Abstract: The present invention relates to a particularly economic overall method for producing menthol, specifically for producing optically active, essentially enantiomerically and diastereomerically pure L-menthol and racemic menthol, starting from the starting material citral which is available inexpensively on an industrial scale. The method comprises the following steps a) catalytic hydrogenation of neral and/or geranial to give citronellal, b) cyclization of citronellal to isopulegol in the presence of an acidic catalyst, c) purification of isopulegol by crystallization and d) catalytic hydrogenation of isopulegol to give menthol.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a continuous process for preparing neral (cis-citral) in pure or enriched form by distillatively separating neral from substance mixtures comprising essentially neral and geranial (trans-citral). This distillative separation is performed in a dividing wall column or in a connection of two distillation columns in the form of a thermal coupling.

Abstract: The invention relates to an ester AB of a polypropylene glycol A with fatty acids B, which ester AB can be added in the form of an aqueous emulsion to an aqueous coating composition, and a method of use of the ester AB as defoamer additive.

Abstract: To configure a secure bus subscriber connected to a field bus in a secure control system, the secure bus subscriber being assigned a defined subscriber address, the invention provides a method having the following steps: an address allocation message is sent from a control unit connected to the field bus to the secure bus subscriber, the address allocation message comprising the defined subscriber address, the defined subscriber address is stored in a memory in the secure bus subscriber, and an acknowledgement message is sent from the secure bus subscriber to the control unit, the acknowledgement message comprising the defined subscriber address, where the address allocation message is sent on the basis of planning data for the secure bus subscriber connected to the field bus which are stored in the control unit. The invention also provides an appropriate control system.

Abstract: The invention relates to a guide device for a drilling device, comprising a housing having deflection means for generating a side force, and a shaft rotatably supported within the housing, wherein the shaft comprises connection means at a first end for connecting to a drilling rod, and connection means at a second end for connecting to a drilling head, and wherein coupling means are provided for connecting the shaft to the housing in a rotationally fixed manner as needed.

Abstract: A method for observing a person in an industrial environment using a multicamera system to acquire image data about the position and alignment of a person, including a person's body parts. These image data are then examined with regard to the imaging of a person so that whenever a person has been detected in the image data, an articulated virtual 3D model of the human body is matched to this person hypothesis. Subsequently, this virtual body model is continuously matched to the movement behavior of the person detected in the image data. A hazard potential is determined using knowledge of the position and the movement behavior of the virtual body model in space. The hazard potential thus determined is subjected to a threshold value comparison in order to act upon the movement control of the machine or the machine part in the event of this threshold value being exceeded.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a process for preparing N-substituted (3-dihalomethylpyrazol-4-yl)carboxamides of the formula (I) in which R1 is optionally substituted phenyl or C3-C7-cycloalkyl, R1a is hydrogen or fluorine, or R1a together with R1 is optionally substituted C3-C5-alkanediyl or C5-C7-cycloalkanediyl, R2 is C1-C6-alkyl, C2-C6-alkenyl, C2-C6-alkynyl or C1-C4-alkoxy-C1-C2-alkyl, X is F or Cl and n is 0, 1, 2 or 3; which comprises A) providing a compound of the formula (II) in which X is F or Cl, Y is Cl or Br and R2 has one of the meanings given above and B) reacting a compound of the formula (II) with carbon monoxide and a compound of the formula (III) in which R1, R1a and n have one of the meanings given above; in the presence of a palladium catalyst; to intermediates used for the preparation according to the process according to the invention, and also to processes for their preparation.

Abstract: A method and also a control and data-transmission system is presented, with which the installation location of at least one safety bus component connected to the control and data-transmission system (10) can be checked. For this purpose, in two separate communications cycles, a respective position identifier, which had been allocated to the safety bus components (60) in a prior configuration process, is transmitted to each safety bus component via a non-safety communications control device (30). The safety bus components compare the position identifiers received in the two communications cycles to the contents of a memory, in which a reference position identifier has already been stored or which is still empty.

Abstract: The invention relates to a device (10) for blow moulding a container from a parison, comprising a blowing cylinder (11) and a blowing nozzle (12) mounted thereon, in which the parison (R) can be fixed and with a stretching rod (13), enclose by the cylinder (11) and which may be passed through the nozzle (12), wherein the nozzle (12) can be supplied with compressed air via openings (14) in the cylinder (11). The station (10) is characterised in that the stretching rod (13) is driven by a single tubular electric linear motor (15) the stator (15-1) of which is mounted on the cylinder (11) and the armature (15-2) of which is connected to the stretching rod (13).

Abstract: In a method for guiding a cast material out of a casting chamber of a casting system, the cast material is discharged from a casting chamber by means of a succession of guiding rollers and rolling rollers. A rolling roller exerts a rolling force on the cast material to reduce the thickness of the cast material, whereas a guiding roller, which simply guides, exerts no rolling force on the cast material. At least the rolling rollers are driven by a drive, each drive applied under load. Because the rolling force of at least one rolling roller is detected, and the load of the drive of this rolling roller is controlled according to the detected rolling force, a method can be provided by which the stability of the casting speed is increased, and a significant reduction of the thickness of a cast material is achieved.

Abstract: Process for the preparation of aromatic and heteroaromatic carboxylic acids, carboxylic acid esters and carboxamides by the reaction of aromatic or heteroaromatic halides R—Xn, in which n=integer from 1 to 6, R=substituted or unsubstituted and aromatic or heteroaromatic radical and X=chlorine, bromine or iodine atom, with carbon monoxide and water, ammonia, alcohols or amines in the presence of bases and zero-valent or divalent palladium compounds and bidentate diphosphanes or complexes of zero-valent or divalent palladium with bidentate diphosphanes, in which use is made of bidentate diphosphanes (R1—)(R2—)P—Y—P(—R3)(—R4) in which R1 to R4=unsubstituted aryl radicals or aryl radicals substituted with at least one radical exhibiting a positive resonance effect or a positive inductive effect, or unsubstituted or substituted cycloalkyl radicals, and Y=hydrocarbon group with a total of 2 to 20 carbon atoms, in which at least one of the carbon atoms carries only one or no hydrogen atom as substituent; except f

Abstract: The present invention relates to a process for preparing optically active carbonyl compounds by asymmetrically hydrogenating ?,?-unsaturated carbonyl compounds in the presence of optically active transition metal catalysts which are soluble in the reaction mixture and have at least one carbon monoxide ligand, the optically active catalyst which has at least one carbon monoxide ligand and is to be used in each case being prepared by pretreating a catalyst precursor with a gas mixture comprising carbon monoxide and hydrogen and the asymmetric hydrogenation being performed in the presence of carbon monoxide supplied additionally to the reaction mixture.

Abstract: A method and an apparatus are disclosed for the coupling of a safety-critical process from a safe environment to an environment that is not safe or to an environment that is safe but has fewer processing channels. To this end, provision is made of a method which processes a data record that is relevant to the safety-critical process to form a respective safe protocol using at least two redundant processing channels in accordance with identical laws, and forms a common safe protocol taking into account at least two redundant safe coupling protocols. When writing at least elements of the common safety-based protocol using a processing channel with write authorization, another processing channel is used to check whether these elements are identical to one another. Access to a common buffer register for the purpose of storing these elements is enabled only when they are identical to one another.

Abstract: A process for preparing substituted biphenyls of the formula I where R1=nitro or amino, R2=cyano, halogen, C1-C4-haloalkyl, C1-C4-haloalkoxy or C1-C4-haloalkylthio, n=from 0 to 3, and R3=hydrogen, cyano or halogen, which comprises reacting a halobenzene of the formula II in which Hal is chlorine or bromine, in the presence of a base and of a palladium catalyst which consists of palladium and a bidentate phosphorus ligand of the formula III where Ar is phenyl which is substituted if desired and R4 and R5 are each C1-C8-alkyl or C3-C6-cycloalkyl or together form a 2- to 7-membered bridge which may, if desired, bear a C1-C6-alkyl substituent, in a solvent or diluent, with a phenylboronic acid IVa a diphenylborinic acid IVb or a mixture of IVa and IVb.

Abstract: The invention relates to a control system for controlling safety-critical processes in an automated system by using a communications network with a communications master for controlling the communications on the network and a plurality of network subscribers. At least a few of the network subscribers are constructed as decentralized, secure network subscribers, and each has a separate, decentralized safety controller for controlling a safety-relevant application. Each of the decentralized, secure network subscribers has a unique safety address. The decentralized, secure network subscribers themselves execute the safety functions and/or safety logic operations relevant to them. The decentralized, secure network subscribers communicate with each other in a fail-safe way in which each executes automatic, fail-safe point-to-point communications with another of the decentralized, secure network subscribers, in order to be able to provide safety functions covering the decentralized, secure network subscribers.

Abstract: The invention relates to communication between safety-related modules in a communication network of an automation system. The object of the invention is to simplify installation and development of safety-related modules in an automation network. To this end, the safety functions of a system are divided into small, manageable, locally delimitable and simply verifiable groups of modules.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a process for preparing aldehydes by reacting an ?,?-unsaturated carboxylic acid or a salt thereof with carbon monoxide and hydrogen in the presence of a catalyst comprising at least one complex of a metal of transition group VIII of the Periodic Table of the Elements with at least one compound of the formula (I), where Pn is pnicogen; W is a divalent bridging group having from 1 to 8 bridge atoms between the flanking bonds; R1 is a functional group capable of forming at least one intermolecular, noncovalent bond with the —X(?O)OH group of the compound of the formula (I); R2, R3 are each in each case optionally substituted alkyl, cycloalkyl, heterocycloalkyl, aryl or hetaryl or together with the pnicogen atom and together with the groups Y2 and Y3 if present form an optionally fused and optionally substituted 5- to 8-membered heterocycle; a, b and c are each 0 or 1; and Y1,2,3 are each, independently of one another, O, S, NRa or SiRbRc, where Ra,b,c are each H or in each c

Abstract: A test stand arrangement comprises an electric machine (4) for driving and/or loading a test object (1) which is connected by means of a connecting shaft (2) having an adapter flange (3) to the electric machine (4). To be able to establish the connection of the drivetrain and vehicle simulation with the real vehicle-specific combustion and transient behavior of the engine, the arrangement consisting of connecting shaft (2) and drive and load machine (4) has a constant, predetermined moment of inertia, and the mass and the moment of inertia of the adapter flange (3) are selected in such a manner that the resonant frequency of the system consisting of test object (1), adapter flange (3), connecting flange (2), and electric machine (4) for driving and/or loading the test object (1) lies between the idle frequency and the partial load frequency of the test object (1).

Abstract: Systems and methods for determining conditions of a seat within a vehicle and modifying the operation of at least one safety system or device in response to the conditions of the seat. The system includes a sensor module located in a seat-back of the seat, a control module, and at least one safety system. The sensor module includes one or more accelerations sensors for measuring the acceleration of the seat along first, second, and third axes with respect to the vehicle (e.g., longitudinal, transverse, and vertical directions with respect to the vehicle). The signals generated by the acceleration sensor are sent to the control module, which uses the signals to determine a plurality of conditions of the first seat. The conditions of the seat include, for example, a seat-back tilt angle, a seat-shock (e.g., from a collision), vehicle dynamics (e.g., vehicle acceleration and velocity in multiple directions), and a vehicle rollover condition.

Abstract: A lighting device can include at least one optoelectronic semiconductor chip, which emits electromagnetic radiation and generates heat in operation, and a reflector. The reflector is suitable for deflecting the electromagnetic radiation and dissipating the heat generated by the optoelectronic semiconductor chip by means of a reflecting surface.