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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a steering-bracket supporting apparatus, i.e. a supporting apparatus for fixing a steering bracket to a vehicle body and also relates to a steering apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Prior Art 1 and 2 disclose techniques of a separation capsule in which when an excessive load is applied to a steering column attached to a vehicle and the steering column is pushed to the front of the vehicle, a part of the supporting structure is separated and the steering column thus moves to the front of the vehicle, thereby protecting a driver (operator) from a thrust (secondary collision) of a steering wheel. | {
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The present invention relates to a pantyhose under garment and, more particularly, to a pantyhose under garment having sheer leg portions that end with knitted-in welts just below or above the knees and a control top portion having good shaping and control characteristics that terminates in the waist region with a knitted-in welt.
A strong need exists for women to have an alternative under garment to traditional underwear and girdles. Traditional underwear creates undesirable panty lines under clothing, especially when worn with slim fitting skirts and slacks. Also, in addition to panty lines, traditional underwear can become easily misplaced, causing discomfort to the wearer. This also creates bulges under clothing. One alternative to traditional underwear is underwear known as a xe2x80x9cg-stringxe2x80x9d. This type of underwear is comprised of one piece of fabric that goes up the buttocks of the user so that panty lines do not occur. However, this under garment offers no support and is extremely uncomfortable to some users and may not be an option at all for users with vulvar conditions such as vulvar vestibulitis.
These types of under garments do not provide the user with an improved appearance under clothing and can be uncomfortable. Furthermore, they do not hold in bulges and cellulite on the most troubled areas of some users. These areas, known as xe2x80x9csaddlebagsxe2x80x9d, are below the buttocks on the back and sides of the thighs just below the hips. Although girdles cover these areas, they normally are made of relatively thick material and tend to stop above the knee, which creates bulges in clothing about the user""s thigh. Also, the thick fabric usually makes the user look heavier rather than thinner in slim fitting clothing.
Although pantyhose can now be manufactured in such a way that panty lines are often prevented, they are not an option in many cases because the leg portions of pantyhose usually cover the feet. Therefore, the pantyhose would be visible when worn under certain types of clothing, which normally is undesirable. For example, pants that stop below the knees, typically referred to as xe2x80x9ccapri pantsxe2x80x9d, would not be worn with normal pantyhose because the pantyhose would be visible. Also, pantyhose are not desired while wearing most stylish shoes (i.e., open-toed shoes, sandals, etc.).
Although pantyhose designs are known which do not cover the feet, those designs do not solve all of the aforementioned problems. U.S. Pat. No. 4,351,068 discloses a footless pantyhose design. One of the objectives of this design is to provide air ventilation to the foot to prevent xe2x80x9cathlete""s footxe2x80x9d from occurring. However, the upper reinforced portion of the pantyhose, often referred to as the control top, does not extend down over the region where the need for support is often the greatest, i.e., the xe2x80x9csaddlebagxe2x80x9d region. Also, the waist and leg portions have elastic bands at their points of termination. Elastic bands are tight on the skin and, in many cases, leave indentations in the skin and may cut off circulation causing extreme discomfort for the user. Furthermore, elastic bands are not produced during the knitting process, i.e.; they are not knitted in during the knitting of the hose. Rather, they are sewn on after the hose have been knitted. In addition, the leg portions of this design extend to the ankle and, therefore, would be visible when worn under capri pants or with open-toed shoes. Also, when women cross their legs, most pants rise up on the leg and, therefore, the pantyhose may be visible even when worn with normal length pants, which is also normally undesirable.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,862,523 discloses a pantyhose garment having leg portions that terminate at the ankle. One of the objectives of this design is to help prevent sagging of soft body tissues. The garment has elastic bands running throughout it. As stated above, elastic bands bulge and create lines that can be seen under clothing and can produce discomfort. U.S. Pat. No. 5,097,537 discloses a multisectional hosiery garment that has detachable feet and leg sections. This design is intended to prevent the entire pantyhose from being ruined if a xe2x80x9crunxe2x80x9d occurs in a portion of the garment. The design is also intended to accommodate several different fashion purposes. The different sections are attached with elastic bands, which have the aforementioned disadvantages. A garment having this design would not provide the user with a slimmer or smoother appearance.
Accordingly, a need exists for a comfortable pantyhose garment that does not cover the lower legs or feet and that provides support in the thigh, buttocks and waist regions to help minimize or eliminate the appearance of xe2x80x9csaddlebagsxe2x80x9d. A need also exists for such a pantyhose garment is manufactured in a continuous knitting process so that the supportive regions blend in with the more sheer regions without creating seams or bands that can easily be seen through clothing.
The present invention provides a pantyhose under garment having relatively sheer leg portions that end with knitted-in welts just below or above the knees, and a reinforced control top portion having good shaping and control characteristics that terminates at the top of the waist region with a knitted-in welt. The pantyhose under garment provides the user with shaping support and because the lower leg is bare it gives the user the freedom to wear any type of shoe (i.e., open-toed shoes, sandals, etc.). Pantyhose worn with open shoes are usually undesirable, and also dangerous because the foot slips in the shoe. In addition, there are many occasions when the user wants a more casual look in clothing, and therefore pantyhose on the foot and ankle would not be desired. The reinforced control top portion extends down the leg portions of the pantyhose far enough to provide support over the xe2x80x9csaddlebagxe2x80x9d and cellulite regions of the body. The knitted-in welt at the waist region blends into the control top without causing waist constriction. Similarly, the knitted-in welts at the ends of the leg portions blend into the leg portions without causing leg constriction. The overall design provides the user with a smooth, tight appearance when worn under clothing, without causing the user to suffer discomfort.
These and other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description, drawings and claims. | {
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1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to design verification, and more specifically, to semiconductor device design verification.
2. Related Art
In a semiconductor device design, a design structure (i.e., a structure in the design) and the same structure in actuality (i.e., after being fabricated according to the design) are always not identical. More specifically, the design structure and the same structure in actuality may have different shapes, sizes, and/or positions on the wafer. For example, in the design, a metal line can be on top of and in direct physical contact with a via, while, in actuality, the metal line can be misaligned with the via such that the metal line is not in direct physical contact with the via. When this happens (i.e., in actuality, the metal line is not in direct physical contact with the via), the entire chip that contains the metal line and the via can be defective and may have to be discarded.
As a result, there is a need for a method for identifying potential defects in a design (called a design verification process) due to structures in actuality and the same structure in design not having the same shapes, sizes, or positions on the wafer. | {
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The present invention relates generally to accessing a memory by a processor, and more specifically, to accessing a block of data in a memory atomically or block concurrently by a processor.
Scalar code expects that a central processing unit (CPU) executing the code will access all of the bytes of a software variable together. In a typical architecture for CPUs, such expectation is met for a scalar code as long as the access is performed on a boundary in a memory that is an integer multiple of the size of the data being accessed. When a scalar code is vectorized by a compiler, the load and store instructions are often converted to vector load and store instructions. However, a vector load instruction and a vector store instruction often have no consistency guarantees, or consistency is guaranteed only if the vector load or store instruction is on a boundary that is the size of the vector register in a CPU. For accesses which are not atomic or block concurrent, if one CPU writes out data and another CPU reads data at the same time, the CPU reading the data may see partial updates to the memory locations containing the latter CPU's variables. This is not consistent with the semantics of most programming languages, or programming techniques such as lock-free data structures. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to compositions of carbide-based and oxycarbide-based nanorods, carbon nanotubes including carbide and/or oxycarbide compounds, rigid porous structures including these compositions, and methods of making and using the same. More specifically, the invention relates to rigid three dimensional structures comprising carbon nanotubes bearing carbides and oxycarbides, carbide and/or oxycarbide-based nanorods having high surface areas and porosities, low bulk densities, substantially no micropores and increased crush strengths. The invention also relates to using the compositions of carbide-based nanorods, oxycarbide-based nanorods, carbon nanotubes comprising carbide and oxycarbide compounds and the rigid porous structures including these compositions as catalysts and catalyst supports, useful for many types of heterogenous catalytic reactions frequently encountered in petrochemical and refining processes.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heterogeneous catalytic reactions are widely used in chemical processes in the petroleum, petrochemical and chemical industries. Such reactions are commonly performed with the reactant(s) and product(s) in the fluid phase and the catalyst in the solid phase. In heterogeneous catalytic reactions, the reaction occurs at the interface between phases, i.e., the interface between the fluid phase of the reactant(s) and product(s) and the solid phase of the supported catalyst. Hence, the properties of the surface of a heterogeneous supported catalyst are significant factors in the effective use of that catalyst. Specifically, the surface area of the active catalyst, as supported, and the accessibility of that surface area to reactant chemiabsorption and product desorption are important. These factors affect the activity of the catalyst, i.e., the rate of conversion of reactants to products. The chemical purity of the catalyst and the catalyst support have an important effect on the selectivity of the catalyst, i.e., the degree to which the catalyst produces one product from among several products, and the life of the catalyst.
Generally catalytic activity is proportional to catalyst surface area. Therefore, a high specific area is desirable. However, that surface area must be accessible to reactants and products as well as to heat flow. The chemiabsorption of a reactant by a catalyst surface is preceded by the diffusion of that reactant through the internal structure of the catalyst.
Since the active catalyst compounds are often supported on the internal structure of a support, the accessibility of the internal structure of a support material to reactant(s), product(s) and heat flow is important. Porosity and pore size distribution of the support structure are measures of that accessibility. Activated carbons and charcoals used as catalyst supports have surface areas of about 1000 square meters p and porosities of less than one milliliter per gram. However, much of this surface area and porosity, as much as 50%, and often more, is associated with micropores, i.e., pores with pore diameters of 2 nanometers or less. These pores can be inaccessible because of diffusion limitations. They are easily plugged and thereby deactivated. Thus, high porosity material where the pores are mainly in the mesopore (>2 nanometers) or macropore (>50 nanometers) ranges are most desirable.
It is also important that self-supported catalysts and supported catalysts not fracture or attrit during use because such fragments may become entrained in the reaction stream and must then be separated from the reaction mixture. The cost of replacing attritted catalyst, the cost of separating it from the reaction mixture and the risk of contaminating the product are all burdens upon the process. In other processes, e.g. where the solid supported catalyst is filtered from the process stream and recycled to the reaction zone, the fines may plug the filters and disrupt the process. It is also important that a catalyst, at the very least, minimize its contribution to the chemical contamination of reactant(s) and product(s). In the case of a catalyst support, this is even more important since the support is a potential source of contamination both to the catalyst it supports and to the chemical process. Further, some catalysts are particularly sensitive to contamination that can either promote unwanted competing reactions, i.e., affect its selectivity, or render the catalyst ineffective, i.e., “poison” it. Charcoal and commercial graphites or carbons made from petroleum residues usually contain trace amounts of sulfur or nitrogen as well as metals common to biological systems and may be undesirable for that reason.
Since the 1970s carbon nanofibers or nanotubes have been identified as materials of interest for such applications. Carbon nanotubes exist in a variety of forms and have been prepared through the catalytic decomposition of various carbon-containing gases at metal surfaces. Nanofibers such as fibrils, bucky tubes and nanotubes are distinguishable from continuous carbon fibers commercially available as reinforcement materials. In contrast to nanofibers, which have, desirably large, but unavoidably finite aspect ratios, continuous carbon fibers have aspect ratios (L/D) of at least 104 and often 106 or more. The diameter of continuous fibers is also far larger than that of nanofibers, being always>1.0μ and typically 5 to 7μ.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,576,466 to Ledoux et al. discloses a process for isomerizing straight chain hydrocarbons having at least seven carbon atoms using catalysts which include molybdenum compounds whose active surface consists of molybdenum carbide which is partially oxidized to form one or more oxycarbides. Ledoux et al. disclose several ways of obtaining an oxycarbide phase on molybdenum carbide. However, their methods require the formation of molybdenum carbides by reacting gaseous compounds of molybdenum metal with charcoal at temperatures between 900° C. and 1400° C. These are energy intensive processes. Moreover, the resulting molybdenum carbides have many similar drawbacks as other catalysts prepared with charcoal. For example, much of the surface area and porosity of the catalysts is associated with micropores and as such these catalysts are easily plugged and thereby deactivated.
While activated charcoals and other materials have been used as catalysts and catalyst supports, none have heretofore had all of the requisite qualities of high surface area porosity, pore size distribution, resistance to attrition and purity for the conduct of a variety of selected petrochemical and refining processes. For example, as stated above, although these materials have high surface area, much of the surface area is in the form of inaccessible micropores (i.e., diameter <2 nm).
It would therefore be desirable to provide a family of catalysts and catalyst supports that have high accessible surface area, high porosity, resistance to attrition, are substantially free of micropores, are highly active and selective and show no significant deactivation after many hours of operation.
Nanofiber mats, assemblages and aggregates have been previously produced to take advantage of the increased surface area per gram achieved using extremely thin diameter fibers. These structures are typically composed of a plurality of intertwined or intermeshed nanotubes. | {
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1. Field
This disclosure is generally related to improving performance of cellular networks. More specifically, this disclosure is related to a method and system for dynamically generating and adapting hyper cells in response to network conditions. Various embodiments are also related to selecting optimal transmit points for virtual channels.
2. Related Art
In traditional cellular networks, the location of each transmit point is carefully planned. Each transmit point creates a cell and is assigned a unique cell identifier (ID) to define the control channel and data channel so that simultaneous transmit point to user equipment (UE) communications can be supported for each cell. A single cell serves each UE, and the network maintains the association between the cell and the UE until handover is triggered.
As the demand on mobile broadband increases, networks are deployed more densely and heterogeneously with a greater number of base stations. Cells become smaller and a corresponding greater number of cell edges are created. Cell ID assignment becomes more difficult and the frequency of handovers increases as the UE moves between cells. Further, the density of the cells creates much interference between neighboring cells.
In one approach, LTE Coordinated Multipoint (CoMP) scenario 4 specifies that one or more remote radio heads (RRHs) share a same cell ID as a macro cell to which the RRHs are connected. However, LTE CoMP scenario 4 (available at http://www.3gpp.org/ftp/Specs/html-info/36819.htm) only allows fixed sharing of a single cell ID between a macro cell and all RRHs controlled by it. There is handover and changing of the cell ID when the user moves away from the macro cell and the connected RRHs. Such an approach is insufficient for addressing the problems of interference, complex cell ID assignment, and frequent handovers. | {
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The present invention relates to a premium package and, more particularly, to a premium package having an easily removable premium panel secured thereto and disposed therein.
A premium package is an ordinary package which has thereon or therein a printed premium which acts as an additional inducement to purchase the package. The premium itself may have an intrinsic value and be, for example, a baseball or similar collector's card, a cooking recipe, or the like. Alternatively, the premium may have little or no intrinsic value, but be redeemable for an item of value, for example, by the purchaser removing the premium and mailing it to the manufacturer for a refund or prize. Still further, the premium may merely provide more space on which the packager may print advertising material or the like. Regardless of whether or not the premium has intrinsic value, there are common problems associated with premium packages.
If the premium is merely inserted into the package and is not secured thereto, then the premium may be forgotten or may be removed with the contents of the package and thereby lost. Accordingly, it is desirable to have a premium package where the premium panel is secured thereto rather than loosely disposed therein. On the other hand, when the premium is secured to the outer surface of the package, it is too easily removable by retail personnel and passing customers without purchase of the package, thereby defeating the purpose of the premium package and discouraging potential customers who desire the premium from purchasing the now premium-free package.
If the premium is a structural part of the actual package, for example, a coupon, emblem, or the like constituting a part of a package wall, then the premium is typically not easily removable from the package, requiring either the tearing of the package walls or the use of a knife or scissors. Furthermore, once the premium which formed a part of the package body is removed, the ability of the package to perform its intended function may be impaired as its integrity has been destroyed.
Finally, even if the premium were secured to and disposed within the package, separate and apart from the package structural walls, it would frequently be difficult to remove it from the package until all of the contents of the package were first removed.
Accordingly, it is the object of the present invention to provide a premium package having an easily removable premium panel secured thereto and disposed therein.
Another object is to provide such a package where the premium panel can easily be removed (without tools) prior to removal of the contents of the package in many instances and without destruction of the structural integrity of the package. | {
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This invention pertains to the temporary restraining of small animals, particularly for administering oral doses of medications. The small animals often panic and can easily injure both the handler and itself, and can also cause the administration to be misdosed, which may lead to erroneous data, unwanted clinical effects, and possible animal death. Therefore, the oral dosing procedure is both time consuming and labor intensive, requiring as many as three persons to execute with safety and efficacy.
This invention presents a novel apparatus in which to complete the oral dosing procedure with increased safety to the restrained animal, increased efficacy of the dosing procedure, increased handler safety, and decreased labor intensity.
It is the primary object of this invention to provide a sturdy, sanitizable, portable restrainer that is operable by one animal handler.
It is further an object of this invention to provide a restrainer that presents the animal to the handler in a position that streamlines the oral dosing procedure, and results in increased safety for the handler and the animal being restrained.
It is further an object of this invention to provide a less stressful environment for the restrained animal by providing a better-tolerated restraint method. | {
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1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to network interfacing and, more particularly, to methods and systems for transmitting data packets in a half-duplex network susceptible to capture effect.
2. Background Art
Local area networks use a network cable or other media to link stations on the network. Each local area network architecture uses a media access control (MAC) enabling a network interface card at each station to share access to the media.
The Ethernet protocol ISO/IEC 8802-3) (ANSI/IEEE Std. 802.3), 1993) edition) defines a half-duplex media access mechanism that permits all stations to access the network channel with equality. Each station includes an Ethernet interface card that uses carrier-sense multiple-access with collision detection (CSMA/CD) to listen for traffic on the media. Transmission by a station begins after sensing a deassertion of a receive carrier on the media, indicating no network traffic. After starting transmission, a transmitting station will monitor the media to determine if there has been a collision due to another station sending data at the same time. If a collision is detected, both stations stop, wait a random amount of time, and retry transmission.
Any station can attempt to contend for the channel by waiting, a predetermined transmission delay interval after the deassertion of the receive carrier on the media, known as the interpacket gap (IPG) interval. If a plurality of stations have data to send on the network, each of the stations will attempt to transmit in response to the sensed deassertion of the receive carrier on the media and after the IPG interval, resulting in a collision.
Ethernet network stations mediate collisions using a truncated binary exponential backoff (TBEB) algorithm, which provides a controlled pseudorandom mechanism to enforce a collision backoff interval before retransmission is attempted. According to the truncated binary exponential backoff algorithm, a station keeps track of the number of transmission attempts ) during the transmission of a current frame. The station computes a collision backoff interval as a randomized integer multiple of a slot time interval, and attempts retransmission after the collision backoff interval. The station will attempt to transmit under the truncated binary exponential algorithm a maximum of sixteen times.
The collision backoff interval is calculated by selecting a random number of slot times from the range of zero to 2.sup.j -1. For example, if the number of attempts j=3, then the range of randomly selected number of slot times is [0,7]; if the randomly-selected number of slot times is four, then the collision backoff interval will be equal to four slot time intervals. According, to Ethernet protocol, the maximum range of randomly selected slot times is 2.sup.10 -1.
The truncated binary exponential algorithm has the disadvantage that the range of randomly selected slot times [0, 2.sup.j -1] increases exponentially each time a specific station loses a retry attempt after collision, resulting in a higher probability of losing the next collision mediation by randomly selecting a larger integer multiple of slot times. Thus, a new station that has data to transmit has a higher probability of winning, a collision mediation than the station having, a greater number of attempts. This effect is known as the capture effect, where a new station in the collision mediation effectively has a greater probability of capturing access to the media than the losing station until the maximum number of attempts has been reached.
Hence, collision-based networks having collision mediation require each colliding station to back off a random number of slot times, dependent on the number of attempts, before reattempting access to the medium. Such collision mediation reduces the network throughput and creates unbounded packet access latencies. Consequently, applications requiring bounded access latencies such as interactive multimedia cannot be supported on half-duplex networks.
The capture effect also may occur between network stations having different capabilities in counting the transmission delay interval before attempting access of the media. Ethernet protocol specifies the transmission delay interval after sensed deassertion of the receive carrier, i.e., the interpacket gap (IPG) interval, as having a minimum value before stations can attempt access of the media. Network stations (i.e., network nodes) that are capable of minimizing, the transmission delay to the IPG interval, referred to as "fast nodes" or "dominant stations," will begin to transmit before stations incapable of achieving the minimum IPG interval, referred to as "slow nodes." In other words, hardware limitations may prevent the slow nodes from accessing the media within the time interval defined by the IPG interval. Hence, dominant network stations will tend to capture the media over slower nodes that wait a longer time before attempting access of the media. These slower nodes encounter a surrender effect, in which they "surrender" their access to the media due to hardware limitations. The surrender effect may create substantial throughput problems in transmission protocols requiring a sender to receive an acknowledgement within a prescribed interval after a burst transmission.
Hence, capture effect may be caused by a station encountering, a large number of collisions, variance in IPG access times between fast and slow nodes, and variations in propagation delay due to network topology. The capture effect thus causes a large variance in the network access latency, and a corresponding large variance in end to end delays experienced by data packets.
One proposed solution is described in Ramakrishman et al., "The Ethernet Capture Effect: Analysis and Solution," IEEE Local Computer Networks (LCN) Conference, Minneapolis, Minn., October 1994, pages 228-240. The proposed solution by Ramakrishman, referred to as capture avoidance binary exponential backoff (CABEB), uses the standard binary exponential backoff with enhancements for collision resolution in a special case when a station attempts to capture the channel subsequent to an uninterrupted consecutive transmit period.
The CABEB algorithm modifies the truncated binary exponential backoff algorithm based on the premise that there can be no more than one station in an uninterrupted consecutive transmit state at any given time on a CSMA/CD local area network. The CABEB algorithm calculates the collision backoff interval for an uninterrupted consecutive transmission as follows: if the number of collision attempts equals 1, then the collision backoff interval equals two (2) slot time intervals; if the number of collisions equals 2, then the collision backoff interval equals zero (0) slot times; and if the number of collision attempts is greater than 2, then the conventional TBEB algorithm is followed.
Although the CABEB algorithm reduces the capture effect, implementation of the CABEB algorithm in small networks, such as a 2-station or 3-station Ethernet network, substantially increases the collision rate. The CABEB algorithm also reduces the network throughput, especially for small packets.
Another proposed media access mechanism, referred to as the Binary Logarithmic Access Method (BLAM), are described by the IEEE 802.3 w Working Group Draft, "Enhanced Media Access Control Algorithm for IEEE 802.3 CSMA/CD." However, BLAM requires substantial changes to the MAC, and has not been proven effective in a mixed environment having stations employing BLAM nodes and TBEB nodes. | {
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In the nuclear industry it is often necessary to accomplish hermetically sealed electrical connections in extremely harsh environments characterized by high radiation levels, steam saturated air, and temperature and pressure extremes. In such harsh environments conventional electrical connectors often prove unsuitable. Even those connectors which accomplish a hermetically sealed connection often are unable to withstand the temperature and pressure extremes, or the effects of high radiation levels. Further, those connectors which have been devised to withstand the rigors of such harsh environments tend to be complex, bulky devices which are difficult to install and maintain.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved electrical connector for releasably connecting a plurality of electrical wires.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved electrical connector which can maintain a hermetically sealed electrical connection in an environment characterized by high radiation levels, steam saturated air, and temperature and pressure extremes.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved electrical connector comprising a pair of connector halves, and locking means for releasably locking the connector halves together to avoid inadvertent disconnection.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an improved electrical connector with a streamline design, allowing such connector to be inserted through small apertures.
Still a further object of the present invention is to provide an electrical connector which is inexpensive to manufacture and maintain. | {
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Not applicable.
Not applicable.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the control and monitoring of computers, specifically to an improved Keyboard-Video-Mouse switch fully integrated with a video display, character input device, and pointing device.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Many computers capable of performing general purpose and specialized tasks require a computer room with raised flooring and air conditioning. Because computer room space is quite expensive, such computers must be mounted in a rack. Having a separate video display, character input device, and pointing device for each computer is impractical and wastes valuable computer room space. Keyboard-Video-Mouse (KVM) switches were developed which allows a single video display, character input device, and pointing device to communicate with one or more rack-mounted computers. However, requiring a separate video display, a separate character input device, a separate pointing device, and a separate KVM switch has the disadvantages of:
(a) consuming valuable rack space
(b) requiring a separate connector for video display, character input, and pointing data and signals on the KVM switch
(c) likelihood of malfunction due to a loose connection or failure of the aforementioned connectors and cables
(d) requiring the user to slide a video display monitor separately from a keyboard and pointing device from the rack before using the video display monitor and the keyboard and pointing device.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,721,842 (1998) and 5,884,096 (1999) and 5,937,176 (1999) to Beasley, et. al. (1998) merely specify a switching system but no display, character input device, or pointing device. Video signals are sent on cables separate from the keyboard and mouse signals. Furthermore, separate connectors are required on the switch side and on the remote computer side of cables used for video display, keyboard, and mouse. The programmable switch described as part of the claims uses only a single processor.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,732,212 to Perholtz, et. al. (1998) provides for a method of redirecting video display, keyboard, and mouse signals to a switch via a serial or parallel port or over a modem or network device on the computer being monitored or controlled. However, said method requires the use of special software or hardware which must be installed on the computer being monitored or controlled.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,499,377 to Lee (1996) describes a multi-computer access switching system. Although sixteen (16) computers may be accessed from a work center the system requires a cable bus and a manual switch rather than an electronically controlled switch which may be controlled by a command entered from a keyboard.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,949,643 to Batio (1999) describes a portable computer having split keyboard and pivotal display screen halves. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,926,364 to Karidis (1999) describes a tri-fold personal computer with touchpad and keyboard. U.S. Pat. No. 5,913,034 to Malcolm (1999) describes an administrator station for a computer system. However, such a device requires a notebook computer in order to function. In fact all of the described inventions and devices like them provide a display, keyboard, and pointing device but they are full fledged computers complete with CPU, memory, and secondary storage device and require an operating system in order to function. Such devices are relatively expensive and consume more power and space compared to a device which only has a display, keyboard, and pointing device.
Similarly, devices such as the device access controller in U.S. Pat. No. 5,878,248 to Tehranian, et. al. (1999) also require a computer. Such devices also do not offer the convenience of easily multiplexing keyboard data, pointer data, and video signals from multiple computers.
The reference http://www.compaq.com/products/storageworks/options/1udrawerindex.html describes a keyboard drawer which consumes 1U (1.75 in rack space and the reference http://www.compaq.com/products/storageworks/options/skvm_index.html describes a KVM switch which may be mounted behind the 1U keyboard drawer but a video display device must be mounted separately in a rack.
ICS provides a flat panel display attached by a hinge to a drawer for a keyboard and pointing device. However, it consumes 2U (1.75 inches xc3x972) of vertical rack space.
Raritan offers a KVM switch, which offers one processor per channel or computer system. However, only one processor is active at a time and only when the channel associated with it is actively selected. Raritan KVM switches also offer a single connector for each computer system but. the connector is wide and space consuming. The cascade mechanism used by Raritan does not utilize differential signaling for improved reliability.
Current KVM switches do not provide a means for upgrade, downloading or uploading of code, testing, or configuration of the KVM switch from a remote location. Furthermore, existing KVM switches do not have the capability of communicating with each other such that a plurality of interconnected KVM switches appear to the human user as a single KVM switch. The human user must be aware of which KVM switch a particular computer is connected in order to make use of the KVM switch. For example, the video output port, keyboard input port, and mouse input port of a first KVM switch must be connected into one of the video input ports, one of the keyboard output ports, and one of the mouse output ports of a second KVM switch. A human user must first select the video input port, keyboard output port, and mouse output port on the second KVM switch before the user is able to access the first KVM switch.
In accordance with the present invention a intelligent control and monitoring system comprises at least one first processor communicating with a second processor, a video switch, video display, character input device, pointing device, and cable capable of carrying video signals, character input data, and pointing input data.
Accordingly, several objects and advantages of the present invention are:
(a) To provide a compact control and monitoring system which minimizes the amount of rack space consumed by the following separate elements: KVM switch, video display, character input device, and pointing device;
(b) To provide a compact control and monitoring system which accepts data for video display and transmits data for character input and pointing to a computer but requires a single connector at the KVM switch;
(c) To provide a compact control and monitoring system which reduces the likelihood of a malfunction due to a loose connection or cable failure by reducing the number of cables and connections that must be made;
(d) To provide a compact control and monitoring system which extends out of a rack as a single unit;
Further objects and advantages are:
(a) To provide a control and monitoring system which allows upgrades, downloading or uploading of code, testing, and configuration from a remote location;
(b) To provide a control and monitoring system which can communicate with other control and monitoring systems;
(c) To provide a plurality of interconnected control and monitoring systems which appear to be a single control and monitoring system to a human user;
(d) To provide a control and monitoring system which has the ability to switch off power to the video display after a period of time has elapsed, where said period of time has been specified by a human user;
(e) To provide a control and monitoring system which utilizes a plurality of processing units, thereby reducing the likelihood of losing data from one of the computers connected to the compact control and monitoring system;
(f) To provide a control and monitoring system where a video display, a character input device, and a pointing device are protected from dust and impact from objects when the control and monitoring system is stored in a rack;
(g) To provide a control and monitoring system where no special software or hardware is required on the computer being monitored or controlled. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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It is known that it is extremely difficult to treat PCB or other such halogenated aromatic compounds. This has led to considerable efforts directed toward the removal or decomposition of halogenated aromatic compounds. Methods for accomplishing this using a reaction process that takes place in the presence of an alkali include the alumina-alkali process disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 2,951,804. U.S. Pat. No. 4,532,028 discloses a method of reacting alkali and a PCB content of up to 50,000 ppm in a mixture of alkyl or alkylene sulfoxide and polyol, thereby reducing the content to several ppm. Other examples include Canadian Pat. No. 1,181,771 which discloses a method employing melted sodium, and Italian Patent No. 22,215 which discloses a method using alkaline earth metal on which PEG is adsorbed.
Each method has its good points. However, with the prior art techniques it is not possible to further remove halogenated aromatic compounds from samples having a low concentration thereof, so that the halogenated aromatic compound content is further reduced to the extent that the inclusion thereof is substantially not recognizable; it is not yet possible to reduce the halogenated aromatic compound concentration to i ppm or below. Moreover, it is widely known that heating the solvent used in the prior art methods to a high temperature of 120.degree. C. or over in the presence of an alkali or alkali metal has a chemically destablizing effect that promotes solvent decomposition and polymerization, degrading the basic function of the solvent. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a foldable transportable structure that when deployed provides a truly collapsible, transportable, insulated and lightweight structure that is safe, reliable and internationally compliant. Its designed flexibility provides maximum convenience for the following: quick deployment to nearly any geographic location; use of varying component materials and sizes; and interconnectability of single units for multiple unit combinations. The ability of the structure to be air-dropped also allows service to the most remote locations where shelter or facility use is needed.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Typically, supplied conventional structures offer only one or a few of a complete set of required properties that include: an easily erectable configuration for fast field installation; a requirement of NO tools or separate parts and pieces for assembly; a capability for remote deployment; a specific insulation value if needed; structural integrity; long-term durability; a design that allows for flexible use of materials choice and the potential to combine together multiple units.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,493,818 describes a “collapsible” structure having improved storage and shipping properties which are achieved by specific designing of the size, shape and hingeable connection positions whereas said structure is erectable and collapsible within minutes utilizing a minimal amount of tools and effort.
Geometric and dimensional limitations will not allow this structure to physically collapse into a stackable configuration as claimed. The roof panels will not be able to completely stretch out to lay flat when the roof panels are of a long enough dimension to form a gabled configuration, as their combined length when laying flat is much longer than the available length that the wall panels provide when they are in their folded flat configuration. An attempt to collapse the roof panels into a fully folded flat position will cause the wall panels below to hinge-bind dramatically resulting in neither of the roof or wall panels being able to lay completely flat. Alternately, when the wall panels are in a completely folded flat position the gable roof panels will not be allowed to fully stretch out and lay flat. In summary, the designed geometry will not allow full complete collapse of the stacked panels. All Sections and Claims within U.S. Pat. No. 5,493,818 refer to the invention as being a fully collapsible structure, which it will not be able to accomplish. This may be why it has not been adopted for large scale use.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,779,514 describes a “modular portable building unit” susceptible to air transport, and includes a roof, foldable side walls and foldable end walls having the same width as the height of the side walls. Three of the modular building units can be interfitted (sic) to form a building having four times as much floor space as the single modular building unit. The inclusion of a floor in the modular building is optional, and the inclusion of a separate pitched roof assembly for positive roof drainage is optional. Additional object of the invention is to provide a modular building unit that when folded down will allow transport by air or truck, and to allow combinations of multiple units together.
This method is limited by the gable end panels being separate components, and the separate fastening components and systems required to erect and/or collapse the unit. Redeployment and transport of this structure can be accomplished only after a very time consuming and tedious removal of many parts and pieces has been done. The lack of provisions for a passage opening, door, or other means shown for ingress or egress between the connected units is detrimental to the function and internal occupant flow of the connected units. Therefore no added value to the user from connecting the units together is recognized, and this may be why this system has not been adopted for large scale use.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,166,343 describes a hollow, generally rectilinear structure having a top, a bottom, sides and ends that can be constructed so as to be capable of being manipulated between a “normal” or unfolded type configuration and a collapsed or folded configuration in which the ends extend generally parallel to and beneath the top and in which the sides are folded so as to be located next to the ends generally between the bottom and the top. Such a structure includes hinges connecting the ends to the top so that they can be pivoted so as to lie generally parallel to the top. Such a structure is disclosed as having utility as a playhouse or storage shed but can be utilized for other purposes such as a container.
This structure is limited in that the gable end panels are separate panels that are hinged to the roof panel. The erection of the unit will not be manageable by the roof having to carry the added weight of the gable panels during erection of the side walls and roof panels at the same time. This will be completely unmanageable in the field. The structure also does not have means for combination of multiple units, or optional door placement locations, or a window to provide ventilation. This may be why this structure has not been adopted for field use, and is not a presently being manufactured.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,906,671 describes an adjustable door frame having frame portions formed by first and second frame sections cooperatively arrangeable (sic) on a wall of an opening.
This method provides adjustability only to the door frame for installation to variable wall thicknesses, and can only provide one of four possible door swing functions or configurations when installed. The mitered head jamb and casing pieces directly attach to the mitered hinge and strike jambs. This static configuration does not allow for the potential inversion of the hinge and strike jambs that would be required so that the entire door and frame assembly could be installed in either a right or left hand, or inside or outside, door swing configuration. In order for a door frame assembly to be completely and fully adjustable both of the hinge and strike jamb components must have the ability to be inverted and attachable to either the head or sill components so that the entire frame and door assembly can be installed in any of the 4 each possible swing configurations. This may be why this invention has not been adapted for field structures use.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,395,855 describes a pre-fabricated door frame assembly, the components which are adjustable and such that the assembly can be used for either right or left handed doors and can fit a wide variety of widths and heights of door openings through walls of varying thicknesses.
This method is designed to attach to standard constructed building walls that are normally much wider than the thinner wall panels typically used for flat-pack shelter units, and requires separate fasteners and tools for attachment to the wall system. This invention also does not include an integrated threshold or weather strip component for exterior wall use, which would be necessary for shelter units that would be deployed in hot or cold climates. This invention has limited use in that is does not offer diversity and the flexibility to be used in both interior and/or exterior applications, and it is not easily reversible or re-installable in the field without the use of tools or separate fasteners that may or may not be available.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,420,003 describes an adjustable door frame that adjusts to varying wall thicknesses, and can be installed quickly and easily with screws that go directly into the wall system. It consists of several longitudinal trim and jamb components that overlap and stay in place by ratchet teeth and backing plates that when the installation screw component is installed the separate pieces become locked into place.
This method is designed to attach to standard constructed building walls, and requires separate fasteners and tools for attachment to the wall system. This invention also does not include an integrated threshold or weather strip component for exterior wall use, which would be necessary for shelter units that would be deployed in hot or cold climates. This invention has limited use in that is does not offer diversity and the flexibility to be used in both interior and/or exterior applications, and it is not easily reversible or re-installable in the field without the use of tools or separate fasteners that may or may not be available.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,448,799 describes a hinge assembly for pivotally adjoining two panels together such as a shower door and its enclosure. A pair of continuous channel members are provided which are provided with an axial aligned rod and tubular channel for rotatably (sic) receiving the rod.
This method includes a weather strip component that protrudes beyond the profile of the wall panel extrusions. This component could not be utilized in a foldable structure as the protrusion will not allow adjacent and connected together wall panels to lay flat against each other when the structure is in a collapsed position. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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A cache memory is provided between a central processing unit and a main memory of a computer system in order to speed up the operation speed, the cache memory functioning as a high speed buffer memory and storing a portion of programs and data to be stored in the main memory.
Virtual addresses are used with recent central processing units so that address translation is required between virtual addresses and real addresses of the cache memory and main memory. Since the size of a translation table becomes large as the address space becomes large, the table is generally structured hierarchically. It takes some time to refer to the hierarchical table and find a real address. In order to obtain a real address at high speed, tables having an associative function called a Table Look aside Buffer (TLB) are provided in parallel as hierarchical tables.
TLB is therefore required to execute address translation at high speed and also at high hit probability while using a small circuit scale.
Two types of associative schemes, full associative and set associative, are used for TLB. With the former scheme, an input address is compared with all data stored in TLB to check coincidence/non-coincidence therebetween. If there is coincident data stored in TLB, a signal indicating a data presence and the stored data are output.
With the latter set associative scheme, candidates of coincident data are selected, and an input data is compared with these candidate addresses to check coincidence/non-coincidence therebetween. If there is coincident data, a signal indicating a data presence and a real address corresponding to the coincident data are output.
As above, since the full associative scheme compares all data, the number of comparators increases and the circuit area becomes large. In order to suppress an increase in the circuit area, a simple circuit having a small area is used as the comparator. Therefore, a time required for data comparison becomes long, and because of a number of comparators, power consumption becomes great. Although there are such disadvantages, a data coincidence probability becomes high because the comparison is executed for all stored data.
In the case of TLB of the set associative scheme, the number of comparators is as small as two to four sets because candidates for compared data are selected and the coincidence/non-coincidence check is performed only for these candidates. Accordingly, a high speed comparator circuit can be used and coincidence detection can be performed at high speed, although the comparator circuit becomes complicated. However, a restriction of candidate selection lowers a data coincidence probability. Therefore, a coincidence probability generally equal to the full associative TLB cannot be obtained unless the scale of the TLB storage circuit is increased by about a fourfold. This expansion of the circuit scale increases the number of operating circuits, leaving some issues of an increased power consumption and an increased circuit area.
An example of a coincidence-detecting circuit for the full associative scheme is described in JP-A-59-231789 in which a coincidence-detecting circuit is provided independently for each memory cell for the comparison between search data and stored data. An example of a coincidence-detecting circuit of this type for higher speed operations is described in IEEE Journal of Solid State Circuits Vol. 28, No. 11, pp. 1078-1083. According to this report, a reference signal line is provided in parallel with a coincidence-detecting signal line and also with a current supply line, and a differential type NOR gate is formed by coincidence-detecting MOSFETs, for the purpose of high speed detection. This approach has a restriction of the circuit area because of a need of three wiring lines, although high speed operation is realized.
An example of TLB of the set associative scheme is described in JP-A-60-117495 in which a circuit for the comparison with search data utilizes a sense amplifier for reading memory cell data. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a reperforable BRIDGE PLUG of the type used for sealing in transitory or permanent form the perforations lined with pipes or tubes of insulation particularly those that are used in oil wells or the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The principal object of the invention is to obtain a new type of plug of the above mentioned type, adapted to be installed in the selected place by any of the proceedings or equipment used in the industry, either with the use of cables or tube lines for such purpose.
The invention has been made to considerably reduce the working and writing time of the costly equipment used in the art, resulting among other bentfits, that shall be enumerated in the course of this specification, in the elimination of the first gate pass prior to the installation of the plug and less time in the milling of the same for its destruction, because with the invention, its rotation has been avoided, through the turn interlock provided. With the above mentioned purpose in mind, the invention also contributes a remarkable constructive simplification that brings about an important economic advantage, and at the same time its technical improvements not only offer a better mechanical fastening, but the possibility of being used in various applications with the same structure, through the change of a single key piece. It is well known that a variety of plugs have been created with the purpose of sealing oil wells, according to the known manner of operating in this activity. Among them is a plug used as support of the sealing elastic body, a gasket composed by one or more deformable plug rings that are accomodated or adhered to the walls of the jacket pipe with the compression set effected by the displaceable pieces proper of the plug, in the inherent process for its placement, so the resilient material or rubber that constitutes the elastic body, does not unduly flow or become exhausted through the plug contour and effect its closing.
In other kinds of plugs, these annular bodies have been substituted, through both simple or double laminar washers, with a skirt of frusto-conical shape directed toward a conformation similar to the elastic body in agreement with the washers.
In other cases the sealing element is materialized by resorting to two or three independent elastic bodies, with peripheral lips and forms as displaceable blades, that complement each other with the purpose of improving the closure.
Other small differences existing among the known models could be mentioned. Notwithstanding, it is advisable to understand that the whole of these appliances resort to the use of two jaws arranged with the other component pieces at each side of the packers elastic body or bodies.
As known by the expert on the subject, these jaws, at the end of the process of placement of the plug, that is to say, once the expansion of the elastic packer body is obtained and the respective fuse pins are broken and before the weak tension point is broken, the above mentioned jaws, are expanded, nailing their teeth on the tube line of jacket pipe to secure the immovability of the plug in its position. In the already mentioned conventional plugs provided with two jaws, it has been proven that in the process of the plug fastening it is required that the indented jaws are approached between each other in order to provoke the deformation of the flexible gasket. Breaking the first fuse pin displaces the upper cone and the respective jaw, while the lower one remains fixed, so that relative displacement causes a strong rubbing of the teeth of the jaws against the steel tube wall which, taking into consideration the important forces in operation, the teeth suffer a strong abrasion making them blunt and subsequently restricting their capacity of penetration in the wall and therefore weakening the mechanical fastening of the plug. In some cases, both jaws are displaced impairing the situation.
Another constructive aspect of this pair of jaws may be mentioned, in certain cases they are constituted by independent segments fastened by "fuse" screws to the respective cone or maintained in position by rings mounted in a perimetral throat or by a wire of copper winding.
In another embodiment, the jaws are substantially cylindrical bodies with channels arranged according to interior generatrix which defines areas of lower resistance, but offer the problem of the formation of burrs in the fracture areas directed toward the periferic contour and moveover to the loosening of fragments the presence of which between the teeth of the jaws cause subsequent disturbances.
Other usual problems in the perforations under consideration are included in the rubbish found inside the tubes. In order to eliminate this, the use of baskets must be resorted to, incorporated with the gages for their recuperation, by passing this device through the tube line, so that all the matter that is found in its downward direction is collected in its interior basket. In the hitherto known techniques, the use of the gage is essential, in as much as with them there are found variations in the diameter of the jacket pipe. Variations may be originated, for example, in the perforated layers, that a mentioned above offer holes with burrs which may create problems in the downward direction of the plug. With the gage, collapses and/or failures are also detected which are due to an excessive thread of the pipe section, which also causes burrs in the edges of the pipe and even its flare shape. There are known the anomalies which may be found in the tube line covering the wells, that can be detected by the different systems used by the surface installations for placement of plugs.
It is obvious that taking into consideration the high cost of the equipment placed on the well, the less intervention time of each one on each perforation may result in a lower cost per cubic meter of the oil obtained. For such purpose it is very important to attain the maximum guaranty that the tube line with which the perforation has been lined be in perfect condition. That is to say, that since a slight diameter difference exists between the plug and the tube, the plug may be lowered without trouble and there are no undesirable burrs, collapses or rubbish which may affect its downward movement. Consequently, it is required to lower in the first place a calibrator device which carries downwardly all the rubbish which is being housed in its interior part. This kind of basket is exteriorly shaped, with annular calibrated bands the diameter of which will guarantee that the minimum diameter found in the well, shall not affect the lowering of the plug.
So in each perforation and in a manner prior to the placement of each plug, it is necessary to effect a stroke with the above mentioned calibrated basket. As briefly mentioned in the foregoing paragraph, the plugs may be fastened through arrangements operated by cable or pipe, in the first case the fastening system operated by remote control depends from a cable and in the other it is obtained through rotation of the tube line with which the plug is seated and fastened on the selected place.
In the cable plugs several problems may arise, such as when blasting charges are used, their deflagration produces gases generated in a closed chamber that are transformed into hydraulic pressure which at the same time causes a mechanical force. It may occur that the well fluid may penetrate inside the appliance thus avoiding its correct operation.
With the plug under consideration, as only the rubber has been swelled, it may be once more recuperated, which is not common with a conventinal plug because the latter has to be mechanically fastened and afterwards must be rotated and reinitiate the cycle, which is very costly. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a control apparatus for a hybrid vehicle drive system, and more particularly to system starting of a hybrid vehicle.
2. Discussion of Prior Art
There is known a control apparatus for a hybrid vehicle drive system including (a) an engine, and (b) an electrically controlled differential portion having an input shaft connected to the engine, an output shaft, a differential mechanism, and an electric motor which is connected to a rotary element of the differential mechanism and the operating state of which is controlled to control a differential state of rotating speeds of the input and output shafts. JP-2003-63258 A discloses an example of such a hybrid vehicle drive system. In hybrid drive systems as disclosed in the above-identified publication, a hybrid vehicle is generally driven by the vehicle drive electric motor with the engine held at rest in a running condition of the hybrid vehicle in which the operating efficiency of the engine is relatively low. In a running condition of the hybrid vehicle in which the engine is operated at a comparatively low speed to produce a comparatively small torque, for example, during starting of the hybrid vehicle, the vehicle drive electric motor is operated to drive the vehicle with the engine held at rest in view of a comparatively low operating efficiency of the engine
The rotary elements of the differential mechanism or other rotary members are required to be lubricated even while the hybrid vehicle can be driven by a drive force produced by the vehicle drive electric motor with the engine held at rest. The above-identified publication proposes the use of a mechanical oil pump which is operated by the engine to lubricate the rotary members. When it is determined that the rotary members is required to be lubricated, an electricity generating electric motor provided as an electric generator is operated to operate the engine for a predetermined time for operating the mechanical oil pump, so that a lubricant is supplied to the rotary members.
In recently developed hybrid vehicle drive systems, the above-indicated electrically controlled differential portion is connected to a hydraulically operated automatic transmission portion. To start the hybrid vehicle equipped with such a hybrid vehicle drive system including such an automatic transmission portion, hydraulically operated coupling devices incorporated in the automatic transmission portion to establish a desired operating position thereof must be selectively supplied with a pressurized working fluid. To this end, the mechanical oil pump is operated by the engine driven by the electricity generating electric motor, to supply the pressurized working fluid to the relevant hydraulically operated coupling devices of the automatic transmission portion, upon starting of the hybrid vehicle with the vehicle drive electric motor with the engine held at rest. In this condition, however, the engine is operated with a low operating efficiency, leading to a risk of deterioration of fuel economy of the vehicle. In view of this drawback, it is considered to use an electric oil pump which is provided in addition to the mechanical oil pump and which is electrically driven to actuate the desired hydraulically operated coupling devices of the automatic transmission portion while the engine is at rest.
The use of those two oil pumps makes it possible to reduce the risk of deterioration of the fuel economy of the hybrid vehicle, owing to the operation of the electric oil pump rather than the engine in the running condition of the vehicle in which the operating efficiency of the engine is relatively low. It is generally required to start the hybrid vehicle drive system before starting of the hybrid vehicle. The starting of the hybrid vehicle drive system requires a predetermined length of time before the drive system becomes ready to start. In this respect, it is noted, for example, that the hybrid vehicle drive system is provided with a high-voltage electric system for driving the vehicle drive electric motor. To start this high-voltage electric system, it is required to effect a diagnosis of the high-voltage electric system for circuit protection, which requires a predetermined length of time. Where the hybrid vehicle drive system includes the automatic transmission portion operated under the control of a hydraulic control unit, this hydraulic control unit is required to be supplied with the pressurized working fluid to permit running of the hybrid vehicle, as a part of the starting procedure of the hybrid vehicle drive system. Where the supply of the pressurized working fluid to the hydraulic control unit is achieved by the electric oil pump, the supply of the fluid requires a further time since the electric oil pump becomes operable only after a high voltage of the high-voltage electric system has been lowered to a suitable level by a DCDC converter after the high-voltage electric system is started. Thus, the hybrid vehicle drive system provided with the automatic transmission portion requires a relatively long time for starting thereof, which may give the operator of the hybrid vehicle a discomfort associated with slow or delayed starting of the hybrid vehicle. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Control regulators or throttling valves of the type that incorporate deformable elastomeric diaphragms or liners that operate by pressure differentials on their two sides to variably uncover a plurality of orifices, e.g., slots, in a baffle positioned between an upstream inlet and a downstream outlet in a flowpath are well known in the art. The operating pressure is referred to as a pilot pressure and is changeable to control the operating position of the liner. Such valves may, for example, be used for controlling the flow of a variety of fluids and gases and, because of their throttling nature, often operate in a partially open position with a substantial differential between the upstream and downstream pressures. While such valves have, in general, rendered satisfactory service, they are not without problems. In gas applications in particular, the flow velocity may create icing conditions on the diaphragm and give rise to problems in shut-off.
The flexible liners are also subject to stretching. Under certain operating conditions the diaphragms may be "pinched" or folded over upon themselves which is detrimental to the life of the liner and proper functioning of the valve.
The baffle generally comprises a frustroconical shaped grill containing slot shaped apertures that are progressively covered and uncovered by the diaphragm as it is "rolled" into contact therewith. The portion of the slots that are uncovered by the diaphragm determines the flow rate through the baffle. Difficulties in some designs have resulted from uneven rolling of the diaphragm. A backup "nose piece" is often included to provide a stationary surface against which the diaphragm may rest to assist in controlling its movement during unrolling to minimize the above mentioned pinching and foldover. The slot configuration for the grill holes is very common, although circular or other shaped holes may also be used.
Another problem encountered with the rolling diaphragm is the tendency of the liner to be extruded into the slots of the frustroconical grill by action of the operating pilot pressure against the diaphragm when the valve is closed or partially closed. A notable deficiency is the lack of any readily available means for indicating the amount that the valve is open for flow. Also, the valves are generally cylindrically shaped and designed to be clamped in the pipeline by suitable flanges and bolting. This has rendered servicing of the valve inconvenient in many installations. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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A gas lift valve may be implemented in a gas lift system, for example, to control flow of lift gas into a production tubing conduit. As an example, a gas lift valve may be located in a gas lift mandrel, which may provide for communication with a lift gas supply, for example, in an annulus (e.g., between production tubing and casing). Operation of a gas lift valve may be determined, for example, by preset opening and closing pressures in the tubing or annulus. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an auxiliary artificial heart of the embedded-in-body type embedded in the left or right ventricle of the heart of a human body.
More particularly, it relates to an auxiliary artificial heart intended to feed blood by a pump in addition to blood fed by the human heart, without damaging the function of the human heart.
2. Description of the Related Art
The conventional artificial hearts of the embedded-in-body type include those of the diaphragm, sack, centrifugal, pusher plate and other systems.
However, these artificial hearts are intended to feed blood, using the human heart as a bypass or instead of the human heart. They are therefore large in size and not suitable for embodiment in the human body. When the artificial heart is large in size, the patient who has the artificial heart embedded in his or her heart must bear a large burden. In addition, that area of the artificial heart which is contacted with blood becomes large, thereby causing a thrombus.
Further, it is required that the artificial heart is durable and reliable. Conventional artificial hearts are complicated in structure and they have a limitation in enhancing their durability and reliability.
In addition to these artificial hearts intended to feed blood, using the human heart as a bypass or instead of the human heart, there is another artificial heart of such a type as disclosed in an essay "In Vivo Evaluation Of A Peripheral Vascular Access Axial Flow Blood Pump" reported by Richard K. Wampler et al on pages 450-454 of "TRANS AM SOC ARTIF INTERN ORGANS" Vol. XXXIV (1988).
This artificial heart has a small-sized pump inserted into the artery and a tube is attached to a sucking opening of the pump. The tube is inserted into the ventricle of the human heart, passing through the artery valve. Blood in the ventricle is sucked through the tube and fed into the artery. This artificial heart does not substantially damage the function of the human heart and it can feed blood in addition to blood fed by the human heart.
The pump must be small in size to insert it into the artery. To meet this requirement, the pump in the above-mentioned artificial heart excludes a driving motor from it. The driving motor is arranged external of the human body, and the driving force is supplied from the motor through a wire to it. Due to such an arrangement, not only the movement of the patient is restricted while the artificial heart is operating, but also the patient cannot carry the artificial heart for a long time. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Participation in athletic activities is increasing at all age levels. All participants may be potentially exposed to physical harm as a result of such participation. Physical harm is more likely to occur in athletic events where collisions between participants frequently occur (e.g., football, field hockey, lacrosse, ice hockey, soccer and the like). In connection with sports such as football, hockey and lacrosse where deliberate collisions between participants occur, the potential for physical harm and/or injury is greatly enhanced. Approximately 300,000 athletes incur concussions in the United States each year. This may be a conservative estimate because many minor head injuries go unreported. Although most concussions occur in high-impact sports, athletes in low-impact sports are not immune to mild traumatic brain injury. Head injuries are caused by positive and negative acceleration forces experienced by the brain and may result from linear or rotational accelerations (or both). Both linear and rotational accelerations are likely to be encountered by the head at impact, damaging neural and vascular elements of the brain.
At the school level, school authorities have become sensitive to the risk of injury to which student participants are exposed, as well as to the liability of the school system when injury results. Greater emphasis is being placed on proper training and instruction to limit potential injuries. Some players engage in reckless behavior on the athletic field or do not appreciate the dangers to which they and others are subject by certain types of impacts experienced in these athletic endeavors. Unfortunately, the use of mouth guards and helmets does not prevent all injuries. One particularly troublesome problem is when a student athlete experiences a head injury, such as a concussion, of undetermined severity even when wearing protective headgear. Physicians, trainers, and coaches utilize standard neurological examinations and cognitive questioning to determine the relative severity of the impact and its effect on the athlete. Return to play decisions can be strongly influenced by parents and coaches who want a star player back on the field.
The same problem arises in professional sports where the stakes are much higher for a team, where such a team loses a valuable player due to the possibility of a severe head injury. Recent medical data suggests that lateral and rotational forces applied to the head and neck area (for example, flexion/extension, lateral flexion, and axial rotation) are more responsible for axonal nerve damage than previously thought. Previous medical research had indicated that axially directed forces (such as spinal compression forces) were primarily responsible for such injuries.
Identifying the magnitude of acceleration that causes brain injury may assist in prevention, diagnosis, and return-to-play decisions. Most field measurements assess the acceleration experienced by the player with accelerometers attached to the helmet. The following show some attempts for measuring the impacts to the skull and brain while the player is participating in a sporting activity. U.S. Pat. No. 5,539,935, entitled “Sports Helmet,” issued on Jul. 30, 1996 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,621,922, entitled “Sports Helmet Capable of Sensing Linear and Rotational Forces,” issued on Apr. 22, 1997 are examples of some of those attempts. Both patents relate to impact sensors for linear and rotational forces in a football helmet. These devices test the impact to the skull of a player. If an athlete suffers a concussion, for example, it will be possible to determine if the relative magnitude of an impact is dangerously high relative to a threshold to which each sensing device is adjusted, taking into consideration the size and weight of the player.
Another attempt performs testing impact acceleration to the head with an intraoral device which provides acceleration information of the brain in various sports. Other attempts have been made, however all these attempts can be costly to implement and fail to provide full historical medical information to coaches, trainers and medical professionals in real-time for dozens of players at a time on one or more adjacent fields. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field
The following description relates to a thin-film transistor (TFT) substrate, a method for manufacturing the TFT substrate and a display apparatus having the TFT substrate.
2. Discussion of the Background
A liquid crystal display apparatus generally includes a lower substrate, an upper substrate and a liquid crystal layer interposed between the lower substrate and the upper substrate. The lower substrate, such as a TFT substrate, may include a display area. The display area may include a first peripheral area, a second peripheral area, a third peripheral area, and a fourth peripheral area disposed on the display area.
A gate driving part outputting a gate signal to a gate line of the display area may be disposed in the first peripheral area. The first peripheral area may be disposed at a left side of the display area. A data driving part outputting a data signal to a data line of the display area may be disposed in the third peripheral area. The third peripheral area may be disposed at an upper side of the display area. In addition, a test pad to test an electrical short and/or an open electrical circuit of the data line may be formed between a sealing member and the display area in the fourth peripheral area. The fourth peripheral area may be facing the third peripheral area.
The test pad may be disposed between the sealing member and the display area in the fourth peripheral area. Some distance may be formed between the test pad and the sealing member to prevent or reduce the likelihood of the sealing member from being uncured due to an overlap of the test pad and the sealing member. Thus, a narrow bezel display apparatus may be hard to manufacture. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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I. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to ultrasonic testing apparatus for determining pregnancy in animals. More particularly, this invention pertains to housings for such apparatus.
II. Description of the Prior Art
In the prior art, methods have been developed in the field of animal husbandry in which ultrasonic pulsing and detection have been used for detecting pregnancies in sows and other farm animals. For many reasons, it may be economically important for a livestock producer to know if an individual farm animal is pregnant. Such knowledge may be required in order to make a decision as to whether to market the animal, whether to start it on a special feeding program, or whether to rebreed the animal during the same season.
Ultrasonic pregnancy detectors of the prior art include detectors having ultrasonic transducers which are placed against the abdomen of the animal to be tested. For proper ultrasonic pulse propagation, the end of the transducer which is placed against the animal's abdomen is first dipped in water, mineral oil or motor oil before placing it against the animal's body.
The prior art detection apparatus includes circuits for pulsing the transducer and processing echoes detected by the transducer. The processed signals include an output which may be displayed to an operator either visually or audibly and which indicate the pregnant condition of the animal being tested. An example of such a prior art apparatus with circuitry for performing the above tasks includes commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 4,112,927 to Carlson dated Sept. 12, 1978. As shown in the patent, the apparatus includes an instrument housing 10 with a probe 11 comprising an ultrasonic transducer 12 connected by means of an electrical cable 13 to the housing 10. The patent discloses two methods of indicating the output to an operator. The first is a visual display which shows an oscilliscope trace. The patent also teaches circuitry for generating an audible tone in which, in the embodiment shown, a signal tone indicates a strong return signal from the animal's uterus while the absence of a tone indicates that the animal is not pregnant.
While the apparatus described has been of value to the animal husbandry industry, certain difficulties are encountered in the use of the apparatus. Namely, the animal under observation is often uncooperative and may be attempting to squirm away from the operator during the period of observation. Indeed, the animal may attempt to attack the probe or the operator. In addition to the adverse circumstances generated by the violence of the animal under observation, the environment in which the apparatus is used presents certain difficulties. For example, the apparatus must be subjected to contact with mineral oil or the like which is used in the testing procedure as well as the often dirty environment of the test site due to animal waste and dust. Finally, the livestock producer needs an apparatus which can be wielded easily by the operator while the operator is attempting to control the animal under observation. Therefore, while the circuitry of the prior art has proved generally satisfactory, there is a need for improvement of apparatus housing to permit its ease of use by an operator while providing for protection from the adverse environment in which it is used. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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This invention relates to a porous composite material having a hydrophilic polymer layer provided over the interior surface of each of the pores of a porous hydrophobic polymer body.
It is well known that a foaming treatment of a mixture containing a resin such as polyethylene and a foaming agent may produce a porous material. The heat-insulating and sound-proofing properties of such porous material have led to use of the material as construction materials. However, the conventional porous material has a defect that it is poor in hydrophilic or hygroscopic property. | {
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The present invention will be described in connection with a helmet shell provided with a reflective material. There are a number of situations where the application of reflective material to the exterior surface of helmet shells can be of significant life saving value. Reflective covering currently being applied to head gear by reflective tape, usually containing glass beads as reflective media. The tapes are applied along the sides and top of the helmet shell. These taped helmet shells are covered by overlapping 1" or 2" strips of tape. The tape patterns, as presently being applied, are being overlapped as they are placed on the exterior surface of the helmet shell, overlapping being necessary due to the varied contours of the helmet surface. This method of application can avoid gaps and wrinkles but creates and excessive number of exposed seams. Thus, overlapping by as much as 1/2" to 3/4" is sometimes required with these multiple tape patterns. The exposed seams are subject to fraying and/or peeling due to normal handling and various atmospheric weathering conditions. In the case of flight helmets, the reflective covering must withstand exposure to sunlight, temperatures of -20.degree. to 140.degree. F., cleaning solutions, and immersion in rough seas (that can occur during an emergency situation) without loss of reflective properties or a degradation in appearance. The problems associated with multiple patterns result in wide wearer unacceptance which in turn reduces the number of reflectorized head gear now in service.
The multiple seam prior art approach using only adhesive tapes in addition to providing poor user acceptance, have the additional drawbacks of high labor costs in applying the tapes, low performance characteristics, increased weight, poor appearance, short life span and incomplete covering when compared to the invention of this application.
The advantage of having reflective material on a flight helmet can be appreciated when one considers that it may be necessary to search for a downed pilot in open seas at night. Tests indicate that objects provide with reflective material can be seen from search heights of 31/2 to 4 times greater than objects not provided with reflective material. Thus, search planes can cover a much greater area in the same amount of time with a reasonable likelihood of seeing the downed aviator. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Proteases are among the technically most important of all enzymes. For washing and cleaning agents they are the longest-established enzymes, contained in practically all modern high-performance washing and cleaning agents. They cause the breakdown of protein-containing stains on the material to be cleaned. Among these in turn, proteases of the subtilisin type (subtilases, subtilopeptidases, EC 3.4.21.62), which are categorized among the serine proteases because of the catalytically effective amino acids, are particularly important. They act as nonspecific endopeptidases and hydrolyze any acid-amide bonds that are located within peptides or proteins. Their optimum pH is usually in the markedly alkaline range. An overview of this family is offered, for example, by the article “Subtilases: subtilisin-like proteases” by R. Siezen, in “Subtilisin enzymes” pp. 75-95, edited by R. Bott and C. Betzel, New York, 1996. Subtilases are formed naturally by microorganisms; among them, the subtilisins formed and secreted by Bacillus species are to be mentioned in particular as the most significant group within the subtilases.
Examples of proteases of the subtilisin type used with preference in washing and cleaning agents are the subtilisins BPN′ and Carlsberg, protease PB92, subtilisins 147 and 309, the protease from Bacillus lentus, in particular from Bacillus lentus DSM 5483, subtilisin DY, and the enzymes (to be classified, however, as subtilases and no longer as subtilisins in the strict sense) thermitase, proteinase K, and the proteases TW3 and TW7, as well as variants of the aforesaid proteases that exhibit an amino acid sequence modified as compared with the initial protease. Proteases are modified, in controlled or random fashion, using methods known from the existing art, and are thereby optimized, for example, for use in washing and cleaning agents. These include point mutagenesis, deletion or insertion mutagenesis, or fusion with other proteins or protein parts. Correspondingly optimized variants are thus known for most proteases known from the existing art.
The International Patent Application WO 03/054185 discloses alkaline proteases from Bacillus gibsonii (DSM 14391), including for use thereof in washing or cleaning agents. This strain was deposited on Mar. 1, 2001, in accordance with the Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms of Apr. 28, 1977, at the German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures [Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen and Zellkulturen GmbH], Inhoffenstrasse 7B, D-38124 Braunschweig under the designation ID 01-192 and entry number DSM 14391. These proteases exhibit considerable differences in amino acid sequence as compared with the proteases recited above, so that an identity comparison of the amino acid sequences yields identity values that are below 80% identity. For the alkaline proteases from Bacillus gibsonii (DSM 14391), only a few protease variants optimized for use in washing and cleaning agents are so far known in the existing art. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Field of the Invention
It has become accepted practice in the orthopedic field to use devices known as intramedullary nails to stabilize fractured bones. In particular, intramedullary nails are used for stabilizing fractures of the tibia and of the femur to thereby enable the bones to heal properly.
The nails are adapted for insertion into the intramedullary canal of the bone which may be reamed or left unreamed, depending on the situation at hand. Locking screws are often inserted through the bone to lock the nail in place. This method has proven valuable because it reduces the incidence and severity of malunion or displacement of the fracture. It allows the patient to apply weight to and walk on the injured bone earlier, thus, reducing the amount of muscle atrophy.
Various intramedullary nails have heretofore been known and disclosed int eh prior art. Prior art nails can be broken down by category:
First, many intramedullary nails have been proposed which are formed of a slid rod material. These have been found to be much too rigid to follow the usually imperfect intramedullary bone canal, and their insertion has all too often caused chipping of the bone material.
Nails formed of sheet metal have been proposed to provide greater flexibility. Some of these nails have been formed with closed cross-section and others have been formed into open cross-section configurations. To obtain desired flexibility/rigidity characteristics and to provide sufficient area about the nail to allow proper revascularization, such nails are generally formed with other than circular cross-section. This is, grooves on flat walls are often bent into the side walls of the sheet metal. Examples of such nails are found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,621,628 to Brudderman, U.S. Pat. No. 4,697,585 to Williams, European publication 0273872, U.S. publication 2,114,005, British publication 1,593,440, and Zimmer publication "A More Precise View of Interlocking Nails." Such sheet metal nails have proven to be relatively inefficient in their manufacture, and relatively difficult to modify in their configuration. More specifically, difficulties, inherent in the bending operation necessary to provide sheet metal nails with non-circular cross-section, have placed limitations on the ability to economically provide nails of cross-section which, for example, have grooves which are varied in their depth.
Other nails have been proposed which are formed from a rod material with a central longitudinal bore disposed therethrough. Such a bore provides a flexibility which is improved over that of the solid axis, but remains less than desirable. Examples of such nails are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,103,683 to Neufeld, U.S. Pat. No. 4,446,857 to Otte, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,622,959 to Marcus, European publication 0118778 and European publication 0008758.
Although the prior art nails have found varying degrees of success, there remains a need in the field for an intramedullary nail with a more desirable flexibility and with features which allow for easy and efficient modifications to the nail configuration during manufacture. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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This invention relates to wrapping plants for purposes of display and transportation, and in particular to covering potted plants for such purposes.
Florists, plant nursery professionals, and the like, have a variety of means at their disposal for wrapping potted plants in an attractive fashion. The coverings must be easy to use, relatively economical, convenient for customers to carry after they have made a purchase, and present the potted plants in an inviting manner. Currently preformed potcovers are available that are leakproof, and can be obtained in a variety of colors and sizes to accommodate pots for plants of varying dimensions. Additionally a preformed plastic wrapping has been disclosed by Daniel Lapalud in French Patent No. 8809110 (filed Jun. 30, 1988-- issued Jan. 5, 1990).
While these wrappings provide and suggest useful conveniences in the merchandising of potted plants, the instant invention offers important additional improvements. Present wrappings either have their base open to permit moisture to drain away from the plant, or provide a leak proof seal at the base. In the former case moisture can be messy during storage and transport, and in the latter case water collecting at the base of the plant can cause vegetation to rot. And preformed potcovers have the disadvantage of being restricted to pots for plants of specific sizes. Also preformed covers tend to be bulky to store in large quantities.
The instant invention addresses these problems, and provides additional conveniences including accommodating a variety of pot dimensions in a particular size covering, built-in means for gripping the covering, means for including a greeting card within the cover, and means for securing large quantities of the covering to a hanger from which the covering can be easily torn away. Further, the aesthetic qualities of the covering are improved by having the cover laminated, with a decorative edge, such as a fluted edge. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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This invention relates to a system for removing odors from motor vehicles.
The problem of controlling odors in motor vehicles is roughly as old as the enclosed passenger compartment. Odors drawn into the passenger compartment from outside are sometimes objectionable. As often, the odors are the result of activities within the automobile, particularly smoking. In modern vehicles, smoke tends to collect in the top liner of the vehicle.
Attempts to remove odors from automobiles, particularly after the odor-causing particles have become lodged in the top liner or other upholstery, have met with only limited success. Materials which merely mask the odor with their own scent are generally objectionable and of limited use. Materials, such as active oxidants, which chemically react with odor-causing particles require treatment of the car when passengers are not in it, are frequently deleterious to some parts of the vehicle, and are not always effective. Recently, solvent-evaporation materials have been used with considerable success in removing serious odors from vehicles. The solvent-evaporation systems include an active ingredient which acts as a highly efficient solvent for most odor-causing particles, and which is capable of evaporation with the odor-causing particles in solution. If the vapor bearing the particles is swept from the passenger compartment before it condenses on a surface in the vehicle, the odor-causing particles, hence the odor, are swept away. The solvent evaporation materials are sprayed into the automobile, particularly around the top liner, the windows of the vehicle are opened, and a large fan is placed in the open trunk of the automobile to draw the vaporized particles out of the passenger compartment. Although this method is effective, it is also time consuming and cumbersome. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Field of the Invention
The present invention is generally related to illumination and is more specifically related to systems for illuminating surgical sites during medical examinations and surgical procedures.
Description of the Related Art
Ambient illumination is often inadequate for conducting safe and efficacious medical examinations and surgical procedures. Regardless of the intensity of the ambient lighting, shadows cast by medical personnel and/or other objects in a room (e.g., draperies) may prevent proper illumination of an examination site or surgical site. Moreover, when a surgical procedure is conducted inside a body cavity, providing sufficient lighting is even more difficult to achieve.
Illumination devices inserted into body cavities must be safe, reliable, capable of being sterilized, capable of operating with other surgical instruments, and be easy for a physician to manipulate. Critical specification features for such illumination devices typically include the brightness of the light, the amount of heat generated by the light, battery life, the shelf life of the device, ease of use with and without other devices, and affordability. For example, a light source may generate excessive heat that causes tissue damage a patient or injures a member of a medical team. Thus, it is desirable to have an illumination device that efficiently removes heat from the light source to avoid excessive temperatures that may damage tissue or injure medical personnel.
It is also desirable to have an illumination device that is user friendly, and that is capable of being quickly moved, mounted, dismounted, and remounted as needed for safely and efficiently completing medical procedures.
There have been a number of advances in illumination devices used for medical examinations and surgical procedures. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,428,180 to Karram et al. discloses a compact, self-powered, selectively-mountable lighting unit that provides light directable by a user to an operation site in a confined space to enable the user to operate a tool therein. The lighting unit is detachably mountable in a variety of ways either to a user-selected location on any suitable surgical instrument, or at the user's option to an adjacent location within the confined space, to facilitate well-lit and accurate viewing thereat. The lighting unit may be adapted to provide lighting of selected frequency, in an adjustable focus ranging from substantially diffuse light to a tightly focused beam. The lighting unit is designed to be mounted to surgical tools that are not specifically designed to be attached to lighting units.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,270,439 to Horrell et al. discloses a compact, self-contained lighting system that is attachable to a surgical tool to enable a user to selectively direct light at a site where the tool is to be applied. The system has a power unit that contains a power cell, a malleable electrical connection element, and a light-emitting element powered thereby to emit high intensity white light. The system ensures against tissue damage due to inadvertent overheating by continuously removing byproduct heat from the light-emitting element, via the connection element, to the power unit with portions of each of these components serving as respective heat sinks and/or as thermal conduits to facilitate this process. The removed heat is transferred in a proximal direction to a heat sink located in the handle part of the device.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2008/0266840 discloses an illumination device having an electrically powered LED light source, a flexible boom having a first end on which the LED is mounted, a housing attached to a second end of the flexible boom opposite to the first end, an electric battery located within the housing, the battery being operatively associated with the LED for providing power thereto, a controller electrically connected to the battery and the LED for controlling the electrical power provided to the LED, and a switch mounted on the device and in communication with the controller so as to provide a signal to the controller when the switch is actuated. The controller is actuated by the switch to control the electrical power to the LED light source for turning the LED on and off.
In spite of the above advances, there remains a need for improved surgical illumination devices that have small cross-sectional footprints at the distal ends of the devices for being minimally invasive during medical examinations and surgical procedures. There also remains a need for surgical illumination devices that efficiently remove heat from the light sources at the distal ends of the devices so as to avoid tissue damage and/or problems associated with excessive heat. In addition, there remains a need for surgical illumination devices that may be coupled to a broad array of surgical tools to provide reliable illumination at examination sites and surgical sites. Moreover, there remains a need for surgical illumination devices that are versatile and that may be used in a broad range of surgical environments. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Cells normally maintain a balance between protein synthesis, folding, trafficking, aggregation, and degradation, referred to as protein homeostasis, utilizing sensors and networks of pathways [Sitia et al., Nature 426: 891-894, 2003; Ron et al., Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 8: 519-529, 2007]. The cellular maintenance of protein homeostasis, or proteostasis, refers to controlling the conformation, binding interactions, location and concentration of individual proteins making up the proteome. Protein folding in vivo is accomplished through interactions between the folding polypeptide chain and macromolecular cellular components, including multiple classes of chaperones and folding enzymes, which minimize aggregation [Wiseman et al., Cell 131: 809-821, 2007]. Whether a given protein folds in a certain cell type depends on the distribution, concentration, and subcellular localization of chaperones, folding enzymes, metabolites and the like [Wiseman et al.]. Human loss of function diseases are often the result of a disruption of normal protein homeostasis, typically caused by a mutation in a given protein that compromises its cellular folding, leading to efficient degradation [Cohen et al., Nature 426: 905-909, 2003]. Human gain of function diseases are similarly frequently the result of a disruption in protein homeostasis leading to protein aggregation [Balch et al. (2008), Science 319: 916-919].
Dysfunction in proteostasis has been implicated in a diverse range of diseases including for example, neurodegenerative disease, metabolic diseases, inflammatory diseases and cancer. There remains a need in the art for compounds and pharmaceutical compositions to treat conditions associated with proteostasis dysfunction. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a device, and more particularly to an adapter device.
2. The Related Art
With the development of electronic sciences and technologies, tablet computers are more and more popular, in order to be applicable to different usage environments, more and more conditions of the tablet computers cooperating with other various electronic devices to be used are emerged.
Currently, the tablet computer is generally smaller and thinner, the tablet computer usually has one insertion port or two insertion ports. A transmission cable is capable of being connected between the tablet computer and each of the various electronic devices. One end of the transmission cable has a first port for docking with the insertion port of the tablet computer, and the other end of the transmission cable has a second port for docking with a docking port of each of the various electronic devices. Each of the various electronic devices is capable of cooperating with the tablet computer to be used. So data signals, power signals or audio signals are capable of being connected and transmitted between the insertion port of the tablet computer and the docking port of each of the various electronic devices by virtue of the transmission cable.
However, the various electronic devices which are capable of cooperating with the tablet computer to be used have different docking ports with different specifications, if different transmission cables of which the second ports have different specifications are just applied to dock with the different docking ports of the various electronic devices, so a large number of the different transmission cables need be prepared that causes an inconvenience in use.
Thus, in order to solve the problem described above, an innovative adapter device need be provided, the various electronic devices which are capable of cooperating with the tablet computer are electrically connected with the tablet computer by virtue of the innovative adapter device being connected between the insertion port and the different docking ports, so the tablet computer is appropriate for being applied in various usage environments for satisfying multiple usage needs of users. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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A control system and a method for assisting a motor vehicle in safely pulling in after overtaking is disclosed herein. This system and method is possible in motor vehicles, in particular in HGVs (heavy goods vehicles), in particular owing to the presence of ACC (autonomous/adaptive cruise control). | {
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The subject matter of this invention is related to a static, current-limiting, bilateral force commutated switch with a reverse parallel pair of thyristor stacks as the main conduction element.
It has been long known that current limiting in an electrical circuit subject to high values of overload current is desirable. In the fuse art, for example, current limiting fuses are known which not only melt upon the presence of an overload but operate to reduce the amount of overload current during the short interval between the time that circuit interruption begins and the time that circuit interruption is completed. It has been long recognized that in the latter time interval though of relatively short duration, perhaps only a few hundred microseconds, there is sufficient time for the current in the circuit to rise to such a high value as to permanently damage those elements for which the circuit protective device was designed to protect. Analogously, certain current limiting apparatus is known in electrical circuits protected by circuit breakers, non-current limiting fuses or the like. Take the case of mechanical circuit breaker apparatus, for example. Generally these devices are highly reliable and well thought of in the art of circuit interruption. However, since they are mechanical devices, interruption time may become relatively long. As was mentioned previously, the value to which a fault current may rise in these relatively long circuit opening times can become prohibitive in terms of protection for the circuit. To remedy this the concept of utilizing a force commutated circuit in series with the mechanical circuit breaker was introduced into the art. The circuit essentially consists of oppositely disposed, parallel connected, unidirectional, solid state devices such as thyristors. Connected across the oppositely disposed thyristors is a relatively high resistive element for current limiting and a commutating circuit. In operation, the control circuit for the gates of the thyristors maintains the thyristors in a conductive state for alternating current during a normal operating situation. Consequently, the normal operating alternating current sees the relatively small resistance or forward voltage drop of a thyristor during each half cycle. Even when peak inverse voltage constraints in the circuit require that numerous thyristors be connected in series stacks, the net resistive effect and voltage drop effect though somewhat undesirable is usually deemed acceptable in view of the very desirous current limiting operation provided by the commutating circuit and resistive means which parallels the normally conducting thyristors. In the event of the onset of a fault current or the like, appropriate sensing apparatus associated with the commutating circuit quickly determines that a fault current of unacceptable magnitude is in the process of developing. The sensing circuit then quickly reacts to this phenomenon by deenergizing the gates of the thyristors, thus attempting to render the thyristor non-conductive. Furthermore, the sensing circuit switches the commutating circuit into operation. The commutating circuit usually consists of a precharged capacitor which sinks current away from the conducting thyristor and through the capacitor. It does this very quickly, often within a time span of a few microseconds. The reason for this is well known in the art. A thyristor will not stop conducting merely because its gate signal has been removed. Two additional characteristics must be satisfied before the thyristor will cease to conduct. First, the current flow in the thyristor must be reduced to zero and, second, the anode-to-cathode voltage of the thyristor must be reverse biased for a relatively short period of time (recovery time) to sweep out the carriers that might otherwise lead to reconduction. It can be seen therefore that the capacitor generally provides a dual function; it quickly sinks away the current from the main thyristor path thus reducing the current in that path to zero to meet the first characteristic, and it reverse biases the thyristor thus meeting the second requirement. In performing its second function, i.e. reverse biasing, the voltage of the capacitor is usually so high that its reverse biasing characteristic is known as "hard" reverse biasing. This is usually associated with high voltage but, more importantly, it is associated with utilizing the capacitor as a voltage source rather than a current source. Generally, the means for connecting the charged capacitor to the circuit for accomplishing its stated purposes is an auxiliary switching thyristor. Unfortunately the gating of the auxiliary switching thyristor may cause current to be commutated away from the main thyristor and into the capacitor circuit at such a high rate as to destroy the auxiliary thyristor. It is well known that thyristors have a maximum rate of rise of current with respect to time which they can tolerate without being destroyed. In order to solve this problem in the prior art, an inductor is used in series with the capacitor to limit the rate of current rise. When the main thyristor ceases to conduct in the prior art, the hard capacitor voltage appears across that thyristor, as reverse bias, and in series with the system voltage. This results in the first drawback of a hard commutation circuit; namely, since the system voltage is boosted by the capacitor voltage, the fault current rises even faster than before. The second drawback of a hard commutation circuit is that the current limiting resistor which is connected directly across the thyristor starts to deplete the capacitor charge from the moment the compensating branch is actuated. Consequently, a larger capacitor is needed to provide the necessary reverse bias time (recovery time) than would be needed if the resistance were not present. In prior art, U.S. Pat. No. 3,921,038 issued Nov. 18, 1975 to Kernick et al entitled "Static Surge-Current Limiter" and U.S. Pat. No. 3,737,759 issued June 5, 1973 to Pollard entitled "Static Switch Including Surge Suppressing Means", the latter-mentioned problem was circumvented by connecting a current limiting resistive element in series with a diode but in parallel with the capacitor. As a result, the circuit branch containing the resistor does not start to conduct until after the reverse bias interval is over. This saves commutating capacitance at the cost of utilizing a relatively high voltage diode which must have a short duration current rating equal to the limited transient fault current. The third drawback of a hard commutating circuit lies in the fact that the previously discussed inductance is utilized merely to limit the rate of rise of current through the discharge circuit. The presence of the inductance, though needed, actually degrades the circuit to a certain extent because reverse biasing of the thyristor will not start until after the entire line current has been commutated into the capacitor, by which time a non-negligible portion of the charge of the capacitor may have been depleted. In the previously mentioned prior art patents, a number of things were done to eliminate certain problems associated with the previous generation of current limiters. One of the things done was to introduce the concept of the "soft" commutation circuit. With soft commutators, the capacitive element acts not as a voltage source but as a current source. This soft commutating circuit implies that the conducting thyristor, i.e. the one to which the reverse bias must be supplied, is turned off by a very modest reverse bias voltage. This voltage is obtained by a resonant discharge of the precharged capacitor through an inductor and a diode connected in reverse across the conducting main thyristor. The forward voltage drop of the diode, therefore, appears as reverse voltage across the thyristor from the instant the capacitor discharge current rises above the value of the main current until the instant the capacitor discharge current drops below the value of the main current. During this interval, the thyristor is provided with soft reverse bias. It is immediately after this interval, but during the alternating current half cycle of interruption, that the net current which attempts to flow through the thyristor reverses again. That is, the capacitor discharge current falls below the value of the main current. However, with the thyristor now recovered and thus turned off and the diode blocking, the main current divides between the branch containing the resistive element and the commutating branch containing the capacitive element and the inductive element L. This soft commutating circuit removes one of the problems associated with the inductor. In this case, the inductor L no longer degrades the circuit, but is utilized in conjunction with the capacitor to tune the circuit to obtain the main current reversal. Furthermore, the other two drawbacks associated with hard biasing are also eliminated. First, the voltage inserted into the line is soft or of relatively low value. Thus, the circuit does not contribute significantly to the rate of increase of the fault current. Secondly, the resistive element utilized for current limiting, although directly in parallel with the thyristor switch, carries only negligible current. However, in overcoming the aforementioned drawbacks, other drawbacks appeared. One is the need for the utilization of a series of diodes stacked together for the purpose of carrying the discharge current of the capacitive element during the period of time when that current is larger than the main current to provide the previously described soft bias voltage. It is noted that in the prior art, these additional diode stacks are always present in the main current conduction path for the alternating current. Consequently, these stacks must be rated to continuously carry full load current and to support the system voltage plus transient overloads and thus constitute a significant cost item. Furthermore, the conduction losses in the diode may increase the switch losses by approximately 60% which is highly undesirable in high power applications. Therefore, it would be desirable if the utilization of the soft biasing principle but with elimination of the drawbacks associated therewith could be implemented. It would be further advantageous if the solution would utilize an existing circuit element to perform extra circuit functions above and beyond what was described in the prior art, thus providing a significant cost reduction. Furthermore, it would be advantageous if apparatus could be found which utilized the soft biasing technique in which the suppression of transients associated with a switching and commutating operation could be affected. Furthermore, it would be advantageous if a commutating circuit could be found in which repeated reversal of the capacitive discharge current could be permitted or denied as required. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The present invention relates to a method of resolving racemic amlodipine into its R-(+) and S-(xe2x88x92) enantiomers by precipitation with tartaric acid.
The synthesis of racemic amlodipine (3-ethyl-5-methyl-2-(2-aminoethoxymethyl)-4-(2-chlorophenyl)-1,4-dihydro-6-methyl-3,5-pyridinedicarboxylate) and its activity as an inhibitor of calcium channels is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,572,909 to Campbell et al. Results of in vitro tests to determine calcium antagonist activity of amlodipine enantiomers against calcium-induced constriction of potassium-depolarized rat aorta is described in Arrowsmith et al., J. Med. Chem., (1986) 29, 1696-1702. The authors allege that the (xe2x88x92) stereoisomer is twice as active as the racemic mixture in antagonizing calcium-induced constriction. The S absolute configuration is the (xe2x88x92) optical rotatory form. Goldmann, J. Med. Chem., (1992)35, 3341-44. Desirability of optically pure S-(xe2x88x92)-amlodipine for treatment of hypertension and angina is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,057,344.
Although R-(+)-amlodipine appears to have little activity as a calcium channel blocker, it is not pharmacologically inert, but rather it is a potent inhibitor of smooth muscle cell migration. WO 95/05822 (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,080,761) to Chahwala et al. Ideally, the preferred mode of using amlodipine would be the administration of the S-(xe2x88x92) enantiomer substantially free of the R-(+) enantiomer. U.S. Pat. No. 6,057,344 to Young. Nonetheless, there is presently no amlodipine product that contains S-(xe2x88x92)-amlodipine substantially free of the R-(+) enantiomer. See, for example, NORVASC(copyright), the active ingredient of which is racemic amlodipine besylate.
Methods of producing enantiomerically pure amlodipine have concentrated on methods of resolving the racemate, i.e., methods of separating the enantiomers of a racemic mixture of amlodipine or an intermediate in the synthesis of amlodipine by stereoselective precipitation. Such methods are known. See EP 331 315 A2 to Arrowsmith (resolution of an amlodipine intermediate by cinchonidine).
Spargo described a method of resolving racemic amlodipine by forming a precipitate in a dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) solvent by addition of D- or L-tartaric acid. WO 95/25722 (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,046,338). The resultant precipitate consists of amlodipine:tartrate:DMSO in a 2:1:2 ratio, which is termed an amlodipine hemitartrate DMSO monosolvate.
Spargo optionally allowed for the presence of a co-solvent in an amount that is preferably between 0.2% and 6% the volume of DMSO. Suitable co-solvents are taught to include dimethylacetamide, dimethylformamide (DMF), acetonitrile and tetrahydrofuran (THF). Spargo further describes a method of secondarily processing the amlodipine hemitartrate DMSO monosolvate to obtain crystalline amlodipine free base by a process of extraction of the amlodipine hemitartrate DMSO monosolvate in dichloromethane (DCM) with aqueous NaOH to remove the tartrate followed by precipitation with hexane.
However, the use of DMSO renders the method of Spargo unsuitable for large-scale (kilogram) routine production of enantiomeric amlodipine. FDA guidelines point out that DMSO residual concentrations above 0.5% would only be acceptable upon convincing justification. Guidance for Industry IMPURITIES: RESIDUAL SOLVENTS, FDA, September 1999, page 9. Accordingly, there is an art-recognized need for commercially acceptable large-scale methods of resolving amlodipine.
In one aspect, the invention is directed to a method of optically enriching racemic amlodipine, comprising precipitating amlodipine hemitartrate dimethylacetamide monosolvate from a solution comprising amlodipine and either D- or L-tartaric acid, whereby the amlodipine hemitartrate dimethylacetamide monosolvate precipitate is enriched for one enantiomer of amlodipine. In certain embodiments, the ratio of the two enantiomers of amlodipine in the precipitate is at least 8:1, preferably at least 9:1, or even at least 20:1. In certain embodiments, the method includes heating a slurry or solution of amlodipine and tartaric acid, e.g., to a temperature above 35xc2x0 C., preferably above 45xc2x0 C. or even above 55xc2x0 C., such as between 35 and 100xc2x0 C., preferably between 50 and 90xc2x0 C., even more preferably between 60 and 80xc2x0 C. In certain such embodiments, the elevated temperature is maintained for at least 30 min., preferably at least 60 min. or even more than 2 hours. In certain embodiments, the resolution is performed on a scale of more than 1 kg of amlodipine, preferably at least 10 kg or even more than 100 kg of amlodipine.
In another aspect, the invention is directed to a crystalline composition comprising S-(xe2x88x92)-amlodipine D-hemitartrate DMAC monosolvate or, alternatively, R-(+)-amlodipine L-hemitartrate DMAC monosolvate, wherein at least 80% of the amlodipine in the crystalline composition is the predominant enantiomer. Preferably at least 90% of the amlodipine in the crystalline composition is the predominant enantiomer. More preferably at least 97% of the amlodipine in the crystalline composition is the predominant enantiomer. Most preferably at least 99% of the amlodipine in the crystalline composition is the predominant enantiomer.
In yet another embodiment, the invention is directed to solid pharmaceutical dosage forms comprising an optically active amlodipine or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or hydrate thereof, and a carrier matrix, and to methods for manufacturing such dosage forms. In certain preferred embodiments, at least 80% of the optically active amlodipine in the dosage form is S-(xe2x88x92)-amlodipine, preferably at least 90%, or even 95% or more. | {
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There are several ways that semiconductor wafer containers are stored in a semiconductor fabrication facility (“fab”). Large centralized stockers can store the containers of wafers until they are needed for processing, receiving the containers from a transport system known as an Automated Material Handling System (“AMHS”) at an input port. In general, an AMHS is any computer controlled system in a factory that moves work pieces between work stations, and between work stations and storage locations. In a fab, an AMHS will move containers of wafers and empty containers between process equipment, metrology equipment and stockers. When processing is required for the wafers, they are retrieved in their container from their storage shelf by a robotic mechanism (“stacker robot”), delivered to an output port on the stocker, picked up by the AMHS, and delivered to the desired processing station. The stacker robot typically requires a large space between the walls of stationary storage shelves. The space is needed to allow for operating clearance and motion of the stacker robot and its container payload. There may also be one or more ports where human operators can manually deliver and retrieve containers from the stocker.
To better distribute the storage of containers, smaller stockers may be located in processing bays of the fab where the containers can be stored closer to their next processing station, reducing delivery time and travel distance for the containers when they are requested for the next processing operation. Also, distributing the smaller stockers reduces the problem of AMHS traffic congestion at the large stockers and the throughput limitations of the single stacker robot at the large stocker, however the distribution and use of smaller stockers has its limitations. A smaller stocker still has the elements of a large stocker, including the stacker robot and its operating clearance space, controls, and input/output ports. This duplication makes the small, distributed stockers more costly than the large stockers for the same overall number of storage locations. Some fabs are structured with parallel aisles (“bays”) of semiconductor processing, measuring or handling equipment (“tools”). If multiple small stockers were placed in each bay adjacent to the tools there would also be an increase in the floor space used for the fab's storage requirements due to the decreased storage density of a small stocker and access clearance required around the stocker and tool. Floor space is very valuable in a fab because it is used for processing tools that manufacture products, therefore it is desirable to minimize the use of floor space for storage functions.
Therefore, there is a need for container storage systems that are simple and inexpensive, using minimal floor space, while providing high density container storage close to processing tools. | {
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Containers for mailing a package or a small parcel are known for example from patent application DE 10 2013 005 231.9. The typical usage area of such containers results from the fact that persons often expect the receipt of packages or small parcels, which do not fit into the usual mailbox arranged at a house or at an apartment or generally at a property.
With a container of the abovementioned type, the person has the possibility to arrange a container at the property temporarily and occasionally, namely concretely in the region of the door, if the person for example expects such a large mailing. A mailman or a parcel carrier has hereby the possibility to insert a mailing which does not fit into the mailbox into this container after opening the lid element and to close the container again hereafter.
As the container itself is fastened irremovably to the property for third parties, there is, apart from forcible action, no possibility to steal the expected mailing in an unauthorized manner.
For fastening such a container, the abovementioned patent application teaches for example the use of a flap, e. g. a flexible textile flap which extends away from the container and which has a thickened region, in particular a thickened end, so that this flap can be guided through a gap region, for example between the door and the frame or between the door and the floor, the thickened region of the flap hereby comes to rest in the interior of the apartment and thus the flap cannot be pulled out from the door region after closing the door. The owner of the apartment or of the house can however release the flap by opening the door and hereby remove the entire container again.
As described here at the outset regarding the possible receipt of a package or of a small parcel mailing, there exists of course also the possibility to insert packages or small parcels or other mailings into the container and to temporarily provide them in front of the house or the apartment door for the collection by a messenger.
The abovementioned patent application already teaches for example to design the side walls of such a container extending between the base element and the lid element in a foldable manner, thus creating the possibility to move the container back and forth between a folded and an unfolded state and thus to provide a large inner volume by e.g. unfolding, into which the package or the small parcel are inserted, whereas the folded state is more space-saving, as the volume is significantly reduced in this state. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to channel access methods that provide Quality of Service (“QoS”) for shared communications, more specifically to channel access methods that provide Quality of Service on IEEE 802.11 wireless networks.
2. Description of the Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 37 CFR 1.98
The abbreviations and acronyms used in this application are well known to those skilled in the art and can be readily located in the IEEE 802.11 standard, or in the IEEE 802.11E QoS baseline proposal. See Michael Fischer, QoS Baseline Proposal, IEEE 802.11 Standards Committee, Document IEEE 802.11-00/360 (Nov. 7, 2000); also QoS Baseline Proposal Revision 1, Document IEEE 802.11-00/360R1 (Nov. 7, 2000) and QoS Baseline Proposal Revision 2, Document IEEE 802.11-00/360R2 (Nov. 9, 2000), the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. Some of the abbreviations and acronyms used in this application are:
ACKAcknowledgement;APAccess Point;BSSBasic Service Set;BSSIDBasic Service Set Identification;CCAClear Channel Assessment;CFPContention-Free Period;CF-PollableContention-free PollableCPContention Period;CWContention Window;DCFDistributed Coordination Function;DIFSDistributed (coordination function) Interframe Space;CWContention Window;DTIMDelivery Traffic Indication Message;EAPEnhanced Access Point;IFSInterframe Space;MACMedium Access ControlNAVNetwork Allocation Vector;PCFPoint Coordination Function;P-CFBPoint-controlled Contention-free Bursts;PIFSPoint (coordination function) Interframe Space;QoSQuality of Service;SBMSubnet Bandwidth Manager;SIFSShort Interframe Space;STAStation;V-DCFVirtual Distributed Coordination Function;WSTAWireless (enhanced) Station.
In the description that follows, an “outbound” transmission is a transmission from an AP and an “inbound” transmission is directed to an AP. FIG. 2 illustrates the relationship between a SIFS, PIFS and DIFS as used herein and as defined in the 802.11 specification. As can be observed from FIG. 2, a SIFS is always a shorter interval than a PIFS, and a PIFS is always a shorter interval than a DIFS.
The IEEE 802.11E QoS working group has adopted a baseline proposal (hereinafter “baseline proposal”) for channel access methods that provide QoS on 802.11 wireless LANs. The baseline proposal defines three QoS levels—a “prioritised” DCF-based solution and “prioritised” and “parameterised” PCF-based solutions. It is generally agreed that a single unified approach is better from a user perspective; however, no single approach, as it is currently defined, is applicable to all environments. A PCF approach is more deterministic and efficient in single-BSS environments; however, it is difficult to implement a CFP scheduling algorithm in environments with BSS overlap. The present invention is directed to an integrated DCF/PCF channel access model that uses V-DCF for lightly and moderately loaded channels, and dynamically uses unscheduled “Point-controlled Contention-free Bursts”, to arbitrate channel contention, as the network load increases.
The baseline “prioritised” solutions are intended for stations that simply send and receive prioritised frames. The baseline “parameterised” solution is intended for WSTAs that use a signaling protocol to establish bandwidth requirements and delay constraints. This invention, the Point-controlled Contention Arbitration model, or PCCA model, requires all WSTAs to implement sufficient channel access and interface functions to support optional parameterised services. QoS features can be added to an AP implementation on an incremental basis.
The baseline proposal discloses a virtual DCF protocol (“V-DCF). By design, the V-DCF, or level 1 in the baseline proposal, cannot provide integrated services such as “Controlled Load” and “Guaranteed Bandwidth”. Two fundamental requirements are lacking for controlled load service. 1) The total traffic at a given QoS priority must be limited (i.e. by admission control), and 2) higher priority traffic cannot be affected by lower priority traffic. The V-DCF level cannot support admission control because it lacks even a simple signaling protocol. The V-DCF access method, with contention offset and CWmin values per category, only statistically increases the probability of channel access for higher-priority packets. A tiered channel access method can be used to isolate a high-priority traffic category but only if the idle sense time, required for any lower-priority traffic category, is greater than the sum of the idle sense time plus the maximum CW value for the high-priority category. However, the tiered method doesn't scale well for large high-priority populations. “Guaranteed Bandwidth” service has the same requirements as controlled load and also requires a deterministic channel access method.
Presently, 802.11 networks use two protocols, the DCF and PCF. The DCF works great under low load situations. The PCF works optimal under high load conditions. The DCF works better in networks where BSSs overlap, the PCF is ideally suited for networks where BSSs are carefully planned not to overlap. The DCF has a relatively low implementation complexity, the PCF is reputed to be more complex to implement. The DCF does not allow explicit access control, the PCF does. The DCF efficiency drops considerably in densely populated BSSs, the PCF has no scaling problem.
Due to the inability of the PCF to work well under overlapping BSS conditions and the high implementation complexity, the PCF has not yet been widely adopted in current 802.11 implementations. The demand for better medium efficiency and a versatile QoS platform, however, increased interest in this optional access mechanism of the 802.11 MAC.
The hybrid nature of the 802.11 MAC has caused proposals to focus either on the DCF or the PCF. However, by only looking at the PCF and not considering the DCF overlooks the fact that the 802.11 MAC always spends some time under the DCF access mechanism rules and that the DCF is also an integral part of a PCF based system. The system always has to spend at least a small part of its time under the DCF. The PCF has the fundamental characteristic that a station can't access the medium unless explicitly polled. However, to be polled, the station must first make itself known to the Point Coordinator, which requires medium access. Therefore, a PCF based solution must support both contention-free and contention periods. A contention period is required for bursty traffic, adjacent BSSes, probe requests, association and re-association requests, etc.
FIG. 1 shows an example of a sample rate for a real-time application in a WSTA and the associated polling sequences for that WSTA. The lower portion 12 of FIG. 1 shows the WSTA sample rate. The upper graph 14 shows the polling sequences. The polling sequence starts with a DTIM beacon 16. The contention-free period 18 starts immediately after the DTIM beacon 16. During the contention-free period 18, the point controller initiates polling sequences 20. After the polling sequences 20 is shown an idle time period 22. The idle time period 22 is then followed by an additional polling sequences 20 and idle time periods 22. Following the contention-free period 18 is the contention period 24. After the contention period 24, another DTIM beacon 16 starts a new sequence of a contention-free period 18 and a contention period 24.
In FIG. 1, the DTIM beacon rate is slower than the sampling rate. Idle time 22 is introduced if the CFP is extended so that the same WSTA can be polled more than once per CFP. Latency is introduced if the channel is overloaded in the contention period.
Delay sensitive applications, such as VoIP, require short DTIM intervals (i.e. 30 milliseconds) to minimize CF polling latency. A fast DTIM beacon rate wastes bandwidth because of the beaconing overhead and because contention-based transmissions cannot span the TBTT (per the baseline proposal). A fast DTIM beacon rate also requires power-save WSTAs to wake up more often, for example to receive multicast frames and buffered unicast frames.
In installations with multiple QoS applications with different service rates, the DTIM beacon rate cannot match the sampling rate for each application. Actually, it is difficult to match the sampling rate for any application. It is not efficient to arbitrarily poll WSTAs in every CFP. Therefore, some sort of signaling protocol is necessary to suppress unnecessary polls. In addition, a need exists for a protocol that can divorce the service rate, for active parameterised stations from the beacon rate. Periodic polling is not optimal for intermittent traffic. VoIP traffic can be intermittent due to silence suppression.
Depending on the ‘load of the medium’, the system may spend more or less time in the CFP. In a heavily loaded system, the system may spend the larger part in the CFP while a mildly loaded system may spend the larger part in the CP. The balance between the two access mechanisms is a function of the medium load. As a consequence, both access mechanisms must provide the same QoS capabilities. The transition between one access mechanism and the other must be a smooth one. This is especially a challenge in average loaded systems where the DCF efficiency is starting to breakdown while the PCF efficiency is not yet optimal. For the upper layer protocol (or application) the performance profile of the service should be linear over all medium conditions and this is something that should be considered when proposing a PCF based system. Therefore, when proposing PCF enhancements, one also to consider the interaction between the PCF and the DCF and the dynamics of the system as a whole under various medium load conditions.
PCF combines the ability of full medium control with optimal medium efficiency, without suffering from scalability problems. However, there are two issues that limit the use of the current PCF for QoS systems. Section 9.3.4 and specifically clause 9.3.4.1 of the IEEE 802.11 standard imposes strict rules upon the order in which stations are addressed or polled. This is undesirable in a QoS system. Secondly, there is no mechanism, other than the More-Data bit, that allows a station to communicate its queue states to the PC.
The entity in the PC that actually calculates the order in which stations are addressed is in literature often referred to as the ‘scheduler’. The rules for the handling of the polling list limit the freedom of the scheduler and may conflict with QoS requirements. The original intent to poll stations in order of ascending AID value is not clear from the standard and in fact the whole concept of a polling list may become obsolete due to the introduction of a mechanism for communicating To-DS queue state(s). Therefore, the rules as defined in section 9.3.4 are neglected for this method.
In order to make accurate scheduling decisions, the scheduler in the PC needs to have knowledge about the queues in the associated stations. The More-Data bit is a Boolean that could be used for this but only allows communication of a truth-value on the queue state; for a good scheduler implementation this is not enough. Preferably, the scheduler needs to know the length and priority of the next frame in the queue of each station.
Scheduling problems arise with CFPs in networks with overlapping BSSes in the same ESS or multiple ESSes. A CFP is not completely contention-free unless all stations in any neighboring BSS, that are in range of any active stations in the BSS, set their NAV for CFPMaxDuration for the CFP. Therefore, the total “reservation area” for a CFP can be very large compared to the coverage area of the point controller for the BSS.
The baseline proposal defines a “proxy beacon” mechanism where WSTAs in a BSS repeat AP beacons to extend the area for propagating beacon information to hidden nodes. The baseline proposal does not define which WSTAs should send proxy beacons and it does not define the scheduling mechanism for proxy beacons. Also, it is not clear whether a hidden node in a neighboring BSS, that receives proxy CFP beacons, should set its NAV for CFPMaxDuration for the TBTT of the associated hidden CFP. If hidden nodes do not set their NAV for proxy beacons, then CFPs are not contention-free.
If hidden nodes set their NAV for CFPMaxDuration for a hidden CFP (due to proxy beacons or some other mechanism) then two difficult problems must be considered. First, as noted above, spatial reuse is severely inhibited as compared to DCF. The baseline proposal attempts to solve the “spatial reuse” problem by classifying WSTAs as belonging to overlap and non-overlap sets per BSS. However, that approach does not work for all applications because it assumes that a WSTA is relatively stable compared to its transmission rate and it uses the flow error rate as an overlap indicator. Second, if a hidden CFP ends early, then bandwidth is wasted because hidden nodes may not be able to determine that the hidden CFP has ended. It has been suggested that WSTAs that transmit proxy beacons could also transmit “proxy CF-End” messages or CF-End messages could be transmitted on the distribution system. The first solution is “chatty” and the second solution is not generally applicable because the distribution system may introduce latency (i.e. if it includes wireless links or IP tunnel links).
It should also be noted that in the PCF/CFP model, where the NAV is set for long CFPs, use of sophisticated techniques that increase spatial reuse by varying the transmit power and/or antenna direction per unicast transmission sequence is inhibited.
One suggested PCF enhancement that can ease the overlapping BSS problem and alleviate the scheduling problem is the Contention Free Burst. A paper entitled “Suggested 802.11 PCF Enhancements and Contention Free Bursts”, IEEE 802.11-00/113 (May 10, 2000), written by Maarten Hoeben and Menzo Wentink, hereby incorporated by reference, describes bi-directional contention-free bursts that include point controller polling.
The Contention Free Bursts concept breaks up a Contention Free Period into smaller Contention Free Bursts. This is useful for two reasons: First, it allows the PC to relinquish medium control to other BSSs in the same area. Second, in the case of average loaded systems, the PC can temporarily give-up medium control (to possibly another BSS) and defer control until new frames are available for transmission.
Normally, a CFP starts with the transmission of a Beacon. A SIFS after the Beacon, the first CFB is started. Within the CFB, the PCF transfer procedures apply as defined in section 9.3.3 of the IEEE 802.11 standard. CFBs have a maximum duration of CFBMaxDuration. The duration remaining in the CFB is encoded in the Duration/ID field of every From-DS frame sent by the PC. The CFB may be foreshortened but never lasts longer than CFBMaxDuration. The end of a CFB is signaled through a duration of 0.
Between two CFBs the PC performs a random backoff, selected from a range of 0 to CW-1 slots. The random backoff mechanism allows PCs to contend for the medium to start a new CFB. In the current definition of the CFP, all stations (including other access points) set their NAV based on the Duration Remaining field in the CF-Parameter set and reset the NAV upon receiving a CF-End. This prevents access points and stations from accessing the medium during observed medium idleness during the CFP (possibly caused by the transmission of a frame by a hidden node). PCs may use the backoff mechanism to contend for the medium and start a CFP or continue their own CFP with a new CFB. In a sense the CFB concept works like a superimposed DCF over the PCF. PCs coordinate their bursts by using the backoff-mechanism, deferring and restarting the backoffs whenever a PC starts a CFB or ends the CFB. The CFBs are protected through the NAV-alike duration field in the redefined in Duration/ID field, CPs use the information as received in the ToDS frames from other CPs to update their CF-Nav and defer backoff and start of a new CFB.
Note that only PCs contend for medium control; stations (and legacy access points) do not attempt to access the medium during the periods of medium silence caused by the backoff periods because they adhere to the Contention Free Periods of (at least one of) the BSSs. A CFB is furthermore protected from interference of legacy implementations due to the SIFS/PIFS interframe spaces, and a Duration/ID field that is interpreted as a very long NAV.
Another concern is that PCF and DCF applications do not always coexist well. The PCF model only supports “polled” inbound transmissions during a CFP. As a result long PCF-based CFPs can starve DCF-based stations. The problem is exacerbated when CFPs in overlapping BSSes must be scheduled to avoid CFP contention. PCF polling is appropriate for isochronous applications, but DCF is more appropriate for asynchronous data. It should not be assumed that PCF polling is used for all high-priority inbound transmissions; however, the current baseline model inherently prioritizes PCF over DCF. As an example, consider inbound asynchronous high-priority network control transmissions. Such transmissions can be delayed extensively by lower priority PCF transmissions.
The current 802.11 standard specifies that an AP must buffer all outbound multicast frames and deliver them immediately following a DTIM beacon if “strict ordering” is not enabled, then. Therefore, short DTIM intervals are necessary to support multicast applications that cannot tolerate delays. In addition, outbound multicast transmissions are more susceptible to problems associated with inter-BSS contention and hidden nodes because multicast frames are not retransmitted (i.e. after a collision with a hidden node) and the DCF channel reservation mechanisms cannot be used for multicast frames.
The baseline proposal removes the restriction that buffered multicast/broadcast frames must be sent immediately following a DTIM beacon. The baseline proposal requires that QoS WSTAs must respond to +CF-Polls. Therefore, it is strongly recommended that QoS stations should also associate as CF-Pollable (i.e. not requesting to be polled). If QoS power-save WSTAs do not use the PS-Poll mechanism for the delivery of outbound buffered messages, an AP can more easily schedule outbound transmissions for PS WSTAs. Note that CF-Pollable stations do not send PS-Poll frames to solicit outbound transmissions. Instead, a CF-Pollable station must stay awake, after it receives a DTIM beacon with its AID bit set on, until either it receives a unicast frame with the more bit set off, or a TIM with its AID bit set off. Therefore, it is generally assumed, but not required, that QoS WSTAs with active flows will operate in active mode because a point controller cannot successfully poll a WSTA that is in power-save mode.
The baseline proposal defines “awake-time epochs” that can, optionally, be used to set an awake-time window for periodic polling and/or outbound data transmissions. However, awake-time epochs introduce complexity for P-CFB polling and PCF polling. If power management must be supported, it would be simpler to schedule P-CFB polls for power-save parameterised WSTAs, if such WSTAs used automatic power-save intervals. Such a power-save WSTA can remain in power-save mode for, at most, the duration of its “automatic power-save interval”, following an inbound transmission, where the duration is selected to match the WSTAs inbound transmission rate. The point controller can simply adjust the duration of the poll timer, for a WSTA, so that it is greater than the sleep-time window duration. The point controller can then poll a WSTA and/or deliver outbound buffered data for a WSTA when the poll timer expires.
Therefore, for the reasons set forth above, there is a need for a contention-based channel access method for supporting parameterised QoS applications. Furthermore, the channel access method must coexist well with PCF and DCF applications. | {
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General flat cathode ray tubes are minutely described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,695,761, 4,710,670, and 4,716,334. The common characteristic of these flat cathode ray tubes is that a foil type shadow mask of the flat faceplate is fixed by a substantially rectangular rim which is bonded to the periphery of the inner surface of the faceplate.
In order to weld the shadow mask to the rim of the flat cathode ray tube, the shadow mask is mounted to an apparatus for tensely stretching the peripheral portion of the shadow mask by extension force applied by the apparatus. Under the condition that the shadow mask is tensely stretched, the shadow mask is welded to the rim which has been bonded to the faceplate.
An example of the aforesaid shadow mask stretching apparatus is illustrated in FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B, and the related art is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,790,789.
The conventional stretching apparatus 10 includes a rectangular space 12 confined by a frame 11, and a clamping means 15 of a shadow mask 30 formed at the periphery of the frame 11. The clamping means 15 consists of clamping channel 16 and a clamping clip 17 for being fitted into the clamping channel 16. A pair of opposite jaws 16a are formed at the upper portion of the clamping channel 16, and the clamping clip 17 to be coupled with the channel 16 is a plate bent to be in ".OMEGA." shape.
The process for fixing the shadow mask 30 to the conventional shadow mask stretching apparatus is as follows.
The shadow mask 30 is placed on the stretching apparatus 10. Then, a pair of platens having a heater therein, which is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,722,238 for example, are employed for heating the shadow mask 30.
When the shadow mask 30 is sufficiently heated to undergo thermal expansion to a certain extent, a plurality of the clips 17 as a coupling means are respectively inserted into each channel 16 formed in the frame 11 of the stretching apparatus, so that the periphery of the foil type shadow mask 30 is coupled to the frame 11 of the stretching apparatus by the clips 17, as shown in FIG. 1B.
The shadow mask 30 mounted to the stretching apparatus 10 is tensed by cooling to make the periphery of the shadow mask 30 be tightly strained against the stretching apparatus 10 under a constant tensile force.
While the shadow mask is mounted to the stretching apparatus, the faceplate corresponding to the shadow mask is paired together to be processed in a manufacturing process of a phosphor layer.
After the process for forming the phosphor layer on the faceplate is completed, the shadow mask mounted to the stretching apparatus is welded to the rim which is bonded to the faceplate. The shadow mask is then separated from the stretching apparatus, thereby finishing the mounting of the shadow mask to the faceplate.
As shown in FIG. 2, the disadvantages of the conventional stretching apparatus 10 which is employed in the aforesaid process are that the frame 11 of the stretching apparatus is in a rectangular shape, and the clamping means provided thereto is also in a rectangular shape, so that the tensile forces at the center portion and at the corner portion of each side are different from each other. That is, the expansions of the shadow mask along the diagonal direction and along the parallel direction of each side are different from each other by the initial tensile force applied to the shadow mask upon cooling, and the tensile force applied along each direction of the shadow mask is accordingly different from each other. Therefore, the shadow mask is abnormally expanded to result in undesirable deformation of the electron beam passing apertures formed in the shadow mask, or, wrinkling of the shadow mask at the corner portions thereof in some cases. Consequently, the quality of the product is deteriorated, and a realization of a high definition image of television becomes difficult. | {
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Commercially available abrasive materials, such as sandpaper and the like, are generally produced by adhering an abrasive grit onto a substrate. In the case of sandpaper, a paper substrate is used. When used to sand an area, sandpaper is generally used by affixing the sandpaper onto a form, such as a sanding block, and then sanding the area until the abrasive grit on the sandpaper is either "clogged" by the material removed from the item or is detached from the paper backing due to the force of friction. After either of these occurrences, the abrasive paper must be removed from the form and replaced with new sandpaper, a time consuming process.
In situations where a curved, or non-planar, surface requires sanding, e.g., cylindrical chair legs, the use of paper is particularly inadequate as any forms used in the sanding process, for best results, must also be curve-shaped. Accordingly, the flat sheet of sandpaper must be adhered to a curved form. This, however, makes changing paper troublesome and adds to the time required to sand an item.
In view of the problems associated with the abrasive surfaces and methods for producing these surfaces described previously, there exists a need for an aerosol composition and related method for providing an abrasive, sandpaper-like surface which may be used almost immediately after its production to remove paint and other coatings from selected items as well as to smooth wood, metal, plaster, and like surfaces. Moreover, a composition and related method are needed which would allow a new layer of abrasive material to be quickly and easily applied to a surface that has been rendered relatively non-abrasive through use, thereby rejuvenating the abrasive surface. Further, there is a specific need for an abrasive surface which is capable of being used to sand a curved item and which may be easily and quickly rejuvenated.
These and other advantages of the present invention, as well as additional inventive features, will become apparent from the description which follows. | {
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The present invention relates to a solid state imaging device having a hole accumulated diode, a method of manufacturing the same, and an imaging apparatus.
Solid state imaging devices, such as a CCD (charge coupled device) and a CMOS image sensor, are widely used in a video camera, a digital still camera, and the like. Improvement in sensitivity and noise reduction are important issues in all kinds of solid state imaging devices.
In particular, a dark current, which is detected as a very small current when an electric charge (electron) generated from a minute defect in a substrate interface of a light receiving surface is input as a signal, or a dark current generated due to the interface state on the interface between a sensor section and an upper layer even though there is no pure signal charge generated by photoelectric conversion of incident light in a state where there is no incident light is a noise to be reduced in the solid state imaging device.
As a technique of suppressing generation of a dark current caused by the interface state, for example, an embed type photodiode structure having a hole accumulation layer 23 formed of a P+ layer on a sensor section (for example, a photodiode) 12 is used as shown in FIG. 9B. Moreover, in this specification, the embed type photodiode structure is referred to as an HAD (hole accumulated diode) structure. As shown in FIG. 9A, in a structure where the HAD structure is not provided, electrons generated due to the interface state flow to the photodiode as a dark current. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 9B, in the HAD structure, generation of electrons from the interface is suppressed by the hole accumulation layer 23 formed on the interface. In addition, even if electric charges (electrons) are generated from the interface, the electric charges (electrons) do not flow to a charge accumulation section, which is a potential well in an N+ layer of the sensor section 12, but flow to the hole accumulation layer 23 of the P+ layer in which many holes exist. Accordingly, the electric charges (electrons) can be eliminated. As a result, since it can be prevented that the electric charges generated due to the interface are detected as a dark current, the dark current caused by the interface state can be suppressed.
A method of suppressing the dark current may be adopted in both a CCD and a CMOS image sensor and may also be adopted to not only a known top-emission-type image sensor but also a back illuminated image sensor (for example, refer to JP-A-2003-338615).
As a method of forming the HAD structure, it is common to perform ion implantation of impurities for forming the P+ layer, for example, boron (B) or boron difluoride (BF2) through a thermally oxidized silicon layer or a CVD oxide silicon layer formed on a substrate, to activate injected impurities by annealing, and then to form a p-type region near the interface. However, heat treatment in a high temperature of 700° C. or more is essential in order to activate doped impurities. Accordingly, formation of the hole accumulation layer using ion implantation is difficult in a low-temperature process at 400° C. or less. Also in the case of desiring to avoid long-time activation at high temperature in order to suppress diffusion of dopant, the method of forming a hole accumulation layer in which ion implantation and annealing are performed is not preferable.
Furthermore, when a silicon oxide or a silicon nitride formed on an upper layer of the sensor section is formed in a low-temperature plasma CVD method, for example, the interface state is reduced compared with an interface between of a light receiving surface and a layer formed at high temperature. The reduction in interface state increases a dark current.
As described above, in the case of desiring to avoid ion implantation and annealing process at high temperature, not only the hole accumulation layer cannot be formed by known ion implantation but also a dark current is further increased. In order to solve the problem, it becomes necessary to form a hole accumulation layer in another method that is not based on ion implantation in the related art.
As an example, there is a method of forming a layer having negative fixed electric charges on an upper layer of a sensor section. In this method, a hole accumulation layer is formed on the interface at a side of the light receiving surface of the sensor section by the electric field caused by the layer having negative fixed electric charges. Accordingly, electric charges (electrons) generated from the interface is suppressed. In addition, even if electric charges (electrons) are generated from the interface, the electric charges (electrons) do not flow to a charge accumulation portion which is a potential well in the sensor section but flow to the hole accumulation layer in which many holes exist. As a result, the electric charges (electrons) can be eliminated. Thus, since it can be prevented that a dark current generated by the electric charges on the interface is detected in the sensor section, a dark current caused by the interface state is suppressed. Thus, by using the layer having negative fixed electric charges, the HAD structure can be formed without ion implantation and annealing. The layer having negative fixed electric charges may be formed of a hafnium oxide (HfO2) layer, for example.
However, as described above, when the configuration in which the layer having negative fixed electric charges is formed on the light receiving surface is applied to a back illuminated CCD or CMOS image sensor, for example, a layer 22 having negative fixed electric charges is formed on the entire light receiving surface 12s of a sensor section 12 as shown in FIG. 10. Accordingly, a hole accumulation layer 23 (P+ layer) is formed not only in a pixel region where the HAD needs to be formed but also on a surface of a semiconductor substrate 11 on a peripheral circuit section 14.
For example, when a well region, a diffusion layer, a circuit, and the like (a diffusion layer 15 is shown as an example in the drawing) are present in the peripheral circuit section 14 so that a negative electric potential is generated on a back side of the semiconductor substrate 11, holes having positive electric charges are drawn to the negative electric potential to be diffused. Accordingly, a desired negative electric potential is not obtained due to the positive electric charges drawn but an electric potential biased toward a positive side from a designed value is output. As a result, an applied voltage of the sensor section using the electric potential is adversely affected, causing a problem that a pixel characteristic changes. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to collets, and more particularly to collets which can be adjusted to accommodate workpieces of different diameters within a specific range of diameters.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventional machine tool collets are adjustable in internal diameter in order to grip and release a workpiece, but the adjustment is such that each collet is only suitable for use with a specific diameter of workpiece which the collet grips along the entire length of its gripping segments. This gripping action can only be achieved with one specific workpiece diameter, and therefore a different collet is required for workpieces of different diameter.
There has been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,346,706 issued to Stoner, a collet which can be adjusted to accommodate workpieces of diameters within a specific range. In certain embodiments this collet consists of separate segments with rubber plate-like elements interposed between adjacent segments. The faces of the rubber elements are adhered to the opposed radial faces of the adjacent segments or have projections which engage in recesses in the opposed faces of adjacent segments. The segments of the collet can be moved inwardly to clamp different diameters of workpiece, but due to the connection between the rubber elements and the faces of the segments, the rubber elements provide substantial resistance to inwards movement of the segments which, in effect, absorbs much of the closure force applied to the collet by an associated closure mechanism.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,557,301 issued to Lundy discloses a collet with rubber-like inserts between adjacent segments. The inserts have a ribbed construction in one embodiment, with the ribs in contact with the adjacent radial faces of the segments. These inserts act simply as seals. The segments are not separate segments, so that this collet is not adjustable for different workpiece diameters. Similar sealing inserts are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,539,193 and 3,669,462, both issued to Parsons.
British Pat. No. 1,245,418 issued to Fahrion teaches a collet with rubber plate-like inserts located between adjacent segments. Although this collet is disclosed as being adjustable to suit different clamping diameters, the segments are connected at their inner ends and are therefore not capable of displacement parallel to the axis of the collet. Instead, they would tend to pivot inwardly about their inner connected ends and would not be exactly parallel with the workpiece at different clamping diameters. Further, the radial dimensions of the inserts is substantially less than that of the segments, and gaps are left between the radially inner edges of the inserts and the segments. Particles of swarf are liable to enter these gaps, and this may impede correct functioning of the collet. | {
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One of the major challenges which any cellular network operator faces is to ensure that the network is operating to its maximum efficiency. As a result, cellular network optimization is a major feature of many modern cellular networks.
In order to provide the best possible performance to the cellular network subscribers, the network is periodically optimized so that its resources can be more effectively utilized within the core network and/or the Radio Access Network (“RAN”).
Typically, network optimization is affected by manually modifying network parameters in the Radio and Core Networks based on information that relates to network performance. Such information is retrieved periodically and analyzed by the Operations and Support System (OSS) to derive Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) therefrom. The state of the art KPIs include typical system level (e.g. related to user or cell throughputs) and link level (e.g. various transmission error rates) metrics.
Traditional optimization methods are slow, operate with a high degree of granularity, and have a long turnaround time. Optimization of a communication network using presently available tools basically entails changing one static parameter setup to another followed by several iterations of a cumbersome verification stage.
In order to support rapidly changing network needs, it would be highly beneficial to have a fully integrated automated load balancing application with a built in feedback mechanism, thereby freeing the operators from their tedious roles of manual optimization to software applications and focus on defining network policies, performance goals and network plans.
Several solutions have been proposed in the art for analyzing a wired/wireless communication network to optimize its performance.
US 2005064820 describes continuously collecting data from all elements constituting the communication network and analyzing the data to find an element of which performance and/or efficiency deteriorates.
US 2004085909 discloses scheduling transmissions in a wireless communication system using historical information and usage patterns of remote users in the system. Usage patterns for users within a system are stored and analyzed to optimize transmissions and resources in the system.
US 2010029282 describes collecting various wireless performance metrics by respective network access points as an aggregate measure of the wireless network performance. Aggregated data can be utilized to generate a performance model for the network and for individual access points. Changes to the data are updated to the model to provide a steady-state characterization of network performance. Wireless resources are generated for respective access points in a manner that optimizes wireless performance. Additionally, resource assignments can be updated at various intervals to re-optimize for existing wireless conditions, whether event driven or based on performance metrics. Accordingly, a robust and dynamic optimization is provided for wireless network resource provisioning that can accommodate heterogeneous access point networks in a changing topology.
US 20060068712 relates to a method of correlating probed data captured from various interfaces to create a combined picture at a call level. Thus, the method described allows real time distributed analysis and troubleshooting of the data on the interfaces of N radio network controllers from a single location.
US 20080139197 discloses providing a probe application by a network server for downloading by a mobile device. The probe application monitors a level of performance for various use applications provided by the network for the mobile device, and reports the monitored level of performance for at least one of the applications to the network server. The network server collates the performance data from the plurality of communication devices and provides resource allocation instructions to the mobile in order to optimize a level of performance for the use applications for the communication device.
Our co-pending application U.S. Ser. No. 13/680,779 filed Nov. 19, 2012 describes a computing platform for optimizing operation of a cellular network by: (a) probing for information exchanged between a mobile access network and a core network; (b) retrieving statistical KPIs generated by a plurality of network elements; (c) predicting a trend characterizing future performance of cells; and (d) triggering changes in the operation of the cellular network based on the predicted trend.
However, there is still a need for a solution that provides further optimization capabilities for operating cellular networks, such that can take into account traffic load effects by using a pre-selected cluster of cells and using parameter settings derived from such considerations, thereby enabling further optimization of the performance of a network under near real time conditions. | {
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Phased array transmission is a wireless transmission technique that utilizes an array of antennas known as a “phased array” to reinforce the transmission of electromagnetic signals in a desired direction while suppressing them in other undesired directions. Historically, phased array transmission has been limited to military applications or other highly-specialized applications like airport surveillance, astronomy, space probe communications, and weather research. However, technological advances and lowering costs in recent years have sparked research and development efforts in more commercial and consumer-oriented areas.
As illustrated in FIG. 1, a phased array 100 generally comprises an array of antennas 102 (i.e., “radiating elements” or “radiators”) and a plurality of delay elements 104 and power amplifiers (PAs) 106 disposed in a plurality of transmission paths. The delay elements 104 are configured to delay an input radio frequency (RF) signal by different delays τ1, τ2, τ3 and τ4. The delayed RF signals are then amplified by the PAs 106 and fed to the antennas 102, which radiate the amplified and delayed RF signals into the air or space, where they spatially combine. The radiation angle 110 and transmission characteristics of the main lobe 108 of the resulting composite signal are determined by the geometrical configuration of the antennas 102 as well as the relative delays τ1, τ2, τ3 and τ4 of the delay elements 104.
The different delays τ1, τ2, τ3 and τ4 of the delay elements 104 can be implemented by simply using different lengths of transmission lines in the transmission paths between the RF input of the array 100 and the antennas 102. One limitation of that approach, however, is that the delay lines are fixed, which prevents the main lobe 108 (i.e., the “beam”) of the radiation pattern from being “steered” to different directions during operation. Various types of variable-delay delay elements have been introduced in the prior art that overcome this problem. However, they are typically notorious for having low phase accuracy, particularly when operating at high frequencies, and/or have a less than desired phase resolution, which limits the ability to precisely adjust and control the direction of transmission. | {
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In the world of virtual computing, a guest can be migrated to a different, compatible virtual environment (e.g., an environment comprising one or more guests, a physical or virtual host, and a virtualization component such as a hypervisor). However, when a guest is copied from one virtual environment to another, the target virtual environment might not be compliant with the policies/requirements of the guest. For example, the guest might require a specific amount of memory or disk space that the target virtual environment does not have available, or the guest might have specific network communication requirements that are not met by the target virtual environment. While the guest can verify its own configuration, it lacks the ability to ensure that a virtual environment in which it runs is complaint with its own policy requirements. It would be desirable to address this shortcoming. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to a shift control method for a vehicle having a double clutch transmission (DCT), and more particularly, to a technology for improving a response to a speed change during a kickdown.
2. Description of Related Art
Unlike an automatic transmission (AT) which requires only clutch shifting, a DCT can enable clutch shifting only after gear shifting has been completed. Therefore, in the DCT, gear shifting performance is a key factor for an overall response to speed change. In particular, more rapid gear shifting is required for a kickdown that a driver regards most sensitive for a response to speed change.
For reference, the gear shifting refers to a speed change operation that causes a sleeve to engage with a clutch gear due to them being synchronized using a synchronizer. The clutch shifting refers to a speed change operation that transmits power that has been supplied from an engine to drive wheels by changing its speed substantially using the sleeve, the clutch gear and shift gears by engaging the working parts of a clutch of an input shaft, the gear shifting of which has been completed as described above, with each other. In addition, gear releasing refers to the process in which the sleeve is released and disengaged from the clutch gear.
In order to reduce a time required for the gear shifting, displacement optimization at a point where the synchronization by the synchronizer starts, a reduced time for the synchronizer to carry out the synchronization, displacement optimization at a point where the working parts of the clutch gear are to engage with each other, and the like are required. Among these, most time is consumed in the range of the synchronization by the synchronizer during the gear shifting. Therefore, it is necessary to reduce the time it takes the synchronizer to carry out synchronization.
The information disclosed in this Background of the Invention section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art. | {
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Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive degenerative disease of the central nervous system characterized by progressive and increasing memory loss, followed by loss of control of limbs and bodily functions with a fatal ending. It is by far the most common cause of dementia affecting 1 to 6% of people over the age of 65 years and between 10 to 20% of those over 80.
AD is distinguished from other types of dementia by several pathological features, including the progressive appearance in the brain of the patients of senile plaques in the extracellular space between neurons. The plaques have central cores of amyloid deposits formed mainly by fibrils of a 40-42 amino acids peptide referred to β amyloid peptide (Aβ) surrounded by degenerated neurites and glial cells. This peptide results from the proteolytic processing of a precursor protein called β amyloid precursor protein (βAPP).
The National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke (NINCDS) and the Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Association (ADRDA) established the most commonly used NINCDS-ADRDA Alzheimer's Criteria for diagnosis in 1984. According to the NINCDS/ADRDA. These criteria are the following: Definitive Alzheimer's disease: The patient meets the criteria for probable Alzheimer's disease and shows histopathologic evidence of AD via autopsy or biopsy. Probable or prodromal Alzheimer's disease: Dementia has been established by clinical and neuropsychological examination. Cognitive impairments also have to be progressive and be present in two or more areas of cognition. The onset of the deficits has been between the ages of 40 and 90 years and finally there must be an absence of other diseases capable of producing a dementia syndrome. Possible or non-prodromal Alzheimer's disease: There is a dementia syndrome with an atypical onset, presentation or progression; and without a known etiology; but no co-morbid diseases capable of producing dementia are believed to be in the origin of it. Unlikely Alzheimer's disease: The patient presents a dementia syndrome with a sudden onset, focal neurologic signs, or seizures or gait disturbance early in the course of the illness.
Mild cognitive impairment (MCI, also known as incipient dementia, or isolated memory impairment) is a diagnosis given to individuals who have cognitive impairments beyond that expected for their age and education, but that do not interfere significantly with their daily activities (Petersen R C et al. (1999) Arch. Neurol. 56 (3): 303-8). It is considered to be the boundary or transitional stage between normal aging and dementia. Although MCI can present with a variety of symptoms, when memory loss is the predominant symptom it is termed “amnestic MCI” and is frequently seen as a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (Grundman M et al. (2004). Arch. Neurol. 61 (1): 59-66). Studies suggest that these individuals tend to progress to probable or prodromal Alzheimer's disease at a rate of approximately 10% to 15% per year (Grundman M et at ad supra.) Additionally, when individuals have impairments in domains other than memory it is classified as non-amnestic single- or multiple-domain MCI and these individuals are believed to be more likely to convert to other dementias (Tabert M H et al. (2006). Arch. Gen. Psychiatry 63 (8): 916-24).
The diagnosis of MCI requires considerable clinical judgement, and as such a comprehensive clinical assessment including clinical observation, neuroimaging, blood tests and neuropsychological testing are best in order to rule out an alternate diagnosis. A similar assessment is usually done for diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. MCI is diagnosed when there is (Morris J C et al. (2001). Arch. Neurol. 58 (3): 397-405): Evidence of memory impairment Preservation of general cognitive and functional abilities Absence of diagnosed dementia
In the last decade, several attempts have been performed to identify peripheral markers by using plasma, serum or circulating cells. In particular, because amyloid plaques are a defining feature of Alzheimer disease neuropathology, and Aβ can be detected in plasma, its measure is a compelling candidate biomarker for Alzheimer disease.
In clinical praxis, diagnosis of AD is carried out using clinical criteria based on the presence of typical clinical hallmarks and the exclusion of other types of dementia using neuroimaging techniques and blood analysis. Using these criteria, diagnostic reliability is acceptable although, according to studies done using brain autopsy, between 10-20% of the patients diagnosed with AD suffered from a different disease. Moreover, the current diagnostic methods can only be carried out when the neurodegenerative process is so advanced that the patient suffers from severe dementia and the brain damages are so extensive that the number of therapeutic measures is limited. Definitive diagnosis requires pathologic examination of post-mortem brain tissue.
In view of the fact that Aβ accumulates in the brain of AD patients and is a central element in the pathogenesis of AD, this protein has been considered as the most suitable candidate as AD biomarker. However, the use of Aβ as plasma biomarker for AD faces the problem that the concentrations of the Aβ peptides (Aβ(1-40) and Aβ(1-42)) in serum are extremely low, so that there are no assays which are sensitive enough so as to allow reliable detection of said peptide species.
Many different assays have been used to determine levels of amyloid beta peptides in biological samples (see e.g. the methods described by Scheuner et al (Nature Med., 1996, 2:864-870); Tamaoka A et al. (J Neurol Sci., 1996, 141, 65-68); Suzuki, N. et al. (Science, 1994, 264:1336-1340); WO200722015, Vanderstichele H et al. (Amyloid, 2000, 7, 245-258); Fukomoto y col. (Arch. Neurol. 2003, 60, 958-964); Mehta et al. (Arch. Neurol. 57, 2000, 100-105); Mayeux, R. et al. (Ann Neurol. 1999, 46, 412-416); Lanz, T. A and Schacthter, J. B. (J. Neuroscience Methods, 2006, 157:71-81), WO200750359, WO0162801, WO0315617, WO0246237, WO0413172. However, all the ELISA-based assays known to date have a lower detection limit which is not in the range of single digit pg/mL at the most, which is sufficient for detecting Aβ40 and Aβ42 in CSF as well as for detecting said species in plasma in patients suffering from familiar AD, but are unsuitable for detecting Aβ42 in the plasma of patients suffering from sporadic AD, wherein the Aβ42 plasma concentration is much lower.
To date, the only Aβ peptide assays showing a lower detection limit lower than the single digit pg/mL correspond to the assays described in WO200646644 and in WO2009015696.
WO200646644 describes an electrochemiluminiscent (ECL) sandwich assay wherein the mAb 21F12 (which recognises amino acids 33-42 of Aβ42) is coupled to magnetic beads, which are then used to capture the Aβ42 peptide in the sample containing Aβ42 and further contacted with 3D6 mAb coupled to a ruthenium complex. The amount of 3D6 antibody bound is then detected by the luminescence emitted by the ruthenium complex when electrical energy is applied. Using this assay, the inventors are capable of detecting as low as 0.5 pg/mL of a Aβ42 standard. However, when the same assay is used to compare Aβ42 in plasma samples from AD patients and healthy controls, no significant differences could be observed between the two sets of patients, which led the inventors to conclude that the amount of intact Aβ42 in serum is very low due to degradation and turned to a competitive ELISA assay using 21F12 mAb which provides lower sensitivity levels in the range of ng/mL.
WO2009015696 describes a high-sensitivity ELISA sandwich assay wherein the detection antibody is contacted with a biotin-labeled reagent showing specificity for said antibody. The reagent is contacted with streptavidin which is coupled to peroxidase. Peroxidase activity is then detected by colorimetry using TMB or fluorescently using QuantaBlue.
WO2006053251 describes a method for the determination of amyloid beta peptide species in a sample comprising contacting a sample with a denaturing agent, extracting the peptide pool from the sample-denaturing agent mixture, separating the amyloid beta peptide species from the pool and determining the amount of amyloid beta peptide species. This method requires a step of separation of the peptides prior to the determination, which results in increased processing time and increased costs.
Methods are known in the prior art to diagnose AD by detecting the levels of biomarkers present in the brain or CSF of patients. Different biomarkers have been characterised whose determination is carried out in CSF. CSF reflects directly the composition of the extracellular space of the central nervous system and thus, provides higher concentrations as biomarkers. However, CSF can only be retrieved by means of lumbar punction, which is not a routine diagnostic method easily accepted by patients suffering from dementia, let alone in patients with memory disorders. Thus, there is a need for AD biomarkers which can be detected in samples which can be non-invasively retrieved from the body.
Suitable AD biomarkers described in the prior art and which can be detected in plasma include (i) markers derived from the amyloid plaque, (ii) autoantibodies against Aβ or βAPP, (iii) inflammatory markers such IL-6, its receptor or gp130, C-reactive protein or oxidative stress (isoprostanes), (iv) markers of lipidic metabolism (apoE, oxysterols) and (v) vascular disease markers (homocysteine, lipoprotein b C1q) (Scheuner D et al. (1996) Nature Med 2, 864-870).
However, in view of the fact that Aβ accumulates in the brain of AD patients and is a central element in the pathogenesis of AD, this protein has been considered as the most suitable candidate as AD biomarker. However, the use of Aβ as plasma biomarker for AD faces the problem that the concentrations of the Aβ peptides (Aβ(1-40) and Aβ(1-42)) in serum are extremely low, so that there are no assays which are sensitive enough so as to allow reliable detection of said peptide species.
Furthermore, several antibodies have been described to detect Aβ peptides and to be used in immunological assays. For example, the monoclonal anti-Aβ(1-17) (6E10) is an antibody directed to the N-terminal region of the Aβ peptide, generated against the peptide Aβ(1-17) (Kim K S, et al. Neurosci. Res. Comm. 7; 1988) and recognizing the Aβ peptides including said region or the monoclonal antibody generated against the peptide Aβ(1-28) (Pierce).
However, there is a need in the art for improved immunological assays and kits to detect Aβ-derived peptides which overcome the problems of the methods and kits known in the art, in particular, which are sensitive enough to detect Aβ peptides in a reliable manner in plasma of patients suffering from sporadic AD. There is also a need for identifying biomarkers for the early diagnosis of AD which are sensitive and specific and which allow distinguishing cognitive impairment due to age from those associated with the early symptoms of the process, as well as to distinguish changes due to AD and due to other degenerative conditions. According to Growdon et al. (Neurobiol. Aging, 1998, 19:109-116), the ideal marker for AD should meet the following requirements: It should detect a fundamental feature of the neuropathology It should be validated in neuropathologically-confirmed cases of the disease It should show a sensitivity of at least 80% for detecting AD It should show a specificity of at least 80% to distinguish AD from other types of dementia and It should be reliable, reproducible, non-invasive, simple to perform and inexpensive. | {
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Rts1 is a high-molecular weight drug resistance factor which has a molecular weight of 126.times.10.sup.6 daltons and confers resistance to kanamycin. In addition to conferring kanamycin resistance (Km.sup.r), the plasmid exhibits unusual temperature-sensitive phenotypes, which affect plasmid maintenance and replication, as well as host cell growth. These phenotypes include growth inhibition of gram negative bacteria harboring the plasmid at 42.degree. C., but not at 32.degree. C. (the so-called tsg, temperature sensitive growth). In addition, E. coli cells harboring the plasmid allow T4 phage growth at 42.degree. C., yet phage growth is restricted at 32.degree. C. Furthermore, the replication cycle of this plasmid at 42.degree. C. appears to bypass the typical covalently closed circular (CCC) form and proceeds (the so-called Tsc phenotype, temperature sensitive circular DNA formation). At 42.degree. C., but not at 32.degree. C., conjugative transfer of Rts1 is inhibited. Finally, prolonged incubation of bacteria harboring this plasmid at 42.degree. C. results in plasmid loss from host cells (the so-called Tdi, temperature dependent instability).
The nucleotide sequence of Rts1 has been elucidated, and partial nucleotide sequences have been reported, including those regions involved in DNA replication, incompatibility, kanamycin resistance and temperature-dependent instability of the plasmid. A particular region of the plasmid, known as the "repA" region has been identified and the sequence elucidated. The repA protein has been shown to be important in determining the copy number of the Rts1 plasmid maintained in a host cell. Mutated Rts1 plasmids having mutations in the repA region have been described, but induce only a moderate change in the copy number of the plasmid (i.e. at most 5 to 10-tenfold increases).
A second plasmid, known as P1, has been described in the art and contains a similar repA region.
No mutants of these two plasmids, however, are known in the art which induce significant increased copy numbers or which are easily controllable by changes in growth media. | {
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Embodiments of the invention relate generally to diagnostic imaging and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus of computed tomography (CT) imaging capable of having high temporal resolution, reduced image artifacts due to missing data and longitudinal truncation, and reduced radiation dose.
Typically, in computed tomography (CT) imaging systems, an x-ray source emits a fan-shaped beam toward a subject or object, such as a patient or a piece of luggage. Hereinafter, the terms “subject” and “object” shall include anything capable of being imaged. The beam, after being attenuated by the subject, impinges upon an array of radiation detectors. The intensity of the attenuated beam radiation received at the detector array is typically dependent upon the attenuation of the x-ray beam by the subject. Each detector element of the detector array produces a separate electrical signal indicative of the attenuated beam received by each detector element. The electrical signals are transmitted to a data processing system for analysis which ultimately produces an image.
Generally, the x-ray source and the detector array are rotated about the gantry within an imaging plane and around the subject. X-ray sources typically include x-ray tubes, which emit the x-ray beam at a focal point. X-ray detectors typically include a collimator for collimating x-ray beams received at the detector, a scintillator for converting x-rays to light energy adjacent the collimator, and photodiodes for receiving the light energy from the adjacent scintillator and producing electrical signals therefrom.
Typically, each scintillator of a scintillator array converts x-rays to light energy. Each scintillator discharges light energy to a photodiode adjacent thereto. Each photodiode detects the light energy and generates a corresponding electrical signal. The outputs of the photodiodes are then transmitted to the data processing system for image reconstruction.
One of the key modern applications for CT imaging is its use in cardiac imaging. However, cardiac imaging techniques such as coronary CT angiography pose unique technical challenges, one of which is the need for high temporal resolution to avoid motion artifacts in the image. One way to achieve such high temporal resolution is to use wide-coverage multi-detector-row CT (MDCT) systems to scan the entire heart region within one gantry rotation. Here, the wide coverage refers to the x-ray beam coverage in the longitudinal direction, which can cover the majority of the human's heart within one axial rotation. Typically, only data from roughly half of the scan is utilized for image reconstruction to maintain the temporal resolution. Unfortunately, however, such cardiac half-scan imaging methods face severe missing data and longitudinal truncation issues when the large x-ray cone beam angle is large. The cone beam artifacts caused by this cardiac half-scan method are easily observed in the reconstructed images and greatly deteriorate the image quality.
In order to mitigate the missing data and longitudinal truncation problems associated with the cardiac half-scan technique described above, the use of wide-coverage, full-scan cardiac imaging (albeit using a half-scan reconstruction method) is one solution. This wide-coverage, full-scan cardiac imaging offers a way to maintain temporal resolution while alleviating the missing data and longitudinal truncation problems associated with half-scan imaging. However, full-scan cardiac imaging imposes a larger radiation dose on the subject as compared to half-scan cardiac imaging. In fact, the radiation dose in full-scan cardiac imaging represents a 50 percent (or greater) increase in radiation dose over half-scan cardiac imaging. With every effort made to minimize the radiation dose and scan time to which the patient is subjected, conventional full-scan cardiac imaging is less than ideal.
Therefore, it would be desirable to design an apparatus and method for CT imaging capable of having high temporal resolution, reduced image artifacts due to missing data and longitudinal truncation, and reduced radiation dose. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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An autonomous vacuum cleaner, being a fully automated cleaning device, is a renovating device different from those conventionally vacuum cleaners and other sweeping devices, that is can clean a specific area autonomously without any human attention and thus is foreseen to be the future cleaning device replacing those conventional manual-operated vacuum cleaners and other cleaning devices. After the operation mode is set, an autonomous vacuum cleaner is able to maneuver around obstacles while performing a ground cleaning operation, even cleaning those usually considered as the dead spots of cleaning.
Although the autonomous vacuum cleaner is a great help to daily household cleaning, its function is limited by its power source, which is not an alternating current (AC) power source, and by its own interior space, which limited the same from adopting those air compressors used in those conventional vacuum cleaners. Therefore, as the autonomous vacuum cleaner only has limited power supply, a good centrifugal fan is essential for enabling the same to have good performance. Nonetheless, the centrifugal fan is beneficial for its operating noise is lower than those conventional air compressors.
It is noted that there are already several prior-art techniques of robotic vacuuming cleaner currently available on the market. One such technique is disclosed in TW Pat. No. I220383, which shows a conventional contact-type autonomous vacuuming cleaner. However, the aforesaid contact-type autonomous vacuuming cleaner is short in that: the drivers and the wheels used in the driving wheel module of the contact-type autonomous vacuuming cleaner is not detachable from the driver such that it is required to replace the whole driving wheel module when there is only required to repair a broken motor of a driver or to replace the tire of a wheel, which is costly. In addition, the aforesaid contact-type autonomous vacuuming cleaner is not adapted for cleaning dead spots so that it is not efficient when it comes to dead spot cleaning. Moreover, as the aforesaid cleaner can be attached with a mopping unit for using the same to perform a floor-mopping operation, it is important to remind a user to replace/clean the mopping unit constantly and periodically, otherwise, mopping floor with a dirty mopping unit is not a good idea for cleaning.
In those prior-art techniques of robotic vacuuming cleaner, it is common to fit the cleaner with side brooms for enabling the same the ability to clean dust accumulated at corners. However, those side brooms often are the major noise producer of the cleaner.
Therefore, it is in need of an improved robotic vacuum cleaner that is freed from the foregoing drawbacks. | {
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The present embodiments relate to a local coil for a magnetic resonance device.
In magnetic resonance, the use of proximal receiving antennas (e.g., local coils), which may also be embodied for transmission purposes, is known in order to record receiving signals that are spatially close to a patient. After a low-noise preamplification by a low noise amplifier (LNA) and, if necessary, further preprocessing for further evaluation, the recorded signals are wire routed to receive electronics. The receive electronics may form part of a control device, for example. The magnetic resonance signals are evaluated further at the control device, and an image is generated.
A problem with local coils of this type is the cable, where several disadvantages exist. For safety reasons, the cables are provided with shell-type surge blockers in order to avoid burning a patient as a result of high-frequency sheath currents and electrical or thermal coupling with the patient. The cables are also manually tailored to a specific use/a specific magnetic resonance device and therefore also represent an essential factor with regard to price. The cables are disadvantageous in a workflow, since the cables require a measurable part of the time taken for patient preparation. The cables with the shell-type surge blockers that are placed on the patient are perceived as unpleasant and restrictive. | {
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1. Field
This disclosure relates generally to semiconductor device packaging, and more specifically, to a mechanism to reduce localized stress in the area of electrical interconnects under a packaged device die.
2. Related Art
In certain types of semiconductor device packaging, semiconductor device die contacts are electrically coupled to a package substrate interconnect. Traditional methods of forming this coupling involve a solder reflow operation using solder bumps or solder-tipped metal columns formed on contacts of the semiconductor device die to contacts on the package substrate interconnect. These methods involve heating at least the contact region to temperatures sufficient to cause the solder to flow.
Issues have arisen in recent packaging development work on semiconductor die having lead-free solder bumps or solder-tipped metal columns, in which semiconductor die inter-layer dielectric delamination occurs under the bumps or metal columns, known as white bumps or ghost bumps on large die/large packages. Delamination is a particular issue for semiconductor die using low-k and ultra-low-k dielectrics (e.g., films composed of silicon, carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen—SiCOH films) that tend to be more brittle due to their increased porosity. This delamination occurs, in part, due to differences in the coefficient of thermal expansion between the semiconductor device die material and the package substrate material. As the different materials cool down subsequent to solder reflow, a high stress occurs in the interconnect region, resulting in the delamination.
It is therefore desirable to provide a mechanism for electrically coupling a semiconductor device die to a semiconductor device package substrate that avoids introduction of excessive temperature induced stresses to the semiconductor device die interconnect.
The use of the same reference symbols in different drawings indicates identical items unless otherwise noted. The figures are not necessarily drawn to scale. | {
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The present disclosure relates to an electronic device and a method of performing wireless communication using beamforming thereof.
In recent years, with the rapid development of wireless communication technology, users of wireless communication terminals have demanded various services. Applications of wireless communication terminals demand transmission and reception of a large amount of data. Users also want high speed transmission and reception of a large amount of data at high speed. To comply with these demands, various schemes have been proposed to efficiently use radio frequency resources. From among the schemes, beamforming is a technique which has recently attracted attention.
When a terminal connects to an access point (AP) or another terminal for the first time or when the terminal has maintained the connection, if the environment or the location of the terminal changes, the terminal cannot detect which one of the beams transmitted from the AP and the other terminal is optimal. The terminal cannot also detect which one of the beams it receives is optimal. In addition, with respect to a beam transmitted by the terminal and a beam received by an AP or another terminal, the terminal cannot detect which transmitting beam/receiving beam is optimal. Therefore, the terminal and the AP or other terminals need to efficiently search for the optimal transmitting beam/receiving beam.
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11ad describes an optimum beam searching scheme for wireless local area network (LAN)/personal area network (PAN). Referring to IEEE 802.11ad standard specification, beamforming is disclosed as it is performed in a wireless LAN/PAN environment at a band of 60 GHz which is higher than that of conventional mobile communication. Electric signals can be transmitted in a corresponding direction via beamforming. When a terminal needs to communicate with a plurality of nodes via beamforming, proper beams are set for nodes respectively and communications are made with corresponding nodes by the set beams. Different beams may be used according to correspondent nodes. | {
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1. Technical Field
The invention relates generally to microwave antennas that may be used in therapeutic or ablative tissue treatment applications. More particularly, the invention relates to devices and methods for regulating, maintaining, and/or controlling a temperature of microwave antennas used in such applications.
2. Background of the Related Art
Many procedures and devices employing microwave technology are well known for their applicability in the treatment, coagulation, and targeted ablation of tissue. During such procedures, the antenna of a microwave probe of the monopole, dipole, or helical variety, as is conventional in the art, is typically advanced into the patient either laparoscopically or percutaneously until the target tissue is reached.
Following the introduction of the microwave probe, during the transmission of microwave energy to the target tissue, the outer surface of the antenna may sometimes reach unnecessarily high temperatures due to ohmic heating. When exposed to such temperatures, the treatment site, as well as the surrounding tissue, may be unnecessarily and unintentionally effected. The present disclosure contemplates curtailing such tissue effects by providing improved microwave tissue treatment devices, cooling systems, and methods.
To prevent such unnecessarily high temperatures, several different cooling methodologies are conventionally employed. | {
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In logging instrumentation or equipment or logging tools used under high pressure and temperature downhole under harsh chemical conditions, electrical cables terminating on the logging tool are usually hermetically sealed by use of elastomeric materials which are molded into or permanently a part of the cable connectors. The seals provide good liquid seals under lower pressures or under less harsh chemical environments. Under repeated use under high pressure and harsh conditions, however, the seals tend to break down under explosive decompression, a form of deterioration of the seal wherein small molecules of gases from the pressurized environment permeate the elastomer of the seal and accumulate in microscopic voids in the elastomer. When the logging tool is removed from a deep well, the pressure on the tool is rapidly released. The accumulated gases cannot escape from the voids quickly enough and expand, thus causing the elastomeric material of the seals to blister and cut. This often will cause the entire electrical cable harness to be scrapped because the sealing material will no longer form a hermetic seal if the elastomeric seal is incorporated into the cable connector as a component of the connector. | {
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.alpha.-Amylase enzymes have been used industrially for a number of years and for a variety of different purposes, the most important of which are starch liquefaction, textile desizing, starch modification in the paper and pulp industry, and for brewing and baking. A further use of .alpha.-amylases which is becoming increasingly important is the removal of starchy stains during washing or dishwashing.
In recent years attempts have been made to construct .alpha.-amylase variants having improved properties with respect to specific uses such as starch liquefaction and textile desizing.
For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,093,257 discloses chimeric .alpha.-amylases comprising an N-terminal part of a B. stearothermophilus .alpha.-amylase and a C-terminal part of a B. lichenifonnis .alpha.-amylase. The chimeric .alpha.-amylases are stated to have unique properties, such as a different thermostability, as compared to their parent .alpha.-amylase. However, all of the specifically described chimeric .alpha.-amylases were shown to have a decreased enzymatic activity as compared to their parent .alpha.-amylases.
EP 252 666 describes hybrid amylases of the general formula Q-R-L, in which Q is a N-terminal polypeptide residue of from 55 to 60 amino acid residues which is at least 75% homologous to the 57 N-terminal amino acid residues of a specified .alpha.-amylase from B. amyloliquefaciens, R is a specified polypeptide, and L is a C-terminal polypeptide comprising from 390 to 400 amino acid residues which is at least 75% homologous to the 395 C-terminal amino acid residues of a specified B. licheniformis .alpha.-amylase.
Suzuki et al. (1989) disclose chimeric .alpha.-amylases, in which specified regions of a B. amyloliquefaciens .alpha.-amylase have been substituted for the corresponding regions of a B. licheniformis .alpha.-amylase. The chimeric .alpha.-amylases were constructed with the purpose of identifying regions responsible for thermostability. Such regions were found to include amino acid residues 177-186 and amino acid residues 255-270 of the B. amyloliquefaciens .alpha.-amylase. The alterations of amino acid residues in the chimeric .alpha.-amylases did not seem to affect properties of the enzymes other than their thermostability.
WO 91/00353 discloses .alpha.-amylase mutants which differ from their parent .alpha.-amylase in at least one amino acid residue. The .alpha.-amylase mutants disclosed in said patent application are stated to exhibit improved properties for application in the degradation of starch and/or textile desizing due to their amino acid substitutions. Some of the mutants exhibit improved stability, but no improvements in enzymatic activity were reported or indicated. The only mutants exemplified are prepared from a parent B. licheniformis .alpha.-amylase and carry one of the following mutations: H133Y or H133Y+T149I. Another suggested mutation is A111T.
FR 2,676,456 discloses mutants of the B. licheniformis .alpha.-amylase, in which an amino acid residue in the proximity of His 133 and/or an amino acid residue in the proximity of Ala 209 have been replaced by a more hydrophobic amino acid residue. The resulting .alpha.-amylase mutants are stated to have an improved thermostability and to be useful in the textile, paper, brewing and starch liquefaction industry.
EP 285 123 discloses a method of performing random mutagenesis of a nucleotide sequence. As an example of such sequence a nucleotide sequence encoding a B. stearothermophilus .alpha.-amylase is mentioned. When mutated, an .alpha.-amylase variant having improved activity at low pH values is obtained.
In none of the above references is it mentioned or even suggested that .alpha.-amylase mutants may be constructed which have improved properties with respect to the detergent industry.
EP525 610 relates to mutant enzymes having improved stability towards ionic tensides (surfactants). The mutant enzymes have been produced by replacing an amino acid residue in the surface part of the parent enzyme with another amino acid residue. The only mutant enzyme specifically described in EP 525 610 is a protease. Amylase is mentioned as an example of an enzyme which may obtain an improved stability towards ionic tensides, but the type of amylase, its origin or specific mutations are not specified.
WO 94/02597 discloses .alpha.-amylase mutants which exhibit improved stability and activity in the presence of oxidizing agents. In the mutant .alpha.-amylases, one or more methionine residues have been replaced with amino acid residues different from Cys and Met. The .alpha.-amylase mutants are stated to be useful as detergent and/or dishwashing additives as well as for textile desizing.
WO 94/18314 discloses oxidatively stable .alpha.-amylase mutants, including mutations in the M197 position of B. licheniformis .alpha.-amylase.
EP 368 341 describes the use of pullulanase and other amylolytic enzymes optionally in combination with an .alpha.-amylase for washing and dishwashing.
An object of the present invention is to provide .alpha.-amylase variants which--relative to their parent .alpha.-amylase--possess improved properties of importance, inter alia, in relation to the washing and/or dishwashing performance of the variants in question, e.g. increased thermal stability, increased stability towards oxidation, reduced dependency on Ca.sup.2+ ion and/or improved stability or activity in the pH region of relevance in, e.g., laundry washing or dishwashing. Such variant .alpha.-amylases have the advantage, among others, that they may be employed in a lower dosage than their parent .alpha.-amylase. Furthermore, the .alpha.-amylase variants may be able to remove starchy stains which cannot, or can only with difficulty, be removed by .alpha.-amylase detergent enzymes known today. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to agents having regulatory activity for the morphological transition of dimorphic fungi which can grow both as yeast form cells and as mycelial form cells.
2. Description of Related Art
Most fungi take the form, through their life cycle, of either a spherical single cell growing through budding (or cell division) (yeast form fungus) or a filamentous multicellular organism growing through apical growth (filamentous fungus). However, some yeasts can reversibly take yeast form (Y form) and mycelial form (M form). This phenomena in which such a reversible transition occurs due to a specific nutritional, physical or chemical factor is called as dimorphism. The dimorphic fungi generally belong to Subdivision Deuteromycotina. and typically include genus Candida. The dimorphic fungi such as genus Candida are indigenous microbes with respect to humans, which generally exist in human bodies or in a living environment. They are not pathogenic to healthy humans but become pathogenic to patients whose immunity is deteriorated by some cause, and such an infection is called as an opportunistic infection. By taking Candida albicans belonging to genus Candida as an example, it has been known, in fact, that a multiplicity of mycelial form cells are present in combination with yeast form cells in infectious foci of candidiasis, indicating that being mycelial form cells is one of the pathogenic factors of this fungi. This is supposedly because mycelia of the mycelium form cells readily adhere to animal tissues and advantageously serve to invade mechanically into the inside of host tissues, and in addition hardly suffer from mycophagy activities of phagocytes (Arai, T., et al., Sabouraudia 15, 171-177(1977)). | {
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While a number of recent efforts are being made to achieve a finer pattern rule in the drive for higher integration and operating speeds in LSI devices, DUV and VUV lithography is thought to hold particular promise as the next generation in microfabrication technology. In particular, photolithography using an ArF excimer laser as the light source is thought requisite to the micropatterning technique capable of achieving a feature size of 0.13 μm or less.
The ArF lithography started partial use from the fabrication of 130-nm node devices and became the main lithography since 90-nm node devices. Although lithography using F2 laser (157 nm) was initially thought promising as the next lithography for 45-nm node devices, its development was retarded by several problems. A highlight was suddenly placed on the ArF immersion lithography that introduces a liquid having a higher refractive index than air (e.g., water, ethylene glycol, glycerol) between the projection lens and the wafer, allowing the projection lens to be designed to a numerical aperture (NA) of 1.0 or higher and achieving a higher resolution. See Journal of Photopolymer Science and Technology, Vol. 17, No. 4, p 587 (2004).
In the photolithography using an ArF excimer laser (wavelength 193 nm) as the light source, a high sensitivity resist material capable of achieving a high resolution at a small dose of exposure is needed to prevent the degradation of precise and expensive optical system materials. Among several measures for providing high sensitivity resist material, the most common is to select each component which is highly transparent at the wavelength of 193 nm. For example, polyacrylic acid and derivatives thereof, norbornene-maleic anhydride alternating copolymers, polynorbornene, ring-opening metathesis polymers, and hydrogenated ring-opening metathesis polymers have been proposed as the base resin. This choice is effective to some extent in that the transparency of a resin alone is increased.
Studies have also been made on photoacid generators. In prior art chemically amplified resist compositions for lithography using KrF excimer laser, photoacid generators capable of generating alkane- or arene-sulfonic acids are used. However, the use of these photoacid generators in chemically amplified resist compositions for ArF lithography results in an insufficient acid strength to scissor acid labile groups on the resin, a failure of resolution or a low sensitivity. Thus these photoacid generators are not suited for the fabrication of microelectronic devices.
For the above reason, photoacid generators capable of generating perfluoroalkanesulfonic acids having a high acid strength are generally used in ArF chemically amplified resist compositions. These photoacid generators capable of generating perfluoroalkanesulfonic acids have already been developed for use in the KrF resist compositions. For instance, JP-A 2000-122296 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,048,672 (or JP-A 11-282168) describe photoacid generators capable of generating perfluorohexanesulfonic acid, perfluorooctanesulfonic acid, perfluoro-4-ethylcyclohexanesulfonic acid, and perfluorobutanesulfonic acid. JP-A 2002-214774, US Patent Application Publication 2003-0113659 A1 (JP-A 2003-140332), and US Patent Application Publication 2002-0197558 A1 describe novel photoacid generators capable of generating perfluoroalkyl ether sulfonic acids.
Among these, perfluorooctanesulfonic acid and homologues thereof (collectively referred to as PFOS) are considered problematic with respect to their non-degradability and biological concentration in the environment. Manufacturers made efforts to develop partially fluorinated alkane sulfonic acids having a reduced degree of fluorine substitution as the replacement to PFOS. For instance, JP-A 2004-531749 describes the development of α,α-difluoroalkanesulfonic acid salts from α,α-difluoroalkene and a sulfur compound and discloses a resist composition comprising a photoacid generator which generates such sulfonic acid upon exposure, specifically di(4-tert-butylphenyl)iodonium 1,1-difluoro-2-(1-naphthyl)-ethanesulfonate. JP-A 2004-2252 describes the development of α,α,β,β-tetrafluoroalkanesulfonic acid salts from α,α,β,β-tetrafluoro-α-iodoalkane and sulfur compound and discloses a photoacid generator capable of generating such a sulfonic acid and a resist composition comprising the same. JP-A 2002-214774 discloses such photoacid generators having difluorosulfoacetic acid alkyl esters and difluorosulfoacetic acid amides although their synthesis method is lacking. Furthermore, JP-A 2005-266766 discloses a photosensitive composition comprising a compound capable of generating a partially fluorinated alkane sulfonic acid having a sulfonylamide structure derived from perfluoroalkylene disulfonyl difluoride.
In forming fine feature size patterns with a pitch of less than 200 nm, the problem of pattern density dependency, that is, the size difference between isolated and grouped patterns having different optical contrast becomes significant. Using a photoacid generator capable of generating an acid with low diffusion, the problem of pattern density dependency can be overcome to some extent, but not to a satisfactory extent. While the resist composition is required to achieve a further reduction of the pattern rule as well as a good balance of sensitivity, substrate adhesion, and etching resistance, it is also required to ameliorate the pattern density dependency fundamentally without sacrifice of resolution.
Under the circumstances, it was proposed to form a polymer from an acryloyloxyphenyl diphenyl sulfonium salt as a monomer for enhancing sensitivity (as described in JP-A 4-230645) and to incorporate the monomer into a polyhydroxystyrene resin for improving the line edge roughness of this base resin (as described in JP-A 2005-84365). However, since the sulfonium salt is bonded at its cation side to the polymer, the sulfonic acid generated upon exposure to high-energy radiation is not different from the sulfonic acids generated by conventional photoacid generators, which is unsatisfactory in view of the outstanding problem. Also, sulfonium salts having an anion side incorporated into the polymer backbone such as polystyrenesulfonic acid are disclosed as effective in enhancing sensitivity or improving resist pattern profile (Japanese Patent No. 3,613,491). The acids generated thereby are arenesulfonic and alkylsulfonic acid derivatives which have too low an acid strength to sever acid labile groups, especially acid labile groups in ArF chemically amplified resist compositions.
With respect to the immersion lithography, some problems arise from minute water droplets which are left on the resist and wafer after the immersion exposure. They can often cause damages and defects to the resist pattern profile. The resist pattern after development can collapse or deform into a T-top profile. There exists a need for a patterning process which can form a satisfactory resist pattern after development according to the immersion lithography.
The lithography techniques which are considered promising next to the ArF lithography include electron beam (EB) lithography, F2 lithography, extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography, and x-ray lithography. In these techniques, exposure must be done in vacuum or reduced pressure, which allows the sulfonic acid generated during exposure to volatilize, failing to form a satisfactory pattern profile. The sulfonic acid volatilized can damage or stain the exposure system. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a circular polarization antenna whose radiation pattern is in the shape of a body of revolution about an axis and has a radiation minimum in the direction of this axis.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Antennas of this type are usually implemented as a configuration of multirod conductors disposed in a tourniquet around the axis of the antenna, each rod being excited separately by a line from a distributor.
Such antennas are described, for example, by N.T. Lindeblad in Antennas and Transmission Lines at the Empire State Building Television Station, RCA Communications, Apr. 1941 (in which disclosure four dipoles are excited in phase separately, each by its own line), by M. S. Gatti and D. J. Nybakken in A Circularly Polarized Crossed Drooping Dipole Antenna, IEEE Antennas and Propagation Symposium Digest, 7-11 May 1990, Vol. 1, pp. 254-257, and by C. C. Kilgus in Shaped-Conical Radiation Pattern Performance of the Backfire Quadriflar helix, IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, May 1975 (in which disclosure four rods are excited by a power splitter and phase shifter system with respective phases of 0, 90, 180 and 270.degree.).
Antennas of this type are routinely used on satellites for telemetry and remote control links, for example, and on land and maritime mobiles, in particular for satellite communication and location systems.
Antennas of the aforementioned type can also be implemented in the form of slotted printed circuit antennas, but these require a complex matching circuit.
The principal drawbacks of these various prior art antennas are their complexity, their relative fragility and the high cost of the excitation system which is typically a four-channel system requiring the provision of power splitter, phase shifter and balancer devices.
One object of the present invention is to propose an antenna of the aforementioned type, that is to say a circular polarization antenna having a radiation pattern which is in the shape of a body of revolution about an axis with a radiation minimum on said axis (a more or less toroidal shape pattern, for example) but with a much simpler structure and a direct excitation system requiring no power splitter, phase shifter or balancer devices.
A subsidiary object of the present invention is to propose an antenna of this type in which the maximum radiation direction can be varied by a simple choice of parameters so that the same basic structure can without difficultly yield an entire family of antennas suited to the various applications envisaged. | {
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A significant shortcoming in current radio systems and in those that are being developed is the limited amount of radio resources available. The number of radio frequencies is restricted and they are distributed among various systems and operators. Numerous different solutions have been created to solve this problem.
Previously developed radio systems meant for public use are based on circuit-switched technology. In systems implemented according to this technology, a specific channel is reserved for the connection between the devices involved, the connection being available to the devices for the entire duration of the connection, irrespective of whether there is traffic on the channel all the time or not. This solution has been sufficient for systems relaying primarily speech. However, with increasing telecommunications needs, transmission connections are used for transmitting data. The traffic relayed on data connections is often highly bursty, i.e., at times data is transferred in large amounts and a lot of transmission capacity is needed on the channel, whereas occasionally the traffic load on the channel is low. From the point of view of capacity deployment, packet-switched transmissions are an extremely good solution for these connections. In packet-switched connections, the channel is not allocated to the terminals for the entire duration of the connection, but the channel is only allocated when data needs to be transferred. Consequently, diverse radio systems employing packet-switched service have been developed, at least some of the connections between the terminals being established using a packet protocol. Among these systems are GPRS (General Packet Radio System) and its enhanced version EGPRS (Enhanced General Packet Radio System).
Since various data services are available and they have differing data transmission needs, many systems include the possibility to establish connections of varying capacity. Moreover, many systems involve diverse terminals which may be provided with highly varying data transmission properties and capability to deploy the resources of the system. For example, different equipment and data transfer capacity is needed for transferring speech, written communications or video. In addition, there may be devices that can only use specific frequency ranges and others that can utilize all the frequencies reserved for the network. Consequently, when a radio connection is to be established, the system should know the type of the terminal that needs the connection and the data transmission capacity. There are also networks that may have different packet system protocols available, such as the GPRS and EGPRS, and, depending on its characteristics, the terminal can use one or the other.
In prior art solutions a terminal that needs to transmit data in packet format contacts the network and informs that it wishes to establish a connection and, at the same time, it informs what kind of a terminal it is, i.e., the radio path characteristics it has. These characteristics include for example the frequencies the device needs for communication, and the transfer modes of different capacities that the terminal can utilize. A prior art signalling for connection establishment is illustrated in FIG. 1. The Figure shows the essential parts of messages sent by different devices. The messages sent by the network part are marked with DL (downlink). A terminal sends a CR (Channel Request) 100 to the network part of the system. The network part allocates one radio block to the terminal and responds by sending the terminal an IA (Immediate Assignment) 102. The terminal uses the allocated radio block to send a PRR (Packet Resource Request) 104. This request comprises information about the terminal's radio path characteristics. The network part allocates one or more channels to the terminal and responds by sending a new response 106 where the reserved channels are informed to the terminal. The terminal then starts to send data 108. In the example of FIG. 1, the terminal uses three parallel 110–114 channels.
One of the drawbacks of the above method is that it is not possible to know whether the terminal needs GPRS (General Packet Radio System) or EGPRS (Enhanced General Packet Radio System) resources. Another problem is that one allocated block is sufficient for sending one control message, but one control message is not always enough for relaying the radio characteristics of the terminal. Consequently, a terminal having diversified characteristics does not necessarily receive appropriate resources.
The signalling that takes place before data transmission is a multi-step process, i.e., it comprises a plural number of steps depending on the amount of data to be transferred and the amount resources available. When GPRS is used, the signalling can take place either on a PCCCH (Packet Common Control Channel) or a CCCH (Common Control Channel), but with EGPRS only PCCCH can provide efficient signalling. This causes delay in the transmission of the signal and yet the data transmission is not necessarily carried out in an optimal way due to insufficient signalling capacity. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a novel catalytic cracking process to produce motor fuels. In particular, this invention relates to an improved catalytic cracking process involving the use of an admixture of AgHZSM-5 and a conventional cracking catalyst to increase gasoline octane number and total yield.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Hydrocarbon conversion processes utilizing crystalline zeolites have been the subject of extensive investigation during recent years, as is obvious from both the patent and scientific literature. Crystalline zeolites have been found to be particularly effective for a wide variety of hydrocarbon conversion processes including the catalytic cracking of a gas oil to produce motor fuels and have been described and claimed in many patents, including U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,140,249; 3,140,251; 3,140,252; 3,140,253; and 3,271,418. It is also known in the prior art to incorporate the crystalline zeolite into a matrix for catalytic cracking and such disclosure appears in one or more of the above-identified United States patents.
It is also known that improved results will be obtained with regard to the catalytic cracking of gas oils if a crystalline zeolite having a pore size of less than 7 Angstrom units is included with a crystalline zeolite having a pore size greater than 8 Angstrom units, either with or without a matrix. A disclosure of this type is found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,769,202. Although the incorporation of a crystalline zeolite having a pore size of less than 7 Angstrom units into a catalyst composite comprising a larger pore size crystalline zeolite (pore size greater than 8 Angstrom units) has indeed been very effective with respect to raising of octane number, nevertheless it did so at the expense of the overall yield of gasoline.
Improved results in catalytic cracking with respect to both octane number and overall yield were achieved in U.S. Pat. No. 3,758,403. In said patent, the cracking catalyst was comprised of a large pore size crystalline zeolite (pore size greater than 7 Angstrom units) in admixture with ZSM-5 type zeolite wherein the ratio of ZSM-5 type zeolite to large pore size crystalline zeolite was in the range of 1:10 to 3:1.
The use of ZSM-5 type zeolite in conjunction with a zeolite cracking catalyst of the X or Y faujasite variety is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,894,931; 3,894,933; and 3,894,934. The two former patents disclose the use of ZSM-5 type zeolite in amounts up to and about 5 to 10 weight percent; the latter patent discloses the weight ratio of ZSM-5 type zeolite to large pore size crystalline zeolite within the range of 1:10 to 3:1.
The addition of a separate additive catalyst comprising one or more members of the ZSM-5 type has been found to be extremely efficient as an octane and total yield improver when used in very small amounts in conjunction with a conventional cracking catalyst. Thus, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,309,279, it was found that only 0.1-0.5 weight percent of a ZSM-5 type catalyst added to a conventional cracking catalyst under conventional cracking operations could increase octane by about 1 to 3 RON+0 (research octane number without lead).
It has also become known that incorporation of silver into ZSM-5 improves the steam stability of the catalyst. Thus, under the severe hydrothermal condition often encountered during oxidative regeneration of hydrocarbon conversion catalysts or as a result that one of the products of a conversion process is water, such as during the conversion of methenol to gasoline, the catalyst will maintain catalytic activity and structure crystallinity. However, the improved gasoline selectivity and higher octane achieved with AgHZSM-5 in combination with conventional cracking catalysts as in the present invention is unexpected based on the prior art where addition of a metal function results in very substantial losses in gasoline product with resulting increases in gas make.
In order to reduce automobile exhaust emissions to meet federal and state pollution requirements, many automobile manufacturers have equipped the exhaust system of their vehicles with catalytic converters. Said converters contain catalysts which are poisoned by tetraethyl lead. Since tetraethyl lead has been widely used to boost the octane number of gasoline, refiners now have to turn to alternate means to improve gasoline octane number.
One method of increasing octane number is to raise the cracker reactor temperature. This method, however, is very limited, since many units are now operating at maximum temperatures due to metallurgical limitations. Raising the cracker reactor temperature also results in increased requirements for the gas plant (i.e., gas compressor and separator). Since most gas plants are now operating at maximum capacity, any increase load could not be tolerated by the present equipment.
An alternative method has been to mix an additive catalyst such as ZSM-5 to the cracking catalyst as described above. Generally, the octane gain of a ZSM-5 containing cracking catalyst is associated with gasoline (C.sub.5 +) yield decrease and correspondingly higher yields of C.sub.3 and C.sub.4 gaseous products. As the freshly added ZSM-5 undergoes hydrothermal deactivation the octane enhancement is reduced and additional ZSM-5 must be added to maintain the desired octane level.
As can well be appreciated in the foregoing, it would be extremely desirable to have a more steam stable ZSM-5 additive which would in effect reduce the additive catalyst requirement to maintain a given octane level. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The present invention relates to an electronic control apparatus for use with an internal combustion engine using a digital computer, and more particularly to an engine speed sensing device wherein crank angle pulses are counted by a counter for a set time interval and the crank angle pulse count is read into a central processing unit of the computer to control, for example, the respective amounts of intake air and fuel supplied, spark timing and so forth.
In a conventional electronic control apparatus, a time interval set by the central processing unit (CPU) is counted by clock pulses. Angle pulses produced by a crank sensor each time the crankshaft rotates through a predetermined angle are counted by a counter during the time interval, and are latched at the end of the time interval. Then the latched count of angle pulses is read by the CPU after a subsequent time interval also set by the CPU. In other words, the timing at which the latched count of angle pulses are read into the CPU does not coincide with the end of the corresponding set time interval. Thus, the presence of this difference between the end of each set time interval and the time the latched count of angle pulses is read ensures some imprecision in the crank angle pulse count used to determine engine speed. Thus, if the engine speed greatly changes between the end of the immediately preceding time interval and the time of reading of the latched count of angle pulses, the latest data read into the CPU will not accurately reflect actual conditions, so that precise, high-speed control of the amounts of intake air and fuel supplied and so forth cannot be ensured. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a transmission and a power transmitting system, and in particular to a transmission having a rotating member and a support member that supports the rotating member such that the rotating member is not able to rotate, and a power transmitting system including the transmission.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, in a hybrid vehicle provided with a power transmitting system that transmits power from an internal combustion engine to driving wheels through engagement of gears, the internal combustion engine, a first motor generator, and a second motor generator connected to the driving wheels via a reduction gear are respectively connected to three rotating elements of a power distribution mechanism. In this type of hybrid vehicle, power of the second motor generator is transmitted to the driving wheels via the reduction gear, so that large power is generated while the size of the second motor generator is reduced.
A known example of the power transmitting system of the related art having the reduction gear is illustrated in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8. In FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, a second motor generator MG2 includes a stator (not shown) that forms a rotating magnetic field, and a rotor 1 disposed inside the stator and having a plurality of permanent magnets embedded therein.
A stator core of the stator of the second motor generator MG2 is formed by, for example, laminating magnetic steel sheets together, and is fixed to an inner circumferential wall of a case 2 as a support member of the power transmitting system.
The reduction gear is constructed such that a carrier as a rotating member that is one of rotating elements of a planetary gearset is fixed to the case 2, so as to reduce the speed of rotation of the second motor generator MG2. More specifically, the reduction gear includes a sun gear 3 coupled to a rotor shaft 1a formed integrally with the rotor 1, a ring gear 4 that transmits power to driveshafts (as an output portion) of driving wheels (not shown) via a gear mechanism, pinion gears 5 that mesh with the ring gear 4 and the sun gear 3 and transmit rotation of the sun gear 3 to the ring gear 4, and the carrier 6 as the rotating member that rotatably supports the pinion gears 5, as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2005-308094 (JP-A-2005-308094). The ring gear 4 is formed integrally with a ring gear of a power distribution mechanism (not shown), and is operable to transmit power to the driveshafts when power of the internal combustion engine is transmitted to the ring gear of the power distribution mechanism.
Also, a plurality of protrusions 6a are formed at a radially outer portion of the carrier 6, and a plurality of recesses 2a are formed in the inner circumferential surface of the case 2. Through engagement of the protrusions 6a of the carrier 6 with the recesses 2a of the case 2, the carrier 6 is mounted in the case 2 such that the carrier 6 is not able to rotate relative to the case 2.
In the power transmitting system having the reduction gear as described above, power of the second motor generator MG2 is transmitted to the ring gear 4 via the sun gear 3 and the pinion gears 4, and then transmitted from the ring gear 4 to the driving wheels, so that the speed of rotation of the second motor generator MG2 (i.e., rotor 1) can be reduced by the reduction gear.
In the reduction gear as described above, however, the width of each of the recesses 2a is required to be larger than the width of each of the protrusions 6a, so that the carrier 6 can be reliably mounted in the case 2. As a result, gaps are formed between the protrusions 6a and the recesses 2a when the carrier 6 is mounted in the case 2.
With the gaps thus formed between the protrusions 6a and the recesses 2a, when torque variations of the internal combustion engine are transmitted from the ring gear 4 to the pinion gears 5, or when torque produced during rotation of the second motor generator MG2 in forward and reverse directions is transmitted to the pinion gears 5 via the sun gear 3, torque may be applied to the carrier 6 that supports the pinion gears 5. As a result, unpleasant sound or noise may occur due to collisions between the protrusions 6a of the carrier 6 and the walls of the recesses 2a of the case 2. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a heat exchanger for heating a passenger compartment of a vehicle by carrying out heat exchange between air and hot water (engine coolant), to which an electric heat emitter is attached.
2. Description of Related Art
A heating heat exchanger to which an electric heat emitter is attached is disclosed in JP-A-63-203411 and JP-U-6-75819. According to this heating heat exchanger, the electric heat emitter is integrated with the heat exchanger to heat air by carrying out heat exchange between the air and hot water (engine coolant). In the heating heat exchanger, when the hot water temperature is low as in right after a vehicle engine starts, an electric current is supplied to the electric heat emitter. Then, the heat generated by the electric heat emitter radiates to the air through corrugated fins of the heat exchanger, and the air is heated.
However, according to the heating heat exchanger disclosed in JP-A-5-69732, because the electric heat emitter including a heat emitting element and electrode plates is brazed with a core portion of the heat exchanger, the electric heat emitter is exposed to a high temperature condition (about 600.degree. C., in case an aluminum brazing process is carried out). As a result, the electric characteristic of the heat emitter is deteriorated.
Further, according to JP-U-6-75819, the electric heat emitter is installed in a concave portion formed on an air downstream side surface of the plate fin, in a plate fin type heating heat exchanger. In this plate fin type heat exchanger, a cylindrical tube is mechanically expanded to connect to the plate fin. Therefore, a heat resistance at the connecting portion becomes large, thereby decreasing the heat conductive efficiency of the heat exchanger.
Further, the concave portion is additionally formed on the plate fin for installing the electric heat emitter, thereby increasing the manufacturing cost of the heat exchanger. | {
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Model based programming and procedural programming are two different programming language models. To illustrate the differences between model based and procedural programming, consider the following statements:10X=220Y=X+530X=140 PRINT YIn a procedural programming language, printing Y on line 40 would result in a 7, since the value of Y was set at line 20. In a model based programming language, line 20 tells the system that Y is dependent on X, and should float with the value of X. Thus, after line 30, the value of Y will be 6, and 6 would be output at line 40.
Many conventional spreadsheet applications allow users to develop interdependent formulas in which variables (e.g., X and Y) are references to cells in a spreadsheet table. The formulas may be used to execute calculations according to the model based approach. This is very powerful, and one reason why spreadsheets are such indispensable tools. An entire model of interdependent formulas can be built up, and then changing one value can cause a ripple effect across all the expressions, without the programmer needing to explicitly re-execute all those expressions.
In the exemplary statements above, lines 10, 20, 30, 40 are executed in order, thereby injecting the procedural approach into the statements. Many conventional spreadsheet applications have no sense of an ordered procedural approach. To inject a procedural aspect into spreadsheet operations and/or to perform advanced tasks within a spreadsheet application, it is typically required to use a separate procedural programming language such as, for example, Visual Basic, in connection with the spreadsheet application. However, there are a number of drawbacks associated with this model. In particular, these programming languages are often too complex and/or unfamiliar to many spreadsheet users. Additionally, functions typically don't translate well between spreadsheets and procedural programming languages, and there is a basic mismatch between the procedural approach and spreadsheet's model driven approach. Another drawback of this model is that conventional procedural programming languages may consume too many resources in a server environment. Conventional procedural programming languages typically also have security issues that make them undesirable for execution in a server environment. Thus, many conventional spreadsheet services do not even offer a procedural programming language to users. | {
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High-speed data communication integrated circuit (IC) dies are known to include both drivers and receivers. The driver of one such IC connects to the receiver of another via one or more signal transmission lines. Both the driver and receiver circuits include termination elements that attempt to match the characteristic impedance of the transmission line to the output impedance of the driver and input impedance of the receiver, as impedance mismatches degrade signal quality and consequently reduce communication speed and reliability.
Some conventional communication systems employ control systems that calibrate the impedance of on-chip termination elements for improved impedance matching. For a detailed discussion of one such system, see U.S. Pat. No. 6,418,500 entitled “Feedback Control for Termination Adjustment,” which issued on Jul. 9, 2002, to Gai et al.
Some high-performance communication systems employ current-mode switching for improved speed performance. Such systems include current-mode drivers, which convey digital signals by modulating current between values representative of different logic levels. The levels of current used to express logic levels are carefully calibrated and controlled to obtain rapid switching and low power consumption. The following issued patents describe conventional circuits for calibrating the drive current for current-mode drivers: U.S. Pat. No. 5,254,883 entitled “Electrical Current Source Circuitry for a Bus,” which issued on Oct. 19, 1993, to Horowitz et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 6,462,591 entitled “Semiconductor Memory Device Having a Controlled Output Driver Characteristic,” which issued on Oct. 8, 2002, to Garrett et al.
The aforementioned calibration techniques for setting and maintaining appropriate termination resistances and drive currents work well in many applications. High-speed circuits are in a very competitive market, however, and must achieve ever greater performance levels to satisfy customer demand. There is therefore a need for area- and power-efficient communication circuits that exhibit improved speed performance. | {
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In the fabrication of integrated circuit (IC) devices (also referred to as semiconductor devices), many processes, steps, and techniques may be applied to form components and materials into the desired products. For example, in the fabrication of extremely thin silicon-on-insulator (ETSOI) devices, back-gate biases may be desired to tune device characteristics, manage power consumption, etc. Fabrication of these devices typically includes application of back-gate biases across a buried oxide (BOX) layer. However, in order to make the application of this back-gate bias across thick BOX layers effective, a large back bias voltage is required. Typically, the large back bias voltage is not practical with modern low operating voltage chips. As a result, this application limitation may require the use of ultra-thin body BOX (UTBB) technologies during fabrication. The requiring of the UTBB technologies during fabrication may increase cost, as well as increase design and process complexity. | {
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As disclosed in Patent Document 1, an image forming apparatus, such as a laser printer, includes a toner container as a toner case to be attached to an apparatus main body. The apparatus main body is provided with an image forming portion including a developing portion.
The toner container includes a case body in which a toner as a developer is contained. The case body is provided with a toner supplying portion which supplies a toner to the developing portion of the apparatus main body. Further, at an inside of the case body, a screw portion which conveys the toner to the toner supplying portion and a stirring mechanism which stirs the toner are provided.
The stirring mechanism includes a shaft driven to rotate at the inside of the case body, and a stirring sheet attached to the shaft. The screw portion includes a screw shaft driven to rotate at the inside of the case body, and a spiral conveying blade formed on an outer face of the screw shaft and elongated along an axial direction of the screw shaft. One end of the screw shaft is rotatably supported by a bearing formed at the inside of the case body. Meanwhile, another end of the screw shaft is supported by a driving member, which transmits a driving force of a motor, at the inside of the case body.
Further, the toner contained at the inside of the case body is stirred by the stirring mechanism and is conveyed to the screw portion. The toner having been conveyed to the screw portion is conveyed to the toner supplying portion by the screw portion. Thus, the toner is supplied from the toner supplying portion to the developing portion outside the case body.
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication No. 2010-176033 | {
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Ice packs for single patient use are generally of two types: large general purpose ice packs designed for application to large areas of the body and small, specialized ice packs designed for cold application at particular points.
Impaction injuries to the face, in the jaw and cheek areas, for example, require an ice pack application to chill the affected area in order to reduce swelling and to prevent pain and further tissue damage. Because the human head is generally spherical in shape, it is therefore one of the most difficult body parts on which to apply medical dressings such as ice packs. Accordingly, a need has arisen to provide for an ice pack which can be secured to the head to apply a cold application directly to an injured facial area.
Because of the proximity of the injured area to the eyes, nose and mouth, it is important that the ice pack application does not interfere with their functions, such as sight, respiration, speech and eating. Accordingly, it is further desirable to provide for an ice pack which may be fastened to the head securely and yet in an unobstructive manner.
The present invention provides for a facial ice pack and is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems as set forth above. | {
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The present invention relates to a technique for testing or inspecting a property or aspect of a sample such as a wafer. In more detail, the present invention relates to an electron beam apparatus applicable to a defect detection and/or line width measurement of a wafer during a semiconductor manufacturing process and so on, in which electron beams are irradiated to a sample, secondary electrons emitted from the sample and varying according to a property of the sample surface are captured, and image data is created therefrom to evaluate patterns on the sample surface with a high throughput on the basis of the image data. The present invention also relates to an evaluation system and a semiconductor device manufacturing method, both of which utilize the electron beam apparatus. In the present description, the meaning of the term “evaluation” of a sample also includes the meaning of “inspection” such as defect detection and line width measurement of a sample.
In semiconductor processes, design rules are now going to enter the era of 100 nm, and the production scheme is shifting from small-kind mass production represented by DRAM to a multi-kind small production such as SOC (silicon on chip). Associated with this shifting, the number of manufacturing steps has been increased, and an improved yield of each process is essential, so that testing for defects caused by the process becomes important.
With the trend of increasingly higher integration of semiconductor devices and finer patterns, a need exists for high resolution, high throughput testing apparatuses. A resolution of 100 nm or less is required for examining defects on a wafer of 100 nm design rule. Also, as manufacturing steps are increased in response to the requirement of higher integration of devices, the amount of testing is increased and thus a higher throughput is required. Further, as devices are formed of an increased number of layers, testing apparatuses are required to have the ability to detect defective contacts (electric defect) of vias which connect lines on layers to each other. While optical defect testing apparatuses are mainly used at present, it is anticipated that electron beam based defect testing apparatuses will substitute for optical defect testing apparatus as a dominant testing apparatus in the future from a viewpoint of the resolution and defective contact testing capabilities. However, the electron beam based defect testing apparatus also has a disadvantage in that it is inferior to the optical one in the throughput. For this reason, a need exists for the development of a high resolution, high throughput electron beam based testing apparatus which is capable of electrically detecting defects.
It is said that the resolution of an optical defect testing apparatus is limited to one half of the wavelength of used light, and the limit is approximately 0.2 μm in an example of practically used optical defect detecting apparatus which uses visible light. On the other hand, in electron beam based systems, scanning electron microscopes (SEM) have been commercially available. The scanning electron microscope has a resolution of 0.1 μm and takes a testing time of eight hours per 20 cm wafer. The electron beam based system also has a significant feature that it is capable of testing electric defects (broken lines, defective conduction of lines, defective conduction of vias, and so on). However, it takes so long testing time that it is expected to develop a defect testing apparatus which can rapidly conduct a test. Further, a testing apparatus is expensive and low in throughput as compared with other process apparatuses, so that it is presently used after critical steps, such as after etching, deposition (including copper coating), CMP (chemical-mechanical polishing) planarization processing, and so on.
A testing apparatus in accordance with an electron beam based scanning (SEM) scheme will be described. An SEM based testing apparatus narrows down an electron beam which is linearly irradiated to a sample for scanning. The diameter of the electron beam corresponds to the resolution. On the other hand, by moving a stage in a direction perpendicular to a direction in which the electron beam is scanned, a region under observation is tow-dimensionally irradiated with the electron beam. In general, the width over which the electron beam is scanned, extends over several hundred μm. Secondary electron beams emitted from the sample by the irradiation of the focussed electron beam (called the “primary electron beam”) are detected by a combination of a scintillator and a photomultiplier (photomultiplier tube) or a semiconductor based detector (using PIN diodes). The coordinates of irradiated positions and the amount of the secondary electron beams (signal strength) are combined to generate an image which is stored in a storage device or output on a CRT (Braun tube). The foregoing is the principle of SEM (scanning electron microscope). From an image generated by this system, defects on a semiconductor (generally, Si) wafer is detected in the middle of a manufacturing procedure. A detecting speed corresponding to the throughput, is determined by the intensity of a primary electron beam (current value), a size of a pixel, and a response speed of a detector. Currently available maximum values are 0.1 μm for the beam diameter (which may be regarded as the same as the resolution), 100 nA for the current value of the primary electron beam, and 100 MHz for the response speed of the detector, in which case it is said that a testing speed is approximately eight hours per wafer of 20 cm diameter. Therefore, there exists a problem that a testing speed is significantly low in comparison with that in an optical based testing apparatus. For instance, the former testing speed is 1/20 or less of the latter testing speed.
If a beam current is increased in order to achieve a high throughput, a satisfactory SEM image cannot be obtained in the case of a wafer having an insulating membrane on its surface because charging occurs.
As another method for improving an inspection speed, in terms of which an SEM system is poor, there have been proposed SEM systems (multi-beam SEM systems) and apparatuses employing a plurality of electron beams. According to the systems and apparatuses, an inspection speed is improved in proportion to the number of electron beams. However, as a plurality of primary electron beams impinge obliquely on a wafer and a plurality of secondary electron beams are pulled from the wafer obliquely, only secondary electrons released obliquely from the wafer are caught by a detector. Further, a shadow occasionally appears on an image and secondary electrons from a plurality of electron beams are difficult to separate from one another, which disadvantageously results in a mix of the secondary electrons.
Still further, there has been no suggestion or consideration about an interaction between an electron beam apparatus and other sub-systems in an evaluation system employing a multi-beam based electron beam apparatus and thus, at present there aren't any complete evaluation systems of a high throughput. In the meantime, as a wafer to be inspected becomes greater, sub-systems must be re-designed to accommodate to a greater wafer, a solution for which has not yet been suggested either. | {
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Pioneering work by Hisaw 1926 first suggested an important role for the peptide hormone relaxin in animals through its effect in dilating the pubic symphsis, thus facilitating the birth process. Relaxin is synthesised in the corpora lutea of ovaries during pregnancy, and is released into the blood stream prior to parturition. The availability of ovarian tissue has enabled the isolation and amino acid sequence determination of relaxin from the pig (James et al (1977), Nature, 267, 554-546), the rat (John et al (1981) Endocrinology, 108, 726-729), and the shark (Schwabe et al (1982) Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci., 380, 6-12).
Relaxin genes and the encoded relaxin polypeptides have been identified in many species including man, pig, rat, sheep and shark. In all these species only one relaxin gene has been characterised in mammals, with the exception of the human and higher primates where two separate genes have been described. The separate human genes were identified by the present applicant and designated H1 (Hudson et al (1983) Nature, 301, 628-631) and H2 (Hudson et al (1984) Embo. J., 3, 2333-2339).
The peptide encoded by the H2 gene is the major stored and circulating form in the human (Winslow et al (1992) Endrocrinology, 130, 2660-2668). H1 relaxin expression is restricted to the decidua, placenta and prostate (Hansell et al (1991) J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., 72, 899-904), however, the H1 peptide has similar biological activity to that of H2 relaxin in a rat atrial bioassay (Tan et al (1998) Br. J. Pharmacol 123, 762-770).
The actions of relaxin include an ability to inhibit myometrial contractions, to stimulate remodelling of connective tissue and to induce softening of the tissues of the birth canal. Additionally, relaxin increases growth and differentiation of the mammary gland and nipple and induces the breakdown of collagen, one of the main components of connective tissue. Relaxin decreases collagen synthesis and increases the release of collagenases (Unemori et al (1990) J. Biol. Chem. 265, 10682-10685). These findings were recently confirmed by the establishment of the relaxin gene-knockout mouse (Zhao et al (1999) Endocrinology 140, 445-453), which exhibited a number of phenotypic properties associated with pregnancy. Female mice lacking a functionally active relaxin gene failed to relax and elongate the interpubic ligament of the pubic symphysis and could not suckle their pups, which in turn, died within 24 hours unless cross-fostered to relaxin wildtype or relaxin heterozygous foster mothers.
Evidence has accumulated to suggest that relaxin is more than a hormone of pregnancy and acts on cells and tissues other than those of the female reproductive system. Relaxin causes a widening of blood vessels (vasodilatation) in the kidney, mesocaecum, lung and peripheral vasculature, which leads to increased blood flow or perfusion rates in these tissues (Bani et al (1997) Gen. Pharmacol 28, 13-22). It also stimulates an increase in heart rate and coronary blood flow, and increases both glomerular filtration rate and renal plasma flow (Bani et al (1997) Gen. Pharmacol. 28, 13-22). The brain is another target tissue for relaxin where the peptide has been shown to bind to receptors (Osheroff et al (1991) Proc. Nal. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 88, 6413-6417; Tan et al (1999) Br. J. Pharmacol 127, 91-98) in the circumventricular organs to affect blood pressure and drinking (Parry et al (1990) J Neurodendocrinol 2, 53-58; Summerlee et al (1998) Endocrinology 139, 2322-2328; Sinnahay et al (1999) Endocrinology 140, 5082-5086).
Important clinical uses arise for relaxin in various diseases responding to vasodilation, such as coronary artery disease, peripheral vascular disease, kidney disease associated with arteriosclerosis or other narrowing of kidney capillaries, or other capillaries narrowing in the body, such as in the eyes or in the peripheral digits, the mesocaecum, lung and peripheral vasculature.
The finding of two human relaxin genes, and encoded human relaxin peptide products nearly 20 years ago was of itself most surprising.
Even more surprisingly with the benefit of nearly 20 years of further research and development in relaxin biology internationally, the applicant has identified, isolated and characterised nucleic acid sequences encoding a third human relaxin gene (H3), the encoded H3 relaxin peptide and the constituent peptide chains thereof. The production of H3 relaxin and analogues thereof has been made possible, as have uses and therapeutic treatment methods. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to gravesites and gravestones and more particularly pertains to a new gravesite covering system for protecting and decorating gravesites and gravestones.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of gravesites and gravestones is known in the prior art. More specifically, gravesites and gravestones heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
Known prior art gravesites and gravestones include U.S. Pat. No. 4,304,076; U.S. Pat. No. 4,058,940; Des. U.S. Pat. No. 297,478; Des. U.S. Pat. No. 359,151; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,428,168. Additionally, U.S. Pat. No. 5,009,033 teaches a ground covering sheet.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not disclose a new gravesite covering system. The inventive system includes a first member made from a flexible, transparent plastic sheet material. The first member has a main body portion shaped for disposal over a gravestone, and a skirt portion for anchoring the first member to the ground around the gravestone using spikes extending through grommets in the skirt portion. A planar, rectangular member made from a flexible, transparent plastic sheet material is secured along one edge thereof to the first member for covering the ground in front of the gravestone. The rectangular member also includes grommets therein for anchoring the rectangular member to the ground. The first member and the rectangular member each include a pocket for holding a picture of the deceased therein, and are provided with ornamentation for making the gravesite more attractive. The members can also be separately used if only a portion of the gravesite is to be protected and decorated.
In these respects, the gravesite covering system according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of protecting and decorating gravesites and gravestones. | {
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It is a truism that modern cell phones feature a multitude of features that expand on the traditional cell phone functionality. For example, today cell phone users are able to use their phones to connect to the Internet, manage meetings, appointments, and other aspects of their every day lives, listen to music and watch videos, etc. In essence the cell phone—which began as a single-function communicator—has grown into a fully functioning multimedia device. However the fundamental function of a cell phone remains communication. It should be noted that cell phones are also sometimes referred to as mobile phones, which in the proper meaning of the word indicates that the user of that phone is mobile, and is supposedly always available for anyone who might want to contact him or her.
The core functionality of mobile/cell phones has been basically the same since the first devices were made available to consumers. Although there has been a rapid expansion in the feature set of most cell phones, the core functionality has not seen a similar expansion. The reasons for the development discrepancy likely have to do with the fact that the core functionality is sufficient for most users and that there are not just that many ways of enhancing the person-to-person communication experience on a mobile device
Arguably, the most important enhancement in the cell phone, at least as it relates to interpersonal communication, has been the development of the capability of sending short text messages from one phone to another.
Otherwise, the main improvements in communications have been largely concerned with connectivity. For example, communications protocols such as infrared and Bluetooth have become de facto requirements for all but the most inexpensive phones. In addition advances have been made in connectivity to the Internet (for example) and now it is routine for users to be able to access their e-mail and browse the web via their phones.
However, these improvements in connectivity, as welcome as they might be, do not expand on the one-to-one personal communication aspect of the phone. One thing that would be a leap forward in such communications would be the ability to quickly and easily assemble a multi-user communication session that is hardware independent and, further, does not require the user to purchase additional hardware. Although the prior art has provided multi-user communications in the form of, for example, conference calls—the present technology of conference calls is quite limiting to the user. For example, it is typically limited to a predetermined number of user connections (e.g., 5). Further, a start time must be communicated to each user so there is little opportunity for spontaneity. Further, adding more users to the session may be very difficult or impossible. Finally, the conference call will ultimately be limited to known users, i.e., those who are known to one of the participants and have been invited.
Additionally, exchanging short messages between users is a time-delayed communication mode that typically involves a one-to-one communication. Even though some software providers have offered solutions that allow a user to send one short message to multiple participants, such is not the same as real time voice communication between these same users. Of course, such group messaging is a time-delayed communication mode too, in which at least one participant is always in a waiting position. Thus, this communication option also offers little in the way of spontaneity or flexibility to the user.
As was mentioned previously, over the last few years several attempts have been made to enhance the communication options available to owners of mobile devices, for example infrared and Bluetooth have been added but they have been used so far mostly for communication with other devices, i.e. for data transfer—not for direct communication between users.
Those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that infrared is limited to communications over a relative short line-of-sight distance between potential communication partners. As a consequence, the infrared protocol has typically been implemented as a simple data exchange protocol which is useful, for example, in synchronizing data between a mobile phone and a personal computer.
On the other hand, the Bluetooth protocol provides for the creation of networks, so called piconets, in which up to 255 participants can be combined, of which only 8 participants can be active simultaneously, these 8 participants consist of one so called “master” device and seven so-called “slave” or secondary devices. The master device controls the communication and assigns so-called “sendslots” to participants. Additionally, communications within a piconet are based on the client server principle, which imposes the restriction that the master (server) is needed for on-going communications. Thus, when a master device looses the connection the piconet ceases to exist until a new master is selected and re-establishes the piconet by starting the creation process at the beginning. Although a Bluetooth device can be registered in multiple piconets, it can only be registered as master in one piconet.
Additionally, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the term scatternet is often used to refer to a combination of up to 10 piconets in which each piconet is associated with a different identification frequency. However, the technical specifications of the Bluetooth communication protocol limit the functionality of that communication option. For example, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that a piconet can accommodate a maximum of 8 active participants. Further, a piconet will collapse if the server (master) looses the connection.
Others have sought, with varying degrees of success, to deliver enhanced communication functionality despite the limitations of the Bluetooth protocol. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,674,995 teaches the creation of a virtual ball game that utilizes data that is passed between participants via Bluetooth, thereby delivering to them the illusion that they are playing a ball game. As another example, U.S. patent application No. 20020151320 describes a method of giving users in a user community additional functionality when using a software package in a community environment. That is, certain functions are provided to the users depending on the number of participants, with higher user numbers being associated with the unlocking of additional program functionality. However, these sorts of approaches are still fundamentally limited by the nature of the Bluetooth protocol.
As an example of an alternative approach to the use of Bluetooth, consider U.S. patent application 2005/0063409 that teaches a method for allowing users to communicate across several scatternets. However, this invention utilizes multiple interconnected servers and is not suitable for users that wish to quickly arrange and participate in an ad hoc communications group.
None of the prior art communication options, however, deliver a flexible way of communicating with an arbitrary number of individual users. In each case either the users are restricted by the technical limitations of the Bluetooth standard or the communication options necessary to create a group chat are too involved for the average user to accomplish. Note that for purposes of the instant disclosure, the term enhancement of the communication options will be taken to refer to any approach that allows a user to communicate with a mobile device in addition to the already existing communication options.
Thus what is needed is a method that gives the user of a cell phone or users of mobile devices the ability to create multi-user communications on that device without a need for elaborate equipment configurations, planning, or installation and which is not bound by the technical limitations of a specific communication protocol. Preferably the method will extend an invitation to others to join a communications group and will automatically provide the appropriate software for use by new users who do not already have it. Preferably the method will use a commonly available wireless protocol such as Bluetooth or Wi-Fi.
Accordingly it should now be recognized, as was recognized by the present inventors, that there exists, and has existed for some time, a very real need for a system and method that would address and solve the above-described problems.
Before proceeding to a description of the present invention, however, it should be noted and remembered that the description of the invention which follows, together with the accompanying drawings, should not be construed as limiting the invention to the examples (or preferred embodiments) shown and described. This is so because those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains will be able to devise other forms of the invention within the ambit of the appended claims. | {
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1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to public key cryptography, digital signatures and public key infrastructure (PKI). More specifically, it relates to the generation and use of records and digital receipts for transactions.
2. Background Art
As a result of the increasing popularity and acceptance of the computer and the Internet and other forms of networked communications, electronic transactions and documents are increasing in number and significance. For example, the volume of consumer purchases, business to business commerce, and stock trading and other forms of investing which occur over the Internet and/or wireless networks is steadily increasing, as are other forms of online commerce. In addition, the number of documents which are generated or available electronically and the number of documents which exist only in electronic form (e.g., the paperless office) are also steadily increasing.
The increasing number of electronic transactions and documents leads to a corresponding need for reliable methods for making records of these transactions and documents. For example, when a consumer purchases an item over the Internet using his credit card, it is desirable to make a reliable, non-disputable record of the purchase. If two corporations electronically “sign” a contract, it is desirable to record both the act of signing and the contents of the contract. In the paperless office, it is desirable to “digitally notarize” certain documents, thus ensuring that their existence at a specific time can be proved at a later date.
One approach to the records problem makes use of cryptography. The characteristics of pubic key cryptography in particular may be used in various ways to make strong records of transactions. For example, in the consumer Internet example, a consumer with a digital certificate might create a digital signature of his order including the credit card number, thus creating a record of the purchase. In the contract example, the two corporations might similarly create a two-party digital signature of the contract, each corporation using its digital certificate. In the digital notary example, a third party (i.e., the notary) might witness the document by affixing a time stamp and a digital signature to the document.
However, in order to gain widespread acceptance, these approaches should be intuitive and easy to use. One problem with past attempts to create an infrastructure of transaction records is that they were too cumbersome and difficult to use. For example, in many approaches, a digital signature is generated to witness a transaction and these digital signatures are stored in case there is a future need for them. However, digital signatures are unintelligible to humans. Thus, in order to find the correct digital signature for a specific case, the digital signatures must be securely stored with a description of the transaction. Once the correct digital signature is located, further processing is required to make the contents of the digital signature useful to humans.
These functions are often performed by separate pieces of software. For example, database software may be used to store the digital signatures and their corresponding software in a large central database. Browser plug-in software may be used to process the correct digital signature once it is located. However, this approach may be both cumbersome and non-intuitive. The central database requires access to the database in order to locate the correct records. Thus, it is difficult for one entity to send a copy of the record of the transaction to another entity, particularly if either entity does not have access to the database at the time. A similar problem occurs if an entity does not have the correct browser plug-in or does not know how to use the plug-in.
Thus, there is a need for simple and intuitive approaches to making and using records of transactions and documents. There is a further need for approaches which allow these records to be easily moved around without compromising their integrity. | {
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1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to a method and apparatus for filtering particulate matter from internal combustion engine coolant where a filter is connected between the heater core supply and return lines.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of engine coolant filters is known in the prior art.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,948,248 to Gene W. Brown, issued Sep. 7, 1999, describes an engine coolant filter which provides a delayed release of chemical additives to the coolant system.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,382,355 issued Jan. 17, 1995, to Daniel A. Arlozynski discloses an Engine coolant filter having an automatic clogged-filter bypass valve and a visual indicator.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,776,384 to Offer discloses a replaceable element coolant filter including a pleated paper filter element for use in an existing water filter housing for internal combustion engine cooling systems by means of a grommet that serves to seat the element and seal it around the housing outlet.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,682,308 to Charles L. Moon, issued Aug. 8, 1972, describes an engine coolant filter comprising a filter base connected to a coolant conduit, a removable filter body, and check valves.
There is a need for a relatively simple and inexpensive coolant filter system which can be installed on new engines, or retrofitted to existing engines.
The current invention is an engine coolant filter system and method for directing a portion of the normal coolant flow through heater hoses to a replaceable cartridge or media filter in order to remove particulate matter such as rust and scale.
An object of the present invention is to provide an improved engine coolant filter system for removing particulate matter such as scale and rust from an internal combustion engine cooling system.
In one embodiment, the engine coolant filter system is created by cutting the supply and return heater core lines, placing a tee in each line, installing a section of hose on each of the tees, and then placing a filter between the hose sections so that a portion of the flow from the heater hoses is directed through the filter. In this embodiment, the coolant filter may be retrofitted to an existing engine. In other embodiments, the filter system may be installed at the factory.
In an alternate embodiment, the filter is provided in a housing which may be directly inserted between the heater hoses so that additional fittings are not required. In this embodiment a portion of the flow is directed from the heater core supply line through the filter to the heater core return line.
In another embodiment, the filter is provided near the engine and the heater supply hose is branched so that a portion of the flow is directed through the filter and returned to a branch in a water pump inlet line.
Some embodiments of the invention include replaceable filter cartridges, such that a new cartridge may be installed in a filter housing. Other embodiments include a disposable housing, such that both the housing and the filter media are replaced.
Engine coolant flows into an inlet port on the filter housing, is forced through a filter medium, and exits the filter housing through an outlet port. Preferably, a portion of the overall flow of coolant through the engine is directed through the filter at all times that the engine is operational. By continuously filtering a relatively small portion of the overall coolant flow, the concentration of rust and scale is substantially reduced, thereby reducing corrosion and fouling, and improving thermal efficiency in the radiator.
The filter is preferably sized for various vehicles so that it may be replaced at the same time as the oil filter is normally changed, such as by the owner or by an oil changing service center. | {
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Camera modules are incorporated into a variety of consumer electronic devices, including smartphones, mobile audio players, personal digital assistants, laptop computers, and desktop computers. There is a constant drive to add additional features to these cameras modules while maintaining a compact size. For example, one feature that is desirable in camera modules is an autofocus (AF) feature that automatically adjusts focal distance so that an image captured by the camera module is in sharp focus. Another feature that is desirable in camera modules is an optical image stabilization (OIS) feature that compensates for unintended movement of the camera module when capturing an image/video (e.g., due to user hand shake or other vibration).
OIS is performed by detecting movement of the camera module and then counteracting that movement, for example, by moving the lens carrier of the camera module in an opposite direction of that movement. This can be achieved by suspending the lens carrier using flexible suspension wires that sway so as to allow the lens carrier to move in directions orthogonal to an optical axis of a lens of the camera module. The lens carrier can be moved using a force generated by a magnet and a coil carrying electric current (e.g., a Lorentz force). The flexible suspension wires can also be used to carry the electrical coil current in order to perform AF. | {
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Many proposals have been made previously for forming composite yarns and these generally divide into a number of categories. In one category the composite yarn is proposed to be formed at very high speed by false twisting the continuous filament strand and attempting to attach the fibres to this strand as it passes. No success has yet been obtained with a process of this type.
In a second category a continuous strand, generally a continuous filament yarn is introduced into a staple fibre spinning system at some convenient point. This has been done with ring spinning systems with some success, but with the disadvantage of very low speeds. It has also been tried with various forms of open-end spinning systems, particularly rotor spinning, vortex spinning, electrostatic spinning and friction spinning. However little success has been obtained to date.
Specific proposals on the use of this technique in friction spinning have been disclosed in U.K. patent specification Nos. 1 518 771 (Fehrer), 2 001 359-A (Barmag) and 2 011 956-A (VUB). In all cases a continuous strand is fed axially of the yarn so that the staple fibres wrap around the outside of the core to form the composite yarn. This technique is unsatisfactory in that the wrapping staple fibres are insufficiently connected to the core and can be stripped relatively easily. U.K. Patent Specification No. 2 001 359-A proposes the use of colloidal silica to overcome this problem, which does not get to the heart of the problem that the structure of the yarn is unsatisfactory.
Proposals in relation to the rotor spinning technique are disclosed in U.K. Patent Specification Nos. 1 154 554 (VUB) and 1 495 713 (SSI) and U.S. Patent No. 3,605,395 (Daiwa). In Daiwa and VUB the formed staple yarn is twisted around the continuous strand to form a composite yarn of corkscrew formation with the continuous filament unsatisfactorily on the surface. In SSI the core continuous filament is fed to the collecting groove of the rotor in a constant loop whereby it is absorbed into the centre of the staple strand and forms a yarn by the action of the untwisting false twist. This proposal has not achieved success presumably in view of the obvious technical difficulties and the unsatisfactory resultant yarn.
In relation to electrostatic and vortex open-end techniques, proposals have been made in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,028,871 (Cor), 3,835,638 (U.S. Department of Agriculture), 2,817,947 (Strang) and in U.K. Pat. No. 1 373 255 (Goetzfried) in all of which the fibres are wrapped around an axial core of a continuous strand. Additionally Bobkowicz (various patents for example U.K. Pat. No. 1 569 110) has proposed bonding staple fibres to the outside of a continuous strand.
None of the above proposals utilizing open-end spinning techniques has been successful in that they do not form a satisfactory structure of a composite yarn. In all cases, either the continuous strand has formed the core around which the fibres are wrapped or alternatively the filament has been wrapped around a core of the fibres. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to optical elements and light source devices and, more particularly, to a light guide plate and a backlight module using the same.
2. Description of Related Art
At present, colorful display devices are popular with cell phones and personal digital products. Various colorful display devices have been developed. Passive display devices, such as liquid crystal display (LCD) devices adopting thin film transistors (known as “TFT-LCD”), become a main aspect of the display market. However, with development of technology, active display devices, such as organic light emitting diode (OLED) display devices have started to reach the display market. Performance of LCD devices, such as color saturation and brightness, etc. therefore needs to be enhanced.
As a passive device, a typical LCD device generally includes a backlight module to illuminate the LCD device. The backlight module is used to convert linear light sources such as cold cathode ray tubes, or point light sources such as light emitting diodes (LEDs), into area light sources having high uniformity and brightness.
If LEDs are introduced as point light sources to the backlight module, the LED is generally only a white LED or a single-color LED. However, this does not meet the requirement for colorful light sources for improving the LCD device.
What is needed, therefore, is a light guide plate and a backlight module for providing better color saturation and brightness. | {
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The development of semiconductor memory technology is essentially driven by the requirement for increasing the performance of the semiconductor memories in conjunction with miniaturization of the feature sizes. However, further miniaturization of the semiconductor memory concepts based on storage capacitors may be difficult due to the large quantity of charge that is required for writing to and reading from the storage capacitors, which leads to a high current demand. Therefore, thought is increasingly being given to new cell concepts that are distinguished by a significantly lower quantity of charge for the writing and reading operation. Semiconductor memories having a resistance memory element that exhibits a bipolar switching behavior are one such new promising circuit architecture.
In order to provide maximum density of memory units, it is desirable to provide a cell field consisting of a plurality of memory cells, which are conventionally arranged in a matrix consisting of column and row supply lines, called also word and bit lines, respectively. The actual memory cell is usually positioned at the crosspoints of the supply lines that are made of electrically conductive material. The word and bit lines are each electrically connected with the memory cell via an upper or top electrode and a lower or bottom electrode. To perform a change of the information content in a particular memory cell at the addressed crosspoint, or to recall the content of the memory cell, the corresponding word and bit lines are selected either with a write current or with a read current. To this end, the word and bit lines are controlled by appropriate control means.
There are several memory cells that are able to fit into such memory cell arrangement.
For example, RAM (Random Access Memory) comprises a plurality of memory cells that are each equipped with a capacitor that is connected with a so-called selection transistor. By selectively applying a voltage at the corresponding selection transistor via the word and bit lines, it is possible to store electric charge as an information unit (bit) in the capacitor during a write process and to recall it again during a read process via the selection transistor. A RAM memory device is a memory with random access, i.e., data can be stored under any particular address and can be read out again under this address later.
Another kind of semiconductor memory is DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory), which comprises in general only one single, correspondingly controlled capacitive element, e.g., a trench capacitor, with the capacitance of which one bit each can be stored as charge. This charge, however, remains for a relatively short time only in a DRAM memory cell, so that a so-called “refresh” must be performed regularly, wherein the information content is written in the memory cell again.
Since it is intended to accommodate as many memory cells as possible in a RAM memory device, one has been trying to realize them as simple as possible and on the smallest possible space, i.e., to scale them. The previously employed memory concepts (floating gate memories such as flash and DRAM) will, due to their functioning that is based on the storing of charges, presumably meet with physical scaling limits within foreseeable time. Furthermore, in the case of the flash memory concept, the high switching voltages and the limited number of read and write cycles, and in the case of the DRAM memory concept the limited duration of the storage of the charge state, constitute additional problems.
The CBRAM (conductive bridging RAM) memory cell, also known as a programmable metallization cell (“PMC”), may be switched between different electric resistance values by bipolar electric pulsing. In the simplest embodiment, such an element may be switched between a very high (off resistance) and a distinctly lower (on resistance) resistance value by applying short current or voltage pulses. The switching rates may be less than a microsecond. Very high ratios of the off resistance (R(off)) to the on resistance (R(on)) are achieved in the case of the CBRAM cells, due to the very high-resistance state of the solid electrolyte material in the non-programmed state. Typical values are R(off)/R(on)>106 given R(off)>1010′Ω and an active cell area <1 μm2. At the same time, this technology is usually characterized by low switching voltages of less than 100 mV for initiating the erase operation and less than 300 mV for the write operation.
In structural terms, a CBRAM cell is a resistance memory element comprising an inert cathode electrode, a reactive anode electrode and a solid state electrolyte arranged between the cathode and anode. The term “solid state electrolyte,” as referred to herein, includes all solid state materials in which at least some ions can move under the influence of an electric field.
The surfaces of the chalcogenide material, usually provided in a CBRAM cell are deposited by means of sputtering methods, have an amorphous structure and frequently contain superfluous chalcogenides that are poorly bound so that these weakly bound chalcogenide atoms are conglomerated like clusters and cannot be removed, which leads to the formation of Ag-chalcogenide conglomerates or protrusion defects in the Ag doping and electrode layer, which usually is made of Ag. In addition, the etch process of noble metals is difficult as no etch chemistry exists for etching silver, for example. It is, thus, difficult to obtain a homogeneous, planar anode for the CBRAM cells using silver. Current approach is to simultaneously deposit silver together with the other metallic material in a co-sputtering process. However, the planarization and the structuring of the anode has to be done using a physical process. | {
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As is well known, semiconductor devices can include an insulated gate field effect transistor (IGFET) type device. IGFET-type devices typically include a transistor gate separated from a channel region by a dielectric. A potential applied to a gate can then be varied to alter channel conductivity.
While many IGFET type devices are volatile (e.g., conventional metal-oxide-semiconductor FETs), nonvolatile devices may also include IGFET-like approaches. Nonvolatile IGFET-like devices typically retain electric charge through one or more methods (e.g., storing, trapping charge). One conventional nonvolatile device can be a floating gate electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM). A floating gate EEPROM can include a floating gate electrode situated between a control gate and a channel. Charge, including electrons and/or “holes”, may be stored in a floating gate electrode. Such a charge may alter a threshold voltage of a resulting nonvolatile IGFET-type device. As will be noted below, a drawback to any floating gate device can be higher programming and/or erase voltages with respect to other nonvolatile approaches.
Another nonvolatile IGFET type device can include a dielectric interface to trap charge. For example, devices have been proposed that include a metal gate formed over a dielectric of silicon nitride and silicon dioxide. Such devices have been referred to as metalnitride-oxide-semiconductor (MNOS) devices. A drawback to many MNOS devices has been lack of charge retention and/or uniformity of programming.
A third type of nonvolatile device may include one or more dielectric layers for storing charge. Such devices may be referred to generally as silicon-oxide-nitride-oxidesilicon (SONOS) type devices. One very basic type of SONOS device may include a polycrystalline silicon (“polysilicon”) gate formed over a dielectric layer that includes a silicon nitride layer sandwiched between silicon dioxide layers.
SONOS devices can have lower programming voltages than other conventional nonvolatile devices, such as some types of floating gate devices. In addition, the SONOS fabrication process can be compatible with standard complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) process technology. To maintain this compatibility, SONOS devices may be scaled along with other transistors used in the process. The ability of SONOS devices to maintain performance and reliability as they are scaled can be an important feature.
To better understand the formation of SONOS devices, a conventional way of forming a SONOS device is set forth in FIGS. 11 and 12A to 12F. FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating various process steps involved in creating an integrated circuit containing SONOS devices. FIGS. 12A-12F set forth a number of side cross-sectional views of a portion of an integrated circuit containing SONOS devices following the various conventional process steps described in FIG. 12.
The conventional process described in FIG. 11 is designated by the general reference character 1100. A conventional process 1100 may include the steps of growing a tunnel oxide (step 1102) in a furnace. Subsequently, wafers that now include the tunnel oxide can be transferred from a furnace to a different machine for growing other layers in an ONO dielectric for a SONOS-type device. In FIG. 11, such a step may include transferring wafers to a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) machine (step 1104).
A conventional method 1100 may further include depositing a silicon nitride layer over tunnel oxide in a CVD machine (step 1106), depositing a top oxide layer over a nitride layer in the same or a different CVD machine (step 1108), and depositing a polysilicon gate layer (step 1110).
The above steps may form various layers for a SONOS-type device. Such layers can then be patterned to form a SONOS-type transistor. Patterning steps may include forming a gate mask (step 1112), etching gate structures (step 1114), and depositing and etching a spacer layer (step 1116).
Referring to FIG. 12A, a side cross-sectional view of a portion of an integrated circuit prior to the beginning of a conventional process 1100 is shown. An integrated circuit portion includes a substrate 1200, and may include isolation regions 1202 formed by prior process steps. As an example, isolation regions 1202 may be formed by various conventional isolation processes including but not limited to shallow trench isolation (STI) or the local oxidation of silicon (LOCOS).
It is noted that a substrate 1200 may also include various impurity regions, formed by ion implantation and/or other diffusion methods. As but a few examples, n-type wells may be formed in a p-type substrate (or vice versa), or p-type wells may be formed within n-type wells (or vice versa).
Referring again to FIG. 11, a conventional process 1100 may begin by growing a tunnel oxide (step 1102) in a furnace. A portion of an integrated circuit following step 1102 is set forth in FIG. 12B. Referring to FIG. 12B, a portion of an integrated circuit includes a tunnel oxide 1204 on a substrate 1200.
A conventional process 1100 can continue by transferring a wafer from a furnace to a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) machine (step 1104). A conventional process 1100 can continue by depositing a silicon nitride layer in a CVD machine (step 1106). A portion of an integrated circuit following step 1104 is set forth in FIG. 12C. Referring to FIG. 12C, an integrated circuit may now be situated within a CVD machine. The integrated circuit portion can now include a nitride layer 1206 deposited over a tunnel oxide 1204. A nitride layer 1206 can conventionally include essentially only silicon nitride (Si3N4).
A conventional process 1100 can continue by depositing a top oxide layer (step 1108) in a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) machine. Referring to FIG. 12D, an example of a portion of an integrated circuit following step 1106 is set forth. A tunnel oxide 1204, a nitride layer 1206 and a top oxide layer 1208 may now be formed over a substrate 1200. A top oxide layer 1208 can be conventionally formed by chemical vapor deposition (CVD).
At this point, in a conventional process 1100, three layers of an ONO dielectric have been created in at least two different machines. More particularly, a tunnel oxide 1204 may be formed in one machine (a furnace particular adapted for growing an oxide), while a nitride layer 1206 and/or a top oxide layer 1208 may be formed in a different machine (a machine particularly adapted for depositing CVD films)
A conventional process 1100 can continue by depositing a polysilicon gate layer (step 1110). An example of a portion of an integrated circuit following a step 1108 is set forth in FIG. 12E. Referring to FIG. 12E, a polysilicon gate layer 1210 has been deposited on a top oxide layer 1208. As also shown in FIG. 12E, a gate protection insulator 1213 may also be formed over polysilicon gate layer 1210. It is noted that a polysilicon gate layer 1210 is conventionally formed in a different reaction chamber than the previous oxide-nitride-oxide layers. Further, a gate protection insulator 1213 may be formed in a different reaction chamber than a polysilicon gate layer 1210.
At this point, in a conventional process 1100, the silicon-oxide-nitride-oxide-silicon (SONOS) layers can correspond to a substrate 1200, tunnel oxide 1204, nitride layer 1206, top oxide layer 1208, and polysilicon gate layer 1210, respectively.
A conventional process 1100 may continue with lithography and etch steps to isolate and form SONOS devices. In conventional lithography, a gate mask may first be formed (step 1112). An example of a portion of an integrated circuit following step 1110 is set forth in FIG. 12E. A gate mask material 1212 can be deposited and patterned using any of various lithographic techniques. A gate mask material 1212 may generally consist of a photoresist material.
Following the formation of a gate mask (step 1112), gate structures can be etched (step 1114). Referring now to FIG. 12F, a portion of an integrated circuit following step 1112 is set forth. A suitable etching process can remove portions of the tunnel oxide 1204, nitride layer 1206, top oxide layer 1208, and polysilicon gate layer 1210 that are not covered by gate mask material 1212. In this manner, SONOS device gate structures 1216 can be formed on a substrate 1200.
A conventional process 1100 can continue by depositing and etching a spacer layer (step 1116). An example of a portion of an integrated circuit following step 1116 is set forth in FIG. 12F. Referring to FIG. 12F, a spacer layer 1214 can be formed that surrounds and electrically isolates SONOS gate structures 1216. A spacer layer 1214 may include silicon dioxide. Note that in FIG. 12F, a gate mask layer 1212 has been removed by suitable process means.
While the conventional process described may produce an integrated circuit containing SONOS devices of reasonable quality and performance, certain aspects of a process may be important in maintaining device performance and/or reliability. This can be particularly true as SONOS devices are scaled to realize lower programming voltages and/or in order to maintain compatibility with CMOS process technology.
ONO dielectric layers in SONOS-type devices may suffer from certain drawbacks as a SONOS-type device is scaled down, particularly as the thickness of the dielectric layers are scaled down to a point at which a tunnel oxide 1204 can be less than 25 Å thick, a nitride layer 1206 can be less than 100 Å thick and a top oxide layer 1208 can be less than 50 Å thick.
A tunnel oxide 1204 can provide an insulating layer between a silicon substrate and a nitride layer 1206. A nitride layer 1206 can be a dielectric layer between a tunnel oxide 1204 and a top oxide layer 1208 that can trap and/or store electric charge. A top oxide layer 1208 can function to electrically isolate a nitride storage layer 1206 and a polysilicon gate layer 1210.
For the reasons set above, the quality of a tunnel oxide 1204, a nitride layer 1206 and a top oxide layer 1208 can be important features in an ONO dielectric of a SONOS-type device.
The performance of an ONO dielectric of a SONOS-type device can be affected by various factors including thickness, uniformity of thickness, particle count, stress in the dielectric layers, and the quality of a interfaces present in an ONO dielectric.
Thickness can be an important character of an ONO dielectric in a SONOS-type device as a thin but robust dielectric can be important in maintaining device performance and reliability. This may be particularly important as SONOS devices are scaled to realize lower programming voltages and/or integrated to be compatible with decreasing geometry CMOS process technology.
Uniformity of the thickness of dielectric layers across a wafer can also be an important feature in a process. Uniformity in layer properties across a wafer can translate into uniformity in the performance of all devices formed on at the same wafer. This can increase yields and help ensure that device specifications are met.
Particle count can be another important character of ONO dielectric of SONOS-type devices. Increased particle account typically results in direct reductions in yields. Consequently, minimizing particle count is typically a continuing goal in semiconductor manufacturing processes.
Stress may also reduce the quality of ONO dielectric layers of SONOS-type devices.
In particular, stress may occur when different materials undergo thermal expansion at different rates. Temperature variation can be the main cause of the thermal expansion that can lead to stress in different dielectric layers. Stress can cause cracking in the dielectric layers, spiking in metal lines and/or void formation in conductive layers, thus reducing the quality of an ONO dielectric.
Interface quality may be affected by foreign elements, or the like. Such foreign elements may typically be introduced at an interface during a manufacturing process. As but a few of the many possible examples, foreign elements may include organic films, undesirable elements like boron, and/or particles.
A conventional manufacturing process for a SONOS-type device, such as that described above, can have various drawbacks. In a conventional process, wafers can be transferred to different machines for manufacturing different layers. For example, a tunnel oxide 1204 can be grown in one machine, while the remaining layers including a nitride layer 1206 and a top oxide layer 1208 can be deposited in another machine. A transfer of wafers among different machines can facilitate the introduction of foreign particles or elements onto a wafer, and thus increase a particle count for a wafer. Further, such particles or elements may settle at an interface between dielectric layers. This may adversely affect the performance of an ONO dielectric.
A conventional process can also subject wafers to broad temperature changes in forming different dielectric layers. This may also increase the particle count and increase the stress in dielectric layers. In particular, different layers of a SONOS-type dielectric can be formed under different temperature ranges. In addition to increasing stress, resulting temperature cycles can also cause variations of thickness in different parts of dielectrics.
In light of the limitations of the conventional process set forth above, it would be desirable to provide a method of forming ONO dielectric layers for a SONOS-type device that may have a higher quality than conventional approaches. | {
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Over the past few years, dramatic increases in the cost of materials and labor have focused attention upon methods of reducing costs in various types of industrial and commercial devices. In the area of power transmission, it is usual that complex structures will be utilized to satisfy a relatively low torque transmission requirement. Recently industry has been concerned with production of transmission assemblies including utilization of stamped components. These structures, however, continue to be of complex construction including numerous components. Consequently, any malfunction within the device necessarily requires substantial time and possible expenditure of substantial sums toward replacement parts in putting the device back into an operable condition.
Change speed mechanisms currently used in bicycles are a specific area where the speed-changing device is of a complex nature. The usual three-speed, ten-speed, twelve speed, or eighteen speed shfting structure includes a plurality of sprockets in combination with a relatively sensitive shifting mechanism. The number of individual components in these devices is likewise substantial and repair necessarily involves expenditure of considerable time and money toward replacing a deflective component somewhere in the mechanism. A further disadvantage resides in the fact that these bicycle change speed devices can only be operated while the bicycle is in motion, thus preventing a change in a stopped or static condition. | {
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Recently, electronic devices such as servers and personal computers have been remarkably developed in terms of advancements in speed, performance, and the like, and accordingly semiconductor elements such as CPU (Central Processing Unit) used in the electronic devices have been progressively increased in size.
As a mounting technology for semiconductor elements, flip chip mounting is known in which a semiconductor element in the form of bare chip is directly mounted on a wiring board with a solder bump.
Additionally, to scale up the fine electrode arrangement of semiconductor elements to the electrode arrangement of a wiring board, there is also a mounting method in a BGA (Ball Grid Array) approach in which a semiconductor package having a semiconductor element placed on an interposer is fabricated and mounted on a wiring board with a solder bump interposed therebetween. The semiconductor package for BGA approach is also called a BGA semiconductor package.
FIGS. 1A and 1B are cross-sectional views of a BGA semiconductor package 5 in the course of the mounting thereof on a wiring board 1.
As illustrated in FIG. 1A, the wiring board 1 has first electrode pads 2 on one main surface thereof. A solder paste 4 is printed in advance on the first electrode pads 2 by screen printing.
On the other hand, the semiconductor package 5 includes second electrode pads 6 on a main surface thereof at positions facing the first electrode pads 2. Further, solder bumps 7 are bonded to the upper surfaces of the second electrode pads 6.
Then, while the solder bumps 7 are in contact with the solder paste 4, these are reflowed by heating. Thereby, the semiconductor package 5 is mounted on the wiring board 1 as illustrated in FIG. 1B. The surface tension of the solder and the own weight of the semiconductor package 5 determine the shape of the solder bumps 7 after the reflowing, which is normally a drum-like shape bulging at the center as illustrated.
Meanwhile, the semiconductor package 5 and wiring board 1 have different thermal expansion coefficients because of the difference in materials. Accordingly, as the semiconductor package 5 generates heat, stress is applied on the solder bumps 7 due to the difference in thermal expansion coefficient. The stress concentrates on portions of the solder bumps 7 where the diameter is the smallest, in other words, around bonded portions A between the electrode pads 2, 6 and the solder bumps 7.
As the power supply of the semiconductor package 5 is turned on and off repeatedly, the stress is repeatedly applied to the solder bumps 7 in the bonded portions A. Thus, metal fatigue gradually progresses at the solder bumps 7. Eventually, a crack is generated in the solder bumps 7, and the bonded portions A may be fractured.
Patent Literature 1: Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 05-114627 Patent Literature 2: International Publication Pamphlet No. WO 08/114434 Patent Literature 3: Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2001-118876 Patent Literature 4: Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 08-236898 Patent Literature 5: Japanese National Publication of International Patent Application No. 2005-510618
Non-patent Literature 1: Morita, Hayashi, Nakanishi, and Yoneda, “High Acceleration Test of Lead-free Solder”, 23rd Spring Lecture Meeting of Japan Institute of Electronics Packaging | {
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The present disclosure relates generally to techniques that determine object characteristics using light emanating from the objects. More specifically, the techniques can use filter arrangements to allow for the transmission, reflection, fluorescence, phosphorescence, photoluminescence, chemoluminescence and/or scattering of light with time variation, such as where the objects are moving relative to the filter arrangements.
Various techniques have been proposed for using light emanating from objects. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,358,476 (Kiesel et al.) describes a fluidic structure with a channel along which is a series of sensing components to obtain information about objects traveling within the channel, such as droplets, cells, viruses, microorganisms, microparticles, nanoparticles, or other objects carried by fluid. A sensing component includes a set of cells that photosense a range of photon energies that emanate from objects. A processor can receive information about objects from the sensing components and use it to obtain spectral information. Additional techniques are described, for example, in U.S. Patent Application Publications 2008/0181827 (Bassler et al.) and 2008/0183418 (Bassler et al.) and in U.S. Pat. No. 7,701,580 (Bassler et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 7,894,068 (Bassler et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 7,547,904 (Schmidt et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 8,373,860 (Kiesel et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 7,420,677 (Schmidt et al.), and U.S. Pat. No. 7,386,199 (Schmidt et al.). | {
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The present invention relates to a process for producing doped III-N bulk crystals from a gas/vapor phase, as well as to a process for producing free-standing doped III-N substrates which are obtained from the doped III-N bulk crystals. Here, the term N denotes nitrogen and III denotes at least one element of group III of the periodic system, selected from aluminum, gallium and indium (in the following sometimes abbreviated by (Al,Ga,In)). The invention further relates to doped III-N bulk crystals and free-standing doped III-N substrates obtained by such process. These free-standing doped III-N substrates are well-suited for the manufacture of optic and optoelectronic devices.
Conventionally in the commercial use, devices for (Al,Ga,In) N-based light emitting or laser diodes essentially had been grown on foreign substrates such as Al2O3 (sapphire) or SiC.
The disadvantages caused by the use of the foreign substrates with respect to crystal quality and correspondingly lifetime and efficiency of the devices may be coped with only by growing on free-standing III-N-, such as e.g. (Al,Ga)N-substrates. The latter, however, are hardly available in sufficient quality up to now. The reason for this essentially resides in difficulties of conventional bulk growing technologies owing to the extremely high steady-state vapor pressure of nitrogen above III-N compounds at typical growth temperatures.
The growth of bulk material under high pressure had been described by Porowski (MRS Internet J. Nitride Semicond. Res 4S1, 1999, G1.3). This process leads to a qualitatively valuable GaN bulk material, but has the disadvantage that, up to now, only small GaN substrates having an area of maximally 100 mm can be produced. In addition, the manufacturing process, in comparison with other processes, requires a lot of time and, due to the extremely high growth pressures, is technologically laborious.
Another method resides in the growth of III-N material on a foreign substrate from the gaseous/vapor phase with a subsequent separation from the foreign substrate.
For producing thick, free-standing layers of III-N, such as GaN, it is e.g. known from the publication “Large Free-Standing GaN Substrates by Hydride Vapor Phase Epitaxy and Laser-Induced Liftoff” by Michael Kelly et al. (Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. Vol. 38, 1999, pp. L217-L219) to separate, from a sapphire substrate, a thick GaN layer previously grown on the sapphire (Al2O3) substrate by means of hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE). In this connection, it is described to irradiate the GaN-coated sapphire substrate by means of a laser, whereby the GaN layer is thermally decomposed locally at the interface to the sapphire substrate and thereby released from the sapphire substrate. Alternative releasing methods consist of wet chemical etching (for example of GaAs; K. Motoki et al., Jap. J. Appl. Phys. Vol. 40, 2001, pp. L140-L143, dry-chemical etching (for example of SiC; Yu. Melnik et al., Mat. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. Vol. 482, 1998, pp. 269-274), or mechanical lapping (for example of sapphire; H.-M. Kim et al., Mat. Res. Soc. Symp. Proc. Vol. 639, 2001, pp. G6.51.1-G6.51.6) of the substrate.
The disadvantage of the described methods resides, on the one hand, in the relatively high costs owing to laborious technologies for the substrate release, and on the other hand in the basic difficulty to produce III-N material having a homogeneously low defect density.
The growth of thick III-N bulk crystals (boules) on III-N substrate by means of vapor phase epitaxy with subsequent individualization of the bulk crystal by a sawing process offers an alternative to the aforementioned processes.
Such a process has been described by Vaudo et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 6,596,079). As a preferred growing method the HVPE was chosen; as preferred boule crystal length, values of >1 mm, 4 mm or 10 mm had been mentioned. Vaudo et al. further described, inter alia, how to obtain III-N substrates from the bulk crystal by means of wire sawing or other treatment steps, for example chemical-mechanical polishing, reactive ion beam etching or photo-electrochemical etching. In an international patent application of Vaudo et al. (WO 01/68955 A1), III-N bulk crystals and substrates produced by means of the described technology are further mentioned.
Melnik et al. describe a process for growing GaN- (U.S. Pat. No. 6,616,757) or AlGaN-bulk crystals (US 2005 0212001 A1) having crystal lengths greater than 1 cm. There, the process consists of the basic steps: growth of a single-crystalline (Al)GaN layer on a substrate, removal of the substrate, and growth of the (Al)GaN bulk crystal on the single-crystalline (Al)GaN layer. As the preferred method, a HVPE process with a specific reactor structure is mentioned. In addition, Melnik et al. describe, in a US application (US 2005 0164044 A1) or in U.S. Pat. No. 6,936,357, GaN or AlGaN bulk crystals having various properties, such as, for example, sizes, dislocation densities or full widths at half maximum (half widths) of X-ray diffraction curves.
Besides the crystallinity, the electrical properties of semiconductor crystals must also be adapted to the needs of the respective uses. The properties of semiconductor crystals, in particular the electrical properties, can be controlled by the incorporation of foreign atoms, so-called dopants. By the concentration of dopants in a crystal, the concentration of charge carriers and thus the specific electric resistivity can be controlled. For opto-electronic devices, conducting substrates are used in order to allow a contact of the devices through the back-side of the substrate. In the case of GaN or AlGaN substrates, typically an n-doping is chosen, i.e., the incorporation of foreign atoms which generate mobile electrons. For example, a usual dopant for (Al)GaN is silicon. A p-doping is also possible, i.e., the incorporation of foreign atoms which generate holes, i.e., defect electrons. For example, a usual dopant for (Al)GaN is magnesium. Another possibility is represented by the incorporation of foreign atoms which act as low-energy defect sites and thus bond mobile charge carriers and thereby reduce the conductivity of the crystal. For (Al)GaN, this is, for example, possible by iron.
In vapor phase epitaxy, the dopants are typically provided in the form of gaseous compounds. For example, silane, SiH4, can be used for silicon, bis(cyclopentadienyl)magnesium, Mg(C5H5)2, for magnesium, and bis(cyclopentadienyl)iron, Fe(C5H5)2, for iron.
For example, Manabe et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 6,472,690) describe the n-doping of GaN by feeding a silicon-containing gas. Usikov et al. (Mat. Res. Soc. Proc. Vol. 743, L3.41.1) describe the n-doping by feeding silane with the HVPE. There is no mention about the homogeneity.
Vaudo et al. (US publication 2005/0009310 A1) describe semi-insulating GaN crystals having a doping with low acceptors. In the description, metal-organic compounds are mentioned as dopants.
For HVPE growth, chlorine-containing compounds such as dichlorosilane, SiCl2H2, may also be used. Usui et al. (JP 3279528 B) describe doping with SiHxCl(4-x).
The generation of the chloride compound of the dopants in the HVPE process may be carried out, analogous to the generation of GaCl, in situ by the reaction of the elemental dopant with HCl. Thus, the gaseous doping substances may be generated in the reactor via additional gas pipelines in connection with corresponding additional crucibles with the respective elemental starting materials. This process is, for example, described by Fomin et al. (phys. stat. sol. (a) Vol. 188, pp. 433). Hong et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 6,177,292) mention this procedure, in order to produce an n-doped GaN layer on a polished GaN substrate. Nikolaev et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 6,555,452; corresponding to US 2002/28565 A) describe the p-doping by the inclusion of a metallic dopant such as Mg or Zn into an additional source region separated from the III-starting material. This process requires a complex enlargement of gas feedings and sources within the reactor. | {
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This invention relates to a poultry cage system, and more particularly to a unique way of discharging poultry from cages for transportation.
In accordance with the prior art, poultry such as chickens are generally placed shortly after birth into growing cages where they are raised for a specific length of time, generally a specific number of weeks. After such time period has lapsed, they are removed from these cages for slaughter (in the case of fryers) or to special poultry houses (for layers). The particular operation of removing the poultry from their initial cages is costly and time consuming. It involves an excessive amount of labor since confined poultry tend to be nervous when an attempt to physically remove them from their cages is undertaken. Also, when poultry are raised in large numbers, they are generally housed in large complex structures comprising many many rows of cages arranged in tiers. Thus, it is extremely inconvenient for an attendant to gain immediate access to all the individual cages for removal of the poultry therefrom. While attempts have been made to urge the poultry from their cages through proper openings onto access ways which lead toward a collection point, such attempts have been unsuccessful. The poultry resist moving toward a discharge end without positive physical manipulation.
In addition to the foregoing disadvantages, it has been difficult in accordance with the prior art to simply urge the poultry to leave the cages they are confined within. Part of this difficulty is the basic nature of the poultry which as pointed out above tends toward that of excitability which results in the poultry tending to want to stay within the cage it is confined within. The configuration of prior art cages however have contributed to this difficulty by the presence of an access opening in one of the partitions of the cages with a remaining partition portion on the same side. In these cases, the poultry required to be driven through a defined opening in one side of the cage tend to seek an avenue toward the position along that panel which remains and hence blocks its passage from the cage. Thus, there is a need in this art for an improved poultry cage construction. | {
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A drug which exhibits an excellent bioactivity and safety profile when tested in experimental models may be less active and/or more toxic when administered to human subjects. One possible reason for this disparity is that a molecule may be unable to reach target site(s) of action at therapeutic concentrations and/or accumulate at toxic levels in one or more tissues. Such pharmacokinetic differences between in vitro and in vivo models, and between test species and humans, may significantly limit the therapeutic utility of certain compounds, making drug development a challenge.
Physicochemical properties, therapeutically effective dosage, and route of administration, can each influence the pharmacokinetic profile of a drug molecule. The therapeutically effective dosage is fixed for a particular drug. Nonetheless, a change in the route of administration may allow a reduced drug dosage if the new route offers higher bioavailability. For instance, given suitable physicochemical properties, a drug with poor oral bioavailability requiring a high dosage may be formulated for parenteral administration at a lower dosage due to its improved bioavailability. However, a different route of administration is generally possible only if physicochemical properties of a given drug molecule are suitable for the new dosage form. The physicochemical makeup of many existing drugs limits their use to oral administration, resulting in high dosages and poor pharmacokinetic profiles. Accordingly, efforts have been made to modify the physicochemical properties of existing drugs and/or their formulations.
A drug with poor solubility will often exhibit poor bioavailability—a situation which can either hinder the drug development or require administration of high dosages to attain therapeutically effective blood levels of the drug. Tricor® pa-1682346 (fenofibrate), for example, was launched as a 300 mg capsule. Particle size reduction to a fine powder increased the solubility of the drug and allowed a dosage reduction down to 200 mg. Addition of a surfactant to the fine powder led to a formulation with a bioavailability similar to the 300 mg and 200 mg dosages using only a 160 mg dosage tablet. Another bioequivalent formulation containing nano-particles of the drug allowed for an effective 145 mg dosage. Thus, a significant decrease in the dosage of Tricor® (greater than 100%) was achieved by increasing its solubility which led to an increase in bioavailability. However, despite some examples of solubility improvements from particle size reduction, the intrinsic conditions of oral administration (e.g., limited aqueous media in the GI tract) may limit the solubility and bioavailability enhancements for certain drugs.
Another technique used to increase solubility is to make molecular complexes of insoluble/poorly soluble drugs with more soluble molecules such as cyclodextrins. Itraconazole (Sporanox®), voriconazole (Vfend®) and zisprasidone (Geodon®) are examples of successful applications of this technique. However, this application generally requires a large excess of cyclodextrin relative to the amount of drug being solubilized and may not impart the desired increase in solubility to the entire drug sample (for instance, a dosage of 10 mg itraconazole, 200 mg of voriconazole, or 20 mg of zisprasidone requires 400 mg, 3200 mg, or 294 mg of cyclodextrin, respectively).
While the importance of discovering new drugs cannot be overstated, the ability to improve the physicochemical properties of existing drugs has it bounties. Therefore, there is still a clear and unmet need for improved drugs, such as prodrugs of existing drugs.
The disclosures of all publications, patents, patent applications and other references referred to herein are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a job execution system which executes a job directed by a user in accordance with the job execution mode of the group to which the user belongs as well as to a job execution apparatus and an image forming apparatus used for this system.
2. Description of Related Art
The following description sets forth the inventor's knowledge of related art and problems therein and should not be construed as an admission of knowledge in the prior art.
When a job is executed by the job execution apparatus such as an image forming apparatus and others, as before, the user must enter the job execution mode (operating conditions). However, it is troublesome to enter the execution mode every time a job is executed.
Therefore, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 10-254301, there proposed is the image forming apparatus which simplifies entry operation of the job execution mode by alterably storing multiple job execution modes in memory, and selecting one from the multiple job execution modes when the job is executed and allowing the apparatus to execute the job.
Now, recently, from the viewpoint of ensuring security and others, the use condition of the job execution apparatus is frequently controlled in accord with the group to which the user belongs. In addition, jobs are frequently executed in the job execution mode designated to each group.
Therefore, in the image forming apparatus stipulated in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 10-254301, the job execution mode is stored in memory in accord with groups, and when the user who belongs to the group allows apparatus to execute the job in the job execution mode of the group, it is assumed that the entry operation of job execution mode can be simplified by selecting the mode stored.
However, in such case, for the user, the operation to select the job execution mode is necessary, and consequently, the user must remember the group to which the user belongs, and it is just the same troublesome. In the event that the affiliate group is changed, it is still more troublesome.
The description herein of advantages and disadvantages of various features, embodiments, methods, and apparatus disclosed in other publications is in no way intended to limit the present invention. Indeed, certain features of the invention may be capable of overcoming certain disadvantages, while still retaining some or all of the features, embodiments, methods, and apparatus disclosed therein. | {
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Memory devices are typically assembled into memory modules that are used in a computer system. These memory modules typically include single in-line memory modules (SIMMs) having memory devices on one side of the memory module, and dual in-line memory modules (DIMMs) having memory devices on both sides of the memory module. The memory devices of a memory module are accessed in groups. Each of the groups are commonly referred to as “ranks,” with single-sided DIMMs typically having one rank of memory devices and double-sided DIMMs having two ranks of memory devices, one rank on either side of the memory module.
Each of the memory devices of a memory module receives a set of signals, which is generated by a memory controller. These signals include command signals for specifying the type of access of a memory device, such as a read or a write, address signals specifying the location in the memory device being accessed, and write data signals corresponding to data that are to be stored in the memory device. The memory device can also transmits to the memory controller read data signals corresponding to data that have been stored in the memory device.
As the operating speed of memory devices continues to increase, timing margins for the various signals related to memory device operation become more critical, particularly for data signals, which are generally transmitted and received at a higher rate than command and address signals. Subtle variations in signal timing and operating conditions can negatively impact memory device performance. Consequently, it is desirable to improve timing margins without sacrificing performance, where possible.
One factor that can adversely affect timing margins is reflection of signals in conductors through which data signals are coupled. Write data signals and read data signals are typically coupled through a data bus that is coupled to several memory devices. As is well known to one skilled in the art, the conductors of the data bus are transmission lines, which have a characteristic impedance. If the impedance of a memory device data bus terminal is not matched to the characteristic impedance of the data bus conductors, write data signals transmitted to the memory device will be partially reflected from the data bus terminals. Similarly, read data signals transmitted to a memory controller will be partially reflected from the data bus terminals of the memory controller if the impedance of the data bus terminals does not match the characteristic impedance of the data bus conductors. These reflected read and write data signals can remain present on the data bus as subsequent data signals are coupled through the data bus, and they can alter in spurious manner the timing of transitions of these subsequent data signals or the amplitude of these subsequent data signals. The result is a reduction in the timing margins of the memory device.
One approach to improving memory device timing margins is the use of on-die termination (“ODT”) circuits for data bus terminals to which data input/output buffers are connected. The ODT circuits provide resistive terminations that are approximately matched to the characteristic impedance of the data bus conductors to reduce reflections and thereby improve timing margins of the memory device.
The ODT circuits used in a conventional memory device are typically disabled when the memory device is not receiving write data, and they are enabled when the memory device is receiving write data. When the ODT circuit is disabled, the impedances of its associated data bus terminals are very high to simulate an “open circuit” condition in which the memory device is not connected to the data bus, under this condition, the data bus terminals do not substantially reflect data signals. A typical ODT circuit 10 is shown in FIG. 1. The ODT circuit 10 includes a series combination of a first termination resistor 12, which is connected to a supply voltage VCC, a PMOS switching transistor 14, an NMOS switching transistor 16 and a second termination resistor 18, which is connected to ground. The data bus terminal DQ is connected between the transistors 14, 16. The transistor 14 is selectively turned ON by an active high enable signal En, and the transistor 16 is turned ON by its complement, which is generated by an inverter 20.
In operation, the ODT circuit 10 is disabled by an inactive low En signal to turn OFF the transistors 14, 16. The DQ terminals are thus “tri-stated” at a high impedance. When the transistors 14, 16 are turned ON by the active high En signal, the resistors 12, 18 essentially form a voltage divider to set the impedance and bias voltage of the DQ terminal to predetermined values. The resistance of the resistors 12, 18 are generally equal to each other so that the DQ terminal has an impedance of one-half the resistance of the resistors 12,18, and it is biased to a voltage of one-half the supply voltage VCC.
The ODT circuit 10 shown in FIG. 1 can markedly reduce the signal reflections from the DQ terminal. However, its performance in this regard is less than optimum because the resistance of the resistors generally cannot be precisely controlled. As is well-known in the art, the resistors 12, 18 are generally fabricated from a polysilicon material. Presently existing semiconductor fabrication techniques do not allow the resistance of polysilicon resistors to be precisely controlled because of process variations. Even if the resistors 12, 18 could be fabricated with the correct resistances, the resistances would change with time as well as other factors such as temperature changes and supply voltage variations. As a result, the DQ terminals of conventional memory devices using the ODT circuit 10 still cause considerable reflections.
One approach that has been used to deal with the inability to fabricate polysilicon resistors with precisely controlled resistances is an ODT circuit 30 as shown in FIG. 2. The ODT circuit 30 uses many of the same components that are used in the ODT circuit 10 of FIG. 1. Therefore, in the interest of brevity, these components have been provided with the same reference numerals, and an explanation of their characteristics and functions will not be repeated. The ODT circuit 30 differs from the ODT circuit 10 shown in FIG. 1 by connecting a plurality of PMOS transistors 34a,b . . . n in parallel with the first termination resistor 12. Similarly, a plurality of NMOS transistors 36a,b . . . n are connected in parallel with the second termination resistor 18. The transistors 34a,b . . . n and 36a,b . . . n are selectively turned ON by signals from a fuse bank 38.
In operation, the termination resistors 12, 18 are intentionally fabricated with resistances that are higher than target resistances. During wafer test, the impedance at the DQ terminal is measured to determine the resistances of the resistors 12, 18. A conventional programming device (not shown) is then used to program a pattern of fuses or anti-fuses in the fuse bank 38 to provide signals that selectively turn ON the transistors 34a,b . . . n, 36a,b . . . n. Turning ON the transistors 34a,b . . . n, 36a,b . . . n lowers the resistance of the parallel combination of the resistor 12 and the transistors 34a,b . . . n and the resistance of the parallel combination of the resistor 18 and the transistors 36a,b . . . n. The degree to which the resistances are lowered depends on the number of transistors 34a,b . . . n, 36a,b . . . n that are turned ON. The number of transistors 34a,b . . . n, 36a,b . . . n that are turned ON corresponds to the number of fuses or anti-fuses programmed by the programmer. The programmer therefore programs the fuse bank 38 based on the DQ impedance measurement to couple the correct number of transistors 34a,b . . . n, 36a,b . . . n in parallel with the resistors 12, 18, respectively, to provide close to the target DQ impedance.
The ODT circuit 30 shown in FIG. 2 provides a substantial improvement in DQ terminal impedance control over the use of the ODT circuit 10 shown in FIG. 1. However, it still suffers from a number of shortcomings, which cause the DQ terminal to significantly reflect signals applied to the DQ terminal. The primary limitation of the ODT circuit 30 results from changes in the resistances of the resistors 12, 18, as well as changes in the ON impedance of the transistors 34a,b . . . n, 36a,b . . . n over time and as a function of temperature and voltage variations. Therefore, even if the ODT circuit 30 can be precisely programmed with the correct DQ termination impedance during fabrication, the DQ termination impedance may not be correct after a memory device containing the ODT circuit 30 has been placed in operation. It is not possible to reprogram the fuse bank 38 to provide the correct DQ termination impedance because the fuse bank 38 must be programmed before the memory device containing the ODT circuit 30 has been packaged. Furthermore, a considerable time can be required during fabrication to test the resistance of the termination resistors 12, 18 and to then program the fuse bank, which can unduly increase the fabrication costs of memory devices containing the ODT circuit 30.
There is therefore a need for an ODT circuit that does not require expensive and time consuming testing and programming during fabrication, that can be fabricated with the correct DQ termination impedance, and that can adapt to changes in the ODT circuit with time as well as temperature, process and supply voltage variations. | {
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Industrial pumping takes many forms, all with the general requirement of transporting fluids or slurries through a process stream. Pumps are selected based on the application requirements including head pressure, metering accuracy, temperature, particle tolerance, fluid viscosity, cost, safety, service rate and a variety of other parameters. Pumps can generally be classified in two categories. Positive displacement pumps isolate discrete volumes of the working fluid and force them to move in a controlled direction. Kinetic pumps operate by adding kinetic energy to the system which creates a local increase in fluid velocity. Kinetic energy is converted to potential energy, i.e. pressure, at the pump output.
FIGS. 1-3 show a variety of different positive displacement pumps. In FIG. 1, a lobe pump is illustrated. This pump type is designed for low pressure, high volume applications where high particle loading may be an issue. The rotating lobes 2, 2′ of the pump head 1 are intentionally designed with loose tolerances to prevent physical contact and wear. The loose mechanical tolerance allows pressurized fluid to leak back to the low pressure side. This limits the pressure head the pump can reach generally to less than 20 bar. FIG. 2 illustrates a second type of rotary pump called an external gear pump. The pumping operation is similar to the lobe pump, but tolerances of the gear pump may be made arbitrarily close. As a result, gear pumps can obtain pressures heads of several hundred bar and pump fluids of viscosities from 0.05 to 100000 cP. Significant wear of the gears 3, 3′, especially at high pressure and temperature results in variable leakage back to the low pressure side. Both styles of rotary pumps can be isolated in sealed enclosures 4 and driven by magnetically coupled pump motors. This has the tremendous advantage of preventing external leaks of fluid without the use of dynamic seals. Magnetic coupling has lower torque limits than direct drive, however, so gear pumps are generally available only to less than 30 to 50 bar differential pressure. A final valuable characteristic to lobe and gear pumps is that they are considered both continuous and pulseless.
Reciprocating pumps, such as the one shown in FIG. 3, remain a primary industrial means of pumping fluids when high purity, high pressure [e.g. >100 bar to more than 1000 bar] and high precision [e.g. <1% flow variation] are needed. Reciprocating pumps come in several formats including mechanical and pneumatic piston pumps, and mechanical and hydraulic diaphragm pumps. Such pumps are characterized by having one or more heads 5 which transfer fluid between a low pressure input and a higher pressure output. Each pump head contains a means of physically adjusting the internal volume available to the pumped fluid. In operation, each pump head 5 uses a piston 8 driven by cam 9 that alternately aspirates fluid from the input 6 by increasing the available pump head volume, then dispenses the fluid to the output 7 by decreasing this volume. Most reciprocating pumps are designed to flow in only one direction. Flow direction is controlled by a series of check valves 6′, 7′ that isolate the pump head from the output pressure during aspiration and from the input pressure during dispensing. The output pressure is generally controlled, not by the pump, but rather by the downstream resistance-to-flow of the process flow stream serviced by the pump.
Reciprocating pumps are characterized by the number of pump heads they utilize. A pump with a single pump head is referred to as a simplex pump. Duplex, Triplex and Quad pumps refer to pumps with two, three and four heads respectively. Two or more pumps heads are required to provide pseudo-continuous flow since one pump head can be delivering while the other is aspirating. However, since the very nature of the movement involves stopping and restarting in opposing motions, reciprocating pumps can only emulate continuous rotary pumps approximately. In general, the greater number of pump heads for a given flow rate, the lower the pulsation of the output stream.
When fluid being pumped by a piston pump is relatively incompressible, these pumps are frequently referred to as metering pumps, since the volumetric flow of the fluid is presumed to match the mechanical volumetric displacement of the piston or diaphragm in the pump head. An excellent example of a metering application of a reciprocating pump is a low pressure syringe pump, in which a glass syringe draws in an aqueous solution and dispenses it very accurately to a downstream reservoir. Under this low pressure use [generally less than 2 bar] the volumetric compression of aqueous solutions is almost immeasurable and thus the presumption of accurate displacement is correct.
When reciprocating pumps are used with very compressible fluids such as permanent gasses, they are frequently called compressors or gas boosters. Gas boosters represent an ideal example of the influence of fluid compressibility on pump performance. In this case, the typical application is to increase the pressure of the gas between the input and output. A fundamental characteristic of gas boosters is the compression ratio. The compression ratio is simply the ratio of the maximum fluid volume a pump head can isolate between its check valves at the peak of its intake stroke to the minimum volume it can reduce to at the end of its delivery stroke. Hence, a compression ration of 7:1 indicates the total volume at intake is seven times greater than the residual fluid volume at the end of delivery.
FIG. 4 displays the compression or delivery stroke of a pump head in a gas booster. In this figure, the pump head 10 is comprised of cylinder 12, piston 14, and input and output check valves 16 and 18 respectively. During the delivery stroke, the cylinder internal volume has three distinct regions: compression volume 20, delivery volume 22 and residual volume 24. During compression, volume is systematically decreased and thermodynamic work is performed on the fluid and it tends to heat up. Higher temperature and lower volume cause an increase in the fluid pressure. The effect of the temperature increase is that the fluid reaches the delivery pressure earlier in the pump stroke than calculated by a simple isothermal volumetric displacement. If no heat were lost to the piston or cylinder walls the heating would be called adiabatic heating, which can be readily calculated from entropy tables for a given gas. Heat generated in the fluid is generally a source of inefficiency since it delivers the gas at a considerably lower density than desired. A cooling step is frequently required in the boosting process to remove the waste heat of compression so that downstream vessels can be filled more densely with the pressurized gas.
It is nearly impossible for a robust pump head design to leave no residual fluid at the end of the delivery stroke. Too close machining tolerances can cause a greater rate of wear and early failure of sealing surfaces. FIG. 4 shows the residual volume of gas remaining at the end of the piston stroke. In general, for gas pressure boosting applications it is very desirable to make this volume as small as possible and to make the compression ratio large. Hot residual gas in the pump head causes a further decrease in pumping efficiency, since it must first expand to below the input pressure before new fluid can enter the pump head during aspiration. Finally, compressive heating of the pump head itself will warm the entering gas to a lower density and reduce the amount of fluid entering with each aspiration.
An examination of the output flow of a gas booster reveals the ultimate difficulty in pumping compressible fluids. For each pump head, the aspirate stroke is expected only to fill the pump head volume and not deliver fluid to the output. The dispense stroke, on the other hand, is expected to deliver fluid to the output. In a piston based gas booster, as the piston moves forward to expel the fluid, temperature and pressure rise, but no fluid is released until the output pressure is reached. If the input pressure is 1 bar and the output pressure is 2 bar, almost half the piston stroke is used just to compress the fluid before delivery begins. As output pressure rises, a smaller and smaller volume of the delivery stroke is released to the output stream. By the time an output pressure of 7 bar is achieved in a booster with a 7:1 compression ratio almost the entire stroke is used for compression with little or no volume released to the output stream.
If aspiration and dispense strokes are of equal duration, fluid is delivered only 25% of the complete pump cycle in the 2 bar case. Even in a duplex booster pump, flow would only occur 50% of the time. By the time 7 bar output pressure was achieved, the pump would be delivering <1% of the time. As a result, most booster pump applications are pressure based and not flow based. These are not considered metering pumps at all since the work for compression makes it impossible to reliably calculate the volume of delivery per stroke.
Some applications require pumps that can meter fluids continuously and accurately at high pressure. For all fluids, including gasses, liquefied gasses, liquids and supercritical fluids, pressurization results in corresponding decrease in volume and increase in temperature to some degree. In general the compression effect is orders of magnitude different between permanent gasses such as Helium, liquefied gasses such as liquid carbon dioxide [LCO2] and true liquids such as water. At high enough output pressures, however, even water must be measurably compressed before being delivered to an output flow of a pump flow stream.
Water essentially behaves like a spring with a definable force constant that indicates how much volume change will occur per applied unit of pressure. This force constant is referred to as compressibility and is often reported in units of inverse bar [bar−1]. The generally accepted compressibility value for water at 20 C is 46×10−6 bar−1. Hence at 1 bar additional pressure, a volume of water would reduce 0.0046%; at 10 bar 0.046%; at 100 bar 0.46% and at 1000 bar 4.6%. In fact, water does not behave as a perfect spring and the compressibility value tends to become smaller at very high pressure so the 4.6% volume change is somewhat overstated, nevertheless it is clear that between 100 and 1000 bar a measurable portion of the dispensing pump stroke will be dedicated to compression of the water and thus cause an interruption to the continuous flow of a standard duplex pump. Water is considered one of the more incompressible liquids. Table 1 lists compressibility values for other representative organic solvents at 20° C. Generally these organic solvents range from two to three times more compressible than water.
TABLE 1Compressibility valuesfor various pure liquids at 20 C.CompressibilityLiquid(×10{circumflex over ( )}6 bar −1)Water46Tetrahydrofuran93Acetonitrile99Benzene94-95Chloroform 97-101Methylene97chlorideCarbon103-105tetrachlorideEthanol110-112Methanol121-123Acetone123-127n-Heptane140-145n-Hexane150-165Diethyl ether184-187
In practical terms then, for a reciprocating pump, compressibility is the fraction of the piston stroke required to increase the fluid pressure to delivery pressure. Compressibility compensation refers to reducing the period of deficit flow and/or adding extra flow to the flow path to compensate for this deficit. Also for the purpose of clarity, a compressible fluid shall be defined in terms of the fluids density variation in going through the metering pump and the corresponding need for compensation. It is common for high pressure metering pumps to have specified volumetric flow accuracy relative to the operational or maximum flow value. Without further calibration, pumps must rely on the assumption that mechanical displacement is equivalent to fluidic delivery. Hence a pump specified to 1% accuracy could not compress the aspirated fluid by more than 1% during the piston delivery stroke. Compressible fluids would be those that exceed this amount of compression [and corresponding change in density] during a delivery stroke. As a result, compressibility compensation is required to bring the pump to the operating specification.
Whether a fluid is compressible by this definition is tied to the delivery pressure of the fluid. A single fluid aspirated from an atmospheric reservoir, may be below this compressible fluid threshold at low delivery pressures but above it at high delivery pressures. For example, for a pump with a 1% accuracy specification, water [compressibility=46×10−6 bar−1] does not become compressible until it reaches approximately 225 bar, while hexane [compressibility=150×10−6 bar−1] becomes compressible at approximately 65 bar. When a fluid's compressibility exceeds the pump specification at some operational level, some action must be taken to adjust the pump's performance. This corrective action is generally referred to as compressibility compensation.
Values of the compressibility for a given liquid are dependent on both temperature and pressure. Generally as pressure increases the compressibility value goes down while at higher temperatures the value increases. Other factors such as dissolved gasses in the liquid can affect the compressibility value. Mixing two or more liquids can have unpredictable effects on the solutions compressibility. Table 2 shows the very nonlinear behavior of mixtures of water and methanol at 20 C.
TABLE 2Compressibility Valuesfor Water:Methanol MixturesWater-methanol,Compressibility(v-v)(×10{circumflex over ( )}6 bar −1)100-0 4680-204060-404650-505240-605620-808610-90117 0-100121
Many laboratory and industrial applications require continuous high pressure flow of fluids similar to those listed in Tables 1 and 2. One example is high pressure mixing of fluids, where periodic lapses of flow from one process stream will cause significant local concentration variability. Such variability can lead to improper dosage levels of active pharmaceutical ingredients or imbalance in the ratio of reactants in chemical flow reactors. At the laboratory scale, a prime example of the need for continuous high pressure flow is the case of high pressure metering pumps used in high performance liquid chromatography [HPLC]. Modern HPLC systems are commonly comprised of two separate pump modules to allow the high pressure, controlled mixing of two solvents at a time to create a well mixed mobile phase for chromatographic elution.
FIG. 5 shows the basic components for an HPLC pump of prior art. HPLC pump 30 is an example of an electric cam driven pump. In this case motor 32 rotates shaft 34 to rotate eccentric cams 36 and 38 to provide a reciprocating motion of pistons 40 and 42 contained in pump heads 44 and 46 respectively. As each piston aspirates, fluid is drawn from fluid reservoir 56 through input check valve 48 or 50 respectively. Output check valve 52 or 54 remains sealed during aspiration. During the delivery stroke, input check valve 48 or 50 is shut while output check valve 52 or 54 opens to deliver fluid to process stream 58. The cam drive shown in FIG. 5 is just one example of an HPLC pump. Others would include ball screw drives, pneumatic drives and hydraulic drives coupled to the pistons 40 and 44. Much of the remaining discussion focuses on pumping a fluid using compression compensation of laboratory-type HPLC type pumps that are similar in design to pump 30.
Requirements for pumps used in typical laboratory HPLC instruments are very demanding. Pumps must be able to deliver at very high pressures [up to 400 bar for traditional HPLC and as high as 1000 bar for recent ultrahigh performance LC systems]. A 2000 bar ultrahigh performance LC system is expected. HPLC pumps must also be able to handle fluids of ultra-high purity without contributing detectable contamination. In addition, for a given flow rate, the volumetric delivery of fluid is expected to remain constant within narrow limits [<1% variation] across the majority of the operational pressure range. Finally, the same pump is also expected to vary flow precisely over at least an order of magnitude of range in periods as short as one minute. This is the result of the need for a technique called gradient elution in which the two solvents controlled by separate pumps are systematically adjusted in relative composition from a weakly to a strongly eluting mixture while maintaining a constant combined flow rate.
An interesting effect of the mixing of two different solvents is that the viscosity of the combined mixture may vary widely over the course of the gradient run. As viscosity increases the resistance to flow of the chromatographic system causes a pressure rise. Thus even as one solvent is decreasing in its flow rate during the gradient elution, the pressure the pump experiences can be rising. FIG. 6 displays the viscosity behavior of various compositions of two binary mixtures: water:methanol 62 and CO2:methanol 64. Mole fraction of methanol is graphed on the x-axis and viscosity in millipascal-seconds is graphed on the y-axis 68. For typical HPLC applications, the water: methanol plot 62 clearly demonstrates extreme nonlinearity that can occur over the range of compositions. Each pump must be able to adjust to both varying output pressure and flow during gradient runs. Further, most long term applications require that the pumps must repeat this performance within a specification limit over their useful lifetime in order to provide truly valid data for the HPLC system.
In order to meet such demanding performance specifications, Modern HPLC pumps must address the issue of compressibility. Compounding the problem of compressibility is the fact that a majority of standard HPLC pumps have compression ratios less than 3:1. This means that there exists a minimum residual volume of 50% of the full stroke volume of each piston that never leaves the pump head's internal volume. This residual volume must be compressed and expanded on each stroke which adds a burden of at least 50% to the compressibility compensation effort. This sets a significantly lower limit for a given fluid on the maximum pressure at which it may be effectively pumped.
To counter the periodic flow lapses resulting from fluid compressibility, pump manufacturers have devised a number of techniques to suppress their negative effects. Pulse dampeners are routinely used in high pressure equipment to attenuate the pressure fluctuations associated with periodic discontinuities in flow. Pulse dampening attenuates pressure noise from the system, but does not always correct flow issues. Consider the case of pumping a moderately compressible liquid at high pressure. The piston is set to deliver at a fixed rate of displacement to achieve the desired flow. Since the compression part of the stroke delivers no flow without makeup or compensating flow, followed by the delivery portion which delivers at the correct flow rate, only negative flow pressure pulsations are seen at the pump output. No amount of pulse dampening will smooth the flow to the desired flow rate. It will always be less than required. A common technique to counter this issue is simply to increase the mechanical rate of the piston so that the average flow matches the expected flow. However, as seen earlier, the amount of compression needed per stroke varies with output pressure. As a result, very specific knowledge of the fluid characteristics would be needed to make this correction at all flows and pressures.
Simple correction to improve average flow also neglects yet another problem, local variations in the flow compositions. It is a frequent practice to place a single pulse dampener in binary pumps [a single pump module which contains two separate duplex pumps] at a location downstream of the mixing point of the two fluids. Thus each flow lapse of one pump due to compression results in a segment of flow that is dramatically enriched in the other fluid. This local enrichment, especially of high strength elution solvents can cause serious perturbations of the separation in HPLC. Further, since composition changes usually are accompanied by detectable changes in the refractive index of the fluid, significant noise can be experienced at any optical detectors in the flow system. This noise typically limits the ability of the system to detect very small quantities of material in the flow stream.
To limit the effect of compression, HPLC pump manufacturers have also attempted to shorten or eliminate the compression time. This has been done by accelerating the piston displacement during compression to minimize the period of flow lapse. Again, while a fixed acceleration period is useful over a limited range of pressures, in order to compensate over the entire pump range the acceleration period must be proportional to the output pressure. This feature has been accomplished in some modern HPLC pumps which can allow entry of CCF values up to 150×1−6 bar−1.
In the last several years, much focus has been placed on new ultrahigh performance chromatographic systems extending beyond the 400 bar pressure limit. This change has dramatically increased the awareness of compressibility as a major factor in pump performance. Traditional pumps have been redesigned to improve compression ratios. Special calibration algorithms have been adapted to determine empirically the compressibility of fluids over the entire range of pump operation to account for the actual nonlinearity of compression correction factors.
One area that has not been well addressed in the pursuit of higher pressures is the thermodynamic work that must be performed on the pumped fluids. As ultimate pressures reach 1000 or even 2000 bar, even well behaved fluids such as listed in Table 1 experience significant compression. Just as in the gas booster example above, significant compression, especially at the accelerated rate required for compression compensation, can result in significant heating of the fluid. Heating in turn leads to variability in fluid density and compressibility. Further, heat generated in the fluid during compression can communicate to pump head walls and warm incoming fluid further affecting density. Over the course of variable gradient flow, such factors are continuously varying and make it quite difficult to determine precise composition of the mixed components of the binary mobile phase.
Compressibility levels encountered in ultrahigh performance chromatographic systems are very similar to those encountered in supercritical fluid chromatography (SFC) over the last twenty years. SFC is a subset of traditional HPLC that uses liquefied CO2 as one of the components of the mobile phase. As a liquefied gas, CO2 must be delivered at high pressure to the pump head in order to remain in the liquid state. This is normally accomplished by connecting a tank containing both liquid and vapor CO2 in thermal equilibrium. A dip tube in communication with the CO2 liquid of the tank is plumbed directly to the pump head. Generally, chilling of the pump head and pre-chilling of the fluid are necessary to insure that CO2 remains in the liquid state during pump aspiration. Special grades of high purity CO2 are used in SFC to prevent dissolved components of less pure CO2 from affecting the optical clarity of the mobile phase. Mixtures of CO2 and common organic solvents also tend to have higher changes in refractive index than corresponding water: organic solvent mixtures so that small rapid variations in composition are more observable with optical detectors.
As mentioned, pumping of liquid CO2 takes special precautions to insure a continuous liquid supply into the pump head. The compressibility of liquid CO2 is also a major factor since it is typically as much as ten fold higher than most of the organic liquids mentioned in Table 1. Further, compression of CO2 between 60 bar [approximate tank pressure] and 400 bar [the maximum system pressure] can raise the fluid temperature more than 25 C. Such a temperature rise dramatically alters the density of the delivered fluid and introduces even more requirements for pump control.
The vast majority of commercial SFC pumps are modified HPLC pump designs. One manufacture uses the equation of state of CO2 to calculate fluid compressibility at various pumping pressures. A second manufacturer uses mass flow sensors to determine the average mass flow of the system and adjusts the pump speed to maintain a controlled average mass flow. Another reported technique is to use a specialized duplex pump where each piston is controlled by an independent motor. Pressure sensors allow the filling pump head to pre-compress the fluid to 90% of the output pressure as part of the filling sequence. Triplex pumps are reported that allegedly further reduce flow pulsation. Special algorithms have been created to surge pumps slightly beyond full compression to add a small excess of CO2 flow immediately adjacent to the CO2 deficient region and then allowed the segments to mix by longitudinal diffusion. For all the efforts to date, SFC analysis is still considered to be of lower sensitivity and poorer quantitation limits than standard HPLC. A significant reason for this is higher baseline noise directly related to the methods employed to fully compensate for compressibility.
In most reciprocating pumps an extra flow is added at the end of the compression stroke to compensate for the lack of flow during compression. Without this compensating flow, the pump will deliver inaccurate flow and compositions which become unintended functions of the delivery pressure. Thus, there is a period of no flow, followed by a period of excess flow. The two are intended to cancel each other out. While such compensation assures accurate flow and composition, it increases short term flow and pressure noise, which increases detector noise and degrades detection limits. The much higher compressibility of CO2 compared to normal liquids used in HPLC results in a much longer lapse and larger compensating flow, accounts for most of the degradation in detector noise previously observed in SFC.
Despite the poorer limits of detection, SFC enjoys high popularity in the areas of both preparative separation and analysis. SFC is the technique of choice in the rapidly growing area of chiral separation. This technique is also shown to be two to five times faster than traditional HPLC in separating both chiral and achiral mixtures. In fact, SFC competes favorably with the most advanced state-of-the-art implementations of ultrahigh performance chromatographic systems without the need for extreme pressures, special separation columns and vendor specific consumable hardware. As a result, a high interest remains for this technique if it can be brought closer to the low levels of quantitation available to HPLC.
The general steps of pumping with a piston pump involve aspiration of working fluid into the pump chamber, compressing the fluid to the pump output pressure and delivering the compressed fluid to the output flow stream. In the course of this process thermodynamic work is performed on the working fluid which results in temperature and density changes of the fluid. In addition, the amount of work and corresponding physical change done to the fluid is dependent on both total pressure rise required within the pump head and the physical characteristics of the fluid itself. This variability leads to the poorly metered pumping of fluids of unknown density and requires use of correction factors that are generally inadequate to provide pulse free flow from the pump head. As a result, both systematic and local variations in composition can easily arise in the mixed flow stream of binary and ternary pump systems.
While this discussion has focused a great deal on the needs of low-noise, precise, continuous high pressure pumping in chromatography, the need is truly general. Thus, there is a need for a solution for metering a compressible fluid without the variations that degrade overall quality of the process stream and frequently require addition of further components to correct this quality at the expense of speed, cost or energy efficiency in the process stream. | {
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Aspects of the present disclosure relate to light directing elements, and more specifically, to light directing elements with internal diffusers and methods of producing the light directing elements.
Internal illumination of elements may be used to create aesthetically pleasing lighting to illuminate dark areas for safety and/or to draw attention to objects. The materials used to make an internally illuminated element may distort and/or diffract light in such a way that it does not exit the element in an efficient, consistent, or more uniform manner thereby effecting the intensity or irradiance on an exterior surface of the element. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Many blood-ingesting pests are known to feed on humans and animals, and many pests are vectors for pathogenic microorganisms which threaten human and animal health, including commercially important livestock, pets and other animals. Various species of mosquitoes, for example, transmit diseases caused by viruses, and many are vectors for disease-causing nematodes and protozoa. Mosquitoes of the genus Anopheles transmit Plasmodium, the protozoan which causes malaria, a devastating disease which results in approximately 1 million deaths annually. The mosquito species Aedes aegypti transmits an arbovirus that causes yellow fever in humans. Other arboviruses transmitted by Aedes species include the causative agents of dengue fever, eastern and western encephalitis, Venezuelan equine encephalitis, St. Louis encephalitis, chikungunya, oroponehe and bunyarnidera. The genus Culex, which includes the common house mosquito C. pipiens, is implicated in the transmission of various forms of encephalitis and filarial worms. The common house mosquito also transmits Wuchereria banuffi and Brugia malayi, which cause various forms of lymphatic filariasis, including elephantiasis. Trypanasomas cruzi, the causative agent of Chagas"" disease, is transmitted by various species of blood-ingesting Triatominae bugs. The tsetse fly (Glossina spp.) transmits African trypanosomal diseases of humans and cattle. Many other diseases are transmitted by various blood-ingesting pest species. The order Diptera contains a large number of blood-ingesting and disease-bearing insects, including, for example, mosquitoes, black flies, no-see-ums (punkies), horse flies, deer flies and tsetse flies.
Various pesticides have been employed in efforts to control or eradicate populations of disease-bearing pests, such as disease-bearing blood-ingesting. pests. For example, DDT, a chlorinated hydrocarbon, has been used in attempts to eradicate malaria-bearing mosquitoes throughout the world. Other examples of chlorinated hydrocarbons are BHC, lindane, chlorobenzilate, methoxychlor, and the cyclodienes (e.g., aldrin, dieldrin, chlordane, heptachlor, and endrin). The long-term stability of many of these pesticides and their tendency to bioaccumulate render them particularly dangerous to many non-pest organisms.
Another common class of pesticides is the organophosphates, which is perhaps the largest and most versatile class of pesticides. Organophosphates include, for example, parathion, Malathion(trademark), diazinon, naled, methyil parathion, and dichlorvos. Organophosphates are generally much more toxic than the chlorinated hydrocarbons. Their pesticidal effect results from their ability to inhibit the enzyme cholinesterase, an essential enzyme in the functioning of the insect nervous system. However, they also have toxic effects on many animals, including humans.
The carbamates, a relatively new group of pesticides, include such compounds as carbamyl, methomyl, and carbofuran. These compounds are rapidly detoxified and eliminated from animal tissues. Their toxicity is thought to involve a mechanism similar to the mechanism of the organophosphates; consequently, they exhibit similar shortcomings, including animal toxicity.
A major problem in pest control results from the capability of many species to develop pesticide resistance. Resistance results from the selection of naturally-occurring mutants possessing biochemical, physiological or behavioristic factors that enable the pests to tolerate the pesticide. Species of Anopheles mosquitoes, for example, have been known to develop resistance to DDT and dieldrin. DDT substitutes, such as Malathion(trademark), propoxur and fenitrothion are available; however, the cost of these substitutes is much greater than the cost of DDT.
There is clearly a longstanding need in the art for pesticidal compounds that are pest-specific, that reduce or eliminate direct and/or indirect threats to human health posed by presently available pesticides, that are environmentally compatible in the sense that they are biodegradable, and are not toxic to non-pest organisms, and have reduced or no tendency to bioaccummulate.
Many pests, including for example blood-inbibing pests, must consume and digest a proteinaceous meal to acquire sufficient essential amino acids for growth, development and the production of mature eggs. Adult pests, such as adult mosquitoes, need these essential amino acids for the production of vitellogenins by the fat body. These vitellogenins are precursors to yolk proteins which are critical components of oogenesis. Many pests, such as house flies and mosquitoes, produce oostatic hormones that inhibit egg development by inhibiting digestion of the protein meal, and thereby limiting the availability of the essential amino acids necessary for egg development.
Serine esterases such as trypsin and trypsin-like enzymes (collectively referred to herein as xe2x80x9cTTLExe2x80x9d) are important components of the digestion of proteins by insects. In the mosquito, Aedes aegypti, an early trypsin that is found in the midgut of newly emerged females is replaced, following the blood meal, by a late trypsin. A female mosquito typically weighs about 2 mg and produces 4 to 6 xcexcg of trypsin within several hours after a ingesting blood meal. Continuous boisynthesis at this rate would exhaust the available metabolic energy of a female mosquito; as a result, the mosquito would be unable to produce mature eggs, or even to find an oviposition site. To conserve metabolic energy, the mosquito regulates TTLE biosynthesis with a peptide hormone named Trypsin Modulating Oostatic Factor (TMOF). TMOF mosquitoes produce in the follicular epithelium of the ovary 12-35 hours after a blood meal; TMOF is then released into the hemolymph where it binds to a specific receptor on the midgut epithelial cells, signaling the termination of TTLE biosynthesis.
This regulatory mechanism is not unique for mosquitoes; flesh flies, fleas, sand flies, house flies, dog flies and other insect pests which need protein as part of their diet have similar regulatory mechanisms.
In 1985, Borovsky purified an oostatic hormone 7,000-fold and disclosed that injection of a hormone preparation into the body cavity of blood imbibed mosquitoes caused inhibition of egg development and sterility (Borovsky, D. [1985] Arch. Insect Biochem. Physiol. 2:333-349). Following these observations, Borovsky (Borovsky, D. [1988] Arch. Ins. Biochem. Physiol. 7:187-210) reported that injection or passage of a peptide hormone preparation into mosquitoes inhibited the TTLE biosynthesis in the epithelial cells of the gut. This inhibition caused inefficient digestion of the blood meal and a reduction in the availability of essential amino acids translocated by the hemolymph, resulting in arrested egg development in the treated insect. Borovsky observed that this inhibition of egg development does not occur when the oostatic hormone peptides are inside the lumen of the gut or other parts of the digestive system (Borovsky, D. [1988], supra).
Following the 1985 report, the isolated hormone, (a ten amino acid peptide) and two TMOF analogues were disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,011,909 and 5,130,253, and in a 1990 publication (Borovsky, et al. [1990] FASEB J. 4:3015-3020). Additionally, U.S. Pat. No. 5,358,934 discloses truncated forms of the full length TMOF which have prolines removed from the carboxy terminus, including the peptides YDPAP (SEQ ID NO: 1), YDPAPP (SEQ ID NO: 1), YDPAPPP (SEQ ID NO: 1), and YDPAPPPP (SEQ ID NO: 1).
Neuropeptides Y (NPY) are an abundant family of peptides that are widely distributed in the central nervous system of vertebrates. NPY peptides have also been recently isolated and identified in a cestode, a turbellarian, and in terrestrial and marine molluscs (Maule et al., 1991 xe2x80x9cNeuropeptide F: A Novel Parasitic Flatworm Regulatory Peptide from Moniezia expansa (Cestoda: Cyclophylidea)xe2x80x9d Parasitology 102:309-316; Curry et al., 1992 xe2x80x9cNeuropeptide F: Primary Structure from the Turbellarian, Arthioposthia triangulataxe2x80x9d Comp. Biochem. Physiol. 101C:269-274; Leung et al., 1992 xe2x80x9cThe Primary Structure of Neuropeptide F (NPF) from the Garden Snail, Helix aspersaxe2x80x9d Regul. Pep. 41:71-81; Rajpara et al., 1992 xe2x80x9cIdentification and Molecular Cloning of Neuropeptide Y Homolog that Produces Prolonged Inhibition in Aplysia Neuronsxe2x80x9d Neuron. 9:505-513).
Invertebrate NPYs are highly homologous to vertebrate NPYs. The major difference between vertebrate and invertebrate NPYs occurs at the C-terminus where the vertebrate NPY has an amidated tyrosine (Y) whereas invertebrates have an amidated phenylalanine (F). Because of this difference, the invertebrate peptides are referred to as NPF peptides.
Cytoimmunochemical analyses of NPY peptides suggest that they are concentrated in the brain of various insects, including the Colorado potato beetle Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Verhaert et al., 1985 xe2x80x9cDistinct Localization of FMRFamide- and Bovine Pancreatic Polypeptide-Like Material in the Brain, Retrocerebal Complex and Subesophageal Ganglion of the Cockroach Periplaneta americanaxe2x80x9d L. Brain Res. 348:331-338; Veenstra et al., 1985 xe2x80x9cImmunocytochemical Localization of Peptidergic Neurons and Neurosecretory Cells in the Neuro-Endocrine System of the Colorado Potato Beetle with Antisera to Vertebrate Regulatory Peptidesxe2x80x9d Histochemistry 82:9-18). Partial purification of NPY peptides in insects suggests that both NPY and NPF are synthesized in insects (Duve et al., 1981 xe2x80x9cIsolation and Partial Characterization of Pancreatic Polypeptide-like Material in the Brain of the Blowfly alliphora vomitoriaxe2x80x9d Biochem. J. 197, 767-770).
Researchers have recently isolated two neuropeptides with NPF-like immunoreactivity from brain extracts of the Colorado potato beetle. The researchers purified the peptides using C18 reversed phase high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC), and determined their structure using mass spectrometry. The deduced structures of these peptides are: Ala-Arg-Gly-Pro-Gln-Leu-Arg-Leu-Arg-Phe-amide (SEQ ID NO. 1) and Ala-Pro-Ser-Arg-Leu-Arg-Phe-amide (SEQ ID NO. 2) designated NPF I and NPF II, respectively (Spittaels etal., 1996).
The present inventors have surprisingly discovered that NPF adversely affects TTLE biosynthesis in the midgut of female Aedes aegypti fed a blood meal and injected with NPF polypeptide. Because the structure of NPF is different from TMOF it appears that NPF does not bind to a TMOF-specific binding site on the gut receptor but to a different site on the same or different receptor. Furthermore, cytoimmunochemical analysis, by the inventors, of the mosquito gut after the blood meal, using antiserum against NPF, has surprisingly revealed that exocrine cells with NPF-like molecules that are synthesized by mosquito epithelial cells 24 hours after a blood meal. NPF therefore appears to be a secondary signal in a cascade of signals: first TMOF is released from the ovary, TMOF then binds to a TMOF gut receptor (Borovsky et al., 1994) that stimulates the synthesis and release of NPF from gut specific exocrine cells. NPF then binds to a receptor site on the gut at a site which may be adjacent to or part of the TMOF receptor, resulting cessation of biosynthesis of TTLE. This surprising discovery opens the door to a new generation of NPF pesticides, which inhibit biosynthesis of TTLE in a more direct manner than previously disclosed TMOF peptides.
The present invention provides novel compositions comprising novel pesticidal compounds. The compounds are preferably polypeptides, such as peptides or proteins. In a preferred embodiment, these pesticidal compounds inhibit digestion in pests by inhibiting synthesis of pest digestive enzymes, such as TTLE. In a specific embodiment, these compounds can be used to control populations of pests, such as populations of blood-ingesting insects.
In one aspect, the compositions of the present invention comprise a pesticidal polypeptide which comprises an amino acid sequence having a formula:
A1A2A3A4A5FLNKxe2x80x83xe2x80x83(Formula I)
wherein:
A1 is selected from the group consisting of Y, A, D, F, G, M, P, S and Y;
A2 is selected from the group consisting of A, D, E, F, G, N, P, S and Y;
A3 is optionally present and is selected from the group consisting of A, D, F, G, L, P, S and Y;
A4 is optionally present when A3 is present and is selected from the group consisting of A, F, G, L and Y;
A5 is optionally present when A4 is present and is selected from the group consisting of A, F, L and P;
FLNK is a flanking region which is optionally present and is selected from the group consisting of: P, PP, PPP, PPPP, and PPPPP;
The pesticidal polypeptide preferably does not consist of YDPAP6, DYPAP6, PAP6, YDPAP, YDPAP2, YDPAP3, YDPAP4, NPTNLH or DF-OMe.
In a narrower aspect the pesticidal polypeptide comprises an amino acid sequence which consists essentially of the amino acid sequence of Formula I. In a preferred aspect, the pesticidal polypeptide comprises a TMOF fragment TMOF amino acids adjacent to the amino acid sequence of Formula I. The fragment preferably has less than 50% of the number of amino acid residues of full-length native TMOF, preferably 2-5 amino acid residues. In still another aspect, the pesticidal polypeptide consists of the amino acid sequence of Formula I.
In another aspect, the present invention pertains to DNA sequences encoding the pesticidal polypeptides disclosed herein. Such DNA sequence can be used as known in the art to provide transformed plants or other food organisms which express a pesticidal polypeptide of the present invention.
The subject invention provides pest control compositions comprising pesticidal polypeptides formulated for application to the target pests or their situs. In a specific embodiment, prokaryotic or eukaryotic recombinant hosts which express a pesticidal polypeptide are provided by the subject invention. In a specific example, yeast or algae (preferably unicellular siliceous or green algae) are transformed to express a pesticidal polypeptide of the present invention. The transformed hosts can, for example, be applied to water areas where insect level such as mosquito larvae will ingest the transformed host, resulting in control of the mosquitoes by the pesticidal polypeptide. Furthermore, the polynucleotides of the present invention can be used to modify a virus, which may be used to deliver the polynucleotides to pest or other cells.
Another aspect of the present invention pertains to a method of controlling pests comprising administering to said pest or applying to a pest-inhabited locus an effective amount of a pesticidal polypeptide of the present invention.
The pesticidal polypeptides of the invention are also useful in controlling pest populations in areas of infestation, or areas susceptible to infestation and/or combating target pest populations, and can be employed along with pest repellents and pest attractants to control a pest population in a geographical area.
The invention also includes pesticidal compositions which contain one or more of the pesticidal polypeptides described above, including one or more of the pesticidal polypeptides and a pesticidally acceptable carrier, and also includes methods of killing or controlling insects which involve applying to the insects or their environment such pesticidal compositions. In one aspect, the pesticidal compositions of the present invention are administered in the form of a spray or a time release dosage unit. The pesticidal compositions can also comprise various other known pesticidal polypeptides or other pesticides targeting the same or different pests.
Methods of making pesticidal compositions are also included within the scope of the present invention which comprise bringing one or more of the said pesticidal polypeptides into association with a suitable carrier, diluent or excipient therefor.
As used herein, the term xe2x80x9cpesticidally effectivexe2x80x9d is used to indicate an amount or concentration of a pesticide which is sufficient to reduce the number of pests in a geographical locus, as compared to a corresponding geographical locus in the absence of the amount or concentration of the pesticide.
The term xe2x80x9cpesticidalxe2x80x9d is not intended to refer only to the ability to kill pests, but also includes the ability to interfere with a pests life cycle in any way that results in an overall reduction in the pest population. For example, the term xe2x80x9cpesticidalxe2x80x9d included inhibition or elimination of reproductive ability of a pest, as well as inhibition of a pest from progressing from one form to a more mature form, e.g., transition between various larval instars or transition from larvae to pupa or pupa to adult. Further, the term pesticidal is intended to include all phases of a pest life cycle; thus, for example, the term includes larvicidal, ovicidal, and adulticidal action.
As used herein, the term xe2x80x9cpest attractingxe2x80x9d in reference to chemical or physical attractant (e.g., light attractant) means that the density of pests in an area in the presence of the attractant is greater than the density of pests in a corresponding area without the attractant. As used herein, the term xe2x80x9cpest repellingxe2x80x9d is correspondingly intended to indicate that the density of pests in an area in the presence of the repellent is lower than the density of pests in a corresponding area in the absence of the repellent.
The word xe2x80x9ctransformxe2x80x9d is broadly used herein to refer to introduction of an exogenous polynucleotide sequence into a prokaryotic or eukaryotic cell by any means known in the art (including, for example, direct transmission of a polynucleotide sequence from a cell or virus particle as well as transmission by infective virus particles and transmission by any other known means for introducing a polynucleotide into a cell), resulting in a permanent or temporary alteration of genotype and in an immortal or non-immortal cell line.
The terms xe2x80x9cpeptide,xe2x80x9d xe2x80x9cpolypeptide,xe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cproteinxe2x80x9d as used herein are intended to refer to amino acid sequences of any length.
The term xe2x80x9cpesticidal polypeptidexe2x80x9d is used herein to indicate polypeptides comprising NPF and TMOF peptides, as well as fragments, derivatives and analogues and other functional equivalents of NPF and TMOF.
The methods and materials of the present invention provide a novel approach to controlling insects and insect-transmitted diseases. The peptides of the present invention have advantageous activity over previously disclosed compounds. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Wind turbines are used to produce electricity. The trend goes to units with a large rotor diameter. The Growian in Germany has a diameter above 100 meters. The new largest concept goes up to 175 meters. It turned out that production costs for this kind of wind electricity energy generators are so high that the period of amortization is longer than the expected life time of the machine.
The invention shows a way to produce electricity in an economical way.
The invention shows, how powerful wind machines can be made without large rotors. The solution is a multi-rotor tower. If conventionally designed wind turbines are analyzed, it is apparent that all types have some common disadvantages than can be eliminated by using small rotors. The following compares conventional 54-ft diameter wind turbines and multi-rotor turbines with four rotors of one half the diameter. The diameter of 54-ft was chosen because more than 3,000 wind machines with this rotor diameter have already been sold. In contrast to that trend it can be proven, that large rotors show much higher cost per KW than a group of small rotors together having the same total swept area and performance. Transformation of wind power into mechanical performance takes place within the plane of the rotor, therefore the rotor is the most important element of any wind turbine.
A rotor assembly consists of the rotor hub and blades. In the case of a rotor without pitch control, which shall be compared in this case, about 80% of all costs are within the blades. The price of blades with the same mechanical properties depends on their size. Material costs are proportional to weight. The weight of a blade follows the equation: EQU G=G.sub.o .multidot.L.sup.3
L=Length of blade PA1 .omega..sub.f =Angular velocity PA1 W=Weight of blade l=Length of blade PA1 f=frequency PA1 I=Moment of inertia PA1 W=Weight of blade PA1 D=diameter of rotor PA1 TRQ=Torque on shaft PA1 z=Number of blades PA1 H=height [ft] PA1 V.sub.33 =Wind velocity in 33-ft PA1 .sigma.=max. stress PA1 M.sub.B =bending moment=P/V.multidot.H PA1 W.sub.B =I/C=section modulus PA1 H=tower height
When comparing the two rotor systems, this equation shows a weight ratio of 8:1. Four small rotors produce the same energy as one large rotor. Therefore, material cost for four small rotors is only 50% of the material cost for one large rotor. The real savings are considerably higher because the production of one large rotor needs much more investment for jigs, tooling and labor than production of four sets of blades for small rotors. Therefore, also investment for production means and labor costs lie far below comparable costs for large rotor and blade assemblies.
The invention shows, how powerful windmachines can be made without using large rotors. The solution is the use of a multi-rotor tower.
Upwind rotors are exposed to the undisturbed air stream. The costs of upwind turbines are higher than for downwind turbines because the upwind machines require sensitive high torque servo drive means for the heavy duty yaw control bearing systems. The disadvantage from the engineering standpoint is the fact that, as each blade crosses the front of the tower, cyclic forces excite cyclic vibrations causing fatigue in the tower structure. Therefore, upwind type tower construction requires more material. The engineering advantage of downwind wind turbines is that they do not require mechanical means for yaw control, however, the blades crossing the wind shadow of the tower, undergo extreme cyclic excitations. This is one of the main causes for blade distruction by fatigue.
The multi-rotor system according to the invention combines the advantages of upwind turbines, e.g., the undisturbed wind stream, with the advantage of the downwind turbines, e.g., the automatic yaw control--without the above described disadvantages of single rotor wind turbines. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to an electrodeless microwave excited bulbs which emit ultraviolet light and processes for generating ultraviolet light with a microwave excited electrodeless bulbs.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of forced air to cool microwave excited electrodeless bulbs which are rotated is known. See U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,485,332; 4,695,757; 4,947,080; 4,954,756; 5,021,704; 5,594,303; 5,866,990 and 5,997,724. The systems disclosed herein are generally for applications of rotating small bulbs cooled with air flow having a major dimension of the bulb envelope of less than {fraction (xcex/4)} or for larger bulbs having a major internal dimension greater than {fraction (xcex/2)} wherein xcex is the free space wavelength of the microwaves used for excitation which is 2.45 GHz.
Small bulb products with a major internal dimension less the {fraction (xcex/4)} of the foregoing type are used in special applications, such as photo lithography, used in semiconductor processing. These systems require a small bulb as a consequence of the optics associated with the photo lithography and are heavy, large, and expensive as a consequence of higher power magnetrons used therein and complicated forced air cooling systems associated therewith. High speed rotation of the bulb in them is required to prevent harmful thermal gradients in the wall temperatures of the bulb envelope. Moreover, while substantial forced air cooling in combination with high speed rotation of the electrodeless bulb provides stable operation, the internal temperatures of the walls of the envelope are too high to permit the use of known additives to the envelope to modify the spectrum from that produced by the primary emissive materials such as Hg.
Mercury based electrodeless lamps have been in use for many years. See Electric Discharge Lamps by Dr. John Waymout, MIT Press, 1971.
Metal halides in combination with halogen doping of electrodeless lamps has been known since the 1960""s. The use of Ba, Na, Ti, In and Cd iodides is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,234,431.
Lanthanides and rare earths are used as dopants in electrodeless bulbs to produce selected spectral emissions. U.S. Pat. No. 3,334,261 lists Y, La, Ce, Nd, Lu, Ho, Tn, Pr, Gd, Tb Dy and Er as dopants for electrodeless bulbs which produce visible light.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,947,714 discloses the use of Fel2 as an additive to the constituents of an electrodeless bulb.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,157,141 discloses the use of Ga as a dopant in an electrodeless bulb.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,837,484 and 4,945,290 disclose eximer electrodeless bulbs using noble gases and gas mixtures.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,504,391 and 5,686,793 disclose eximer electrodeless lamps which operate at high pressure.
Moreover, Fusion Systems, Inc. of Gaithersburg, Md., has used forced air cooling of a rotating bulb in their AEL/HIIQ products which are powered by magnetrons having a power of at least 0.85 kW to produce wavelengths in the visible range with major internal dimensions of 30 mm respectively. The angular speed of the bulb in the AEL/HIIQ is variable between 250-300 revolutions per minute with air impingement cooling being used. The angular speed of the 35 mm, visible light bulb in the Solar 1000/Light Drive 1000 products of the same company (and reorganized Fusion Lighting, Inc.) is 3250 revolutions per minute with no driven air cooling being used.
The present invention is an electrodeless bulb and a process of generating ultraviolet light with a microwave excited electrodeless bulb which utilizes a bulb with an envelope having a major dimension between ⅓ and xc2xdxcex to which a strong field of microwave excitation varying between 2.4 and 2.5 GHz is applied with the strong field being produced by a microwave source having a steady state rated power no greater than 0.85 kW while being cooled with a forced air stream and rotated at a rotational velocity of at least 20 rpm and which contains an ultraviolet emissive material emitting ultraviolet light in response to the microwave excitation.
The aforementioned parameters of operation provide an electrodeless bulb and a process of lower cost than the prior art bulbs and processes using small bulbs with a major internal dimension of xc2xcxcex or less. In a typical application of a rotating small electrodeless bulb used for photo lithography, the cost of the small bulb lamp may be between $15,000-$20,000, wherein the lamp of the present invention may cost $3,000-$5,000 which is useful for many applications not suited for small bulb lamp systems having major internal dimensions of the bulb less than xc2xcxcex.
Larger lamp systems having major bulb internal dimensions greater than xc2xdxcex typically are excited by microwave power greater than a kilowatt and therefore, produce too much ultraviolet light output and are too large and heavy for the applications of the present invention.
The intermediate size bulbs of the present invention having a major dimension between ⅓ and xc2xdxcex are excited with microwave sources of less than 0.85 kW at an excitation frequency of 2.4 and 2.5 GHz which permits selective ultraviolet emission to be produced in accordance with known microwave emissive materials which are stable thermally and chemically within the envelope as a result of the wall temperatures of the envelope being stabilized as a consequence of rotation and forced air cooling so as to avoid hot spots causing thermal degrading of the microwave emissive materials and additives at the walls of the envelope and further undesirable thermal gradients in the walls of the bulb envelope and/or attacking of the walls of the bulb envelope by the plasma.
In one embodiment, the envelope within the foregoing major internal dimensional range is filled with between 10 mg and 100 mg of mercury as the emissive material and at a pressure of 20-600 Torr at room temperature and includes at least one buffer gas selected from at least one of the group consisting essentially of Ar, Kr and Xe with the ultraviolet emission being in a range between 200-300 nm while directing a stream of air in contact with the bulb to provide cooling thereof. The first embodiment may utilize HgCl2 in an amount of not greater than 2 mg. in the envelope. The air stream may be laminar. The emission range between 200-300 nm may have a peak emission between 250-270 nm
In another embodiment the envelope within the foregoing major internal dimensional range is filled with one of Xe or Ar gas as the emissive material at a pressure range from 10-2500 Torr at room temperature and chlorine gas in a pressure range from 0.5-200 Torr at room temperature which excites microwave emission between 200-310 nm while directing a stream of air in contact with the bulb to provide cooling thereof. The envelope may be filled with a metal halide dopant. The stream of air may be a laminar flow. The range between 200-310 nm may have a maximum peak range between 300-310 nm.
In an additional embodiment the envelope within the foregoing major internal dimensional range is filled with between 10-100 mg of Hg as the emissive material at a pressure of 200-600 Torr at room temperature and includes at least one of the group consisting essentially of Ar, Kr and Xe as a buffer gas with ultraviolet emission in a range of between 320-400 nm while directing a stream of air in contact with the bulb to provide cooling thereof. The envelope may contain up to 50 mg of halide selected from the group consisting essentially of Fe, Co, Ni, Pb and Al. Additionally, the envelope may also contain at least one other group of elements consisting essentially of Mn, Mg, Mo, Be, Cd, Ge and Li to provide additional emission in the spectrum of the ultraviolet light. The stream of air may be laminar flow. The range between 320-400 nm may have a peak between 350-380 nm.
In an another embodiment the envelope within the foregoing internal dimensional range is filled between 10-100 mg of Hg as the emissive material and at a pressure of 20-600 Torr at room temperature including at least one buffer gas selected from at least one of the group consisting essentially of Ar, Kr and Xe and at least one salt selected from the group consisting essentially of Ga, Al and Pb in an amount between 1 and 50 mg with the ultraviolet emission being in the range between 390-450 nm while directing a stream of air in contact with the bulb to provide cooling thereof. The stream of air may be laminar flow. The range between 390-450 nm may have a peak emission between 395-420 nm. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to electric hotplates with a hotplate body having a sealed cooking surface, which is generally made from cast iron and is provided on its underside with heating resistors in the form of wire coils received in ribs in an embedding material (cf U.S. Pat. No. 3,300,621).
2. Description of the Prior Art
The cast iron hotplate body of such hotplates is normally surrounded by a pressed on sheet steel trim ring, which has an inverted U or V-shape. They are fitted into the mounting opening of a mounting plate or cooking hob, in that the trim ring is placed on the mounting plate and the hotplate is braced downwards by a clamp (U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,093,754, 2,664,492, British Pat. No. 1 341 753 and DE-OS No. 29 09 776). The connection to a power supply is normally by means of screwed down flexible lines (U.S. Pat. No. 4,348,581). However, hotplates with plug-in connections are also known, which are inserted from above in connector sockets (German Pat. No. 1 021 967).
Wide trim rings are known for use in connection with glass cooking hobs, in order protect the glass plate from the hotplate temperature and for this purpose shielding rings are also provided (U.S. Pat. No. 4,490,603).
Clamps acting in the edge region are frequently used for securing the hotplates (DE-AS No. 1 130 574, U.S. Pat. No. 3,561,020). If in the case of glass mounting plates, the mounting openings are much larger than the diameter of the hotplate body, use has been made of centering means and in part shimmed seals (U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,838,249, 4,491,722 and U.S. patent application No. 245,541, applied for on 19.3.1981, in conjunction with Ser. No. 968,048, filed on 12.12.1978 in the name of Karl Fischer and entitled "Electric cooker plate").
However, it is also conventional practice to use hotplates which do not have a sealed cooking surface and generally comprise spirally wound tubular heaters. These are arranged in optionally interchangeable trays with edges, which rest on a mounting opening of a hob. They are connected by means of plugs fitted to the ends of the tubular heaters and these are laterally inserted into connector sockets. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Generally, a typical semiconductor device includes a substrate having active devices such as transistors and capacitors. These active devices are initially isolated from each other, and interconnect structures are subsequently formed over the active devices to create functional circuits. Generally these interconnect structures include conductive features (e.g., metal lines and vias) formed in a plurality of stacked dielectric layers. To reduce the capacitive coupling of conductive features in dielectric layers, low-k dielectric materials are generally used for interconnect layers. However, as the density of conductive features increases in these layers, traditional low-k materials may no longer sufficiently reduce capacitive coupling.
Voids may be formed in dielectric layers to further reduce the k-value of the dielectric material and reduce parasitic capacitance amongst conductive features. However, void formation in interconnect layers poses numerous challenges such as difficulties in controlling the dimensions of voids and the risk of damaging conductive features adjacent to voids during the subsequent patterning of any overlaying layers. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Electric machines are utilized in a wide variety of applications. For example, hybrid/electric vehicles (HEVs) typically include an electric traction drive system that includes an alternating current (AC) electric motor which is driven by a power converter with a direct current (DC) power source, such as a storage battery. Motor windings of the AC electric motor can be coupled to inverter sub-modules of a power inverter module (PIM). Each inverter sub-module includes a pair of switches that switch in a complementary manner to perform a rapid switching function to convert the DC power to AC power. This AC power drives the AC electric motor, which in turn drives a shaft of HEV's drivetrain.
Some traditional HEVs implement two three-phase pulse width modulated (PWM) inverter modules and two three-phase AC machines (e.g., AC motors) each being driven by a corresponding one of the three-phase PWM inverter modules that it is coupled to. In some systems, voltage command signals are applied to a pulse width modulation (PWM) module. The PWM module applies PWM waveforms to the phase voltage command signals to control pulse width modulation of the phase voltage command signals and generate switching signals that are provided to the PWM inverter module.
Many modern high performance AC motor drives use the principle of field oriented control (FOC) or “vector” control to control operation of the AC electric motor. In particular, vector control is often used in variable frequency drives to control the torque applied to the shaft (and thus the speed) of an AC electric motor by controlling the current fed to the AC electric motor. In short, stator phase currents are measured and converted into a corresponding complex space vector. This current vector is then transformed to a coordinate system rotating with the rotor of the AC electric motor.
Recently, researchers have used multi-phase machines in various applications including electric vehicles. As used herein, the term “multi-phase” refers to two or more phases, and can be used to refer to electric machines that have two or more phases. A multi-phase electric machine typically includes a multi-phase PWM inverter module that drives one or more multi-phase AC machine(s). One example of such a multi-phase electric machine is a three-phase AC machine. In a three-phase system, a three-phase PWM inverter module drives one or more three-phase AC machine(s).
In such multi-phase systems, voltage command signals are applied to a pulse width modulation (PWM) module. To control pulse width modulation of the voltage command signals, the PWM module generates PWM waveforms which are equivalent to the incoming voltage command signal in a time averaged sense. The PWM waveforms have a controllable duty cycle with a variable PWM period, and are used to generate switching signals that are provided to the PWM inverter module.
The PWM inverter module uses pulse width modulation (PWM) to generate a variable voltage/frequency output with high efficiency. The PWM voltage waveform is effectively filtered by the motor impedance resulting in a sinusoidal fundamental frequency current going to the motor. However, the PWM inherently results in ripple current generation on the AC output phase currents going to the motor, as well as on the high voltage DC link input. These harmonic currents can in turn create acoustic noise, electromagnetic interference (EMI), bus resonance, or even torque ripple problems. The harmonic currents are typically at the first or second switching frequency carrier group and its sidebands. The harmonic spectrum can have sharp and distinct spikes with large amplitude at the various harmonic frequencies. These large amplitude spikes are often the worst case offenders with respect to the acoustic noise, EMI, bus resonance, and torque ripple.
One conventional method of reducing the amplitude of the distinct harmonics in the current spectrum is to rapidly change the switching frequency of the inverter at a fixed rate. This is known as “dithering.” Dithering has been applied to AC inverters as well as many other types of electrical systems where it is desired to spread the spectrum of emissions due to some periodic cycle (such as system clock or PWM).
Notwithstanding these advances, there are many issues that arise when trying to implement dithering techniques in a practical system.
It would be desirable to provide improved methods, systems and apparatus for implementing dithering in motor drive system that is used to control operation of a multi-phase electric machine. It would also be desirable to provide improved methods, systems and apparatus for computing a PWM voltage advance used in controlling operation of an electric machine. Other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wrench used for tightening and loosening a fastening member such as a bolt, a nut, or a fastening sleeve for a tool holder, and more particularly, to a wrench which includes a wrench body having a ring portion to be engaged with an outer circumferential surface of the fastening member, and wedge members disposed on the inner circumferential surface of the ring portion and adapted to be caught between the inner circumferential surface of the ring portion and the outer circumferential surface of the fastening member.
2. Description of the Related Art
A fastening member, such as a bolt, a nut, or a fastening sleeve for a tool holder, is configured to be rotated in a tightening direction or a loosening direction; and such a fastening member is tightened or loosened through an operation of rotating, in the tightening or loosening direction, a wrench that is engaged with the outer circumference of the fastening member.
A conventional wrench of such a type is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent No. 3155888.
FIGS. 1 and 2 shows such a conventional wrench. The wrench 1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 includes a wrench body 3 having a ring portion 3a and a handle portion 3b formed integrally with the ring portion 3a. The ring portion 3a has a diameter suitable for disengagable engagement with the outer circumference of a fastening member 2. A plurality of grooves 5 are formed on the inner circumferential surface of the ring portion 3a at predetermined intervals in the circumferential direction so as to extend in the circumferential direction. A roller-shaped wedge member 4 is movably received in each of the grooves 5.
As shown in FIG. 2, each of the grooves 5 has a free region 5a having a relatively large depth and a wedge region 5b located on either side of the free region 5a and shallower than the free region 5a. Further, spring accommodation spaces 6 are formed in the ring portion 3a at circumferential locations corresponding to those of the grooves 5. A guide hole 7 is formed in a partition wall 6a between each of the spring accommodation spaces 6 and the corresponding groove 5 at a location facing the free region 5a. A cylindrical member 8 is disposed in the guide hole 7 to be projectable toward the corresponding groove 5. Moreover, a plate spring 9 is disposed within each of the spring accommodation spaces 6 in order to urge the corresponding cylindrical member 8 to project toward the corresponding groove 5. Therefore, before the ring portion 3a of the wrench 1 is engaged with the fastening member 2, as illustrated by a solid line in FIG. 2, each wedge member 4 is located in the left-hand or right-hand wedge region 5b, because of pressing force applied from the cylindrical member 8.
The conventional wrench 1 having the above-described configuration is used as follows. When the fastening member 2 is to be tightened by use of the wrench 1, the ring portion 3a of the wrench 1 is engaged with the fastening member 2, and then the wrench 1 is rotated in a direction of arrow A in FIG. 2. As result, as indicated by a solid line in FIG. 2, each wedge member 4 is pushed into the right-hand wedge region 5b, whereby the wedge member 4 is caught between the wall surface of the wedge region 5b and the outer circumferential surface of the fastening member 2, and thus the wrench 1 and the fastening member 2 are united. Therefore, the fastening member 2 is tightened through an operation of rotating the wrench 1 in the same direction.
When the fastening member 2 is to be loosened by use of the wrench 1, the ring portion 3a of the wrench 1 is engaged with the fastening member 2, and then the wrench 1 is rotated in a direction of arrow B in FIG. 2. As result, as indicated by an imaginary line in FIG. 2, each wedge member 4 is pushed into the left-hand wedge region 5b, whereby the wedge member 4 is caught between the wall surface of the wedge region 5b and the outer circumferential surface of the fastening member 2, and thus the wrench 1 and the fastening member 2 are united. Therefore, the fastening member 2 is loosened through an operation of rotating the wrench 1 in the same direction.
In such a conventional wrench 1, in a state in which the ring portion 3a of the wrench 1 is not engaged with the fastening member 2, as shown in FIG. 2, each wedge member 4 is located in the left-hand or right-hand wedge region 5b, because of pressing force applied from the corresponding plate spring 9 via the corresponding cylindrical member 8, and a portion of the wedge member 5 projects outward from the inner circumferential surface of the ring portion 3a. Therefore, when the ring portion 3a of the wrench body 3 is engaged with the fastening member 2, the above-mentioned projecting portion of the wedge member 4 interferes with the fastening member 2 and hinders smooth engagement of the ring portion 3a with the fastening member 2.
Moreover, the conventional wrench 1 is configured in such a manner that within each groove 5 the wedge member 4 is restrained in the left-hand or right-hand wedge region 5b by means of the corresponding plate spring 9 and the corresponding cylindrical member 8. This hinders smooth movement of the wedge member 4 within the groove 5 from one wedge region 5b to the other wedge region 5b and thus renders the movement unstable. Moreover, attainment of a state where all the wedge members 4 are located in the wedge regions 5b of the same side is not guaranteed; and, in some cases, some wedge members 4 are located in the left-hand wedge regions 5b, whereas the remaining wedge members 4 are located in the right-hand wedge regions 5b. In such a case, some wedge members 4 fail to operate properly, and thus hinder the operation of tightening or loosening the fastening member 2. In order to avoid such a problem, the positions of some wedge members 4 must be corrected such that all the wedge members 4 are located in the wedge regions 5b of the same side. Such position correction operation lowers the efficiency of work for tightening or loosening the fastening member 2. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to remotely controlling a camera, and more particularly to a method and an apparatus for providing an image in a camera or a remote controller of a camera.
2. Description of the Related Art
A digital camera is a device for converting a still image or a moving image to digital signals and storing the digital signals in a storage medium, such as a memory card. An image of an object captured via a lens is converted to electric signals by a Charge-Coupled Device (CCD) or a Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS). The electric signals are converted to digital signals by an Analog-to-Digital (ND) converter, and the digital signals are stored in a memory after correction and compression. The stored digital signals are transmitted to a Personal Computer (PC) or a recording medium via any of various interfaces. Accordingly, a digital image is formed.
An object is photographed by using a digital camera by directing a lens of the digital camera toward the object, focusing the digital camera to capture an optimal image, and triggering a shutter. The series of operations is applicable when a person operating a digital camera and a person to be photographed are different people. When a person operating a digital camera and another person shall be photographed together, a timer function of a digital camera is generally used. However, it is difficult to obtain a desired angle and focus by using a timer function, and thus it is difficult to obtain a clear image. Therefore, a remote controller for remotely controlling a digital camera is used. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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It has been observed that, in the production of optoelectronic components comprising a copper substrate (which serves, in particular, as a heat sink and for mechanical stabilization), a very high number of rejects in respect of non-functional components, are produced, particularly if the optoelectronic components are light emitting diodes or laser-diodes.
Therefore, it could be helpful to provide a method with which a smaller number of rejects in respect of non-functional optoelectronic components are obtained. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a treatment of a pancreatic disease with a 15-ketoprostaglandin compound.
Prostaglandins (hereinafter, prostaglandins are referred to as PGs) are members of a class of organic carboxylic acid that are contained in human and most other mammalian tissues or organs and that exhibit a wide range of physiological activities. Naturally occurring PGs possess as a common structural feature the prostanoic acid skeleton: ##STR1## Some synthetic analogues have somewhat modified skeletons. The primary PGs are classified based on the structural feature of the five-membered cycle moiety into PGAs, PGBs, PGCs, PGDs, PGEs, PGFs, PGGs, PGHs, PGIs and PGJs, and also on the presence or absence of unsaturation and oxidation in the chain moiety as:
______________________________________ Subscript 1 13,14-unsaturated-15-OH Subscript 2 5,6- and 13,14-diunsaturated- 15-OH Subscript 3 5,6- 13,14- and 17,18- triunsaturated-15-OH ______________________________________
Further, PGFs are sub-classified according to the configuration of hydroxy group at 9 into .alpha.(hydroxy group being in the alpha configuration ) and .beta.(hydroxy group being in the beta configuration).
2. Background Information
PGE.sub.1, PGE.sub.2 and PGE.sub.3 are known to have vasodilating, hypotensive, gastro-juice reducing, intestinehyperkinetic, uterine contracting, diuretic, bronchodilating and anti-ulcer activities. Also, PGF.sub.1.alpha., PGF.sub.2.alpha. and PGF.sub.3.alpha. are known to have hypertensive, vasocontracting, intestine-hyperkinetic, uterine contracting, luteo-regressive and bronchocontracting activities.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,374,856 discloses the hepatocyte-protecting action of 15-methyl-PGE.sub.2 and 16,16-dimethyl-PGE.sub.2 . JP-A-164512/1983 discloses the activity of 15-(3-propylcyclo- pentyl)-16,17,18,19,20-pentanor-6-oxo-PGE.sub.1 methyl ester in the treatment of acute pancreatitis. JP-A-203911/1983 discloses the cell-protecting action of certain 6-oxo-PGE.sub.1 and PGI.sub.2 having methyl group(s) at one or two of positions 15, 16, 17 and 20 and specific 15-cyclopentyl-PGI.sub.1. All these compounds, however, do not belong to 15-keto-PGs or their derivatives.
European Patent Application No. 0,310,305 describes that 15-keto-PGs can be used as catharitics.
In addition, some 15-keto (i.e. having an oxo group at position 15 in place of the hydroxy group) prostaglandins and 13,14-dihydro-15-ketoprostaglandins are known as substances naturally produced by enzymatic actions during metabolism of primary PGs (Acta Physiologica Scandinavica, 66, 509, 1966). It has also been described that 15-ketoprostaglandin F2.alpha. has an antipregnant activity. However, it has not been reported that 15-ketoprostaglandin compounds are therapeutically effective in the treatment of a pancreatic disease.
The pancreatic disease includes acute pancreatitis, acute pancreatic necrosis, chronic pancreatitis, hereditary pancreatitis, and pancreatic cysts, some of which are not etiologically clarified. Effective medicament has not been found and there is a continuous need for developing agents for treatment of pancreatic disease.
As a result of extensive studies about the biological properties of 15-ketoprostaglandin compounds, the present inventors have discovered that these compounds have an activity of improving or recovering injured pancreatic function in the experimental acute pancreatitis model and therefore useful as an agent for treating pancreatic disease. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Electrical communication in and out of an array of tightly pitched wires can be difficult. It can be difficult because aligning an electrical bond pad to each wire without accidentally connecting to an adjacent wire can require a machine capable of high accuracy.
One structure for electrically connecting to wires of an array is called a multiplexing/demultiplexing architecture (a “mux/demux architecture”). The mux/demux architecture does not need an electrical bond pad to be connected or aligned with each wire of an array. Instead, one bond pad is typically connected to all of the wires of the array.
This one bond pad, however, does not allow communication with each wire of the array individually. To differentiate between wires, an address element, such as a transistor, can be contacted with each of the wires. For a 16-wire array, for instance, four transistors can be contacted with each wire. By selectively turning the transistors on and off, only one of the 16 wires can be permitted to communicate with the one bond pad. Manufacturing this mux/demux architecture is typically less expensive and more reliable than connecting a bond pad to each wire.
In FIG. 1, for instance, an array of wires 102 with a pitch 103 of about 1000 nanometers is electrically connected to one common node 104. A pitch is a distance between wires plus a width of one of those wires. Thus, a pitch of an array having wires that are one millimeter wide and spaced two millimeters apart is three millimeters. Wires 106 of the array 102 can be communicated with separately using a mux/demux architecture shown at numeral 108. This mux/demux 108 has four different address circuits 110, 112, 114, and 116, each of which communicates with a set of transistors 118 through two address lines. These address circuits can turn on or off the transistors 118 to which they are connected. By turning the transistors 118 on and off, only one of the wires 106 will have the same voltage as the voltage supply 120, while the rest of the wires 106 will have no voltage. Thus, only one of the wires 106 can be selected and therefore have the same voltage as the voltage supply 120.
For example, a third wire 122 can be selected if all four of the transistors 118 that are in contact with the third wire 122 are turned on. The transistors 118 of the third wire 122 are turned on by turning the address circuit 110 on, the circuit 112 on, the circuit 114 off, and the circuit 116 on. When on, the transistors 118 on the “Logical YES” side of each of the address circuits turn on and on the “Logical NOT” side turn off, and vice-versa. Address wires 124, 126, 128, and 130 are used to turn the address circuits 110, 112, 114, and 116 on or off, respectively.
One problem with this mux/demux architecture 108 is that it uses address elements (like transistors, diodes, and resistors) that typically need to be aligned with the wires during fabrication. Aligning these elements with the wires can be accomplished with typical processing machines if the wires of the array have a large enough pitch 103. For smaller pitches, however, the address elements of the mux/demux architecture 108 may not be alignable with wires of the array.
There is, therefore, a need for small-pitched devices and methods for addressing them electrically.
The same numbers are used throughout the disclosure and figures to reference like components and features. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
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