Abstract: A hat pallet for use in a printer which prints an image onto a hat of the type having a cap and a brim attached thereto includes a bottom plate and a top plate mountable in a closed position over the bottom plate. The bottom plate includes a printing plate and a brim support fixedly mounted thereon. The top plate has an opening exposing at least a portion of the printing plate when the top plate is in the closed position. The brim support is positioned relative to the printing plate such that when the hat is mounted in the pallet with the top plate in the closed position, a portion of the cap on which the image is to be printed is supported on the printing plate and exposed through the opening of the top plate and the underside of the brim of the hat is supported by the brim support.

Abstract: An activator composition for forming an activator-containing region on a substrate for activating a chemical reaction to form a conductive metal region on the substrate, the composition being suitable for thermal inkjet printing, the composition comprising a single phase aqueous composition including one or more curable materials and one or more co-solvents for the curable material(s); and an activator for reaction to form a conductive metal region. Conductive metal regions may be formed on the resulting activator-containing regions by a metallisation reaction such as electroless deposition.

Abstract: An all-wet process for reclaiming the lead content of impure electrode paste or slime from discarded lead batteries and/or lead minerals, in form of high purity lead compound, comprises a) suspending the impure lead containing material in a lead sulphate dissolving aqueous solution of a salt belonging to the group composed of the acetates of sodium, potassium and ammonium; b) adding to the suspension sulphuric acid in an amount sufficient to convert all lead oxides to lead sulphate soluble in the acetate salt solution and slowly adding to the suspension either hydrogen peroxide or a sulphite or bubbling sulphurous anhydride through it, in a measure adapted to reduce any lead dioxide to lead oxide converted eventually to soluble lead sulphate by the sulphuric acid; c) separating a limpid acetate salt solution containing dissolved lead sulphate from a solid phase residue including all undissolved compounds and impurities; d) adding to the separated solution of lead sulphate either carbonate or hydroxide of the

Abstract: A method of modifying a fluorinated polymer surface comprising the steps of depositing a first layer on at least a portion of the fluorinated polymer surface, the first layer comprising a first polymer, the first polymer being a substantially perfluorinated aromatic polymer; and depositing a second layer on at least a portion of the first layer, the second layer comprising a second polymer, the second polymer being an aromatic polymer having a lower degree of fluorination than said first polymer, whereby the second layer provides a surface on to which a substance having a lower degree of fluorination than the first polymer, e.g. a non-fluorinated substance is depositable.

Abstract: A support assembly for a surface treating appliance includes a roller having one or more tires, wherein the one or more tires are fused to the roller. The roller can include a polymer such as polypropylene and may also include a glass filled impact modified copolymer such as a 20% glass filed impact modified copolymer. The tires can include a thermoplastic elastomer such as a modified polymer including a mixture of polypropylene and an ethylene propylene diene monomer.

Abstract: A method and system of controlling halt and resumption of scanning actions of an LCD is disclosed. An incoming video source is monitored, and current scan line position and corresponding polarity are recorded. When an abnormal video source is detected, the LCD scanning is stopped at a halt scan line of a halt frame with a halt polarity. After a normal video source has been detected again, determination is made of a proper resumptive scan line and/or a resumptive polarity. The panel scanning is resumed at the resumptive scan line equal to the halt scan line and/or with the resumptive polarity matching the halt polarity.

Abstract: A handle assembly for a cleaning appliance includes a handle portion for maneuvering the handle assembly during use, a flexible hose having a first end connectable to a main body of the cleaning appliance and a second end connectable to the handle portion, and a tubular wand. The tubular wand is slidably mounted in the handle portion so as to be moveable between a first position in which the tubular wand extends along the handle portion inside the flexible hose and a second position in which the tubular wand extends beyond the handle portion away from the flexible hose. The handle is releasably attachable to the main body by a catch mechanism arranged so as to release the handle portion from the main body when the tubular wand is moved from the first position to the second position.

Abstract: A memory cell includes a pair of sub-cells, each including an access transistor, a storage transistor, and an isolation transistor that are serially coupled in sequence with their source/drain connected. The isolation transistor is shared with a sub-cell of an adjacent memory cell and always turned off, wherein the storage transistor is always turned on. A wordline is coupled to a gate of the access transistor of each sub-cell, and complementary bit lines are respectively coupled to sources/drains of the access transistors of the pair of sub-cells, such that data bit may be accessed between the bit line and the corresponding storage transistor through the corresponding access transistor.

Abstract: A process for the production of propylene glycol by reaction of a feed material comprises glycerol in the presence of hydrogen which comprising the steps of: (a) supplying a stream comprising the feed material to a first vaporisation zone and contacting said feed with cycle gas comprising hydrogen such that at least a portion of the feed is vaporised by and into the cycle gas; (b) supplying at least a portion of the cycle gas and the vaporised feed material to a first reaction zone comprising catalyst and operating under reaction conditions to allow hydrogenation and dehydration to occur such that a major part of the glycerol is converted; (c) recovering from the first reaction zone an intermediate product stream comprising cycle gas, minor amounts of unconverted glycerol, and desired product(s); (d) supplying the intermediate product stream from the preceding reaction zone to a final vaporisation zone and contacting it with additional feed material such that an amount of glycerol, approximately equivalent to

Abstract: A toasting appliance includes a toasting chamber, a heating element arranged to heat a foodstuff located within the toasting chamber, and an optical system for optically illuminating the foodstuff and detecting light reflected from the foodstuff. Before the foodstuff begins to change color as a result due to the heating thereof by the heating element, a controller varies the illumination of the foodstuff by the optical system so that the intensity of the light reflected from the foodstuff is at or around a set value. The controller subsequently terminates the toasting operation when the intensity of the light reflected from the foodstuff has reduced, due to toasting thereof, from the set value by an amount depending on a desired degree of toasting of the foodstuff.

Abstract: A method of enhanced instant messaging in a communication network is provided. The method comprises instantiating an instant query message received from a message initiator as a message object. The method further comprises assigning a context identifier and a context queue to the message object based on a context of the message object. The message object is delegated to one or more users if a reply to the message object is not available in a database. Thereafter, one or more replies received for the message object are aggregated in the context queue of the message object and at least one reply is sent to the message initiator.

Abstract: A packaging method of wafer level chips including following steps is provided. First, a plurality of chips attached on a first film is provided, and the chips on the first film are disposed respectively corresponding to a plurality of electrode patterns of a substrate. Then, a phosphor layer is respectively formed on at least one surface of each of the chips. Next, a second film is disposed on the phosphor layers, and the second film is opposite to the first film. Further, the first film is removed from the base surface of each of the chips. Then, the base surfaces of the chips are attached to the substrate. Afterward, each of the chips is electrically connected with the corresponding electrode pattern through a wire bonding. Finally, a packaging gel is provided to cover each of the chips, and the packaging gel is solidified.

Abstract: An apparatus such as a touch screen display includes correlated emitter-detector pairs for determining the amount of electromagnetic radiation received at a detector from its paired emitter. The apparatus comprises an array of emitters operable to emit electromagnetic radiation, an array of detectors for detecting the electromagnetic radiation, and drive control circuitry configured to control the array of emitters so that they emit pulses of electromagnetic radiation. The amplitude of the pulses is modulated using mutually orthogonal binary vectors such as a Paley construction of the Hadamard matrix. Each emitter has a different vector associated with it. Detection circuitry is provided to detect the electromagnetic radiation reaching each particular detector in the array of detectors using the mutually orthogonal binary vector associated with the correlated emitter to produce a correlation between particular emitter-detector pairs. The arrangement can discriminate between near field and touching objects.

Abstract: An auxiliary cartridge for use in rock breaking is disclosed which comprises an elongate body, an end closure at each end of the body and a charge of combustible material in the space defined by the body and the end closures. One of the end closures includes a frangible membrane which closes off a charge of combustible chemicals. On being subjected to the pressure of an external ignition of fast burning combustible material, the membrane fails and permits flame to flash through it from externally of the auxiliary cartridge to internally thereof thereby to ignite said charge.

Abstract: A semiconducting compound comprising the structure: where R1 to R4 independently comprise, but are not limited to, optionally substituted straight, branched or cyclic alkyl chains having 2 to 20 (e.g. 2 to 12) carbon atoms, alkoxy, amino, amido, silyl, alkyl, alkenyl, aryl or hetero aryl; where X1 and X2 independently comprise S, O, NR5 or SiR6R7 where R8 to R7 independently comprise C1 to C5 branched, straight or cyclic alkyl chains; and where Ar1 comprises a heterocyclic ring, and where n is an integer between 1 and 4.

Abstract: There is disclosed herein a method and apparatus for centring a disk on a spindle, a spinstand and a method of testing with a spinstand. The method of centring includes attaching the disk to the spindle with a stick-slip clamp. A vector is determined by which the centre of the disk is displaced from the spindle axis and the vector is aligned with a movably mounted piezo actuator. A voltage is then applied to the piezo actuator to cause the piezo actuator to apply an impulse to the edge of the disk to cause the disk to slip in the clamp and reduce the displacement of the disk.

Abstract: Flexible web page template building systems, methods and applications using an auto-expanding user-editable content container(s) are presented. A web page template displayable on a user display is configured with at least one auto-expanding user-editable content container that includes a predefined top portion, a pre-defined bottom portion, and a repeatable middle portion, The auto-expanding user-editable content container is configured to monitor the size of user-provided content in the content container relative to the size of the content container upon entry or removal of content and automatically adjust the size of the content container to fit the user-provided content by dynamically inserting or removing instance(s) of the middle portion of the content container to vertically expand or contract the size of the content container to fit the user-provided content.

Abstract: A phase selector including a plurality of buffers, a multiplexer, a first inverter, and a selecting circuit is provided. Each of the buffers provides a clock signal, and the clock signals have different phases. The multiplexer selectively outputs one of the clock signals as a switch signal according to a first control signal, wherein the first control signal is first portion of bits of a selecting signal. The input terminal of the first inverter receives a second control signal, wherein the second control signal is second portion of bits of the selecting signal, and the output terminal of the first inverter outputs an inverted signal. The selecting circuit transmits the second control signal of the selecting signal or the inverted signal to the output terminal of the phase selector according to the logic state of the switch signal.

Abstract: An acoustic isolator section for an acoustic well logging tool, the isolator section comprising: an isolator comprising: (i) an isolator body; (ii) a mass; (iii) a resiliently deformable portion formed integrally with the isolator body; (iv) a movement limiter.

Abstract: A battery tester engages a power tool battery and includes a housing having a cavity for receiving a stem of the power tool battery. The battery tester has a plurality of electrically conductive contacts disposed in the cavity and is configured to engage corresponding battery electrodes on the stem. A processor is mounted within the housing and communicates with the battery through the electrically conductive contacts. The processor measures a voltage level of the battery, and a loading circuit electrically loads the battery during measuring. One or more indicators are controlled by the processor. The processor activates the loading circuit for a predetermined period of time to measure a voltage level of the battery while under load, and then activates the indicators to provide a visual indication of remaining battery life. The battery tester is a stand-alone device where housing does not have a motor or a battery charger.