32results about How to "Maximize surface contact" patented technology

An air purifying system includes one or more air permeable photocatalytic elements defining a core cavity having a sealed top end and an open bottom end. A sealed air flow path ensures that air travels from an outside of the core cavity, through the one or more photocatalytic elements, into the core cavity, to be expelled through the open bottom end. A UV radiation source disposed within the core cavity irradiates air travelling along the sealed flow path and an interior of the one or more photocatalytic elements. Each photocatalytic element is manufactured using a substrate, that is conductive of and transparent to UV radiation, coated with a photocatalyst. A non-photocatalytically active material is initially coated on the substrate and is then converted to a photocatalyst by calcination.

In various exemplary embodiments, the present invention provides a set of less invasive cervical spine instruments that are used to achieve cervical disc decompression, bone preparation, and the alignment of one or more matched sized bone grafts prior to cervical plate placement. This set of less invasive cervical spine instruments, and the related surgical method, result in reduced surgical time, the preparation of a precise machined bone surface while simultaneously maintaining the cervical disc decompression height of the intervertebral endplates, the selection of one or more prefabricated bone dowel grafts sized to match the machined bone surface and maximizing the surface contact required for cervical spine fusion, the placement of the one or more prefabricated bone dowel grafts (e.g. side by side) that can be of different diameters in order to fully exploit the intervertebral space available, and the alignment of the cervical plate using a cervical spine instrument that is matched to align with the one or more prefabricated bone dowel grafts beneath the cervical plate.

A wave energy converter (10) for extracting useful energy from wave motion. The converter (10) comprises an active float (12) that is arranged to float on the water, and being arranged to heave and surge in response to wave motion acting on the active float, and an elongate reactive body (14) that is arranged to be suspended in a substantially submerged state into the water and having sufficient surface area and length such that it pitches in response to wave motion-acting on the reactive body. The active float (12) and reactive body (14) are pivotably coupled for pivotable movement relative to each other about a single pivot axis (16) in response to heaving and surging of the active float and pitching of the reactive body. The converter also comprises a power output system that is driven by the pivotable movement about the pivot axis to capture the useful energy.

A shoe having a last which includes a shape and volume that reflects the thickness of an internal sock liner, and a shoe interior made specifically for inclusion of the sock liner. The sock liner itself includes an anatomically shaped foot bed surface with a cupped heel, contoured arch, radiused forepart and beveled toe area. The sock liner material specifications and thicknesses are engineered or tuned to have a high amount of deflection when compressed without getting stiff.

An outsole designed to enable stability when standing, facilitate sole flexibility and encourage unhindered natural foot motion between the foot and the ground, the outsole including a top face and a bottom face, the bottom face having a plurality of anatomically placed pods for engaging directly with a walking surface, and a plurality of contact points forming a stable platform for the wearer while standing, the top face including a flex groove matrix having a first plurality of grooves which extend transversely across the top face from the inside of the foot to the outside of the foot and intersect with at least some of a second plurality of grooves which extend longitudinally at least partially across the top face from heel to toe.

A method and related apparatus for manufacturing a continuous strip member having at least one surface structured with a surface pattern are described, which employs a rotating mold wheel in conjunction with a belt tensioned around and moving with the rotating mold wheel. A continuous bead of molten thermoplastic material is drawn and applied between the rotating mold wheel and the moving belt to extrude the continuous strip member. The mold wheel carries on its outer circumference a structure serving as a series of mold cavities designed to form the surface pattern onto the continuous strip member. The moving belt applies a compressive force onto the molten thermoplastic material thus forcing the material into the mold cavities until the material has sufficiently solidified, thereby taking on the contours of the mold cavities.

A shoe construction including a shoe upper, an intermediate insert assembly and at least an outsole, the insert assembly including a sockliner having a raised area positioned to underlie an arch of a wearer's foot and a recessed area positioned to underlie a heel of a wearer's foot, and a relatively rigid board member having recessed areas underlying the sockliner in the heel and arch areas.

An air scrubber for removing oils and contaminates from air has an underside inlet for the introduction of contaminated air. The contaminated air passes through a reduced aperture passageway which prevents retrograde flow of contaminates or cleaning fluids contained in the scrubber. The contaminated air is thereafter directed upwards through a scrub reservoir having a plurality of apertures, such that the contaminated air passing through the apertures forms jets which cause interaction between the cleaning fluid and the contaminates, thereby creating droplets containing cleaning fluid with entrapped contaminates, and cleaned air. The droplets and air are directed to a mist eliminator having a plurality of chevron V structures which capture the droplets and return them to the main reservoir. A circulating pump moves cleaning fluid from the main reservoir to an upper reservoir which spills into the cleaning reservoir.

An apparatus for accumulating cross-aligned fiber in an electrospinning device, comprising a multiple segment collector including at least a first segment, a second segment, and an intermediate segment, the intermediate segment positioned between the first and second segment to collectively present an elongated cylindrical structure; at least one electrically chargeable edge conductor circumferentially resident on the first segment and circumferentially resident on the second segment; a connection point on the first segment and on the second segment, the connection points usable for mounting the elongated cylindrical structure on a drive unit to rotate around a longitudinal axis; the elongated cylindrical structure holding electrospun fiber substantially aligned with the longitudinal axis when the edge conductors are excited with a charge of opposite polarity relative to charged fiber, and attracting electrospun fiber on to its surface around the longitudinal axis at least when the edge conductors are absent a charge or grounded.

The present application is directed to a method and apparatus for monitoring soil hydraulic properties, and for collecting soil pore-water samples, in relatively undisturbed soil conditions, by means of a vadose zone probe (10) adapted to be mounted on an inflatable sleeve (18) for installation in a borehole (14) formed in the vadose zone, said vadose zone probe comprises a fluid cell (15) having one or more conduits (13a, 13b, 13c) connected thereto for externally accessing its interior, and a porous medium (11) installed in, or formed on, one of its walls for allowing passage of liquid between the interior of said fluid cell and the borehole soil, wherein said vadose zone probe is made from an elongated body having a front (10f) and rear (10r) sides, and wherein said rear side is substantially flat and said front side is made from a deformable and permeable material, or having a curvature corresponding to the curvature of said borehole.

A hydrogen-oxygen electrolyzing device for generating hydrogen and oxygen with electrolytic solution comprises a first container providing a receiving trough for containing the electrolyte, and at least an electrolyzing structure; the electrolyzing structure further comprises: at least a serial cell being disposed in the receiving trough and further comprising a plurality of electrodes with a gap between every two neighboring electrodes, a first conductor and a second conductor; the first and second conductors electrically connect with the two outermost electrodes; characterized in that each of the electrodes is a carbon paper electrode with both outer surfaces thereof being changed in material; the carbon paper electrode further comprises: a carbon paper substrate having a first surface and a second surface, a first metal layer being joined to the first surface, and a second metal layer being joined to the second surface.

A sockliner for integration into a shoe assembly including a top face and a bottom face, each having a generally planar surface, extending along a base plane. On the top face, a plurality of grooves extend across the base plane in a generally undulating pattern for engagement with the sole of the foot. On the bottom face, a plurality of alternating ridges and / or valleys extend from the inside of the foot to the outside of the foot in a generally sinusoidal pattern for engagement with the outsole. The bottom face having a plurality of ridges positioned parallel and above the base plane, extend downwardly and a plurality of valleys positioned parallel and below at the base plane, extend upwardly. The combination of the generally undulating geometry of the top face and the generally sinusoidal geometry of the bottom face built into the structure of the sockliner for providing support and cushioning integrated into a shoe assembly.

A disposable fragrance-carrier composition retainer for retaining fragrance-carrier compositions during heating, facilitating the removal of one fragrance-carrier composition and its quick replacement with a different fragrance-carrier composition, and allowing for easy disposal of the composition byproducts. The fragrance-carrier composition retainer includes, among other elements, a continuous base and at least one sidewall. The retainer is generally shaped to hold the wide variety of commercially available fragrance-carrier compositions, including tart type candles, wax potpourri wafers, and heat activated liquid potpourri, and is configured to be received by the multitude of fragrance-carrier composition heating devices more commonly known as tart burners or potpourri heaters. The at least one sidewall is proximally joined to, or formed with, the base at a sidewall bottom edge and has a distal sidewall top edge and may include at least one removal tab.

An air purifying system includes one or more air permeable photocatalytic elements defining a core cavity having a sealed top end and an open bottom end. A sealed air flow path ensures that air travels from an outside of the core cavity, through the one or more photocatalytic elements, into the core cavity, to be expelled through the open bottom end. A UV radiation source disposed within the core cavity irradiates air travelling along the sealed flow path and an interior of the one or more photocatalytic elements. Each photocatalytic element is manufactured using a substrate, that is conductive of and transparent to UV radiation, coated with a photocatalyst. A non-photocatalytically active material is initially coated on the substrate and is then converted to a photocatalyst by calcination.

A system and method for concurrently and uniformly removing thermal energy from clustered specimen samples.

A shoe assembly is designed to enable unhindered natural foot motion between the foot and the ground. The shoe assembly includes an integrated anatomically shaped sockliner and outsole. The sockliner includes a top face and a bottom face, each having a generally planar surface, extending along a base plane. On the top face of the sockliner, a plurality of grooves extend across the base plane in a generally undulating pattern for engagement with the sole of the foot. The bottom face of the sockliner may include a plurality of alternating ridges and / or valleys extending from the inside to the outside of the foot in a generally undulating pattern for engagement with the outsole. A strobel insole of encapsulated high resiliency foam may be positioned between the sockliner and the outsole. An optional midfoot support element may be positioned between the insole and outsole to control tortional stiffness.

A method for controlling fiber cross-alignment in a nanofiber membrane, comprising: providing a multiple segment collector in an electrospinning device including a first and second segment electrically isolated from an intermediate segment positioned between the first and second segment, collectively presenting a cylindrical structure, rotating the cylindrical structure around a longitudinal axis proximate to an electrically charged fiber emitter; electrically grounding or charging edge conductors circumferentially resident on the first and second segment, maintaining intermediate collector electrically neutral; dispensing electrospun fiber toward the collector, the fiber attaching to edge conductors and spanning the separation space between edge conductors; attracting electrospun fiber attached to the edge conductors to the surface of the cylindrical structure, forming a first fiber layer; increasing or decreasing rotation speed of the cylindrical structure to alter the angular cross-alignment relationship between aligned nanofibers in adjacent layers, the rotation speed being altered to achieve a target relational angle.

A polymer mixer comprising an impeller formed from a series of rotating discs mounted to a drive shaft and driven by an electric motor. Polymer is piped through a mixing chamber to the inlet of the rotating discs that creates a high shear mixing zone. Dilution water is also piped to the high shear mixing zone which is a concentric hole in the center of the discs which serves as a liquid inlet when the discs are spinning. The discs are in close proximity creating high velocity and turbulence via centrifugal force. An open design between the discs allows the disc surface to pass the solution molecules multiple times before the molecules exit the perimeter, creating a shearing affect by the high speed surface in the solution. Discs of smaller diameter are coupled to the high shear discs to further mix and recirculate more viscous solutions.

A heater assembly for an injection molding apparatus comprises a heater sleeve having a threaded inner surface for engaging a threaded outer surface of a nozzle body of a nozzle or a threaded surface of a mold manifold. A clamping element such as a lock nut or a spring is provided adjacent the heater sleeve. The lock nut and / or the spring abuts the heater sleeve to force the threaded inner surface of the heater sleeve into contact with the threaded outer surface of the nozzle body. This removable clamped heater assembly operates regardless of the temperature of heater.

An apparatus for accumulating cross-aligned fiber in an electrospinning device, comprising a multiple segment collector including at least a first segment, a second segment, and an intermediate segment, the intermediate segment positioned between the first and second segment to collectively present an elongated cylindrical structure; at least one electrically chargeable edge conductor circumferentially resident on the first segment and circumferentially resident on the second segment; a connection point on the first segment and on the second segment, the connection points usable for mounting the elongated cylindrical structure on a drive unit to rotate around a longitudinal axis; the elongated cylindrical structure holding electrospun fiber substantially aligned with the longitudinal axis when the edge conductors are excited with a charge of opposite polarity relative to charged fiber, and attracting electrospun fiber on to its surface around the longitudinal axis at least when the edge conductors are absent a charge or grounded.

A method for controlling fiber cross-alignment in a nanofiber membrane, comprising: providing a multiple segment collector in an electrospinning device including a first and second segment electrically isolated from an intermediate segment positioned between the first and second segment, collectively presenting a cylindrical structure, rotating the cylindrical structure around a longitudinal axis proximate to an electrically charged fiber emitter; electrically grounding or charging edge conductors circumferentially resident on the first and second segment, maintaining intermediate collector electrically neutral; dispensing electrospun fiber toward the collector, the fiber attaching to edge conductors and spanning the separation space between edge conductors; attracting electrospun fiber attached to the edge conductors to the surface of the cylindrical structure, forming a first fiber layer; increasing or decreasing rotation speed of the cylindrical structure to alter the angular cross-alignment relationship between aligned nanofibers in adjacent layers, the rotation speed being altered to achieve a target relational angle.

The present invention provides methods and systems for reducing moisture in mineral slurries, particularly mineral slurries containing minerals of small particle diameter, using a granular drying material. The invention also relates to novel mineral products and intermediates useful in connection with the process. The method and system reduced moisture by contacting the mineral slurry with the granular drying material. The granular drying material is selected to be readily separated from the dried minerals using a size separation technique such as a sieve screen. The granular drying material is the regenerated, preferably using a process involving heat exchange and cross-flow air. The granular drying material is preferably capable of regeneration and recycling in a continuous process with minimal attrition.

The invention provides methods and systems for a cooling device connected to components of a motor vehicle. The cooling device influences a fluid flow moving past the vehicle components. In one example, a system may include a cooling device positioned below an oil sump. The cooling device may feature an apparatus such that a fluid flows between the apparatus and oil sump. The cooling device may also be positioned below a transmission housing.

A sockliner for use in a shoe assembly designed to strategically distribute underfoot pressure and to facilitate air circulation within a shoe. The sockliner includes a base having a top face, a bottom face and a plurality of perforation holes positioned across the length of the base and extending therethrough. The sockliner further includes a plurality of ventilation grooves located along a peripheral edge of the sockliner designed to cooperate with the perforation holes to encourage air flow. The bottom face of the sockliner further includes a plurality of zones, each zone including a plurality of lugs which are strategically designed and located to support the weight of the wearer and provide cushioning to the wearer's foot.