Author: claimsbot

1. A filter cartridge comprising:
first and second housing sections joined at a peripheral shoulder to define an interior space, said first housing section including radially spaced inner and outer side walls connected by a first transition portion to define an annular space adjacent a first end of said filter cartridge, said inner side wall extending from a first end at said first transition portion to a second end at a second transition portion, said second transition portion extending radially inwardly from said inner side wall to define an axial opening in said first housing section, said second housing portion radially surrounding and joined to said first housing portion;
a filter element having first and second end caps secured to opposite axial ends of an annular ring of filter media, said first end cap defining a fluid flow opening communicating with a central region surrounded by said ring of filter media;
a lock ring secured to said housing within said annular space, said lock ring including at least one engagement structure within said annular space.
2. The filter cartridge of claim 1, wherein said lock ring is secured to an inner surface of said outer side wall.
3. The filter cartridge of claim 1, wherein said lock ring has an inside surface that includes said at least one engagement structure.
4. The filter cartridge of claim 1, wherein said at least one engagement structure projects radially inwardly from said lock ring inside surface.
5. The filter cartridge of claim 1, wherein said first housing section outer side wall has a first diameter D1, said inner side wall has a second diameter D2, D2 is smaller than D1 and said annular space has a radial dimension X at least approximately 10% of D1.
6. The filter cartridge of claim 1, wherein said first housing section outer side wall has a first diameter D1, said inner side wall has a second diameter D2, and D2 is approximately 70% of D1.
7. The filter cartridge of claim 1, wherein said first transition portion is an annular, U-shaped bend connecting said outer side wall to said inner side wall.
8. The filter cartridge of claim 7, wherein said U-shaped bend is defined by a radius of curvature rotated about a point in said annular space.
9. The filter cartridge of claim 1, wherein a majority of said second transition portion is defined by a radius of curvature rotated about a point within the interior space defined by said first and second housing portions.
10. The filter cartridge of claim 1, wherein said second transition portion terminates at a radially outward projecting lip surrounding said axial opening, said upper end cap includes axially extending fingers having inward projecting teeth engaged to said lip, thereby supporting said filter element within said housing.
11. The filter cartridge of claim 1, wherein said first housing section has a first height Y1, and said filter cartridge has a second height Y2, and Y1 is approximately 20% of Y2.
12. The filter cartridge of claim 1, wherein said first housing section has a first height Y1, and said first housing section has a third height Y3, and Y1 is approximately 90% of Y3.

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 ball propelling assembly for propelling a ball having a seam, the assembly including:
a ball positioner having opposed ball supports which engage and rotate the ball which thereby moves relative to the ball supports until positioned relative thereto in a predetermined alignment;
a ball spinner having opposed ball supports which engage and spin the ball in the predetermined alignment, and
a ball propeller which propels the spinning ball from the assembly along an axis of propulsion.
2. The ball propelling assembly of claim 1, wherein the ball spinner includes two pairs of opposed ball supports, the pairs being aligned to each other at right angles.
3. The ball propelling assembly of claim 2, wherein one of the opposed pairs comprises the pair of opposed ball supports in the ball positioner.
4. The ball propelling assembly of claim 2, wherein one of the opposed pairs comprises the pair of opposed ball supports in the ball spinner.
5. The ball propelling assembly of claim 1, wherein the ball supports can be advanced towards and retracted away from a loaded ball.
6. The ball propelling assembly of claim 1, wherein the assembly includes a motor which rotates andor spins the ball supports.
7. The ball propelling assembly of claim 1, wherein the portion of each ball support that comes into contact with the ball has a substantially concave face with a plurality of adjacent scallops or grooves which meet at peaks on the rim of the face.
8. The ball propelling assembly of claim 1, wherein the predetermined alignment is either such that the ball is positioned to be propelled with a two seam spin, or is propelled with a four seam spin.
9. The ball propelling assembly of claim 1, wherein the predetermined alignment is such that the ball is not engaged by the opposed ball supports on the seam of the ball.
10. A method of propelling a ball having a seam, the method including:
engaging and rotating the ball by a ball positioner having opposed ball supports, the ball thereby moving relative to the ball supports until positioned relative thereto in a predetermined alignment;
engaging and spinning the ball engaged thereby in the predetermined alignment by a ball spinner having opposed ball supports, and
propelling the spinning ball from the assembly along an axis of propulsion by a ball propeller.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein the ball is a baseball or softball.
12. An assembly for aligning a baseball in a baseball propelling machine, the assembly comprising at least one pair of opposing ball supports, wherein rotation of the ball supports causes a loaded baseball to rotate about a predetermined axis, wherein the pressure exerted by the ball supports on the baseball is insufficient to prevent the axis of rotation of the baseball changing whilst being rotated and the baseball adopting the predetermined axis of rotation.
13. The assembly of claim 12, wherein the pair of opposing ball supports can move from a retracted position where they are not in contact with the baseball to an advanced position in which they are in contact with a loaded baseball.
14. The assembly of claim 13, wherein the ball supports are advanced or retracted by a pneumatic piston or linear motor.
15. The assembly of claim 12, wherein each of the ball supports is rotated by a separate motor.
16. The assembly according to claim 12, wherein the baseball is aligned such that the axis of rotation is centred in, and extends through, one pair of the opposite loop shaped regions formed by the continuous stitched seam of the baseball.
17. The assembly according to claim 12, wherein the predetermined axis is either such that the ball is positioned to be propelled with a two seam spin, or is propelled with a four seam spin.
18. The assembly according to claim 12, wherein a single pair of opposed ball supports firstly causes the baseball to rotate about a predetermined axis and thereafter apply a predetermined amount of spin to the baseball so as to be propelled in the two seam position.
19. The assembly according to claim 12, wherein a first pair of opposed ball supports firstly causes the baseball to rotate about a predetermined axis and thereafter a second pair of opposed ball supports apply a predetermined amount of spin to the baseball so as to be propelled in the four seam position.
20. The assembly of claim 19, wherein the first pair of ball supports are rotated at a different speed to the second pair of ball supports.
21. The assembly of claim 18, wherein the opposing pair of ball supports contact the baseball with two to six kilograms of pressure when aligning the baseball to rotate about a predetermined axis of rotation.
22. The assembly of claim 18, wherein the opposing pair of ball supports contact the baseball with twelve to eighteen kilograms of pressure when spinning the baseball in the two or four seam position.
23. The assembly of claim 13, wherein the ball supports have a substantially concave face which is capable of contacting the baseball.
24. The assembly of claim 22, wherein the concave face has a plurality of adjacent scallops or grooves which meet at peaks on the rim of the face.
25. A method of aligning a baseball in a baseball propelling machine comprising bringing a pair of opposing ball supports into contact with a baseball and rotating the ball supports until the baseball rotates about a predetermined axis, wherein the pressure exerted by the ball supports on the baseball is insufficient to prevent the axis of rotation of the baseball changing whilst being rotated and the baseball adopting the predetermined axis of rotation.
26. An expanding gas powered ball propelling machine, comprising:
(a) a barrel;
(b) at least one ball support;
(c) at least one motor to rotate the at least one ball support, and
wherein the at least one ball support can be advanced and retracted towards a loaded ball.
27. The assembly of claim 19, wherein the opposing pair of ball supports contact the baseball with two to six kilograms of pressure when aligning the baseball to rotate about a predetermined axis of rotation.
28. The assembly of claim 19, wherein the opposing pair of ball supports contact the baseball with twelve to eighteen kilograms of pressure when spinning the baseball in the two or four seam position.

1. An apparatus comprising:
a monitoring module configured to identify a difference between measured position information for a controller and expected position information for the controller; compare the difference with thresholds for managing an autopilot in a control system of a vehicle to form a comparison; and manage an operation of the autopilot based on the comparison such that the autopilot remains operating when a backdrive system is inoperative and an intentional override of the autopilot is absent.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein in being configured to compare the difference with the thresholds for managing the autopilot in the control system of the vehicle to form the comparison, the monitoring module is configured to determine whether the difference is greater than one or more of the thresholds that are active to form the comparison, wherein the one or more of the thresholds that is active is based on a state of the control system.
3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the thresholds comprise a first threshold configured to detect the backdrive system being inoperative when the backdrive system is supposed to be operating, a second threshold configured to detect the intentional override of the autopilot when the autopilot and the backdrive system are both operating, and a third threshold configured to detect the intentional override of the autopilot when the autopilot is operating and the backdrive system is inoperative.
4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the third threshold is active when a status of the backdrive system is inoperative.
5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the expected position information is selected from one of a position of the controller based on a position of a control surface associated with the controller and a neutral position if the backdrive system is inoperative.
6. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the monitoring module further comprises:
a position difference module configured to identify the difference between the measured position information for the controller and the expected position information for the controller;
a backdrive system disabling module connected to the position difference module and configured to generate a first signal to disable the backdrive system when the backdrive system is operating and when the difference is greater than the first threshold;
a first override module connected to the position difference module and configured to generate a second signal to disable the autopilot when the autopilot and the backdrive system are both operating and when the difference is greater than the second threshold; and
a second override module connected to the position difference module and configured to generate a third signal to disable the autopilot when the autopilot is operating and the backdrive system is inoperative and when the difference is greater than the third threshold.
7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the second override module compares the difference to the third threshold when the autopilot is operating and the backdrive system is inoperative.
8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the monitoring module is further configured to manage both the autopilot and the backdrive system based on the comparison.
9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the thresholds include a first threshold, a second threshold, and a third threshold and wherein the second threshold is greater than the first threshold and wherein the third threshold is selected from one of being greater than the second threshold, being between the first threshold and the second threshold, and being equal to the second threshold.
10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the measured position information and the expected position information are identified using a sensor associated with the controller.
11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the controller is selected from one of a column, a wheel, a flight stick, a lever, a throttle lever, a control yoke, and pedals and wherein the vehicle is selected from one of an aircraft, an automobile, a tank, a personnel carrier, a submarine, a ship, and a spacecraft.
12. A method for managing an autopilot of a vehicle, the method comprising:
identifying a difference between measured position information for a controller and expected position information for the controller;
comparing the measured position information and the expected position information with thresholds for managing the autopilot in a control system to form a comparison; and
managing an operation of the autopilot based on the comparison such that the autopilot remains operating when a backdrive system is inoperative and an intentional override of the autopilot is absent.
13. The method of claim 12, wherein the comparing step further comprises:
determining if the difference is greater than one or more of the thresholds that is active to form the comparison, wherein the one or more of the thresholds that is active is based on a state of the control system.
14. The method of claim 13, wherein the comparing step further comprises:
comparing the measured position information and the expected position information with the thresholds for managing the autopilot in the control system to form the comparison, wherein the thresholds comprise a first threshold configured to detect the backdrive system being inoperative when the backdrive system is supposed to be operating, a second threshold configured to detect an intentional override of the autopilot when the autopilot and the backdrive system are both operating, and a third threshold configured to detect the intentional override of the autopilot when the autopilot is operating and the backdrive system is inoperative.
15. The method of claim 12, wherein the comparing step further comprises:
comparing the measured position information and the expected position information with the thresholds for managing the autopilot in the control system to form the comparison, wherein the thresholds comprise a first threshold configured to detect the backdrive system being inoperative when the backdrive system is supposed to be operating, a second threshold configured to detect the intentional override of the autopilot when the autopilot and the backdrive system are both operating, and a third threshold configured to detect the intentional override of the autopilot when the autopilot is operating and the backdrive system is inoperative in which the third threshold is active when a status of the backdrive system is inoperative.
16. The method of claim 12, wherein the identifying step comprises:
identifying the difference between the measured position information for the controller and the expected position information for the controller, wherein the expected position information is selected from one of a position of the controller based on the position of a control surface associated with the controller and a neutral position if the backdrive system is inoperative.
17. The method of claim 15, wherein the step of managing the operation of the autopilot based on the comparison such that the autopilot remains operating when the backdrive system is inoperative and the intentional override of the autopilot is absent further comprises:
managing the operation of the autopilot and the backdrive system based on the difference such that the backdrive system is disabled when the backdrive system is operating and when the difference is greater than the first threshold; the autopilot is disabled when the autopilot and the backdrive system are both operating and when the difference is greater than the second threshold; and the autopilot is disabled when the autopilot is operating and the backdrive system is inoperative and when the difference is greater than the third threshold.
18. A computer program product comprising:
a computer readable storage medium;
first program code for identifying a difference between measured position information for a controller and expected position information for the controller;
second program code for comparing the difference with thresholds for managing an autopilot in a control system of a vehicle to form a comparison; and
third program code for managing an operation of the autopilot based on the comparison such that the autopilot remains operating when a backdrive system is inoperative and an intentional override of the autopilot is absent, wherein the first program code, the second program code, and the third program code are stored on the computer readable storage medium.
19. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein the second program code further comprises:
fourth program code for determining if the difference is greater than one or more of the thresholds that are active to form the comparison, wherein the one or more of the thresholds that is active is based on a state of the control system.
20. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein the thresholds further comprise a first threshold configured to detect a backdrive system being inoperative when the backdrive system is supposed to be operating, a second threshold configured to detect the intentional override of the autopilot when the autopilot and the backdrive system are both operating, and a third threshold configured to detect the intentional override of the autopilot when the autopilot is operating and the backdrive system is inoperative.

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

1-44. (canceled)
45. A method of identifying two or more rRNA markers from a plurality of samples, the abundances of said rRNA markers correlating with one another, the method comprising the steps of:
a) providing a Marker Diversity Profile (MDP) database comprising a plurality of MDPs derived from a plurality of samples, each MDP being derived from one sample, wherein each MDP comprises the abundances, in said sample, of a plurality of rRNA markers, and
wherein each of said rRNA markers comprises a microbial rRNA gene polymorphic sequence;
b) performing a correlation analysis of the abundance of a first rRNA marker in an MDP with other rRNA markers in the same MDP, across said plurality of MPDs;
c) identifying two or more rRNA markers whose abundances correlate with each other.
46. The method according to claim 45, wherein the correlation is determined using a graphical representation of the abundances of the plurality of rRNA markers from the plurality of samples.
47. The method according to claim 45 or 46, wherein the correlation is represented by a linear, curvilinear or non-linear relation.
48. The method according to claim 45 or 46, wherein the correlation is represented by a positive or negative relationship.
49. The method according to claim 45, further comprising the step of creating a dendrogram that reflects the relative level of correlation between each rRNA marker and every other rRNA marker in the MDP database.
50. The method according to claim 45, further comprising the step of creating a pairwise correlation matrix of each rRNA marker with every other rRNA marker in the MDP database.
51. The method according to claim 45, wherein the correlation is expressible by a correlation value that is selected from the group consisting of at least 0.5, at least 0.6, at least 0.7, at least 0.8, at least 0.9 and at least 0.95.
52. The method according to any one of claims 45, 46 and 49-51, wherein said rRNA marker abundance is an abundance relative to the total abundance of the plurality of rRNA markers in the sample.
53. The method according to any one of claims 45, 46 and 49-51, wherein said microbial rRNA gene is a 16S rRNA gene.
54. The method according to any one of claims 45, 46 and 49-51, wherein said microbial rRNA gene polymorphic sequence is from the intergenic region between a 16S rRNA gene and a 23S rRNA gene.
55. The method according to any one of claims 45, 46 and 49-51, wherein the sample is selected from the group consisting of: a soil sample, a rock sample, a water sample, an air sample, a hydrocarbon sample, a petroleum sample and a biofilm sample.
56. The method according to claim 55, wherein the sample is obtained from the group consisting of: an oil reservoir, a gas reservoir, a building and a roadway.
57. The method according to any one of claims 45, 46 and 49-51, wherein the sample is obtained from the group consisting of: a human, a plant, an animal, a body tissue sample, a body fluid sample, a foodstuff, a cell culture and a tissue culture.