At the Subscribe 9 Conference, we presented the first version of our new Audio Inspector:
The Auphonic Audio Inspector is shown on the status page of a finished production and displays details about what our algorithms are changing in audio files.

A screenshot of the Auphonic Audio Inspector on the status page of a finished Multitrack Production.
Please click on the screenshot to see it in full resolution!

It is possible to zoom and scroll within audio waveforms and the Audio Inspector might be used to manually check production result and input files.

In this blog post, we will discuss the usage and all current visualizations of the Inspector.
If you just want to try the Auphonic Audio Inspector yourself, take a look at this Multitrack Audio Inspector Example.

Inspector Usage

Control bar of the Audio Inspector with scrollbar, play button, current playback position and length, button to show input audio file(s), zoom in/out, toggle legend and a button to switch to fullscreen mode.

Seek in Audio Files

Click or tap inside the waveform to seek in files. The red playhead will show the current audio position.

Zoom In/Out

Use the zoom buttons ([+] and [-]), the mouse wheel or zoom gestures on touch devices to zoom in/out the audio waveform.

Scroll Waveforms

If zoomed in, use the scrollbar or drag the audio waveform directly (with your mouse or on touch devices).

Show Legend

Click the [?] button to show or hide the Legend, which describes details about the visualizations of the audio waveform.

Show Stats

Use the Show Stats link to display Audio Processing Statistics of a production.

Show Input Track(s)

Click Show Input to show or hide input track(s) of a production: now you can see and listen to input and output files for a detailed comparison. Please click directly on the waveform to switch/unmute a track - muted tracks are grayed out slightly:

Showing four input tracks and the Auphonic output of a multitrack production.

Please click on the fullscreen button (bottom right) to switch to fullscreen mode.
Now the audio tracks use all available screen space to see all waveform details:

A multitrack production with output and all input tracks in fullscreen mode.
Please click on the screenshot to see it in full resolution.

In fullscreen mode, it’s also possible to control playback and zooming with keyboard shortcuts:
Press [Space] to start/pause playback, use [+] to zoom in and [-] to zoom out.

Singletrack Algorithms Inspector

First, we discuss the analysis data of our Singletrack Post Production Algorithms.

The audio levels of output and input files, measured according to the ITU-R BS.1770 specification, are displayed directly as the audio waveform. Click on Show Input to see the input and output file. Only one file is played at a time, click directly on the Input or Output track to unmute a file for playback:

Singletrack Production with opened input file.
See the first Leveler Audio Example to try the audio inspector yourself.

Waveform Segments: Music and Speech (gold, blue)

Music/Speech segments are displayed directly in the audio waveform: Music segments are plotted in gold/yellow, speech segments in blue (or light/dark blue).

Waveform Segments: Leveler High/No Amplification (dark, light blue)

Speech segments can be displayed in normal, dark or light blue: Dark blue means that the input signal was very quiet and contains speech, therefore the Adaptive Leveler has to use a high amplification value in this segment.
In light blue regions, the input signal was very quiet as well, but our classifiers decided that the signal should not be amplified (breathing, noise, background sounds, etc.).

Yellow/orange background segments display leveler fades.

Background Segments: Leveler Fade Up/Down (yellow, orange)

If the volume of an input file changes in a fast way, the Adaptive Leveler volume curve will increase/decrease very fast as well (= fade) and should be placed in speech pauses. Otherwise, if fades are too slow or during active speech, one will hear pumping speech artifacts.
Exact fade regions are plotted as yellow (fade up, volume increase) and orange (fade down, volume decrease) background segments in the audio inspector.

Horizontal red lines display noise and hum reduction profiles.

Horizontal Lines: Noise and Hum Reduction Profiles (red)

Our Noise and Hiss Reduction and Hum Reduction algorithms segment the audio file in regions with different background noise characteristics, which are displayed as red horizontal lines in the audio inspector (top lines for noise reduction, bottom lines for hum reduction).
Then a noise print is extracted in each region and a classifier decides if and how much noise reduction is necessary - this is plotted as a value in dB below the top red line.
The hum base frequency (50Hz or 60Hz) and the strength of all its partials is also classified in each region, the value in Hz above the bottom red line indicates the base frequency and whether hum reduction is necessary or not (no red line).

You can try the singletrack audio inspector yourself with our Leveler, Noise Reduction and Hum Reduction audio examples.

Multitrack Algorithms Inspector

If our Multitrack Post Production Algorithms are used, additional analysis data is shown in the audio inspector.

The audio levels of the output and all input tracks are measured according to the ITU-R BS.1770 specification and are displayed directly as the audio waveform. Click on Show Input to see all the input files with track labels and the output file. Only one file is played at a time, click directly into the track to unmute a file for playback:

Input Tracks: Waveform Segments, Background Segments and Horizontal Lines

Input tracks are displayed below the output file including their track names. The same data as in our Singletrack Algorithms Inspector is calculated and plotted separately in each input track:

• Waveform Segments with different colors: Music and Speech Segments (gold, blue), Leveler High/No Amplification (dark blue, light blue)
• Background Segments: Leveler Fade Up/Down (yellow, orange)
• Horizontal Lines: Noise and Hum Reduction Profiles Noise and Hum Reduction Profiles (red)

Output Waveform Segments: Multiple Speakers and Music

Each speaker is plotted in a separate, blue-like color - in the example above we have 3 speakers (normal, light and dark blue) and you can see directly in the waveform when and which speaker is active.
Audio from music input tracks are always plotted in gold/yellow in the output waveform, please try to not mix music and speech parts in music tracks (see also Multitrack Best Practice)!

You can try the multitrack audio inspector yourself with our Multitrack Audio Inspector Example or our general Multitrack Audio Examples.

Ducking, Background and Foreground Segments

Music tracks can be set to Ducking, Foreground, Background or Auto - for more details please see Automatic Ducking, Foreground and Background Tracks.

Ducking Segments (light, dark orange)

In Ducking, the level of a music track is reduced if one of the speakers is active, which is plotted as a dark orange background segment in the output track.
Foreground music parts, where no speaker is active and the music track volume is not reduced, are displayed as light orange background segments in the output track.

Background Music Segments (dark orange background)

Here the whole music track is set to Background and won’t be amplified when speakers are inactive.
Background music parts are plotted as dark organge background segments in the output track.

Foreground Music Segments (light orange background)

Here the whole music track is set to Foreground and its level won’t be reduced when speakers are active.
Foreground music parts are plotted as light organge background segments in the output track.

You can try the ducking/background/foreground audio inspector yourself: Fore/Background/Ducking Audio Examples.

Audio Search, Chapters Marks and Video

Audio Search and Transcriptions

If our Automatic Speech Recognition Integration is used, a time-aligned transcription text will be shown above the waveform. You can use the search field to search and seek directly in the audio file.
See our Speech Recognition Audio Examples to try it yourself.

Chapters Marks

Chapter Mark start times are displayed in the audio waveform as black vertical lines.
The current chapter title is written above the waveform - see “This is Chapter 2” in the screenshot above.

A video production with output waveform, input waveform and transcriptions in fullscreen mode.
Please click on the screenshot to see it in full resolution.

Video Display

If you add a Video Format or Audiogram Output File to your production, the audio inspector will also show a separate video track in addition to the audio output and input tracks. The video playback will be synced to the audio of output and input tracks.

Supported Audio Formats

We use the native HTML5 audio element for playback and the aurora.js javascript audio decoders to support all common audio formats:

WAV, MP3, AAC/M4A and Opus

These formats are supported in all major browsers: Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Edge, iOS Safari and Chrome for Android.

FLAC

FLAC is supported in Firefox, Chrome, Edge and Chrome for Android - see FLAC audio format.
In Safari and iOS Safari, we use aurora.js to directly decode FLAC files in javascript, which works but uses much more CPU compared to native decoding!

ALAC

ALAC is not supported by any browser so far, therefore we use aurora.js to directly decode ALAC files in javascript. This works but uses much more CPU compared to native decoding!

Ogg Vorbis

Only supported by Firefox, Chrome and Chrome for Android - for details please see Ogg Vorbis audio format.

We suggest to use a recent Firefox or Chrome browser for best performance.
Decoding FLAC and ALAC files also works in Safari and iOS with the help of aurora.js, but javascript decoders need a lot of CPU and they sometimes have problems with exact scrolling and seeking.

Please see our blog post Audio File Formats and Bitrates for Podcasts for more details about audio formats.

Mobile Audio Inspector

Multiple responsive layouts were created to optimize the screen space usage on Android and iOS devices, so that the audio inspector is fully usable on mobile devices as well: tap into the waveform to set the playhead location, scroll horizontally to scroll waveforms, scroll vertically to scroll between tracks, use zoom gestures to zoom in/out, etc.

Unfortunately the fullscreen mode is not available on iOS devices (thanks to Apple), but it works on Android and is a really great way to inspect everything using all the available screen space:

Audio inspector in horizontal fullscreen mode on Android.

Conclusion

Try the Auphonic Audio Inspector yourself: take a look at our Audio Example Page or play with the Multitrack Audio Inspector Example.

The Audio Inspector will be shown in all productions which are created in our Web Service.
It might be used to manually check production result/input files and to send us detailed feedback about audio processing results.

Please let us know if you have some feedback or questions - more visualizations will be added in future!

Last weekend, at the Subscribe10 conference, we released Advanced Audio Algorithm Parameters for Multitrack Productions:

We launched our advanced audio algorithm parameters for Singletrack Productions last year. Now these settings (and more) are available for Multitrack Algorithms as well, which gives you detailed control for each track of your production.

• Fore/Background Settings: keep your music/clip tracks unchanged and set a custom background gain
• Multitrack Leveler Parameters: control the stereo panorama, leveling algorithm, dynamic range and compression
• Better Hum and Noise Reduction Controls for each track
• Maximum True Peak Level setting for the final mixdown
• Full API Support

Please join our private beta program and let us know how you use these new features or if you need even more control!

Fore/Background Settings

The parameter Fore/Background controls whether a track should be in foreground, in background, ducked, or unchanged, which is especially important for music or clip tracks.
For more details, please see Automatic Ducking, Foreground and Background Tracks .

Unchanged (Foreground):

We sometimes received complaints from users, which produced very complex music or clip tracks, that Auphonic changes the levels too hard.
If you set the parameter Fore/Background to the new option Unchanged (Foreground), Level relations within this track won’t be changed at all. It will be added to the final mixdown so that foreground/solo parts of this track will be as loud as (foreground) speech from other tracks.

Background Level:

It is now possible to set the level of background segments/tracks (compared to foreground segments) in background and ducking tracks. By default, background and ducking segments are 18dB softer than foreground segments.

Leveler Parameters

Similar to our Singletrack Advanced Leveler Parameters (see this previous blog post), we also released leveling parameters for Multitrack Productions now.
The following advanced parameters for our Multitrack Adaptive Leveler can be set for each track and allow you to customize which parts of the audio should be leveled, how much they should be leveled, how much dynamic range compression should be applied and to set the stereo panorama (balance):

Leveler Preset:

Select the Speech or Music Leveler for this track.
If set to Automatic (default), a classifier will decide if this is a music or speech track.

Dynamic Range:

The parameter Dynamic Range controls how much leveling is applied: Higher values result in more dynamic output audio files (less leveling). If you want to increase the dynamic range by 3dB (or LU), just increase the Dynamic Range parameter by 3dB.
For more details, please see Multitrack Leveler Parameters.

Compressor:

Select a preset for Micro-Dynamics Compression: Auto, Soft, Medium, Hard or Off.
The Compressor adjusts short-term dynamics, whereas the Leveler adjusts mid-term level differences.
For more details, please see Multitrack Leveler Parameters.

Stereo Panorama (Balance):

Change the stereo panorama (balance for stereo input files) of the current track.
Possible values: L100, L75, L50, L25, Center, R25, R50, R75 and R100.

If you understand German and want to know more about our Advanced Leveler Parameters and audio dynamics in general, watch our talk at the Subscribe10 conference:
Video: Audio Lautheit und Dynamik.

Better Hum and Noise Reduction Controls

Noise Reduction Amount:

Maximum noise and hum reduction amount in dB, higher values remove more noise.
In Auto mode, a classifier decides if and how much noise reduction is necessary (to avoid artifacts). Set to a custom (non-Auto) value if you prefer more noise reduction or want to bypass our classifier.

Hum Base Frequency:

Set the hum base frequency to 50Hz or 60Hz (if you know it), or use Auto to automatically detect the hum base frequency in each speech region.

Hum Reduction Amount:

Maximum hum reduction amount in dB, higher values remove more noise.
In Auto mode, a classifier decides how much hum reduction is necessary in each speech region. Set it to a custom value (> 0), if you prefer more hum reduction or want to bypass our classifier. Use Disable Dehum to disable hum reduction and use our noise reduction algorithms only.

Behavior of noise and hum reduction parameter combinations:

Maximum True Peak Level

In the Master Algorithm Settings of your multitrack production, you can set the maximum allowed true peak level of the processed output file, which is controlled by the True Peak Limiter after our Loudness Normalization algorithms.

If set to Auto (which is the current default), a reasonable value according to the selected loudness target is used: -1dBTP for 23 LUFS (EBU R128) and higher, -2dBTP for -24 LUFS (ATSC A/85) and lower loudness targets.

Full API Support

All advanced algorithm parameters, for Singletrack and Multitrack Productions, are available in our API as well, which allows you to integrate them into your scripts, external workflows and third-party applications.

Join the Beta and Send Feedback

Please join our beta and let us know your case studies, if you need any other algorithm parameters or if you have any questions!

Here are some private beta invitation codes:

8tZPc3T9pH VAvO8VsDg9 0TwKXBW4Ni kjXJMivtZ1 J9APmAAYjT Zwm6HabuFw HNK5gF8FR5 Do1MPHUyPW CTk45VbV4t xYOzDkEnWP
9XE4dZ0FxD 0Sl3PxDRho uSoRQxmKPx TCI62OjEYu 6EQaPYs7v4 reIJVOwIr8 7hPJqZmWfw kti3m5KbNE GoM2nF0AcN xHCbDC37O5
6PabLBRm9P j2SoI8peiY olQ2vsmnfV fqfxX4mWLO OozsiA8DWo weJw0PXDky VTnOfOiL6l B6HRr6gil0 so0AvM1Ryy NpPYsInFqm
oFeQPLwG0k HmCOkyaX9R G7DR5Sc9Kv MeQLSUCkge xCSvPTrTgl jyQKG3BWWA HCzWRxSrgW xP15hYKEDl 241gK62TrO Q56DHjT3r4
9TqWVZHZLE aWFMSWcuX8 x6FR5OTL43 Xf6tRpyP4S tDGbOUngU0 5BkOF2I264 cccHS0KveO dT29cF75gG 2ySWlYp1kp iJWPhpAimF

If you have an invitation code, you can enter it here to activate the Multitrack Advanced Audio Algorithm Parameters:
Auphonic Algorithm Parameters Private Beta Activation

The Premium BlogStarter Theme gives a new spin to one of our more popular magazine style themes The Original BlogStarter Theme. The Premium BlogStarter Theme is SEO optimized, bursting with theme options and widgets, includes a easy customizable logo, multi level drop down menus and more.

The post Released: Premium BlogStarter Theme appeared first on WP Theme Designer.

We’re a big step closer to a Canon EOS R5 release announcement now, as Nokishita Tweets that it has passed its Bluetooth certification. The belief is that the EOS R5 was originally scheduled to ship in July, and Canon Rumors reports that they’ve been told that’ll still happen. With lockdowns still in effect in much […]

The post The Canon EOS R5 release gets closer as it passes Bluetooth certification appeared first on DIY Photography.

The future of live music might still be a big question mark, but local musicians aren't merely sitting on their hands during quarantine: A lot of them are finding a way to connect with their fans and putting out new material, even without the benefit of physical congregation. Here's a batch of some of our favorite new releases from the past month, and there will no doubt be more in the coming weeks.…

A deployment system provides the ability to deploy a multi-node distributed application, such as a cloud computing platform application that has a plurality of interconnected nodes performing specialized jobs. The deployment system includes a release management system that builds and manages versioned releases of application services and/or software modules that are executed by the plurality of nodes of the cloud computing platform application. The release management system utilizes specification files to define a jobs and application packages and configurations needed to perform the jobs. The jobs and application packages are assembled into a self-contained release bundle that may be provided to the deployment system. The deployment system unwraps the release bundle and provides each job to deployment agents executing on VMs. The deployment agents apply the jobs to their respective VM (e.g., launching applications), thereby deploying the cloud computing platform application.

Compositions are provided that provide release of fragrance over an extended period of time. The compositions comprise a hydrophilically-modified cross-linked silicone elastomer and an acrylic rheology modifier.

Provided are methods for the treatment of a rheumatic disease, such as rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosating spondylitis and/or polymyalgia rheumatic, by administering a delayed-release dosage form of a glucocorticoid to a subject in need thereof wherein the treatment is administered once daily for at least about two weeks. Also provided are methods for the treatment of osteoarthritis by administering a delayed-release dosage form of a glucocorticoid to a subject in need thereof wherein the treatment is administered once daily for at least about two weeks.

A lipoaspirate collection device to aid in the collection and processing of human tissue and fluid obtained during liposuction for use in point-of-care cell therapy. The collection device includes a collection body and a collection cap. The collection cap may have a fluid port, a lipoaspirate port, a vacuum port, and a relief valve. Within the central cavity of the collection device, a cone shaped may be positioned such that the apex of the cone is positioned underneath the lipoaspirate inlet through which the lipoaspirate fluid and tissue are introduced.

A thermal image receiver element dry image receiving layer has a Tg of at least 25° C. and is the outermost layer. The dry image receiving layer has a dry thickness of at least 0.5 μm and up to and including 5 μm. It comprises a water-dispersible release agent and a polymer binder matrix that consists essentially of: (1) a water-dispersible acrylic polymer comprising chemically reacted or chemically non-reacted hydroxyl, phospho, phosphonate, sulfo, sulfonate, carboxy, or carboxylate groups, and (2) a water-dispersible polyester that has a Tg of 30° C. or less. The water-dispersible acrylic polymer is present in an amount of at least 55 weight % and at a dry ratio to the water-dispersible polyester of at least 1:1. The thermal image receiver element can be used to prepare thermal dye images after thermal transfer from a thermal donor element.

An intracorporeal autonomous active medical device having a capsule body and a base. The capsule body includes a body portion and a lid portion, and the capsule body contains therein electronic circuitry containing the active elements of the autonomous medical device, and a power supply. The capsule body also includes a fastening system on an exterior surface of the capsule body that is configured to correspond with a fastening mechanism on the base configured to be anchored to a tissue wall. The fastening mechanism provides selective engagement between the capsule body and the base.

A fastener for quick-mounting a cymbal to an upright cymbal support rod comprising a pair of half-round sleeve members arranged in face-to-face relationship forming a cylindrical surface therebetween for grasping the cymbal mounting rod; a tab extending upward from each sleeve member including means for pivoting said members near said tabs so that, by squeezing said tabs together, said sleeve members are pivoted away from each other; a pair of split flange members, one attached to the lower end of each sleeve member, spaced apart from said tab, arranged in co-planar alignment when said members are in adjacent contact to form a planar compression surface for pressing toward a cymbal placed on the cymbal mounting rod; and, means for biasing said sleeve members into full contact about the cymbal mounting rod threaded end to hold the cymbal on the rod.

A recyclable ring binder apparatus comprises a ring metal incorporating a set of binder rings that are formed of a pair of ring halves. The ring metal can be firmly fastened to a spine section of a binder hardcover by utilizing a post and a small arched snap clamp with a tap. The tap of the snap clamp can be pressed around a neck of the post utilizing a quick release clipping mechanism. The snap clamp can be accessed with an index finger and slid away from the post to remove the ring metal from the hardcover. The ring metal, the hardcover, the snap clamp and the post can be quickly separated into their perspective categories due to the clipping mechanism. Hence, it retains conformance of all components of the ring binder apparatus for recycling without increasing development and production cost.

A binding mechanism assembly for binding a sheet item, the binding mechanism assembly including a backing member having an upper surface, and a binding member directly or indirectly coupled to the backing member. The binding member includes a protrusion shaped and located to protrude through a hole of a sheet item to be bound thereto. The binding member further includes a generally flexible flange that is manually movable into engagement with the protrusion to form a generally closed loop and thereby bind the sheet item thereto. The loop is rotatable relative to the backing member from a first position in which the loop is generally located above the upper surface to a second position wherein at least part of the loop is located below the upper surface. A release mechanism is provided for opening the loop.

A patch permitting division of only its release sheet by simply pulling right and left, wherein detachment of the release sheet is easy. There is provided a patch comprising a stretchable support, a plaster applied substantially all over one major surface of the support and a release sheet attached to the whole surface of the plaster wherein only the release sheet is divided at a division zone by simply pulling right and left, and wherein one or two or more precut parts that open when the patch is pulled right and left are disposed in the neighborhood on the division zone.

A universal linker structure is provided, in which a functional group and activating leaving group are placed on a tether, allowing the placement of an electrophile at the end of any nucleic acid sequence. The electrophile on the tether can react with a second nucleic acid carrying a nucleophile when the two nucleic acids are hybridized near one another, resulting in release of the leaving group, and creation of a functional change. The linker can be designed to destabilize the ligation product without slowing the rate of reaction. This lowers product inhibition, and the target DNA or RNA can become a catalyst for isothermally generating multiple signals for detection. This enhanced signal is demonstrated in solution experiments and in solid supported assays. The universal linkers of the present invention are simple and inexpensive to prepare, and can be appended to any polynucleotide in automated steps on a standard DNA synthesizer.

A double function, hand operated meat tenderizer includes a handle with a blade segment clamped inside said handle; a generally flat plate attached to said handle by at least one slidably moving cylinder attached to a compressed spring, comprising at least one seat including a releasably attached spigot of the cylinder, wherein an end face of said plate is provided with a plurality of projections and flow-through slots aligned in evenly spaced relation, parallel to the spring axis, and wherein in a position of rest, ends of said blades are retracted in said flow-through slots.

In a method for removing blood released during filleting from the backbone and the indentations therein in the region of the vertebrae of fish that are conveyed in a row with the head forwards and the belly downwards, the removal of blood is carried out at the same time and in the same place as the cutting of the backbone. The backbone, which is freed of ray bones and rib bones, is guided through a cutting gap and is cut clear on the belly side of the fish over the entire length of the fish as far as the root of the dorsal fin to leave a backbone stump. The fish fillet flesh is covered by covering surfaces which converge at the cutting gap and of which at least two covering surfaces form the cutting gap. Pressurized cleaning fluid is sprayed onto the backbone that is guided between the covering surfaces through the cutting gap during cutting. A device for removing said released blood comprises a backbone cutting device having two backbone cutting circular blades, which are arranged obliquely in an inverted V shape and form the covering surfaces, and having fish guiding means forming covering surfaces that cover the fish fillet flesh. A cleaning device comprises at least one cleaning nozzle aligned with the cutting gap. An actuating device actuates the cleaning device and the backbone cutting device simultaneously. The covering surfaces protect the fish fillet flesh from being sprayed with the cleaning fluid.

A vehicle restraint system includes a strap assembly configured to be positioned on a portion of a tire of a vehicle to secure the vehicle to a deck of a transport. The strap assembly is also configured to be coupled to the deck of the transport on a first side of the tire of the vehicle. The system also includes a mandrel assembly operable to be coupled to the strap assembly on a second side of the tire of the vehicle, opposite the first side. The system further includes a winch assembly configured to be coupled to the deck of the transport and the mandrel assembly on the second side of the tire of the vehicle, the winch assembly configured to rotate the mandrel assembly to produce a tightening force to tighten the strap assembly around the portion of the tire. The system still further includes a release mechanism disposed between the winch assembly and the mandrel assembly and configured to create a coupling between the winch assembly and the mandrel assembly in a manner that transmits the tightening force from the winch assembly to the mandrel assembly. The release mechanism is configured to release the coupling between the winch assembly and the mandrel assembly when a force greater than or equal to a predetermined force is produced against the release mechanism.

A pick-and-place vacuum nozzle including a a nozzle body, a vacuum chamber within the nozzle body, a cavity formed in a lower surface of the nozzle body below the vacuum chamber, wherein the cavity is shaped to hold a head gimbal assembly, a back pressure relief hole passing through the nozzle body and connected to the vacuum chamber, the back pressure relief hole communicating with an exterior of the nozzle body, wherein a diameter of the back pressure relief hole is between 0.5 mm and 1 mm. The backpressure relief hole prevents light parts from sticking to the nozzle tip after vacuum is no longer applied.

A release-preventing system for wall cupboards wherein a cupboard (40, 70, 105, 110, 150) is hooked to a support (47, 76, 97, 115, 155) fixed to the wall (48, 77, 98, 114, 154) by a hook (41, 73, 91, 125, 162) of a cupboard holding device (40, 90, 124, 163) characterized in that between the hook (41, 73, 91, 125, 162) and the support (47, 76, 97, 115, 155) there is a release preventing element (51, 79, 101, 121, 160, 167) that prevents unhooking of the cupboard.

A microelectromechanical (MEM) resonator includes a resonant cavity disposed in a first layer of a first solid material disposed on a substrate and a first plurality of reflectors disposed in the first layer in a first direction with respect to the resonant cavity and to each other. Each of the first plurality of reflectors comprises an outer layer of a second solid material and an inner layer of a third solid material. The inner layer of each of the first plurality of reflectors is adjacent in the first direction to the outer layer of each reflector and to either the outer layer of an adjacent reflector or the resonant cavity.

A ski system includes a ski, a heel binding provided on an upper surface of the ski, a toe binding mount provided on the upper surface of the ski forward of the heel binding, a toe binding releasably mounted to the toe binding mount, and a quick-release locking mechanism for locking the toe binding to the toe binding mount. The quick-release locking mechanism is configured for release by hand.

An apparatus is disclosed for attaching a surgical needle having a generally cylindrical end portion defining an elongated aperture having a generally circular cross-section and a suture having a generally elongated end portion of generally circular cross-section corresponding in dimension to the elongated aperture of the needle. The apparatus includes a pair of dies, each having a die face with an inner die surface portion. The inner die surface portion includes at least one generally planar crimping surface having an arcuate recess formed therein which extends along at least a portion of the planar crimping surface. The arcuate recess defines a material relief zone such that when the end portion of the suture is positioned within the aperture of the needle and the dies are positioned about the generally cylindrical end portion of the needle with the crimping surfaces generally facing the outer surface thereof, the application of an inward crimping force to the dies causes the dies to impact the needle and produce inward crimping forces on opposed sides of the needle end portion to attach the needle to the suture. The relief zones defined by the arcuate recesses receive and collect deformed material from the needle. According to the invention, the symmetry of the needle is maintained and the attachment is predictable and superior to those of the prior art.

A manual release valve is provided for a electro-hydraulic actuator of the type including a piston movable in a cylinder and defining a piston side chamber and a rod side chamber, the valve threadedly attached to the housing of the actuator and extending at least partially within the fluid housing conduits, the valve moveable from a closed position fully seated in the housing to an open position for fluidly connecting both the piston side chamber and the rod side chamber to the reservoir, the valve further including a pressure relief portion that is operable when the valve is in the closed position for relieving pressure from at least one of the piston side chamber or the rod side chamber.

A brake cylinder for pneumatic vehicle brakes, especially for commercial vehicles, includes in addition to a pneumatic locking mechanism, a manual release mechanism for manually releasing the spring brake section, and a device designed to visually recognize the manual release condition of the spring brake section outside of the housing.

A device for the pulsed release of an amount (3) of fluid that is stored in a storage housing (2) includes a piston (5) biased by a first spring (4) and movable within the storage housing (2) to dispense the fluid by the spring bias, when triggered by an actuator (6) to release a lock holding the piston in place (7). The lock (7) has individual catches (8) keeping the piston (5) in its pretensioned position and, when actuated by the actuator (6), releases the piston (5).

An apparatuses and methods to release a chain. Apparatuses and methods include an electronic, mechanical, or electro-mechanical actuator system used to rotate a hooking arm. The actuator system includes an extendable piston. In some embodiments, the actuator system is hydraulic. In other embodiments, the actuator system is pneumatic.

A manual marine winch includes a safety knockout override preventing release of winch tension without the handle in stowed position. The winch includes a housing; a rotating drum on the housing; a winch line on the drum; a control for spooling and un-spooling the winch line on the drum, wherein the control includes a handle for selectively tensioning the drum and moveable between a position engaged with the drum and a disengaged stowed position; a tension holding mechanism on the housing comprising a ratchet gear coupled to the drum, a pawl selectively engaged with the ratchet gear, and a knockout configures to selectively disengage the pawl from the gear to allow for release of winch tension; and a safety knockout override coupled to the housing and selectively engaged by the handle and configured to prevent release of winch tension when the handle is not in the stowed position.

Provided are a polycrystalline silicon ingot casting mold and a method for producing a polycrystalline silicon ingot casting mold, with which high-quality silicon ingots can be obtained at high yields by minimizing sticking with the surfaces of the silicon ingot casting mold, and losses and damages that occur when solidified silicon ingot is released from the mold. The method for producing a polycrystalline silicon ingot casting mold having a release layer, including: forming a slurry by mixing a silicon nitride powder with water, coating the surface of the mold with the slurry, and heating the mold at 400 to 800° C. in an atmosphere containing oxygen, after coating the slurry.

A polycrystalline silicon ingot casting mold, and method for producing same. Mold release material being obtained by blending a silicon nitride powder (A) having an average particle diameter along the short axis of 0.6 to 13 μm with a silicon nitride powder (B) having an average particle diameter along the short axis of 0.1 to 0.3 μm at a weight ratio of 5:5 to 9:1; coating the mold surface with the slurry; and a heating the mold at 800 to 1200° C. in an atmosphere containing oxygen.

A toy projectile launcher assembly has the form of a crossbow. The crossbow only launches the safety projectiles that are provided. The launcher body has a handle at a first end and diverging support arms at an opposite second end. An adjustment mechanism is contained within the launcher body for selectively adjusting the length of the launcher body. The crossbow has diverging support arms. Bow arms are attached to the support arms. The bow arms pivot from retracted positions to extended positions when a projectile is loaded into the toy crossbow. The toy crossbow has elastic loops that can only engage specialized safety projectiles with side. Furthermore, the trigger mechanism can only engage the safety projectiles provided with the toy. Projectiles without a specific tab and keyhole cannot be loaded into the toy crossbow.

An archery bowstring release has a single jaw for retaining a bowstring within a bowstring hook, in contrast to dual-jaw pincer-type releases. The bowstring hook is situated on a release head which bears a trigger for actuating the jaw and releasing the bowstring, and a release body extends between the release head and a release mount (which can connect the bowstring release to a wrist strap, glove, or other anchor affixed to the user's body). The release head and body are pivotally joined, and when the release is ready to fire, the central axis of the release body, and at least the rear of the release head, have central longitudinal axes which are aligned with the notch in the bowstring hook, and are thus aligned with the bowstring, and are parallel to or in line with the arrow. The release therefore has a comfortable, natural, and intuitive feel during operation.

A crossbow 100 includes a rifle-style stock 22, barrel 23, bowstring 1, and a string release housing 21 with a novel string release assembly. The string release assembly in string release housing 21 includes a string latch 12 for retaining fully-drawn and cocked bowstring 1 against a string horn 19, a trigger 6 for releasing or shooting the arrow 2, a safety button 25 for the movement of the safety plate 7 from the safe position to the fire position, and a load lever 4 for loading the arrow 2. There is a safety button 25 on each side of the release housing 21 so that the safety of crossbow 100 may be operated by a right-handed or left-handed shooter. Bowstring 1 rests against the inclined surface 29 of the string horn 19 and is retained in the fully-drawn and cocked position between the string latch tangs 30 and 31 and the inclined surface 29 of the string horn 19. The load of the fully-drawn bowstring 1 is distributed between and born by the inclined the string latch tangs 30 and 31 and the inclined surface 29 of string horn 19.

A bowstring release having a removable safety pin that when engaged, allows for training. The safety pin physically preventing the release mechanism from fully releasing, while allowing enough movement to provide a tactile response that the release has been activated.

A universal wrist strap, for connection to a plurality of different bowstring release mechanisms via a plurality of different connecting members, includes a flexible base member adapted to fit around the wrist of a user and a mounting assembly connected to the wrist strap. The flexible base member has first and second arms that converge towards an apex area. The mounting assembly is connected to the apex area and is adapted to receive and retain the plurality of different connecting members.

A horse lead clip assembly for connection between horse tack that includes an upper clasp section with a hook and bolt closure and a lower quick detachable end that allows for the replacement of a broken clip with a new clip portion when excess stress is placed upon the hook of the clasping section. The assembly further includes a sleeve that when actuated laterally, allows for the introduction or removal of a new clasp section from the receiving end of the detachable portion. The assembly provides easy replacement of a broken clip, prevents the user from discarding the rope due to the broken clip, and allows a user to leave the clip hooked on one object while detaching it from the other.

Disclosed is a quick release lock for blades mountable to a motor driven rotary tool consisting of a tool mount for mounting to the mandrel of a motorized tool. A blade retainer and lock ring positioned on each side of a user provided blade with the blade retainer providing a bore having a plurality of channels and rails and the tool mount having a collar with corresponding exterior helical channels and rails whereby the blade retainer can quickly mounted onto the tool mount.

A tension release device for compensating mechanical error of a tension device for a sewing machine includes a rotary arm, a tension release shaft, a guiding member, an actuating member, and a micro-adjustment member, the rotary arm is located at one end of the tension release shaft which is inserted through the base, the tension release shaft is coupled to the guiding member, the guiding member is provided with an arc-shaped guiding flange which includes a first end and a second end higher than the first end. On the actuating member is provided a push portion which protrudes toward and is pushed by the guiding flange of the guiding member, a micro-adjustment hole is formed at one end of the actuating member or at the one end of the control shaft, and the micro-adjustment member is screwed in the micro-adjustment hole and extends toward the tension release shaft.

To compete with the increasing global food demand, it is necessary to increase the food production. Fertilizers which are in practice now a days has major disadvantage that 50% of nutrient contents loss due to leaching and also leads to ground water contamination. Slow release nitrogenous fertilizers are good in this regard in that they have minimum nutrient loss due to leaching. Potassium aluminum silicate (Leucite) nanoparticles occluded by calcium ammonium nitrates are slow release fertilizers and are synthesized by hydrothermal method. Its application as slow released nitrates fertilizers was determined by observing nitrate release for 16 days.

A granular agrochemical composition is disclosed including a granular core material having a water soluble portion with a first coating layer applied on the surface of the core material and a second coating layer applied on the surface of the first coating layer. The first coating layer includes a wax composition having a biologically active ingredient incorporated therein and the second coating layer includes a polymeric composition. The granular agrochemical composition exhibits a controlled rate of release of the biologically active ingredient therefrom over a period greater than about 30 days from the date of initial exposure of the granular composition to moisture whereby essentially all of the biologically active ingredient incorporated in the wax material of the first coating layer is released from the granular composition before the water soluble portion of the granular core material is released from the granular composition.

A vehicle passive entry side door latch release system engageable with a release cable connected a door latch includes a moveable linkage assembly engageable with the cable, and a motor including an output shaft engaged with a tensioning gear for driving a ratcheting gearwheel rotatably affixed to a coil spring, with the gearwheel including external teeth engageable with a rack affixed to the linkage to move the cable to unlatch the door latch. A pivotable ratcheting pawl may be engageable with the gearwheel to allow or prevent rotation of the gearwheel. Operation of the motor may drive the gear to drive the gearwheel in a rotary direction to energize the spring, and disengagement of the pawl from the gearwheel may allow stored energy in the spring to drive the gearwheel in an opposite rotary direction to thereby drive the rack to move the cable to unlatch the door latch.

A vehicle passive entry side door latch release system engageable with a release cable connected a door latch includes a moveable linkage assembly engageable with the cable, and a motor including an output shaft engaged with a tensioning gear for driving a ratcheting gearwheel rotatably affixed to a coil spring, with the gearwheel including external teeth engageable with a rack affixed to the linkage to move the cable to unlatch the door latch. A pivotable ratcheting pawl may be engageable with the gearwheel to allow or prevent rotation of the gearwheel. Operation of the motor may drive the gear to drive the gearwheel in a rotary direction to energize the spring, and disengagement of the pawl from the gearwheel may allow stored energy in the spring to drive the gearwheel in an opposite rotary direction to thereby drive the rack to move the cable to unlatch the door latch.

The technology is directed to an energy storage and release system that stores energy and enables a repeatable and accurately timed release of energy. A shaft member supports a drive assembly, a locking assembly and a lever member there between. The lever member and locking assembly are attached to the shaft. The drive assembly rotates freely about the shaft and loads energy into a torsion spring in communication with the lever member. The torsion spring connects at one end to the drive assembly and at the other end to the lever member without contacting the shaft member. The locking assembly provides a triggered release mechanism for selective release of stored energy from the torsion spring that accordingly rotates the lever member. The system can automatically reload the torsion spring once a signal is received from any number of events including, when the rotating lever member contacts a stop member or limit sensor that signals the end of travel for the lever member in either rotational directions.

A system and method for a quick release of a second object from a first object, e.g., quick release of hurricane panels (second object) from the inside of a habitable structure (first object). A stepped quick release bolt assembly or a dual quick release car assembly may be employed. In the preferred embodiment, a pin passing through a cross bored hole in a stepped bolt disposed in a receiving structure attached to a first object is releasable in order to disconnect the second object from the first object.

A bale turning apparatus for attachment to a baler to generally align the cylindrical of the bales in each row as the bales are released from the baler. Using the disclosed invention, the bales are essentially turned ninety degrees from the orientation of bales from the position that they are typically released from a round baler. By accomplishing this general alignment of the cylindrical axis of each bale in each row, when baling corn stover or other row crops, the bale loading operation can later be done more efficiently by driving down the rows in the same direction as the combine and baler have traveled.

A side release buckle includes: a plug; and a socket, the plug including: a base; a pair of legs; and engaging portions, the socket including: a body; an insertion opening; a housing space; engaged portions; and a pair of guide surfaces. The guide surfaces, which are formed on an inner surface of the housing space and extend in an insertion direction of the legs while being opposed to each other, each include: a squeezing portion formed continuously with corresponding one of the engaged portions; and a guiding portion formed between the squeezing portion and the insertion opening. An interval between the guiding portions near the engaged portions is wider than an interval between the squeezing portions near the engaged portions. An inclination angle of each guiding portion to an insertion direction of the plug is smaller than an inclination angle of each of the squeezing portion to the insertion direction.

A buckle assembly structured for quick release and including a gripping assembly structured to removably retain an end connector in a locked position. Two locking segments are movably connected to one another and disposable between a closed orientation and a release orientation. The locked position includes the locking segments disposed in gripping engagement with the connector when the connector is disposed between the locking segments. A quick release assembly may be selectively positioned into a separating engagement with the locking segments to at least partially define a positioning thereof from their closed orientation into their release orientation. A secondary release assembly is connected to the gripping assembly and is independently operable to release the connector from the gripping engagement with the locking segments.

A castor with separate brake device and brake release device is provided with a shell, a brake piece, a brake unit and a brake-release unit. The brake unit and the brake-release unit are two separate members, while they are interactively linked by a push portion and the notch portion, so as to ensure the accuracy of the brake operation. Whenever the castor is in a brake-activated status or brake-deactivated status, the brake pedal and the brake-release pedal pivot in opposite direction to present different angles, which makes it easier for the user to see the status of the castor (in brake position or non-brake position), and prevents confusion or accidental operation.