Author: claimsbot

1: An assembly for incising, purging, and water rinsing a chemical container, the assembly comprising:
(a) a frame defining a processing space;
(b) a knife and nozzle component within the processing space, said component’s knife having a forward cutting edge and said component’s nozzle being positioned rearwardly from the forward cutting edge;
(c) a first conduit communicating with the blade and nozzle component’s nozzle;
(d) a bracket component within the processing space, said component being adapted for supporting the chemical container;
(e) a motion actuator within the processing space, the motion actuator operatively interconnecting the frame and a component selected from the group consisting of the knife and nozzle component and the bracket component, the motion actuator being adapted for, upon the bracket component’s support of the chemical container, moving the selected component between first and second positions, the blade and nozzle component residing within the chemical container upon movement to the second position, the blade and nozzle component and chemical container being displaced from each other upon movement to the first position.
2: The assembly of claim 1 wherein the knife and nozzle component’s knife comprises a pair of blades, said component further positioning the nozzle between said blades.
3: The assembly of claim 2 wherein the conduit comprises a flexible hose adapted for carrying the water into the processing space.
4: The assembly of claim 3 wherein the motion actuator comprises a track adapted for guiding a sliding or rolling element.
5: The assembly of claim 4 wherein the motion actuator further comprises a linear motion actuator selected from the group consisting of pneumatic cylinders, hydraulic cylinders, chain and sprocket combinations, pulley and belt combinations, gear trains, pivoting lever arm actuators, plunger actuators, pull handle actuators, electric motor actuators, pneumatic motor actuators, hydraulic motor actuators, and screw actuators.
6: The assembly of claim 5 wherein the frame comprises a lid and wherein the bracket comprises an upper slide stop, the upper slide stop comprising the lid.
7: The assembly of claim 5 wherein the blades among the knife’s pair of blades are arranged in an inverted \u201cV\u201d configuration.
8: The assembly of claim 7 wherein the blades among the knife’s pair of blades are laterally canted.
9: The assembly of claim 5 wherein the frame comprises a fluid collecting floor having an outlet port.
10: The assembly of claim 9 further comprising second conduit, the second conduit communicating with the outlet port.
11: The assembly of claim 10 wherein the second conduit has an outlet end and further comprising a third conduit and a venturi joint, the venturi joint interconnecting the second and third conduits.
12: The assembly of claim 5 wherein the frame comprises an open lattice fitted for positioning and operation within an agricultural chemical tank.
13: The assembly of claim 12 further comprising tank mounting means connected operatively to the frame.
14: The assembly of claim 13 wherein the tank mounting means comprise a plurality of suspension hooks.

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 beam-steering antenna system, of the type comprising a scanning antenna element and a dielectric transmission line evanescently coupled to the scanning antenna element, the system being characterized by:
a dielectric substrate having first and second opposed surfaces defining a substantially longitudinal wave propagation path therebetween;
a conductive grid on the first surface of the substrate and comprising a plurality of substantially parallel metal strips, each defining an axis, whereby the grid renders the first surface of the substrate opaque to a longitudinal electromagnetic wave propagating through the substrate along the longitudinal wave propagation path and having a polarization direction substantially parallel to the axes of the strips, the substrate and the grid forming a waveguide; and
a diffraction grating on the second surface of the substrate and configured to diffract the first electromagnetic wave into a diffracted wave that is scanned along a first predefined scanning plane in response to the operation of the scanning antenna element.
2. The beam-steering antenna of claim 1, wherein the grid is configured so as to allow the first surface of the substrate to be substantially transparent to a transverse electromagnetic wave propagating along a transverse propagation path that intersects the first and second surfaces of the substrate and having a polarization direction substantially normal to the axes of the metal strips.
3. The beam-steering antenna system of claim 2, wherein the waveguide antenna element further comprises a dielectric reinforcing plate disposed in contact with metal strips, whereby the metal strips are disposed between the substrate and the reinforcing plate.
4. The beam-steering antenna of claim 3, wherein the dielectric reinforcing plate is configured to support anti-reflective conditions for the transverse electromagnetic wave.
5. The beam-steering antenna system of claim 1, wherein the spacing s between the centerlines of two adjacent metal strips is given by the formula s<\u03bb(1+\u03b2k), where \u03b2 is the wave propagation constant in the waveguide, k is the wave vector in a vacuum, and \u03bb is the wavelength of the first electromagnetic wave propagating through the substrate.
6. The beam-steering antenna system of claim 5, wherein s\u2248\u03bb10.
7. The beam-steering antenna system of claim 1, wherein the axes of the strips are substantially normal to the longitudinal direction of propagation of the first wave.
8. The beam-steering antenna system of claim 1, wherein the diffraction grating comprises a pattern of grooves in the second surface.
9. The beam-steering antenna system of claim 1, wherein the diffraction grating comprises a pattern of conductive elements on the second surface.
10. The beam-steering antenna system of claim 1, further characterized by a reflector configured to convert the diffracted wave into a reflected wave directed back toward the waveguide antenna element along a reflected path that intersects the plane of the substrate, wherein the reflector is configured to rotate the polarization of the reflected wave to a polarization direction that renders the antenna waveguide element transparent to the reflected wave.
11. The beam-steering antenna system of claim 10, wherein the reflector is controllably movable relative to the waveguide antenna element in a manner that produces a scanning of the reflected wave along a second predefined scanning plane that is orthogonal to the first scanning plane.
12. The beam-steering antenna of claim 10, wherein the grid of metal strips on the first surface of the substrate is a first grid of metal strips, and wherein the reflector comprises a dielectric layer with a bottom surface and a top surface, a second grid comprising a plurality of metal strips on the bottom surface of the dielectric layer, and a metal plate disposed on the top surface of the dielectric layer, wherein the metal strips in the second grid of metal strips are an angle of about 45 degrees relative to the of metal strips in the first grid of metal strips.

1. A method, comprising:
accumulating data in a memory of an archive node appliance coupled to at least a network and a tape library, the accumulating performed by a tape performance optimization module embodied on a non-transitory computer readable medium including instructions translatable by a processor of the archive node appliance;
the tape performance optimization module determining whether a predetermined condition is met;
when the predetermined condition is not met, the tape performance optimization module performing the accumulating until there is a sufficient amount of data to write two wraps of tape or a multiple of two wraps of tape; and
the tape performance optimization module migrating the data accumulated in the memory of the archive node appliance to a file system mounted on a tape in the tape library.
2. The method according to claim 1, wherein when the predetermined condition is met and regardless of whether a sufficient amount of data to write two wraps of tape or a multiple of two wraps of tape has been accumulated in the memory, the tape performance optimization module terminating accumulation of data in the memory and migrating the data accumulated in the memory of the archive node appliance to the file system mounted on the tape in the tape library.
3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:
the tape performance optimization module performing one or more checks relating to the tape in the tape library.
4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the one or more checks comprise checking a current physical position of the tape.
5. The method according to claim 4, further comprising:
based at least on the current physical position of the tape, the tape performance optimization module adjusting the amount of data to be accumulated in the memory such that the tape is zeroed back to a loading point after migration of the accumulated data from the memory of the archive node appliance to the file system mounted on the tape in the tape library.
6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:
based on one or more policies, determining one or more tapes on which to store the data accumulated in the memory of the archive node appliance.
7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the one or more policies comprise at least one of replication, encryption, or compression.
8. A computer program product comprising at least one non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions translatable by a processor of an archive node appliance to perform:
accumulating data in a memory of the archive node appliance, the archive node appliance coupled to at least a network and a tape library;
determining whether a predetermined condition is met;
when the predetermined condition is not met, performing the accumulating until there is a sufficient amount of data to write two wraps of tape or a multiple of two wraps of tape; and
migrating the data accumulated in the memory of the archive node appliance to a file system mounted on a tape in the tape library.
9. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein when the predetermined condition is met and regardless of whether a sufficient amount of data to write two wraps of tape or a multiple of two wraps of tape has been accumulated in the memory, terminating accumulation of data in the memory and migrating the data accumulated in the memory of the archive node appliance to the file system mounted on the tape in the tape library.
10. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the instructions are further translatable by the processor of the archive node appliance to perform one or more checks relating to the tape in the tape library.
11. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein the one or more checks comprise checking a current physical position of the tape.
12. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the instructions are further translatable by the processor of the archive node appliance to perform:
based at least on the current physical position of the tape, adjusting the amount of data to be accumulated in the memory such that the tape is zeroed back to a loading point after migration of the accumulated data from the memory of the archive node appliance to the file system mounted on the tape in the tape library.
13. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the instructions are further translatable by the processor of the archive node appliance to perform:
based on one or more policies, determining one or more tapes on which to store the data accumulated in the memory of the archive node appliance.
14. An archive node appliance, comprising:
ports for connecting to at least a network and a tape library;
a memory;
a processor;
a tape performance optimization module embodied on a non-transitory computer readable medium including instructions translatable by the processor to perform:
accumulating data in the memory;
determining whether a predetermined condition is met;
when the predetermined condition is not met,

performing the accumulating until there is a sufficient amount of data to write two wraps of tape or a multiple of two wraps of tape; and
migrating the data accumulated in the memory to a file system mounted on a tape in the tape library.
15. The archive node appliance of claim 14, wherein when the predetermined condition is met and regardless of whether a sufficient amount of data to write two wraps of tape or a multiple of two wraps of tape has been accumulated in the memory, terminating accumulation of data in the memory and migrating the data accumulated in the memory to the file system mounted on the tape in the tape library.
16. The archive node appliance of claim 14, wherein the instructions are further translatable by the processor to perform one or more checks relating to the tape in the tape library.
17. The archive node appliance of claim 16, wherein the one or more checks comprise checking a current physical position of the tape.
18. The archive node appliance of claim 17, wherein the instructions are further translatable by the processor to perform:
based at least on the current physical position of the tape, adjusting the amount of data to be accumulated in the memory such that the tape is zeroed back to a loading point after migration of the accumulated data from the memory to the file system mounted on the tape in the tape library.
19. The archive node appliance of claim 14, wherein the instructions are further translatable by the processor to perform:
based on one or more policies, determining one or more tapes on which to store the data accumulated in the memory.
20. The archive node appliance of claim 19, wherein the one or more policies comprise at least one of replication, encryption, or compression.

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 top drive swivel insertable into a drill or work string comprising:
(a) a mandrel having upper and lower end sections and connected to and rotatable with upper and lower drill or work string sections, the mandrel including a mandrel passage forming a continuation of a passage in the drill or work string sections;
(b) a sleeve having a sleeve passage, the sleeve being rotatably connected to the mandrel by a pair of spaced apart bearings;
(c) a pair of spaced apart packing units between upper and lower end portions of the mandrel and sleeve, the packing units preventing leakage of fluid between the mandrel and sleeve;
(d) the sleeve comprising an inlet port positioned between the spaced bearings;
(e) the mandrel comprising a plurality of spaced apart radial ports in fluid communication with both the inlet port and the mandrel passage to supply pressurized fluid from the inlet port to the mandrel passage and in the passage in drill or work string sections; and
(f) wherein each of the packing units comprise a plurality of packing rings, at least one packing ring in each packing unit being comprised of a rope seal.
2. The top drive swivel of claim 1, wherein each packing unit comprises five packing rings, one being comprised of bronze filled teflon, another being a rope seal, another being comprised of teflon, and another being comprised of teflon.
3. The top drive swivel of claim 2, wherein the order of packing rings are as specified.
4. The top drive swivel of claim 1, wherein each packing unit comprises five packing rings, one being comprised of bronze filled teflon, another being a rope seal, another being comprised of hard rubber, and another being comprised of teflon.
5. The top drive swivel of claim 4, wherein the order of packing rings are as specified.
6. The top drive swivel of claim 1, wherein each packing unit comprises five packing rings, one being comprised of bronze filled teflon, another being a rope seal, another being comprised of viton, and another being comprised of teflon.
7. The top drive swivel of claim 6, wherein the order of packing rings are as specified.
8. The top drive swivel of claim 1, wherein each packing unit further comprises a first female packing end, the first female packing end being comprised of a bearing grade peak material.
9. The top drive swivel of claim 1, wherein each packing unit further comprises a first female packing end, the first female packing end including a concave portion, the concave portion having about an angle of 130 degrees.
10. The top drive swivel of claim 1, wherein each packing unit further comprises a first female packing end, the first female packing end including a tip and inner and outer diameter portions, at least a portion of the inner diameter portion being recessed from the tip.
11. The top drive swivel of claim 1, wherein no rings of similar composition are placed adjacent each other.
12. The top drive swivel of claim 1, wherein each packing unit further comprises a packing injection ring.
13. The top drive swivel of claim 12, wherein each packing unit includes a female packing end, and the packing injection ring is connected to the female packing end.
14. The top drive swivel of claim 1, wherein the rings and ends of each packing unit are arranged as follows: female packing end comprised of bronze, ring comprised of a bronze filled teflon, lubricity ring, ring comprised of viton, ring comprised of teflon, and male packing end ring.
15. The top drive swivel of claim 1, wherein the rings and ends of each packing unit are arranged as follows: female packing end comprised of bronze, ring comprised of a bronze filled teflon, lubricity ring, ring comprised of hard rubber, ring comprised of teflon, and male packing end ring.
16. The top drive swivel of claim 1, wherein the rings and ends of each packing unit are arranged as follows: female packing end comprised of bronze, ring comprised of a bronze filled teflon, lubricity ring, ring comprised of teflon, ring comprised of teflon, and male packing end ring.
17. A top drive swivel insertable into a drill or work string comprising:
(a) a mandrel having upper and lower end sections and connected to and rotatable with upper and lower drill or work string sections, the mandrel including a mandrel passage forming a continuation of a passage in the drill or work string sections;
(b) a sleeve having a sleeve passage, the sleeve being rotatably connected to the mandrel by a pair of spaced apart bearings;
(c) a pair of spaced apart packing units between upper and lower end portions of the mandrel and sleeve, the packing units preventing leakage of fluid between the mandrel and sleeve;
(d) the sleeve comprising an inlet port positioned between the spaced bearings;
(e) the mandrel comprising at least one radial port in fluid communication with both the inlet port and the sleeve passage to supply pressurized fluid from the inlet port to the sleeve passage and in the passage in drill or work string sections; and
(f) wherein each of the packing units comprise a plurality of packing rings, at least one packing ring in each packing unit being comprised of a sealing packing ring being spaced close to a lubricating rope seal.