Author: claimsbot

1. A feed metering device (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) for distributing fodder andor drink in metered portions to an animal, which feed metering device (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) is provided with a feed unit (10, 20, 30, 40, 50) for containing fodder andor drink, an entrance opening (11, 21, 31, 41, 51) to the feed unit (10, 20, 30, 40, 50), and a feed supplying device (13, 23, 33, 43) for supplying an amount of fodder andor drink to the feed unit (10, 20, 30, 40, 50), the feed metering device (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) being provided with a closing means (25, 30, 40, 46, 50, 55) that is movable across the entrance opening in order to deter an animal visiting the feed unit (10, 20, 30, 40, 50) from taking fodder andor drink, characterized in that the closing means (25, 30, 40, 46, 50, 55) rotates about an axis (26, 36, 45, 57), the closing means being driven by a roll (19, 29, 39, 47, 56) that contacts the closing means, which roll (19, 29, 39, 47, 56) is driven by a motor (28, 38, 48).
2. A feed metering device (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the feed metering device comprises an animal identification device (12), the roll (19, 29, 39, 47, 56) being controlled with the aid of data from the animal identification device (12).
3. A feed metering device (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) as claimed in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the roll (19, 29, 39, 47, 56) is disposed in the vicinity below the entrance opening (11, 21, 31, 41, 51).
4. A feed metering device (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that a housing (A, B, C, D, E) is disposed in the vicinity below the entrance opening (11, 21, 31, 41, 51), in which housing (A, B, C, D, E) the roll (19, 29, 39, 47, 56) is mounted.
5. A feed metering device (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) as claimed in claim 1, 2, 3 or 4, characterized in that the movable closing means is constituted by the feed unit (30, 40, 50), which is designed as a movable one.
6. A feed metering device (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) as claimed in claim 5, characterized in that the feed unit (30) comprises a wall portion (35) for catching remaining feed.
7. A feed metering device (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) as claimed in claim 5 or 6, characterized in that the feed unit (30, 40, 50) bears on the housing (A, B, C, D, E) via the roll (19, 29, 39, 47, 56).
8. A feed metering device (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the motor is included in the housing (A, B, C, D, E).
9. A feed metering device (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the animal identification device (12) is included in the housing (A, B, C, D, E).
10. A feed metering device (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the feed metering device comprises further deterring means, which further means include a loudspeaker (16) for producing an animal-frightening sound.
11. A feed metering device (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the feed metering device comprises further deterring means, which further means include a lighting device (15) for emitting an animal-frightening light.
12. A feed metering device (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the feed metering device comprises further deterring means, which further means include a voltage emitting device (27) for emitting an animal-frightening electric voltage.
13. A feed metering device (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) as claimed in any one of the preceding claims 10 to 12 and with reference to claim 3, characterized in that the further deterring means for deterring an animal are at least partially integrated in the housing (A, B, C, D, E).
14. A feed metering device (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the feed metering device is provided with means for weighing the fodder andor drink present in the feed unit (10, 20, 30, 40, 50), which means move the feed unit (10, 20, 30, 40, 50) in a pivoting respectively a rotating manner.
15. A feed metering device (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) as claimed in claim 14, characterized in that the means for weighing the fodder andor drink present in the feed unit (10, 20, 30, 40, 50) are connected to the feed supplying device (13, 23, 33, 43) for supplying an amount of fodder andor drink to the feed unit (10, 20, 30, 40, 50) with the aid of data both from the animal identification device (12, 22, 32, 42, 52) and the weighing means.
16. A feed metering device (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) as claimed in claim 14 or 15, characterized in that the means for weighing the fodder andor drink present in the feed unit comprise:
a feed unit (10, 20, 30, 40, 50), which is pivotable about a hinge pin (26, 36, 45, 57), the degree of pivotability being determined by the weight of the fodder andor drink present in the feed unit (10, 20, 30, 40, 50),
a device (18, 201) for determining the degree of pivotability of the feed unit (10, 20, 30, 40, 50) and for deducing, from the degree as determined, the weight of the fodder andor drink present in the feed unit (10, 20, 30, 40, 50).
17. A feed metering device (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) as claimed in claim 16, characterized in that the device (18, 201) for determining the degree of pivotability of the feed unit (10, 20, 30, 40, 50) and for deducing, from the degree as determined, the weight of the fodder andor drink present in the feed unit (10, 20, 30, 40, 50), is integrated in the housing (A, B, C, D, E).
18. A feed metering device (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) as claimed in claim 16 or 17, characterized in that the device for determining the degree of pivotability of the feed unit and for deducing, from the degree as determined, the weight of the fodder andor drink present in the feed unit, comprises a measuring roll (19, 29, 39, 47, 56) which is in contact with the feed unit.
19. A feed metering device (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) as claimed in claim 16 or 17, characterized in that the device for determining the degree of pivotability of the feed unit and for deducing, from the degree as determined, the weight of the fodder andor drink present in the feed unit, is constituted by a load sensor (202), the feed unit bearing on the load sensor (202).
20. A feed metering device (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) as claimed in claim 19, characterized in that the load sensor (202) is included in the housing (A, B, C, D, E).
21. A feed metering device (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) as claimed in claim 18 or 20, characterized in that the hinge pin (204, 59) and the measuring roll (29, 56) respectively the load sensor (202) are located at a small distance from each other.
22. A feed metering device (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) as claimed in any one of the preceding claims 14 to 21, characterized in that there is provided a safety supporting bracket (101, 205, 58) for the feed unit.
23. A feed metering device (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) as claimed in claim 14, characterized in that the means for weighing the fodder andor drink present in the feed unit comprise:
a movable feed unit (30),
a motor (38) for moving the feed unit (30),
a device (301) for measuring the magnitude of the torque during movement and for deducing, from the magnitude of the torque measured, the weight of the fodder andor drink present in the feed unit (30).
24. A feed metering device (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) as claimed in claim 23, characterized in that the motor (38) for moving the feed unit (30), and the device (301) for measuring the magnitude of the torque during movement and for deducing, from the magnitude of the torque measured, the weight of the fodder andor drink present in the feed unit (30), are integrated in the housing (A, B, C, D, E).
25. A feed metering device (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) as claimed in claim 23 or 24, characterized in that the motor (38) for moving the feed unit (30) drives a torque roll (39), which torque roll (39) is in contact with the feed unit (30).
26. A feed metering device (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) as claimed in claims 5 and 25 or claims 5 and 18, characterized in that the roll for driving the feed unit and the torque roll respectively the measuring roll, are constituted by one roll.

The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising measuring powers of at least one finger of a finger block, calculating crosscorrelations of the fingers of said finger block with one another, and deactivating said selected finger when a function of said powers and said crosscorrelations satisfies a predetermined criterion.
2. A method according to claim 1, wherein said finger block has two fingers.
3. A method according to claim 2, wherein said function is
FingerCostmin(PowerCenter1, PowerCenter2)C
where is a value between zero and one, PowerCenter1 and PowerCenter2 are powers of fingers in said finger block, C is a predetermined value and is one of said calculated crosscorrelations.
4. A method according to claim 3, wherein is
11
=
Re
k
=
1

N
(
ch
Finger1
(
k
)
ch
Finger2
*
(
k
)
)
k
=
1

N
(
ch
Finger1
(
k
)
ch
Finger2
*
(
k
)
)
.
5. A method according to claim 18, wherein is
12
=
k
=
1

N
ch
Finger1
(
k
)
ch
Finger2
*
(
k
)
k
=
1

N
ch
Finger1
(
k
)
2
k
=
1

n
ch
Finger2
*
(
k
)
2
.
6. A method according to claim 1, wherein said step of calculating uses a forgetting factor.
7. A method comprising measuring the power of a new path, and calculating the crosscorrelation of a finger candidate and at least one active finger whose time delay is closest to the time delay of said finger candidate.
8. A method according to claim 7, the method further comprising the step of assigning said finger candidate to said new path when a composite finger power for said finger candidate satisfies a predetermined criterion.
9. A method according to claim 7, wherein said step of calculating uses a crosscorrelation function defined as
13
=
Re
k
=
1

N
(
ch
FingerCandidate
(
k
)
ch
ClosestFinger
*
(
k
)
)
k
=
1

N
(
ch
FingerCandidate
(
k
)
ch
ClosestFinger
*
(
k
)
)
.
10. A method according to claim 7, wherein said step of calculating uses a crosscorrelation function defined as
14
=
k
=
1

N
ch
FingerCandidate
(
k
)
ch
ClosestFinger
*
(
k
)
k
=
1

N
ch
FingerCandidate
(
k
)
2
k
=
1

n
ch
ClosestFinger
*
(
k
)
2
.
11. A method according to claim 7, wherein said step of calculating uses a forgetting factor.
12. A finger deactivator comprising a finger power measurement unit for measuring powers of at least two finger in a finger block, a correlation calculator for calculating crosscorrelations of said at least to fingers of with one another, and a deactivation unit for deactivating a selected finger when a function of said powers and said crosscorrelations satisfies a predetermined criterion.
13. A finger deactivator according to claim 12, wherein said finger block has two fingers and said function is
FingerCostmin(PowerCenter1, PowerCenter2)C
where is a value between zero and one, PowerCenter1 and PowerCenter2 are powers of fingers in said finger block, C is a predetermined value and is one of said calculated crosscorrelations.
14. A finger deactivator according to claim 13, wherein is
15
=
Re
k
=
1

N
(
ch
Finger1
(
k
)
ch
Finger2
*
(
k
)
)
k
=
1

N
(
ch
Finger1
(
k
)
ch
Finger2
*
(
k
)
)
.
15. A finger deactivator according to claim 12, wherein is
16
=
k
=
1

N
ch
Finger1
(
k
)
ch
Finger2
*
(
k
)
k
=
1

N
ch
Finger1
(
k
)
2
k
=
1

n
ch
Finger2
*
(
k
)
2
.
16. A finger deactivator according to claim according to claim 12, wherein said correlation calculator uses a forgetting factor.
17. A finger assignor comprising a power measurement unit for measuring the power of a new path, and a correlation calculator for calculating the crosscorrelation of a finger candidate and an active fingers whose time delay is closest to the time delay of said finger candidate.
18. A finger assignor according to claim 17, the finger assignor further comprising an assignment unit for assigning said finger candidate to said new path when a composite finger power for said finger candidate satisfies a predetermined criterion.
19. A finger assignor according to claim 17, wherein said correlation calculator uses a crosscorrelation function defined as
17
=
Re
k
=
1

N
(
ch
FingerCandidate
(
k
)
ch
ClosestFinger
*
(
k
)
)
k
=
1

N
(
ch
FingerCandidate
(
k
)
ch
ClosestFinger
*
(
k
)
)
.
20. A finger assignor according to claim 17, wherein said correlation calculator uses a crosscorrelation function defined as
18
=
k
=
1

N
ch
FingerCandidate
(
k
)
ch
ClosestFinger
*
(
k
)
k
=
1

N
ch
FingerCandidate
(
k
)
2
k
=
1

n
ch
ClosestFinger
*
(
k
)
2
.
21. A finger assignor according to claim 17, wherein said correlation calculator uses a forgetting factor.

1. Optical lighting device comprising at least one light emitting diode (4) configured for emitting said light with a trajectory, characterised in that it further comprises a first optical element (1) comprising:
a first face (7) with a plurality of lenses;
a second face (8) with a plurality of lenses, where each lens of the second face (9\u2032) is aligned with a lens of the first face (9);

said first optical element (1) being configured for modifying the trajectory of the light emitted by the at least one light emitting diode (4).
2. Device according to claim 1, where the lenses (9, 9\u2032) have a substantially rectangular section base.
3. Device according to claim 1, further comprising a second optical element (2) configured for directing the light emitted by the at least one light emitting diode (4) to the first optical element (1).
4. Device according to claim 3, further comprising a support element (3) for the second optical element comprising holes for ventilation by convection.
5. Device according to claim 1, further comprising a heat distributing (6) element.

The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.

1. A method for producing a mutant of a fatty acid desaturase, comprising:
a) providing a nucleic acid sequence encoding a fatty acid desaturase having an 18 carbon atom chain length substrate specificity;
b) inducing mutations in the nucleic acid sequence of step a);
c) transforming the mutated nucleic acid sequence of step b) into an appropriate host cell under conditions appropriate for expression; and
d) selecting for transformed cells of step c) which express a mutant fatty acid desaturase having a substantial increase in activity towards fatty acid substrates with chains containing fewer than 18 carbons, relative to the fatty acid desaturase encoded by the nucleic acid sequence of step a).
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the host cell of step c) is an unsaturated fatty acid auxotroph.
3. The method of claim 2 wherein the fatty acid auxotroph is MH13 E. coli.
4. The method of claim 3 wherein the mutant fatty acid desaturase is characterized by the ability to complement the fatty acid auxotrophy of the MH13 E. coli.
5. The method of claim 3 wherein the MH13 E. coli fatty acid auxotroph expresses exogenous ferredoxin.
6. The method of claim 5 wherein the exogenous ferredoxin is Arabaena vegetative ferredoxin.
7. The method of claim 6 wherein the MH13 E. coli expressing Arabaena vegetative ferredoxin is MH13(pACYCLacAnFd).
8. The method of claim 1 wherein the fatty acid desaturase is a plant fatty acid desaturase.
9. The method of claim 8 wherein the plant fatty acid desaturase is an integral membrane protein.
10. The method of claim 9 wherein the integral membrane protein is an acyl lipid desaturase.
11. The method of claim 8 wherein the plant fatty acid desaturase is a soluble protein.
12. The method of claim 11 wherein the soluble plant fatty acid desaturase is an acyl-ACP desaturase.
13. The method of claim 12 wherein the acyl-ACP desaturase is castor 9-18:0-ACP desaturase.
14. The method of claim 1 wherein the mutant fatty acid desaturase catalyzes desaturation of 16-carbon atom fatty acids.
15. The method of claim 1 wherein the mutant fatty acid desaturase catalyzes desaturation of 14-carbon atom fatty acids.
16. The method of claim 1 wherein the mutant fatty acid desaturase catalyzes desaturation of 12-carbon atom fatty acids.
17. The method of claim 1 wherein the mutant fatty acid desaturase catalyzes desaturation of 10-carbon atom fatty acids.
18. The method of claim 1 wherein the mutations of step b) are induced by random mutagenesis.
19. The method of claim 12 wherein the random mutations are induced in an acyl-ACP desaturase nucleic acid sequence.
20. The method of claim 1 wherein the mutations of step b) are induced by site directed mutagenesis at one or more codons.
21. The method of claim 12 wherein site specific mutations are induced in the acyl-ACP desaturase nucleic acid sequences by site directed mutagenesis at one or more codons.
22. The method of claim 21 wherein one or more codons specific for amino acid contact residues are mutated.
23. The method of claim 21 wherein one or more codons specific for amino acids which are not contact residues are mutated.
24. The method of claim 1 wherein transformation is by electroporation.
25. The method of claim 1 wherein selection is performed in liquid media.
26. The method of claim 1 wherein selection is performed on solid media.
27. The method of claim 3 wherein the mutated nucleic acid sequence is inserted into the expression vector pLac3 prior to transformation into the MH13 E. coli.
28. A mutant 18:0-ACP desaturase which has a sufficiently elevated 16 carbon atom chain length substrate specificity, such that when introduced into an unsaturated fatty acid auxotroph cell said mutant desaturase permits growth of said unsaturated fatty acid auxotroph cell in an absence of supplemental unsaturated fatty acid.
29. The mutant 18:0-ACP desaturase of claim 28 wherein the mutant 18:0-ACP desaturase is a mutant plant 18:0 desaturase.
30. The mutant plant 18:0-ACP desaturase of claim 29 wherein the mutant plant 18:0-ACP desaturase is a mutant castor 9-18:0 desaturase.
31. The mutant castor 9-18:0-ACP desaturase of claim 30 having an amino acid substitution of Ile for Met at residue 114 of SEQ ID NO: 1.
32. The mutant castor 9-18:0-ACP desaturase of claim 30 having an amino acid substitution of Ile for Thr at residue 117 of SEQ ID NO: 1.
33. The mutant castor 9-18:0-ACP desaturase of claim 30 having an amino acid substitution selected from the group Phe, Tyr, or Met for Leu at residue 118 of SEQ ID NO: 1.
34. The mutant castor 9-18:0-ACP desaturase of claim 30 having an amino acid substitution of Ile for Pro at residue 179 of SEQ ID NO: 1.
35. The mutant castor 9-18:0-ACP desaturase of claim 30 having an amino acid substitution of Ile for Thr at residue 181 of SEQ ID NO: 1.
36. The mutant castor 9-18:0-ACP desaturase of claim 30 having an amino acid substitution of Leu for Gly at residue 188 of SEQ ID NO: 1.
37. The mutant castor 9-18:0-ACP desaturase of claim 30 having an amino acid substitution of Ile for Met at residue 114 of SEQ ID NO: 1 and an amino acid substitution of Leu for Gly at residue 188 of SEQ ID NO: 1.
38. A mutant 18:0-ACP desaturase which has a sufficiently elevated 14 carbon atom chain length substrate specificity, such that when introduced into an unsaturated fatty acid auxotroph cell said mutant desaturase permits growth of said unsaturated fatty acid auxotroph cell in an absence of supplemental unsaturated fatty acid.
39. The mutant 18:0-ACP desaturase of claim 38 wherein the mutant 18:0-ACP desaturase is a mutant plant 18:0-ACP desaturase.
40. The mutant plant 18:0 desaturase of claim 39 wherein the mutant plant 18:0-ACP desaturase is a mutant castor 9-18:0-ACP desaturase.
41. The mutant castor 9-18:0-ACP desaturase of claim 40 having an amino acid substitution of Phe or Tyr for Met at residue 114.
42. The mutant castor 9-18:0-ACP desaturase of claim 40 produced by an amino acid substitution of Leu for Pro at residue 179.
43. A DNA expression construct comprising, in expressible form, a nucleic acid sequence encoding a mutant 18:0 desaturase which has a 16 carbon atom chain length substrate specificity.
44. A DNA expression construct comprising, in expressible form, a nucleic acid sequence encoding a mutant castor 9-18:0-ACP desaturase which has a 16 carbon chain length substrate specificity.
45. A DNA expression construct comprising, in expressible form, a nucleic acid sequence encoding a mutant 18:0 desaturase which has a 14 carbon atom chain length substrate specficity.
46. A DNA expression construct comprising, in expressible form, a nucleic acid sequence encoding a mutant castor 9-18:0-ACP desaturase which has a 14-carbon atom chain length substrate specificity.
47. A cell transformed with a DNA expression construct comprising, in expressible form, a nucleic acid sequence encoding a mutant 18:0 desaturase which has a 16 carbon atom chain length substrate specificity.
48. The cell of claim 47 which is a prokaryotic cell.
49. The cell of claim 47 which is a eukaryotic cell.
50. The cell of claim 49 which is a plant cell.
51. A cell transformed with a DNA expression construct comprising, in expressible form, a nucleic acid sequence encoding a mutant castor 9-18:0-ACP desaturase which has a 16-carbon atom chain length substrate specificity.
52. The cell of claim 51 which is a prokaryotic cell.
53. The cell of claim 51 which is a eukaryotic cell.
54. The cell of claim 53 which is a plant cell.
55. A cell transformed with a DNA expression construct comprising, in expressible form, a nucleic acid sequence encoding a mutant 18:0 desaturase which has a 14 carbon atom chain length substrate specificity.
56. The cell of claim 55 which is a prokaryotic cell.
57. The cell of claim 55 which is a eukaryotic cell.
58. The cell of claim 57 which is a plant cell.
59. A cell transformed with a DNA expression construct comprising, in expressible form, a nucleic acid sequence encoding a mutant castor 9-18:0-ACP desaturase which has a 14 carbon atom chain length substrate specificity.
60. The cell of claim 59 which is a prokaryotic cell.
61. The cell of claim 59 which is a eukaryotic cell.
62. The cell of claim 61 which is a plant cell.
63. A transgenic plant expressing a nucleic acid sequence encoding a mutant 18:0 desaturase which has a 16 carbon atom chain length substrate specificity.
64. The transgenic plant of claim 63 which is Arabidopsis thaliana.
65. A transgenic plant expressing a nucleic acid sequence encoding a mutant castor 9-18:0-ACP desaturase which has a 16 carbon atom chain length substrate specificity.
66. The transgenic plant of claim 65 which is Arabidopsis thaliana.
67. A transgenic plant expressing a nucleic acid sequence encoding a mutant 18:0 desaturase which has a 14 carbon atom chain length substrate specificity.
68. The transgenic plant of claim 67 which is Arabidopsis thaliana.
69. A transgenic plant expressing a nucleic acid sequence encoding a mutant castor 9-18:0-ACP desaturase which has a 14 carbon atom chain length substrate specificity.
70. The transgenic plant of claim 69 which is Arabidopsis thaliana.