tire that supported ten times the load of the original design created two significant limitations: 1) the ability to contour to the terrain was lost, thus limiting traction and ability to isolate vibration; and 2) the increased wire stresses limited functional life. A tire in accordance with the present invention overcomes these limitations, making the tire an innovative technological advance for Moon, Earth, and other planetary surfaces.


FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a conventional encoder for encoding multi-object or multi-channel audio signals. Referring to the drawing, a Spatial Audio Coding (SAC) encoder 101 is presented as an example of a conventional multi-object or multi-channel audio signal encoder, and it extracts spatial cues, which are to be described later, from the input signals, i.e., multi-object or multi-channel audio signals and transmits the spatial cues, while down-mixing the audio signals and transmits them in the form of mono or stereo signals.
SAC technology relates to a method of representing multi-object or multi-channel audio signals as down-mixed mono or stereo signals and spatial cue information, and transmitting and recovering them. The SAC technology can transmit high-quality multi-channel signals even at a low bit rate. The SAC technology focuses on analyzing multi-object or multi-channel audio signals according to each sub-band, and recovering original signals from the down-mixed signals based on the spatial cue information for each sub-band. Thus, the spatial cue information includes significant information needed for recovering the original signals in a decoding process, and the information becomes a major factor that determines the sound quality of the audio signals recovered in an SAC decoding device. Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) based on SAC technology is undergoing standardization in the name of MPEG Surround, and Channel Level Difference (CLD) is used as spatial cue.
The present invention is directed to an apparatus and method for controlling rendering of multi-object or multi-channel audio signals based on spatial cue transmitted from an encoder, while the multi-object or multi-channel audio signals are down-mixed and transmitted from the encoder and decoded.
Conventionally, a graphic equalizer equipped with a frequency analyzer was usually utilized to recover mono or stereo audio signals. The multi-object or multi-channel audio signals can be positioned diversely in a space. However, the positions of audio signals generated from the multi-object or multi-channel audio signals are recognized and recovered uniquely to a decoding device in the current technology.


The invention relates to the technical field of power sockets, in particular to an anti-electric shock power socket.
The power sockets available on the market have multiple pressure units; each pressure unit usually includes a negative electrode holder and a positive electrode holder; the negative and positive electrode holders are connected to the power line by welding and wiring. In the viewpoint of manufacturing, the power socket is usually full of wires connected to each pressure unit, which not only makes the manufacturing inconvenient, it also increases cost. Besides, the power socket is internally wound with several segments of wires connected to each pressure unit, so overheating and short-circuiting phenomena are easily generated due to the inductive effect to cause danger. Thus, the existing power socket is necessary to improve because of the mentioned defects.


The present invention relates to an apparatus for taking care of the coat or fur of animals, and including a housing having an approximately rectangular section, a connector acting as a handle for connection to a suction device, a suction chamber and a comb.
Few apparatus exist in the art for effecting treatments on the coat or fur of animals. Combs are known having some hollow teeth whereby it is possible to blow treating products onto the coat. Driers are also known which inject lukewarm air into the coat and are combined with a hair-gathering device. For the hair of human beings, French Pat. No. 1,536,475 discloses a comb associated with a suction case.
The major drawback of apparatus for treating the coat of animals resides in the fact that the chamber in which the treatment is effected becomes charged with dust, hairs or treating products with the resulting risk of allergy of the respiratory tracts of the animals. Further, if it is desired to effect a complete treatment, several successive operations must be carried out.


Lithographic printing typically involves the use of a so-called printing master such as a printing plate which is mounted on a cylinder of a rotary printing press. The master carries a lithographic image on its surface and a print is obtained by applying ink to said image and then transferring the ink from the master onto a receiver material, which is typically paper. In conventional lithographic printing, ink as well as an aqueous fountain solution (also called dampening liquid) are supplied to the lithographic image which consists of oleophilic (or hydrophobic, i.e. ink-accepting, water-repelling) areas as well as hydrophilic (or oleophobic, i.e. water-accepting, ink-repelling) areas. In so-called driographic printing, the lithographic image consists of ink-accepting and ink-abhesive (ink-repelling) areas and during driographic printing, only ink is supplied to the master.
Printing masters are generally obtained by the so-called computer-to-film method wherein various pre-press steps such as typeface selection, scanning, color separation, screening, trapping, layout and imposition are accomplished digitally and each color selection is transferred to graphic arts film using an image-setter. After processing, the film can be used as a mask for the exposure of an imaging material called plate precursor and after plate processing, a printing plate is obtained which can be used as a master.
A typical photosensitive printing plate precursor for computer-to-film methods comprises a hydrophilic support and an image-recording layer which includes UV-sensitive compositions. Upon image-wise exposure of a negative-working plate, typically by means of a film mask in a UV contact frame, the exposed image areas become insoluble and the unexposed areas remain soluble in an aqueous alkaline developer. The plate is then processed with the developer to remove the diazonium salt or diazo resin in the unexposed areas. So the exposed areas define the image areas (printing areas) of the printing master, and such printing plate precursors are therefore called ‘negative-working’. Also positive-working materials, wherein the exposed areas define the non-printing areas, are known, e.g. plates having a novolac/naphtoquinone-diazide coating which dissolves in the developer only at exposed areas.
In addition to the above- photosensitive materials, also heat-sensitive printing plate precursors have become very popular. Such thermal materials offer the advantage of daylight-stability and are especially used in the so-called computer-to-plate method wherein the plate precursor is directly exposed, i.e. without the use of a film mask. The material is exposed to heat or to infrared light and the generated heat triggers a (physico-)chemical process, such as ablation, polymerization, insolubilization by cross-linking of a polymer or by particle coagulation of a thermoplastic polymer latex, and solubilization by the destruction of intermolecular interactions.
Thermal plates which require no processing are also known; such plates are typically of the so-called ablative type, i.e. the differentiation between hydrophilic and oleophilic areas is produced by heat-induced ablation of one or more layers of the coating, so that at exposed areas a surface is revealed which has a different affinity towards ink or fountain than the surface of the unexposed coating. A major problem associated with ablative plates, however, is the generation of ablation debris which may contaminate the electronics and optics of the exposure device and which needs to be removed from the plate by wiping it with a cleaning solvent, so that ablative plates are often not truly processless. Ablation debris which is deposited onto the plate's surface may also interfere during the printing process.
Other thermal plates that require no processing are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,855,173, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,839,369 and 5,839,370 where a method relying on the image-wise hydrophilic-hydrophobic transition of a ceramic such as a zirconia ceramic and the subsequent reverse transition in an image erasure step. This image-wise transition is obtained by exposure to infrared laser irradiation at a wavelength of 1064 nm at high power (the average power is 1 W to 50 W and the peak power lies between 6 kW and 100 kW) which induces local ablation and formation of substoichiometric zirconia. U.S. Pat. No. 5,893,328, U.S. Pat. No. 5,836,248 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,836,249 disclose a printing material comprising a composite of zirconia alloy and α-alumina which can be imaged using similar exposure means to cause localized “melting” of the alloy in the exposed areas and thereby creating hydrophobic/oleophilic surfaces. A similar printing material containing an alloy of zirconium oxide and Yttrium oxide is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,870,956. The high laser power output required in these prior art methods implies the use of expensive exposure devices.
Another type of processless plates are printing plates based on a so-called “switching” reaction where a hydrophilic surface is irreversibly changed into an oleophilic surface or vice versa by imagewise exposure. EP 652 483 for example, describes a positive working printing plate based on an acid catalyzed cleavage of acid-labile groups pendant from a polymer backbone. EP 200 488 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,081,572 describe negative working plates where a hydrophilic/hydrophobic conversion is obtained by a chemical reaction upon imagewise exposure to heat. Other examples of processless plates are based on the thermally induced rupture of microcapsules and the subsequent reaction of the microencapsulated oleophilic materials (isocyanates) with functional (hydroxyl-)groups on cross-linked hydrophilic binders (U.S. Pat. No. 5,569,573; EP 646 476; WO94/2395; WO98/29258).
U.S. Pat. No. 6,582,882 describes an imaging element comprising a graft copolymer having a hydrophobic backbone and a plurality of pendant hydrophilic groups or a plurality of pendant groups comprising hydrophilic and hydrophobic segments. Upon exposure of the imaging element to thermal energy, the exposed areas become less soluble in a developer than the unexposed areas.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,362,274 describes grafted copolymers comprising three sequences: one sequence for anchoring on solid particles such as pigments and fillers, one hydrophobic sequence and one hydrophilic sequence for using the copolymers in aqueous and/or organic medium. The disclosed copolymers are of particular interest in a wide range of paint formulations; there is no reference in the cited prior art document to lithographic printing plates.
None of the prior art discloses the heat-sensitive copolymer of the present invention in lithographic printing plates.


The term “wave energy” is used herein to include radiation as well as wave energies transmitted by various mediums, and embraces electromagnetic waves or radiations; sonic, supersonic, and ultrasonic waves; neutrons, protons, deuterons, and other corpuscular radiations. The term “electromagnetic waves” includes, e.g., X-ray, gamma-ray, ultraviolet, infra red, and visible light rays, and short electric and radio waves. These definitions and terms are consistent with those used by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for classification purposes.
Electromagnetic radiation (EMR) is one of the most pervasive forms of wave energy known and used by man. Sunlight, both within and beyond the visible spectrum, is one example of EMR wave energy that has been highly beneficial to man, and all life on earth. Man has harnessed the benefits of EMR through the development of such great inventions as the light bulb, X-rays and radio waves. Another utilization of wave energy, welding, has been an important factor in the development of modem technologies. Similarly, the steel industry grew rapidly due to another wave energy technology known as the electric arc, used for melting iron ore and converting it to steel.
Although the industrial revolution has brought about the luxuries and simplicities of life there has been a world-wide downside—pollution. Nowadays, it is common to find many waterways, drinking water sources, air and soils contaminated with pollutants. Although many technologies have been developed for removing contaminants from water and air, more and more engineers and scientists are turning to ultraviolet (UV) light systems for treating fluids.
One of the greatest inventions of all time is the light bulb. One of the earliest forms, Thomas Edison's carbon arc light bulb, has all but faded into extinction. A few very large carbon arc systems such as World War II vintage carbon arc searchlights are available today as rebuilt units. However, in general carbon arc lights are not utilized today for industrial and residential lighting, as searchlights or for photochemical reaction type applications. The carbon arc light bulb has been almost entirely replaced for those purposes by fluorescent bulbs, high pressure mercury vapor lamps, compact ceramic lamps and high pressure xenon lamps.
Another form of wave energy is sonic energy, and particularly ultrasonic energy. Ultrasonic waves are more commonly referred to as ultrasound. Ultrasound plays an important role in medical diagnostics, submarine sonar, ship sonar, non-destructive testing of metal, and cleaning equipment.
Photochemical reactions are well known and well documented. The use of electromagnetic radiation (EMR) particularly within the ultraviolet (UV) region, between 4 to 400 nanometers (nm), for treatment of fluids such as disinfection of drinking water and wastewater, free radical generation (hydroxyl radicals, chlorine radicals, etc.) and removal of noxious air contaminants such as VOCs, NOx, SOx from flue gas (off gas, tail gas) has gained in popularity over the past decade. In addition, advanced UV processes such as Advanced Oxidation, which incorporates UV light with an oxidant such as ozone or hydrogen peroxide, generate free radicals for decomposition of contaminants. Another UV art, which is rapidly receiving attention, is PhotoCatalytic Oxidation (PCO). PCO technology incorporates a semi-conductor catalyst in combination with UV radiation for generation of free radicals. PCO technology can use sunlight since the photons of interest for the most common photocatalyst, TiO2, lies between 320 to 400 nm and more specifically at about 365 nm.
Although there are many methods and devices known in the art, their applications are specific and limited. It is highly unlikely, for example, that an EMR device used for water disinfection can be used for air purification. Likewise, a PCO device designed for air disinfection has significant drawbacks when an attempt is made to utilize that technology in a liquid environment. This can be clearly demonstrated by a close review of the prior art.
There are a number of major obstacles which have not been overcome by the prior art. One major obstacle is residence time versus absorbance. The result of the failure of the prior art to overcome this obstacle is perceived by the end-user (customer) as a problem of “not having enough lights,” of “light penetration,” and/or of “excessive energy requirements (inefficient)”. When a photochemical reactor is designed and built for a specific set of parameters, the actual parameters in which the reactor is operated are variable and often change after the reactor put into service. Operators must make do with the photochemical reactor or the reactor is taken out of operation and decommissioned.
Given the past inadequacies of wave energy systems, in particular EMR systems employing UV/visible radiation, many designs have incorporated more lights, transparent glass sleeve wipers, redundant systems, or methods, which allows for more/better contact between the contaminants and the photons or the photocatalyst and the photons. However, the changes still do not overcome the problem of residence time versus absorbance. Thus, if the problems associated with both residence time and absorbance can be eliminated or solved, then an ideal photochemical reactor as well as method (for photochemical reactions) can be designed for many different applications. The problem of absorbance is inversely proportional to EMR transmission.
A number of attempts to advance the technology and to overcome problems and drawbacks in this field have been made, and are reflected in a number of patent documents.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,998,477—dated Dec. 21, 1976, discloses a device for non-rigid connection of two rigid cylindrical pipes, which comprise the combined use of flexible double lipped gaskets and toroid flexible gaskets surrounding a bulb-shaped zone formed in one of the pipes. The device is particularly useful for fastening fragile tubes containing light emitters to metal reactors used for photochemical processes.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,002,918—dated Jan. 11, 1977, discloses an apparatus for the irradiation of fluids in which the fluid is conducted along the walls of a container having walls which are permeable for the radiation to which the fluid is exposed. Radiation sources are arranged around the container and an active rotor is disposed within the container. The rotor consists of a body having axial bores and pins movably disposed in the bores and adapted to engage with their front ends the container walls thereby to wipe any deposits from the container walls during rotation of the rotor.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,317,041—dated Feb. 23, 1982, discloses various embodiments of photo-reactors in which there are at least two radiation chambers with a window arranged therebetween. UV radiation is introduced into one of the chambers at a side opposite the window so that it passes through that chamber, through the window and into the other chamber. The fluid medium to be purified is passed through the chambers and subjected to the radiation while in the chambers. The flow of the medium is through the chambers in series in some embodiments and in parallel in others. An embodiment is disclosed wherein a recirculation line is established around the reactor with the recirculation being continuous or intermittent. When intermittent the purified fluid medium also is drawn off intermittently, between the periods of recirculation. In some embodiments, the amount of radiation traversing all the chambers is monitored. If the monitored amount drops below a given amount, the apparatus is shut down. Alternatively, the rate of flow of the medium is adjusted, based on that monitored amount, with the rate of flow increasing or decreasing, respectively, in response to increases or decreases in that amount.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,476,105—dated Oct. 9, 1984, relates to a process for producing gaseous hydrogen and oxygen from water. The process is conducted in a photolytic reactor which contains a water-suspension of a photoactive material containing a hydrogen-liberating catalyst. The reactor also includes a column for receiving gaseous hydrogen and oxygen evolved from the liquid phase. To avoid oxygen-inactivation of the catalyst, the reactor is evacuated continuously by an external pump which circulates the evolved gases through means for selectively recovering hydrogen therefrom. The pump also cools the reactor by evaporating water from the liquid phase. Preferably, product recovery is effected by selectively diffusing the hydrogen through a heated semipermeable membrane, while maintaining across the membrane a magnetic field gradient which biases the oxygen away from the heated membrane. This promotes separation, minimizes the back-reaction of hydrogen and oxygen, and protects the membrane.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,126,111—dated Jun. 30, 1992, discloses a method of removing, reducing or detoxifying organic pollutants from a fluid, water or air, by contacting the fluid with a photoreactive metal semiconductor material in the presence of ultraviolet light of a wavelength to activate the photoreactive material. This is improved by simultaneously contacting the photoreactive material with a substance that accepts electrons and thus inhibits hole-electron recombination. Such substance will be such as to readily accept electrons either from the conduction band or from superoxide ions, and to rapidly dissociate into harmless products.
Still other photoreactors are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,567,921; 3,769,517; 3,924,246; 4,296,066; 4,381,978; 4,454,835; 4,488,935; 4,544,470; 4,774,026; 4,863,608; 4,868,127; 4,957,773; 5,045,288; 5,094,815; and 5,149,377.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,439,652 (Sczechowski, et al.) issued on Aug. 8, 1995 states that a Beer's law type expression was found for the transmitted light as a function of the TiO2 loading. From this relationship, the calculated light penetration depth for the 0.4% (by weight) Degussa TiO2 slurry used in these experiments was approximately 1 mm.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,994,705 (Cooke, et al) issued on Nov. 30, 1999 is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/946,647, filed on Oct. 7, 1997 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,866,910 which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/438,234, filed on May 9, 1995, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,696,380 discloses a flow-through photochemical reactor includes a reactor body, which circumscribes a longitudinally extending channel having a generally annular cross section. This channel accommodates fluids passing between an inner wall of the reactor body and an outer wall of a photon-transmitting tube that is housed internally thereof. In addition, the reactor includes mechanically static, fluid-dynamic elements for passively inducing substantial turbulent flow within a fluid as it passes through the channel. This arrangement substantially increases the uniformity of the fluid's exposure to photons radiating from a source within the tube into the fluid and it is conducted through the channel.
Calgon Corporation's U.S. Pat. No. 6,565,803 issued to Bolton, et al. on May 20, 2003 and titled, “Method for the inactivation of cryptosporidium parvum using ultraviolet light,” has a major drawback. The system utilizes mercury vapor bulbs housed in a quartz tube. Mercury is a pollutant that is transferred via the food chain. Any UV system incorporating a “bulb” is prone to burn out. Further, the glass or quartz envelope and the bulb become solarized due to the UV light. Consequently, dosages as specified within the '803 patent may not be sufficient to inactivate cryptosporidium.
Many other types of wave energy apparatuses are known in the prior art, but none of the known prior art utilizes the approaches encompassed within the scope of the present invention.


1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to clutch units of the oil shear type, and particularly to units having interleaved clutch plates and discs which are alternately clamped together or separated in an axial direction. The invention is directed toward a very large size clutch unit such as would be found in an aircraft catapult system for selectively winding or tensioning a nylon belt or tape which is in turn connected to a carriage secured to the aircraft to be launched or catapulted.
2. Description of the Prior Art
My U.S. Pat. No. 3,696,898 issued Oct. 10, 1972 shows a clutch-brake unit in which a plurality of interleaved clutch discs and plates are provided, all of which are simultaneously actuated by a single piston. The arrangement shown in this patent would be unsatisfactory for the purpose of actuating large size clutch units which must transmit high horsepowers. Among the problems to be dealt with in the construction of large size oil shear type clutch units are the need for maximum application of forces to couple the plates and discs, the cooling requirements for the part, and most importantly, the need for minimizing residual drag. To illustrate the magnitude of residual drag problems, it should be noted that in an 85,000 horsepower clutch operating at 1200 R.P.M., the residual drag is in the order of 8-10,000 horsepower. The residual drag in the apparatus of the present invention, on the other hand, is less than 500 horsepower.


Advertising and marketing displays often consist of non-static images, such as video images and other digital displays. For example, large-scale digital displays are widely used in major urban centers, as well as in stadiums, arenas, exterior walls of buildings and other applications. There exists an increasing need for smaller scale displays that are capable of displaying a static or dynamic video image so as to better attract the attention of onlookers. Displays of this nature may be used for advertising, public service information, and the like. As used in this patent specification, the terms “video display” or “flat panel display” encompasses any type of image display, whether for commercial advertising or other purposes. Preferably, such a display is a digital static or dynamic video display, but other video display types are known.
There is a need to provide video display systems that are suitable for use as a street or floor-level display for use in a harsh environment, such as outdoor use in locations where the units may be exposed to direct sun, and other situations of extreme heat or cold. Flat panel display screens, such as LCD panels, provide a high degree of resolution and are well-suited for displaying advertising and other images on a smaller scale, for example street-level displays. As well, advances in LCD and other flat panel screen technologies have permitted very bright display capabilities, making this technology in principal suitable for outdoor use in direct or near-direct sunlight. However, apart from certain closely monitored environments such as airports and retail stores, exposed video units can be exposed to vandalism and theft. As well, outdoor use of an exposed screen is usually difficult as a result of exposure to moisture and extreme temperature conditions. One solution is to enclose a video screen within a housing or enclosure. An enclosure may also find uses in indoor settings, where for security or other reasons it is desired to encase the video display unit within a robust enclosure.
Conventional LCD monitors are suitable for operation in a temperature range of approximately 5° C. to 40° C. At temperatures above this range, the screen may not function and may be temporarily or permanently damaged, while below this range the display may also not function properly. This presents a drawback for outdoor usage of LCD displays (and other flat panel digital monitors) that are enclosed within a housing, since temperatures can exceed this range. The interior of such an enclosure can experience a greatly elevated temperature, resulting from the combination of internally-generated heat from the video monitor, as well as absorbing of heat from the sun. There is therefore a need to provide a system which includes a secure enclosure for a flat panel digital display unit, but which is capable of maintaining a suitable temperature range for a video unit. Thermal management of the system should be provided in a manner which is efficient, reasonably quiet and reliable within a range of conditions.


As electronic mail becomes more popular, users face large volumes of messages in their electronic mail folders. This makes at least two important tasks difficult: triage of new messages and searching for existing messages. Whether for searching or triage, a user would like to find or dispose of the messages quickly, but may not know an optimal strategy.
For example, a user with 100 new electronic messages may scan the messages one by one, spending too much time addressing less relevant messages, and taking longer to discover the more important messages. Similarly, if a search query returns many messages, the user may need to scan the messages individually to find the desired one(s). In either case, the user spends too much time looking at less relevant messages.


Liquid crystals are applied to display media in which the reversible movement of liquid crystal molecules is made use of, such as display devices of various modes typified by twisted nematic (TN), vertical alignment (VA), and in-place-switching (IPS). Besides the application to display media, the liquid crystals, particularly those having a polymerizable functional group have been studied for applicability to optically anisotropic materials, such as a retardation film, a polarizer, a polarizing prism, a luminance-improving film, a low pass filter, various optical filters, and optical fibers, taking advantage of their anisotropy in physical properties, such as refractive index, dielectric constant, magnetic susceptibility, elastic modulus, and thermal expansion coefficient, as well as their alignment properties. It is important for the optically anisotropic material (polymer) obtained by the polymerization to have not only the optical anisotropy but other characteristics, such as polymerization rate, transparency, mechanical strength, coating properties, solubility, crystallinity, shrinking properties, water permeability, water absorption, melting point, glass transition point, clear point, chemical resistance, and heat resistance.
The optically anisotropic material (polymer) is obtained by, for example, uniformly aligning the molecules of a liquid crystal compound having a polymerizable functional group or a polymerizable composition containing the liquid crystal compound into a liquid crystal phase and irradiating the compound or the composition being in the liquid crystal phase with energy rays, such as ultraviolet rays, to cause photopolymerization. It is required to fix the aligned state of the liquid crystal compound uniformly and semi-permanently.
When the polymerizable composition has a high liquid crystal phase transition temperature, photopolymerization induced by energy rays may unintentionally invite thermal polymerization, which disturbs the uniform alignment of the liquid crystal molecules, making it difficult to fix a desired state of alignment. In order to facilitate temperature control during cure, a polymerizable composition showing a liquid crystal phase at or near room temperature is demanded.
The polymer is obtained by polymerizing the polymerizable composition in the form of coating film applied to a substrate. If the composition contains a non-polymerizable compound, the resulting polymer film may have insufficient strength or contain residual stress-induced strain. Removing a non-polymerizable compound using, e.g., a solvent can result in a failure to retain film homogeneity and cause unevenness. To obtain a polymer film with a uniform thickness, it is therefore preferred to apply a polymerizable composition in the form of a solution in a solvent to a substrate. Hence, it is desirable for a liquid crystal compound or a polymerizable composition containing it to have good solubility in a solvent.
To cope with the tendencies to reduction in thickness and weight of display devices, components making up the display devices including optical films have been requested to have a reduced thickness.
A polymerizable liquid crystal compound having an acryloyloxy group as a polymerizable functional group exhibits high polymerization reactivity, i.e., readily polymerizes through a convenient method (e.g., UV irradiation), and the resulting polymer has high transparency and has therefore been extensively studied for use as an optically anisotropic material (see, e.g., Patent Document 1, Patent Document 2, Patent Document 3, and Patent Document 4). However, any of the polymerizable compositions disclosed in these reference documents has the disadvantage of difficulty in controlling film formation with a reduced thickness.
In general, formation of a thick film from a polymerizable composition containing a liquid crystal compound encounters with difficulty in controlling molecular alignment of the liquid crystal compound, which can cause problems, such as reduction in transmittance and coloration. On the other hand, a thin polymer film having satisfactory molecular alignment over the entire area can be obtained, but formation of a thin film has difficulty in thickness control, readily resulting in non-uniform surface condition or crystallization. Furthermore, the liquid crystal state resulting from alignment control shows poor stability and tends to be disturbed before curing by irradiation with, e.g., UV light. Conventional known polymerizable compositions have thus failed to provide a satisfactory polymer.
Although Patent Document 5 supra discloses an epoxy compound that cures on irradiation with light, it is not pertinent to utilization as a liquid crystal material, nor does it teach or even suggest the effect on control in film formation and fixation of liquid crystal alignment.    Patent Document 1: JP 2006-193596A    Patent Document 2: JP 2005-196221A    Patent Document 3: JP 11-148080A    Patent Document 4: JP 8-231958A    Patent Document 5: JP 2006-84985A


The present invention relates generally to a patient support and, more particularly, to a patient sensor for detecting the presence of a patient supported on a patient support surface.
According to an illustrative embodiment of the present disclosure, a patient sensor is configured to detect a force generated by a patient supported on a patient support surface, the patient sensor comprising a base, a detector operably coupled to the base and positioned below the patient support surface, wherein the detector is configured to detect a force applied to the patient support surface. A force collector extends outwardly from the base toward the detector and is configured to collect and concentrate the force applied to the patient support surface and to direct the force to the detector.
According to a further illustrative embodiment of the present disclosure, a patient sensor comprises a base, a force sensing resistor having a resistance value configured to change depending upon the amount of force applied thereto, and a shear reducing coupler operably coupling the base to the force sensing resistor such that at least portions of the force sensor resistor are free to move relative to the base.
According to yet another illustrative embodiment of the present disclosure, a patient sensor is configured to detect force exerted by a patient against a patient support surface, the patient sensor comprising a base, and a force sensing resistor operably coupled to the base, wherein the force sensing resistor has a resistance value configured to change depending upon the amount of force applied thereto. A spacer is supported by the base and is configured to position the base in spaced relation to the force sensing resistor.
Further illustratively, the force sensing resistor is operably coupled to a controller and includes a fault condition configured to be detected by the controller. Illustratively, a resistor is coupled intermediate the force sensing resistor and the controller for providing the fault condition.
Additional features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of illustrated embodiments exemplifying the best mode of carrying out the invention as presently perceived.


The present invention concerns a hot air circulating oven range using shape memory alloy springs to drive the damper which changes over the airflow inside the oven.
Shape memory alloys try to return to their original shape when they reach a certain temperature, which enables the use of this material as a spring to drive the opening/closing of a damper depending on temperature.
However, with the normal type of shape memory alloy, the force with which the alloy trys to return to its original shape reduces the effective usage or length of use of the alloy, or in other words the alloy deteriorates, so that when a bias spring is used to keep a damper open, the force with which the shape alloy must pull against this spring to close the damper gradually reduces as it deteriorates, and eventually the force of the shape memory alloy is so small that it cannot overcome the force of the bias spring for closing the damper. This in turn results in a lower thermal efficiency when cooking with the hot air circulation method.


A wire cable tray generally has an elongate form and is of U-section. It comprises longitudinal wires, also termed warp wires, and transverse wires, also termed weft wires. The warp wires are generally straight and the weft wires are U-shaped. The weft wires are welded to the warp wires and are regularly spaced. The cable tray so produced has a bottom adapted to serve as a support for the cables or the like, and side walls, or flanges, adapted to hold the cables on the bottom.
In all that follows, for the sake of simplicity and clarity, the description will be made with reference to electric cables. However, the invention applies to any other type of longilinear item that can be supported by a wire cable tray: tube for conveyance of fluid (pneumatic or hydraulic), optic fiber, etc.
Such cable trays are appropriate anywhere that it is desired to pass electric cables. However, when a cable tray is adapted to support electric cables at the floor, it is preferable to raise it in order to protect the electric cables which it conveys, in particular in case of flooding.
To raise a cable tray, it is known for example to have feet regularly distributed along the cable tray. For example, there may be two feet on the same weft wire and this may be repeated at regular intervals. It is also known to rest the cable tray on a stirrup fixed to the floor. The connection between the stirrup and the cable tray is made for example using hooks formed on the stirrup which come into engagement with a warp wire of the cable tray.
To splice together two cable trays, it is known to use for example a splicing member for linking two cable trays placed end to end. Two weft wires are then disposed face to face. The splicing member comprises for example clipping means enabling it to clip onto each of the weft wires that face each other, so providing the connection between the cable trays.
The devices known from the prior art are not intended to provide at the same time the raising and the splicing together of two cable trays. Furthermore, the known raising accessories most often cannot be mounted in advance on the cable tray for which they are intended. When such a pre-mounting is possible, this is carried out using nuts and bolts or welds. Such a pre-mounting is costly in terms of time.


The present invention disclosed herein relates to a signal information transmitting device and a signal information transmitting method.
A car having an Electronic Control Unit (ECU) is driven according to a control of the ECU. Exemplarily, the car may control a fuel injection amount, front wheel and rear wheel brakes, and front wheel and rear wheel driving powers according to a control of the ECU. Additionally, the car may control whether to drive the engine according to a control of the ECU. For example, when the car waits for a traffic light, the engine of the car may be stopped according to a control of the ECU. Also, when the car starts, the engine of the car may be driven according to a control of the ECU.
According to the timings that the ECU stops and drives the engine, the fuel consumption efficiency and operating performance of the car may be changed. For example, as a time until the engine stops after the car stops is longer, the fuel consumption efficiency of the car is decreased. Moreover, as a time until the engine starts after a start signal is turned on is shorter, the operating performance of the car is increased. That is, when the ECU of the car is synchronized to a signal switching timing of a traffic light, the fuel consumption efficiency and operating performance of the car may be optimized.


This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
Remote access appliances, also known as “Keyboard/Video/Mouse” (“KVM”) appliances, are often used to enable remote access from a user's personal electronic device, typically a laptop or a desktop computer, to a target device within a data center. Often the target device is a server, but this is only one example, and the target device could be any data center device that the user needs to communicate with.
Typically the KVM appliance is coupled to the target device, which as noted above is often a data center device, and more typically a server. The coupling is achieved by an interface device known in the industry as a “rack interface pod” (“RIP”) or a “digital rack interface pod” (“DRIP”). In either case, the interface device typically connects to an RJ45 port of the remote access appliance via a first cable, which may be a CAT5 or similar cable. A second cable, which is typically a video cable which is hard-wired to the interface device, extends out from the interface device and is coupled to a video port of the target device (e.g., a server). A third cable, typically a USB cable, may be hardwired or coupled via a releasable USB connector to the interface device. The third cable forms a serial communications link between the interface device and the target device. Thus, the second and third cables form the means by which serial communications and video information may be transferred between the interface device and the target device.
While the above described interface device has performed well in a data center environment, the requirement of three cables extending from the interface device (i.e., CAT5, USB and video) can make for a complex arrangement of cabling at the equipment rack where the interface device is being used. If an entire equipment rack is filled with servers each having an interface device coupled thereto, one can easily see that this creates a voluminous arrangement of cables that must be managed. If all of the equipment racks in a row are filled with servers or other devices to which such interface devices are coupled, the amount of cabling grows almost exponentially. Accordingly, a need still exists for an interface device that is able to interface data center devices with a KVM appliance with a significantly reduced amount of cabling.


Organizations use storage virtualization systems to manage data objects stored on multiple network attached storage (“NAS”) systems. A storage virtualization system can migrate data objects from one NAS system (the “source,” “source server” or “src”) to another NAS system (the “destination,” “destination server” or “dst”). A storage virtualization system can also synchronize data objects between two NAS systems. In order to perform these operations, a storage virtualization system will typically be placed as an intermediary between the NAS system that stores the data objects and the client computer that accesses or requests access to the stored data objects. The client computer, storage virtualization system and the associated NAS system may be connected over a network. The storage virtualization system may begin performing its migration or synchronization operations once a second NAS system is added to the network. Storage virtualization provides a mechanism for real-time or near real-time data object management without requiring a shutdown or disconnection of NAS resources, or any intervention from users. As such, storage virtualization provides an effective and efficient way to manage data objects stored on multiple NAS systems without causing downtime or reducing productivity.
In order to efficiently perform storage virtualization operations, the storage virtualization system must be able to identify and locate the data objects stored on each of its associated NAS systems. For example, the storage virtualization system must monitor all of the data files, data directories, hard links, soft links and devices on its associated NAS systems. The storage virtualization system may therefore internally store a data structure containing information or “metadata” about the data objects stored on its associated NAS systems. The data structure may be a mapping index, a database, a File Identifier (“FID”) table, or directory tree that identifies each data object and its location on the associated NAS systems. The data structure may also include relevant path address, file attributes, timestamps or other such information for those data objects. Metadata in the data structure may originate from the associated NAS system that stores the data object, or the storage virtualization system that manages the data object. Using such a data structure enables the storage virtualization system to have an updated “snapshot” of the data objects it is managing. Changes made to those data objects, such as renaming or editing data object content, may be reflected in the data structure.
Due to hardware and performance constraints, a storage virtualization system may only have a finite amount of internal physical memory in which to store the data structure. For example, a storage virtualization system with 16 gigabytes of internal memory may only be able to store information on 50-60 million data objects. As a result, the storage virtualization system may only be able to manage 50-60 million data objects. NAS system manufacturers are continuously increasing the memory and data object storage capacity of their NAS systems. As the number of data objects that can be stored on these NAS systems grows, a storage virtualization system associated with these larger NAS systems will need to keep up with the increased storage demands.
What is therefore needed is a way to increase the storage capacity of present and future storage virtualization systems so that they can manage larger numbers of data objects. The data objects themselves may be stored on a single NAS system or on multiple NAS systems associated with a storage virtualization system. What is further needed is a way to optimize the storage virtualization system's data object management capabilities without affecting performance or resulting in data loss.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a learning-type classifying apparatus and a learning-type classifying method.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a learning-type classifying apparatus, the configuration of an apparatus is shown in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 8-21803 wherein a neural network is so constructed that characteristic values of the defective portion extracted from within an image is input as an input pattern, and the kind of defect is output by learning, thereby classifying the defect.
Furthermore, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 11-344450 shows a configuration which assists a teacher data creating operation, a configuration which uses statistical discrimination analysis to classify defective images on the basis of the created teacher data, etc. It is to be noted that the teacher data is a set of characteristic value information calculated from image information on or an image of a classification target and information on a correct class (=correct category) of the target (see FIG. 4 in the above-mentioned publication).


Systems and methods have been used to analyze large amounts of text. Some schemes attempt to locate themes common to the text being analyzed and may thereafter associate respective text documents with appropriate themes. These systems may operate to separate information of interest from information that is less relevant or useful. Text analysis systems and methods are becoming increasingly useful as the volume of information available for analysis continues to increase. Some conventional arrangements suffer from drawbacks of being relatively inflexible to accommodate input of a user when performing analysis.
At least some aspects of the present disclosure provide systems, methods and articles of manufacture which improve user interactivity with respect to text processing. Additional aspects provide increased flexibility with respect to text being analyzed as discussed in further detail below.


1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a device enabling a means of maintaining a desired orientation of a means of catching a fish, such as, but not restricted to, a hook, snare, artificial bait, or lure.
2. Background Information
Throughout history, man has struggled to advance the art of catching fish, for various and sundry reasons such as, but not restricted to, hunger, sport, sand assurances that he is smarter than the fish.
In using jig hooks, and related hardware, existing art has problems in that there is no sure way to maintain a hook at a desired angle to a line prior to a fish taking the hook and also inside a mouth of a fish. The hooks in the prior art tend to either fail to reliably, snag the fish and/or they can become lodged deep in the mouth of the fish where removal of the hook is difficult and catch and release of the fish is also difficult.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,592,664 to De Mello shows a prior art fishing lure. Primarily intended as a double hook, FIG. 1, '664 does show in FIG. 4 a single hook 29 with an upper eye 27 a lower eye 25, a lever arm 26 between them and a hook shaft 28 held perpendicular to a line 10, and a weight 11. The De Mello patent is primarily designed to maintain the hook in a weedless (column 2 line 40) orientation and is designed to snag fish in the lower jaw. Since most fish dive down when taking bait and hook, and since the fisherman will pull up to set the hook, trying to hook the lower jaw (column 2, line 38) is the least desirable target in many cases. The De Mello patent contemplates only a single position with the hook shaft 28 perpendicular to the line 10 (column 2 line 30) and the hook end 31 in a downward orientation. Finally, the hook 29 of DeMello has a very long hook shaft 28, the hook shaft 28 being 4 or 5 times longer than the apparent diameter of the hook curve 30 of the hook 29. What the long hook shaft 28 means is that the hook end 31 is likely to hook the fish deep in the mouth or gut making catch and release impossible.
As will be seen, the present invention overcomes the limitations of the prior art.


For many years paper greeting cards have been widely used for celebratory occasions such as birthdays, graduations, weddings and other commercial purposes. Traditional text information is generally found on paper greeting cards. More recently, sound has been added to traditional paper greeting cards to increase the personalization of the cards by delivering an audio message that is electronically embodied in circuitry that is carried within the greeting card. The ability to use sound in combination with printed matter such as with conventional printed greeting cards significantly enhances the communicative value of social and relational greetings. The availability of small voice recording sound modules has made sound-generating greeting cards increasingly popular. Small lighting systems have also been incorporated into social greeting products and novelties, and combined in circuits with sound and other features.


Account cards are used in many aspects of daily life, including gaining access to secure locations, providing identifying information, and performing monetary transactions. In some situations, mobile devices such as smartphones are replacing traditional cards, such as mobile devices having apps for making payments at point-of-sale locations or accessing a hotel room. But traditional cards still remain the most commonly-used mechanism for providing account information, thanks to their small form factor, convenience, and the highly developed infrastructure for receiving account information from cards such as magnetic card readers.
Compared to mobile electronic devices, traditional cards have more inherent security risks. While mobile electronic devices are usually locked with a passcode or PIN to prevent unauthorized usage, traditional cards are inherently unlocked and can be used by anyone in possession of the card. Thus, when a card is lost or stolen, the finder or thief can use the card at will, until an intervening event occurs, such as the card issuer disabling the card, a diligent cashier refusing the card upon checking the cardholder's identification, or destruction of the card. Often times, card issuers and the true cardholders suffer the consequences of fraudulent activities by the time the card number is cancelled or changed.
In view of the shortcomings of current systems and methods for providing account information, a robust, secure, and efficient mechanism for controlling activation of account card devices is desired.


The present invention relates to a device for auto-adaptative direction and polarization filtering of radio waves received on a network of aerials coupled to a receiver.
The invention is applied in particular to the construction of an interference elimination device for receivers of electromagnetic waves travelling through the HF ionospheric channel.
It is known that a tactical high frequency reception aerial must in particular enable any user to establish radio connections with various transmitting stations, and to simultaneously hear the transmissions from the other users of the high frequency channel.
Bearing in mind the congestion of the high frequency channel, the receiver must be able to reject the signals coming from sources of interference, be they intentional or not.
However, the known tactical high frequency adaptative aerial networks, generally formed from several suitably spaced vertical whips, do not enable exploitation of the polarization of the ionospheric waves. Whilst the performance levels expected from an adaptative aerial formed from three orthogonal dipoles, which does not have the shortcomings of the whips, are described in an article by RTE COMPTON entitled "The tripole antenna: an adaptative array with a full polarization flexibility" (IEEE trans antenne and propagation. Vol.: AP 29 No. 6 Nov. 81), the aerial which is described therein has the tactical disadvantage of having to be placed at the top of a mast so that the radiation patterns of the horizontal dipoles are correct. Moreover, as it is technologically very difficult to suppress the high frequency currents circulating in the external parts of the coaxial cables connecting the dipoles of the aerial to the receiver, the performance levels expected of this aerial configuration are, in practice, not obtained.