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Devices utilizing hollow probe aspiration are useful for removing and/or obtaining samples of tissue in minimally invasive percutaneous procedures, for biopsy or other purposes, such as therapeutic tissue removal purposes.
It may be desirable to provide additional and alternative designs for an instrument including a hollow probe that allows for effective and efficient sample cutting and removal, minimal trauma to tissue and to the patient in the tissue removal procedure, and of relatively simple design, manufacture and use.
A variety of such devices have been developed and used, but to the best of the inventors' knowledge, no one prior to the inventors has created or used the invention described in the appended claims. | {
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The invention relates to a process for improving color and color stability of oleic acid.
1. Background of the Invention
Oleic acid has many industrial and commercial uses and applications in which color is a major consideration. When oleic acid is introduced into many consumer products, a colorless or light colored material is required. In addition, when oleic acid is utilized in chemical processes as a reactant, color stability can be important if colorless or light colored products are required.
2. Related Art
It is known that the color and color stability of oleic acid is influenced by small amounts of minor components in oleic acid. The minor components and the effect on color and color stability are discussed in a series of articles which appeared in JAOCS, Vol. 59, No. 1 (January 1982) pgs.42-51; Sherman S. Lin et al., CHARACTERIZATION OF MINOR CONSTITUENTS IN COMMERCIAL OLEIC ACID, JOACS, Vol. 59, No. 1 (January 1982) pgs. 42-46; Yokunobo Murase et al., ORIGIN OF MINOR CONSTITUENTS OF COMMERCIAL OLEIC ACID; JAOCS, Vol. 59, No. 1 (January 1982) Pgs. 47-50; and Sherman S. Lin et al. qualitative and quantitative COMPARISON OF MINOR CONSTITUENTS IN DIFFERENT COMMERCIAL OLEIC ACIDS. JAOCS, Vol. 59, No. 1 (January 1982) Pgs. 50-51.
The articles disclose that about 1.2% of impurities in commercial oleic acid are responsible for the color and color instability of oleic acid. A portion of the color causing materials are present in the tallow (raw material) from which the oleic acid is produced and a portion of the color causing materials are formed during the production of oleic acid from tallow.
The articles disclose that the color causing materials (minor constituents) can be removed from oleic acid by adsorption on activated silicic acid. The method effectively removes the minor components from oleic acid. However, the adsorption method is generally not suitable for a commercial process due to the difficulty in regenerating the activated silicic acid or disposal of the spent solid.
Commercially, high purity, color stable oleic acid is produced by a combination of distillation and absorption methods with the consequent difficulty associated with handling and disposal of the solid adsorbent material. It would be useful to provide a commercial process which effectively improved the color and color stability of oleic acid without need for an absorption step. A number of distillation processes for fatty acids are disclosed in Diechelmann, G and Heinz, H. J., THE BASICS OF INDUSTRIAL OLEOCHEMISTRY, Peter Pomp GmbH (ISBN 3-89355-008-9), pages 52-74.
The color and color stability of oleic acid can be improved by a distillation process which comprises introducing an oleic acid feed into a first distillation zone having an enriching section and a stripping section to separate a minor amount of a topping product and a major amount of a bottoms product containing the oleic acid and introducing the bottoms produced containing oleic acid into a lower portion of a second distillation zone having an enriching section and removing the purified oleic acid as the top product and a residue fraction from the bottom of the second distillation zone.
The process effectively reduces the amounts of the minor components which are responsible for color formation and color instability and produces a commercially useful, color stable oleic acid without need for an adsorption step. The oleic acid produced by the process of the present invention can be superior to, or at least equivalent to, commercially available oleic acid produced by a distillation and adsorption method without the concomitant difficulties associated with handling and disposal of solid materials. | {
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Technical Field
The present disclosure pertains to internal combustion engines having a reciprocating piston slidably mounted within a cylinder and, more particularly, to a compression ring adapted to provide a seal between a top surface of the piston and a wall of the cylinder.
Description of the Related Art
Today's most common internal combustion engines are equipped with a cylinder, a piston slidably mounted in the cylinder, and a cylinder head mounted on the cylinder that in combination define a combustion chamber. Such engines are operated with a variety of fuels, including gasoline, diesel, biodiesel, hydrogen, ethanol alcohol (ethyl alcohol), propane, natural gas and others. In the past few years, new technologies have emerged, some in development and some already on the market, in which water, water injection, and other similar liquids are utilized.
In most internal combustion engines employing a piston-cylinder arrangement, the piston is slightly smaller in outside diameter than the inside diameter of the cylinder bore. At least one and usually three rings are used around the circumference of the piston to provide a seal between the piston and the wall of the cylinder. These rings are used in different configurations and are typically made from spring metal.
Most liquid type fuels are fed to the combustion chamber using a carburetor, port fuel injection or direct injection. The liquid fuel is converted to a mist or a spray during its transition to the combustion chamber. Once such spray touches a surface of the combustion chamber, it is turned back to a liquid. One such surface is the cylinder walls. This conversion back to liquid form inhibits complete consumption and burning of the fuel.
In current technologies during compression cycles the top ring is collecting liquid fuel from the cylinder walls, and it becomes trapped in the volume between the piston and cylinder. It is most critical during the compression stroke of a 4-stroke engine, where the pressure is high enough that once the piston reaches top dead center, the combustion creates maximum pressure to push the piston away from the cylinder head. This pressure pushes some of the liquid collected from between the piston and the cylinder wall past the piston and into the oil pan area. This is known as “blow-by.” In a water-based fuel system and in hydrogen-based fuels where the by-product of the combustion is mostly water, such blow-by liquids are mixed with the engine oil residing in the oil pan below the piston.
Piston reciprocation occurs more than 1000 times per minute even at low rpm. In a multiple cylinder engine the amount of blow-by is substantial. The blow-by results in wasted fuel and contamination of the oil, creating a milky type substance that can cause rapid wear of internal parts of the engine and premature failure.
Although the space between the piston cylinder wall and top ring is very small, it can accumulate trapped liquid to a large volume very rapidly. Attempts have been made in the past, with some success, to reduce blow-by by using multiple rings in a variety of shapes and configurations on the piston. None, however, appear to have addressed eliminating or preventing the accumulation of liquid in this space between the piston cylinder wall and the top ring.
Shown in FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an assembly 20 having a piston 22 slidably mounted within a cylinder 24 that is covered with a cylinder head 26 to define a combustion chamber 28. The piston 22 is mounted to a connecting rod 30 that in turn is coupled to a crankshaft 32, which is configured to move the piston 22 in a reciprocating fashion up and down in the cylinder 24. The construction and operation of the crankshaft 32 and connecting rod 30 will not be described in detail herein inasmuch as these are well-known elements to those of skill in the art. Similarly, the cylinder head 26 includes a pair of valves 34, a spark plug 36, and a fuel injector 38 that are in communication with the combustion chamber 28 in a well-known manner. These elements will also not be described in detail herein inasmuch as they form the environment within which the invention is designed to function, and such elements are well known to those of skill in the art.
Turning next to FIG. 2, shown therein in greater detail is a partial enlarged view of the assembly 20 of FIG. 1 showing a top ring 40 mounted within a channel 42 formed in a sidewall 44 of the piston 22. As is well known, the piston 22 has a cylindrical exterior sidewall surface 44 that is slightly smaller in diameter than an exterior sidewall surface 46 of the cylinder 24. The top ring 40, generally known as a compression ring, extends outward from the exterior sidewall surface 44 of the piston 22 to ride up against the interior cylinder wall 46 in a fashion that scrapes liquid 48 off the cylinder wall 46 and reduces blow-by from the combustion chamber 28 to a crankcase area around the connecting rod 30 and crankshaft 32 below the piston 22.
More particularly, during a typical four-stroke combustion cycle, fuel is injected into the combustion chamber 28 via the fuel injector 38. This fuel is shown as a spray 50 in FIG. 1. The spray of liquid fuel 50 can accumulate on the cylinder wall 46 in the form of droplets 48 shown in FIG. 2. During the movement of the piston 22 in a reciprocating fashion within the cylinder 24, the top ring 40 will scrape and collect the droplets 48 in the space 52 between the piston 22 and the cylinder 24. The liquid accumulates as indicated by reference number 54 within the space 52. Under the pressure of combustion, this trapped liquid 54 can blow past the top ring 40 and be injected into the crankcase containing the crankshaft 32, connecting rod 30, and lubricating oil.
Hence, there is a need to eliminate this trapped liquid 54 in the space 52 between the piston 22 and cylinder wall 24 to reduce the potential for damage to the engine, and to increase engine performance. | {
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The invention relates to the field of client/server (also known as xe2x80x9cdistributedxe2x80x9d) computing, where one computing device (xe2x80x9cthe clientxe2x80x9d) requests another computing device (xe2x80x9cthe serverxe2x80x9d) to perform part of the client""s work.
Client/server computing has become more and more important over the past few years in the information technology world. This type of distributed computing allows one machine to delegate some of its work to another machine that might be, for example, better suited to perform that work.
The benefits of client/server computing have been even further enhanced by the use of a well-known computer programming technology called object-oriented programming (OOP), which allows the client and server to be located on different (heterogeneous) xe2x80x9cplatformsxe2x80x9d. A platform is a combination of the specific hardware/software/operating system/communication protocol which a machine uses to do its work. OOP allows the client application program and server application program to operate on their own platforms without worrying how the client application""s work requests will be communicated and accepted by the server application. Likewise, the server application does not have to worry about how the OOP system will receive, translate and send the server application""s processing results back to the requesting client application.
Details of how OOP techniques have been integrated with heterogeneous client/server systems are explained in U.S. Pat. No. 5,440,744 and European Patent Published Application No. EP 0 677,943 A2. These latter two publications are hereby incorporated by reference. However, an example, of the basic architecture will be given below for contextual understanding of the invention""s environment.
As shown in FIG. 1, the client computer 10 (which could, for example, be a personal computer having the IBM OS/2 operating system installed thereon) has an application program 40 running on its operating system (xe2x80x9cIBMxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cOS/2xe2x80x9d are trademarks of the International Business Machines corporation). The application program 40 will periodically require work to be performed on the server computer 20 and/or data to be returned from the server 20 for subsequent use by the application program 40. The server computer 20 can be, for example, a high-powered mainframe computer running on IBM""s MVS operating system (xe2x80x9cMVSxe2x80x9d is also a trademark of the IBM corp.). For the purposes of the present invention it is irrelevant whether the requests for communications services to be carried out by the server are instigated by user interaction with the first application program 40, or whether the application program 40 operates independently of user interaction and makes the requests automatically during the running of the program.
When the client computer 10 wishes to make a request for the server computer 20""s services, the first application program 40 informs the first logic means 50 of the service required. It may for example do this by sending the first logic means the name of a remote procedure along with a list of input and output parameters. The first logic means 50 then handles the task of establishing the necessary communications with the second computer 20 with reference to definitions of the available communications services stored in the storage device 60. All the possible services are defined as a cohesive framework of object classes 70, these classes being derived from a single object class. Defining the services in this way gives rise to a great number of advantages in terms of performance and reusability.
To establish the necessary communication with the server 20, the first logic means 50 determines which object class in the framework needs to be used, and then creates an instance of that object, a message being sent to that object so as to cause that object to invoke one of its methods. This gives rise to the establishment of the connection with the server computer 20 via the connection means 80, and the subsequent sending of a request to the second logic means 90.
The second logic means 90 then passes the request on to the second application program 100 (hereafter called the service application) running on the server computer 20 so that the service application 100 can perform the specific task required by that request, such as running a data retrieval procedure. Once this task has been completed the service application may need to send results back to the first computer 10. The server application 100 interacts with the second logic means 90 during the performance of the requested tasks and when results are to be sent back to the first computer 10. The second logic means 90 establishes instances of objects, and invokes appropriate methods of those objects, as and when required by the server application 100, the object instances being created from the cohesive framework of object classes stored in the storage device 110.
Using the above technique, the client application program 40 is not exposed to the communications architecture. Further the service application 100 is invoked through the standard mechanism for its environment; it does not know that it is being invoked remotely.
The Object Management Group (OMG) is an international consortium of organizations involved in various aspects of client/server computing on heterogeneous platforms as is shown in FIG. 1. The OMG has set forth published standards by which client computers (e.g. 10) communicate (in OOP form) with server machines (e.g. 20). As part of these standards, an Object Request Broker has been defined, which provides the object-oriented bridge between the client and the server machines. The ORB decouples the client and server applications from the object oriented implementation details, performing at least part of the work of the first and second logic means 50 and 90 as well as the connection means 80.
FIG. 2 shows a conventional architecture for such a system. Once client requests find their way through the ORB 21 and into the server, the ORB finds a particular server object capable of executing the request and sends the request to that server object""s object adapter 22 (also defined by OMG standard) where it is stored in the object adapter""s buffer to await processing by the server object. The buffer is a First-In-First-Out queue, meaning that the first request received in the buffer at one end thereof is the first to leave out the other end. The server object has a plurality of parallel execution threads (23a, 23b, 23c) upon any of which it can run an instance of itself. In this way, the server object is able to process plural requests at the same time. The object adapter 22 looks to see which of the parallel execution threads is ready to process another request and assigns the request located at the end of the buffer to the next available execution thread. This is explained in the above-mentioned U.S. Patent as a xe2x80x9cdispatchingxe2x80x9d mechanism whereby the server dispatches queued requests to execution threads.
One major problem with this prior architecture is that it is not possible to obtain a predictable response time for the execution of a client request. That is, a particular client request could be sitting in a server object""s object adapter queue 22 behind a large number of other requests, or, at another time, the particular client request could be the only request in the queue. The client that is waiting for an answer cannot predict when a response will be received from the server object. Another problem is that a very important client request may have to wait behind many not so important requests in the object adapter queue.
These predictability problems dissuade the use of heterogeneous client/server systems to perform distributed processing, leaving such distributed processing to be carried out on homogeneous client/server architectures (such as computer terminals accessing host mainframe computers) especially where a guaranteed, predictable and consistent execution environment is required.
According to one aspect, the present invention provides an apparatus for scheduling and dispatching client requests for execution by a server object in a heterogeneous object-oriented client/server computing environment, the apparatus comprising: a request-holding buffer having an input connected to a communications channel which channels the client requests to the apparatus, and an output; a plurality of parallel execution threads connected to the output of the buffer; and a scheduling means for distributing client requests stored in the buffer to the plurality of execution threads, characterized in that: the scheduling means places client requests held in the buffer in priority order based on a priority determining rule which takes into account the state of the plurality of execution threads and the nature of each of the held requests.
Preferably, the buffer is included within an object adapter.
Preferably, the scheduling means assigns priority values to each request in the buffer by applying the priority determining rule and places higher priority valued requests ahead of lower priority valued requests in the buffer so that the highest priority valued request is scheduled next for execution by the server object.
According to a second aspect, the present invention provides a method of scheduling and dispatching client requests for execution by a server object in a heterogeneous object-oriented client/server computing environment, comprising the steps of: determining information about each of a plurality of queued incoming client requests; determining information about each of a plurality of parallel execution threads of the server object; applying a priority determining rule to the information obtained in said determining steps; and scheduling the order of dispatch from the queue of the plurality of queued requests based on the results of said applying step.
According to third aspect, the present invention provides a computer program product for, when run on a computer, carrying out the method of the second aspect of the invention.
Thus, with the present invention, queued client requests can be processed in a much more efficient and controllable manner, greatly enhancing the predictability of processing result which is returned to the client. High priority client requests can be processed before lower priority requests and workload management amongst the execution threads can be effected, to provide highly efficient and predictable processing of the queued requests. | {
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Surgical devices are used in various open, endoscopic, and laparoscopic surgeries to transect tissue volumes and blood vessels. The devices generally include jaws for grasping tissue therebetween and a cutting mechanism that is advanced through the grasped tissue to transect it. The cutting mechanism can be designed to travel within a track formed in one or both jaws of the device. In some instances the devices can also be used to seal tissue volumes and blood vessels being transected. Electrodes can be disposed on a face of one or both of the jaws and can apply energy to the grasped tissue to promote hemostasis.
Further, the devices can generally include a handle with a closure actuator used to open and close the jaws, and a shaft allowing for mechanical linkage between the handle and the jaws. Some of these surgical devices incorporate mechanical linkages between a closure actuator and the jaws such that when a user manipulates the closure actuator, e.g., by manually squeezing a trigger, the jaws close.
One issue that can plague tissue cutting devices is that the cutting mechanism and jaws, including the electrode, need to be cleaned or replaced prior to reuse. More particularly, blades can become worn, dull, and should be replaced, and dirt and debris can build up between the jaws, and thus the jaws need to be cleaned and sterilized, or replaced. Existing devices are difficult to clean and sterilize for reuse because it can be complicated and cumbersome to clean, remove, and replace their parts. As a result, often the entire end effector is replaced prior to a subsequent surgical use.
Accordingly, there remains a need for improved surgical devices and methods for compressing tissue and sensing tissue and other objects grasped by the device including surgical devices that can be easily cleaned and/or elements of the device that can be easily replaced. | {
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A typical switch mode power supply (SMPS) includes a switching transistor coupled to a primary winding of power transferring transformer for periodically applying an input supply voltage to the primary winding. It is known to operate the SMPS in a run mode of operation and in a standby mode of operation. During a run mode operation, pulses of current are developed in a secondary winding of the transformer at a high frequency and are rectified for periodically replenishing a charge in a filter or smoothing capacitor. An output supply voltage, developed in the capacitor, is connected to energize a load.
In the run mode of operation, the SMPS operates in a continuous mode. In the standby mode of operation, it may be desirable to operate the SMPS in a burst mode for reducing power dissipation. In a given cycle of the burst mode, the high frequency current pulses a are developed in the transformer windings. The current pulses are followed by a relatively long interval, referred to herein as dead time interval, of several milliseconds, in which no current pulse is produced. An advantageous type of a SMPS is a zero voltage switching SMPS.
In carrying out an inventive feature, in a zero voltage switching SMPS, switching on the transistor occurs when the voltage between the main current conducting terminals of the transistor is zero for minimizing switching losses. It may be desirable to operate the zero voltage switching SMPS in the burst mode, during standby.
In a zero voltage switching SMPS, embodying an inventive feature, the standby mode is initiated by disconnecting a run mode load from the filter capacitor via a switch. Thereby, the run mode load ceases consuming load current. Because the run mode load circuit is de-energized, a feedback loop of the SMPS causes the transistor to conduct in a substantially shorter duty cycle than in the run mode. The short duty cycle in successive switching cycles of the transistor causes the zero voltage switching SMPS to operate in a standby, burst mode. | {
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The present invention relates to fibrous web finishing. In particular, the invention concerns a method according to the preamble of claim 1 for increasing the smoothness of paper and board webs by mechanical treatment.
Paper is normally manufactured by the wet method. According to that method fibres are suspended in water to form a fibrous furnish and a wet web is formed from the furnish on a wire screen. The web is then dried step by step using different mechanical and thermal systems to a preselected state of dryness.
In conventional technology, the fibrous furnish is maintained in turbulent state before web formation in order to avoid orientation of the fibres. However, as a result of the turbulence, there will be formed flocks in the web, having a fibre density larger than that of the surrounding parts of the web.
For the purpose of all printing operations, the surface of the paper should be as smooth and/or homogeneous as possible. The same is true for papers coated with mineral particle layer and latex binding materials. Therefore, very often (base) papers are calendered before coating and also papers containing mineral fillers are treated with a calender for achieving a smoother surface. Calendering is in particular necessary for certain paper qualities because of the above-mentioned flock formation.
There are numerous types of calenders, but all of them even the surface by mechanical pressing and sliding forces. Conventional calendering is hampered by some considerable disadvantages. After remoisturing, a surface smoothened by calendering will totally or partially regain its original form. It is also known that papers loose up to 35-40% of its strength properties and 25-35% of its original opacity as a result of calendering. Further, the original tenacity of the paper web will remarkably decrease.
In view of the above problems related to calendering, great efforts have been made to avoid said flock formation and to find some different methods for surface smoothening.
U.S. Pat No. 2,349,704 discloses a method for polishing the surface of a paper web with a cloth polishing roll. The surface of the roll contains a powdered abrasive which is bound to the surface with the aid of a binder. The object is to press and polish paper to the same extent as is made by the supercalendering process, and according to specification of the patent, the density of the treated paper is the same as after a supercalendering process and gloss, measured by a Baush and Lomb glossmeter, is 10 points higher than before the treatment.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,533,244 discloses another method, somewhat similar to the one mentioned above, for polishing paper with a woven belt which slides at different speed over the paper web than the web itself, producing frictional action.
A soft calender device which acts as a rubbing friction device on paper surface is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,089,738. The device will smoothen the paper surface in the same way as original supercalenders.
None of the prior art method will provide for a satisfying removal of high density flocks from the paper surface. Further, it is apparent that the strength properties of the paper deteriorate during the application of the known methods.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to eliminate the disadvantages of the prior art and to provide a novel method for treating the surface of a fibrous web, in particular a paper or board surface in order to improve its smoothness while substantially retaining the mechanical properties of the web.
The present invention is based on the surprising finding that the surface of many fibrous webs can be smoothen by grinding off only the most protruding parts of the web with a grinding means, such as a grinding belt or viberating grinding device or rotating grinding cylinder, to provide a smoothened surface having unaltered or even improved properties of mechanical strengthness. In particular, the presention comprises grinding in the dry state (xe2x80x9cdry grindingxe2x80x9d) only the higher parts of fibrous web (in cross section) while pressing the surface against the grinding surface so little that no noticeable increase of density of the web can be found.
More specifically, the invention is mainly characterized by what is stated in the characterizing part of claim 1.
The present invention provides a number of advantages. Surprisingly, it has been found that, e.g., ground paper had a better tensile strength and also better bursting strength that the original paper. Although we do not wish to be bound by any particular theory, it would appear that this phenomenon is based on the forces inside the stressed web becoming more evenly distributed when the strength of the parts having the highest strength is decreased. Initially, because of the poor evenness (formation) of the paper web, the forces are not so strong at the thinnest part of the paper. However, grinding will redistribute the adhesion forces within the web matrix. Another possible explanation is that fines generated obviously during the grinding process and also fibrils, one end of which still sticks to the original fibre, are reassembled on the surface.
During the surface grinding process of the present invention, very limited amounts of loose fibres and dust are formed. This is probably because the grinding friction of the present invention will release some water vapour from the surface and it will condense on the paper leaving the grinding process part of machinery. This condensed water will bind fines back to the surface.
Next the invention will be examined in more detail with the aid of the following detailed description and with reference to a working example.
Within the scope of the present invention, the terms xe2x80x9ccellulosicxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9clignocellulosicxe2x80x9d are used to designate materials derived from cellulose and lignocellulosic materials, respectively. In particular xe2x80x9ccellulosicxe2x80x9d refers to material obtainable from chemical pulping of wood and other plant raw material. Thus, a web containing xe2x80x9ccellulosic fibresxe2x80x9d is made for example from kraft, sulphite or organosolv pulp. xe2x80x9cLignocellulosicxe2x80x9d refers to material obtainable from wood and other plant raw material by mechanical defibering, for example by an industrial refining process, such as refiner mechanical pulping (RMP), pressurized refiner mechanical pulping (PRMP), thermomechanical pulping (TMP), groundwood (GW) or pressurized groundwood (PGW), or chemithermo-mechanical pulping (CTMP) or any other method for manufacturing a fibrous material which can be formed into a web and coated.
The terms xe2x80x9cpaperxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cpaperboardxe2x80x9d refer to sheet-formed products containing cellulosic or lignocellulosic fibres. xe2x80x9cPaperboardxe2x80x9d is synonymous with xe2x80x9ccardboardxe2x80x9d. The grammage of the paper or paperboard can vary within broad ranges from about 30 to about 500 g/m2. The roughness of the web which is to be treated in about 0.1 to 30 xcexcm, preferably about 1 to 15 xcexcm. The present invention can be employed for treating any desired paper or paperboard web. As a practical matter, the term xe2x80x9cpaperxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cpaper webxe2x80x9d is herein used to designate both xe2x80x9cpaperxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cpaperboardxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cpaper webxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cpaperboard webxe2x80x9d, respectively.
The terms xe2x80x9cfinesxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cfibrilsxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cfibresxe2x80x9d denote finely divided material having a cross-sectional diameter of less than about 10 xcexcm, typically in the range of 0.001 to 2 xcexcm and the xe2x80x9cfibrilsxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cfibresxe2x80x9d are materials having a length to cross-section diameter ratio of more than about 6.
The xe2x80x9croughnessxe2x80x9d of the web which is to be coated is generally given as xe2x80x9cmicronsxe2x80x9d (xcexcm). The print-surf surface roughness at 1000 kPa can be measured according to, for example, ISO 8791-4:1992 (E). Typically the roughness of paper webs is in the range of 8 to 2 microns. As discussed below and shown in the working examples, by subjecting the surface of a paper or paperboard web to a grinding treatment according to the invention, it is possible to reduce the roughness of the web by at least 20%, preferably about 40 to 60% while maintaining the mechanical properties of the web.
The present invention comprises the steps of forming a wet web from a fibrous furnish on a wire screen. The web is then dried on a paper or board machine to preselected state of dryness. At any desired point of the drying, but preferably after the web has been dried to sufficient dryness to impair reasonable mechanical strength on the web, the web is subjected to a dry grinding operation as explained in more detail below. The grinding can be carried out between the unwinding and winding of the web. After the grinding and possible smoothing, the treated web can then be coated with suitable coating colours as known per se.
The grinding according to the invention is carried out by contacting the surface of the paper web with a grinding means. According to a preferred embodiment of the present grinding process, the grinding is made by grinding grains fixed to a movable grinding belt or a vibrating plate which produces a not glossy but faded or mat surface. The preferable size of the grinding media grains is between about 5-20 micron, of course depending on the surface quality and the surface weight of the paper or board. The surface of the grinding medium is essentially dry (moisture content less than about 50%, preferably less than 20% and in particular less than 10%) and preferably no water is fed between the web and the grinding medium during grinding.
According to the present invention, it is essential that the higher points, i.e. the xe2x80x9chillsxe2x80x9d. are ground away from the paper surface and for fulfilling this goal the grinding belts back support and the papers support must be built so that only higher level parts from papers surface are removed. Generally, the roughness of the surface, as measured in micrometers, is reduced by 10 to 90%, preferably about 40 to 60%, after grinding.
During grinding, the web is subjected to a grinding energy on the order of 700 to 14,000 J/m2, preferably about 2,000 to 8,000 J/m2. According to a particularly preferred embodiment, the web is subjected to 2,000-3,000 J/m2 grinding energy/micron roughness of the web. As mentioned above, the mechanical properties of the paper or board remain unchanged by the grinding according to the present invention. They can even be improved by the grinding as explained above. Thus, when the roughness of the surface is reduced by a maximum of 90% the strength properties of the web will remain essentially unchanged or they are improved. When the roughness of the surface is reduced by about 40 to 60% the tear strength is increased with at least 5% (preferably over 10%) in comparison to an untreated web.
A visual inspection of a paper treated by the present grinding method reveals that the opacity of the paper is not significantly changed when 40 to 60% of hills and similar irrregularities on the surface have been subjected to grinding. At the same time, the mechanical strength of the paper is excellent.
The pressure exerted on the web can vary within a wide large as long as no significant compressing of the paper takes place. This would otherwise weaken the mechanical strength of the web. Generally, the surface pressure of the grinding should be about 0.01 to 20 kPa, preferably about 1 to 10 kPa.
After the grinding it is advantageous to remoisturize the treated surface and press it slightly against a very smooth surface or against a moving smooth surface for getting all loose fibres and fines back to the surface. This treatment will even further smoothen the ground surface. For moisturizing, steam or water vapour can be used as well as a mist containing evenly distributed small droplet produced by, e.g., an ultrasonic treatment, and which can be attached to the surface by ionization methods.
In an article titled xe2x80x9cFriction in Wood Grindingxe2x80x9d (Paper and Timber, Vol. 79 (1997) No. 4) wood grinding with a grinding stone is discussed in some detail. The authors claim that a grinding speed of less than 7 m/s is totally ineffective and that only at speeds of 10 to 30 m/s the grinding stone will release some fibers from wood. At lower speed only some unwanted fibrillation will take place on the contact surface of wood.
The present invention is based on the opposite concept: we do not want to release whole fibers from the surface of the paper or board web, but instead only fibrils and loose parts of fibers. Therefore, the velocity difference can, according to the present invention, be in the range of 1 to 10 m/s and still satisfying results are obtained. However, according to another embodiment the higher the speed difference between the belt and paper or board to be grinded, the better the result. The best way to do it is to arrange the belt and web to be running in the same direction but with different speed. This provides for efficient removal of dust. High grinding speed is advantageous for two different reasons: firstly, it will prevent dust and fines from gathering on the belt and, secondly, at high speed the surface pressure can be kept low and melting of resins, lignin etc. does not take place on the surface and so the grinding belt or other grinding media surface will not to be blocked. The critical speed depends on the wood or pulp quality from which the paper or board has been made and also on the quality of the grinding particles on the grinding media surface. The grinding speed and pressure must nevertheless always be kept on a level where no local heating will happen to the extent that resins and lingnins are softened. Should this happen, the grinding medium would soon be clogged with fibres, resins, lignin and loose dust from the web.
According to a preferred embodiment, wherein a belt grinder comprising a dry belt of a polymeric material is used, the fibrous belt is friction electrified as a result of the grinding. Therefore, fibrils and fine particles released from the web by the grinding are rebound to the surface by electrostatic forces between the fibrils and the web. No dusting of the web takes place. The electrical loading of the surface can also be effected before grinding in order to increase the electrical load of the surface.
By treating the fibrous web with cationized starch or a similar cationic material, conventionally used for improving retention of pigments or fines on the wire of a paper or board machine, the cationic material will effectively bind fibrils loosened during the grinding process to the surface.
According to a further preferred embodiment, the ground surface, which as mentioned above, is usually faded or mat after grinding, can be made glossy by moisturizing it slightly with steam and pressing it against a smooth surface.
A paper or board treated according to the present invention can be coated or used as such optionally after glossing with a conventional calender or, preferably as explained above, after moisturizing. For coating purposes the paper can be provided with a polymer layer, a barrier layer, a laquer or with normal coating colours. These papers and board are particularly suitable for printing and writing and ink jet printing. Untreated optionally glossy-quality products are also suitable for packaging, wrapping and bagging purposes.
The following non-limiting example illustrates the invention: | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The present invention relates to an apparatus for measuring the basis weight, and more particularly, to an apparatus for measuring the basis weight of a web-shaped material under test.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,681,595 describes an arrangement of a radioactive radiation source on one side of a material under test and a radiation detector responsive to the radioactive radiation on the opposite side of the material under test for the on-line measurement of the basis weight of a web-shaped material under test. The material under test described therein is paper. As radioactive radiation sources, a .beta. emitter (e.g., Promethium 147, Krypton 85 and Strontium 90) may be used. The radiation detector may consist of an ionization chamber or of a semiconductor detector, respectively. By measuring the transmission of the electrons emitted by the radioactive .beta. radiation source, the basis weight of the material under test may be evaluated. In order to achieve a satisfactory signal-to-noise ratio, the radioactive radiation source must show a certain activity. On the other hand there is a desire to use a source having an activity as small as possible because of the radioactive radiation.
Also, from German patent DE-A-2800925, the measurement of the basis weight can be achieved by arranging a .beta. radiation source and a .beta. radiation detector side by side on the same side of the material under test and to take care by the provision of a magnetic field which extends in the plane of the material under test that the .beta. particles emitted from the radiation source reach the radiation detector on curved trajectories. Thus, the .beta. particles pass twice through the material under test.
The present invention improves the signal-to-noise ratio at a predetermined activity level of the radiation source. The present invention has in view a focusing of the electrons emitted by the .beta. radiation source due to a magnetic field and due to the Lorentz force exerted by this magnetic field onto the electrons. By focusing of the emitted electrons within the lower half space in a direction versus the material under test, more .beta. particles are available for the measuring of the transmission without changing the activity of the radiation source. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a structure of an image display apparatus which forms an image with an electron-emitting device.
2. Related Background Art
In this type of image display apparatus, an electron emitted from an electron-emitting device is transmitted through an accelerating electrode which accelerates the electron, and a phosphor member made of a fluorescent material and the like is irradiated with the electron. In the phosphor member, a bright spot (light-emission spot) is generated in a region irradiated with the electron, and the image is formed by the plural bright spots (hereinafter sometimes individual phosphor member is referred to as pixel).
However, the electrons with which the phosphor member is irradiated are scattered on the phosphor member (hereinafter the electron is referred to as “scattered electron”). When the scattered electrons are incident to the adjacent pixel again, a phenomenon called halation in which the scattered electrons causes the light emission from the adjacent pixel is generated, which results in troubles such as color drift.
Therefore, recently many technologies which suppress the halation are disclosed. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,639,330 discloses the image display apparatus in which a thickness of the accelerating electrode is adjusted in order to suppress efficiency of re-incidence of the scattered electron to the phosphor member of not more than 30%.
However, in the image display apparatus disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,639,330, the light emission caused by the electrons other than the scattered electrons is also suppressed while the light emission caused by the halation is suppressed. Namely, the light emission caused by the proper electrons emitted from the electron-emitting device is suppressed. Therefore, since the intended brightness cannot be obtained, further improvement is demanded from the viewpoints of high brightness and high contrast. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The present invention relates to adjustable pliers and more particularly to adjustable pliers which are adapted to be locked in a particular position.
A number of patents have issued on adjustable pliers. Applicant is aware of at least the following patents relating to adjustable pliers: U.S. Pat. Nos.
4,651,598 PA0 4,893,530 PA0 5,351,584 PA0 4,802,390 PA0 4,662,252 PA0 5,060,543 | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is generally directed to mechanical projectors, more specifically bows, compound bows, and compact compound bows.
2. Description of the Prior Art | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to bracing devices and particularly to load stabilization devices capable of preventing the incidental and often injurious shifting of cargo within a freight-carrying car such as a truck trailer or train car.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Devices known as dunnage bars have long been used to brace or support cargo items within cargo carrying areas of land, air and sea vehicles. Such devices are particularly required where partial loads are contained within train boxcars, truck trailers and the like, the free space within such vehicles allowing the potentially damaging shifting of cargo on movement of the vehicle. Containerized freight disposed within a truck trailer, for example, is subject to forward/rearward shifting during normal operation of the vehicle. A dunnage device can thus be used to brace a cargo item against shifting movement along the longitudinal axis of the vehicle, that is, along the direction of motion thereof. Further, a dunnage bar or similar device can be used to brace multiple cargo elements within a portion of a storage hold by disposing one or more dunnage bars transversely of the storage hold to effectively form a temporary restraining wall within the cargo hold to prevent shifting of cargo contained therein.
Dunnage devices are described by Teachout in U.S. Pat. No. 969,002 and by Sharp in U.S. Pat. No. 3,214,027, these devices being used in environments similar to that for which the present invention is intended. Astrom, in U.S. Pat. No. 891,897, describes a trench brace which is utilized to shore timbers and the like in excavations, the bracing function thus described being similar to the bracing function of a dunnage device and thus falling within the intended use environment of the structure of the present invention. Similar load stabilization and bracing devices are described in the patent literature and are available for use. However, prior art structures have typically been either expensive and difficult to use as well as generally inappropriate for all but a few bracing situations. The more recent cargo bracing or bulkhead systems are structurally complex and difficult to assemble by a single worker, such prior devices and systems also often fail to provide the necessary compressive forces needed to prevent the shifting and tipping of cargo contained within a freight storage compartment of a moving vehicle. The present invention provides an effective dunnage brace capable of resisting shifting, sliding and tipping movement of cargo items, the present structure being relatively inexpensive, light in weight and structurally simple while exhibiting maximum strength and providing maximum stability to a load which would otherwise be loosely contained within a cargo hold and therefore subject to potentially damaging movement on movement of the vehicle. Accordingly, the invention intends improvement over the structures of the prior art and exhibits advantages thereover as will be more fully referred to hereinafter. | {
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There has been a continuing need for improving the oil/water ratio during hydrocarbon production. One way to improve hydrocarbon production is by using chemical gel systems to resist the flow of injected or natural aqueous drive fluid through high permeability channels and fractures, sometimes referred to in the art as “conformance control.” The general approach has been to inject a mixture of reagents, initially low in viscosity, into a zone of the formation that has high permeability. After a sufficient time to allow the mixture to be pumped into the subterranean formation or when exposed to the elevated temperature of the formation, the mixture of reagents then forms a gel to block the flow of water. Several mixtures of reagents have been used in this way.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,836,392 entitled “Oil And Gas Field Chemicals” and issued on Nov. 17, 1998, having named inventor Phillip Lance Urlwin-Smith, discloses a method for conformance control of a reservoir comprising injecting into a zone of the reservoir an aqueous solution of a copolymer comprising at least one ethylenically unsaturated polar monomer and at least one copolymerizable ethylenically unsaturated ester formed from a hydroxy compound of the formula ROH wherein R is a selected alkyl group, alkenyl group, cycloalkyl group, aryl group or such groups substituted with from 1 to 3 hydroxyl, ether or thio ether groups or a heterocyclic or selected heterocyclic alkylene group and at least one heteroatom selected from oxygen, nitrogen and sulfur and a selected alkenoic or aralkenoic carboxylic acid or sulfonic or phosphoric acid together with a crosslinking agent comprising a multivalent metal ion capable of crosslinking an acrylic acid polymer to form a viscous gel. The injected fluid is flowed through at least a portion of a high permeability region within said zone wherein it is heated to an elevated temperature whereupon crosslinking of the polymers occurs to form a substantially non-flowable gel within said high permeability region. The crosslinking of the injected fluid to form the non-flowable gel within the formation reduces the permeability of said region in said zone. See Abstract. U.S. Pat. No. 5,836,392 is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,192,986 entitled “Blocking Composition For Use In Subterranean Formation,” issued Feb. 27, 2001, and having named inventors Phillip. Lance Urlwin-Smith, discloses a polymer composition for pumping downhole to gel in a subterranean formation comprising a water-soluble copolymer of (i) at least one non-acidic ethylenically unsaturated polar monomer and (ii) at least one copolymerisable ethylenically unsaturated ester; and an organic gelling agent therefore. Another water-based gel system for conformance control is based on a polyethyleneimine (PEI) crosslinker and a copolymer of acrylamide and t-butyl acrylate. See Abstract. U.S. Pat. No. 6,192,986 is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
While the use of aqueous polymer fluids to reduce undesired water production has achieved varying degrees of success, these fluids are undesirable in that they either have short gel times or low gel stabilities at high temperatures, high toxicity, and/or bio-accumulate in the environment. Short gel times for aqueous polymer fluids do not allow for adequate placement time in the zone of interest because they prematurely gel due to the elevated temperatures in the well bore and in the formation. Hence, these aqueous polymer fluids require pre-cooling the formation by injecting copious amounts of aqueous fluids prior to injecting gelling composition. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a columbarium system and method for interring cremated remains in individual niches or in a common vault using a single ossuary type repository.
Description of the Prior Art
As cost and space issues have led to fewer conventional burials and to a greater number of people choosing cremation, different systems have been developed for handling cremated remains, commonly referred to as cremains, in a dignified and respectful manner. Above ground columbarium systems have multiple storage compartments, commonly referred to as niches, which are able to store urns in a dignified secure manner and provide durability for withstanding exposure to weather for the extended times required. However, even costs of a columbarium having smaller storage spaces then traditional burials or crypts, may be too great, different options, especially less expensive options may be desirable.
Many columbaria are formed in a substantially cylindrical configuration with a layer of individual niches around an exterior of the columbarium with a center open space. This center space is typically not utilized and remains empty. However, the center space is typically protected from the elements by a capstone and the layer of exterior individual niches. The center interior volume provides suitable long term storage chamber for cremains if it can be accessed.
An ossuary provides for interring multiple separate cremated individual cremains in a single repository vault. Although an ossuary may use a common repository, it is still desirable to have a record of the individuals whose cremains are interred to provide a memorial of their final resting place. Therefore, it is desirable to provide a marker of each individual, preferably at or on the structure housing the cremains.
It can also be appreciated that delivery of the cremated remains to a common storage vault should provide for a respectful and dignified delivery of the remains into the vault. Such a delivery system should ensure that the remains cannot get caught to prevent clogs and/or incomplete delivery and should provide for security as well as being weather proof. Moreover, the delivery system should ensure that the cremains containers are evenly distributed in a common repository space.
Traditional urns may not be suitable for being dropped through a delivery system and landing in a vault with other remains. Traditional rigid urns may generate noise when landing in the repository and striking other urns. Moreover, there may also be a risk of the urn cracking or breaking open and/or releasing the cremains. Therefore, the discrete storage of each individual's remains should be configured for delivery to and interment in a common vault.
It is therefore seen that an improved interment system is needed that provides for delivery and permanent storage of cremated remains in a dignified and reverent manner. Such a storage system should provide a structure giving durable weather proof storage in individual niches or a shared repository. The system should also provide a proper record on the structure for the deceased who have been interred. Moreover, such a system should have a safe and reliable delivery system to the common repository that ensures substantially even distribution about the repository. The present invention addresses these as well as other challenges associated with interment systems for cremains. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Autonomous in-vivo imaging devices, such as swallowable or ingestible capsules or other devices may move through a body lumen, imaging as they move along. In-vivo imaging may require in-vivo illumination, for example, using one or more illumination sources positioned inside the in-vivo imaging device, behind a viewing window of the device.
In such imaging devices backscatter and/or stray light from surfaces inside the device may often present a problem and reduce the information in the image obtained.
In order to avoid backscatter, designers of in-vivo imaging devices place, illumination source(s) and optical systems and/or imagers in specific positions relative to the viewing window, calculated to reduce backscatter to a minimum.
There is a need for a device and method that may avoid the damaging effects of backscatter and/or stray light while not being limited to specific design and positioning of illumination sources in an in vivo imaging device. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were first synthesized and reported by Prof. S. Iijima of NEC Corporation, Japan in Nature 354, 56-58, 1991, and the polymer nanocomposites using carbon nanotube as filler were first reported by Prof. P. Ajayan et al. in Science, 265, 1212-1214, 1994. One graphene layer folds along the axis produces single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) whereas many graphene layers wrapped onto themselves makes multi walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT). Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are a novel crystalline form of carbon and the scientific community across the world soon realized experimentally and theoretically the CNT's unique atomic structure and properties, such as, high flexibility, low mass density, high aspect ratio, high strength-to-weight ratio, and extraordinary electrical, thermal, mechanical properties. J. P. Lu, in Physical Review Letters, 79, 1297-1300, 1997 and E. W. Wong et al in Science, 277, 1971-1975, 1997 has reported that the axial elastic modules and tensile strength of SWCNTs are theoretically and experimentally predicted to be as high as 1-2 TPa and 200 GPa respectively. Although the physical and chemical properties of SWCNT's are much superior to MWCNTs, however MWCNTs are widely used for application purpose due to their relatively low production cost and availability in large quantity.
E. T. Thostensona et al in Composites Science and Technology, 61, 1899-1912, 2001. has reported that the large surface area, high modules and strength of CNTs make them a good candidate for reinforcing host matrixes like polymer, ceramic or metal. Recent experimentations have shown remarkable enhancements in mechanical strength of composite with an addition of small amounts of CNTs, however, there are several challenges that are still need to be overcome in order to achieve the full potentials of CNT based composites as reported by R. Andrews et al, in Current Opinion in Solid State and Materials Science, 8, 31-37, 2004. The three critical issues of the CNT based composites are the uniform dispersion of CNTs in the host matrix material, the second is the proper interaction between the CNT and the host matrix and the third is the alignment of CNTs within the matrix. To achieve the distribution of CNTs in the matrix, the modification of the surface of CNTs is required either by covalent or noncovalent functionalization. For the proper interactions between the CNT and the host matrix the judicious choice of functional group on the CNT surface is critical.
S. Banerjee et al in Advance Materials, 17, 17-29, 2005 has reported that the chemical functionalization of CNTs allows the surface modification of carbon nanotube by introducing different functional groups for the better dispersion in organic solvent. Generally, CNTs are chemically modified either by covalently attach the functional group to the CNT surface or by wrapping polar/nonpolar molecules on the surface of the CNT by noncovalent interactions. Covalent functionalization of CNTs is very effective to enhance the proper dispersion of CNTs in the matrix, however, the covalent bonding inevitably disrupt the long range π conjugation along the CNT axis, leading to the defects on the CNT side walls. Covalent functionalization seriously affects the electrical properties as well as mechanical properties of CNT. Consequently by keeping the CNTs structure intact, the use of noncovalent interactions such as π-π interactions, van der Waals interactions and static charge interaction have been attempted to wrap the different molecules and polymers on CNTs surface for the proper distribution in the host matrix. However, it is realized that not only the distribution, the interaction of the attached moieties over CNTs with the host matrix is utmost important for achieving higher mechanical strengths. Therefore, the choice of functional group in both covalent and noncovalent derivatives' of MWCNTs is critical to achieve high reinforcement effect.
Jifen Wang et al in Journal of material Science technology, 2011, 27 (3), 233-238 disclosed the preparation of oleylamine derivative or oleylamine grafted of MWCNTs by process that involves: treating MWCNTs with nitric and sulphuric acids followed by a treatment with SOCl2 (containing dimethylformamide (DMF)) to covert the —COOH groups to —COCl and treating the resulting sample with oleylamine to obtain oleylamine derivative of MWCNTs. The oleylamine groups in the functionalized multi walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) prepared by this process are mostly non-covalently coated on MWCNTs. Further, the acids used in this process are concentrated acids that damage the structure of MWCNTs. The oleylamine coating on MWCNTs prepared by this process would easily come out during sonication in organic solvents and thus the applications of these MWCNTs are restricted.
There are several covalent derivatives of MWCNTs schemes available in the literature, which produced functionalized nanotubes that can be distributed in the polymer/resin matrixes. However, the enhancement of mechanical strength of the composite is not always showed desired results due to the improper reinforcement.
Thus there is a need for a process by which the functionalized MWCNTs can be synthesized in which the functional group is covalently attached to MWCNTs surface. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an air flow sensor for an internal combustion engine and more particularly to an improved air flow sensor which samples a part of the total air flow and which is adjustable in order to compensate for any mass production tolerances and for any dirt or the like which induces a deviation from the correct air flow indication.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a known arrangement a hot wire type air flow sensor has been disposed in the induction system of an internal combustion engine to sense the total amount of air inducted into the engine. However, this type of arrangement requires relatively bulky air flow rectifiers to be place both upstream and downstream of the hot wire sensing element and accordingly causes the resistance of the air flow to the engine to be undesirably increased giving rise to pumping losses. Further, the overall length of this arrangement has proven excessive and thus has been difficult to locate in the limited space available in the engine compartment of a vehicle. | {
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Recently, there has been a rapidly growing demand for renewable energy including wind energy. To meet this demand, wind turbine designers are working to provide blade designs that allow a turbine connected to the wind turbine blades or to the rotor to effectively convert wind into electricity. The blades must also be designed properly to withstand inertial forces, aerodynamic forces, and structural forces so as to provide a relatively long service life and safe operation. Like all rotating machines, wind turbines are generators of fatigue, and every revolution of its components including the turbine blades produces a load or fatigue cycle, with each of these cycles causing a small, finite amount of damage that eventually may lead to fatigue cracks or other failures.
Modeling may be used in some cases to determine service life of a turbine blade during normal operations. However, modeling has its limitations including variations in the as-built/manufacture blade and a design and the difficulty in accurately modeling operational conditions with varying and sometimes random loading. As a result, wind turbine blades are typically laboratory tested to determine that their fatigue strength or characteristics are adequate for a desired service life. Wind turbine or rotor blade testing is used to verify that laminations in the blade are safe (e.g., the layers used to fabricate a blade do not separate (i.e., delamination)) and to verify that the blade will not break under repeated stress.
Presently, wind turbine blades are fatigue tested in the flapwise direction (i.e., out of the rotor plane or in a direction transverse to a plane extending through the blade) and in the edgewise direction (i.e., in the plane of rotation or in a direction parallel to a plane extending through the blade). For large blades (e.g., greater than forty-meter blade lengths), these two fatigue tests (e.g., two single axis tests) are typically run sequentially, and, to simulate a typical service life of a blade, each test may involve placing a blade through one million to ten million or more load or fatigue cycles, which may take three to twelve months or more to complete for each tested direction. There is a trend for wind generator systems to become increasingly larger. Unfortunately, however, the larger blades associated with larger wind generator systems are subjected to greater static and dynamic loads and the facilities for testingtest these larger blades are also very large as newer generation turbine generators being designed with blades 40 meters or more in length. It is very desirable, and often necessary, to advance test a proposed blade design to ensure that it will be capable of withstanding the expected loads without structural failure and to evaluate the fatigue resistance of the blade design, and these advanced tests may significantly delay implementation of a new blade design. The test equipment can also be relatively expensive to purchase and operate, which can drive up the costs of blades and wind energy. Hence, there is a need for blade testing techniques that are less expensive to use and take less time to complete while still providing accurate fatigue testing results.
As further background on laboratory testing, wind turbine blades are tested by applying loads to the blade in various directions. For example, one type of load is applied in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal or long axis of the blade and is often referred to as a bending load or as a flap load in the wind turbine field. Another type of load is also applied in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis but also perpendicular to the direction of the applied bending or flap load in order to assess the structural properties of the blade in the transverse or rotational direction. Such loads are often referred to as transverse or lead-lag loads. The load applied to the blade in a given direction may be time-invariant or “static.” Alternatively, the load may be made to vary with time in which case the load is often referred to as “cyclic.” Static loads are generally useful in evaluating the stiffness and ultimate strength of the blade whereas cyclic loads are generally useful in evaluating the fatigue resistance of the blade.
Several different types of test systems have been developed and are being used to apply loads to wind turbine blades. One type of test system uses a linear hydraulic actuator to apply the desired loads to the blade. The base or root of the blade is mounted to a rigid and very large test stand and the linear hydraulic actuator is mounted to the blade some distance from the root or base and from the test stand. This type of apparatus is advantageous in that it can be used to apply loads in any desired direction by simply mounting the hydraulic actuators at the desired positions on the blade and by orienting the actuators in the appropriate directions, e.g., for sequential flapwise and edgewise testing. However, these systems often use a large actuator, and a relatively complex hydraulic system with pumps and hoses to operate the actuator to oscillate the blade or test article. The size of the test stand with its large concrete blocks and the complexity and size of the hydraulic actuator make these testing systems difficult to move and time consuming and expensive to build and set up, which limits the number of such test systems and forces blade manufacturers to ship blades to the testing facilities for fatigue testing.
More recently, a resonance test system has been designed (and used) that provides an actuator for applying loads in the flapwise direction at or near the resonant or natural frequency of the test system in the flapwise direction. The loading apparatus is attached directly or through compliant linkages to the blade (e.g., at a location some distance from the blade base or root such as one third or more along the length of the blade). A transverse load, in some cases, is applied (e.g., a load in the edgewise direction) to the edge of the blade to load the blade in the edgewise direction at the same time as it is loaded in the flapwise direction to better simulate actual operating loads and hasten testing. For example, the transverse load has typically been applied with a forced displacement device with a bell crank or similar device that is attached to the ground plane to provide oscillation in the edgewise or transverse direction. The oscillation in the transverse direction is typically provided at the same frequency used for the actuator applying a flapwise load (e.g., both loads are input at or near the resonant frequency of the test system in the flapwise direction), and the design of the forced displacement device has limited capability due to the large oil flow, if utilizing hydraulic systems, and displacement needs. As a result, such fatigue testing systems are possible but may be limited by practical constraints for larger blades (e.g., blades over forty 40 meters) in which flapwise displacement may be quite large such as up to 6 meters or more. Again, blade excitation is imparted at locations spaced apart from the blade base or root.
The foregoing examples of the related art and limitations related therewith are intended to be illustrative and not exclusive. Other limitations of the related art will become apparent to those of skill in the art upon a reading of the specification and a study of the drawings. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mobile communication terminal having a password notification function and a method for notifying a user of a password in the mobile communication terminal. More particularly, the present invention relates to a mobile communication terminal having a password notification function and a method for notifying a user of a password in the mobile communication terminal that allows transmission of a stored password or newly generated random password to a previously selected medium when an input password does not coincide with the stored password and a secondary password is entered by the user.
2. Discussion of the Background
With the recent expansion in information utilization and computerization in all aspects of everyday life, passwords are needed to access computer media, to perform credit transactions such as purchasing a product through an Internet shopping mall, and to withdraw cash from a bank. Thus, users may have many different passwords, which are very often difficult for them to remember.
Currently, mobile communication terminal users are required to enter passwords for international telephone services and Internet services in order to prevent excessive or inappropriate billing due to the unauthorized use of these services. Further, users are required to set passwords to prevent disclosure of personal information stored in their mobile communication terminals.
However, if a user has not accessed the service that requires the input of a password for a long period of time, the user may confuse the password with another password or forget the password entirely. Additionally, if a user frequently changes passwords, the user may confuse current passwords with previous passwords. In these cases, the user must gather the necessary identification documents and visit a service center in order to recover the forgotten password. | {
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This application relates to a brake for a hydraulic device. It is particularly applicable to a hydraulic device of the type in which an eccentrically mounted shaft is adapted for orbital and rotational motion. Even more particularly, the present invention is useful as a motor brake in a hydraulic motor in which the orbital and rotational movement of the shaft is effected by the cooperating action of a gerotor gearset.
Hydraulic motors are designed to use high pressure fluid, to drive a mechanical output shaft. A particularly advantageous form of a hydraulic motor has been found to be one in which a series of expanding and contracting pockets are formed by relative rotational and orbital movement of a pair of gear members conventionally known as a gerotor gearset.
One of the gears of the gearset is generally supported by an eccentrically mounted shaft. In such motors an output shaft coupled to the eccentrically mounted shaft is rotated due to the torque applied to the eccentrically mounted shaft by the high pressure input fluid causing expanding and contracting of the fluid pockets formed by the gerotor gearset. In order to properly time the delivery of high pressure fluid to the pockets, and to convey low pressure fluid from the pockets, there is provided a commutation valve arrangement.
Such types of hydraulic devices require means for applying a braking force to the rotating driven shaft. There has been a need in the art for inexpensive, high torque braking systems which can be applied to hydraulic motors, and which can be actuated automatically when input fluid pressure falls below a predetermined minimum. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a data communication service and, more particularly, to a data communication service using a call connection networking.
2. Description of the Background Art
First- and second-generation mobile communication provides voice-centered service, while the third-generation provides various types of services such as a data service and a multimedia service as well as voice service, for which communication service providers adjust a billing system and a billing reference to the changing service environment.
With the billing system changing, a billing amount of the voice service is calculated depending on service use time, and a billing amount of the data service is calculated depending on a provided data amount (referred to as ‘the number of packets’, hereinafter).
In general, a radio data service is provided in such manner that information of a network server is directly downloaded to a mobile communication terminal or that information of the network server is downloaded to a terminal equipment (TE) such as a personal computer (PC) or a notebook computer. In the second manner, the mobile communication terminal is simply functioned as a modem.
FIG. 1 shows information displayed on a screen of a terminal when a call connection networking is performed in accordance with a conventional art.
As shown in FIG. 1, with the conventional mobile communication terminal, only a connection time (or a call time) of a corresponding service is displayed regardless of types of services (e.g., a call service, a data service or a multimedia service).
FIG. 2 illustrates a call connection networking procedure using the mobile communication terminal.
As shown in FIG. 2, the TE (Terminal Equipment), referring to the personal computer (PC) or a notebook computer, includes a screen easily recognizably by a user and a manipulation-easy device. A mobile terminal (MT) signifies a mobile communication terminal and serves as a modem of the TE.
When the TE intends to download desired information or data from a specific server, it attempts a connection to the MT 20 (step S1).
When the TE 10 and the MT 20 are connected, the TE 10 transfers a data service start request message to the MT 20 (step S2).
Upon receiving the start request message from the TE 10, the MT 20 sets a channel to a packet data serving node (PDSN) 30 or an inter-working function (IWF) (step S3).
As the channel is set, the MT 20 transfers a service activation message to the TE 10. Upon receiving the service activation message, the TE 10 starts uploading and downloading of data from the PDSN 30 (step S4).
When the data transmission is completed and the data service is terminated, the TE 10 transfers a service termination request message to the MT 20 (step S5).
Then, the MT 20 releases the set channel to the PDSN 30 (step S6) and transfers a non-activation message on the data service to the TE 10.
Upon receiving the data service non-activation message, the TE transfers a connection release request message to the MT 20 to release connection to the MT 20 (step S7).
In case of the voice service, a communication provider calculates duration (that is, a communication channel occupancy time) from the point when the communication channel was set between the MT 20 and the PDSN 30 to the point of releasing of the communication channel, and estimates a billing amount according to the calculated time.
Meanwhile, in the case of the data service, the communication provider calculates the number of packets from the point when the communication channel was set between the MT 20 and the PDSN 30 to the point of releasing of the communication channel, and estimates a billing amount according to the calculated number of packets.
However, in the conventional art, all the information the MT provides to a user is merely the call time (or the connection time) as information for the billing amount estimation or on the service use amount. This makes the user totally dependent on the information of the communication provider as far as concerned the billing amount of the data service.
The above references are incorporated by reference herein where appropriate for appropriate teachings of additional or alternative details, features and/or technical background. | {
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The present invention relates in general to bleed elements in evaporative emission canisters for vehicle fuel systems, and, more specifically, to a deflector for retaining a carbon scrubber element.
Evaporative emissions systems are used in conjunction with the fuel systems of gasoline-powered vehicles to prevent release of hydrocarbon fuel vapors into the atmosphere. A typical carbon canister design uses a bleed emission treatment section to provide reduced emissions occurring during the diurnal (i.e., inactive) state of the vehicle. A large primary carbon bed handles the majority of fuel vapor during vehicle use and refueling. A bleed emission region close to the atmospheric vent uses an activated carbon scrubber element to capture low concentration hydrocarbon vapor from being expelled into the environment. Typically, the activated carbon element is held by a plastic molded tube generally open at both ends. This tube provides structure protecting the relatively fragile carbon element. An O-ring seal between this tube and the venting access of the mating shell has been used to assure a tight seal. Another separate molded piece is placed around the bleed tube to act as a bleed deflector or flow diverter so that vapors are routed through a zig-zag path to double back for entry into the bleed tube.
Very limited packaging space is available within the carbon canister. Therefore, it would be desirable to eliminate the separate bleed tube, o-ring seal, and any compliance media packed around the carbon element that is often used to protect the fragile element. | {
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Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. H05-191312 discloses a conventional radio-frequency receiver. As shown in FIG. 7, conventional radio-frequency receiver 201 contains radio-frequency receiving circuits 202a and 202b that are identical in construction. Radio-frequency circuit 202a (202b) contains input terminal 204a (204b) that receives digital broadcasting signals from antenna 203a (203b), output terminal 205a (205b) that carries output signals and PLL-control terminal 206a (206b) that carries PLL-control signals. Radio-frequency receiving circuits 202a and 202b are accommodated in a same housing.
Besides, radio-frequency receiving circuit 202a (202b) contains mixer 207a (207b) and oscillation circuit 209a (209b). Mixer 207a (207b) receives a signal from input terminal 204a (204b) and sends it to output terminal 205a (205b). Mixer 207a (207b) also receives an oscillation signal from oscillation circuit 209a (209b) via selective switching section 208a (208b).
Such structured radio-frequency receiver 201 is usually battery-operated, for example, at a low voltage of 3V. It is therefore difficult to supply high tuning voltage to variable capacitance diodes that constitute oscillation circuits 209a and 209b in terms of decreasing power consumption and noise.
To address the problem, each of oscillation circuits 209a and 209b contains four connected units of an oscillator and a tuning circuit: three units for selectively receiving all channels (hereinafter abbreviated to ch) in the UHF (ultra high frequency) band; and one unit for receiving 7-ch in the VHF (very high frequency) band.
That is, conventional radio-frequency receiver 201, since having two radio-frequency receiving circuits 202a and 202b, needs eight units of the oscillator and the tuning circuit in total.
The tuning circuit is formed of a capacitor and an inductor connected in parallel; the inductor has a large footprint in the circuit. This has been an obstacle to reduction in size of an integrated circuit; accordingly, an obstacle to reduction in size of a radio-frequency receiver. | {
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1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to portable surgical instruments and, more particularly, to portable surgical instruments that utilize a handpiece configured to house a battery and/or battery assembly and releasably couple to the portable surgical instrument.
2. Background of Related Art
Portable surgical instruments are known in the medical arts. Portable surgical instruments overcome some of the drawbacks that are typically associated with surgical instruments that draw power from electrical outlets. That is, outlet driven surgical instruments utilize power cords that may create tripping and/or entanglement hazards in an operating room environment.
Typically, the portable surgical instrument includes a battery or battery assembly that is configured to removably couple or “latch” to the portable surgical instrument. In an ideal scenario, the battery or battery assembly remains coupled or “latched” to the portable surgical instrument during the entirety of the surgical procedure. Unfortunately, and in certain instances, the battery or battery assembly sometimes has to be uncoupled or “unlatched” from the portable surgical instrument during the surgical procedure. For example, the battery or battery assembly may have to be unlatched from the surgical instrument for sterilization (or re-sterilization), charging (or recharging), etc. | {
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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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Many members of the HDAC family require zinc (Zn) to function properly. For instance, the isozyme histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6) is a zinc-dependent histone deacetylase that possesses histone deacetylase activity. Other family members include HDACs 1-5 and 7-11. (De Ruijter et al, Biochem. J. 2003. 370; 737-749).
HDAC6 is known to deacetylate and associate with α-tubulin, cortactin, heat shock protein 90, ß-catenin, glucose-regulated protein 78 kDa, myosin heavy chain 9, heat shock cognate protein 70, and dnaJ homolog subfamily A member 1 (reviewed in Li et al, FEBS J. 2013, 280: 775-93; Zhang et al, Protein Cell. 2015, 6(1): 42-54). Diseases in which HDAC6 inhibition could have a potential benefit include cancer (reviewed in Aldana-Masangkay et al, J. Biomed. Biotechnol. 2011, 875824), specifically: multiple myeloma (Hideshima et al, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2005, 102(24):8567-8572); lung cancer (Kamemura et al, Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 2008, 374(1):84-89); ovarian cancer (Bazzaro et al, Clin. Cancer Res. 2008, 14(22):7340-7347); breast cancer (Lee et al, Cancer Res. 2008, 68(18):7561-7569; Park et al, Oncol. Rep. 2011, 25: 1677-81; Rey et al, Eur. J. Cell Biol. 2011, 90: 128-35); prostate cancer (Seidel et al, Biochem Pharmacol. 2015 (15)00714-5); pancreatic cancer (Nawrocki et al, Cancer Res. 2006, 66(7):3773-3781); renal cancer (Cha et al, Clin. Cancer Res. 2009, 15(3): 840-850); hepatocellular cancer (Ding et al, FEBS Lett. 2013, 587:880-6; Kanno et al, Oncol. Rep. 2012, 28: 867-73); lymphomas (Ding et al, Cancer Cell Int. 2014, 14:139; Amengual et al, Clin Cancer Res. 2015, 21(20):4663-75); and leukemias such as acute myeloid leukemia (AML) (Fiskus et al, Blood 2008, 112(7):2896-2905) and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) (Rodriguez-Gonzalez et al, Blood 2008, 1 12(1 1): Abstract 1923)).
Inhibition of HDAC6 may also have a role in cardiovascular disease, including pressure overload, chronic ischemia, and infarction-reperfusion injury (Tannous et al, Circulation 2008, 1 17(24):3070-3078); bacterial infection, including those caused by uropathogenic Escherichia coli (Dhakal and Mulve, J. Biol. Chem. 2008, 284(1):446-454); neurological diseases caused by accumulation of intracellular protein aggregates such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's disease (reviewed in Simoes-Pires et al, Mol. Neurodegener. 2013, 8: 7) or central nervous system trauma caused by tissue injury, oxidative-stress induced neuronal or axomal degeneration (Rivieccio et al, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2009, 106(46):19599-195604); and inflammation and autoimmune diseases through enhanced T cell-mediated immune tolerance at least in part through effects on regulatory T cells, including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, spondylitis arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, multiple sclerosis, lupus, colitis and graft versus host disease (reviewed in Wang et al, Nat. Rev. Drug Disc. 2009 8(12):969-981; Vishwakarma et al, Int. Immunopharmacol. 2013, 16:72-8; Kalin et al, J. Med Chem. 2012, 55:639-51); and fibrotic disease, including kidney fibrosis (Choi et al, Vascul. Pharmacol. 2015 72:130-140).
Four HDAC inhibitors are currently approved for the treatment of some cancers. These are suberanilohydroxamic acid (Vorinostat; Zolinza®) for the treatment of cutaneous T cell lymphoma and multiple myeloma; Romidepsin (FK228; FR901228; Istodax®) for the treatment of peripheral T cell lymphoma; Panobinostat (LBH-589; Farydak®) for the treatment of multiple myeloma; and belinostat (PXD101; Beleodaq®) for the treatment of peripheral T cell lymphoma. However, these drugs are of limited effectiveness and can give rise to unwanted side effects. Thus there is a need for drugs with an improved safety-efficacy profile.
Given the complex function of HDAC6 and their potential utility in the treatment of proliferative diseases, neurological diseases, and inflammatory diseases, there is a need for HDAC inhibitors (e.g., HDAC6 inhibitors) with good therapeutic properties. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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This invention relates to a new and distinct variety of Polyantha Rose. It has as its seed parent the variety known as ‘MORredfar’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 10,150) and as its pollen parent the variety known as ‘FRYtrooper’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 9,211). | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The present invention relates to a vane compressor, especially a cooling medium-compressor to be utilized in a vehicle climate-control arrangement.
Vane compressors of the foregoing type have been known in the art. Such vane compressors are disclosed, for example in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,809,511; 3,834,846; 3,852,003; 3,989,490 and 4,103,506.
German patent publication DE-OS No. 2349651 discloses a vane compressor in which outlet bores arranged on generatrix of the inner surface of the wall of the housing, forming working chambers with the outer surface of the rotor, open into the bottoms of cylindrical depressions formed in that wall. The valve members of the valves are arranged at the discharge ends of individual outlet bores to close the latter. In this construction residual gas volume is held very insignificantly in the interiors of the valves. The disadvantage of this known construction is that it is very expensive because its manufacture involves a number of machining operations. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of geological exploration for hydrocarbons. More specifically, the invention relates to a method of determining wettability of rock samples.
2. Background of the Invention
Wettability is a property of rocks which measures the preference of a fluid such as oil, gas, or water, to be in contact with the surface of a rock pore. The pore surface may be a mineral or a mineral which is partially or completely coated with a hydrocarbon material and/or “heavy organic materials.” For the purposes of this disclosure, these “heavy organic materials” are highly viscous and/or semi-solid hydrocarbon materials. Examples of heavy organic materials include, for example and without limitation, bitumen, resins, asphaltenes, and pyrobitumen. Bitumen is organic matter soluble in organic solvents, such as carbon bisulfide. Asphaltene is organic matter that is insoluble in straight-chain solvents, such as pentane or heptane. Resin molecules are aromatic ring hydrocarbons. Pyrobitumen is insoluble, thermally altered bitumen or oil. To be clear, as used herein, heavy organic materials are to be distinguished from lighter, less viscous hydrocarbon crude oil components such as alkanes, naphtalenes, aromatics, etc. As used herein, these lighter, less viscous or lighter hydrocarbon crude oil components will be referred generically as “light hydrocarbon materials.” Typically, for rock or core samples obtained from a reservoir, wettability is determined for a very small number of samples. Limited results are generally extrapolated to large volumes of rocks. Wettability is a parameter which has an impact on a number of reservoir project economics. For example, wettability influences oil recovery from a reservoir. Additionally, wettability has an effect on waterflood and gasflood performance.
Consequently, there is a need for improved methods and systems to determine wettability of rock samples from a reservoir. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The use of cable ties to bundle a plurality of wires or similar articles has long been known. Basic cable tie construction includes an elongate cable tie strap having a tail at one end and a head at the other end. The head includes a central passage or aperture therethrough for accommodating a tail in an insertable fashion. The head supports a locking device adjacent the head aperture to securely lock the cable tie body within the aperture of the head to provide securement of the cable tie about the bundle of wires. In one type of cable tie construction, the locking device is a flexibly supported integrally formed pawl having plastic teeth which engage corresponding teeth on a cable tie body to provide locking engagement therebetween. As is typical of most cable ties, the tail of the cable tie is inserted into the head aperture uniquely in one direction. However, the art has also seen the use of bi-directional, or symmetrically-formed, cable ties which permit the cable tie tail to be inserted through the aperture in the head in either direction.
One such bi-directional cable tie is shown and described in co-pending commonly assigned U.S. application Ser. No. 08/689,466, filed Aug. 9, 1996, entitled "A Self-Locking Cable Tie Strap With Symmetrical Structure", issued on Mar. 23,1999, as U.S. Pat. No. 5,884,367 which is herein incorporated by reference for all purposes. The cable tie of such construction may be particularly used with an automatic cable tie installing device where a plurality of cable ties held together in a reel. A cable tie from the reel may be fed from a dispenser to a cable tie installing gun for installation about a plurality of wires. The symmetrical construction of the cable tie permits the cable tie to be easily dispensed and aligned within the installation gun. As may be appreciated, in order to accommodate insertion of the cable tie tail from either direction, the pawl or locking device of the symmetrical cable tie must be sufficiently flexible to permit deflection in either direction. Such flexibility assures that the cable tie tail may be easily inserted through the aperture in the head in either direction.
While such flexible construction permits easy insertion, it has been found that in certain circumstances such cable ties may not exhibit sufficiently high resistance to withdrawal forces as may be required in certain applications. Additionally, the art has uniformly provided bi-directional cable ties having symmetrical withdrawal-resistance characteristics while ignoring circumstances where it may be desirable to provide a bi-directional cable tie exhibiting discretely selectable, or non-symmetrical, withdrawal-resistance characteristics depending upon which direction the cable tie strap is inserted through the head.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a cable tie having a self-locking feature in a symmetrical structure which exhibits ease of insertion of the cable tie strap into the aperture in either direction and yet provides suitably high resistance to withdrawal forces in order to maintain a self-locking configuration. Additionally, it is desirable to provide a self-locking feature in an asymmetrical structure which offers discretely-selectable resistance to withdrawal forces according to the direction of strap insertion. | {
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This invention relates to a laser apparatus and, particularly, to a beam distributor for distributing pumping beam over a laser medium to pump laser active materials doped in the laser medium.
In the fields of optical communication and laser beam machining, it is desired to develop a laser apparatus which is greater in output power and is less expensive. An optical fiber laser apparatus is known for its greater potential to meet the above-mentioned demand.
The optical fiber laser apparatus includes an optical fiber called a laser fiber that comprises a core doped with laser active materials and a clad surrounding (or cladding) the core. The laser active materials are, for example, laser active ions, pigments, or other luminescent materials.
In the optical fiber laser apparatus, a single transverse mode of laser oscillation can relatively easily be achieved by appropriately selecting a diameter of the core and a difference in refractive index between the core and the clad. In addition, by confining a pumping beam within the core at a high density, it is possible to enhance an interaction between the laser active materials and the pumping beam. Furthermore, by increasing the length of the laser fiber, the interaction can be extended so as to produce a high-quality laser beam with a high efficiency. Thus, it is possible by the use of the optical fiber laser apparatus to obtain at a relatively low cost a laser beam excellent in quality.
In order to realize further increase in output power and efficiency of the optical fiber laser apparatus, it is necessary to efficiently introduce the pumping beam into the core. Generally, when the core diameter is determined so as to satisfy a single-mode waveguide condition, it is restricted to a value not greater than ten and several micrometers. Therefore, it is generally difficult to efficiently introduce the pumping beam within the core. To overcome the difficulty, proposal is made of a so-called double-clad fiber laser.
The double-clad fiber laser comprises an optical fiber having a core doped with laser active materials, a first clad surrounding the core and having a first refractive index lower than that of the core, and a second clad cladding the first clad and having a second refractive index lower than the first refractive index. With this structure, a pumping beam introduced into the first clad from the end of the optical fiber is kept confined inside a boundary between the first clad and the second clad during propagation. This is because total internal reflection occurs at the boundary due to the difference in refractive index between the first and the second clads. During the propagation, the pumping beam repeatedly passes through the core and pumps the laser active materials contained in the core. The first clad has a sectional area corresponding to several hundreds to one thousand times that of the core. Therefore, a greater quantity of the pumping beam can be introduced into the optical fiber so as to increase the output power.
Thus, the double-clad fiber laser is advantageous in that the oscillation efficiency is high and that the transverse mode of oscillation is a single mode and stable. Consequently, by using a laser diode as a pumping beam source, the output power of several or about ten watts are obtained in the double-clad fiber laser and are much larger than that of a previous single-clad fiber laser.
However, the double-clad fiber laser is disadvantageous in that the pumping beam source is limited in number because the pumping beam must be introduced into the optical laser at the end of the laser fiber. Thus, there is no way to increase the output power of the double-clad fiber laser except for a way of increasing luminance (or output power) of the pumping beam source (i.e. the laser diode).
In order to overcome the above-mentioned disadvantage, Applicant proposed an optical fiber laser apparatus having a structural member for distributing a pumping beam over a laser fiber, which is directly or indirectly in contact with the structural member. The optical fiber laser apparatus is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (JP-A) No. H11-284255. Hereinafter, the structural member will be referred to as a beam distributor.
The beam distributor has a main body having a hollow or solid cylindrical shape and a prism formed at an end surface of the main body. If the pumping beam is introduced at a predetermined angle in the beam distributor through an incident surface of the prism, it is confined within the main body by the total internal reflection at its surfaces. When a laser fiber is coiled around the beam distributor, the pumping beam confined in the beam distributor is introduced into the laser fiber. This is because the necessary conditions of the total internal reflection do not be met at a contact area where the beam distributor and the laser fiber are in contact with each other. The pumping beam introduced in the laser fiber pumps laser active materials included in a core of the laser fiber. Thus, in the optical fiber laser apparatus, pumping is equally made at a long range of the laser fiber and the laser fiber efficiently generates a laser beam.
By the way, the beam distributor decreases the pumping beam during propagation within the beam distributor. That is, the pumping beam is partially lost by propagation loss in the beam distributor and escape loss from the incident surface. If the total of the propagation loss and the escape loss in the beam distributor is large, the pumping beam is inefficiently introduced into the laser fiber. Therefore, it is desirable to make small both of the propagation loss and the escape loss.
The propagation loss can be suppressed by the use of a quartz glass that has high transparency while the escape loss can be suppressed by making small the incident surface.
However, when the incident surface is small, it is necessary to condense the pumping beam at the incident surface. As a result, power density of the pumping beam inevitably increase at the incident surface. If the incident surface is stained with dust, the dust is scorched by the condensed pumping beam and stuck on the incident surface. The stuck dust on the incident surface not only prevents the pumping beam from being introduced into the beam distributor also is heated by the pumping beam very much. The heat of the stuck dust partially damages the incident surface.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a beam distributor which is capable of being introduced with large quantity of pumping beam.
It is another object of this invention to provide a beam distributor which is capable of efficiently introducing a pumping beam into a laser medium.
It is still another object of this invention to provide a beam distributor which is difficult to be influenced by dust on an incident surface.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide a laser apparatus which comprises a beam distributor capable of being introduced with large quantity of pumping beam.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a laser apparatus which comprises a beam distributor capable of efficiently introducing a pumping beam into a laser medium.
It is a still further object of this invention to provide a laser apparatus which comprises a beam distributor difficult to be influenced by dust on an incident surface.
Other object of this invention will become clear as the description proceeds.
According to the gist of this invention, a beam distributor is used in a laser apparatus to distribute a pumping beam supplied from a pumping beam source over a laser medium. The beam distributor comprises a beam conductor which has an incident surface and an intermediate surface and which conducts the pumping beam received by the incident surface to the intermediate surface. A main body is connected to the intermediate surface and has a plurality of surfaces. The main body confines the pumping beam introduced therein through the intermediate surface, by repeating total internal reflection at the surfaces, to distribute the pumping beam confined therein over the laser medium where the laser medium is in contact with the surfaces of the main body.
According to another gist of this invention, a laser apparatus comprises a pumping beam source which produces a pumping beam. A laser medium is pumped by the pumping beam to emit a laser beam. A beam distributor distributes the pumping beam over the laser medium to pump the laser medium. The beam distributor comprises a beam conductor which have an incident surface and an intermediate surface and which conducts the pumping beam received by the incident surface to the intermediate surface. A main body is connected to the intermediate surface and has a plurality of surfaces. The main body confines the pumping beam introduced therein through the intermediate surface, by repeating total internal reflection at the surfaces, to distribute the pumping beam confined therein over the laser medium where the laser medium is in contact with said surfaces of the main body.
According to still another gist of this invention, a laser unit has a laser medium to emit a laser beam in response to a pumping beam supplied from a pumping beam source. The laser unit comprises a beam conductor which has an incident surface and an intermediate surface and which conducts the pumping beam received by the incident surface to the intermediate surface. A main body is connected to the intermediate surface and has a plurality of surfaces. The main body confines the pumping beam introduced therein through the intermediate surface, by repeating total internal reflection at the surfaces, to distribute the pumping beam confined therein over the laser medium where the laser medium is in contact with the surfaces of the main body. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) industry has experienced rapid growth. Over the course of the growth, functional density of the semiconductor devices has increased with the decrease of device feature size or geometry. The scaling down process generally provides benefits by increasing production efficiency, reducing costs, and/or improving device performance, but increases complexity of the IC manufacturing processes.
To address the increase of manufacturing complexity, similar advances in IC processing and manufacturing are necessary. For example, a three dimensional transistor, such as a fin-like field-effect transistor (Fin-FET), has been introduced to replace a planar transistor. In the manufacturing process of the Fin-FET devices, further improvements are constantly necessary to satisfy the performance requirement in the scaling down process. | {
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It is known to palynologists, organic petrologists and others that the thermal history of a sedimentary rock, often referred to as its organic metamorphism or eometamorphism, can be manifested in the color of the organic matter (commonly known as kerogen) that is extracted from a specimen or core sample of the rock. The color of the kerogen, when viewed in transmitted light, provides a type of paleothermometer. It has been recognized that the present state of thermal maturity of the kerogen is a useful indicator of whether it has been heated sufficiently by or during various historical geological events to generate oil and/or natural gas. If so, the kerogen is said to be thermally mature.
During increasing thermal maturity, palynomorphs such as spores, pollen, and plant tissue fragments undergo a variety of changes in color. These substances, when found in a sedimentary rock which is considered to be immature, vary in color from colorless or chartreuse to yellow; in mature sediments they vary in color from yellow-orange and orange-brown to a light brown; in over-mature sediments they vary in color from light brown to brown; in severely altered sediments they vary in color from brown to dark brown; and in sediments that have been metamorphosed they vary in color from dark brown to black.
Sediments that contain organic matter which have generated oil are those characterized above as being thermally mature. Over-mature sediments are likely to contain organics that are in the wet or dry gas phase of hydrocarbon generation, while those classified as severely altered contain organics which may produce dry gas, hydrogen sulfide and/or carbon dioxide. Thus, a precise determination of the color of the kerogen provides a useful indicator of whether oil might be found by drilling into a certain sedimentary layer of rocks, or whether the strata is thermally too young (cold) or old (hot) to warrant the high expenses involved in exploration drilling.
Kerogen materials such as spores, pollen, plant tissue and the like are known to exhibit a variety of colors, even within the same specimen or sample. Previous color analysis systems have relied solely upon visual estimates of spore coloration and have a disadvantage in that they are highly subjective. Because of this, it is extremely difficult to define a particular color, or to erect a color scheme, that is acceptable to everyone. Therefore, different analysts will come up with different thermal maturity estimates based upon the same sample. Another commonly used analytical system uses measurements of percentage vitrinite reflection to estimate thermal maturity. However, these measurements are limited to spot readings of small diameter areas of the specimen, and the system also involves a high degree of subjectivity, particularly where anisotrophy is present. Moreover, even experts have difficulty in picking out the vitrinite in a specimen. This technique also requires that a specimen slide be exactly levelled before a meaningful measurement of reflectivity can be made. Another system described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,971,437 issued Nov. 20, 1990, employs optical spectral analysis with rapid spectral scanning which measures the wavelength of light. Two light sources are used alternatively, one providing a beam of transmitted light that passes through the rock sample held in a plate, and another beam of incidental light that causes the sample to fluoresce. A filter disk is rotated through the light beam which filters the same through a range of wave lengths, and electrical signals are generated which are representative of the intensity of the light to provide a spectral output. This method required specially designed equipment and optical systems which are very expensive to manufacture and, since amorphous debris is the organic component being measured, the analyst does not know precisely what is being measured. Moreover, the method disclosed in the '437 patent does not provide an integrated approach, as does the present invention where measurements are made of an entire spore or pollen grain.
The present invention uses the concept that color is defined by three parameters: hue, saturation and brightness. Hue denotes the particular color which our eyes perceive, for example red, green or blue or various mixtures thereof. Saturation refers to the lack of "whiteness" in a color, or more precisely, how much a color differs from neutral. On the other hand brightness, also called intensity, is a parameter that describes the perceived brilliance of color (hue) of light. For example, the sun at noon appears to have a yellow hue which is strongly saturated and extremely brilliant. However, at sunset the hue shifts to a deep blood-red color, is more highly saturated, and is less brilliant. A certain combination of these three parameters corresponds to a distinctive wavelength of visible light. The use of all of these parameters in accordance with the present invention has been found to provide much more definitive analysis than one based upon an estimated color or a particular color scheme, and even allows an analysts who may suffer from a degree of color blindness to accurately define the color of an organic constituent extracted from a rock sample.
An object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved kerogen color analysis method that obviates the above-mentioned problems and disadvantages with prior art systems and methods.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved color analysis method which virtually eliminates subjectively on the part of the analyst.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved color analysis system that is not limited to spot readings, but is based upon overall or truly integrated measurements of color values.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a color analysis system that relies on measurement and recording of hue, saturation and brightness values which are the coordinates used in universally accepted charts which define color. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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This invention relates to a tone waveshape generation device employed in an electronic musical instrument and, more particularly, to a device capable of reading out successive waveshapes of plural periods stored in a memory.
A device which prestores successive waveshapes of plural periods from the start to the end of tone generation in a memory and generates tone waveshape signals by reading out these prestored waveshapes is known, e.g., in the specification of U.S. Pat. No. 4,305,319. The United States patent discloses a drum generator in which snare drum sounds and other drum sounds are prestored in the form of successive waveshapes of plural periods in respectively corresponding memories and these waveshapes are read out in response to a sound timing signal (play strobe signal). This type of prior art tone waveshape generation device has heretofore been used as a tone source of rhythm sounds and increase in the memory capacity to some extent has not posed any serious problem since necessity for changing the tone pitch is not involved in this type of device.
If, however, this type of tone waveshape generation device is applied to generation of scale notes, it becomes necessary to prepare successive waveshapes of plural periods for respective different tone pitches or tone ranges with a result that the capacities of memories become extremely large. If, for example, the duration of tone generation is 5 seconds, the sampling period is 32 kHz and successive waveshapes of plural periods are prepared over 4 octaves one for each tone range which has been determined for 3 scale notes (keys) in 12 scale notes of one octave (totalling 16 tone ranges), a memory having a capacity of "32k.times.5.times.16=2560 kilo words" is required.
An electronic musical instrument of a type in which, in the above described manner, a complete waveshape from the start to the end of generation of a tone is prestored for each key (note) and then is read out is disclosed in the specification of U.S. Pat. No. 4,383,462. In the waveshape memory WM31 shown in FIG. 3 of this United States patent, a complete waveshape is stored and this complete waveshape is read out in response to a signal KD which represents a key depression timing.
An improvement has been conceived for preventing the capacity of the memory storing the complete waveshape from becoming too large. According to this improvement, the attack portion of the tone is stored in its entirety but only a part of the sustain portion is stored and the stored part of the sustain portion is repeatedly read out to generate the entire sustain portion. In the above U.S. Pat. No. 4,383,462, an example of such improvement is shown in FIG. 6. A complete waveshape in the attack period is stored in the waveshape memory WM61 and at least one fundamental period of a tone waveshape is stored in the waveshape memory WM62. An attack waveshape is read out from the memory WM61 in response to the key depression (KD signal) and the tone waveform of the fundamental period is repeatedly read out from the memory WM62 after completion of the read out of the attack waveshape (IMF signal) until the end of tone generation (DF signal). According to this improvement, the memory capacity can be reduced to, e.g. about one-fifth. If in this case the memory length of the memories corresponding to the respective tone pitches (tone ranges) is made uniform, blank area will occur in the memories. The memory length is determined by the lowest tone due to the fact that the rise time of the tone increases as the tone becomes lower and hence blank area will occur in a part of the zone of the memory storing the higher note waveshape which is shorter in the rise time resulting in the waste of the memory zone. | {
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The occlusion of body cavities, blood vessels, and other lumina by embolization is desired in a number of clinical situations. For example, the occlusion of fallopian tubes for the purposes of sterilization, and the occlusive repair of cardiac defects, such as a patent foramen ovale, patent ductus arteriosis, and left atrial appendage, and atrial septal defects. The function of an occlusion device in such situations is to substantially block or inhibit the flow of bodily fluids into or through the cavity, lumen, vessel, space, or defect for the therapeutic benefit of the patient.
The embolization of blood vessels is also desired in a number of clinical situations. For example, vascular embolization has been used to control vascular bleeding, to occlude the blood supply to tumors, and to occlude vascular aneurysms, particularly intracranial aneurysms. In recent years, vascular embolization for the treatment of aneurysms has received much attention. Several different treatment modalities have been shown in the prior art. One approach that has shown promise is the use of thrombogenic microcoils. These microcoils may be made of biocompatible metal alloy(s) (typically a radio-opaque material such as platinum or tungsten) or a suitable polymer. Examples of microcoils are disclosed in the following patents: U.S. Pat. No. 4,994,069—Ritchart et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,133,731—Butler et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,226,911—Chee et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,312,415—Palermo; U.S. Pat. No. 5,382,259—Phelps et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,382,260—Dormandy, Jr. et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,476,472—Dormandy, Jr. et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,578,074—Mirigian; U.S. Pat. No. 5,582,619—Ken; U.S. Pat. No. 5,624,461—Mariant; U.S. Pat. No. 5,645,558—Horton; U.S. Pat. No. 5,658,308—Snyder; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,718,711—Berenstein et al; all of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
A specific type of microcoil that has achieved a measure of success is the Guglielmi Detachable Coil (“GDC”), described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,122,136—Guglielmi et al. The GDC employs a platinum wire coil fixed to a stainless steel delivery wire by a solder connection. After the coil is placed inside an aneurysm, an electrical current is applied to the delivery wire, which electrolytically disintegrates the solder junction, thereby detaching the coil from the delivery wire. The application of current also creates a positive electrical charge on the coil, which attracts negatively-charged blood cells, platelets, and fibrinogen, thereby increasing the thrombogenicity of the coil. Several coils of different diameters and lengths can be packed into an aneurysm until the aneurysm is completely filled. The coils thus create and hold a thrombus within the aneurysm, inhibiting its displacement and its fragmentation.
A more recent development in the field of microcoil vaso-occlusive devices is exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 6,299,619 to Greene, Jr. et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,602,261 to Greene, Jr. et al., and co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/631,981 to Martinez; all assigned to the assignee of the subject invention and incorporated herein by reference. These patents disclose vaso-occlusive devices comprising a microcoil with one or more expansile elements disposed on the outer surface of the coil. The expansile elements may be formed of any of a number of expansile polymeric hydrogels, or alternatively, environmentally-sensitive polymers that expand in response to a change in an environmental parameter (e.g., temperature or pH) when exposed to a physiological environment, such as the blood stream.
This invention is a novel vaso-occlusive device, a novel expansile element, and a combination thereof. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to directional thermal neutron detectors, and more particularly pertains to a directional thermal neutron detector which utilizes the inherent angular response of large area, planar silicon detectors and gadolinium foils to determine the direction of a thermal neutron radiation source. The directional thermal neutron detector can also advantageously utilize the shadowing provided by adjacent thermal neutron detector modules, which are positioned to function as shields, to enhance the directional response thereof.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Nuclear weapon non-proliferation and counter-proliferation have become national priorities, and various nuclear non-proliferation sensors, thermal neutron detectors, and radiation level monitors are required to conduct surveillance and inspection of sites, nuclear power plants, space experiments, etc. in nuclear non-proliferation and treaty-verification programs.
Thermal neutron detection offers an effective method for determining the presence of spontaneously fissionable materials which are used in nuclear weapons. Fission neutrons emitted from such weapons-related materials undergo collisions with their surroundings and readily become "thermalized". Since the natural background of thermal neutrons is very low at the earth's surface (.sup..about. 1 neutron/s per 1000 cm.sup.2), detection of thermal neutrons at a rate significantly above this level is a cause for suspicion of the presence of fissionable nuclear materials. Accordingly, thermal neutrons can be detected to determine the presence and location of fissionable nuclear materials and nuclear weapons.
Conventional portable neutron survey meters are not suitable for low level thermal neutron detection applications because their counting sensitivity is very poor. Only large, unmoderated .sup.3 He proportional tubes can obtain a comparable thermal neutron sensitivity for a limited available area. .sup.3 He tubes, however, cannot easily furnish a source directionality measurement that is unique to the present detector system.
The thermal neutron detector of the present invention offers unique advantages relative to prior art detection systems based upon BF.sub.3 or .sup.3 He proportional counters that are commonly used for neutron detection. It provides comparable neutron sensitivity, and does not require high voltage for operation. The present detector system avoids problems inherent in field deployment of high voltage equipment, such as break down and sparking in a humid environment. The present detector system also has a more compact and rugged design for improved reliability under vibration and mechanical shock. The thermal neutron detector of the subject invention is highly modular and, therefore, less susceptible to single point failures, while systems of proportional counters of comparable area (e.g., 5 or 6 one inch tubes) would suffer greater loss of efficiency if one or more proportional tubes failed. Furthermore, the thermal neutron detector of the present invention provides a directional detecting capability, a feature which is not easily implemented in a portable system using proportional tubes. Existing thermal neutron detectors require special collimation to achieve a directional sensing capability, which results in the addition of weight to the system.
Radiation monitors for thermal neutrons based upon thin gadolinium foils coupled with silicon detectors have been in use in the prior art for several years. Recently the availability of large area silicon photodiodes makes large area monitors feasible, with a potential for arrays of such detectors with active areas well in excess of 100 cm.sup.2. In practice, however, there are limitations to the area of a single detector element and its associated pulse processing electronics. The noise levels in the photodiode and preamplifier system must be sufficiently low such that the low energy (29-200 keV) conversion electrons emitted by thermal neutron capture in gadolinium are detected with sufficient efficiency to obtain a high area-efficiency (A.epsilon.) product for the monitor. For large area silicon detectors, the capacitance of the parallel elements in the detector can reach several hundred picofarads which becomes the dominant factor in the noise of the system, and determines the required low level discriminator threshold setting. As the discriminator threshold is increased, the intrinsic detection efficiency is reduced, and the result is a tradeoff between increased detection area and reduced efficiency. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Conventionally, in a rotary pump such as can be used for transporting liquid foods, a rotary drive shaft is formed with its leading end in a spline shaft, a spline hole formed through a rotor is engaged by the spline shaft of the rotors of the pump within a pumping chamber in a main rotor casing, and a fastening nut of the rotors is engaged and fixed at the end of the rotor drive shafts projected outwardly from the rotor, and a concave casing cover receives the rotor segments and the rotor fastening nut.
In such a conventional rotary pump, a transported liquid flows in the pumping chamber, enters into the concave part inside the casing cover through a space between the rotor and the casing cover, and tends to be retained in that concave part, becoming trapped therein. Since the so trapped food can spoil, the pumps of this type have to be frequently disassembled and the pump with the concave part inside the casing cover cleaned after a day's use of the pump. Reassembly of such pumps after their disassembly, and their cleaning requires the expenditure of considerable time and labor thus increasing the cost of the product. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Devices and methods for performing in-vivo imaging of passages or cavities within a body are known in the art. They may include, for example, swallowable capsules which collect data and which may transmit the data to a receiver system. Such devices may also include, inter alia, various endoscopic imaging systems and devices for performing imaging in various internal body cavities.
An in-vivo imaging device may include, for example, an imaging system for obtaining images and other data from inside a body cavity or lumen, such as the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. The imaging system may include, for example, an illumination unit, such as a set of light emitting diodes (LEDs), or other suitable light sources. The device may include an imaging sensor and an optical system, which focuses the images onto the imaging sensor. A transmitter and antenna may be included for transmitting the image signals. A receiver/recorder, for example worn by the patient, may record and store image and other data. The recorded data may then be downloaded from the receiver/recorder to a computer or workstation for display and analysis.
Upon display or analysis of the images obtained from the device, it would be useful to be able to determine the size of objects viewed, such as for example tumors or polyps. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Capacitors are one type of component which is commonly used in the fabrication of integrated circuits, for example in DRAM circuitry. A typical capacitor is comprised of two conductive electrodes separated by a non-conducting dielectric region. As integrated circuitry density has increased, there is a continuing challenge to maintain sufficiently high storage capacitance despite typical decreasing capacitor area. The increase in density of integrated circuitry has typically resulted in greater reduction in the horizontal dimension of capacitors as compared the vertical dimension. In many instances, the vertical dimension of capacitors has increased.
One manner of forming capacitors is to initially form an insulative material within which a capacitor storage node electrode is formed. For example, an array of capacitor electrode openings for individual capacitors is typically fabricated in such insulative capacitor electrode-forming material, with a typical insulative electrode-forming material being silicon dioxide doped with one or both of phosphorus and boron. The capacitor electrode openings are typically formed by etching. However, it can be difficult to etch the capacitor electrode openings within the insulative material, particularly where the openings are deep.
Further and regardless, it is often desirable to etch away most if not all of the capacitor electrode-forming material after individual capacitor electrodes have been formed within the openings. Such enables outer sidewall surfaces of the electrodes to provide increased area, and thereby increased capacitance for the capacitors being formed. However, the capacitor electrodes formed in deep openings are typically correspondingly much taller than they are wide. This can lead to toppling of the capacitor electrodes either during the etch to expose the outer sidewall surfaces, during transport of the substrate, and/or during deposition of the capacitor dielectric layer or outer capacitor electrode layer. Our U.S. Pat. No. 6,667,502 teaches provision of a brace or retaining structure intended to alleviate such toppling.
While the invention was motivated in addressing the above identified issues, it is in no way so limited. The invention is only limited by the accompanying claims as literally worded, without interpretative or other limiting reference to the specification, and in accordance with the doctrine of equivalents. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Sinks and similar apparatus for removing grease and oils from parts such as automotive parts are widely used and can be found in most automotive and machine shops.
In the past, parts washers of the sink type utilized toxic cleaning fluids such as petroleum-based solvents and non-biodegradable detergents. The use of such toxic cleaning solutions is environmentally objectionable and, as a result, both State and Federal Regulations either restrict or severely limit the use of these types of solutions. For example, California has passed environmental regulations effective Jan. 1, 1999 which prohibit the use of certain classes of solvents in part washing machines. Accordingly, there has developed a need for environmentally acceptable parts washers which utilize safe, biodegradable cleaning solutions and which are nevertheless effective to remove accumulated grime, particularly hydrocarbon-based contaminants such as oil and grease and which is both simple to use, convenient to service and which complies with local, state and federal environmental regulations.
As indicated above, there are a number of parts washers in the prior art. In the industry, a cabinet type washer has an enclosure which houses a spray system and the cabinet is closed during operation. A sink-type device has an open tub and the parts are cleaned manually using a brush in a bath of cleaning solution. U.S. Pat. No. 5,398,708 discloses a parts cleaning machine which has a cabinet with a rotating carousel for supporting articles to be cleaned. A sink is also provided which receives cleaning fluid from the spray bar network in the cabinet. The cabinet includes a reservoir in the bottom which collects fluid sprayed by the spray bar network.
InstaClean, Inc. of Lake Havasu City, Ariz. also offers a line of degreasers which include a cabinet. The InstaClean IC4 parts cleaner has a large load capacity for accommodating large parts such as transmission cases, engine blocks and the like. This machine is designed to use a nonflammable, biodegradable cleaning compound which is dispersed by a manifold within the cabinet.
Other parts cleaning machines are also available in the prior art such as those manufactured by Landa Water Cleaning Systems as shown in Catalog #96-250.
The patent literature discloses a number of parts washers including the following:
U.S. Pat. No. 2,570,021 - Beach U.S. Pat. No. 4,824,567 - Turman U.S. Pat. No. 2,746,467 - Dempsey U.S. Pat. No. 4,855,023 - Clark U.S. Pat. No. 2,771,086 - Kearney U.S. Pat. No. 4,869,820 - Yee U.S. Pat. No. 2,834,359 - Kearney U.S. Pat. No. 4,954,222 - Durr U.S. Pat. No. 2,842,143 - Kearney U.S. Pat. No. 5,080,791 - Sims U.S. Pat. No. 3,079,286 - Kearney U.S. Pat. No. 5,271,850 - Stutzman U.S. Pat. No. 3,085,948 - Kearney U.S. Pat. No. 5,273,060 - Hill U.S. Pat. No. 3,120,853 - Kearney U.S. Pat. No. 5,349,974 - Mansur U.S. Pat. No. 4,157,096 - Miller U.S. Pat. No. 5,360,027 - Harman U.S. Pat. No. 4,379,467 - Purr U.S. Pat. No. 5,398,708 - Sheldon U.S. Pat. No. 4,392,891 - Meyers U.S. Pat. No. 5,402,806 - Hakeem U.S. Pat. No. 4,651,762 - Bowden U.S. Pat. No. 5,417,851 - Yee U.S. Pat. No. 4,784,169 - Striedieck | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a dynamoelectric, rotating machine; and more particularly, to an axial airgap, dynamoelectric, rotating machine comprising a rotor assembly and a stator assembly that includes a frontiron section, a backiron section, and a plurality of stator tooth sections.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The electric motor and generator industry is continuously searching for ways to provide dynamoelectric, rotating machines with increased efficiencies and power densities. As used herein, the term “motor” refers to all classes of motoring and generating machines which convert electrical energy to rotational motion and vice versa. Such machines include devices that may alternatively function as motors, generators, and regenerative motors. The term “regenerative motor” is used herein to refer to a device that may be operated as either an electric motor or a generator. A wide variety of motors are known, including permanent magnet, wound field, induction, variable reluctance, switched reluctance, and brush and brushless types. They may be energized directly from a source of direct or alternating current provided by the electric utility grid, batteries, or other alternative source. Alternatively, they may be supplied by current having the requisite waveform that is synthesized using electronic drive circuitry. Rotational energy derived from any mechanical source may drive a generator. The generator's output may be connected directly to a load or conditioned using power electronic circuitry. Optionally, a given machine is connected to a mechanical source that functions as either a source or sink of mechanical energy during different periods in its operation. The machine thus can act as a regenerative motor, e.g. by connection through power conditioning circuitry capable of four-quadrant operation.
Rotating machines ordinarily include a stationary component known as a stator and a rotating component known as a rotor. Adjacent faces of the rotor and stator are separated by a small airgap traversed by magnetic flux linking the rotor and stator. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that a rotating machine may comprise plural, mechanically connected rotors and plural stators. Virtually all rotating machines are conventionally classifiable as being either radial or axial airgap types. A radial airgap type is one in which the rotor and stator are separated radially and the traversing magnetic flux is directed predominantly perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the rotor. In an axial airgap device, the rotor and stator are axially separated and the flux traversal is predominantly parallel to the rotational axis.
Except for certain specialized types, motors and generators generally employ soft magnetic materials of one or more types. By “soft magnetic material” is meant one that is easily and efficiently magnetized and demagnetized. The energy that is inevitably dissipated in a magnetic material during each magnetization cycle is termed hysteresis loss or core loss. The magnitude of hysteresis loss is a function both of the excitation amplitude and frequency. A soft magnetic material further exhibits high permeability and low magnetic coercivity. Motors and generators also include a source of magnetomotive force, which can be provided either by one or more permanent magnets or by additional soft magnetic material encircled by current-carrying windings. By “permanent magnet material,” also called “hard magnetic material,” is meant a magnetic material that has a high magnetic coercivity and strongly retains its magnetization and resists being demagnetized. Depending on the type of motor, the permanent and soft magnetic materials may be disposed either on the rotor or stator.
By far, the preponderance of motors currently produced use as soft magnetic material various grades of electrical or motor steels, which are alloys of Fe with one or more alloying elements, especially including Si, P, C, and Al. Most commonly, Si is a predominant alloying element. While it is generally believed that motors and generators having rotors constructed with advanced permanent magnet material and stators having cores made with advanced, low-loss soft materials, such as amorphous metal, have the potential to provide substantially higher efficiencies and power densities compared to conventional radial airgap motors and generators, there has been little success in building such machines of either axial or radial airgap type. Previous attempts at incorporating amorphous material into conventional radial or axial airgap machines have been largely unsuccessful commercially. Early designs mainly involved substituting the stator and/or rotor with coils or circular laminations of amorphous metal, typically cut with teeth through the internal or external surface. Amorphous metal has unique magnetic and mechanical properties that make it difficult or impossible to directly substitute for ordinary steels in conventionally designed motors.
A number of applications in current technology, including widely diverse areas such as high-speed machine tools, aerospace motors and actuators, and compressor drives, require electrical motors operable at high speeds (i.e., high rpm), many times in excess of 15,000–20,000 rpm, and in some cases up to 100,000 rpm. High speed electric machines are almost always manufactured with low pole counts, lest the magnetic materials in electric machines operating at higher frequencies experience excessive core losses that contribute to inefficient motor design. This is mainly due to the fact that the soft material used in the vast majority of present motors is a silicon-iron alloy (Si—Fe). It is well known that losses resulting from changing a magnetic field at frequencies greater than about 400 Hz in conventional Si—Fe-based materials causes the material to heat, oftentimes to a point where the device cannot be cooled by any acceptable means.
To date it has proven very difficult to cost effectively provide readily manufacturable electric devices, which take advantage of low-loss materials. Previous attempts to incorporate low-loss materials into conventional machines generally failed, since the early designs typically relied on merely substituting new soft magnetic materials, such as amorphous metal, for conventional alloys, such as silicon-iron, in machine's magnetic cores. The resulting electric machines have sometimes provided increased efficiencies with less loss, but they generally suffer from an unacceptable reduction in power output, and significant increases in cost associated with handling and forming the amorphous metal. As a result, they have not achieved commercial success or market penetration.
However, a further problem arising in electric machines capable of operating at high frequencies and high speeds is heating in the rotor. As the rotor rotates relative to the stator, the rotor magnets experience cyclic differences in permeance coefficient during the course of each rotation, as the rotor magnets alternately pass between alignment with the teeth of the stator core and positions centered in the gaps between the stator teeth. In turn, this variation in permeance results in changing flux within the rotor, inducing eddy currents in accordance with Faraday's law. Those currents in some cases are high enough to cause significant heating in the rotor. The heating, in turn, is likely to cause irreversible loss of magnetization and reduced device output. In extreme cases, the heating may even be severe enough to reduce the lifetime of the rotor magnets or destroy them.
Accordingly, there remains a need in the art for highly efficient electric devices, which take full advantage of the specific characteristics associated with low-loss material, thus eliminating the disadvantages associated with conventional machines. Ideally, an improved machine would provide higher efficiency of conversion between mechanical and electrical energy forms. Improved efficiency in generating machines powered by fossil fuels would concomitantly reduce air pollution. The machine would be smaller, lighter, and satisfy more demanding requirements of torque, power, and speed. Cooling requirements would be reduced. Motors operating from battery power would operate longer for a given charge cycle. For certain applications, axial airgap machines are better suited because of their size and shape and their particular mechanical attributes. Similar improvements in machine properties are sought for both axial and radial airgap devices | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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There are established procedures for removing thrombi from a patient's vasculature by percutaneous insertion of appropriate treatment apparatus into the vasculature of the patient. A procedure which is well documented involves the use of an assembly which includes a balloon catheter provided with two inflatable balloons which are spaced from one another at the distal end of the catheter. The balloon catheter is inserted endoluminally into the patient's vasculature until the balloons are located either side of a thrombus to be removed. The balloons are then inflated so as to close off that part of the patient's vessel. The assembly includes provision for feeding into the space between the two inflated balloons a thrombolytic or other lytic agent, typically through a lumen of the balloon catheter. The thrombolytic agent will dissolve the thrombus located between the two inflated balloons, whereupon the dissolved thrombus material can be removed, typically by aspiration. Particularly when a thrombus is established, that is when the thrombus is dense and well set, it can take a significant time to dissolve the thrombus and thus remove this from the patient.
Examples of thrombus treatment apparatus can be found, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,279,546, U.S. Pat. No. 5,059,178 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,925,016. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a cleaning article using a water-decomposable non-woven fabric which is dispersed easily by a water stream and, more in particular, it relates to a cleaning article of low density and having high surface strength.
2. Related Art
Cleaning articles formed with water-decomposable non-woven fabrics are used for the cleaning operation of wiping human skins such as on hips or for cleaning toilets and thereabouts. The cleaning articles can be directly flushed away in toilets after use.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 229295/1990 discloses a water-decomposable non-woven fabric used for cleaning articles of this kind in which a non-woven fabric formed of water dispersible fibers contains carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) as a water soluble binder and also contains a polyvalent metal salt for preventing dissolution of the water soluble binder in a wet state thereby improving the wet strength.
Further, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 228214/1997 discloses a product prepared by entangling under a water stream regenerated cellulose fibers having a fiber length of 4 mm to 20 mm and pulp fibers by a water jetting treatment, which intends to establish a balance between the strength and the water decomposability of the non-woven fabric by selecting the fiber length of the regenerated cellulose fibers.
In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 229295/1990 the water soluble binder is impregnated into the entire non-woven fabric formed of the water dispersible fibers to improve the strength of the non-woven fabric in the wet state. However, in the fabrics of this type, since the water soluble binder is impregnated into the non-woven fabric generally by using a spray, while the tensile strength of the entire non-woven fabric can be increased to some extent, the strength at the surface of the non-woven fabric can not be improved sufficiently.
Accordingly, fluffing often occurs on the surface of the non-woven fabric during wiping of dirt, or the surface of the non-woven fabric is often broken upon wiping of firmly deposited dirt.
Further, when the surface strength is intended to be improved by increasing the strength for the entire non-woven fabric, the amount of the binder to be impregnated into the non-woven fabric has to be increased. However, when the water soluble binder is impregnated by spraying into the non-woven fabric, there is a limit for the amount of the binder that can be impregnated into the non-woven fabric. Further, for impregnating a great amount of the water soluble binder into the non-woven fabric and improving the wet strength, it is necessary to incorporate a great amount of a metal salt in a wet state to bring about a problem in view of safety to human skins.
Then, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 228214/1997, it is intended to improve the strength and make the water decomposability favorable by selecting the fiber length of the regenerated cellulose fibers. However, it is actually difficult to appropriately make a balance between the strength and the water decomposability. Moreover, since the entire strength is intended to be obtained merely by the entangled state of the fibers, the surface strength of the non-woven fabric is extremely low and the non-woven fabric involves a problem that the fibers appearing on the surface drop off during wiping operation or the surface of the non-woven fabric is broken easily.
The present invention intends to overcome the foregoing problems in the prior art and it is an object thereof to provide a cleaning article by using a non-woven fabric of satisfactory water decomposability, in which the surface strength of the non-woven fabric is increased thereby enabling to prevent fluffing on the surface and dropping of fibers upon wiping operation and, further, prevent breakage on the surface, as well as a manufacturing method thereof
In accordance with the present invention, the foregoing object can be attained by a cleaning article comprising a water-decomposable non-woven fabric containing water dispersible fibers and a water soluble resin coated on at least one side of the water-decomposable non-woven fabric, in which the water soluble resin is contained more in a surface portion of a fiber assembly than in a remaining portion of the fiber assembly.
Here, when the water soluble resin is coated on both sides of the non-woven fabric, the remaining portion of the fiber assembly, as sandwiched between two surface portions, may be called xe2x80x9cinner portionxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cintermediate portionxe2x80x9d. For convenience in illustrating the invention, therefore, the term xe2x80x9cinner portionxe2x80x9d is used hereinafter for describing the remaining portion, it being understood that the term xe2x80x9cinner portionxe2x80x9d never intends to limit the invention to the case where the water soluble resin is coated on both sides of the non-woven fabric.
The cleaning article of the invention can be produced, for example, by coating the water soluble resin on one side or both sides of the water-decomposable non-woven fabric in the state of a solution with a viscosity ranging from 1,000 cps to 100,000 cps.
In this case, the solution of the water soluble resin (for example, which is prepared by dissolving the water soluble resin in water or purified water) has such a high viscosity that it adheres mainly to the surface portion (surface layer), on one side or on each side of the non-woven fabric, without being impregnated uniformly into the non-woven fabric. Accordingly, in a state where the fiber web of the water decomposable non-woven fabric is dried, the amount of the water soluble resin adhered (or deposited) to the fibers is greater in the surface portion (surface layer) of the non-woven fabric than in the inner portion thereof.
Preferred range of the viscosity is from 5,000 cps to 70,000 cps and, further preferably, from 10,000 cps to 70,000 cps.
When the viscosity of the solution of the water soluble resin is less than 1,000 cps, the solution is impregnated almost uniformly into the non-woven fabric so that the water soluble resin can not be deposited sufficiently on the fibers of the surface layer. But, too much addition of the water soluble resin is undesirable. In this case, therefore, it is difficult to improve the surface strength of the non-woven fabric to a desired degree. When the viscosity is from 1,000 to less than 5,000 or 10,000 cps, the uniform impregnation of the solution can be prevented but it is still relatively difficult to permit only the surface layer to have a sufficient strength.
On the other hand, if the viscosity exceeds 100,000 cps, it is difficult to coat the solution uniformly on the surface of the non-woven fabric due to such a high viscosity. When it is 70,000 cps or less, the solution can be coated uniformly with no problem.
As described above, when the solution of the water soluble resin at a high viscosity is coated on the surface of the water-decomposable non-woven fabric and the amount of the water soluble resin in the surface layer is more than that in the inner portion, only the surface strength of the cleaning article can be improved satisfactorily. This enables prevention of fluffing on the surface, dropping of fibers and breakage at the surface upon wiping, and it also enables readily wiping of firmly deposited dirt.
The fiber density of the water-decomposable non-woven fabric is preferably 0.3 g/cm3 or less.
In such a relatively bulky non-woven fabric having a low fiber density, a water soluble resin easily intrudes between fibers. Therefore, if a solution of a water soluble resin at a low viscosity is added by use of a spray as in the prior art, the water soluble resin comes into the inner portion of the non-woven fabric, so that it is difficult to improve only the surface strength of the non-woven fabric. In the invention, on the other hand, because the solution of the water soluble resin at a relatively high viscosity is coated on the surface, on one side or each side of the non-woven fabric, the water soluble resin can be maintained in the surface layer of the non-woven fabric to a desired degree. As a result, according to the invention, even in such a bulky non-woven fabric having a low fiber density, the surface strength can be improved. That is, the invention is suitable for a cleaning article comprising such a relatively bulky non-woven fabric having a low fiber density.
The average fiber length of fibers constituting the water-decomposable non-woven fabric is preferably 10 mm or less and, more preferably, 7 mm or less.
By the use of the fibers having such a short fiber length for the non-woven fabric, when the cleaning article is flushed in a flushing toilet, the fibers are easily dispersible, thereby improving the water decomposability of the cleaning article. In addition, since the surface strength of the non-woven fabric is improved by the water soluble resin, these short fibers is prevented from dropping off from the surface of the non-woven fabric.
The amount of coating of the water soluble resin is preferably from 0.5 g to 30 g based on 100 g of the fibers forming the water-decomposable non-woven fabric. Here, the coating amount of the water soluble resin is measured after drying the solution. If the coating amount is less than the lower limit described above, the surface strength of the non-woven fabric can not be improved sufficiently. On the other hand, when the coating amount exceeds the upper limit, the softness of the non-woven fabric is decreased.
The cleaning article of the invention preferably has such a softness in a dry state that the B value (which indicates the bending rigidity) of the cleaning article in a dry state as measured according to a KES bending test is from 0.05 or more to 1.0 or less. In the invention, used is the bulky non-woven fabric of a low density and therefore, the rigidity is not excessive and the softness is excellent. In addition, even for such bulky non-woven fabric of a low density, because the solution of the water soluble resin at a high viscosity is coated on the surface of the non-woven fabric thereby forming the water soluble resin-containing surface layer, the rigidity (B value) of 0.05 or more as described above can be attained.
When the cleaning article of the invention is prepared for use in a wet (moistened) state, an insolubilizing agent for the water soluble resin is preferably added. This can maintain the wet (moistened) strength of the cleaning article at a high level. However, the cleaning article of the invention may be used in a dry state as it is.
In such a wet state, the cleaning article of the invention preferably has such a softness that the B value (which indicates the bending rigidity) of the cleaning article in a wet state as measured according to a KES bending test is 0.03 or more. In this case, the upper limit is preferably 0.1 or less.
Further, when the water soluble resin is coated only on one side, it is preferred that the water soluble resin is coated on a surface of the water-decomposable non-woven fabric to be contacted by a drying drum for drying the water-decomposable non-woven fabric in a manufacturing process thereof. Because the surface becomes relatively smooth after in contact with the drying drum, the solution of the water soluble resin, when coated, less intrudes into the non-woven fabric.
In the cleaning article of the invention, the water soluble resin is coated on a surface to be used as a cleaning surface.
The present invention also provides a method of manufacturing a cleaning article comprising:
a step of subjecting a fiber web containing water dispersible fibers to a water jetting treatment thereby forming a water-decomposable non-woven fabric,
a step of drying the water-decomposable non-woven fabric after the water jetting treatment,
a step of coating a solution of a water soluble resin with a viscosity ranging from 1,000 cps to 100,000 cps (preferably, 5,000 cps to 70,000 cps, and more preferably, 10,000 cps to 70,000 cps) on at least one side of the water-decomposable non-woven fabric after drying, and
a step of drying the coated solution of the water soluble resin.
In the method described above, it is preferred that the water-decomposable non-woven fabric after the water jetting treatment is dried by using a drying drum, and the solution of the water soluble resin is coated to the water-decomposable non-woven fabric after drying on a surface contacted by the drying drum. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an unlubricated bearing structure supporting a rocking arm to be swingable and to an IC socket using the same.
2. Related Art
FIG. 9 shows a conventional unlubricated bearing structure 100 of the type mentioned above. The unlubricated bearing structure 100 shown in FIG. 9 includes a bearing mount member 102 having an axial bearing hole 103, a cylindrical bush 101 which has an outer peripheral portion and which is pushed into the bearing hole 103, and a support shaft 104 which is fitted into the cylindrical bush 101 so that a clearance 105 exists between an inner peripheral portion of the cylindrical bush 101 and an outer peripheral portion of the support shaft 104 to thereby support the support shaft 104 to be rotatable by the bush 101 fixed to the bearing mount member 102 (refer to, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. SHO 62-242129, and JIS Machine Engineering Handbook (new edition), published on Mar. 15, 1968, pp. 8-319 to 8-324)
Such an unlubricated bearing structure 100 is applicable to be disposed between relatively rotatable two members of a device to which a lubricating agent (lubricant) is not usable (such as electrical testing device of an IC package requiring an insulating property).
However, such unlubricated bearing structure 100 has provided the following defects.
That is, as shown in FIGS. 10A and 10B, in which the conventional unlubricated bearing structure 100 is applied to a central portion of the rocking (swinging) motion of the rocking arm 106, and one end side of the rocking arm 106 corresponds to the bearing mount portion 102 shown in FIG. 9.
With the conventional bearing structure 100 shown in FIG. 10A and FIG. 10B, when a force F1 other than self-weight pressing the rocking arm 106 toward the center of rocking motion acts, the support shaft 104 made of metal (stainless steel) slidably contacts the cylindrical bush 101, also made of metal (stainless steel), which results in causing of problem of significant wearing of the support shaft 104 as represented by oblique lines in FIG. 10B and the rocking arm is hence hardly driven or operated smoothly and easily, thus being defective and disadvantageous. | {
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In a clock signal dividing circuit which divides a clock signal having a frequency to generate a clock signal having a lower frequency, there can be realized a dividing circuit (integer dividing circuit) in which a dividing ratio, i.e., a ratio of a frequency of a clock signal obtained before frequency dividing to a frequency of a clock signal obtained after the frequency dividing is 1/M (M is a positive integer) by using a counter circuit.
On the other hand, a dividing circuit (rational number dividing circuit) which can perform frequency dividing even though a dividing ratio is N/M (N and M are positive integers) is proposed in the past (for example, see Patent Documents 1 and 2). According to the conventional art, values (value N in the dividing ratio N/M) each of which sets a numerator of the dividing ratio are cumulatively added every cycle of an input clock signal. When the addition result is larger than a value (value M in the dividing ratio N/M) which sets a denominator of the dividing ratio, an operation which subtracts M from the addition result is performed, and pulses of the input clock signal are arbitrarily thinned out with reference to the addition result to realize rational number dividing.
As a conventional art, a clock generating circuit using a phase interpolator is proposed (for example, see Patent Document 3). According to the art described in Patent Document 3, an edge is generated by the phase interpolator at a timing except for an edge of an input clock signal to make it possible to generate a rational number divided clock signal having a constant cycle time. Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-45507 Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-148807 Patent Document 3: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-57578 | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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This invention relates to an outboard jet propulsion device and more particularly to an improved lower housing construction for such a device.
Many forms of outboard drives employ jet propulsion units for propelling the watercraft through the water. Such units include a vertically extending impeller shaft that rotates within a cylindrical cavity and which draws water through a downwardly and partially forwardly facing water inlet. Generally, the construction of the outer housing is such that the cavity is defined by a cylindrical portion and the water inlet is defined by a foot shaped portion.
FIGS. 1 and 2 show in side elevation and top plan the configuration of the conventional lower unit of such jet propulsion outboard drives. As seen in these figures, the lower unit housing has a generally cylindrical portion 21 that defines the impeller cavity in which the impeller is contained. A downwardly facing water inlet 22 is defined by a foot like portion 23 and which water inlet faces somewhat in a forward direction. It will be noted that there is a discontinuity in configuration between the foot like portion 23 that defines the inlet 22 and the cylindrical portion 21. As a result, the water flow as the watercraft travels through the water will be deflected back forwardly as shown by the arrow in FIG. 1 and add to the flow resistance. As a result, this type of unit consumes more power than is desirable for efficient operation.
It is, therefore, a principal object of this invention to provide an improved lower unit arrangement for a jet propulsion outboard drive.
It is a further object of this invention to provide an improved streamlining arrangement for the lower unit of a jet propelled outboard drive. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Ion exchange membranes are used as solid electrolytes in electrochemical energy conversion devices such as fuel cells, electrolysers, in separation processes, sensors, etc. Perfluorinated ion exchange membranes are state of the art proton exchange membranes (PEM) used as electrolytes for fuel cells. Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) technologies are efficient energy conversion devices where the PEM used as the electrolyte play a central role serving as both electrolyte and gas separator. In order to produce electricity efficiently, the polymer electrolyte membrane of a PEMFC must be robust, highly proton conductive, and gas impermeable. Such membranes are generally prepared by solution or dispersion casting of the acid form of the ionomer or by melt-extrusion of a precursor polymer containing sulfonyl halide protective groups that has to be hydrolyzed and acid-exchanged after melt-processing.
There is still a continuing need to reduce cost and the level of manufacturing processes complexity while improving durability and reliability of PEM. To date, solution-cast perfluorosulfonic acid (PFSA) ionomer membranes (e.g. Nafion™) and solution-cast PFSA membranes reinforced with polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) support (e.g. Gore®) have been the most widely used membranes for PEMFCs. However, these materials are costly and still need to meet the requirements for high volume commercial markets. The mechanical and chemical durability of proton exchange membranes is also essential for building robust and long-lasting PEM fuel cells for automotive and stationary applications.
Melt processes represent the best technologies for mass production of homogeneous thin polymer films at low cost. Besides eluding the serious safety and environmental concerns related to the mass production of membranes by solution-casting, melt processes provide a mechanical reinforcement through chain orientations following extrusion-stretching. This structural reinforcement at a molecular level provides extruded PEM with the mechanical durability required for building robust and long-lasting PEM fuel cells. Extruded membranes have already proven to have a much higher mechanical and chemical durability in a fuel cell than solution-cast membranes (Lai 2009). In situ humidity cycling experiments, designed to assess the mechanical durability in PEM, have demonstrated that the stresses induced in the membrane upon cycling between wet and dry conditions can lead to crack formation, which leads to gas crossover and ultimately failure of the fuel cell.
Extruded PEMs are generally processed from non-ionomeric (non-conducting) polymers that have to go through a post-functionalization reaction (e.g. post-sulfonation) to introduce ionic functionalities or from precursors where the ionic groups are protected (e.g. PFSAs in the sulfonyl fluoride form). These non-functional analogs are then chemically converted into their functional counterparts (e.g. their acid form). In both cases, several chemical treatments have to be conducted during the manufacturing process prior to catalytic layers integration, which adds complexity to an otherwise simple process. It is highly desirable to directly extrude the functional polymers in their active form. Unfortunately, the strong ionic associations in ionomers act generally as physical cross-links, increasing by several orders of magnitude both melt-viscosities and relaxation times, resulting in ionomeric materials that are very difficult to melt-process. The strength of the ionic interactions in ionomers, and hence their physical and mechanical properties, depends on the acidity of the pendent anion. Polymers modified with the stronger acid, such as sulfonic acid (pKa about 1), exhibit more dramatic changes in thermal, viscoelastic, and rheological properties than those modified with the weaker carboxylic acid (pKa about 4-5). However, most ionomers may be melt-processed in very low shear rate operations such as compression-molding, which reveals that these ionic associations are not permanent cross-links and can be reversibly disrupted under suitable conditions.
It is known in the art (Sanchez 2009 for example) that plasticizers like imidazole, N-alkylimidazole and N-vinylimidazole can be used as processing aids for melt processing of polysulfone polymers. However, these processing aids are particular to polysulfone-like polymers and are not transferable to the melt-processing of PFSA ionomers.
It is further known (Sen 2008) that 1H-1,2,4-triazole can be used to improve anhydrous proton conduction of Nafion™ membranes, but the triazole is introduced into these membranes by solution impregnation techniques, not melt-processing techniques. There is no suggestion that the triazole can be used as a plasticizer in a melt-processing process. The resulting poor dispersion of the triazole in the film detracts from the mechanical properties of the membrane.
There remains a need for PFSA-based ion exchange membranes with improved properties. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The invention relates to a method for determining the position of a tool of a rock drill in a known system of coordination relative to rock when using a rock drilling equipment comprising a base, at least one drilling boom mounted pivotally relative to the base and a rock drill connected pivotally relative to the boom to the other end of the boom and provided with a tool, in which method the position of the base of the rock drilling equipment in said system of coordination is determined and the position of the tool in said system of coordination is determined on the basis of the position of the base.
In excavating underground spaces, the accuracy of excavation is highly significant--the space to be excavated, e.g. a traffic tunnel, has been set a nominal measure which must not be reduced. When using the drilling/explosion method, drilling accuracy has a significant effect on the accuracy of excavation. In order to improve the drilling accuracy of holes, the positions of planned holes can be measured in advance with separate measuring devices and marked on the rock surface. Another method is to use instrumented or automatic drilling equipments in which the drilling boom is provided with sensors measuring the position of its joints; on the basis of the sensors the position and direction of the rock drill and thus of its tool relative to the base of the equipment can be determined--when this information is connected to a separately determined position and direction of the base of the equipment, the position and direction of the drill relative to the planned drill pattern can be determined and thus controlled. Regardless of the use of different methods, drilling accuracy has in practice been variable. This is because the methods require either handiwork or skill or that the measuring of the position of the joints of the drilling boom are sensitive to e.g. variation in the mechanical characteristics of the parts of the boom caused by wear and exterior forces acting on the boom. The variation in drilling accuracy leads, for example, to that in practice, more rock has to be excavated as a precaution than was planned. This causes additional costs in drilling, in explosion, in handling the blasted rock and in supporting the space. The variation in drilling accuracy is also harmful when excavating ores in which case the excavation of extra rock only incurs costs. Also, the precise direction and positioning of a tool is difficult in other rock drilling activity, such as when extracting off rock blocks with a percussion hammer by means of a striking tool or when doing any essential work with varying rock drilling equipments.
Finnish Patent Application 884,970 discloses an arrangement in which a feed beam of a rock drilling equipment is directed by using at least three laser beams the direction and position of which relative to the general system of coordination is known and by placing transmitters/receivers at each beam and at the feed beam at a distance from one another so that the direction and position of the feed beam in the general system of coordination of the tunnel can be measured on the basis of the oscilllation waves from the transmitters. This arrangement is suitable for long hole drilling but it is difficult to apply to tunnel drilling because laser beams have to be detached from their positions for the duration of explosion so that they would not be damaged. Further, if drilling equipments comprising more than one feed beam are used, not even three laser beams are necessarily enough so that the direction and position of all feed beams could be measured by means of them.
British Patent Application 2 180 117 discloses a method in which the position of the measuring tip is determined by using three measuring units mounted at fixed positions in the surroundings and two detectors mounted to the shaft of the measuring tip, whereby each measuring unit measures the position and distance of the detector and on the basis of this the position of the measuring tip is calculated. This arrangement requires that the measuring units are fixedly mounted in the surroundings, wherefore this method cannot be applied as such to rock drilling, nor can the arrangement disclosed in said Finnish Patent Application.
The object of this invention is to achieve such a method for measuring the position of a tool of a rock drill of a rock drilling equipment that can be used effectively and easily in all drilling and also when using more rock drilling equipments, if required.
The method of the invention is characterized in that the position of the tool relative to the base is determined by measuring, using at least three measuring devices situated at a known position relative to the base and at a distance from one another, wherein at least two are attached to the base, and at least one measuring device is located at a known position relative to the tool. At least some of the measuring devices comprise a transmitter for transmitting oscilllation energy and correspondingly, at least some of the measuring devices comprise a receiver for receiving oscilllation energy. The distance between the transmitters and receivers is measured on the basis of the oscilllation energy transmitted by each transmitter; the distances between the receivers and transmitters are calculated on the basis of the measured distances; and the position of the tool relative to the base is determined on the basis of the distances calculated.
The essential idea of the invention is that at least two measuring devices, that is, transmitters or receivers, mounted in the base of the rock drilling equipment are used and similarly, receivers or transmitters arranged at a known position relative to each rock drill or, when desired, in both cases transmitter-receivers, whereby the position of the rock drills and their tools can always be determined relative to the base. A further essential idea of the invention is that the position of the base of the rock drilling equipment relative to the rock in the general system of coordination is determined in some manner known per se, such as by means of laser or fixed point navigation, whereby when determining the position of the rock drill relative to the base, they are at the same time determined relative to the general system of coordination. According to one preferred embodiment of the invention, a separate transmitter-receiver unit, for example, can be used to help in determining the position of the rock drills. The transmitter-receiver unit is placed at a suitable position in the vicinity of the rock to be drilled, such as below rock drills or booms after which the position of this separate transmitter-receiver unit is determined by means of measuring devices fixedly mounted in the base after which the separate unit can be used for measuring the position of the rock drills.
A logical and readily useable measurement is achieved with the method according to the invention at the same time as a reliable measurement is obtained in all conditions by using several different measuring devices. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Vehicle collisions that occur at high rates of speed are deadly, resulting in approximately 43,000 lives lost every year in the United States alone. Costs associated with these vehicle fatalities run approximately $165 billion. The physics of these crashes has been well studied and has dictated many safety features deployed in vehicle design today. These features, however, are static and non-collaborative; they are deployed in the same manner in every car, regardless of the specifics of the high speed crash, and they attempt to optimize the outcome for each automobile without consideration of the outcome for the other vehicle(s).
While the known technology includes evasive and impact minimizing measures deployed upon detection of an imminent crash, we know of no technology that uses a collaborative, model-based approach to optimizing crash outcomes. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a radio communication apparatus used for both digital communications and analog communications.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of a conventional radio communication apparatus. In FIG. 3, a microphone 1 changes human voice to voice signal. A linear codec 3 converts the voice signal to a digital signal. A digital signal processor (DSP) 4 processes the digital signal. A ROM 52 stores instruction codes (voice coding procedures) used in the DSP 4. A digital modulation/demodulation portion 6 modulates the coded digital signal to form the modulated digital signal and demodulates the modulated signal to form the coded digital signal.
An analog voice signal processing portion 12 modulates the voice signal to form the modulated voice signal and demodulates the modulated voice signal to form the voice signal. An FM modulation/demodulation portion 10 modulates the modulated voice signal to form the FM signal and demodulates the FM signal to form the modulated voice signal. A radio frequency transmitter/receiver 7 amplifies the signals which are received from the modulation/demodulation portion 6 or FM modulation/demodulation portion 10 and sends them to an antenna 8, and receives radio frequency signal from the antenna 8 and sends them to digital modulation/demodulation portion 6 or the FM modulation/demodulation portion 10. A speaker 2 converts the voice signal which is received from linear codec 3 or analog voice signal processing portion 12 to the voice and outputs the voice. A control portion 11 controls the devices in the radio communication apparatus.
The operation of the above conventional art is explained hereinafter.
(1) In the case of voice signal processed in a digital manner.
Firstly, the voice which is input to the microphone 1 is converted to an analog signal and is sent to a linear codec 3. The linear codec 3 converts the analog voice signal which is received from the microphone 1 to the digital signal and outputs it to the DSP 4. The DSP 4 processes the digital signal which is received from the linear codec 3 according to the voice coding procedure which is stored in the ROM 52 and sends the coded signal to the digital modulation/demodulation portion 6. The digital modulation/demodulation portion 6 modulates the carrier signal by the coded signal and outputs the digital modulated signal to the radio frequency transmitter/receiver 7. The radio transmitter/receiver 7 amplifies the received digital modulated signal and sends it to the base station via the antenna 8.
When the radio frequency signal are received from the base station via the antenna 8, the radio frequency transmitter/receiver 7 sends the radio signal to the digital modulation/demodulation portion 6. The digital modulation/demodulation portion 6 demodulates the digital modulated signal and outputs the demodulated signal to the DSP 4. The DSP 4 decodes the demodulated signal according to the signal procedure stored in the ROM 52 and sends the decoded digital voice signal to the linear codec 3. The linear codec 3 converts the digital voice signal to the analog voice signal and sends it to the speaker 2. The speaker 2 converts the analog voice signal to voice output.
(2) In the case of voice signal processed in an analog manner.
Firstly, the voice which is input in the microphone 1 is converted to an analog signal and is sent to an analog voice signal processing portion 12. The analog voice signal processing portion 12 modulates the analog signal to the modulation voice signal for FM transmission and sends it to the FM modulation/demodulation portion 10. The FM modulation/demodulation portion 10 modulates the carrier signal by the modulation voice signal and outputs the modulated FM signal to the radio frequency transmitter/receiver 7. The radio frequency transmitter/receiver 7 amplifies the received modulated FM signal and sends to the base station from the antenna 8.
When the radio frequency FM signal are received from the base station via the antenna 8, the radio frequency transmitter/receiver 7 sends the radio frequency FM signal to the FM modulation/demodulation portion 10. The FM modulation/demodulation portion 10 demodulates the radio frequency FM signal and outputs the demodulated signal to the analog voice signal processing portion 12. The analog voice signal processing portion 12 demodulates the demodulated signal to form the analog voice signal and sends it to the speaker 2. The speaker 2 converts the analog voice signal to voice output.
The control portion 11 controls the devices in the radio communication apparatus and changes the control between digital communications and analog communications.
As the conventional radio communication apparatus is constructed as explained above, the signal goes through the linear codec 3 and DSP 4 during digital communications, and it goes through the analog voice signal processing portion 12 during analog communications. That is, since the voice processing portion for digital and analog communications are provided separately, the circuit configuration becomes large and also expensive.
It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a radio communication apparatus having a small size voice processing portion and thereby to provide an inexpensive and light weight radio communication apparatus. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to an improved distributed data processing system and, in particular to an improved method and apparatus for creating applications. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for creating client applications.
2. Description of Related Art
Distributed data processing systems involve data transfers between clients and servers (also know as services). Typically, a client locates a server, initiates a session with a server and requests the server to perform some service. The server expects requests from a client to arrive in a particular format. A server is more complex than a client because the server typically handles a large number of clients simultaneously, often fetches and stores information from a large database, creates additional transactions for other services, performs business logic, and returns information formatted according to each client channel. For example, data will be specified in a particular message format. A particular transmission protocol will deliver the message to the server. The server accepts the message protocol as its application programming model (API) to its services and returns a result. A variety of software systems, such as Enterprise Java Beans (EJB), Servlets, Java Server Pages (JSP), and XML have been implemented to enhance the development of client and server-side software.
Client applications perform a number of different functions. For example, the application on the client side handles the user interface and may provide program logic for processing user input. Additionally, a client application must match the requirements of a particular server to provide communications with the particular server. Clients are packaged and distributed according to the services provided by the server.
A graphical user interface (GUI) exists in the client application to handle what the user views on the screen. Events resulting from user input, such as mouse clicks or keyboard strokes, are detected and handled using xe2x80x9clistenerxe2x80x9d processes in the application. The events are processed by program logic. The program logic may result in requests being sent to a server.
Communication with the server is provided using processes that use protocols, such as hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), secure sockets (SSL), or Remote Method Invocation (RMI).
Client software can be either xe2x80x9cthickxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cthinxe2x80x9d. A thick client is typically a large client-installed application that may access a database directly and apply business logic. They typically have dependence on the client operating system and require manual support to install and configure. By contrast a thin client is typically a small application downloaded on request from a server and accesses the database through an intermediate application server. This is known as a multi-tier application. A number of different usage scenarios for clients are present, resulting in a variety of client needs being present. For example, it is typical that in an global enterprise Intranet, the client configuration is controlled by the business but the large number of clients includes older machines with slow networks (e.g. 9600 baud). Likewise, in the Internet, there is little configuration control by the business and it is estimated that a large percentage of clients worldwide still use 14.4K connections that result in very slow network speeds and downloads. A typical user will become very frustrated if downloads take longer than a minute or two. Further, mobile users require compact software that can be customized and packaged to fit on machines and operate disconnected from the network. Subsequent automated support to connect to the network is needed.
At the other end of the spectrum, power users with high speed connections expect screen refresh times in the sub-second range and xe2x80x9cinstantaneousxe2x80x9d echoing of typed characters to provide the look and feel of processing in a local environment. In a multi-tier computing environment, the primary role of the client is to present and gather information quickly. The client application is considered a business asset independent of the network topology and server function. In these environments, it is desirable to be able to use the same client processing code for different user types and interface channels, such as automated teller machines (ATM), Kiosks, Internet [hypertext markup language (HTML)/applets], and regional office clients (applications).
Consequently, a common thin or thick client development environment for developing clients may be used to solve these problems, especially when the size and speed of the application download, integration and operation is important. Any software development environment should be based on sound software engineering principles.
Object-oriented languages have been employed in creating thin clients. Object-oriented programming environments have been presented as providing software reuse, which is a desirable feature in creating thin clients and reducing development time. In reality, the present object-oriented programming environments for developing thin clients are unable to provide enough object reuse and repeatability for quickly developing thin clients. Nor do they specify how to readily support additional message formats, protocols, data models and servers, mobile disconnected users, and caching.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to have an improved method and apparatus for a client development architecture that facilitates creating thin clients in a manner in which component reuse is increased while client development time is reduced, and multiple message formats, protocols, data models and servers, mobile disconnected users and caching can be readily integrated.
The present invention provides an architectural pattern for creating applications for a data processing system. A graphical user interface is created in which the graphical user interface includes a plurality of components. Processes for presenting the plurality of components and receiving user input are handled by a first set of graphical objects, wherein in response to selected user input, a first event is generated. An application object is created in which the application process controls an order in which the graphical objects present the set of components and process the event and wherein the application generates a second event. A transport object is created in which the transport object processes the second event and forwards the second event for processing to a destination within the plurality of destinations. A plurality of destination objects are created in which each destination object within the plurality of destinations objects handles accessing a destination within the plurality of destinations.
The present invention provides a method and apparatus in a data processing system for refreshing data in an application. A call is received to update data in the application, wherein the data is destined for a component in the application. A data type is identified for the data. Responsive to the data type being a handled data type, the data is formatted and a refresh is called on the component.
The present invention provides a method and apparatus in a data processing system for displaying a component or container. The container is displayed within a display using a first component. A location of the component or container is controlled within the display using a second component, wherein the second component controls the location and geometry of the component or container in response to receiving an event. The component or container is selectively displayed using a third component, wherein the third component generates the event.
The present invention provides a process in a data processing system for managing services in a desktop environment from an object oriented-environment. A presentation of a graphical user interface is controlled using a view controller, wherein the view controller handles user input to the graphical user interface. Responsive to a selected user input, the selected user input is sent from the view controller to an application mediator. Responsive to receiving the selected user input at the application mediator, the selected user input is processed at the application mediator. Responsive to the application mediator determining that a service is required in the desktop environment, an event is generated. Responsive to detecting the event at a listener object, a method is executed in the listener object to perform the service in the desktop environment.
The present invention provides a method and apparatus in a data processing system for managing transactions. A request event is received at a transporter object. The request event includes a target and an indication of how to handle the request event. A destination object is identified within the plurality of destination objects using the request event to form an identified destination object. The request event is sent to the identified destination object, wherein the identified destination object handles the request using the indication and accesses the target.
The present invention provides a method and apparatus in a data processing system for displaying a graphical user interface. A container is displayed in a graphical user interface from a set of containers, wherein a display of the container handled by a view controller from a set of view controllers. Each view controller handles the display of an associated container within the set of containers and user input for the associated container. A display of the set of containers is altered by an application mediator, wherein the set of containers are displayed in an order determined by the application mediator.
The present invention provides a method and apparatus in a data processing system for performing validation of user input. User input is received in a container displayed in a graphical user interface, wherein presentation of the container and the user input to the container are handled by a view controller. Responsive to receiving the user input, a call is sent to a validation object by the view controller. Responsive to the call, the validation object tests the user input using a criteria, wherein the rule is separate from the view controller.
The present invention provides a method and apparatus in a data processing system for managing permissions in an application. A user input is received at a container handled by a view controller, wherein the user input requests a change in permissions in the application. This user input, may be, for example, a change in security in an application through a login process. A view event describing the user input is generated. The view event is received at an application mediator. Responsive to receiving the view event, by the application mediator, a request event is generated and a permission corresponding to the user input is received. The permission alters an item, which may be in either of both the view controller and the application mediator.
The present invention provides a process and apparatus in a data processing system for presenting a view to a client. At an application mediator, a view event is received from a view controller, wherein the view event describes an action on a displayed container handled by the view controller. Responsive to a requirement that a change in a placement of the displayed container is required, a placement event is generated by the application mediator. A determination is then made by a placement listener, as to whether the placement event includes an indication that an alternate view is to be generated. Responsive to a determination that an alternate view is to be generated, a call is sent to a method in the view controller to generate the alternate view.
The present invention provides a method and apparatus in a data processing system for processing user input in a graphical user interface. A graphical user interface is presented using a view controller, wherein the view controller handles the user input to the graphical user interface. Responsive to a selected user input, an event is sent to a first application mediator. Responsive to the first application mediator being unable to process the event, the event is sent to a second application mediator for processing, wherein the first application mediator and the second application mediator handle an order in which a set of displays are displayed by a view controller.
The present invention provides a method and apparatus in a data processing system for presenting a set of screens in a graphical user interface. A first screen within a set of screens is presented, wherein the set of screens are presented using a set of view controllers. Responsive to a selected user input to the first screen, an event is generated by a view controller within the set of view controllers identifying the user input to the first screen, which is handled by the first view controller. Responsive to detecting the event generated by the view controller, a second screen from the set of screens is selected, by an application mediator, for display by sending a response to a view controller handling the second screen.
The application mediator is initialized from reading a state machine file and control processing of view event received from virtual controllers.
The present invention provides a method and apparatus in a data processing system for serializing data. A serializer receives a data element for serialization, wherein the data element includes a class name string. Responsive to receiving the data element, the serializer replaces the class name string with a code having a smaller size than the class name string to form a modified data element. Responsive to forming the modified data element, in which the serializer serializes the modified data element. This serialized data is transmitted and deserialized by a deserializer, which replaces the indicator with the class name.
The present invention provides a method and apparatus in a data processing system for providing an interface to an application for monitoring execution of the application. An event generated by a view controller is detected, wherein the view controller handles presentation of a container in a graphical user interface. A determination is made as to whether the event is an event selected for monitoring. Responsive to the determination that the event is an event selected for monitoring, a request event is generated, wherein the request event includes data from the event and a destination.
The present invention provides a method and apparatus for a data processing system for accessing classes and methods in an object oriented system. Responsive to receiving a selected user input to a container, a view event is sent from a view controller o an application mediator. The view event identifies an action taken to generate the selected user input. A request is selectively generated based on the view event, wherein the request event includes a major code identifying a class name as a destination and a minor code identifying a method name a function to be invoked. The request event is sent to a transporter. The transporter acts as a router to send the request event to an appropriate destination object from a plurality of destination objects. Responsive to receiving the request event at the transporter, the request event is sent to a destination object within a plurality of destination objects based in the class name. The destination object formats the request event into a form recognizable by the destination associated with the destination object. The destination may be located on a remote data processing system. The request event is used to access the class or method identified in the request event. The access may be, for example, an invocation of the method. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The present invention is directed to materials and methods involving extracellular matrix signalling moleculesxe2x80x94polypeptides involved in cellular responses to growth factors. More particularly, the invention is directed to Cyr61-, Fisp12-, and CTGF-related polynucleotides, polypeptides, compositions thereof, methods of purifying these polypeptides, and methods of using these polypeptides.
The growth of mammalian cells is tightly regulated by polypeptide growth factors. In the adult animal, most cells are metabolically active but are quiescent with regard to cell division. Under certain conditions, these cells can be stimulated to reenter the cell cycle and divide. As quiescent cells reenter the active growth and division phases of the cell cycle, a number of specific genes, the immediate early genes, are rapidly activated. Reentry to the active cell cycle is by necessity tightly regulated, since a breakdown of this control can result in uncontrolled growth, frequently recognized as cancer. Controlled reentry of particular cells into the growth phase is essential for such biological processes as angiogenesis (e.g., blood vessel growth and repair), chondrogenesis (e.g., skeletal development and prosthesis integration), oncogenesis (e.g., cancer cell metastasis and tumor neovascularization), and other growth-requiring processes.
Angiogenesis, the formation of new blood vessels from the endothelial cells of preexisting blood vessels, is a complex process which involves a changing profile of endothelial cell gene expression, associated with cell migration, proliferation, and differentiation. Angiogenesis begins with localized breakdown of the basement membrane of the parent vessel. In vivo, basement membranes (primarily composed of laminin, collagen type IV, nidogen/entactin, and proteoglycan) support the endothelial cells and provide a barrier separating these cells from the underlying stroma. The basement membrane also affects a variety of biological activities including cell adhesion, migration, and growth during development and differentiation.
Following breakdown of the basement membrane, endothelial cells migrate away from the parent vessel into the interstitial extracellular matrix (ECM), at least partially due to chemoattractant gradients. The migrating endothelial cells form a capillary sprout, which elongates. This elongation is the result of migration and proliferation of cells in the sprout. Cells located in the leading capillary tip migrate toward the angiogenic stimulus, but neither synthesize DNA nor divide. Meanwhile, behind these leading tip cells, other endothelial cells undergo rapid proliferation to ensure an adequate supply of endothelial cells for formation of the new vessel. Capillary sprouts then branch at their tips, the branches anastomose or join with one another to form a lumen, the basement membrane is reconstituted, and a vascular connection is established leading to blood flow.
Alterations in at least three endothelial cell functions occur during angiogenesis: 1) modulations of interactions with the ECM, which require alterations of cell-matrix contacts and the production of matrix-degrading proteolytic enzymes; 2) an initial increase and subsequent decrease in endothelial cell migration, effecting cell translocation towards an angiogenic stimulus; and 3) a transient increase in cell proliferation, providing cells for the growing and elongating vessel, with a subsequent return to the quiescent cell state once the vessel is formed. These three functions are realized by adhesive, chemotactic, and mitogenic interactions or responses, respectively. Therefore, control of angiogenesis requires intervention in three distinct cellular activities: 1) cell adhesion, 2) cell migration, and 3) cell proliferation. Another biological process involving a similar complex array of cellular activities is chondrogenesis.
Chondrogenesis is the cellular process responsible for skeletal organization, including the development of bone and cartilage. Chondrogenesis, like angiogenesis, involves the controlled reentry of quiescent cells into the growth phase of the cell cycle. The growth phase transition is associated with altered cell adhesion characteristics, changed patterns of cell migration, and transiently increased cell proliferation. Chondrogenesis involves the initial development of chondrogenic capacity (i.e., the proto-differentiated state) by primitive undifferentiated mesenchyme cells. This stage involves the production of chondrocyte-specific markers without the ability to produce a typical cartilage ECM. Subsequently, the cells develop the capacity to produce a cartilage-specific ECM as they differentiate into chondrocytes. Langille, Microscop. Res. and Tech. 28:455-469 (1994). Chondrocyte migration, adhesion, and proliferation then contribute to the development of bony, and cartilaginous, skeleton. Abnormal elaboration of the programmed development of cells participating in the process of chondrogenesis results in skeletal defects presenting problems that range from cosmetic concerns to life-threatening disorders.
Like angiogenesis and chondrogenesis, oncogenesis is characterized by changes in cell adhesion, migration, and proliferation. Metastasizing cancer cells exhibit altered adhesion and migration properties. Establishment of tumorous masses requires increased cell proliferation and the elaboration of the cellular properties characteristic of angiogenesis during the neovascularization of tumors.
Abnormal progression of angiogenesis or chondrogenesis, as well as mere progression of oncogenesis, substantially impairs the quality of life for afflicted individuals and adds to modern health care costs. The features common to these complex biological processes, comprising altered cell adhesion, migration, and proliferation, suggest that agents capable of influencing all three of these cellular activities would be effective in screening for, and modulating, the aforementioned complex biological processes. Although the art is aware of agents that influence individual cellular activities, e.g., integrins and selectins (cell adhesion), chemokines (cell migration), and a variety of growth factors or cytokines (cell proliferation), until recently no agent has been identified that exerts an influence over all three cellular activities in humans.
Murine Cyr61 (CYsteine-Rich protein) is a protein expressed in actively growing and dividing cells that may influence each of these three cellular activities. RNase protection analyses have shown that the gene encoding murine Cyr61, murine cyr61, is transcribed in the developing mouse embryo. O""Brien et al., Cell Growth and Diff. 3:645-654 (1992). In situ hybridization analysis showed that expression of cyr61 during mouse embryogenesis is closely correlated with the differentiation of mesenchymal cells, derived from ectoderm and mesoderm, into chondrocytes. In addition, cyr61 is expressed in the vessel walls of the developing circulatory system. These observations indicate that murine cyr61 is expressed during cell proliferation and differentiation, which are characteristics of expression of genes involved in regulatory cascades that control the cell growth cycle.
Further characterization of the Cyr61 polypeptide has been hampered by an inability to purify useful quantities of the protein. Efforts to purify Cyr61 in quantity by overexpression from either eukaryotic or prokaryotic cells typically fail. Yang, University of Illinois at Chicago, Ph.D. Thesis (1993). One problem associated with attempting to obtain useful quantities of Cyr61 is the reduction in mammalian growth rates induced by overexpression of Cyr61. Another problem with Cyr61 purification is that the cysteine-rich polypeptide, when expressed in bacterial cells using recombinant DNA techniques, is often found in insoluble protein masses. Nevertheless. Cyr61 has been characterized as a polypeptide of 349 amino acids, containing 39 cysteine residues, a hydrophobic putative N-terminal signal sequence, and potential N-linked glycosylation sites (Asn28 and Asn225). U.S. Pat. No. 5,408,040 at column 3, lines 41-54, Grotendorst et al., incorporated herein by reference (the ""040 Patent).
Recently, proteins related to Cyr61 have been characterized. For example, a human protein, Connective Tissue Growth Factor (CTGF), has been identified. (See ""040 Patent). CTGF is expressed in actively growing cells such as fibroblasts and endothelial cells (""040 Patent, at column 5, lines 62-64), an expression pattern shared by Cyr61. In terms of function, CTGF has been described as a protein growth factor because its primary biological activity has been alleged to be its mitogenicity (""040 Patent, at column 2, lines 25-27 and 53-55). In addition, CTGF reportedly exhibits chemotactic activity. ""040 Patent, at column 2, lines 56-59. In terms of structure, the polynucleotide sequence encoding CTGF, and the amino acid sequence of CTGF, have been published. ""040 Patent, SEQ ID NO:7 and SEQ ID NO:8, respectively.
Another apparently related protein is the mouse protein Fisp12 (FIbroblast Secreted Protein). Fisp12 has been subjected to amino acid sequence analysis, revealing a primary structure that is rich in cysteines. Ryseck et al., Cell Growth and Diff. 2:225-233 (1991), incorporated herein by reference. The protein also possesses a hydrophobic N-terminal sequence suggestive of the signal sequence characteristic of secreted proteins.
Sequence analyses involving Cyr61, Fisp12, CTGF, and other proteins, have contributed to the identification of a family of cysteine-rich secreted proteins. Members of the family share similar primary structures encoded by genes exhibiting similar sequences. Each of the proteins in this emerging family is further characterized by the presence of a hydrophobic N-terminal signal sequence and 38 cysteine residues in the secreted forms of the proteins. Members of the family identified to date include the aforementioned Cyr61 (human and mouse), Fisp12 (mouse), and CTGF (the human ortholog of Fisp12), as well as CEF10 (chicken), and Nov (avian).
One of several applications for a purified protein able to affect cell adhesion, migration, and proliferation properties involves the development of stable, long term ex vivo hematopoietic stem cell cultures. Patients subjected to high-dose chemotherapy have suppressed hematopoiesis; expansion of stem cells, their maturation into various hematopoietic lineages, and mobilization of mature cells into circulating blood routinely take many weeks to complete. For such patients, and others who need hematopoietic cell transplantation, introduction into those patients of autologous stem cells that have been manipulated and expanded in culture is advantageous. Such hermatopoietic stem cells (HSC) express the CD34 stem cell antigen, but do not express lineage commitment antigens. These cells can eventually give rise to all blood cell lineages (e.g., erythrocytes, lymphocytes, and myelocytes).
Hematopoietic progenitor cells that can initiate and sustain long term cultures (i.e., long term culture system-initiating cells or LTC-IC) represent a primitive population of stem cells. The frequency of LTC-IC has been estimated at only 1-2 per 104 cells in normal human marrow and only about 1 per 50-100 cells in a highly purified CD34+ subpopulation. Thus, it would be useful to have methods and systems for long term cell culture that maintain and expand primitive, pluripotent human HSC to be used for repopulation of the hematopoietic system in vivo.
Cell culture models of hematopoiesis have revealed a multitude of cytokines that appear to play a role in the hematopoietic process, including various colony stimulating factors, interleukins, stem cell factor, and the c-kit ligand. However, in ex vivo cultures, different combinations of these cytokines favor expansion of different sets of committed progenitors. For example, a factor in cord blood plasma enhanced expansion of granulocyte-erythroid-macrophage-megakaryocyte colony forming unit (CFU-GEMM) progenitors, but expansion in these cultures favored the more mature subsets of cells. Therefore, it has been difficult to establish a culture system that mimics in vivo hematopoiesis.
An HSC culture system should maintain and expand a large number of multi- or pluripotent stem cells capable of both long term repopulation and eventual lineage commitment under appropriate induction. However, in most ex vivo culture systems, the fraction of the cell population comprised of LTC-IC decreases steadily with continued culturing, often declining to 20% of their initial level after several weeks, as the culture becomes populated by more mature subsets of hematopoietic progenitor cells that are no longer pluripotent. Moreover, the proliferative capacity exhibited by individual LTC-IC may vary extensively. Thus, a need exists in the art for HSC culture systems comprising biological agents that maintain or promote the pluripotent potential of cells such as LTC-IC cells. In addition to a role in developing ex vivo HSC cultures, biological agents affecting cell adhesion, migration, and proliferation are useful in a variety of other contexts.
Proteins that potentiate the activity of mitogens but have no mitogenic activity themselves may play important roles as signalling molecules in such processes as hematopoiesis. Moreover, these signalling proteins could also serve as probes in the search for additional mitogens, many of which have not been identified or characterized. Several biological factors have been shown to potentiate the mitogenic activity of other factors, without being mitogenic themselves. Some of these potentiators are associated with the cell surface and/or extracellular matrix. Included in this group are a secreted basic Fibroblast Growth Factor-binding protein (bFGF-binding protein), the basal lamina protein perlecan, and the Human Immunodeficiency Virus-1 TAT protein, each protein being able to promote bFGF-induced cell proliferation and angiogenesis. Also included in this group of mitogen potentiators are thrombospondin, capable of activating a latent form of Transforming Growth Factor-xcex2, and an unidentified secreted growth-potentiating factor from vascular smooth muscle cells (Nakano et al., J. Biol. Chem. 270:5702-5705 [1995]), the latter factor being required for efficient activation of Epidermal Growth Factor- or thrombin-induced DNA synthesis. Further, the B cell stimulatory factor-1/interleukin-4, a T cell product with no demonstrable mitogenic activity, is able to 1) enhance the proliferative response of granulocyte-macrophage progenitors to granulocyte-colony stimulating factor, 2) enhance the proliferative response of erythroid progenitors to erythropoietin, and 3) together with erythropoietin, induce colony formation by multipotent progenitor cells. Similarly, interleukin-7 enhanced stem cell factor-induced colony formation by primitive murine bone marrow progenitors, although interleukin-7 had no proliferative effect by itself. In addition, lymphocyte growth enhancing factor (LGEF) was found to enhance mitogen-stimulated human peripheral blood lymphocyte (PBL) or purified T cell proliferation in a dose-dependent fashion. LGEF alone did not stimulate PBL or T cell proliferation.
Therefore, a need continues to exist for biological agents capable of exerting a concerted and coordinated influence on one or more of the particularized functions collectively characterizing such complex biological processes as angiogenesis, chondrogenesis, and oncogenesis. In addition, a need persists in the art for agents contributing to the reproduction of these in vivo processes in an ex vivo environment, e.g., the development of HSC cultures. Further, there continues to be a need for tools to search for the remaining biological components of these complex processes, e.g., mitogen probes, the absence of which impedes efforts to advantageously modulate and thereby control such processes.
The present invention provides extracellular matrix (ECM) signalling molecule-related materials and methods. In particular, the present invention is directed to polynucleotides encoding ECM signalling molecules and fragments or analogs thereof, ECM signalling molecule-related polypeptides and fragments, analogs, and derivatives thereof, methods of producing ECM signalling molecules, and methods of using ECM signalling molecules.
One aspect of the present invention relates to a purified and isolated polypeptide comprising an ECM signalling molecule. The polypeptides according to the invention retain at least one biological activity of an ECM signalling molecule, such as the ability to stimulate cell adhesion, cell migration, or cell proliferation; the ability to modulate angiogenesis, chondrogenesis, or oncogenesis; immunogenicity or the ability to elicit an immune response; and the ability to bind to polypeptides having specific binding sites for ECM signalling molecules, including antibodies and integrins. The polypeptides may be native or recombinant molecules. Further, the invention comprehends full-length ECM signalling molecules, and fragments thereof. In addition, the polypeptides of the invention may be underivatized, or derivatized in conformity with a native or non-native derivatization pattern. The invention further extends to polypeptides having a native or naturally occurring amino acid sequence, and variants (i.e., polypeptides having different amino acid sequences), analogs (i.e., polypeptides having a non-standard amino acid or other structural variation from the conventional set of amino acids) and homologs (i.e., polypeptides sharing a common evolutionary ancestor with another polypeptide) thereof. Polypeptides that are covalently linked to other compounds, such as polyethylene glycol, or other proteins or peptides, i.e. fusion proteins, are contemplated by the invention.
Exemplary ECM signalling molecules include mammalian Cyr61, Fisp12, and CTGF polypeptides. Beyond ECM signalling molecules, the invention includes polypeptides that specifically bind an ECM signalling molecule of the invention, such as the aforementioned antibody products. A wide variety of antibody products fall within the scope of the invention, including polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies, antibody fragments, chimeric antibodies, CDR-grafted antibodies, xe2x80x9chumanizedxe2x80x9d antibodies, and other antibody forms known in the art. Other molecules such as peptides, carbohydrates or lipids designed to bind to an active site of the ECM molecules thereby inhibiting their activities are also contemplated by the invention. However molecules such as peptides that enhance or potentiate the activities of ECM molecule are also within the scope of the invention. The invention further extends to a pharmaceutical composition comprising a biologically effective amount of a polypeptide and a pharmaceutically acceptable adjuvant, diluent or carrier, according to the invention. A xe2x80x9cbiologically effective amountxe2x80x9d of the biomaterial is an amount that is sufficient to result in a detectable response in the biological sample when compared to a control lacking the biomaterial.
Another aspect of the invention relates to a purified and isolated polynucleotide comprising a sequence that encodes a polypeptide of the invention. A polynucleotide according to the invention may be DNA or RNA, single- or double-stranded, and may be may purified and isolated from a native source, or produced using synthetic or recombinant techniques known in the art. The invention also extends to polynucleotides encoding fragments, analogs (i.e., polynucleotides having a non-standard nucleotide), homologs (i.e., polynucleotides having a common evolutionary ancestor with another polynucleotide), variants (i.e., polynucleotides differing in nucleotide sequence), and derivatives (i.e., polynucleotides differing in a structural manner that does not involve the primary nucleotide sequence) of ECM molecules. Vectors comprising a polynucleotide according to the invention are also contemplated. In addition, the invention comprehends host cells transformed or transfected with a polynucleotide or vector of the invention.
Other aspects of the invention relate to methods for making or using the polypeptides and/or polynucleotides of the invention. A method for making a polypeptide according to the invention comprises expressing a polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide according to the present invention in a suitable host cell and purifying the polypeptide. Other methods for making a polypeptide of the invention use techniques that are known in the art, such as the isolation and purification of native polypeptides or the use of synthetic techniques for polypeptide production. In particular, a method of purifying an ECM signalling molecule such as human Cyr61 comprises the steps of identifying a source containing human Cyr61, exposing the source to a human Cyr61-specific biomolecule that binds Cyr61 such as an anti-human Cyr61 antibody, and eluting the human Cyr61 from the antibody or other biomolecule, thereby purifying the human Cyr61.
Another aspect of the invention is a method of screening for a modulator of angiogenesis comprising the steps of: (a) contacting a first biological sample capable of undergoing angiogenesis with a biologically effective (i.e., angiogenically effective) amount of an ECM signalling molecule-related biomaterial and a suspected modulator (inhibitor or potentiator); (b) separately contacting a second biological sample with a biologically effective amount of an ECM signalling molecule-related biomaterial, thereby providing a control; (c) measuring the level of angiogenesis resulting from step (a) and from step (b); and (d) comparing the levels of angiogenesis measured in step (c), whereby a modulator of angiogenesis is identified by its ability to alter the level of angiogenesis when compared to the control of step (b). The modulator may be either a potentiator or inhibitor of angiogenesis and the ECM signalling molecule-related biomaterial includes, but is not limited to, Cyr61, and fragments, variants, homologs, analogs, derivatives, and antibodies thereof.
The invention also extends to a method of screening for a modulator of angiogenesis comprising the steps of: (a) preparing a first implant comprising Cyr61 and a second implant comprising Cyr61 and a suspected modulator of Cyr61 angiogenesis; (b) implanting the first implant in a first cornea of a test animal and the second implant in a second cornea of the test animal; (c) measuring the development of blood vessels in the first and second corneas; and (d) comparing the levels of blood vessel development measured in step (c), whereby a modulator of angiogenesis is identified by its ability to alter the level of blood vessel development in the first cornea when compared to the blood vessel development in the second cornea.
Another aspect of the invention relates to a method of screening for a modulator of chondrogenesis comprising the steps of: (a) contacting a first biological sample capable of undergoing chondrogenesis with a biologically effective (e.g. chondrogenically effective) amount of an ECM signalling molecule-related biomaterial and a suspected modulator; (b) separately contacting a second biological sample capable of undergoing chondrogenesis with a biologically effective amount of an ECM signalling molecule-related biomaterial, thereby providing a control; (c) measuring the level of chondrogenesis resulting from step (a) and from step (b); and (d) comparing the levels of chondrogenesis measured in step (c), whereby a modulator of chondrogenesis is identified by its ability to alter the level of chondrogenesis when compared to the control of step (b). The modulator may be either a promoter or an inhibitor of chondrogenesis; the ECM signalling molecules include those defined above and compounds such as mannose-6-phosphate, heparin, and tenascin.
The invention also relates to an in vitro method of screening for a modulator of oncogenesis comprising the steps of: (a) inducing a first tumor and a second tumor; (b) administering a biologically effective amount of an ECM signalling molecule-related biomaterial and a suspected modulator to the first tumor; (c) separately administering a biologically effective amount of an ECM signalling molecule-related biomaterial to the second tumor, thereby providing a control; (d) measuring the level of oncogenesis resulting from step (b) and from step (c); and (e) comparing the levels of oncogenesis measured in step (d), whereby a modulator of oncogenesis is identified by its ability to alter the level of oncogenesis when compared to the control of step (c). Modulators of oncogenesis contemplated by the invention include inhibitors of oncogenesis. Tumors may be induced by a variety of techniques including, but not limited to, the administration of chemicals, e.g., carcinogens, and the implantation of cancer cells. A related aspect of the invention is a method for treating a solid tumor comprising the step of delivering a therapeutically effective amount of a Cyr61 inhibitor to an individual, thereby inhibiting the neovascularization of the tumor. Inhibitors include, but are not limited to, inhibitor peptides such as peptides having the xe2x80x9cRGDxe2x80x9d motif, and cytotoxins, which may be free or attached to molecules such as Cyr61.
Yet another aspect of the invention is directed to a method of screening for a modulator of cell adhesion comprising the steps of: (a) preparing a surface compatible with cell adherence; (b) separately placing first and second biological samples capable of undergoing cell adhesion on the surface; (c) contacting a first biological sample with a suspected modulator and a biologically effective amount of an ECM signalling molecule-related biomaterial selected from the group consisting of a human Cyr61, a human Cyr61 fragment, a human Cyr61 analog, and a human Cyr61 derivative; (d) separately contacting a second biological sample with a biologically effective amount of an ECM signalling molecule-related biomaterial selected from the group consisting of a human Cyr61, a human Cyr61 fragment, a human Cyr61 analog, and a human Cyr61 derivative, thereby providing a control; (e) measuring the level of cell adhesion resulting from step (c) and from step (d); and (f) comparing the levels of cell adhesion measured in step (e), whereby a modulator of cell adhesion is identified by its ability to alter the level of cell adhesion when compared to the control of step (d).
The invention also extends to a method of screening for a modulator of cell migration comprising the steps of: (a) forming a gel matrix comprising Cyr61 and a suspected modulator of cell migration; (b) preparing a control gel matrix comprising Cyr61; (c) seeding endothelial cells capable of undergoing cell migration onto the gel matrix of step (a) and the control gel matrix of step (b); (d) incubating the endothelial cells; (e) measuring the levels of cell migration by inspecting the interior of the gel matrix and the control gel matrix for cells; (f) comparing the levels of cell migration measured in step (e), whereby a modulator of cell migration is identified by its ability to alter the level of cell migration in the gel matrix when compared to the level of cell migration in the control gel matrix. The endothelial cells include, but are not limited to, human cells, e.g., human microvascular endothelial cells. The matrix may be formed from gelling materials such as Matrigel, collagen, or fibrin or combinations thereof.
Another aspect of the invention is directed to an in vitro method of screening for cell migration comprising the steps of: (a) forming a first gelatinized filter and a second gelatinized filter, each filter having two sides; (b) contacting a first side of each the filter with endothelial cells, thereby adhering the cells to each the filter; (c) applying an ECM signalling molecule and a suspected modulator of cell migration to a second side of the first gelatinized filter and an ECM signalling molecule to a second side of the second gelatinized filter; (d) incubating each the filter; (e) detecting cells on the second side of each the filter, and (f) comparing the presence of cells on the second side of the first gelatinized filter with the presence of cells on the second side of the second gelatinized filter, whereby a modulator of cell migration is identified by its ability to alter the level of cell migration measured on the first gelatinized filter when compared to the cell migration measured on the second gelatinized filter. The endothelial cells are defined above. The ECM signalling molecules extend to human Cyr61 and each of the filters may be placed in apparatus such as a Boyden chamber, including modified Boyden chambers.
The invention also embraces an in vivo method of screening for a modulator of cell migration comprising the steps of: (a) removing a first central portion of a first biocompatible sponge and a second central portion of a second biocompatible sponge; (b) applying an ECM signalling molecule and a suspected modulator to the first central portion and an ECM signalling molecule to the second central portion; (c) reassociating the first central portion with said first biocompatible sponge and said second central portion with the second biocompatible sponge; (d) attaching a first filter to a first side of the first biocompatible sponge and a second filter to a second side of the first biocompatible sponge; (e) attaching a third filter to a first side of the second biocompatible sponge and a fourth filter to a second side of the second biocompatible sponge; (f) implanting each of the biocompatible sponges, each biocompatible sponge comprising the central portion and the filters, in a test animal; (e) removing each the sponge following a period of incubation; (f) measuring the cells found within each of the biocompatible sponges; and (g) comparing the presence of cells in the first biocompatible sponge with the presence of cells in the second biocompatible sponge, whereby a modulator of cell migration is identified by its ability to alter the level of cell migration measured using the first biocompatible sponge when compared to the cell migration measured using the second biocompatible sponge. ECM signalling molecules include, but are not limited to, human Cyr61; the ECM signalling molecule may also be associated with Hydron. In addition, the in vivo method of screening for a modulator of cell migration may include the step of providing a radiolabel to the test animal and detecting the radiolabel in one or more of the sponges.
Another aspect of the invention relates to a method for modulating hemostasis comprising the step of administering an ECM signalling molecule in a pharmaceutically acceptable adjuvant, diluent or carrier. Also, the invention extends to a method of inducing wound healing in a tissue comprising the step of contacting a wounded tissue with a biologically effective amount of an ECM signalling molecule, thereby promoting wound healing. The ECM signalling molecule may be provided in the form of an ECM signalling molecule polypeptide or an ECM signalling molecule nucleic acid, e.g., using a gene therapy technique. For example. the nucleic acid may comprise an expression control sequence operably linked to an ECM signalling molecule which is then introduced into the cells of a wounded tissue. The expression of the coding sequence is controlled, e.g., by using a tissue-specific promoter such as the K14 promoter operative in skin tissue to effect the controlled induction of wound healing. The nucleic acid may include a vector such as a Herpesvirus, an Adenovirus, an Adeno-associated Virus, a Cytomegalovirus, a Baculovirus, a retrovirus, and a Vaccinia Virus. Suitable wounded tissues for treatment by this method include, but are not limited to, skin tissue and lung epithelium. A related method comprises administering a biologically effective amount of an ECM signalling molecule, e.g. Cyr61, to an animal to promote organ regeneration. The impaired organ may be the result of trauma, e.g. surgery, or disease. Another method of the invention relates to improving the vascularization of grafts, e.g., skin grafts. Another method of the invention is directed to a process for promoting bone implantation, including bone grafts. The method for promoting bone implantation comprises the step of contacting a bone implant or receptive site with a biologically effective (i.e., chondrogenically effective) amount of an ECM signalling molecule. The contacting step may be effected by applying the ECM signalling molecule to a biocompatible wrap such as a biodegradable gauze and contacting the wrap with a bone implant, thereby promoting bone implantation. The bone implants comprise natural bones and fragments thereof, as well as inanimate natural and synthetic materials that are biocompatible, such as prostheses. In addition to direct application of an ECM signalling molecule to a bone, prosthesis, or receptive site, the invention contemplates the use of matrix materials for controlled release of the ECM signalling molecule, in addition to such application materials as gauzes.
Yet another aspect of the invention relates to a method of screening for a modulator of cell proliferation comprising the steps of: (a) contacting a first biological sample capable of undergoing cell proliferation with a suspected modulator and a biologically effective (i.e., mitogenically effective) amount of an ECM signalling molecule-related biomaterial selected from the group consisting of a human Cyr61, a human Cyr61 fragment, a human Cyr61 analog, and a human Cyr61 derivative; (b) separately contacting a second biological sample capable of undergoing cell proliferation with a biologically effective amount of an ECM signalling molecule-related biomaterial selected from the group consisting of a human Cyr61, a human Cyr61 fragment, a human Cyr61 analog, and a human Cyr61 derivative, thereby providing a control; (c) incubating the first and second biological samples; (d) measuring the level of cell proliferation resulting from step (c); and (e) comparing the levels of cell proliferation measured in step (d), whereby a modulator of cell proliferation is identified by its ability to alter the level of cell adhesion when compared to the control of step (b).
Also comprehended by the invention is a method for expanding a population of undifferentiated hematopoietic stem cells in culture, comprising the steps of: (a) obtaining hermatopoietic stem cells from a donor; and (b) culturing said cells tinder suitable nutrient conditions in the presence of a biologically effective (i.e., hematopoietically effective) amount of Cyr61.
Another method according to the invention is a method of screening for a mitogen comprising the steps of: (a) plating cells capable of undergoing cell proliferation; (b) contacting a first portion of the cells with a solution comprising Cyr61 and a suspected mitogen; (c) contacting a second portion of the cells with a solution comprising Cyr61, thereby providing a control; (c) incubating the cells; (d) detecting the growth of the first portion of cells and the second portion of the cells; and (e) comparing growth of the first and second portions of cells, whereby a mitogen is identified by its ability to induce greater growth in the first portion of cells when compared to the growth of the second portion of cells. The cells include, but are not limited to, endothelial cells and fibroblast cells. Further, the method may involve contacting the cells with a nucleic acid label, e.g., [3H]-thymidine, and detecting the presence of the label in the cells. Another method relates to improving tissue grafting, comprising administering to an animal a quantity of Cyr61 effective in improving the rate of neovascularization of a graft.
Numerous additional aspects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent upon consideration of the following drawing and detailed description. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Conventionally, a scroll compressor including, in a casing thereof, an electric motor and a scroll compression mechanism has been known (see, e.g., Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2008-286095). In the compression mechanism of the scroll compressor, a fixed scroll and an orbiting scroll each including an end plate and a wrap standing on a front surface of the end plate and engaged, at the wraps thereof, with each other with the from surfaces of the end plates facing each other are provided. In such a scroll compressor, the orbiting scroll eccentrically rotates with respect to the fixed scroll to change the shape of each compression chamber formed between the wraps of the scrolls, thereby compressing fluid in the compressor. Fluid is sucked into the compression chambers from an outer circumferential side of the scrolls of the compression mechanism. Then, while the compression chambers are being deformed, the fluid flows toward a center part of the compression mechanism. When the pressure of the fluid reaches a predetermined pressure, the fluid is discharged from the center part of the compression mechanism. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
Implementations of various technologies described herein generally relate to seismic data processing. In particular, various technologies described herein relate to a method for separating interfering signals in seismic data.
2. Description of the Related Art
For many years, seismic exploration for oil and gas has been conducted by use of a source of seismic energy and the reception of the energy generated by the source by an array of seismic detectors. The source of seismic energy may be a high explosive charge or another energy source having the capacity to deliver a series of impacts, vibrations or seismic waves to the earth's surface. Seismic waves generated by these sources travel downwardly into geological formations in the earth's subsurface and are reflected back from strata boundaries and reach the surface of the earth at varying intervals of time, depending on the distance traveled and the characteristics of the subsurface traversed. These returning waves are detected by the sensors, which function to transform such seismic waves into electrical signals that represent features of geological formations. The detected signals are recorded for processing using digital computers. The processing then generates seismic data which can be analyzed to determine the presence or absence of probable locations of hydrocarbon deposits. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
An electronic system usually includes multiple electronic devices. Different devices are configured to perform different operations. At one given moment, some devices may operate at a high speed and therefore consume more power than some other devices that are in a sleep mode. Similarly, a specific device may perform more operations at one moment and therefore burn more energy than it does at a different moment. Other factors such as manufacturing process variations, environmental temperature variations, or even aging differences between device components may also result in a variation of power consumption for different devices at the same moment and for the same device at different moments. As a result, both the system and an individual device may have a dynamic power supply requirement.
On the other hand, it is quite common that various devices in a conventional electronic system are powered by very few or just a single static power supply. In this case, to ensure that the entire system operates appropriately even under worst scenario, many devices consume more power than necessary. Additionally, manufacturing or temperature variations can result in device performance which far exceeds the requirements of the system. In such cases the power supply could be reduced and the devices would still be able to meet system performance needs while consuming less power.
This power wasting problem is further complicated for a system-in-package (SIP) configuration. SIP has the benefit of providing low-cost interconnects between semiconductor chips within the same package. But the increased power density associated with the unnecessary power consumption may cause a device or system overheat, which severely limits the number of chips that can be assembled into a single package.
Therefore, there is a need for optimizing an electronic device's power supply without the aforementioned problems. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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It has been a long standing practice to route the exhaust gasses from the exhaust manifold of an engine or power plant through a muffler and tail pipe, to reduce engine noise. While this is effective for conventional use, the back pressure caused by the exhaust gasses passing through the muffler results in a loss of efficiency which adversely affects the engine performance. Many high performance engines operate most efficiently when the muffler and tail pipe are removed or bypassed. While this improves engine performance, the resulting noise from the engine would prohibit use of the vehicle where unrestricted engine noise would be undesirable.
Therefore, what is needed is a way to selectively route exhaust gasses from the exhaust manifold through a conventional muffler and tail pipe for conventional engine use, while allowing the exhaust gasses to bypass the muffler and tail pipe when peak engine performance is desired, such as during competition racing on land, water, or in the air.
In addition, other types of engines, such as used on farm tractors, combines, or the like, often work best at peak performance when the exhaust gasses are not restricted by a muffler or tail pipe. However, at times it may be desirable to selectively pass exhaust gasses through a muffler and tail pipe in areas where the additional engine noise would be undesirable. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Sensors using an evanescent field have become extremely useful in the past few years. These sensors have been created to detect a wide variety of materials such as pesticides, pathogens, nucleic acids, gases, and disease markers such as the HER2 breast cancer marker. These sensors function by measuring the interaction of an evanescent field (a non-propagating near field optical wave) with a target.
Total Internal Reflection Photoacoustic Spectroscopy (TIRPAS) is a method that exploits the evanescent field of a laser pulse reflecting off a glass/sample interface to generate photoacoustic responses. Specifically, the photoacoustic responses are typically generated by light absorbing analytes in a fluid sample (typically a liquid) that is in contact with a prism in the event one or more of the analytes are within the penetration depth of the evanescent field because upon absorbing the light energy the temperature of the analyte rapidly increases causing a rapid expansion (typically thermo-elastic) that in turns results in the formation of acoustic waves that propagate through the sample to a sensor.
For example, TIRPAS has been employed to detect dyes in a sample. Hinoue et al., Photoacoustic Observation of Solid-liquid Interface by Means of Total Internal Reflection Technique, CHEMISTRY LETTERS, 225-228 (1983). Hinoue et al. used a laser pulse generated with an optically chopped continuous beam HeNe laser at 632.8 nm to detect Brilliant Blue FCF dye at different angles of incidence to generate the evanescent field with a lock-in amplifier, which only amplifies a specific frequency, to detect the resulting acoustic wave. Although TIRPAS is typically used to analyze liquid samples, it may be used on gaseous and solid samples. See, e.g., Muessig et al., Total Internal Reflectance Optoacoustic Spectroscopy, J. APPL. PHYS. 54(8), 4251-4253 (1983). Muessig et al. also used continuous laser irradiation but instead of using an optical chopper to produce laser pulses, Muessig et al. used an oscillator connected to a lock-in amplifier to produce laser pulses.
Although TIRPAS has been known for more than thirty years its use has been limited due to shortcomings. For example, the TIRPAS disclosed by Hinoue et al. was limited to detecting Brilliant Blue FCF dye, a relatively high absorption analyte. Thus, it is unable to provide meaningful detection of low absorption analytes such as those that may be present in biological samples. In view of the foregoing, a need still exists for system(s) and method(s) for conducting TIRPAS that reduces or eliminates one or more of the foregoing shortcomings. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
Relaxed silicon-germanium (SiGe) virtual substrates, including a tensilely strained layer and a relaxed underlying layer, enable the production of novel silicon (Si)-, germanium (Ge)-, and SiGe-based devices such as field-effect transistors (FETs). A “virtual substrate” includes a layer of SiGe that has been relaxed to its equilibrium lattice constant (i.e., one that is larger than that of Si). This relaxed SiGe layer can be directly applied to a Si substrate (e.g., by wafer bonding or direct epitaxy) or atop a graded SiGe layer, in which the lattice constant of the SiGe material has been increased gradually over the thickness of the layer. The SiGe virtual substrate can also incorporate buried insulating layers, in the manner of a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer. In order to fabricate high-performance devices on these platforms, thin strained layers of Si, Ge, or SiGe are grown on the relaxed SiGe virtual substrates. The resulting biaxial tensile or compressive strain alters the carrier mobilities in the layers, enabling the fabrication of high-speed and/or low-power devices. Utilizing both strain and bandgap engineering, modulation-doped FETs (MODFETs) and metal-oxide-semiconductor FETs (MOSFETs) may be tailored for enhanced performance analog or digital applications. However, because these devices are fabricated on Si/SiGe virtual substrates rather than the Si substrates commonly utilized for complementary MOS (CMOS) technologies, they present new processing challenges.
One processing challenge to device fabrication on Si/SiGe virtual substrates is the definition of dynamic random access memory (DRAM) trench storage capacitors. DRAM storage capacitors require high quality insulating layers for storing charge. A conventional DRAM trench storage capacitor formed on, for example, a p-type Si substrate may include an outer plate of, e.g., n-type doped Si substrate material (also referred to as the buried plate), a high-quality insulator grown on the outer plate, and an inner plate of, e.g., n-type doped polysilicon. Thus, two conducting plates are separated by an insulating plate. Traditionally, in DRAM trench capacitors fabricated in bulk Si substrates, the insulator is a thermally-grown silicon dioxide layer or nitrided silicon dioxide.
A conventional DRAM trench storage capacitor structure ordinarily is not suitable for fabrication on SiGe virtual substrates. The trench for this structure may be 5-10 micrometers (μm) deep, and would, therefore, extend into the relaxed SiGe layer. This layer may have many defects due to a high density of dislocations necessary to relax the strain in this layer. This high defect density, in turn, may interfere with subsequent efforts to create an insulator. In particular, thermal growth may be hampered by the defects and may result in a leaky insulator with many imperfections. Thus, the high defect density of the relaxed SiGe prevents the formation of the good-quality thermal dielectric incorporated in conventional DRAM trench capacitors. Furthermore, the nature of the insulator produced by thermal oxidation of SiGe is not well understood, so that even if the trench is etched in a defect-free SiGe region, in some applications, the thermal oxide may not be of sufficiently good quality for DRAM charge storage.
An additional challenge to the formation of DRAM trench capacitors in SiGe virtual substrates pertains to the formation of the outer plate. In conventional processes, the outer or buried plate is created for electrical isolation, either by implantation or by out-diffusion from a sacrificial dopant source deposited in the trench, prior to trench sidewall oxidation and inner-plate deposition. For either method of outer plate formation, the thermal steps used in conventional trench-capacitor processes for proper distribution of dopants may employ temperatures too high for use with Si/SiGe substrates.
Despite the inherent challenges, a DRAM trench capacitor is generally a better design choice for Si/SiGe substrates than, for example, stacked capacitor structures. First, the trench capacitor is more compatible with front-end CMOS device fabrication processes, because the alternative stacked capacitor is traditionally fabricated using chemical vapor deposition (CVD) processes at temperatures potentially high enough to degrade high-performance transistors. The trench capacitor is also more compatible with a back-end process involving many levels of metal interconnect, because it is inherently more planar than the stacked capacitor. These issues may be critical for applications which require CMOS performance on par with leading-edge microprocessors. | {
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1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a curtain with no cord, and more particularly, to a curtain body locating mechanism for use in a curtain with no cord.
2. Description of Related Art
Generally, curtains can be divided structurally into curtains with cord and curtains with no cord. For the curtains with cord, a user mainly utilizes a cord to drive the curtain body to be spread or folded; and for the curtains with no cord, the user uses his/her hand to pull down or push up a lower beam so as to spread or fold the curtain body.
However, although curtains with no cord allow users to spread or fold the curtain body easily, the curtain body is likely to rise again automatically after being fully spread or sag automatically after being fully folded due to the lack of a good locating design in structure, and this will make the practical operation troublesome for the users. | {
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This application claims the priority of German Patent Document 100 23 193.4, filed in Germany, May 11, 2000, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein.
The invention relates to a vehicle body for a forward vehicle structure of a motor vehicle having laterally extending vehicle side members as well as a support structure fastened thereto which can be connected with an A-column of the vehicle body, a fender being fastened on an arm of the support structure.
From German Patent Document DE 42 09 879 A1, a forward body structure of a vehicle is known which is constructed as a frame and comprises supports which are connected with the A-column of the vehicle and extend toward the front in the driving direction. A transversely extending front frame is connected with the frame on the front side, a fender being fastenable on a support of the frame.
It is an object of the invention to provide a forward vehicle body of a motor vehicle which has a support structure which, on the one hand, ensures a simple fastening of the fender as well as an accommodation of different front flaps and, on the other hand, ensures a stable forward vehicle structure.
According to certain preferred embodiments of the invention, this object is achieved by providing a vehicle body for a forward vehicle structure of a motor vehicle, having laterally extending vehicle side members as well as a support structure fastened thereto which can be connected with an A-column of the vehicle body, a fender being fastened on the support structure, wherein the support structure has one T-shaped profile support respectively for each vehicle side which is connected on a forward end with a respective vehicle side member, each T-shaped profile support member including an upward-extending foot web connected to a forward end of a fender panel, and a transversely outward-directed center web connected with a forward end of a fender support.
Important advantages achieved by the invention are that the two fender panels of the forward vehicle structure can be connected with the support structure in a simple manner, for example, by fastening screws. It is therefore easily possible to use differently constructed fender panels in the forward vehicle structure in order to design the front flap with its connecting edges according to the vehicle type to be produced. This means that the joint between the front flap and the fender can be arranged arbitrarily. For this purpose, the support structure has one T-shaped profile support respectively which is connected with the side member and which, with an upward-pointing foot web, is fastened on the end side on the fender panel, an outward-directed transversely situated center web being connected with a fender support on the end side.
In certain preferred embodiments, the fender panels of both sides are V-shaped viewed in the driving direction and are arranged at an acute angle with respect to the support profile, the fender being arranged at a distance from the interior side member.
In certain preferred embodiments, the profile support held on the side member is arranged on the front side of the fender panel and is connected with the latter, the foot web of the profile support standing with a lower end on the side member and extending approximately vertically with respect to a connection element of the fender panel which ends on the A-column. The center web of the profile support is provided to be extending approximately horizontally and transversely directed to the exterior side of the vehicle and, with its free end, is connected with the fender support. As a result of this construction of the support structure, a stable forward vehicle structure is created which, in addition to permitting an accessible and simple fastening of the fender, also allows a fastening of the front end part. The support structure is supported directly on the A-column of the vehicle, so that, in the event of a front crash, in the interaction with the side member, an energy-absorbing forward vehicle structure is also provided.
The fender panel preferably comprises a profiled top and bottom part, which are connected with one another, the top part receiving a profiled shaped-out fender section and being connected therewith, and the engine hood being held resting on the top part. For connecting the fender panel with the profile support and with the fender support, connection elements are provided which are made of U-shaped and/or angular sheet metal elements. For this fastening, the connection elements can have different constructions, so that the corresponding fastening points between the fender panel and the profile support and the fender support can be designed to correspond to one another. | {
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In general, a hydraulic control valve is used to control hydraulic fluid that is supplied from hydraulic pumps to actuators that drive working devices, such as a boom and an arm, of a construction machine, such as an excavator. Particularly, in driving working devices, such as the boom and the arm, the driving speed of the working devices can be increased by making the hydraulic fluid supplied from a plurality of hydraulic pumps in a confluent state.
A hydraulic control valve for a construction machine in the related art, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, includes a first boom block 1 forming a supply path therein to supply hydraulic fluid of a first hydraulic pump P1 to a boom cylinder 6; a second boom block 2 making close contact with the first boom block 1 to be vertically symmetric to the first boom block 1 and forming a supply path therein to supply hydraulic fluid of a second hydraulic pump P2 to the boom cylinder 6; a first boom spool 3 installed in the supply path 16 of the first hydraulic pump P1 to be shifted to control a start, stop, and direction change of the boom cylinder 6; a second boom spool 4 installed in the supply path 31 of the second hydraulic pump P2 to be shifted to make the hydraulic fluid of the second hydraulic pump P2 join the hydraulic fluid of the first hydraulic pump P1 to increase the driving speed of the boom cylinder 6; and poppets 9 elastically supported by springs 8, respectively, to open and close the supply path 16 of the first hydraulic pump P1 and the supply path 31 of the second hydraulic pump P2.
In the drawing, the reference numerals “12” and “15” denote guides on which springs 13 are seated, which are oppositely fixed to end portions of the first boom spool 3 and the second boom spool 4, and “14” denotes stoppers arranged between the guides 12 and 15 of the first boom spool 3 and the second boom spool 4, respectively, to limit strokes of the first boom spool 3 and the second boom spool 4.
Hereinafter, the operation of the hydraulic control valve as constructed above will be described.
(A) The operation of the hydraulic control valve during a boom-up operation will be described.
As shown in FIG. 1, if pilot signal pressure (pressure that exceeds the predetermined set pressure of a spring 13) for a boom-up operation is supplied to a pilot b port 28 of the cover 10 to lift up the boom, the first boom spool 3 that is slidingly coupled in the first boom block 1 is shifted to the left side.
At this time, the high-pressure hydraulic fluid in the supply path 16 of the first hydraulic pump P1 pushes the poppet 9 that is elastically supported by the spring 8 upward to be supplied to the bridge path 17, and is supplied to the cylinder path 19 through a notch 18 of the first boom spool 3 that is shifted to the left side.
At the same time, as the pilot signal pressure (pressure that exceeds the predetermined set pressure of the spring 13) for the boom-up operation is supplied to a pilot b′ port 29 of the cover 10, the second boom spool 4 that is slidingly coupled in the second boom block 2 is shifted to the left side.
At this time, the high-pressure hydraulic fluid in the supply path 31 of the second hydraulic pump P2 pushes the poppet p that is elastically supported by the spring 8 downward to be supplied to the bridge path 32, and is supplied to the cylinder path 34 through a notch 33 of the second boom spool 4 that is shifted to the left side.
The hydraulic fluid supplied to the cylinder path 34 joins the hydraulic fluid in the cylinder path 19 on the side of the first boom block 1, and then is supplied to a large chamber of the boom cylinder 6 through an actuator B port 20 and a boom large chamber path 21. Through this, the boom is lifted up.
At this time, leakage of the high-pressure hydraulic fluid is prevented by an O-ring 36 provided on a mutual close-contact surface of the first and second boom blocks 1 and 2.
On the other hand, the hydraulic fluid that returns from a small chamber of the boom cylinder 6 passes through the boom small chamber path 22, the actuator A port 23, and the cylinder path 24 in order, and returns to the tank path 26 through the notch 25 of the first boom spool 3 that is shifted to the left side. Accordingly, the boom is lifted up.
At this time, since the amount of hydraulic fluid that returns from the small chamber of the boom cylinder 6 is equal to or less than a half of the hydraulic fluid of the large chamber, the hydraulic fluid returns to the hydraulic tank only through the first boom spool 3. At this time, in the second boom spool 4 that is shifted to the left side, the notch that communicates with the tank path 37 is not formed, and the hydraulic fluid does not return to the hydraulic tank through the second boom spool 4.
At this time, if the pressure that exceeds the predetermined set pressure is applied to the boom cylinder 6, relief valves 5, which are installed on the actuator A port 23 and the actuator B port 20, make the hydraulic fluid having the excessive pressure return to the hydraulic tank to maintain the predetermined set pressure, and thus the boom cylinder 6 can be protected.
(B) The operation of the hydraulic control valve during a boom-down operation will be described.
As shown in FIG. 1, if pilot signal pressure for a boom-down operation is supplied to a pilot a port 27 and a′ port 30, the first boom spool 3 that is slidingly coupled in the first boom block 1 and the second boom spool 4 that is slidingly coupled in the second boom block 2 are shifted to the right side.
At this time, the high-pressure hydraulic fluid in the supply path 16 of the first hydraulic pump P1 pushes the poppet 9 that is elastically supported by the spring 8 upward to be supplied to the bridge path 17, and is supplied to the cylinder path 24 through the notch 38 of the first boom spool 3 that is shifted to the right side.
Further, the high-pressure hydraulic fluid in the supply path 31 of the second hydraulic pump P2 pushes the poppet 9 that is elastically supported by the spring 8 downward to be supplied to the bridge path 32. By contrast, in the second boom spool 4 that is shifted to the right side, the notch that communicates with the bridge path 32 is not formed, and thus the high-pressure hydraulic fluid in the supply path 31 of the second hydraulic pump P2 is not supplied to the cylinder path 39 through the second boom spool 4.
Accordingly, only the hydraulic fluid on the side of the first hydraulic pump P1 is supplied to the small chamber of the boom cylinder 6 through the actuator A port 23 and the boom small chamber path 22.
On the other hand, the hydraulic fluid, which returns from the large chamber of the boom cylinder 6 passes through the boom large chamber path 21, the actuator B port 20, and the cylinder path 19 in order, and then dispersedly returns to the tank path 42 and the tank path 43 through the notch 40 formed on the first boom spool 3 that is shifted to the right side and the notch 41 formed on the second boom spool 4. Accordingly, the boom can lower.
FIG. 2 is a hydraulic circuit diagram of a hydraulic control valve for a construction machine in the related art.
(A) The boom-up operation will be described with reference to the hydraulic circuit.
If the pilot signal pressure for the boom-up operation is supplied to a b port of the first boom block 1, the first boom spool 3 that is coupled to the first boom block 1 is shifted to the right side. At this time, the high-pressure hydraulic fluid in the supply path 16 of the first hydraulic pump P1 pushes a check valve 55, and is supplied to paths 56 and 57 through the internal path of the first boom spool 3 that is shifted to the right side.
At the same time, if the pilot signal pressure for the boom-up operation is supplied to a b′ port of the second boom block 2, the second boom spool 4 of the second boom block 2 is shifted to the right side. At this time, the high-pressure hydraulic fluid in the supply path 31 of the second hydraulic pump P2 pushes a check valve 62, and is supplied to a path 63 through the internal path of the second boom spool 4 that is shifted to the right side. Through this, the hydraulic fluid that is supplied to the path 63 joins the hydraulic fluid on the side of the first hydraulic pump P1 in the path 57 and is supplied to the large chamber of the boom cylinder 6.
At this time, the hydraulic fluid that returns from the small chamber of the boom cylinder passes through the path 59, and then is supplied to the tank path 60 through the internal path of the first boom spool 3 that is shifted to the right side.
(B) The boom-down operation will be described with reference to the hydraulic circuit.
If the pilot signal pressure for the boom-down operation is supplied to a port of the first boom block 1 and an a′ port of the second boom block 2 to let the boom can lower, the first boom spool 3 of the first boom block 1 and the second boom spool 4 of the second boom block 2 are shifted to the left side, respectively. At this time, the high-pressure hydraulic fluid in the supply path 16 of the first hydraulic pump P1 pushes the check valve 55, and is supplied to a path 59 through the internal path of the first boom spool 3 that is shifted to the left side. Through this, the hydraulic fluid is supplied to the small chamber of the boom cylinder 6.
At this time, the hydraulic fluid that returns from the larger chamber of the boom cylinder 6 is supplied to the paths 57 and 56, and is supplied to the tank path 60 through the internal path of the first boom spool 3 that is shifted to the left side.
At the same time, the hydraulic fluid that returns from the large chamber of the boom cylinder 6 is supplied to the path 63 that is branched to the path 57, and is supplied to the tank path 64 through the internal path of the second boom spool 4 that is shifted to the left side. Through this, the boom can lower.
As described above, the hydraulic control valve in the related art includes the first boom block 1 and the second boom block 2 for the boom-up or boom-down operation, the first boom spool 3 and the second boom spool 4 that are slidingly coupled to the first boom block and the second boom block 2, and the poppets 9 that are elastically supported by the springs 8 to open and close the supply path 16 of the first hydraulic pump P1 and the supply path 31 of the second hydraulic pump P2. Since such construction is applied to a first arm spool and a second arm spool in the same manner, the hydraulic control value becomes large-sized.
Further, in the case of mounting the hydraulic control valve onto the construction machine, the large-sized hydraulic control valve causes inconvenience during piping and layout of the hydraulic control valve which increases the manufacturing cost. | {
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1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to graphics display systems and in particular to asynchronous data transfers to graphics display systems. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to supporting asynchronous data transfers to graphics display systems concurrently with other processes generating graphics output for the frame buffer.
2. Description of the Related Art
A typical personal computer or workstation graphics system consists of a graphics adapter providing a frame buffer and graphics acceleration hardware, together with a software device driver providing an interface between the graphics adapter hardware and the operating system and/or applications running on top of the operating system. This serves to facilitate display of elaborate graphics while relieving the operating system of computational responsibility for graphics processing, improving overall performance.
In a multitasking environment, however, access to hardware devices such as the graphics adapter must be serialized so that the hardware state may be managed and maintained consistently for each process. This imposes a constraint on continuous, asynchronous data transfers from a video source such as a video capture device (e.g., xe2x80x9cWebcamxe2x80x9d), a digital television signal source, video streaming from a network device, and the like.
While such continuous, asynchronous data transfers should be transmitted directly to the physical memory linear aperture of the graphics adapter frame buffer via direct memory access (DMA) or other means, for many commercial graphics adapters, the frame buffer linear aperture is not accessible at the same time as the graphics accelerator hardware is being utilized. If an asynchronous data transfer is in progress when some process concurrently attempts to utilize the graphics accelerator hardware (which disables the linear aperture), the asynchronous data transfer may fail in some manner. At best this failure may be manifested as a visible glitch in the display of the asynchronous data transfer; at worst, the failure may result in system corruption and/or hang.
One solution would be to serialize (i.e. time multiplex) data transfer operations to the frame buffer linear aperture with access to the graphics accelerator hardware. However, such serialization defeats the desired asynchronous functioning of the data transfer operations concurrently with other processes in a multitasking environment.
It would be desirable, therefore, to provide a mechanism for supporting asynchronous data transfers to a frame buffer linear aperture concurrently with other processes normally utilizing the graphics adapter accelerator hardware to generate graphics output for the frame buffer.
It is therefore one object of the present invention to provide an improved graphics display system.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved method and system for supporting asynchronous data transfers to graphics display systems.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide support for asynchronous data transfers to graphics display systems concurrently with other processes generating graphics output for the frame buffer.
The foregoing objects are achieved as is now described. A module is interposed between a multitasking operating system and the device driver for a graphics adapter including a frame buffer with a linear aperture for continuous, asynchronous data transfers. The interposed module may selectively intercept all graphics device driver function requests or simply pass such requests to the device driver, and provides a mechanism for generating graphics output in the frame buffer without utilizing graphics accelerator hardware on the graphics adapter. The interposed module is aware of the start and stop of asynchronous data transfers to the frame buffer. When asynchronous data transfers are started, the interposed module invokes the graphics adapter device driver to obtain access to the frame buffer linear aperture and sets its own internal state to active. While active, the interposed module intercepts all graphics device driver requests and employs its own mechanism to generate graphics output in the frame buffer responsive to such requests, without utilizing the graphics accelerator hardware. Since the graphics accelerator hardware is not utilized, the frame buffer linear aperture always remains enabled. While inactive, the interposed module simply passes all graphics device driver requests to the device driver. The interposed module is preferably implemented in accordance with the GRADD architecture model, with the mechanism for generating graphics output being provided by the VMAN and SOFTDRAW libraries.
The above as well as additional objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed written description. | {
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FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an automatic system for locating and identifying vehicles in distress. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to gas generators, and more particularly to a downhole gas generator having multiple independently controlled combustion chambers.
2. Description of Related Art
The following art defines the present state of this field:
Challacombe, U.S. Pat. No. 3,721,297, teaches a system for cleaning wells that includes a series of gas generating modules and explosive caps. The explosive caps are used for generating a series of repeated mild explosions and a series of pressure pulsations, which provides both repetitive shock and repetitive sustained fluid pulsations. The shock is required to break up and loosen various formations and materials formed in the well casing perforations and interstices of surrounding formation. The pulsations achieve repeated flow of the well fluid back and forth through the casing perforations and surrounding formation to thereby remove particles of plugging material that are loosened by the shock waves. The assembly of gas producing modules and explosive caps is interconnected in a string and arranged so that the burning or explosion of one element of the string will, itself, initiate the burning or explosion of the succeeding element, thus eliminating the need for multiple control lines for the desired sequential ignition.
Can, U.S. Pat. No. 4,382,771, teaches a gas and steam generator for use in generating electricity. The generator includes a linear series of combustion chambers wherein water in combination with combustible materials is burned. Each combustion chamber is provided with a reduced nozzle-type outlet for creating great pressures and temperatures within the respective chambers, and each combustion chamber being arranged for receiving combustible materials therein for burning thereof. The initial combustion chamber preferably receives a fuel-oxygen mixture at the inlet end thereof for ignition, with the products of the combustion being maintained at a high pressure and temperature by the restrictive nozzle-type outlet of the chamber. Steam and additional combustible materials are introduced at the nozzle outlet of the chamber for ignition and passage into a next stage combustion chamber whereby additional heat and force is produced for ultimate delivery of great power for a work operation.
Hill et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,633,951, teaches multiple combustion gas generating units that each use rocket fuel type propellants disposed in a well casing at preselected depths. The well casing is filled with a compressible hydraulic fracturing fluid comprising a mixture of liquid, compressed gas, and propant material and precompressed to a pressure of about 1,000 psi (or more) greater than the fracture extension pressure at the depth of the zone to be fractured. At least one of the gas generating units is equipped with perforating shaped charges to form fluid exit perforations at the selected depth of the fracture zone. The gas generating units are simultaneously ignited to generate combustion gasses and perforate the well casing. The perforated zone is fractured by the rapid outflow of an initial charge of sand free combustion gas at the compression pressure followed by a charge of fracturing fluid laden with propellant material and then a second charge of combustion gas.
Tilmont et al., U.S. Pat. No. 8,387,692, teaches a downhole steam generation apparatus that includes an injection section, a combustion section, and an evaporation section. The injection section may include a housing, injector elements, and injector plate.
Ryan et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,743, teaches a steam generator for producing steam in a well casing for injection into a borehole for use in secondary and tertiary recovery of hydrocarbons. Fuel is injected axially into a combustion chamber having a reduced orifice in the bottom thereof and oxygen is introduced tangentially from a plurality of ports in the top of the combustion chamber to create a stable vortex flame. A portion of the walls of the combustion chamber are formed from a porous, sintered stainless steel cylinder through which water is pumped to cool the walls of the chamber and to form steam. The combustion products are mixed with a water mist in a steam generating section to form steam.
Fox, U.S. Pat. No. 4,385,661, teaches an apparatus for generation of steam in a borehole. The system includes a feedback preheater for the fuel and water before entering the combustor assembly. First, combustion gases are conducted from the combustion chamber to locations in proximity to the water and fuel supplies. Secondly, both hot combustion gases and steam are conducted from the borehole back to the water and fuel supply. The water used for conversion to steam is passed in a countercurrent manner through a plurality of annular water flow channels surrounding the combustion chamber. In this manner, the water is preheated, and the combustion chamber is cooled simultaneously, thereby minimizing thermal stresses and deterioration of the walls of the combustion chamber. The water is injected through slotted inlets along the combustion chamber wall to provide an unstable boundary layer and stripping of the water from the wall for efficient steam generation. Pressure responsive doors are provided at the steam outlet of the combustor assembly. The module is positioned in the water flow channel to maintain a relatively constant, controlled temperature.
Griffin et al., U.S. 20040069245, teaches a steam generator for reacting a stoichiometric mixture of hydrogen and oxygen, and injecting water into the hot reaction gases. The generator includes a pilot ignition chamber, a combustion and evaporation chamber with reaction zone, an evaporation zone and outlet nozzle, and a catalytic afterburning chamber. The figure also illustrates the feed devices for supplying a fuel, an oxidizing agent and water.
Couto, U.S. 20110000666, teaches a gas generator which generates a vitiated steam, which is a mix of water steam with combustion gases. The device of this invention may also be attached in petroleum wells, making feasible the extraction of petroleum from the mature wells. The device includes a vaporization chamber attached to the combustion chamber of a rocket engine, said combustion chamber is externally involved by a cooling system, and the nozzle includes spray water injectors.
Other references included as a matter of general interest include the following: Tilmont, et al., U.S. 2011/0127036; Retallick, et al., U.S. 2008/0053655; Kraus et al., U.S. 2006/0000427; and Person, 1993/U.S. Pat. No. 5,259,341. The above-described references are hereby incorporated by reference in full.
The prior art teaches the combustion of a fuel for the production of steam for injection into a petrochemical reservoir to force the petrochemicals out through a well or other access point. The prior art systems struggle, however, to adjust the amount of gas injected so that the formation pressure does not exceed the capabilities of the gas generator, especially in formations that are not very porous. The prior art does not teach a gas generator having multiple combustion chambers that can be independently controlled, so that the output of gasses can be controlled to not exceed predetermined pressures. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides further advantages as described in the following summary. | {
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This invention relates to "milled" tooth rotary cone rock bits and methods of manufacture therefor.
Rotary cone rock bit s for drilling oil wells and the like commonly have a steel body which is connected to the bottom of a long pipe which extends from the earth's surface down to the bottom of the well. The long pipe is commonly called a drill string. Steel cutter cones are mounted on the body for rotation and engagement with the bottom of the well being drilled to crush, gouge, and scrape rock thereby drilling the well. One important type of rock bit, referred to as a milled tooth bit, has roughly triangular teeth protruding from the surface of the cone for engaging the rock. The teeth are typically covered with a hard facing material harder than steel to increase the life of the cone. The teeth are formed into the steel cone by material-removal processes including turning, boring, and milling. Thus, the cone is referred to as a milled tooth rock bit cone because the teeth are manufactured by milling the teeth into a forged steel preform. The cones may also be referred to as steel tooth cones because they are predominantly manufactured from steel. A milled tooth rock bit cone can have 69 or more milled surfaces, five or more bores, and three or more turned surfaces. Thus, the production of a milled tooth rock bit cone is a labor intensive process, and a majority of the cost of a milled tooth rock bit cone is attributable to the labor cost. The cost is also increased by the waste of raw material which is machined away during the material removal process. The machining processes also leave sharp edges and corners on the finished cone. The sharp edges tend to crack, and the cracks propagate through the cone and through the hard facing, reducing the useful life of the cone. The sharp corners are plagued by stress concentrations which also promote cracking of the cone. Thus, teeth geometry must be limited to avoid sharp edges and corners. Further, the geometry of the teeth is limited by the capability of the milling process making infeasible some tooth shapes that increase the rate of penetration without breakage.
To address these limitations, some powder metallurgy techniques have been suggested to manufacture "milled" tooth rock bit cones. For instance, one process currently used utilizes a pattern to form a flexible mold which is filled with powdered metal. The mold is cold isostatically pressed to partially densify the powdered metal. Isostatic pressure is pressure equally applied on all sides of the mold. The partially densified part, called a green part or preform, is then heated and rapidly compressed to full density by a quasi-isostatic process.
To create the preform, the powdered metal, usually steel, is poured into the flexible mold while the mold is vibrated. Vibrating the mold during filling uniformly packs the powder in the flexible mold. The flexible mold is supported during the cold isostatic pressing by tooling which allows the deformation necessary to compress the pattern. After the mold is compressed, the preform is removed from the mold and subjected to uniform heating. Once the preform is heated, it is transferred to a central position in a cylindrical compression cavity in which it is surrounded by a bed of granular pressure transfer medium heated to approximately the same temperature as the preform. The pressure transfer medium is then axially compressed creating a quasi-isostatic pressure field acting on all surfaces of the preform. The radial pressure acting on the preform approaches a theoretical maximum of one-half of the axial pressure acting on the preform. After compression, the part is removed from the cavity and allowed to cool slowly over a two (2) hour time period. This powder metallurgy process requires two compression steps, and because the non-isostatic compression step causes a non-uniform reduction in size of the preform, its pattern is complex. The second compression process is essentially a hot pressing process, which is expensive and inefficient but only one part can be made at a time. Further, the steps required to prepare the part for the hot pressing process are complex and time consuming. Then, the process is not economical.
Other powder metallurgy process including powder injection molding have been utilized to fabricate small parts. In summary, this process begins by pelletizing or granulating a mix of powder metal and binder before injecting the pellets or granules into the mold. The mold is then removed, and the part is debinded and sintered. This process has only been utilized for small parts with thin cross-sections and heretofore has not been utilized for the production of milled tooth rock bit cones.
Thus, reduction in the required labor to fabricate a "milled" tooth rock bit cone is desirable to enhance the production rate and reduce production cost of the milled tooth rock bit cone. It is also desirable to diversify the geometric shapes of the teeth to increase the rate of penetration without the need for complexly shaped molds and preforms. Thus, the successful application of powder injection molding to produce "milled tooth rock bit cones" is desirable to bring about such an increase in the rate of penetration and decrease in the cost of rock bits which translates directly into reduction of drilling expense. | {
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This invention relates generally to video games and more particularly, it relates to an improved three-dimensional, texture mapping display system for displaying three-dimensional projected polygons with texture maps on a two-dimensional raster display screen. In particular, the display system is adapted for use with video games to allow real-time animation of video game scenes with textured plane surfaces in a time period substantially less than that required in traditional display systems of this general type.
In the prior art display systems for displaying three-dimensional representations of images on a two-dimensional raster display screen of a cathode ray tube (CRT), it is generally desired to provide a mechanism for generating realistically textured surfaces in the image so that a general dimensional representational effect will be produced. In such conventional display systems for providing such an effect, this is achieved by some type of texture surface generator involving rather lengthy and complex arithmetic algorithms or mathematical computations to be performed, such as multiplication, division, addition, subtraction, and/or trigonometric function calculations.
Therefore, these prior art systems have a major disadvantage in that a user had to wait a considerable amount of time before the image could be displayed on the screen. Not only are the prior art display systems very time-consuming, the hardware circuits necessary to implement the various mathematical computations is very expensive.
Accordingly, it would therefore be desirable to provide an improved three-dimensional, texture mapping display system for displaying three-dimensional projected polygons with texture maps on a two-dimensional raster display screen which uses simplified algorithms involving only addition and subtraction operations and thus rendering a high operational speed. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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This invention relates to a reclosable metal paint can of the type which incorporate a plastic handle for carrying as well as for hanging the can as from a rung of a ladder. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The development in the global economy is bringing along a continuous increase in the demand for light olefins around the world. It was predicted that the total global demand for ethylene and propylene will be 140 Mt/a and 86 Mt/a, respectively by year of 2010. In China, due to the rapid increase in the national economy, the annual increase rate in the demand for light olefins is estimated to exceed the world's average level. At present, the increase rate in the demand for propylene exceeds that for ethylene. There are many processes for producing light olefins, wherein a steam-cracking technology using a light feedstock such as naphtha as the hydrocarbon oil feedstock is widely used in the world. More than 90% of the total ethylene and about 70% of the total propylene in the world are produced by the steam-cracking technology using petroleum hydrocarbons as the feedstock. However, this technology can not meet the increasing demand for light olefins. Meanwhile, crude oils become heavier and heavier around the world. The yield to produce light olefins from light hydrocarbons, such as naphtha and straight-run light diesel oil, is generally only about ⅓. Further, China suffers from insufficient supply of fuel oil and low ratio of gasoline/diesel oil output, leading to a severer shortage of light hydrocarbon feedstock. Under this circumstance, the development of a technical route for producing light olefins directly from heavy oil becomes a tendency.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,944,982 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,287,522 disclose a catalytic cracking process and a fluidized catalytic cracking apparatus using a dual riser reactor, wherein heavy feed oil is cracked in a first riser, then introduced to a product fractionating system, further, the separated gasoline or light cycle oil is then introduced to a second riser, wherein deep cracking is further carried out under a very severe condition, so as to produce more light olefins. The two risers of the apparatus share one disengager and one regenerator, while the effluents from the first riser reactor and the second riser reactor enter two fractionating towers, respectively.
CN1118539C discloses a two-stage riser catalytic cracking process, which mainly aims at series oil gas, catalyst relay, sub-section reaction, shortening reaction tilde and enhancing average performance of catalysts by using a two-stage riser reactor.
CN1526794A discloses a catalytic cracking process, which comprises: 1) catalytically cracking a feed oil for less than 1.5 s in a first riser, then introducing the effluent stream to a first fractionator; 2) catalytically cracking the resultant cycle oil from the first fractionator for less than 1.5 s, then introducing the resultant stream to the first fractionator; and 3) catalytically cracking the resultant naphtha (gasoline) and/or optionally the resultant diesel oil from the first fractionator, wherein the reaction conditions in the first to the third risers depend on the catalyst used, which can be determined according to the desired catalytic cracking products.
However, the prior art suffers from the problem that the yield to produce light olefins from feed oil by a catalytic cracking is not so high to meet the increasing demand for light olefins in the industry. Furthermore, a great amount of less valuable dry gas is produced from the catalytic cracking of feed oil. Therefore, how to further enhance the conversion of feed oil to light olefins and simultaneously lower the yield of dry gas remains a problem to be solved in the prior art. | {
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This invention relates generally to sensors for monitoring extremely small mechanical displacements, and in particular to an improvement in a Fiber Optic Bragg Grating (FOBG) sensor consisting of a unique demodulator for detecting changes in an optical signal induced by the sensed mechanical displacement. The invention has broad utility in applications in which small mechanical displacements are to be detected, for example in monitoring stresses in advanced materials used in aircraft components and detecting the onset of corrosion.
A typical FOBG consists of a Bragg grating formed within the core of an optical fiber. The grating consists of a region within the core, having a periodic spatial variation in its refractive index along the direction of the axis of the fiber core. Because of the spatial variations in the refractive index, the core of the optical fiber effectively has "lines," i.e. subregions of alternating higher and lower refractive index. These gratings may be formed by exposing a doped optical fiber to an interference pattern formed by two laser beams. The varying energy density in the interference pattern induces permanent changes in the index of refraction of the core of the optical fiber.
In practice, a coherent, but relatively broad band, light source is coupled to an optical fiber having one or more Bragg gratings. Each of the Bragg gratings reflects light in a narrow band of wavelengths which depends on the spacing of the lines of the grating. The reflected light beam is transmitted through a two-way optical coupler to a spectrum analyzer which, in effect "demodulates" the light beam modulated by the gratings. The spectrum analyzer is able to extract useful information concerning the condition of the gratings. The optical fiber may be coupled to an article under mechanical stress so that strain in the article effects changes in the spacing of the grating elements. The resulting changes in the spectrum of the returning light beam are detected and interpreted to obtain information on the strain in the article under stress.
A single optical fiber can incorporate several Bragg gratings, and the gratings can have different line spacings so that they reflect different bands of wavelengths. This makes it possible to distinguish between the optical signals returned by several gratings in a single optical fiber.
Previously known demodulation schemes include broadband optical filtering, and interferometry using a Fabry Perot cavity. These have various deficiencies such as high cost, bulkiness and sensitivity to thermal fluctuations and/or mechanical vibrations. | {
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Conventionally, in a disc apparatus, such as a CD player for reproducing a compact disc (DC) having concentric tracks in which digital audio data are recorded as a train of pits, a laser beam is irradiated along a track on the disc driven by a spindle motor at a constant linear velocity (CLV), and the digital audio data are reproduced by detecting changes in the intensity of the reflected light caused by the presence or absence of the pits.
Although the bit error rate during data reproduction may reach a value in an order of 10.sup.-5, an error correcting operation is performed with the acid of error detection and error correction codes to obviate any inconveniences which might otherwise arise under usual operating environments.
Meanwhile, in a CD player provided with an optical reproducing head, it is a frequent occurrence that the servo systems such as the focusing servo or tracking servo for the reproducing head is out of order so that regular data playback cannot be achieved. In such case, error correction cannot be made even with the use of the error detection or error correction code, so that data playback is discontinued transiently.
In a car-laden or portable CD player, which may be subjected to extremely large impacts or vibrations in a manner different from a stationary CD player for domestic use, a mechanical vibration proofing system is provided to prevent the servo system from falling into disorder in the above described manner.
On the other hand, in a so-called CD-I(CD-Interactive) system in which video data and letter or character data are recorded simultaneously on the compact disc (CD) in addition to the audio information, seven modes as shown in FIG. 1 are standardized as audio information.
In the CD-DA mode in which the sound quality level corresponds to the current 16-bit PCM, linear pulse code modulation (PCM) with the sampling frequency of 44.1 Khz and the number of bits of quantization equal to 16, is employed. In the A level stereo mode and the A level monaural mode having the sound quality corresponding to the long-playing record, adaptive differential pulse code modulation (ADPCM) with the sampling frequency of 37.8 kHz and the number of bids of quantization equal to 8, is employed. In the B level stereo mode and the B level monaural mode having the sound quality corresponding to FM broadcasting, ADPCM with the sampling frequency of 37.8 kHz and the number of bits of quantization equal to 4, employed. Finally, in the C level stereo mode and the C level monaural mode, having the sound quality corresponding to the AM broadcasting, ADPCM with the sampling frequency of 18.9 Khz and the number of bits of quantization equal to 4, is employed.
That is, turning to FIG. 1, in the A level stereo mode, as contrasted to the CD-DA mode, the bit reduction ratio is 1/2 and data are recorded at every two sectors (represents a sector where data recording in made) with the reproducing time for a disc being about two hours. In the A level monaural mode, the bit reduction rate is 1/4 and data are recorded at every four sectors, with the reproducing time being about four hours. In the B level monaural mode, the bit reduction ratio is 3/8 and data are recorded at every eight sectors, with the reproducing time being about eight hours. In the C level stereo mode, the bit reduction ratio is 1/8 and data are recorded at every eight sectors, with the reproducing time being about eight hours. In the C level monaural mode, the bit reduction ratio is 1/16 and data are recorded at every sixteen sectors, with the reproducing time being about sixteen hours.
Heretofore, the rotational velocity of the disc in each of the above modes is the same, that is, the transfer rate of recordable data per second on the transfer rate of reproducible data per second is 75 sectors. When recording audio data on a disc in the B level stereo mode, for example, the data transfer rate in the B level stereo mode is 18.75 (75.div.4) sectors/second, audio data are discretely recorded at every four sectors, from the first sector of the innermost track towards the outermost track on the sector-by-sector basis and, after audio data are recorded on the outermost track, audio data are again recorded at every four sectors from the second sector of the innermost track towards the outermost track. That is, audio data are recorded on the disc from the innermost track towards the outermost track, from the innermost track towards the outermost track, from the innermost track towards the outermost track and from the innermost track towards the outermost track. Thus, during reproduction, data are not reproduced when the reproducing head jumps (or reverts) from the outermost track towards the innermost track, so that reproduction of a piece of music is discontinued.
There has hitherto been provided a disc recording apparatus adapted for recording digital data conforming to the above described CD or CD-I standard on a write-once optical disc or overwrite type magneto-optical disc. However, with such disc recording apparatus, the servo system for focusing servo or tracking servo of the recording head tends to be disengaged or out of order due to mechanical disturbances, such as vibrations or impacts, such that recording is discontinued transiently.
In view of the above described status of the conventional disc apparatus, it is an object of the present invention to provide a data recording method in which the rotational velocity of the disc remains the same for each mode, in which data may be recorded continuously on a track of the disc which is rotated at a rotational velocity faster than the rotational velocity corresponding to the data transfer rate, when the rotational velocity of the disc is faster than the rotational velocity corresponding to the data transfer rate, as in data recording in the B level stereo mode, and in which continuous data reproduction may be made at the time of data reproduction. It is another object of the present invention to provide a data recording method in which data may be recorded continuously on a recording track of the disc-shaped recording medium even though the servo system is in trouble due to disturbances.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a data reproducing method in which data continuously recorded on a track of a disc rotated at a rotational velocity faster than the rotational velocity corresponding to the data transfer rate may be reproduced at a predetermined data transfer rate. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a data reproducing method in which data may be continuously reproduced from a recording track on a disc-shaped recording medium even though the servo system is in trouble due to disturbances. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Effective heat dissipation is one of the major challenges in design of high-power optoelectronic emitters, such as VCSELs. Such devices generate large amounts of heat in the emitter active regions, resulting in high emitter junction temperatures, which tend to reduce VCSEL efficiency and lead to a reduced optical power output at a given drive current, shift the emission wavelength, degrade the quality of the laser modes, and reduce operating lifetime and reliability. In VCSEL array devices, inefficient heat dissipation causes temperature non-uniformity among emitters, leading to variations in emitter optical power and wavelength across the array.
In some designs, the VCSEL chip is thinned substantially in order to reduce the thermal resistance between the emitter junction and the heat sink on the back side of the chip. For good heat dissipation, however, the chip must be made very thin (typically on the order of 100 μm or less), which weakens its mechanical strength and causes difficulties in handling both the semiconductor substrate and the chip, and in the packaging of the chip. | {
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an adjustable spanner or similar gripping device of the type which comprises a shaft or a handle and a gripping head which is defined by two jaws, of which one is preferably stationary and the other is displaceable so as to permit variation of the opening or gap of the head, at least the second jaw being provided with cogs which are in permanent mesh with cogs rotatably journalled in relation to the shaft on a wheel which is actuable by, for instance, a spring to rotate in such a direction that the jaws always strive to approach one another, the wheel co-operating with a locking or arresting device which is switchable between two positions, namely a free position in which the wheel may rotate and a locked or arrested position in which rotation of the wheel is prevented and displacement of the one jaw in relation to the other is obstructed.
2. Description of the Related Art
Swedish patent specification No. 8401884-5, filed in the same name, discloses an adjustable spanner which utilizes a specific type of coupling entitled spline coupling for realizing mechanical interconnection. This prior art coupling fundamentally suffers from two major drawbacks, namely its relatively high cost and the fact that steplessness in interconnection is difficult to achieve, since the prior art coupling is stepped by its very nature, even if the steps may be made slight and, moreover, may be further reduced by specific additional measures. However, such measures in respect of the prior art coupling have a tendency to render the coupling even more expensive. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a hearing aid and, more particularly, to a hearing aid in which a reproducing transducer and a microphone are enclosed in one and the same housing.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a conventional hearing aid wherein a reproducing transducer and a microphone are enclosed in one housing and are used at the same time, vibrations on the transducer side may be transmitted through the housing to the microphone side, thus resulting a resonance and deteriorated sound pickup sensitivity of the microphone. On the other hand, vibrations caused in the microphone due to its sound pickup operation may be transmitted through the housing to the reproducing transducer thus causing a resonance at the transducer and deteriorating its sound reproducing characteristics.
Moreover, when the transducer side vibrations are transmitted through the housing to the microphone side, the resulting resonance may be picked up by the microphone thus causing an acoustic feedback phenomenon known as howling.
Thus, in a certain prior art hearing aid, the transducer and the microphone are separated from each other by a partition wall mounted in the housing and are closely fitted in the housing by the medium of resilient rubber sheets for prohibiting transducer or microphone vibrations from being transmitted to the microphone or transducer through the housing and other connecting portions.
However, we have found that such separation of the transducer and the microphone by the partition wall and mounting them in the housing by the medium of rubber sheets or the like resilient means are not sufficient in general to prevent resonance from occurring between the transducer and the microphone and to prevent deterioration in their sound reproducing and sound pickup characteristics. Moreover, howling can not be prevented from occurring in such prior devices due to insufficient suppression of the resonance between the reproducing transducer and the microphone.
In another conventional hearing aid, the transducer and the microphone are mounted with a close fit between the housing wall and a support base plate by the medium of cushioning sheets made of rubber and similar resilient material and having plural peripheral projections, said base plate being provided in the housing and adapted for mounting of electrodes and other devices. Thus, vibrations produced at the transducer and microphone sides may be diffused or occasionally absorbed by these projections. However, since the vibrations per se may not be absorbed completely, such known device again is not sufficient to prevent the resonance between the transducer and the microphone and resulting howling, thus again giving rise to deterioration in the sound reproducing characteristics of the transducer and the sound pickup performance of the microphone. | {
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Embodiments relate to a warhead and, more particularly, to a fragmentable package within a warhead that has individual interconnected fragments having a pattern with a plurality of voids defining the pattern.
The primary lethal mechanism of a fragmented warhead is the kinetic energy of the shattered casing fragments or pre-formed “frag pack” fragments rather than the heat or overpressure, or blast overpressure, caused by the detonation. An existing problem associated with typical preformed fragment warheads is that the mass of the fragments does not contribute to structure stiffness and strength. More specifically, the mass of the preformed fragment warhead is usually parasitic and does not contribute to airframe performance over the life of a. delivery device, such as, but not limited to, a missile, a rocket, a drone, etc. Additionally, preformed fragmentable packages within the warhead may also be susceptible to vibration and shock environments and have a lot of mass with a lower natural frequency.
Currently, an ability to produce varied fragmentable designs has been limited due to manufacturing technologies. Traditional manufacturing has been labor and process intensive since fragmentable packages are usually hand packed whereas other applications involve casting fragmentable packages in a binder, which may result in less density of the individual fragments and thus less efficient warheads.
Manufacturers and users of fragmented warheads would benefit from warheads with fragmentable packages which contribute to structural stiffness and strength of the warhead where the fragmented warhead is lightweight, when compared to prior warheads, and are not fully parasitic during a lifetime of the warhead and its delivery system. | {
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Olefins, including ethylene, propylene and butenes, are major building blocks in the chemical process industries. These materials are either recovered from refinery streams or produced by cracking naphtha or LPG. Not with standing the success of these processes, there is an incentive to use methane as a raw material because of the large reserves of natural gas throughout the world.
From the prior art (Kirk-Othmer, Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, 4th ed., Vol. 5, p. 1031), methyl chloride, when heated to very high temperatures, is known to couple giving ethylene and hydrogen chloride. At somewhat lower temperatures, catalytic reactions involving methyl chloride also produce ethylene and other olefins.
The literature (U.S. Pat. No. 5,099,084) further discloses a process for the chlorination of methane using hydrogen chloride as the source of chlorine. This process, however, is attended by several drawbacks. Not only is methyl chloride produced, but the higher chlorinated methanes, including methylene chloride, chloroform and carbon tetrachloride, are also generated. In addition, when air is employed in the catalytic reaction, a substantial quantity of gases must be vented, thereby complicating emission control problems and related environmental concerns. On the other hand, the use of pure oxygen hinders the reaction due to the formation of hot spots in the catalyst bed.
There consequently exists a need for a process that starts with methane as a raw material and converts it through the formation of methyl chloride into olefins. Such an integrated process must at once be economical to operate and reduce the inefficiencies characterizing conventional processes. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a light emitting diode and more particularly to a light emitting diode which enhances a scattering of light produced by a light emitting element to produce a uniform, bright illumination in a wide range of angle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An example of a known conventional light emitting diode is shown in FIG. 1 (see Japanese Patent Disclosure No. 2000-124507). This light emitting diode 1 includes a substrate 2, a pair of electrodes 3a, 3b formed on both sides of the substrate 2, a light emitting element 4 disposed on the substrate 2, bonding wires 5 electrically connecting the light emitting element 4 to the paired electrodes 3a, 3b, and a resin sealant 6 provided on the substrate 2 to seal the light emitting element 4 and the bonding wires 5. Small light scattering particles 7 are dispersed in the entire resin sealant 6 to scatter light and thereby increase the brightness of light produced.
The light emitting diode 1 constructed as described above, however, has the following drawback. Since the light scattering particles 7 are dispersed uniformly in a whole interior of the resin sealant 6, an upper surface of the resin sealant 6 (light projecting surface 8) opposing a light emitting surface (upper surface) of the light emitting element 4 has an improved brightness because of the light scattering by the light scattering particles 7, whereas side surfaces 9 of the resin sealant 6 that do not face the light emitting surface of the light emitting element 4 have a small light scattering effect by the light scattering particles 7 and therefore a low brightness. It is therefore not possible to produce a uniform, bright illumination in a wide range of angle.
An object of the present invention is to provide a light emitting diode which can enhance the scattering of light produced by a light emitting element to improve a brightness not only at an upper surface but also at side surfaces of a sealant covering the light emitting element, thereby providing a high, uniform brightness in a wider range of angle.
To achieve the above objective, a light emitting diode of the present invention comprises: a substrate; a pair of electrodes provided on the substrate; a light emitting element mounted on the substrate and electrically connected to the electrodes; a sealant provided on the substrate to seal the electrodes and the light emitting element; and a light scattering layer formed on an outermost layer of at least one surface of the sealant.
Since the light scattering layer is formed on the outermost layer of the sealant as described above, the light produced by the light emitting element is greatly refracted by the light scattering layer and rays of light reflected back into the interior of the sealant are also scattered inside the sealant, resulting in an enhanced light scattering action. This improves the luminance level not only at the upper surface of the sealant but also at its side surfaces, thus producing a bright, uniform illumination in a wide range of angle.
In one embodiment, the sealant is formed of a resin material which is transparent or has a light permeability, and the light scattering layer is formed of a paint film having a large number of light scattering particles dispersed therein or of a sheet member having a large number of light scattering particles mixed therein. The paint film is formed on the surface of the sealant by printing, and the sheet member is formed on the surface of the sealant by bonding.
The light scattering particles dispersed in the light scattering layer are fine particles of silicon dioxide or titanium oxide. Any desired luminance level can be obtained by adjusting a diameter and an amount of fine particles to be dispersed according to the use of the light emitting diode.
The light scattering particles are projected from the surface of the light scattering layer to form many protrusions and recesses in the surface, i.e., roughen or undulate the surface, to further enhance the light scattering action.
Such a light scattering layer is formed, for example, on the light projecting surface of the sealant which opposes the light emitting surface of the light emitting element. With the light scattering layer provided on the light projecting surface of the sealant, the light emitted from the light emitting surface of the light emitting element can be effectively refracted and reflected, resulting in an enhanced scattering of light in a wide range of angle. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a ventilation mask, which has a base, a hose connection, and at least one sealing element and is provided with a forehead support, which is arranged in such a way that it can be positioned relative to the base of the mask.
2. Description of the Related Art
Ventilation masks of this type can be designed both as nasal masks and full-face masks. Ventilation masks of this type typically have a movable forehead support that helps achieve optimum positioning of the mask on the differently shaped faces of different patients. The forehead support is usually moved relative to the base of the mask by rotation about a transverse axis or rotation about a vertical axis.
A disadvantage with respect to rotation of the forehead support relative to both a transverse axis and a vertical axis is that movements of this type only indirectly adjust the distance between the forehead support and the base of the mask.
It is also known from DE 101 55 152 that the forehead support can be adjusted relative to the base of the mask with the use of rods. However, the use of these rods or the use of screws leads to integration problems with respect to the introduction of these components in the mask geometry. | {
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Whether used for transportation or recreation, tricycles may be used for riders of different sizes and capabilities. Some tricycles are configured to be propelled and steered by the rider. In some instances, tricycles are configured to be pushed from behind, by an individual, such as an adult pushing a child. Typically, when the tricycle is propelled by the rider, the rider uses the pedals attached to the front wheel and steers the tricycle using a handle which is typically connected to the front wheel. Tricycles configured to be pushed from behind sometimes include a mechanical steering mechanism to permit an adult walking behind the tricycle to mechanically turn the front wheel. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Recently, in various devices, electric power is saved due to the prevalence of low-power-consumption types of devices from the viewpoint of respecting the environmental conservation and the environment-friendly performance. In the International Energy Star Program, standard values of energy consumption are defined for seven kinds of items, that are, computers, displays, printers, scanners, facsimile machines, copying machines, and multifunction peripherals (see, for example, an incorporated foundation “The Energy Conservation Center, Japan”, “Standard Values of Energy Saving under the International Energy Star Program”, [online], [retrieved on May 18, 2006], the Internet <URL: http://www.eccj.or.jp/ene-star/prog/p9.html>).
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2002-006696 discloses a technique which converts the value of the power consumption consumed by use of an image forming apparatus during a specific time period into the amount of CO2 discharged, obtains the amount of CO2 discharged from the consumption of the expendable supplies consumed by the use of the image forming apparatus during the specific time period, and outputs the total amount of CO2 discharged as the amount of CO2 discharged of the image forming apparatus during the specific time period.
Though the standard values for saving electric power are defined in the Energy Star Program as in the above webpage, those standard values are only to regulate the maximum electric power consumption in the low power consumption state (standby mode) by classifying the power consumption in the low power consumption state of an image forming apparatus based on the largest recoding paper sheet and the printing speed. That is, in the Energy Star Program, there are no regulations on power consumption in the operation of the image forming apparatus and supplies and replaceable portions that consumed when the image forming apparatus forms an image.
The above Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2002-006696 describes the technique that displays the amount of CO2 discharged converted from the power consumption of the image forming apparatus. However, as to a recording sheet that is one of the supplies used when an image is formed, the amount of CO2 discharged is only displayed, that is obtained from the power consumed when the recording sheet is produced. The portion of the amount of CO2 discharged is not recognized by the ordinary users, and even when the portion is presented to the users, an improvement of the interest of the users in the ecology can not be expected. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Projectiles fired from conventional military weapons often carry energetic payloads made up of nested components and subcomponents, one within another. Energetic payloads often include explosives that may be initiated by physical impact with a target. These payloads undergo tremendous dynamic stresses during acceleration within either a smooth or rifled barrel of the weapon. If the nested components are not solidly in contact with each other during this acceleration, spontaneous ignition of the energetic components can become a real possibility. Such stresses also occur during deceleration for projectiles designed to penetrate within a target before detonation. Consequently, precise component tolerances of such payloads and projectiles are required. Even with the best design and assembly controls, some tolerances between components and subcomponents exist such that finite spaces can develop between components during handling and field operational conditions. It is often virtually impossible to prevent formation and inclusion of small internal void spaces and undetectable cracks in the explosive charge body which can lead to system failure in the event of an unanticipated shock load. Furthermore, some energetics loading processes are prone to periodically yield cracks or voids. Traditional thermal cycling and field use also may create cracks consequently requiring surveillance programs on the polymeric components as the polymers age. Therefore there is a need for a projectile payload assembly process that prevents, in advance, development of such spaces within the payload and projectile. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to a device for driving a light emitting diode string, and more particularly to a device for driving a light emitting diode string for applying in a backlight module.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, backlight modules are provided as the light sources for LCD panels, where the light can be produced by LEDs. LEDs are solid state semiconductor light sources, and have the following advantages: extra-long lifetime, low power, low operating voltage, low operating temperature, and quick response time. These are advantages that can not be matched by cold cathode fluoresce lamps (CCFL), and are the reasons to the wide use of LEDs in various illuminations and small scale backlight modules of cellular phones. It is becoming apparent that LEDs will gradually replace CCFLs in many applications.
FIG. 1 (Prior Art) shows circuit diagram of a conventional driving device for LEDs. The driving device 100 includes a DC voltage source 102, a DC chopper 104, a filtering device 106, and a LED string 108. The DC chopper 104 is used for controlling the electrical connection between DC voltage source 102 and LED string 108, and the LED string 108 is controlled to turn on or turn off accordingly, i.e. to light up or shut off. Since filtering circuit 106 has an inductance, the waveform of current I of LED string 108 forms triangular waves, as shown in FIG. 1B. As a result, the LED string 108 can not operate with a fixed conducting current. Even if a voltage-stabilizing capacitor is connected to the LED string in parallel to stabilize current I, the problem of long capacitor charging and discharging time prevents LED string 108 from able to be quickly turned on or off. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Masonry objects, that is, things comprised of stone or brick have long been used in natural and artificial gardens for esthetic and functional purposes. For instance, masonry walls are used to define boundaries and retain earth. Typically, good construction requires some sort of foundation, particularly when the ground alternately freezes and thaws. In any case, masonry structures are inherently heavy and need to have adequate structural support.
Simulated masonry articles in general are known. For instance, they are used when gardens are placed within a building, where the weight of masonry walls and other objects is undesirable from the standpoint of the structure. Similarly, it is desirable to have light weight objects when portability, easy placement or easy rearrangement of the units is an aim. In the past, simulated masonry articles have been made of such as painted wood, plaster, and plastic resins, etc. Simulated rocks, which are hollow and are made of molded plastic resin, have been known for decorative purposes, for use in exterior and interior locations.
Modular garden wall systems are known. For instance: U.S. Pat. No. 5,080,523 to Steiner describes a modular concrete wall system. U.S. Pat. No. 348,598 to Strickland shows curved concrete modules. U.S. Pat. No. 3,762,113 to O'Mullan shows molded plastic edging. U.S. Pat. No. 4,275,540 shows a modular plastic 4-high brick wall, with open rear sides which can be closed with a panel. The interlocking stepped ends of the modules are held together by pins, which optionally extend into the earth. Filler blocks are used to make vertical plane ends.
The modular garden wall systems in the prior art have various advantages and disadvantages. Some are obviously heavy. While they are stable, they are difficult to transport, move about, and store. On the other hand, simulated masonry which is so light that it does not stay in place can fail to achieve more than a simple cosmetic effect. Simulated masonry often fails to be good looking and sufficiently simulative of ordinary masonry. Other prior art designs are expensive to fabricate. Still others have means for connecting which does not combine well cost, simplicity, appearance of the joint, and ease of assembly or disassembly. Thus, there is a need for improvements. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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This invention concerns a semiconductor manufacturing technique and, more in particular, it relates to a technique effective to application for the improvement of the cleaning effect for cleaning inside a molding die for use in semiconductor devices, as well as improvement for the productivity.
The technique described below has been studied by the present inventors upon study and completion of the invention and the outline is as described below.
In the resin encapsulating step for resin encapsulation type semiconductor devices, since resin molding steps are repeated again and again, contaminants such as resin burrs, oxide films, oils or dusts are accumulated to an inside of a molding die in which an encapsulating resin is filled, that is, in the cavities and the runners, as well as the periphery of air vents and cull blocks of an upper die and a lower die forming a pair of molding dies.
Since such contaminants give undesired effects on the quality of molding and lower the releasability upon releasing of products from the molding die, an operator has to clean the molding die on every predetermined cycles of resin shots.
However, since cleaning for the molding die by the operator, being conducted by manual operation, requires a considerable period of time, a technique capable of cleaning the molding die in a short period of time has been demanded.
For coping with such a demand, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Hei 1(1989)-95010 discloses a cleaning method of clamping a lead frame not mounted with a semiconductor chip (hereinafter referred to as a dummy lead frame) between main surfaces (mating surfaces) of a molding die and injecting and hardening a cleaning resin formed, for example, of a melamine resin in the molding die, thereby depositing contaminants on the surface of the cleaning resin and removing the contaminants together with the cleaning resin.
Further, there is also a method of directly flowing a cleaning resin at a high pressure and a normal pressure into the cavity without using the dummy frame.
However, since an expensive dummy lead frame is used for cleaning in this technique, it is not economical, and a high accuracy is necessary for positioning the molding die and the dummy lead frame since the dummy lead frame of a predetermined shape adaptable to the molding die has to be set and clamped at a predetermined position of the molding die. Further, the cleaning resin formed in the cull portions or the runner portions are separated being detached from the lead frame and it requires a considerable time to remove the separated resin from the molding die to worsen the operation efficiency. Further, the separated culls and runners are put between the sliding portions of the molding apparatus to sometimes result in disorder.
In view of the above, for overcoming such problems, the techniques to be described below have also been proposed.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open Hei 6(1994)-254866 discloses a method comprising the steps of clamping a sheet-like material made of a cotton fabric (non-woven fabric) capable of impregnating and permeating a cleaning resin between opened molds, and filling a cleaning resin in a molten state into the cavity of closed molding dies.
As has been described above in the known literature, since a liquid cleaning resin is injected in a state where a sheet capable of impregnating and permeating a cleaning resin and a chemical is put between the main surfaces (mating surfaces) of upper and lower dies, the positioning accuracy required between the molding die and sheet can be lowered and the cleaning resin and the chemical penetrate also to portions where the sheet is put between the main surface of the upper and lower dies, thereby to conduct cleaning for the molding dies. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
This invention relates to encryption of data stored in a storage subsystem.
For example, in companies or other organizations, a storage subsystem, configured separately from a host computer (hereafter “host”), is used to manage large amounts of data. Such a storage subsystem incorporates for example numerous hard disk drives (HDDs) or other storage devices and a controller, and by means of the controller provides large amounts of storage to the host.
Various important information, such as for example the names and addresses of individuals or other private information, or information relating to trust or reliability, is stored in storage subsystems. Hence technology is required to manage important information in secrecy, and to prevent illicit access and similar.
In order to protect data, encryption technology may be used. As one of the method, Data is encrypted within the host, and this encrypted data is transmitted to the storage subsystem and stored, so that illicit use by a third party of the encrypted data can be prevented.
However, because data is encrypted within the host, the data processing workload on the host is increased, adversely affecting the performance of the application programs and the like running on the host.
In Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2005-322201, technology is proposed enabling encryption of data within a storage subsystem.
Also, with increases in the quantity of data handled by companies and other organizations, there are an increasing number of organizations in which storage systems, configured as a plurality of storage subsystems, are managed and operated. The resulting increases in the cost of management of such storage subsystems are viewed as a problem. In order to hold down increases in management costs, there exists technology in which one or more storage subsystems (hereafter, such storage subsystems are called “external storage subsystems”) are connected to a storage virtualization apparatus, and the storage virtualization apparatus provides the storage resources of one or more external storage subsystems, virtually, to a host, as the storage resources of a storage subsystem. The functions provided by such technology are called storage virtualization functions (or external storage connection functions), and are for example disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2005-107645.
In an environment in which one or more external storage subsystems are connected to a storage virtualization apparatus, when the encryption function of Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2005-322201 is applied, it is thought natural to apply the encryption function to the storage virtualization apparatus. However, if the storage virtualization apparatus always executes encryption and decryption, the storage virtualization apparatus may become a performance bottleneck in the system. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of Art
The disclosure relates generally to performing motion compensated deinterlacing, and more specifically to deinterlacing using a combination of directional interpolation, motion compensated deinterlacing, and motion adaptive deinterlacing.
2. Description of Related Art
Motion compensation describes a target image in terms of which section (specifically, macroblock) of a target frame came from which section of a reference frame. The motion compensation is often employed in video compression as well as video processing such as deinterlacing, noise reduction, and video stabilization. In order to perform the motion compensation, motion estimation must be performed before performing the motion compensation.
The motion estimation is the process of finding optimal or near-optimal motion vectors of macroblocks in the frames of a video sequence. When using the motion estimation, an assumption is made that objects in the scene have only translational motions. Under such an assumption, a macroblock of the frame is compared with macroblocks in the reference frame to choose the best matching macroblock in the reference frame. Generally, the search for the macroblock is conducted over a predetermined search area (i.e., search window) of the reference frame.
The motion estimation is the most computationally demanding process in image compression applications, and can require as much as 80% of the processor cycles spent in the video encoder. The simplest and most thorough way to perform motion estimation is to evaluate every possible macroblock (e.g., 16×16 pixels) in the search window of the reference frame, and select the best match. Typically, a sum of absolute differences (SAD) or sum of squared differences (SSD) computation is used to determine how closely the pixel region of the reference frame matches a macroblock of the target frame. The SAD or SSD is often computed for the luminance plane only, but can also include the chrominance planes. A relatively small search area of 48 pixels by 24 pixels, for example, contains 1024 possible 16×16 pixel regions at half-pixel resolution. Performing an SAD on the luminance plane only for one such region requires 256 subtractions, 256 absolute value operations, and 255 additions. Thus, not including the interpolation required for non-integer motion vectors, the SAD computations needed to exhaustively scan this search window for the best match require a total of 785,408 arithmetic operations per macro block, which equates to over 4.6 billion arithmetic operations per second at CIF (352 by 288 pixels) video resolution and a modest frame rate of 15 frames per second.
Accordingly, the motion estimation is a crucial operation in video compression and processing. Software or hardware dedicated to perform the motion estimation has been developed and is called a motion estimation engine. The motion estimation engine is very crucial to the performance of video compression and video processing. To enhance accuracy and speed, complex algorithms and dedicated circuits have been employed in the motion estimation engines. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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Computer systems typically comprise a combination of hardware, such as semiconductors, transistors, chips, and circuit boards, and computer programs. As increasing numbers of smaller and faster transistors can be integrated on a single chip, new processors are designed to use these transistors effectively to increase performance. Currently, many computer designers opt to use the increasing transistor budget to build ever bigger and more complex uni-processors. Alternatively, multiple smaller processor cores can be placed on a single chip, which is beneficial because a single, simple processor core is less complex to design and verify. This results in a less costly and complex verification process, as a once verified module, the processor, is repeated multiple times on a chip.
Techniques known as multiple logical partitions take advantage of multi-processors. A logically partitioned computer comprises multiple logical partitions that implement virtual computers, which execute in separate memory spaces, may execute separate operating systems, and may use shared resources. Examples of shared resources are processors, memory, co-processors, network bandwidth, or secondary storage. Partitions are often implemented on computer systems that include multiple processors and/or on multiple computer systems (often called compute nodes or simply nodes) that comprise processors, which run the multiple partitions to accomplish tasks. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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This invention relates to a steering mechanism for use with medical catheters or other devices which need to be positioned in difficult locations.
In many medical procedures, it is necessary to position a catheter at a location within a patient's body. A typical emplacement for the distal end of a catheter might be within a ventricle of the heart, by way of the femoral vein. In so passing a catheter through the femoral vein, it is necessary to avoid obstructions, vessel junctions and the like, and to make sharp turns to position the distal end of the catheter within the ventricle. Other medical procedures involve similar difficulties in placing a catheter.
In conventional catheters used today, the tip of the catheter may be bent, or may include a stylet which is bent, such that a semipermanent curve is given to the distal end of the catheter so that a physician may guide the distal end thereof towards the treatment location. A disadvantage with this type of apparatus is that the curvature of the bend is not adjustable while the catheter is in the body, and any change in the curvature requires the physician to remove the catheter and reshape the distal end.
There is a need for a steering mechanism for catheters and other devices wherein the distal end of the device can be manipulated at will from a location outside the patient's body or outside the apparatus in which the device is placed. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide such a steering mechanism, and in particular to provide such a mechanism which provides a wide range of steerability.
It is another object of the invention to provide such a mechanism which may be completely manipulated with one hand.
It is a further object of the invention to provide such a steering mechanism wherein the distal end of the mechanism may be bent into varying shapes for placement in different positions while the mechanism is in use.
Other objects and advantages will more fully appear in the course of the following discussion. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The present invention relates generally to a method for profiling pitches using a computerized, programmable pitching machine and, more particularly, to such a method for programming a computerized pitching machine to throw pitches having the same pitch profile of actual pitchers.
Pitching machines and ball-throwing machines are well-known in the art and generally fall into four categories: (1) machines that employ a spring actuated arm mechanism to propel the ball; (2) machines that employ at least one rotating wheel or a pair of rotating, coacting wheels to propel the ball; (3) machines that rely on pneumatic pressure to propel the ball; and (4) machines that employ converging and diverging rotatable discs to propel the ball.
The marriage of a ball-throwing machine with a video display of a pitcher is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,195,744 which issued on Mar. 23, 1993 to Neil S. Kapp et al. for Baseball Batting Practice Apparatus with Control Means. Such device, however, fails to offer the unique advantages of delivering a variety of different pitches as contemplated by the present invention. The synchronization means of such device relies upon an audio signal generated by the video, without any regard to the status of the ball in the queued position. Furthermore, the ball queuing system of this device relies on gravity and is imprecise and subject to failure.
In recent years, a number of computerized pitching machines have come onto the market which permit the user to throw a series of different pitches on an interchangeable basis. Heretofore, it was necessary to re-adjust the machine between different pitches which prevented the machine from being able to truly simulate live pitching.
The concept of programming a pitching machine to deliver a variety of different pitches has been discussed in prior patents, most notably in U.S. Pat. No. 5,125,653 which issued to Ferenc Kovacs et al. on Jun. 30, 1992 for Computer Controller Ball-throwing Machine and U.S. Pat. No. 5,464,208 which issued on Nov. 7, 1995 to Richard A. Pierce for Programmable Baseball Pitching. Such machines are of the two-wheel type and are incapable of rapid change in order to interchangeably deliver a variety of different pitches. Accordingly, the degree of programming offered by these devices is minimal, at best.
ProBatter Sports, LLC of Milford, Conn. introduced a line of pitching machines under the ProBatter trademark which can interchangeably deliver different pitches at different speeds to different locations. This line is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,186,134 which issued on Feb. 13, 2001 to Gregory J. Battersby et al. for Pitching System with Video Display Means; U.S. Pat. No. 6,186,133 which issued on Feb. 13, 2001 to Gregory J. Battersby et al. for System and Method for Establishing Pitch Parameters in a Ball Throwing Machine; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,182,649 which issued on Feb. 6, 2001 to Gregory J. Battersby et al. for Ball Throwing Machine.
Chin Music, LLC of Seattle, Wash. has also developed a computerized pitching machine which is has licensed to Fastball Development Inc. for a product called xe2x80x9cAbner.xe2x80x9d This technology is described more fully in U.S. Pat. No. 6,082,350 which issued on Jul. 4, 2000 for Accurate, Multi-Axis, Computer Controlled Object Projection Machine; U.S. Pat. No. 6,111,693 which issued on Aug. 29, 2000 for Projection Screen with Movable Shutter; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,347,011 which issued on Feb. 12, 2002 for Projection Screen with Movable Shutter.
Pitching machines of the ProBatter and Abner type are capable of being programmed to develop pitch profiles of actual pitchers, including Major League Baseball pitchers by separately programming the machine to deliver individual pitches.
The ability to use these machines to simulate the pitch profiles of actual pitchers is the final step in making equipment of this type true pitching simulators for hitters to better prepare for game like conditions. The creation of such pitch profiles permits a hitter to take batting practice before a game against the very pitcher that they will be facing, thereby increasing the odds of being able to hit such pitchers. The problem presented, however, is that each pitcher throws different pitches and the individual programming of the machine for each different pitcher can be complex, time-consuming and potentially beyond the limits of the computer used to control the machine. There are more than 300 pitchers in Major League Baseball and thousands more at the other levels of the game. To expect an operator to individually program these machines to simulate the pitches of each of these pitchers is a daunting task, at best.
As will be appreciated, none of these prior patents even address the problem faced by applicant let alone offer the solution proposed herein.
Against the foregoing background, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a method for profiling pitches using a computerized pitching machine.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such a method which permits the pitching machine to be programmed to deliver pitches having a pitch profile of actual pitchers.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide such a method which can accommodate a variety of different pitchers and pitches without the need to separately program pitch parameters for individual pitchers to create a profile.
To the accomplishments of the foregoing objects and advantages, the present invention, in brief summary, comprises a method for profiling pitches of an actual pitcher using a programmable pitching simulator of the type having at least two wheels and a video display component. The method comprises the steps of: (a) creating pitch profile codes for all pitches that a pitcher can reasonably pitch, the pitch profile codes including information regarding pitch type, pitch speed and pitch movement; (b) developing a master pitch parameter table for each of the pitch profile codes, the pitch parameter table including all data reasonably necessary to program the programmable pitching simulator to throw profiled pitches; (c) developing pitch profile codes for a particular pitcher, the pitch profile codes also including a code for a video image to be displayed; (d) entering into the programmable pitching simulator the specific pitch profile codes for a particular pitcher by the use of a card containing the pitch profile codes; and (e) re-programming the programmable pitching simulator to deliver pitches with the same pitch profiles of the pitcher. The method can further include developing specific sequences of particular profiled pitches to a particular batter in the sequence that the pitcher has historically pitched to the batter. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The present invention belongs to the fields of pharmacology and medicinal chemistry, and provides new pharmaceuticals which are useful for the treatment of diseases which are caused or affected by disorders of the serotonin-affected neurological systems, particularly those relating to the 1A receptor.
Pharmaceutical researchers have discovered in recent years that the neurons of the brain which contain monoamines are of extreme importance in a great many physiological processes which very strongly affect many psychological and personality-affecting processes as well. In particular, serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine; 5-HT) has been found to be a key to a very large number of processes which affect both physiological and psychological functions. Drugs which influence the function of serotonin in the brain are accordingly of great importance and are now used for a surprisingly large number of different therapies.
The early generations of serotonin-affecting drugs tended to have a variety of different physiological functions, considered from both the mechanistic and therapeutic points of view. More recently, it has become possible to study the function of drugs at individual receptors in vitro or ex vivo, and it has also been realized that therapeutic agents with a single mechanism of action are often advantageous to the patient. Accordingly, the objective of research now is to discover not only agents which affect only functions of serotonin, but agents which affect only a single function of serotonin, at a single identifiable receptor.
The present invention provides compounds which have highly selective activity as antagonists of the serotonin 1A receptor.
The present invention provides a series of new aryl piperazine compounds, methods of using them for pharmaceutical purposes, and pharmaceutical compositions whereby the compounds may be conveniently administered.
The invention also provides methods of antagonizing, the 5HT-1A receptor, and therapeutic methods which are related to their effect on the 5HT-1A receptor. Such methods of treatment include, particularly, methods of alleviating the symptoms caused by withdrawal or partial withdrawal from the use of tobacco or of nicotine, comprising the administration to a patient in need of such treatment of a compound of Formula I
wherein
Arxe2x80x2 is a mono- or bi-cyclic aryl or heteroaryl radical substituted with one to three substituents selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, (C1-C6)alkyl, (C1-C6)alkoxy, (C1-C6)alkylthio, (C2-C6)alkenyl, (C2-C6)alkynyl, (C1-C6)alkylhalo, (C3-C8)cycloalkyl, (C3-C8)cycloalkenyl or halo;
R1 is hydrogen, (C1-C6)alkyl, (C1-C6)alkoxy, (C1-C6)alkylthio;
R2 is phenyl, naphthyl or (C3-C12)cycloalkyl substituted with one or two substituents selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, (C1-C6)alkyl, (C1-C6)alkoxy, (C1-C6)alkylthio, (C2-C6)alkenyl, (C2-C6)alkynyl, (C1-C6)alkylhalo, (C3-C8)cycloalkyl, (C3-C8)cycloalkenyl or halo;
R3 is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, (C1-C6)alkyl, (C1-C6)alkoxy, (C1-C6)alkylthio, (C2-C6)alkenyl, (C2-C6)alkynyl, (C1-C6)alkylhalo, (C3-C8)cycloalkyl, (C3-C8)cycloalkenyl or halo;
X is xe2x80x94C(xe2x95x90O)xe2x80x94, xe2x80x94CHOHxe2x80x94 or xe2x80x94CH2xe2x80x94;
or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt, racemate, optical isomer or solvate thereof.
Further, such therapeutic methods include methods of treatment of anxiety, depression, hypertension, cognitive disorders, psychosis, sleep disorders, gastric motility disorders, sexual dysfunction, brain trauma, memory loss, eating disorders and obesity, substance abuse, obsessive-compulsive disease, panic disorder and migraine.
A further treatment method provided by the present invention is a method for potentiating the action of a serotonin reuptake inhibitor, comprising administering to a patient an effective amount of a compound of Formula I in combination with the serotonin reuptake inhibitor.
More specifically, the present invention provides compounds of formula Ia;
or the pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof.
The compounds of formula Ia are enclosed within the scope of the compounds of Formula I and are therefore useful for the methods described herein for Formula I. For example, the present invention provides methods of antagonizing, the 5HT-1A receptor, and therapeutic methods which are related to their effect on the 5HT-1A receptor. Such methods of treatment include, particularly, methods of alleviating the symptoms caused by withdrawal or partial withdrawal from the use of tobacco or of nicotine, comprising the administration to a patient in need of such treatment, an effective amount of a compound of formula Ia. Further, such therapeutic methods include methods of treatment of anxiety, depression, hypertension, cognitive disorders, psychosis, sleep disorders, gastric motility disorders, sexual dysfunction, brain trauma, memory loss, eating disorders and obesity, substance abuse, obsessive-compulsive disease, panic disorder and migraine.
In addition, the present invention provides a method for potentiating the action of a serotonin reuptake inhibitor, comprising administering to a patient an effective amount of a compound of formula Ia in combination with the serotonin reuptake inhibitor.
The invention further provides a method of assisting a patient in ceasing or reducing their use of tobacco or nicotine comprising administering to a patient an effective amount of a compound of the Formula I or formula Ia.
This invention also encompasses novel processes for the synthesis of the compounds of formula I and formula Ia, the synthesis of novel intermediates thereof, and further encompasses novel intermediates per se.
In the present document, all descriptions of concentrations, amounts, ratios and the like will be expressed in weight units unless otherwise stated. All temperatures are in degrees Celsius.
The Compounds
It is believed that the general description of the compounds above is sufficient to explain their nature to the skilled reader; attention to the Examples which follow is also encouraged. Some additional description will be provided to assure that no misunderstanding occurs.
In the general description, the general chemical terms are all used in their normal and customary meanings. For example, the small alkyl and alkoxy groups, such as (C1-C6)alkyl and (C1-C6)alkoxy groups include, depending on the size of the groups, methyl, ethyl, propyl, isopropyl, n-butyl, s-butyl, pentyl, 3-methylbutyl, hexyl, and branched hexyl groups, and the corresponding alkoxy groups, as may be allowed by the individually named groups. Where a number of possible substituent groups are permitted on a group, such as the one to three alkyl, alkoxy or halo groups permitted on an Ar group, it will be understood by the reader that only substitution which is electronically and sterically feasible is intended.
The term xe2x80x9calkenylxe2x80x9d as used herein represents an unsaturated branched or linear group having at least one double bond. Examples of such groups include radicals such as vinyl, allyl, 2-butenyl, 3-butenyl, 2-pentenyl, 3-pentenyl, 4-pentenyl, 2-hexenyl, 3-hexenyl, 4-hexenyl, 5-hexenyl as well as dienes and trienes of straight and branched chains.
The term xe2x80x9calkynylxe2x80x9d denotes such radicals as ethynyl, propynyl, butynyl, pentynyl, hexynyl as well as di- and tri-ynes.
The term xe2x80x9c(C1-C6)alkylthioxe2x80x9d defines a straight or branched alkyl chain having one to six carbon atoms attached to the remainder of the molecule by a sulfur atom. Typical (C1-C6)alkylthio groups include methylthio, ethylthio, propylthio, butylthio, pentylthio, hexylthio and the like.
The term xe2x80x9c(C1-C6)alkylhaloxe2x80x9d refers to alkyl substituents having one or more independently selected halo atoms attached at one or more available carbon atoms. These terms include chloromethyl, bromoethyl, trifluoroethyl, trifluoromethyl, 3-bromopropyl, 2-bromopropyl, 3-chlorobutyl, 2,3-dichlorobutyl, 3-chloro-2-bromo-butyl, trichloromethyl, dichloroethyl, 1,4-dichlorobutyl, 3-bromopentyl, 1,3-dichlorobutyl, 1,1-dichloropropyl, and the like. More preferred (C1-C6)alkylhalo groups are trichloromethyl, trichloroethyl, and trifluoromethyl. The most preferred (C1-C6)alkylhalo is trifluoromethyl.
The term xe2x80x9c(C3-C8)cycloalkylxe2x80x9d includes groups such as cyclopropyl, cyclobutyl, cyclopentyl, cyclohexyl, cycloheptyl and cyclooctyl. The term xe2x80x9c(C3-C8)cycloalkylxe2x80x9d includes (C3-C6)cycloalkyl.
The term xe2x80x9c(C3-C8)cycloalkenylxe2x80x9d represents an olefinically unsaturated ring having 3 to 8 carbon atoms including groups such as cyclopropenyl, cyclobutenyl, cyclopentenyl, cyclohexenyl, cycloheptenyl, cyclooctenyl, and the like. The term xe2x80x9c(C3-C8)cycloalkenylxe2x80x9d includes (C3-C6)cycloalkenyl.
The term xe2x80x9carylxe2x80x9d represents phenyl or naphthyl.
The term xe2x80x9cbicyclicxe2x80x9d represents either an unsaturated or saturated stable 7- to 12-membered bridged or fused bicyclic carbon ring. The bicyclic ring may be attached at any carbon atom which affords a stable structure. The term includes, but is not limited to, naphthyl, dicyclohexyl, dicyclohexenyl, and the like.
The term, xe2x80x9cmono or bicyclic heteroaryl radicalxe2x80x9d, refers to radicals derived from monocyclic or polycyclic, aromatic nuclei having 5 to 14 ring atoms and containing from 1 to 3 hetero atoms selected from the group consisting of nitrogen, oxygen or sulfur. Typical heterocyclic radicals are pyrrolyl, furanyl, thiophenyl, pyrazolyl, imidazolyl, indolizinyl, isoquinolyl, benzothienyl, isoindolizinyl, oxazolyl, indolyl, carbazolyl, norharmanyl, azaindolyl, dibenzofuranyl, thianaphthenyl, dibenzothiophenyl, indazolyl, imidazo(1.2-A)pyridinyl, anthranilyl, purinyl, pyridinyl, phenylpyridinyl, pyrimidinyl, pyrazinyl, quinolinyl.
The terms xe2x80x9chaloxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9chalidexe2x80x9d are used in the above formula to refer to fluoro, chloro, bromo or iodo.
The term xe2x80x9caprotic solventxe2x80x9d refers to polar solvents of moderately high dielectric constant which do not contain an acidic hydrogen. Examples of common aprotic solvents are dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO), dimethylformamide, sulfolane, tetrahydrofuran, diethyl ether, methyl-t-butyl ether, or 1,2-dimethoxyethane.
The term xe2x80x9cprotic solventxe2x80x9d refers to a solvent containing hydrogen that is attached to oxygen, and hence is appreciably acidic. Common protic solvents include such solvents as water, methanol, ethanol, 2-propanol, and 1-butanol.
The term xe2x80x9cinert atmospherexe2x80x9d refers to reaction conditions in which the mixture is covered with a layer of inert gas such as nitrogen or argon.
As used herein, the term xe2x80x9cMexe2x80x9d refers to a xe2x80x94CH3 group, the term xe2x80x9cEtxe2x80x9d refers to a xe2x80x94CH2CH3 group and the term xe2x80x9cPrxe2x80x9d refers to a xe2x80x94CH2CH2CH3 group.
As used herein, the term xe2x80x9cstereoisomerxe2x80x9d refers to a compound made up of the same atoms bonded by the same bonds but having different three-dimensional structures which are not interchangeable. The three-dimensional structures are called configurations. As used herein, the term xe2x80x9cenantiomerxe2x80x9d refers to two stereoisomers whose molecules are nonsuperimposable mirror images of one another. As used herein, the term xe2x80x9coptical isomerxe2x80x9d is equivalent to the term xe2x80x9cenantiomerxe2x80x9d. The terms xe2x80x9cracematexe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cracemic mixturexe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cracemic modificationxe2x80x9d refer to a mixture of equal parts of enantiomers. The term xe2x80x9cchiral centerxe2x80x9d refers to a carbon atom to which four different groups are attached.
The term xe2x80x9cenantiomeric enrichmentxe2x80x9d as used herein refers to the increase in the amount of one enantiomer as compared to the other. A convenient method of expressing the enantiomeric enrichment achieved is the concept of enantiomeric excess, or xe2x80x9ceexe2x80x9d, which is found using the following equation: ee = E 1 - E 2 E 1 + E 2 xc3x97 100
wherein E1 is the amount of the first enantiomer and E2 is the amount of the second enantiomer. Thus, if the initial ratio of the two enantiomers is 50:50, such as is present in a racemic mixture, and an enantiomeric enrichment sufficient to produce a final ratio of 50:30 is achieved, the ee with respect to the first enantiomer is 25%. However, if the final ratio is 90:10, the ee with respect to the first enantiomer is 80%. An ee of greater than 90% is preferred, an ee of greater than 95% is most preferred and an ee of greater than 99% is most especially preferred. Enantiomeric enrichment is readily determined by one of ordinary skill in the art using standard techniques and procedures, such as gas or high performance liquid chromatography with a chiral column. Choice of the appropriate chiral column, eluent and conditions necessary to effect separation of the enantiomeric pair is well within the knowledge of one of ordinary skill in the art. In addition, the enantiomers of compounds of formulas I or Ia can be resolved by one of ordinary skill in the art using standard techniques well known in the art, such as those described by J. Jacques, et al., xe2x80x9cEnantiomers, Racemates, and Resolutionsxe2x80x9d, John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1981. Examples of resolutions include recrystallization techniques or chiral chromatography.
The compounds of Formula I and formula Ia, as a class are highly active, important and particularly useful in the treatment methods of the present invention, but certain classes of the compounds are preferred. The following paragraphs describe such preferred classes. It will be understood that the preferred classes are applicable both to the treatment methods and to the new compounds of the present invention.
The reader will understand that the preferred classes of compounds may be combined to form additional, broader or narrower classes of preferred compounds.
a) Arxe2x80x2 is phenyl or pyridyl;
b) Arxe2x80x2 is naphthyl;
c) Arxe2x80x2 is pyrazinyl, pyrimidinyl, pyrrolyl, furyl, thienyl, indolyl, purinyl, imidazolyl, pyrazolyl, indolizinyl, benzofuranyl, isoquinolyl, quinolyl, benzothienyl or isoindolizinyl;
d) Arxe2x80x2 is optionally substituted with (C1-C6)alkyl, (C1-C6)alkoxy, halo, (C2-C6)alkenyl or (C2-C6)alkynyl;
e) Arxe2x80x2 is optionally substituted with (C1-C4)alkyl, (C1-C4)alkoxy or halo;
f) R1 is hydrogen;
g) R1 is (C1-C6)alkyl or (C1-C6)alkoxy;
h) R1 is (C1-C2)alkyl or (C1-C2)alkoxy;
i) R2 is phenyl;
j) R2 is (C3-C8)cycloalkyl;
k) R2 is (C3-C6)cycloalkyl;
l) R2 is cyclohexyl;
m) R3 is (C1-C6)alkyl, (C1-C6)alkoxy or halo;
n) R3 is (C1-C4)alkyl, (C1-C4)alkoxy or halo;
o) X is xe2x80x94Cxe2x95x90O;
p) X is xe2x80x94CHOH; and
q) X is xe2x80x94CH2.
r) formula Ia
s) the enantiomer of formula Ia wherein the [xcex1]D20 in methanol is (+).
Since the compounds of this invention are basic in nature, they accordingly react with any of a number of inorganic and organic acids to form pharmaceutically acceptable acid addition salts. Included within the scope of the invention are the mono- and di-salts. Acids commonly employed to form such salts are inorganic acids such as hydrochloric acid, hydrobromic acid, hydroiodic acid, sulfuric acid, phosphoric acid, and the like, and organic acids, such as p-toluenesulfonic acid, methanesulfonic acid, oxalic acid, p-bromophenylsulfonic acid, carbonic acid, succinic acid, citric acid, benzoic acid, acetic acid and the like. Examples of such pharmaceutically acceptable salts thus are the sulfate, pyrosulfate, bisulfate, sulfite, bisulfite, phosphate, monohydrogenphosphate, dihydrogenphosphate, metaphosphate, pyrophosphate, chloride, bromide, iodide, acetate, propionate, decanoate, caprylate, acrylate, formate, isobutyrate, caproate, heptanoate, propiolate, oxalate, malonate, succinate, suberate, sebacate, fumarate, maleate, butyne-1,4-dioate, hexyne-1,6-dioate, benzoate, chlorobenzoate, methylbenzoate, dinitrobenzoate, hydroxybenzoate, methoxybenzoate, phthalate, sulfonate, xylenesulfonate, phenylacetate, phenylpropionate, phenylbutyrate, citrate, lactate, xcex2-hydroxybutyrate, glycollate, tartrate, methanesulfonate, propanesulfonate, naphthalene-1-sulfonate, naphthalene-2-sulfonate, mandelate and the like. Preferred pharmaceutically acceptable salts are the monohydrochloride, dihydrochloride, monohydrobromide, dihydrobromide, Formula I/succinate(1:1), formula Ia/succinate(1:1), Formula I/succinate 2:1, formula Ia/succinate 2:1, phosphate, d-tartrate, l-tartrate or maleate. It is understood by one of ordinary skill that hydrates of the free base or of the pharmaceutically acceptable salts are included within the scope of the present invention.
Many of the compounds of Formula I, including formula Ia, are optical isomers. For example, the compounds have an asymmetric center (or chiral center) at the carbon atom to which R1 and X are attached. However, when a compound of the present invention is named without an indication of asymmetric form, any and all of the possible asymmetric forms are intended. This invention is not limited to any particular isomer but includes all possible individual isomers and racemates.
The intermediates and final products may be isolated and purified by conventional techniques, such as, purification with chromatography using silica gel or recrystallization of crystalline isolates.
It will be readily appreciated by the skilled artisan that the starting materials which are not described are either commercially available or can be readily prepared by known techniques from commercially available starting materials. All other reactants used to prepare the compounds in the instant invention are commercially available.
The compounds of the invention are generally prepared according to the following schemes.
Starting material (1) is treated with a base, preferably potassium tert-butoxide, followed by alkylation with 2-bromomethyl-1,3-dioxolane. Other appropriate bases include sodium hydride, sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, potassium carbonate, cesium carbonate and the like.
The reaction is preferably conducted in a solvent such as dimethyl sulfoxide at a temperature of 15xc2x0 C. to reflux, with a temperature of 45-55xc2x0 C. being most preferred, and is substantially complete in 1 to 24 hours to prepare intermediate (2).
Treatment of (2) with an acid, such as hydrochloric acid or p-toluene-sulfonic acid in a suitable organic solvent, achieves aldehyde (3). Generally, the reaction is conducted in a protic solvent, such a mixture of aqueous acid and acetone, at temperatures of from about 5xc2x0 to 75xc2x0 C., preferably at ambient temperature.
Aldehyde (3) is coupled with the desired aryl piperidine (4) by reductive amination to prepare (5). The reaction is preferably conducted at ambient temperature in a non-reactive solvent such as dichloroethane or methylene chloride in the presence of sodium triacetoxyborohydride and is substantially complete in one to 24 hours. See for example A. F. Abdel-Magid, et al., J. Org. Chem., 61, 3849 (1996).
Reduction of (5) is readily accomplished using a reducing agent such as sodium borohydride or, preferably, diisobutylaluminum hydride to prepare the hydroxy compound (6). The reaction is preferably conducted in an organic solvent such as methylene chloride at temperatures of from about xe2x88x9220xc2x0 C. to 0xc2x0 C.
Further reduction of (6) to achieve product (7) may be achieved by treatment with a reducing agent such as triethylsilane or boron trifluoride (when R2 is phenyl or substituted phenyl) or by treatment with an acid, such as hydrochloric acid or trifluoroacetic acid, in an aprotic solvent such as tetrahydrofuran, at ambient temperature to form the double bond, followed by hydrogenation with, for example, hydrogen and palladium on carbon.
Starting material (1) is either commercially available or can be prepared by coupling (8) [See Nahm and Weinreb, Tetrahedron Lett., 22, 3815, (1981)] and (9) as described in Scheme II, below.
M is a metallic salt, such as lithium or magnesium halide. The reaction is preferably conducted under an inert atmosphere preferably nitrogen, in an aprotic solvent, such as tetrahydrofuran, at ambient temperatures.
More specifically, the compounds of formula Ia can be prepared following the procedure described in Scheme III. All substituents, unless otherwise indicated, are previously defined. The reagents and starting materials are readily available to one of ordinary skill in the art.
In Scheme III, step A, the ester of structure (10) is treated with benzylmagnesium chloride or benzylmagnesium bromide under standard conditions well known in the art to provide the ketone of structure (11). For example, about 1.05 to about 1.1 equivalents of a suitable amine, such as dimethylamine is dissolved in a suitable organic solvent, such as tetrahydrofuran (cooled to about xe2x88x925xc2x0 C.) under an inert atmosphere. The solution is warmed to room temperature and 1.0 equivalents of the ester (10) are added with stirring. Then approximately 1.0 to 1.05 equivalents of benzylmagnesium chloride is slowly added to the solution, maintaining the temperature at about 15-20xc2x0 C. with a cooling bath during the addition. After addition is complete, the reaction is stirred at room temperature for about 1 to 2 hours, then cooled to less than 0xc2x0 C. and then carefully quenched with a suitable acid, such as HCl. The quenched reaction is then extracted with a suitable organic solvent, such as tert-butyl methyl ether (hereinafter referred to as MTBE), the organic layers are-combined, dried over anhydrous magnesium sulfate, filtered and concentrated to provide ketone (11). Ketone (11) can be purified by techniques well known in the art, such as flash chromatography on silica gel with a suitable eluent, such as ethyl acetate/hexane to provide the purified material. Alternatively, the crude ketone (11) can be carried on to step B.
In Scheme III, step B, ketone (11) is alkylated with bromoacetaldehyde diethyl acetal, and then iodomethane, under conditions well known in the art to provide compound of structure (12). For example, ketone (11) is dissolved in a suitable organic solvent, such as methyl sulfoxide and treated with about 1.05 to about 1.1 equivalents of a suitable base, such as potassium tert-butoxide. The reaction is stirred for about 15 to 30 minutes and about 1.0 to about 1.05 equivalents of bromoacetaldehyde diethyl acetal is added dropwise to the reaction. One of ordinary skill in the art would readily appreciate that bromoacetaldehyde dimethyl acetal, bromoacetaldehyde ethylene acetal and the like may be used in place of the corresponding diethyl acetal. The reaction mixture is then heated to about 50xc2x0 C. for about 2 to 2.5 hours. The reaction mixture is then cooled with an ice/water bath and about 2.2 equivalents of a suitable base, such as potassium tert-butoxide is added. The reaction is allowed to stir for about 15 to 30 minutes with continued cooling and then about 1.5 to about 1.8 equivalents of iodomethane is added dropwise to the reaction mixture keeping the temperature of the mixture below 41xc2x0 C, preferably below 21xc2x0 C. After addition is complete, the reaction is warmed to room temperature and stirred for about 1 to 4 hours. The reaction mixture is then partitioned between water and a suitable organic solvent, such as MTBE. The layers are separated and the organic phase is washed with water, brine, dried over anhydrous magnesium sulfate, filtered and concentrated under vacuum to provide the compound (12).
In Scheme III, step C, compound (12) is hydrolyzed under acidic conditions to provide aldehyde (13) in a manner analogous to the procedure described in Scheme I. More specifically, for example, compound (12) is dissolved in a suitable organic solvent, such as acetone and treated with a suitable acid, such as hydrochloric acid. The reaction mixture is stirred for about 1 to 3 hours at room temperature. The reaction mixture is then extracted with a suitable organic solvent, such as ethyl acetate or methylene chloride, the organic extracts are combined, washed with brine, dried over anhydrous magnesium sulfate, filtered and concentrated under vacuum to provide aldehyde (13). Aldehyde (13) can be purified by techniques well known in the art, such as flash chromatography on silica gel with a suitable eluent, such as ethyl acetate/hexane. Alternatively, crude aldehyde (13) can be used directly in step D.
In Scheme III, step D, aldehyde (13) is reductively aminated, under conditions well known in the art, with piperazine (14) to provide the compound of formula Ia in a manner analogous to the procedure described in Scheme I. More specifically, for example, aldehyde (13) is dissolved in a suitable organic solvent, such as methylene chloride. To this solution is added about 1.1 equivalents of piperazine (14). Acetic acid may optionally be added to aid in dissolution of the piperazine (14). Then about 1.2 to 1.3 equivalents of sodium triacetoxyborohydride is added and the reaction is stirred at room temperature for about 3 to 5 hours. The reaction is then quenched by addition of a suitable base, such as aqueous sodium hydroxide to provide a pH of about 10 to about 12. The quenched reaction is then extracted with a suitable organic solvent, such as methylene chloride. The organic extracts are combined, washed with brine, dried over anhydrous magnesium sulfate, filtered and concentrated under vacuum to provide the compound of formula Ia. This material can then be purified by techniques well known in the art, such as flash chromatography on silica gel with a suitable eluent, such as ethyl acetate/hexane.
The free base of formula Ia can be converted to the corresponding pharmaceutically acceptable salts under standard conditions well known in the art. For example, the free base of formula Ia is dissolved in a suitable organic solvent, such as methanol, treated with one equivalent of maleic or oxalic acid for example, or two equivalents of hydrochloric acid for example, and then concentrated under vacuum to provide the corresponding pharmaceutically acceptable salt. The residue can then be purified by recrystallization from a suitable organic solvent or organic solvent mixture, such as methanol/diethyl ether.
In Scheme III, step E, the (+) enantiomer of formula Ia can be separated from the (xe2x88x92) enantiomer using techniques and procedures well known in the art, such as that described by J. Jacques, et al., xe2x80x9cEnantiomers, Racemates, and Resolutionsxe2x80x9d, John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1981. For example, chiral chromatography with a suitable organic solvent, such as ethanol/acetonitrile and Chiralpak AD packing, 20 micron can also be utilized to effect separation of the enantiomers.
In Scheme III, step F, the (+) enantiomer of formula Ia is converted to its pharmaceutically acceptable salt, such as the monohydrochloride, dihydrochloride, monohydrobromide, dihydrobromide, formula Ia/succinate(1:1), formula Ia/succinate 2:1, phosphate, d-tartrate, l-tartrate or maleate salt, in a manner analogous to the procedure described at the end of step D above.
Alternatively, compounds of structure (5) can be prepared following the procedure described in Scheme IV. All substituents, unless otherwise indicated, are previously defined. The reagents and starting materials are readily available to one of ordinary skill in the art.
In Scheme IV, step A, aldehyde (15) is combined with a suitable organometallic reagent (16) under conditions well known in the art to provide alcohol (17). Examples of suitable organometallic reagents include Grignard Reagents, alkyl lithium reagents, alkyl zinc reagents, and the like. Grignard Reagents are preferred. For examples of typical Grignard Reagents and reaction conditions, see J. March, xe2x80x9cAdvanced Organic Chemistry: Reactions, Mechanisms, and Structurexe2x80x9d, 2nd Edition, McGraw-Hill, pages 836-841 (1977). More specifically, aldehyde (15) is dissolved in a suitable organic solvent, such as tetrahydrofuran or toluene, cooled to about xe2x88x925xc2x0 C. and treated with about 1.1 to 1.2 equivalents of a Grignard reagent of formula (16) wherein M is MgCl or MgBr. The reaction is allowed to stir for about 0.5 to 2 hours, then quenched, and alcohol (17) is isolated. For example, the reaction mixture is poured onto ice-cold 1N HCl, the quenched mixture is extracted with a suitable organic solvent, such as toluene, the organic extracts are dried either azeotropically or over a suitable drying agent, such as anhydrous magnesium sulfate, filtered and concentrated under vacuum to provide alcohol (17).
In Scheme IV, step B, alcohol (17) is oxidized under standard conditions well know in the art, such as those described by J. March, xe2x80x9cAdvanced Organic Chemistry: Reactions, Mechanisms, and Structurexe2x80x9d, 2nd Edition, McGraw-Hill, pages 1082-1084 (1977), to provide ketone (1). [Ketone (1) is the starting material used in Scheme I above.]
For example, alcohol (17) is dissolved in a suitable organic solvent, such as methylene chloride, the solution cooled with a wet ice-acetone bath, and treated with 2.5 to 3.0 equivalents of dimethyl sulfoxide. After stirring for about 30 minutes, the reaction is then treated with about 1.8 equivalents of P2O5. The reaction is allowed to stir for about 3 hours and then, preferably, treated over about 30 minutes with about 3.5 equivalents of a suitable amine, such as triethylamine. The cooling bath is then removed and the reaction is allowed to stir for about 8 to 16 hours. The ketone (1) is then isolated by standard extraction techniques well known in the art. The above oxidation is also performed using standard Swern Oxidation conditions which are well known to one of ordinary skill in the art.
In Scheme IV, step C, ketone (1) is treated with a suitable base followed by addition of the alkene (18), wherein X is a suitable leaving group, to provide compound (19). For example, ketone (1) is combined with an excess of alkene (18) in a suitable organic solvent, such as tetrahydrofuran, and cooled with a wet ice acetone bath. Examples of suitable leaving groups are Cl, Br, I, tosylate, mesylate, and the like. Preferred leaving groups are Cl and Br. About 1.1 equivalents of a suitable base is added and the reaction is allowed to stir for about 2 hours at room temperature. Examples of suitable bases are potassium tert-butoxide, sodium hydride, NaN(Si(CH3)3)2, LDA, KN(Si(CH3)3)2, NaNH2, sodium ethoxide, sodium methoxide and the like. Potassium tert-butoxide is the preferred suitable base. The reaction is then quenched with aqueous acid and compound (19) is isolated by extraction with a suitable organic solvent, such as heptane. The heptane extracts are washed with sodium bicarbonate, dried over anhydrous magnesium sulfate, filtered and concentrated under vacuum to provide compound (19).
In Scheme IV, step D, compound (19) is treated with a suitable oxidizing agent to provide aldehyde (3). [Aldehyde (3) is also prepared in Scheme I.] Examples of suitable oxidizing agents are ozone, NaIO4/Osmium catalyst, and the like. Ozone is the preferred oxidizing agent. Examples of suitable oxidizing reagents and conditions are described by J. March, xe2x80x9cAdvanced Organic Chemistry: Reactions, Mechanisms, and Structurexe2x80x9d, 2nd Edition, McGraw-Hill, pages 1090-1096 (1977).
For example, compound (19) is dissolved in a suitable organic solvent, such as methanol, a small amount of Sudan III is added, and the solution is cooled to about xe2x88x9220xc2x0 C. Ozone is bubbled into the solution for about 4 hours until the pink color turns to a pale yellow color. Then Me2S is added to the reaction mixture and the cooling bath is removed. Concentration of the reaction mixture under vacuum provides the intermediate dimethyl acetal of aldehyde (3). This dimethyl acetal is readily hydrolyzed under standard acidic conditions to provide aldehyde (3). Alternatively, direct acidic work-up of the crude reaction mixture provides aldehyde (3). Alternatively, aldehyde (3) can be obtained directly by ozonolysis of (19) in a non-acetal forming solvent, such as methylene chloride.
In Scheme IV, step E, aldehyde (3) is reductively aminated under conditions analogous to those described above in Scheme III, step D, to provide compound (5). [Compound 5 is also prepared in Scheme I.]
Scheme V provides an alternative synthesis for the preparation of compound (5). All substituents, unless otherwise indicated, are previously defined. The reagents and starting materials are readily available to one of ordinary skill in the art.
In Scheme V, step A, aldehyde (3) is condensed with piperidine (4) under standard conditions well known in the art to provide the enamine (20). For example, about 1.05 equivalents of aldehyde (3) dissolved in a suitable organic solvent, such as isopropyl acetate or isopropanol, is added to neat piperazine (4), free base. Additional organic solvent is added to produce a slurry and the reaction is stirred for about 1 to 2 hours. The enamine (20) is then isolated by standard techniques, such as collection by filtration.
In Scheme V, step B, the enamine (20) is hydrogenated under conditions well known by one of ordinary skill in the art to provide compound (5). For example, enamine (20) is combined with a suitable organic solvent, such as isopropyl alcohol and a catalytic amount of 5% palladium on carbon in a Parr bottle. The mixture is placed under 50 psi of hydrogen and shaken for about 2 days at room temperature. The slurry is then filtered to remove catalyst and the filtrate is concentrated to provide compound (5).
The following examples represent typical syntheses of the compounds of Formula I and formula Ia as described generally above. These examples are illustrative only and are not intended to limit the invention in any way. The reagents and starting materials are readily available to one of ordinary skill in the art. As used herein, the following terms have the meanings indicated: xe2x80x9caqxe2x80x9d refers to aqueous; xe2x80x9ceqxe2x80x9d refers to equivalents; xe2x80x9cgxe2x80x9d refers to grams; xe2x80x9cmgxe2x80x9d refers to milligrams; xe2x80x9cLxe2x80x9d refers to liters; xe2x80x9cmLxe2x80x9d refers to milliliters; xe2x80x9cxcexcLxe2x80x9d refers to microliters; xe2x80x9cmolxe2x80x9d refers to moles; xe2x80x9cmmolxe2x80x9d refers to millimoles; xe2x80x9cpsixe2x80x9d refers to pounds per square inch; xe2x80x9cminxe2x80x9d refers to minutes; xe2x80x9chxe2x80x9d refers to hours; xe2x80x9cxc2x0 C.xe2x80x9d refers to degrees Celsius; xe2x80x9cTLCxe2x80x9d refers to thin layer chromatography; xe2x80x9cHPLCxe2x80x9d refers to high performance liquid chromatography; xe2x80x9cRfxe2x80x9d refers to retention factor; xe2x80x9cRtxe2x80x9d refers to retention time; xe2x80x9cxcex4xe2x80x9d refers to part per million down-field from tetramethylsilane; xe2x80x9cTHFxe2x80x9d refers to tetrahydrofuran; xe2x80x9cDMFxe2x80x9d refers to N,N-dimethylformamide; xe2x80x9cIPAxe2x80x9d refers to isopropyl alcohol; xe2x80x9ciPrOAcxe2x80x9d refers to isopropyl acetate; xe2x80x9cAcOHxe2x80x9d refers to acetic acid; xe2x80x9cHRMSxe2x80x9d refers to high resolution mass spectrometry; xe2x80x9cEt3Nxe2x80x9d refers to triethylamine; xe2x80x9cLDAxe2x80x9d refers to lithium diisopropyl amide; xe2x80x9cRTxe2x80x9d refers to room temperature; xe2x80x9cSRIxe2x80x9d refers to serotonin reuptake inhibitor; xe2x80x9caqxe2x80x9d refers to aqueous; and xe2x80x9cMTBExe2x80x9d refers to tert-butyl methyl ether. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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A device of this kind is known from EP 352 928, wherein in a hollow catheter hub a needle guard element is arranged. On withdrawal of the hollow needle from the catheter over an engaging means near the tip of the hollow needle, the needle guard element engages with the engaging means and covers the tip when the hollow needle is separated from the catheter. In this design, after withdrawal of the hollow needle from the catheter, through this catheter blood can issue with which the operating personnel can come into contact.
The invention is based on the object of designing a catheter insertion device of the type described above such that an outflow of blood from the catheter is prevented after removal of the hollow needle with the needle guard element. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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A major focus of cancer immunology is on the isolation of antibodies that react selectively with human tumor cells, since the antibodies could have important applications for targeting diagnostic and therapeutic agents to tumors and for identifying tumorigenic antigens. The established approach has been to generate large panels of monoclonal antibodies from mice immunized with human tumor cells, and to screen the antibodies for reactivity against the tumor. Despite the enormous effort expended on this approach, few antibodies that react preferentially with human tumors, and none that react specifically with one type of tumor, have been reported.
These results are disappointing but not necessarily conclusive, because the antibodies were generated in an xenogeneic system. Human antigens are generally recognized as foreign by the murine system, and since the tumor antigens are predominately nonspecific, the murine response to human tumors will be correspondingly nonspecific.
Another approach involves generating human monoclonal antibodies from cancer patients by cloning lymphocytes transformed with Epstein-Barr virus or fused with myeloma or B-lymphoblastoid cells. However, the number of clones that can be produced with these procedures is severely limited by technical obstacles, and the antibodies isolated from the clones have shown specificities similar to those obtained with murine monoclonal antibodies.
Further attempts to isolate more specific antibodies will require improved methods of generating and selecting antibodies against human tumors. Two recent developments may be useful in this regard. One involves immunizing cancer patients with autologous tumor cells which have been genetically modified to boost the immunogenicity of the cells (Dranoff, G. & Mulligan, R. C. (1995) Adv. Immunol. 58, 417-454). Although there is an extensive normal human repertoire of anti-self antibodies (Griffiths A. D., et al., (1993) EMBO J 12, 725-734), indicating that the human immune system can respond toself antigens, the humoral response of the immunized cancer patients might be directed preferentially against any non-self antigens expressed by the autologous or allogeneic tumor cells. Numerous such immunization trials are in progress with melanoma, renal and colon carcinoma, neuroblastoma and breast cancer patients, and others are planned.
The other new development is the introduction of methods for synthesizing virtually the entire repertoire of any person's antibody genes, and for expressing the encoded Fab or scFv antibody fragments on the surface of a fusion-phage vector (see, for example, Marks, J., et al., (1991) J. Mol. Biol. 222, 581-597). The resulting fusion-phage antibody library can be panned to select and clone rare antibodies on the basis of their binding specificities. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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1. Field of Invention
This invention pertains to a method and an apparatus for shaping an elongated hollow or solid article, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for performing consistent, accurate spatial dimensional shaping of an elongated extruded product.
2. Description of the Art
There are a considerable number of operating parameters and conditions present in various metal forming methods which cause finished products to exhibit dimensional variability. In certain processes the dimensional variability is acceptable, while in other processes the dimensional variability is unacceptable and requires subsequent metal finishing operations.
In the extrusion process, for example, a heated ingot or billet is forced to flow under pressure through a die opening to form an elongated article such as a channel, a tube or an angle. In a typical aluminum extrusion process the extruded product is forced through the die at forces in the 500 to 15,000 ton range. The extrusion exits the die of an extrusion press at elevated temperatures on the order of 300.degree. to 1200.degree. F. It is common to solution heat treat and quench the extruded product in an in-line solution heat treating process or by a separate solution heat treatment process. Such extruded product may be made to various lengths, including lengths in excess of 150 feet, and may be of diverse cross-sectional configuration.
Considering the operating parameters of the extrusion process including pressures, temperatures, die condition and product length, and considering the effects of subsequent heat treatment and quenching, it is understandable that extruded metal products may exhibit considerable dimensional variation about the cross-section and over the length of the product. It is also understandable that such dimensional variation may be present from product cycle to product cycle and from extrusion run to extrusion run. It is therefore often necessary to perform subsequent metal finishing operations to bring the product within acceptable dimensional tolerance. There are some dimensional variations on extruded metal products which are not readily correctable by conventional metal finishing operations, including bending, roll straightening and hammering. In such conventional metal finishing operations, springback is a major concern. Such springback may be so extreme, especially in products with substantial dimensional variation, that such conventional metal finishing operations are inadequate.
Prior shaping methods and apparatus have provided methods to finish the shape of articles, such as extrusions. The tolerances currently permissible for such products, as published by the Aluminum Association, particularly for thin walled extrusions, are so broad that the products may be precluded from certain critical applications. If the dimensional deviation could be reduced, the products may be applicable in an increased number of applications where dimension is important. Furthermore, the dimensional quality of the product in existing applications could be dramatically increased.
Despite prior art attempts to improve the dimensional tolerance and minimize dimensional variation in a finishing operation, there is a need for further improvement. Accordingly, a stretch shaping method and apparatus are desired which results in finish shaping an elongated article, such as an extrusion, to minimize cross-sectional and longitudinal dimensional deviations from nominal value. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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There is a requirement to screen cargo items for the detection of illicit materials and devices. Today, the use of X-ray imaging for cargo inspection is becoming more widespread. Such systems are typically made from large welded steel fabrications and are complex and time consuming to install. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
At present, the cushioning offered by a body, such as a mattress, a shoe sole, etc., is provided by means of pressure or impact; the impact is not deflected and the effect of the cushioning is limited, logically depending on the physical characteristics of the body in question.
There are no known cushioning systems based on the structural characteristics claimed in this Patent of Invention. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a plastisol-lined metal closure of the type which may be applied to a helically threaded finish of a glass or rigid plastic container by a press-on action, but which may be normally removed from the finish of the container only by a twisting action. More particularly, this invention relates to a press-on, twist-off plastisol-lined metal closure with improved top load resistance.
2. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 4,552,279 (Mueller, et al.), which is assigned to the assignee of this application, describes a press-on, twist-off closure which is made up of a cup-shaped metal closure with a foamed vinyl plastisol material which is cast in situ within the closure to cover a portion of the inside of a base wall of the closure and a surrounding peripheral wall, to thereby engage the top rim and a portion of the side of the finish of a container upon the application of the closure to the container. After operations to shape and cure the plastisol lining of the closure, the closure is pressed upon the externally threaded finish of the container, the threads of the container forming threads in the plastisol lining after the application of the closure to the container to preclude normal removal of the closure from the container other than by a twisting action. Containers capped with closures of this type have heretofore been packaged in closed top corrugated fibreboard trays, each of the trays being closed by the infolding of top flaps at the tops of the side walls of the trays, as is known in the art. Even though such trays are usually superimposed several deep during shipment and storage, such closures, which are normally flush with the top of the tray and which, therefore, bear a part of the weight of the filled tray or trays thereabove, provide satisfactory top load resistance to those superimposed filled trays, but to a substantial extent as a result of the cushioning effect of the top structure of the closed top of the tray, which serves to fairly evenly distribute the superimposed loads from container to container within the tray and around the circumference of the closure on each container in the tray.
One of the recent advances in the packaging field is the use of open top trays in the packaging of containers closed with press-on, twist-off closures, since trays of this type use appreciably less corrugated fibreboard than their closed top counterparts and are, hence, appreciably less expensive. However, the use of open top trays can result in greater and less evenly distributed top loads on the closures of the containers packaged in any such tray which may be at or near the bottom of a stack of such trays, and this can result in a failure of the seal between any such closure and the container to which it is affixed. This problem can be particularly annoying when closures are used in the packaging of a liquid, for example, an infant juice formulation, which is a packaging application that frequently uses plastisol-lined closures.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,576,299 (Lecinski, Jr.) describes a press-on, twist-off plastisol-lined metal closure which claims to have improved top load leakage resistance. However, it is believed that closures according to this reference do not have adequate top load leakage resistance for use in many applications where the containers capped with such closures are packed in open top corrugated trays. Other types of press-on, twist-off lined metal closures are illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,270,904 (C. N. Foster, et al.) 3,371,813 (R. C. Owen, et al.), 3,448,881 (D. H. Zipper), 3,685,677 (Westfall), 3,690,497 (Lecinski, Jr.), 3,741,423 (Acton, et al.), 4,000,825 (Westfall), and 4,603,786 (Lecinski, Jr.), but it is believed that closures of each of these references lack adequate top load leakage resistance for use on containers packaged in open top trays. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
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The present invention relates to a new and distinct perennial variety of Westringia fruticosa, which has been given the variety denomination of ‘WES04’. Its market class is that of an ornamental shrub. ‘WES04’ is intended for use in general landscaping and as a decorative plant.
Parentage: The Westringia fruticosa variety ‘WES04’ is the result of a controlled pollination breeding program from 2004 to 2009 in Cobbitty, NSW Australia. ‘WES04’ is a progeny of said breeding program which resulted from the cross pollination of male parent line Westringia fruticosa ‘x2003.7.5’ (unpatented) and female parent line Westringia fruticosa ‘x2003.7.2’ (unpatented). Controlled pollination of the parents occurred in September of 2004 and resulting seed from said cross was sown in March of 2005 in accord with standard greenhouse propagation practices. In October of 2005, the resulting young plants were transplanted into 10 cm nursery containers and relocated to an outdoor trial area for field observations. Progeny were further observed for desired commercial characteristics, some were subsequently eliminated and remaining candidates were transplanted into the ground for further observation. In October 2009, ‘WES04’ was selected for its rotund (or ball-shaped) growth habit, very compact size, gray foliage color and white flowers. The cultivar was named ‘WES04’.
Asexual Reproduction: ‘WES04’ was first propagated asexually by division in the state of Cobbitty, New South Wales, Australia in October of 2009 and has since been asexually propagated by division through six successive generations. The distinctive characteristics of the inventive ‘WES04’ variety are stable from generation to generation; clones of the variety produced by asexual reproduction maintain the distinguishing characteristics of the original plant. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
To interact with a computer application or search the Internet, users may type in terms using a physical keyboard or on-screen keyboard. This may not be possible if a physical or on-screen keyboard is not available, or if the keyboard is inside a virtual display that cannot be touched physically. Additionally, physical or on-screen keyboards may pose difficulties for users that cannot type because of a medical condition. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a musical-tone-signal-generating apparatus, and more particularly, to a tone-color-selecting technique for the apparatus.
2. Prior Art
Among conventional electronic organs which can simulate a pipe organ, a type provided with a number of tone-selecting switches called "flute-couplers" is known. Each of these tone-selecting switches, for example, corresponds to one of the following foot-sounds: 1', 2', 4', 5(1/3)', 8', and 16'.
In the above-mentioned electronic organ, a plurality of the tone-selecting switches can be simultaneously turned on, so that a plurality of foot-sounds corresponding to the on-switches can be generated simultaneously. In order to generate a number of foot-sounds, a plurality of musical-tone-generating channels must be provided in a parallel fashion or in a time-sharing fashion. As a result, the number of the musical-tone-generating channels increases with the number of tones simultaneously generated, and consequently, the configuration of the apparatus becomes more complex and cost increases.
To overcome these problems, another technique is proposed (for example, see U.S. Pat. No. 3,823,390). This technique produces musical-tone waveforms to be generated by computation each time a number of tone colors are selected, and the resultant waveforms are stored into wave memories. The computation above is performed on the basis of the volume-level information and the musical-tone-spectrum information corresponding to the selected tone colors. According to the technique, though the number of the wave memories can be reduced, the circuit configuration for computing the waveforms must remain complex.
A similar problem occurs not only in the tone-color selection of the flute-coupler, but also in other tone-color-selections, such as that of a horn, a bass, or the like. For this reason, it was usual that simultaneous selection of two or more tone colors in the same tone group was inhibited, and only one tone color selected by one of the tone-color-selecting switches of each tone group was allowed. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to technology for efficiently compressing or encoding image data or storing or transmitting these data, using holographic fringe patterns.
This application is based on patent application No. Hei 9-137372 and No Hei 10-6216 filed in Japan, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
Holography refers to a technique for reproducing wave fronts from physical objects by means of light diffraction. Commonly, this has developed as a method of positioning for stereoscopic photography. On the other hand, the hologram is a technique for recording optical holographic fringe patterns; these can be determined by means of calculations if the shape of a physical object to be displayed, the wavelength of reference light, and the like, are known. This has been the subject of research for a long period of time in the field of computer holograms. An important merit of such technology is that it is possible to produce a holographic fringe pattern by means of calculations even for objects which do not actually exist; the chief development of such technology has been in fields other than stereoscopic display such as optical communication devices, optical pickups for CD ROM devices, and the like.
An important feature of such holograms other than those used for stereoscopic display is the data redundancy thereof. In other words, there is little effect on the reproduced image even if a portion of the hologram is deleted. As a result, by recording three-dimensional data and image data as holographic fringe patterns, it is possible to achieve techniques which simultaneously support conventional image compression and encoding functions. However, in order to display the holographic fringe patterns as holograms, it is necessary to display the holographic fringe patterns, which contain an enormous number of pixels, in high resolution apparatuses. For this reason, commonly, it is not merely the case that the construction of display apparatuses for computer holograms is difficult, but also the amount of data required to produce the holographic fringe patterns themselves is enormous. For this reason, almost no research has been conducted into image compression/encoding technology employing such holograms.
Even if high resolution apparatuses have been realized as a result of recent developments in electrical display technology, the problem still remains that the amount of data corresponding to an image (a holographic fringe pattern) is enormous. For example, in the case of a 5 inch screen, approximately 8 G pixels or more are required to display a hologram. In contrast, HDTV requires about 2 M pixels, so that approximately 4,000 times the amount of data is required for one image. Conventionally, even if large capacity transmission technologies employing optical fibers or the like were established, the data compression technologies involved constitute difficult problems. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
In numerical data or text data stored with passage of time, a time series rule is often included. In order to find the time series rule, a time series pattern extraction apparatus is provided. In the time series pattern extraction apparatus, a usable pattern is extracted from the numerical data or the text data, and presented to an analyst. Examples of numerical data or the text data stored with passage of time include a daily report mentioning sales data or business information in a retail region, a diary recording daily biological data (such as a blood pressure or a pulse), a personal behavior or feeling in a health control region, daily stock price data in a financial region, and news mentioned in a newspaper.
In the time series pattern extraction apparatus of the prior art (Japanese Patent Disclosure (Kokai) No. 2004-287798, pages 7 and 8, and FIG. 12), even if information element in the time series data is either a numerical value or a text, a time series pattern is extracted from the high frequency time series data. Furthermore, even if information element in the time series data is a combination of numerical values and text, the time series pattern is extracted from the high frequency time series data.
In the above-mentioned time series pattern extraction apparatus, a time event representing what time series pattern exists can be extracted from the time series data. However, a time reason why the time series pattern is generated cannot be extracted from the time series data. Accordingly, the analyst must find the time reason by examining a generation process of the time series pattern. | {
"pile_set_name": "USPTO Backgrounds"
} |
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