A manufacturing method of a flexible OLED panel, a flexible OLED panel, and a display is disclosed. The flexible OLED panel is manufactured by the manufacturing method, and the display includes the flexible OLED panel. The disclosure functions as a role of blocking crack diffusion by forming the opening holes in the inorganic layer to release the cracking stress; the opening holes are arranged in at least two rows, and two of the rows of the opening holes adjacent to each other are arranged in a dislocation manner in the surrounding direction so as to distribute at least one of the opening holes on a line connecting any position on the boundary of the second area away from the first area to any position of the display area, the diffusion of cracks at any position in the inorganic layer can be blocked by at least one of the opening holes.

The LLO (Laser lift off) process is one of the key manufacturing processes of a flexible OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode) panel.
The flexible OLED panel includes a display area and a frame area. When the LLO process is performed, the frame area may crack. The cracks will continue to spread over time and eventually spread to the display area, affecting the normal display of the display area.

Manufacturing method of flexible OLED panel, flexible OLED display panel, and display

WUHAN CHINA STAR OPTOELECTRONICS SEMICONDUCTOR DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


In a method for identifying desynchronization between representations of data obtained from an ordered plurality of documents, a processor can receive ordered first and second pluralities of data strings obtained from the respective plurality of documents; compare each data string in the first plurality to the corresponding data string in the second plurality and to each data string sequentially before or sequentially after the corresponding data string in the second plurality; based on the comparison, designate each data string in the first plurality as being one of synchronized, leading, or trailing; identify a continuous sequence of N data strings in the first plurality that all have a designation of leading or all have a designation of trailing, where N equals or exceeds a specified sequence threshold; and generate a single error signal that identifies all N of the data strings in the continuous sequence as being desynchronized.

A document, such as a check, can include a magnetic ink recognition line, often positioned along a bottom edge of the document. The magnetic ink recognition line can be printed with magnetic ink, which can be read magnetically when the magnetic ink recognition line is scanned with a read head in a magnetic scanner. The magnetic ink recognition line can include data corresponding to particular entities and/or quantities associated with the document, such an institution code, an account number, a check number, a check amount, or other suitable data. Reading back data magnetically from the check can be relatively robust, because such magnetic reading can be resistant to stains and conventional ink markings.

Identifying desynchronization between representations of data obtained from an ordered plurality of documents


A chemical toner is described as well as methods of preparing the same.

The present invention relates to toner compositions comprising modified pigments. The present invention further relates to processes for preparing toners and the toners resulting from these processes. Also, the present invention relates to composites containing at least one filler or reinforcing agent, such as in particulate form. The present invention further relates to methods of preparing various composites, such as polymer matrixes containing at least one filler or reinforcing agent. Also, the present invention relates to methods of selecting one or more fillers or reinforcing agents based on compatibility with the matrix.
Electrophotographic processes and image-forming apparatus are currently widespread. In electrophotography, an image comprising an electrostatic field pattern (also referred to as an electrostatic latent image), usually of nonuniform strength, is formed on an insulative surface of an electrophotographic element. The insulative surface typically comprises a photoconductive layer and an electrically conductive substrate. The electrostatic latent image is then developed or visualized into an image by contacting the latent image with a toner composition. Generally, the toner composition contains a resin and a colorant, such as a pigment. The toner image is then transferred onto a transfer medium such as paper and fixed thereon by heating and/or pressure. The last step involves cleaning residual toner from the electrophotographic element.
In general, conventional dry toner compositions are prepared by combining a polymeric resin and a colorant followed by mechanical grinding (particle size attrition). The grinding process typically results in uncontrolled breakage of the particles, yielding toner compositions having irregular shapes with relatively wide particle size distributions.
There is a growing need in the industry for toner compositions that can produce images having improved print quality using lower amounts of dry toner per page. In order to meet these needs, efforts have been made to improve the dispersibility of the colorant in the resin and reducing the overall particle size of the toner composition. However, the current mechanical grinding processes are not able to efficiently produce small particle size toners since the energy consumed in grinding typically increases exponentially with the particle size. Also, the irregularly shaped conventional toner particles cannot pack as well as regularly shaped particles, resulting in higher waste of toner per page.
For this reason, various processes have been developed which produce toner particles having small and/or regular shapes. These processes involve the formation of resin particles in the presence of the colorant. Toners produced using such "in situ" processes are often referred to as "chemically prepared toners" or CPTs. For example, a process has been developed in which a polymer latex is combined with an aqueous pigment dispersion and agglomerated using a coagulant to form polymer particles. Another process involves the aqueous suspension polymerization of a dispersion of pigment in at least one monomer. Also, a pigment/polyester resin dispersion has been prepared and combined with water, followed by evaporation of the solvent. Each of these processes results in small particle size toner compositions having regular shapes. However, for each of these processes, since smaller particles result, the dispersibility of the colorant in the polymer becomes very important in order to maintain or improve the properties of the toner. To provide good dispersibility, high levels of dispersants must be included in the chemical toner processes. This has a negative impact on the overall performance of the toner composition, particularly the viscosity of the mixtures used to prepare the toners as well as the moisture sensitivity of the resulting chemical toner. Other issues have also been found.
Modified pigments having attached organic groups have been disclosed for use in toner compositions. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,218,067 discloses, in part, a toner composition comprising the product of a mixture of resin particles and chargeable modified pigment particles. The modified pigment particles comprise at least one organic ionic group attached to the pigment particles and at least one amphiphilic counterion. Also, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,955,232 and 6,054,238 disclose, in part, toner compositions comprising resin particles and modified pigment particles having attached at least one positively chargeable organic group. In addition, U.S. Patent Publication No. 2002-0011185 discloses, in part, a modified pigment product comprising a pigment having attached at least one organic group represented by the formula —X-Sp-Alk, wherein X, which is directly attached to the pigment, represents an arylene, heteroarylene, or alkylene group, Sp represents a spacer group, and Alk represents an alkenyl or alkyl group containing 50-200 carbon atoms. Toner compositions are also disclosed. Furthermore, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,337,358 and 6,372,820 and U.S. Patent Publication No. 2002-0055554 disclose, in part, toner compositions comprising modified particles having attached polymeric groups. While these previous inventions describe the use of toners containing pigments having particular types of attached organic groups, none of these patents/publications take into consideration the need to have excellent compatibility of the pigment with attached organic group with the polymer components of the toner. For instance, one cannot simply use any attached organic group on a pigment and achieve an acceptable toner composition. An attached organic group may not be compatible with the polymer components of the toner composition. Phase separation of the organic group may occur where the organic group separates or the organic groups on the pigment cause an agglomeration of the pigments when added to the polymer components thereby preventing the formation of chemical toner particles. Accordingly, particular types of organic groups paired with the remaining parts of the toner composition need to be developed which will avoid these additional problems and disadvantages. There also remains a need for toners, in particular chemical toners, with properties capable of meeting the increasingly demanding print performance, efficiency, and cost requirements of the industry.

Carbon blacks, toners, and composites and methods of making same


A non-adhesive wing connector comprising at least one left wing installation surface and at least one right wing installation surface passing through a central line of the non-adhesive wing connector by section, wherein a dihedral angle made on the left wing installation surface and the right wing installation surface corresponds with finger holes made on the edge of both wings in order to plug them together.

During the activities of aircraft model-making, many amateurs, especially younger amateurs, have problems gluing the wings to the fuselage of a wooden aircraft model. Some young children have been harmed by using glue during the process of making aircraft models, for example fingers sticking together such that they cannot be separated and require hospital treatment. It is considered a serious impediment for the popularity of aircraft model-making by young children.
An object of the present invention is to solve the inconvenience and potential dangers encountered when using glue during aircraft model making. The wing connector can easily and safely be used to connect the wings and the fuselage for wood models. It positions precisely the wings to be connected together with the fuselage. It also makes a wider range of aircraft model-making activities more suitable for young children.

Non-adhesive wing connector for aircraft models


A room temperature curing organopolysiloxane composition is provided which displays no toxicity, is resistant to cracking and discoloration, cures rapidly, and yields a cured product of good hardness. This composition includes (A) an organopolysiloxane with at least two hydroxyl groups bonded to silicon atoms within a single molecule, (B) an organosilicon compound represented by a formula (I) shown below, and/or a partial hydrolysis condensate thereof,

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to room temperature curing organopolysiloxane composition effective as a sealing material or a coating material.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Compositions for which curing occurs at normal room temperature through the action of moisture in the air to form a silicone rubber, so-called condensation reaction type room temperature curing silicone rubber compositions, are well known. These compositions are widely used as sealing materials, industrial adhesives and potting materials and the like in a variety of fields including machinery, electrical and electronic devices and architecture and building.
The curing catalyst used in these compositions is typically a tin compound or a titanium compound. However, in the case of tin compounds, various problems arise such as the problem of toxicity, and fragmentation of the backbone chain of organopolysiloxane molecules, leading to cracking and a reduction in the degree of hardness over time. Furthermore, in the case of titanium compounds, different problems arise such as a slow curing time or discoloration.
Furthermore, Japanese Laid-open publication (kokai) No. 2000-129126 (JP2000-129126A) discloses that a bivalent bismuth carboxylate is effective as a curing catalyst for a polyoxyalkylene polymer with a hydrolysable silicon group. However, the curing speed of these compositions is inadequate, and moreover no comment is made in the application of potential application to silicone systems.
Furthermore, bismuth naphthenate has been presented as a possible curing catalyst for room temperature curing organopolysiloxane compositions in U.S. Pat. No. 3,161,614 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,175,993, although no examples are presented, and the polymer systems reported are also different from those described in the present invention.
An object of the present invention is to provide a room temperature curing organopolysiloxane composition which does not use a catalyst based on any of the aforementioned conventional tin or titanium compounds, which exhibits no problems of toxicity, cracking or discoloration and the like, and which moreover cures rapidly, and produces a cured product of good hardness.
In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a room temperature curing organopolysiloxane composition comprising:
(A) an organopolysiloxane with at least two hydroxyl groups bonded to silicon atoms within a single molecule,
(B) an organosilicon compound represented by a formula (I) shown below, and/or a partial hydrolysis condensate thereof,
RaSiX4-axe2x80x83xe2x80x83(I)
(wherein, R represents a substituted or unsubstituted monovalent hydrocarbon of 1 to 10 carbon atoms, X represents a hydrolysable group, and a represents an integer of 0 to 3), and
(C) a bismuth compound-based curing catalyst.
As follows is a more detailed description of each of the constituents (A), (B) and (C) of a room temperature curing organopolysiloxane composition according to the present invention.
[Constituent (A)]
An organopolysiloxane of the constituent (A) has at least two hydroxyl groups bonded to silicon atoms within a single molecule, and should preferably have a viscosity at 25xc2x0 C. of 100 to 500,000 mm2/s, and even more preferably from 1,000 to 100,000 mm2/s. Compounds represented by the formula (II) shown below, with hydroxyl groups at both terminals, are particularly suitable.
xe2x80x83HO(R1R2SiO)nHxe2x80x83xe2x80x83(II)
In this formula, R1 and R2 may be the same or different, and represent the same or different substituted or unsubstituted monovalent hydrocarbon groups of 1 to 10 carbon atoms, and preferably 1 to 8 carbon atoms. Suitable examples include alkyl groups such as methyl groups, ethyl groups, propyl groups and butyl groups; cycloalkyl groups such as cyclohexyl groups; alkenyl groups such as vinyl groups and allyl groups; aryl groups such as phenyl groups and tolyl groups; aralkyl groups such as benzyl groups and phenylethyl groups; as well as groups in which all, or a portion of the hydrogen atoms bonded to carbon atoms within these groups are substituted with a halogen atom or a cyano group or the like, such as chloromethyl groups, trifluoropropyl groups or cyanoethyl groups; and of these, methyl groups and phenyl groups are preferred, and methyl groups are particularly desirable. n represents a number of repeating units which will preferably generate a viscosity at 25xc2x0 C. for the diorganopolysiloxane of 100 to 500,000 mm2/s, and even more preferably from 1,000 to 100,000 mm2/s.
[Constituent (B)]
The constituent (B) is a cross linking agent, and is an organosilicon compound represented by the formula RaSiX4-a, and/or a partial hydrolysis condensate thereof. In the formula, R represents the same or different substituted or unsubstituted monovalent hydrocarbon groups of 1 to 10 carbon atoms, and preferably 1 to 8 carbon atoms. Suitable examples include alkyl groups such as methyl groups, ethyl groups, propyl groups and butyl groups; cycloalkyl groups such as cyclohexyl groups; alkenyl groups such as vinyl groups and allyl groups; aryl groups such as phenyl groups and tolyl groups; aralkyl groups such as benzyl groups and phenylethyl groups; as well as groups in which all, or a portion of the hydrogen atoms bonded to carbon atoms within these groups are substituted with a halogen atom or a cyano group or the like, such as chloromethyl groups, trifluoropropyl groups, or cyanoethyl groups; and of these, methyl groups, ethyl groups, vinyl groups and phenyl groups are preferred. a represents an integer of 0 to 3.
X is a hydrolysable group, and suitable examples include alkoxy groups, ketooxime groups, 1-methylvinyloxy groups and acetoxy groups and the like, although of these, alkoxy groups, ketooxime groups and acetoxy groups are preferred, and alkoxy groups are particularly desirable.
In those cases in which X is a ketooxime group, specific examples of the constituent (B) include silane compounds such as methyltris(diethylketooxime)silane, methyltris(methylethylketooxime)silane, vinyltris(methylethylketooxime)silane and phenyltris(diethylketooxime)silane, or partial hydrolysis condensates thereof.
In those cases in which X is an alkoxy group, specific examples of the constituent (B) include silane compounds such as trimethoxymethylsilane, trimethoxyphenylsilane, trimethoxyvinylsilane, triethoxymethylsilane, triethoxyphenylsilane, triethoxyvinylsilane and tetramethoxysilane, or partial hydrolysis condensates thereof.
These compounds may be used singularly, or in combinations of two or more compounds.
The quantity of the constituent (B) used is preferably 1 to 30 parts by weight, and even more preferably 3 to 20 parts by weight per 100 parts by weight of the constituent (A). At quantities less than 1 part by weight the stability of the composition deteriorates, and the composition may gel during storage, whereas if the quantity exceeds 30 parts by weight, the curing shrinkage becomes overly large and the physical properties of the cured product deteriorate.
[Constituent (C)]
The bismuth compound-based curing catalyst of the constituent (C) is a particularly important constituent of a room temperature curing composition according to the present invention.
There are no particular restrictions on the bismuth compound-based curing catalyst of the constituent (C), provided it acts as a catalyst for the condensation reaction between the constituent (A) and the constituent (B), although organic bismuth compounds are preferred, and bismuth carboxylates are particularly preferred. Of these, trivalent bismuth carboxylates are particularly preferred, as represented by the general formula (III) shown below.
(R3CO2)(R4CO2)(R5CO2)Bixe2x80x83xe2x80x83(III)
(wherein, R3, R4 and R5 may be the same or different, and represent a saturated or unsaturated hydrocarbon group of 1 to 20 carbon atoms, and preferably 1 to 10 carbon atoms.)
Of these compounds, straight chain or branched chain alkyl-based carboxylates of trivalent bismuth are particularly preferred, and by using these compounds, compositions with particularly superior curability can be achieved.
Specific examples of these bismuth compounds are presented below:
(CH3CO2)3Bi, (C2H5CO2)3Bi, (C7H15CO2)3Bi, (C9H19CO2)3Bi, (C3H7CO2)3Bi, (C4H9CO2)3Bi, (C5H11CO2)3Bi, (C6H13CO2)3Bi, (C6H13CO2)3Bi, (CH3CO2) (C7H15CO2)2Bi, and (C7H15CO2) (C9H19CO2)2Bi.
The constituent (C) must be present in a sufficient quantity to act as an effective catalyst, and specifically, quantities of 0.01 to 20 parts by weight, and preferably 0.1 to 10 parts by weight are required per 100 parts by weight of the constituent (A).
[Other Constituents]
Where necessary, constituents other than the aforementioned constituent (A) to (C) may be added to a composition of the present invention, provided such addition does not impair the properties of the composition such as the curability, and the resistance to cracking and discoloration.
Examples of other constituents include fibrous materials such as asbestos, glass fiber, carbon fiber and organic fibers, fillers such as silica, talc, carbon black, bentonite, calcium carbonate, zinc carbonate, zinc oxide, magnesium oxide and celite, network polyorganosiloxane resins formed from triorganosiloxane units and SiO2 units, heat resistance enhancing agents or cold resistance enhancing agents such as red iron oxide and cerium oxide, waterproofing agents, rust proofing agents, antibacterial agents, mold proofing agents, plasticizers, coloring agents, and fire resistance imparting agents. In addition, the various carbon functional silanes may also be added to improve adhesion.
In particular, the addition of silica and/or calcium carbonate as a filler is desirable. Silica may be either fumed silica or precipitated silica, although fumed silica is preferred, and silica which has undergone hydrophobic surface treatment is particularly preferred. Either untreated calcium carbonate or calcium carbonate which has undergone hydrophobic surface treatment may be used.
The quantity of the filler should be from 1 to 200 parts by weight, and preferably from 3 to 100 parts by weight per 100 parts by weight of the organopolysiloxane of the constituent (A).

Room temperature curing organopolysiloxane composition


As a marking laser beam, a laser beam of wavelength 532 nm obtained by extracting by extracting second higher harmonic of the Nd:YAG laser or a laser beam of wavelength 355 nm obtained by extracting third higher harmonic of the Nd:YAG laser is used on a metal film formed on a plastic key top of a mobile telephone or the like, so that the metal film portion subjected to the beam is completely removed or only the surface portion of the metal film subjected to the beam is removed, thereby forming a planar set of very small concave points. Thus, it is possible to obtain a key unit having a metal film on which a character or symbol is directly marked.

A key unit is one kind of part constituting a mobile device such as a portable telephone in which a large number of switch operation keys (push buttons) are aggregated and arranged on one sheet face. One key is made up of a key top made of a hard resin or the like attached to a surface of a key pad made of a soft material such as a silicone rubber or a thermoplastic elastomer; and the key pad having a switch pressing projection (so-called "pressing member") on its back face. The keys are interconnected by the key pad. By disposing a circuit board provided with switch elements on the lower face of the key unit constituted as described above, a key switch is formed at a position corresponding to each key. An illumination type key unit as one kind of key unit as described above has a construction in which the character, the symbol, or the like, of each key is irradiated by a light from a light source.
Because the key top is disposed at a position to be most conspicuous in the objective mobile device, a special attention is paid to its design and ornamentation. A key top in which a metallic film is formed on the whole surface of the key top or the bottom face, which is a face facing the key pad, and the top face, by plating or the like, (hereinafter referred to as "metallic key") is welcome because it has both of durability and high-grade feeling.
Normally, on a surface of the metallic key, a character, a symbol, or the like, indicating the function of the key is formed. As a method for forming the character, the symbol, or the like, on the metallic key, marking processing by a laser is thinkable. However, in forming the character, the symbol, or the like, directly on the metallic key in which a metallic film having a thickness of 0.1 to 30 μm and high surface reflectance has been formed by plating or the like on its key top made of plastic, by laser marking, which completely removes the metallic film at the irradiated portion, there is a difficult point in comparison with simply marking or cutting a metallic plate or the like by laser.
For example, if a character, a symbol, or the like, is tried to be formed directly on a key top in which mirror plating with chromium or the like has been applied to a surface of a key made of plastic, using a near infrared light of a wavelength of 1064 nm as the fundamental wave of Nd:YAG (an yttrium aluminum garnet crystal doped with neodymium ions), which is a solid laser used widely, there is a problem in which the temperature of the portion other than the irradiated point rises before the objective character or the like is formed, and sufficient processing can not be performed because the underlayer plastic is melted or the like. It is thinkable that this is because the energy density at the irradiated point is insufficient because the spot diameter is difficult to be throttled by a lens optical system because the near infrared light is relatively long in wavelength.
Because of such a difficulty of laser marking to a metallic key, for manufacturing a partially plated key in which a character, a symbol, or the like, as an unplated portion, is mixed on a plated surface, the following complicated process was hitherto performed (for example, JP-A-2001-73154). That is, according to JP-A-2001-73154, a processing procedure is performed as "molding a plastic key top→surface roughness/activation→electroless plating with copper→electroless plating with tin on copper→laser marking processing on a tin plating layer (exposure of a copper plating layer)→removing the copper plating layer at a character portion by etching→electroless plating with nickel (other than the character portion)→electro plating with gold on nickel".
In addition, there is a marking method called "Shibo process". This is a method in which a plane aggregation of a large number of very small recessed points (recesses having its diameter and depth of 10 to 30 μm) is formed on the metallic film on the metallic key surface. For representing the shape of a character or the like by this Shibo process, conventionally, an electroformed mold is used in general. The electroformed mold is used by being incorporated in a mold for key top molding, and has a portion on which the plane aggregation of very small recessed points for forming a character or the like on the key top surface has been reversely transferred.
An example of an electroformed mold making process is as follows. First, a matrix for a key top having a non-marked surface is prepared with a synthetic resin, a copper alloy, or the like, and a desired pattern such as a character or a symbol is formed on the matrix by adequate surface roughness means. And, a film of a mold release agent is adhered to the matrix, and further, electro conductivity is given by applying silver mirror processing in case of the matrix of a synthetic resin, and then metallic plating is applied till the thickness reaches several millimeters. This plating process requires several tens days, and this process is called "electroforming". After completion of electroforming, by peeling the portion formed by plating off the matrix, an electroformed mold can be obtained. And, a resin capable of plating, such as ABS (acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer), is injected into a mold for molding a key top, in which the electroformed mold is incorporated, to form a key top. Next, by forming a metallic film on a surface of the key top by plating, a metallic key on which a pattern such as a character or a symbol has been formed by a Shibo process can be obtained. However, the electroformed mold has a defect that it can not rapidly cope with a change in pattern such as a character or a symbol.
Thus, like the case wherein a character, a symbol, or the like, is directly formed by laser marking, which completely removes the metallic film at the irradiated portion, it is thinkable that part of the metallic film, that is, only a surface layer portion of the metallic film, is removed by laser marking and a plane aggregation of a large number of very small recessed points is formed to perform a Shibo process. Actually, marking a character or the like by a Shibo process by laser on a iron plate or an aluminum plate. However, when the film thickness of metal is too thin, it is impossible to apply a Shibo process. In addition, even in case that the film thickness is relatively thick, there were many difficult problems in comparison with a case of performing to a simple metallic plate.

Key unit, method for marking key top, and method for manufacturing key unit using the same


Various embodiments of a system and method for restoring a plurality of files previously deleted from a volume are described. For each respective file of the plurality of deleted files, the method may operate to determine a time at which the respective file was last modified and a time at which the respective file was deleted. These times define a respective recovery time window for the respective file. The method may further comprise determining a particular point in time that is within the recovery time windows for two or more of the plurality of deleted files. A temporary version of the volume as it existed at the particular point in time may be created, and each file of the two or more files may be restored to the volume from the temporary version of the volume.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to backup and recovery software for a computer system. More particularly, the invention relates to a system and method for efficiently restoring a plurality of deleted files to a file system volume.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many computer systems use data stored as files in a file system volume. Backup software is often used to backup the files to protect against data loss or data corruption. One general type of backup technique is to create a backup image of the entire file system volume. The backup image may represent a copy of the volume at a certain point in time, e.g., may include a copy of the data for all the files in the volume as the data exists at that point in time. The backup software may operate to create backup images at scheduled intervals. Recovery software can then use the backup images to restore the data in the event that it becomes necessary to do so. For example, the user may select to restore one or more files from the most recent backup image and/or from one or more of the older backup images.
Another general type of backup technique is referred to as continuous data protection (CDP). In a CDP solution, the file data is continuously backed up in real time as the files in the volume are changed. For example, continuous data protection may be provided for the volume at the block level. Each time a data block of a file in the volume is changed, a copy of the block may be copied into a CDP log, along with a timestamp indicating the current time. Thus, for any given block in the volume, there may be multiple copies of the block in the CDP log, where each copy corresponds to one of the times when the block was changed. Since the data is continuously backed up, the CDP log can be used to restore the volume to its state as it existed at virtually any specified point in time by using the timestamp information in the CDP log to find the appropriate copy of each respective block of the volume, e.g., the copy which represents the state of the respective block at the specified point in time.

System and method for efficiently restoring a plurality of deleted files to a file system volume


An electronic device for power applications and configured for being mounted on a printed circuit board is disclosed. The electronic device includes a semiconductor chip integrating a power component, and a package. The package comprises an insulating body embedding the semiconductor chip, and exposed electrodes for electrically connecting conductive terminals of the semiconductor chip to external circuitry in the printed circuit board. The electronic device is further configured to be fastened to a heatsink with a back surface of the insulating body in contact with a main surface of the heatsink for removing heat produced by the electronic device during the operation thereof. The insulating body lacks of a fixing portion in which a hole for receiving an insertable fastener element for the fastening of the electronic device to the heatsink is located.

1. Technical Field
The solution according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure relates to the electronics field. More specifically, such solution relates to electronic devices for power applications.
2. Description of the Related Art
Each electronic device typically comprises a chip—for example, of semiconductor material—on which components and/or electronic circuits are integrated, and a package in which the chip is embedded for protecting it and for allowing access to terminals thereof. The chip of an electronic device for power applications (e.g., AC adapters), hereinafter simply referred to as power device, typically integrates a power component, such as a power transistor of the MOS or BJT type, or a power diode.
The package of a power device comprises an insulating body having exposed leads, which are electrically connected to corresponding terminals of the chips (e.g., by a "wire-bonding" technique). The leads of the package are used for connecting the same (and thus the corresponding terminals of the chips) to external circuits. For such purpose, the power device is usually mounted on a printed circuit board (PCB), for example by surface mounting technology (or SMT), wherein the leads of the package comprise pads that are first fixed to corresponding conductive tracks of the PCB by a slight pressure (pick and place), and then reflow-welded on the same, or by through-hole technology (or THT), wherein the leads of the package comprise electrodes that are inserted into through-holes of the PCB and back-welded on it.
Semiconductors do not perform well at elevated temperature. However, since the chip of a power device is affected by high voltages and/or currents, it tends to heat up. Therefore, the power devices are cooled by removing that heat continuously. For this reason, heatsinks are provided to remove heat from the power device (and particularly, from the chip) by conducting it to the external environment through the package. Making reference in particular to a power device provided with electrodes, the heatsink is typically a metallic plate adapted to contact the package of the power device when the latter is mounted on the PCB. In order to remove heat from the power device in an efficient way, so as to keep the temperature thereof at safe levels, the package of the power device should be attached to the heatsink in such a way that a sufficiently large surface portion of the insulating body is in direct contact with the heatsink itself.
According to a solution known in the art, the package of the power device is configured to be fastened to the heatsink by means of an insertable fastener, such as for example a screw, configured to go through the insulating body. For this purpose, the insulating body of the package, as well as the heatsink, are provided with corresponding through-holes adapted to receive the screw. The position of the holes is such that, when the power device is mounted to the PCB (i.e., when the electrodes thereof are inserted into through-holes of the PCB), the hole on the package is aligned with the hole on the heatsink; having mounted the power device on the PCB, the power device is then firmly fastened to the heatsink by inserting the screw inside the two aligned holes.
The Applicant has observed that a solution of this type is not suitable for all the applications affected by size constraints, such as for example the AC adapters, whose size imposed by the actual demands is becoming more and more reduced. Indeed, with the abovementioned solution, the insulating body of each power device included in an AC adapter has to include a dedicated fixing portion in which the hole for receiving the insertable fastener is located. In order to correctly allow the passage of the insertable fastener through the hole avoiding any risk of damaging the chip wherein the power component is integrated, such fixing portion of the insulating body has to be located apart from the location of the chip. For this reason, the fixing portion is typically an additional protruding portion of the insulating body, whose presence sensibly increases the whole size of the power device.

Electronic device for power applications


An installation members 20 is structured detachably by a fitting structure between a groove portion 12 and a projection 21 extending in a tire peripheral direction CD, with respect to a tire side wall surface 10. a structure in which the groove portion 12 and the projection 21 interfere with each other in the tire peripheral direction is provided between the groove portion 12 and the projection 21.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pneumatic tire in which an installation member is attached to a tire side wall surface.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is often the case where various installation members formed as a circular arc shape or an annular shape are detachably attached to a tire side wall surface which reaches a tread portion from a bead portion via a side wall portion. As one example of the installation member, there can be listed up a rim protector for protecting a rim flange, an ornamental member for decorating and the like.
As one example of the installation member serving as the rim protector, in JP-A-5-155206, there is disclosed a tire structured such that a circular arc shaped rubber protection member serving as the installation member is provided with any one of a projection or a groove portion which extends along a tire peripheral direction, any other of the corresponding groove portion or projection is formed in a tire side wall surface, and the rubber protection member is installed to the tire side wall surface with a fitting structure between the projection and the groove portion.
As one example of the installation member serving as the ornamental member, in JP-A-11-151918, there is disclosed a tire structured such that a collar member having a different color from a tire main body is fitted into a groove portion of a tire side wall surface.


A holder for mounting conduits and tubes at a carrier in airplanes, including a basic body and at least one slide-in part. In this context, the basic body has a recess for receiving the slide-in part. The slide-in part is held in an end position in the recess. By means of the slide-in part, the basic body may be disposed at the carrier. The holder is designed to receive conduits and tubes with a diameter in the order of magnitude of 30 to 50 mm thickness.

For local mounting of at least one conduit at a component, there are known various embodiments of a holder. Holders of this kind are especially used in the aerospace industry to lay conduits, conduit bundles and tubes or cables and lines. In the state of the art, holders for mounting electrical conduits or guiding of electrical conduit bundles, respectively, are used in different fields.
In the state of the art, the holders are mounted at the cross beam or rib by means of screwing. When mounting by means of these holders, there exists the problem that the holders have to be screwed to respective carriers or portions of the structure of the airplane. This involves the handling with a screw which may fall down. Since such screw has to be found, the operation sometimes can be quite extensive.
A further disadvantage of these holders is that the respective holders have to be adapted to the specific connection conditions at the cross beam, beamer or rib, for example with respect to the thickness of the bar of the cross beam or the bore diameter.
Further, in airplane construction, there are not known any holders for greater diameters. Conduit bundles of 25 mm and more, as they nowadays are often needed in aeronautics, cannot be laid with the holders available in the state of the art.

Fastener for electrical conduits and tubes


At the start of operation of an internal-combustion engine (S10,S12,S14), an exhaust flow is restrained (to raise the exhaust pressure) (S18), secondary air is supplied (S20), and the combustion air-fuel ratio (A/F) is set within the range of rich air-fuel ratios (S16, S22).

The present invention relates to an exhaust emission control device of an internal-combustion engine, and more specifically, to a technique for reducing the delivery of harmful substances from an internal-combustion engine by using secondary air supply means.
An exhaust emission control technique is known that utilizes reaction on a catalyst in order to reduce harmful substances (including smoke, NOx, etc. as well as unburned substances such as HC, CO, H2, etc.) in exhaust gas. Also known is a secondary air technique in which a catalyst is activated early by supplying secondary air to an exhaust port.
In some cases, however, harmful substances that are discharged before the activation of the catalyst amount to 90% of the total delivery in a cold mode, and arouse a critical problem.
Described in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publications Nos. 3-117611 and 4-183921, therefore, is a developed technique such that the exhaust pressure is raised in the cold state to activate the catalyst early. As is described in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 8-158897, for example, a technique is developed such that the catalyst is activated early by raising the exhaust pressure and supplying secondary air in the cold state.
According to an experiment conducted by the applicant hereof, it was confirmed that reaction in an exhaust system can be accelerated to enhance the exhaust gas purifying capability and improve the exhaust emission control efficiency by using the secondary air technique in combination with any of the exhaust pressure raising techniques described above.
However, an investigation made afterward by the applicant thereof indicates that the exhaust emission control performance lowers if the secondary air is supplied and the exhaust pressure is raised in the cold state with the combustion air-fuel ratio of the internal-combustion engine kept at a normal combustion air-fuel ratio for the case where the exhaust pressure is not raised.
If the fuel injection is carried out in an intake stroke so that the combustion air-fuel ratio in the cold state is a rich air-fuel ratio, in the case of a cylinder-injection internal-combustion engine, moreover, exhaust gas that contains plenty of hydrocarbon (HC), an unburned fuel, is discharged into exhaust passages. Since HC reacts less easily than carbon monoxide (CO) does, in general, the exhaust emission control performance is not improved very much although the secondary air supply and exhaust pressure raising are carried out.
In order to accelerate reaction with the secondary air in the exhaust system satisfactorily, on the other hand, the exhaust pressure should be raised to about 700 mmHg (933 hPa). Since the discharge pressure of an air pump that is generally used for the purpose of secondary air supply is about 150 mmHg (200 hPa), however, the air pump is expected to be considerably improved in performance. If the air pump is large-sized, there is the problem of increase in cost as well as in driving power consumption.
In this case, an attempt may be made to increase the internal EGR by raising the exhaust pressure and changing the overlap opening of an exhaust valve without using any secondary air, as is described in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publications Nos. 5-231195 and 8-158897, for example. However, the exhaust pressure raising technique and the increase of the internal EGR alone cannot satisfactorily accelerate the reaction in the exhaust system. Thus, it is hard to improve the exhaust emission control efficiency and fully activate the catalyst early.
The object of the present invention is to provide an exhaust emission control device of an internal-combustion engine, in which secondary air can be securely fed into an exhaust system with use of a low-priced configuration despite a rise in exhaust pressure, and reaction in the exhaust system can be satisfactorily accelerated at the start of operation of the internal-combustion engine, so that the exhaust emission control efficiency can be improved.
In order to achieve the above object, an exhaust emission control device of an internal-combustion engine according to the present invention comprises exhaust flow control means for restraining an exhaust flow so as to enhance the effect of reduction of the delivery of harmful substances at the start of operation of the internal-combustion engine, secondary air supply means for supplying secondary air to an exhaust system of the internal-combustion engine at the start of operation of the internal-combustion engine, and air-fuel ratio control means for adjusting the combustion air-fuel ratio of the internal-combustion engine to a rich air-fuel ratio at the start of operation of the internal-combustion engine.
In the case where the secondary air is supplied and the exhaust flow is restrained (to raise the exhaust pressure) at the start of operation of the internal-combustion engine, therefore, reaction in the exhaust system (including a combustion chamber, exhaust port, exhaust manifold, exhaust pipes, etc.) can be accelerated to improve the exhaust emission control efficiency by setting the combustion air-fuel ratio (air-fuel ratio before the secondary air supply) within the range of rich air-fuel ratios.
In the exhaust emission control device of the internal-combustion engine of the present invention, moreover, the air-fuel ratio control means controls the combustion air-fuel ratio of the internal-combustion engine so that the combustion air-fuel ratio is not lower than a combustion limit air-fuel ratio and not higher than 13.
In the case where the secondary air is supplied and the exhaust flow is restrained (to raise the exhaust pressure) at the start of operation of the internal-combustion engine, therefore, the exhaust emission control performance can be optimized by setting the combustion air-fuel ratio (air-fuel ratio before the secondary air supply) within the range of relatively high rich air-fuel ratios not lower than the combustion limit air-fuel ratio and not higher than 13.
Referring to FIG. 5, there are shown relations between the combustion air-fuel ratio (combustion A/F) before the secondary air supply and the HC delivery for each exhaust pressure as the results of measurement in 10 seconds after the start of operation of the internal-combustion engine. In this drawing, a two-dot chain line, dashed line, broken line, and full line represent cases of exhaust pressures of 0 mmHg (0 hPa), 300 mmHg (400 hPa), 500 mmHg (667 hPa), and 700 mmHg (933 hPa), respectively. If the exhaust pressure rises in this manner, the HC delivery is reduced in general within the range of rich air-fuel ratios not higher than 13, in particular.
This phenomenon is supposed to occur for the following reason. The rise of the exhaust pressure heightens the exhaust gas density. As the air-fuel ratio is enriched, the quantity of unburned substances discharged from the combustion chamber increases correspondingly, the probability of reaction in the exhaust system (including the combustion chamber, exhaust port, exhaust manifold, and exhaust pipes) increases, and the exhaust gas flows back from the exhaust port into the combustion chamber. As the gas in the combustion chamber is stirred, oxidation of unburned HC and the like are accelerated.
In the exhaust emission control device of the internal-combustion engine of the present invention, moreover, the secondary air supply means supplies the secondary air so that the exhaust air-fuel ratio obtained after the secondary air supply is a lean air-fuel ratio.
Thus, the reaction in the exhaust system can be further accelerated to improve the exhaust emission control efficiency additionally by supplying the secondary air so that the combustion air-fuel ratio is a rich air-fuel ratio and the exhaust air-fuel ratio after the secondary air supply is a lean air-fuel ratio.
In the exhaust emission control device of the internal-combustion engine of the present invention, furthermore, the secondary air supply means supplies the secondary air so that the exhaust air-fuel ratio obtained after the secondary air supply ranges from 18 to 22.
Thus, the exhaust emission control performance can be further optimized by supplying the secondary air so that the combustion air-fuel ratio is a rich air-fuel ratio and the exhaust air-fuel ratio after the secondary air supply ranges from 18 to 22.
Referring to FIG. 6, there is shown the relation between the exhaust air-fuel ratio (exhaust A/F) after the secondary air supply to the exhaust system and the HC delivery under the exhaust pressure of 700 mmHg (933 hPa) as the result of an experiment in 50 seconds after the start of operation of the internal-combustion engine. If the exhaust pressure is raised in this manner, the HC delivery has its minimum when the exhaust air-fuel ratio is 20 or thereabout, and can be specially lowered when the exhaust air-fuel ratio ranges from 18 to 22.
In the exhaust emission control device of the internal-combustion engine of the present invention, furthermore, the internal-combustion engine is a multi-cylinder internal-combustion engine, and the secondary air supply means supplies the secondary air by stopping fuel supply to some of cylinders or carrying out lean-A/F operation.
If the secondary air is supplied by stopping the fuel supply to some of the cylinders or carrying out the lean-A/F operation, therefore, plenty of oxygen is discharged from some cylinders, while great quantities of unburned substances are discharged with a rich air-fuel ratio from the other cylinders. Thus, when the exhaust pressure is raised, the unburned substances and oxygen react satisfactorily in the exhaust system, so that the exhaust emission control efficiency can be improved with ease.
In the exhaust emission control device of the internal-combustion engine of the present invention, moreover, the internal-combustion engine is a multi-cylinder internal-combustion engine and comprises two exhaust passages provided independently for each of two cylinder groups into which cylinders of the multi-cylinder internal-combustion engine are divided and communicating channels connecting the two exhaust passages, and the secondary air supply means includes exhaust oxygen quantity increasing means for increasing the quantity of oxygen in exhaust gas discharged from one of the two cylinder groups, and supplies the secondary air as the exhaust control means restrains the exhaust flow so that the degree of restraint of the flow of the exhaust gas discharged from the one cylinder group is higher than the degree of restraint of the flow of the exhaust gas discharged from the other cylinder group when the quantity of oxygen in the exhaust gas discharged from the one cylinder group is increased by means of the exhaust oxygen quantity increasing means.
Thus, the exhaust oxygen quantity increasing means is used to increase the quantity of oxygen in the exhaust gas discharged from the one cylinder group (e.g., to perform lean-A/F operation), and the exhaust flow is restrained so that the degree of restraint of the flow of the exhaust gas discharged from the one cylinder group (degree of rise of the exhaust pressure) is higher than the degree of restraint of the flow of the exhaust gas discharged from the other cylinder group. As this is done, the exhaust pressure of the oxygen-rich exhaust gas discharged from the one cylinder group becomes higher than the exhaust pressure of the exhaust gas discharged from the other cylinder group. Based on the resulting pressure difference, the oxygen-rich exhaust gas is supplied as the secondary air from the exhaust passages of the one cylinder group to the exhaust passages of the other cylinder group through the communicating channels.
Thus, in the case where the exhaust flow is restrained to raise the exhaust pressure, the secondary air can be supplied securely to accelerate the reaction in the exhaust system without using any large-capacity secondary air pump, so that the exhaust emission control efficiency can be improved with use of a simple configuration without any increase in cost.
In the exhaust emission control device of the internal-combustion engine of the present invention, furthermore, the internal-combustion engine is a multi-cylinder internal-combustion engine and comprises two exhaust passages provided independently for each of two cylinder groups into which cylinders of the multi-cylinder internal-combustion engine are divided and communicating channels connecting the two exhaust passages, and the secondary air supply means includes exhaust oxygen quantity increasing means for increasing the quantity of oxygen in exhaust gas discharged from one of the two cylinder groups and an air pump attached to the communicating channels and capable of force-feeding the exhaust gas from the exhaust passages of the one cylinder group to the exhaust passages of the other cylinder group.
Thus, the exhaust flow is restrained (to raise the exhaust pressure) by means of the exhaust flow control means, the quantity of oxygen in exhaust gas discharged from the one cylinder group is increased by means of the exhaust oxygen quantity increasing means, and the air pump is actuated. As this is done, the oxygen-rich exhaust gas is supplied as the secondary air from the exhaust passages of the one cylinder group to the exhaust passages of the other cylinder group through the communicating channels despite the rise in the exhaust pressure attributable to the restraint of the exhaust flow.
Thus, in the case where the exhaust flow is restrained to raise the exhaust pressure, the secondary air can be supplied securely to accelerate the reaction in the exhaust system by means of a small-capacity air pump, not a large-capacity secondary air pump, so that the exhaust emission control efficiency can be improved with use of a simple configuration without any increase in cost.
In the exhaust emission control device of the internal-combustion engine of the present invention, furthermore, the exhaust oxygen quantity increasing means stops fuel supply to one of the two cylinder groups or performs lean-A/F operation.
Thus, the quantity of oxygen discharged from the on cylinder group can be easily increased to feed the secondary air securely to the exhaust system by stopping the fuel supply to the one cylinder group or performing the lean-A/F operation.
Further, the exhaust emission control device of the internal-combustion engine of the present invention is an exhaust emission control device of an internal-combustion engine, which has an injection valve for injecting a fuel directly into a combustion chamber, fuel injection control means for controlling fuel injection by means of the injection valve, and air-fuel ratio control means for controlling the air-fuel ratio, comprising exhaust flow control means for restraining an exhaust flow so as to enhance the effect of reduction of the delivery of harmful substances at the start of operation of the internal-combustion engine, and secondary air supply means for supplying secondary air to the exhaust system of the internal-combustion engine at the start of operation of the internal-combustion engine, the fuel injection control means and the air-fuel ratio control means being adapted to inject the fuel in a compression stroke of the internal-combustion engine and to adjust the combustion air-fuel ratio to the theoretical air-fuel ratio or a rich air-fuel ratio, respectively, when the secondary air is supplied to the exhaust system by means of the secondary air supply means.
A conventional cylinder-injection internal-combustion engine in which a fuel is injected directly into a combustion chamber is believed to be liable to plug smoldering, since the fuel is injected into a region near a spark plug in compression-stroke injection. The applicant hereof conducted an experiment and found that compression-stroke injection with the internal-combustion engine in a cold state, in particular, was able to ensure a satisfactory spray condition, lessen the plug smoldering, and generate plenty of CO. In feeding the secondary air into the exhaust passages, based on this fact, the fuel is injected in the compression stroke of the internal-combustion engine to generate CO so that the combustion air-fuel ratio is the theoretical air-fuel ratio or a rich air-fuel ratio.
Thus, in the case where the secondary air is supplied and the exhaust flow is restrained (to raise the exhaust pressure) at the start of operation of the internal-combustion engine, the exhaust gas can be made to contain plenty of CO. Since CO reacts more easily than HC does, the reaction in the exhaust system can be satisfactorily accelerated to improve the exhaust emission control efficiency.

Exhaust emission control device of internal-combustion engine

Mitsubishi Jidosha Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha


Apparatus of quartz or silicon carbide for use in horizontal or vertical furnace tubes, applicable to both diffusion/oxidation processes and to low pressure chemical vapor deposition process. The primary objectives include the adjustment of process gas flow distribution to improve film growth and composition uniformity to increase film growth rate and to reduce the consumption of reactant gases.. The apparatus consists of four major types of components, namely a plurality of substrate carriers or boats, a plurality of gas distribution discs, front and rear manifold link fixtures and primary and secondary gas injection tubes. Substrate carriers or boats are constructed of quartz or silicon carbide or other chemically nonreactive, thermally resistant materials which support a plurality of substrates on edge in machined slots in the substrate carriers interiorly along the length of a furnace tube. The substrates rest perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the furnace tube. The substrate carriers, the front and rear manifold link fixtures, the gas distribution discs, and primary and secondary gas injection tubes and their associated components are supported on a cantilevered paddle for longitudinal movement within the furnace tube.

1. Field of the Invention
Semiconductor diffusion/oxidation processing and low pressure CVD of silicon dioxide (doped and undoped), silicon (doped and undoped), single- and poly-crystalline, silicon nitride, and other thin films (conductive, semiconductive, and insulating) on semiconductor wafer substrates. Low pressure CVD of silicon dioxide (doped and undoped), polysilicon (doped and undoped), silicon nitride, and other thin films (conductive, semiconductive, and insulating) or larger for display panel substrates.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Chemical vapor deposition in existing furnace-tube CVD technology is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the physical and chemical processes which occur in the reaction chamber. In Hochberg and in Zaferes, it is claimed that the cage structure creates a "turbulence" in the flow of reactant gas to achieve improved film uniformity, while in McMullen and in Dozier, it is claimed that the cage structure causes the gases to be "directed" around the substrates to achieve film uniformity. In fact, the cage provides a "depletion surface" which consumes most of the reactant before it can reach the substrates. This increases the mean free path of the reactant which increases film deposition uniformity and decreases film growth rate.
Two companies, the Thermco Division of Silicon Valley Group and BTU Engineering, dominate the furnace tube CVD process market at this time. They are continuing to try to push the performance of their existing designs beyond practical limits.
The diffusion/oxidation technology marketed by competitors is decades old. No significant research has been pursued in this field for a very long time. Rapid Thermal (single-wafer) processes are being developed, but there are significant technical and throughput hurdles to be overcome.
In CVD, additional non-furnace CVD suppliers are Novellus Systems and Applied Materials. These two companies market high-end, very expensive (>$700,000) systems for silicon dioxide (LTO, PSG & BPSG) and passivation silicon nitride deposition. In spite of their very high price tags, the Novellus and Applied Materials technologies have developed considerable momentum in the marketplace. The source of this momentum lies in the failure of the furnace vendors to develop adequate process technology for their systems. Clearly, a furnace-based process which produces films of equal quality at one-third the capital cost would be far more economically attractive. Equal quality means equal physical/electrical performance (film thickness & compositional uniformity), equal process yield (particulate density and process-related device damage), and equal throughput. Currently available equipment has difficulty achieving within-wafer and wafer-to-wafer process uniformity better than .+-.10%. The primary problem with this process being too much doping at the wafer edge and not enough at wafer center. Existing systems are run with one-half to one-quarter size loads to improve batch yields. Process throughput suffers accordingly, and the result is a poor return on the investment in process hardware. The present invention hardware design will make possible doping and thickness uniformity of better than .+-.2% on full loads and on all wafer sizes from three inch to eight inch.
The present invention is a unique process hardware configuration for installation in existing or new horizontal or vertical furnace systems.
The present invention addresses a major weakness in existing furnace-based process hardware design. Currently available hardware does not "scale" easily to increases in wafer diameter. As size increases it becomes expotentially more difficult to adapt existing process technology to achieve previous standards of film quality. To make matters worse, film quality standards become more stringent each year. Existing systems produce acceptable results on three-, four- and five-inch wafers, but six-inch and larger wafers have proven to be a formidable obstacle. Delays in overcoming this obstacle have led to the success of Novellus Systems and Applied Materials in the single-wafer type PECVD systems. The new PECVD systems have one serious weakness, and that is expense. At three-quarters of a million dollars each, they are almost ten times the cost of existing furnace-based systems.
The present invention is developing the technology that will make available low-cost alternatives to the new systems while maintaining high standards of process quality. The equipment will be easier to automate than existing furnace-based systems and will adapt easily to the new vertical furnaces. It will consume less process gas than existing systems and will also generate less process-related particulate. This means that it will be able to run longer between clean cycles, and this, coupled with higher film growth rates, will result in more wafers being processed in less time (higher throughput). Most importantly, film thickness uniformity on large diameter wafers will be comparable to that achieved in the new single-wafer machines at a fraction of the capital cost.


An acaricide includes a surfactant and a penetrant. The acaricide has good, quick-acting effects, long effective period, safe and environment friendly, good stability, and a wide range of applications. The acaricide is not only capable of being used for exterminating agricultural and forest mites, but is also capable of being used for exterminating medical and animal husbandry mites. The acaricide has few to none drug residues and has good stability in acaricidal effect. Moreover, the acaricide is convenient to use, and may be used either alone or added directly into other insecticides.

Mites are animals belonging to the phylum Arthropoda, the class Arachnida and the subclass Acari, which have high diversity in regards to morphological structures, living habits, and habitats, among others. Mites are widely distributed, reproduce quickly, and can reproduce by parthenogenesis, which have a variety of lifestyles, and have strong adaptability to various environments ("Applied Acarology", Xin Jieliu, Shanghai: Fudan University Press, 1998, pages 163-205, publication date: Dec. 31, 1998).
According to economic significance, mites can be classified into one of three categories: agricultural and forestry mites, medical and animal husbandry mites, and environmental mites. The agricultural and forestry mites include mites living on plants and animal or plant products. According to feeding habits, the agricultural and forestry mites can be classified into phytophagous mites and predator mites. The phytophagous mites mainly include spider mites (Tetranychidae), eriophyoid mites (Eriophyoidea), acaroid mites (Acaroidea), tarsonemid mites (Tarsonemidae), Pyemotes (Pyemotidae), Pygmephoridae, Penthaleus major (Penthaleidae), Histiostoma (Histiostomatidae), Rhizoglyphus and Oribatid mites (Oribatida), among others. The phytophagous mites cause damage by piercing-sucking or chewing, and most of them are destroyers of human produced goods and agriculture, which can cause human diseases, chlorotic spots, leaf yellowing and shedding, deformities of branches and leaves, chewing of storage items, fungi spreading, and degeneration of storage items. The predator mites mainly include phytoseiid mites (Phytoseiidae), stigmaeid mites (Stigmaeidae), Ameroseius (Ameroseiidae), macrochelid mites (Maerochelidae), hemisarcoptid mites (Hemisarcoptidae), Cunaxidae, Bdelloidea, cheyletid mites (Cheyletidae), Trombidiidae and anystid mites (Anystidae), among others. The predator mites prey on or parasitize other arthropods, such as mites and insects. Most of the predator mites are used as biological control agents. The medical and animal husbandry mites refer to all kinds of mites that can cause animal diseases, including the mites that parasitize the body of humans or domesticated animals and reside in the living places of humans and domesticated animals, such as tick (Ixodoidea), itch mites (Sarcoptidae), follicle mites (Demodicidae), chigger mites (Trombiculidae), house-dust mites (Dermatophagoides), bee mites (Tarsonemidae), scab mites (Psoroptidae), feather mites (Analgoidea), Myobiidae, and Oribatid mites (Oribatida), among others. The medical and animal husbandry mites can cause diseases including dermatitis, allergic dermatitis, allergic rhinitis, allergic asthma, hemorrhagic fever, Lyme disease, Q fever, tick-borne encephalitis, plague, pruritus, acne, scabies, rosacea caused by demodex, pruritic external auditory canals caused by demodex, and blepharitis caused by demodex, among others. They can also transmit pathogenic microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses and Rickettsia, as well as other diseases such as tsutsugamushi disease, dermatitis caused by chigger mites, sand-mite fever, Q fever, scrubtyphus and scrub forest spotted fever, among others. The environmental mites refer to the mites living in the soil and they play a role in decomposition, mainly oribatid mites and acaroid mites. Most of the environmental mites are scavengers, which feed on decaying animals and plants and act as important decomposers in the soil ecological environment ("Recent Progress of Mite Research in China", Umar Abulimu et al., Bulletin of Biology, 2009, 44(4): 12-13, Publication Date: Dec. 31, 2009).
Agricultural and forest mites are key pests on agricultural and forestry crops, widely spreading across fields, causing local disasters, and has become a worldwide issue effecting agricultural production ("Effects of Nine Pesticides against the Nymphs and Eggs of Neoseiulus cucumeris (Oudemans)," Chen Xia et al., Chinese Journal of Biological Control, 2011, 27(1): 44, publication date: Feb. 28, 2011). The agricultural and forestry mites have caused harm in successive years in some areas where citrus, cotton, vegetables and other crops are grown, frequently resulting in a large-scale reduction in production of more than 30% of the area or even no harvest at all. Among agricultural and forest mites, adult and nymph mites mainly cluster on the back of the upper young leaves and the middle healthy leaves of plants. During the flourishing period of mites, a thin layer of fibrous web may be formed on the plants, and a large number of eggs, nymphs, and larvae of mites are attached to the fibrous web, which seriously affects the growth and development of the plants. The agricultural and forest mites pierce leaf tissues, mainly through piercing-sucking mouth parts, and feed on the chloroplasts and cell fluid of palisade cells, thus causing harm to plants. The destruction of plant cells may cause changes in plant physiological functions, resulting in a series of damage to plant organisms, including water balance disorders, photosynthesis process impairment, and effects of toxins or growth regulators. In the early stage of the damage, the leaf surface of the host sporadically generates chlorotic spots, and then the leaves are covered with white or pale spots, which seriously affects the photosynthesis of crops, destroys the normal physiological functions of host plants, and thus weakens the growth potential of the host plants. Slight damage may cause petal dropping, fruit dropping or fruit malformation, and plant premature senescence, therein significantly reducing the yield. Serious damage may result in the death of whole plants, thus causing serious economic losses. The annual loss caused by mites in the world is massive. For example, when cotton seedlings suffer damage from mites, all the leaves may fall, causing the cotton plants to become culms without any leaves; if the cotton plant is severely damaged in the middle and late stages of growth, the number of buds and bolls decreases, the boll opening stage is prolonged, the cotton yield decreases, and the fiber length is shortened. When corn plants suffer damage from mites, chlorotic plaque of needle-size appears in the early stage of the leaf; and in severe cases, the entire leaf turns yellow and wrinkled until it dries up and falls off. Then the grains become relatively small, resulting in a decrease of yield or even no harvest at all. When the camellia sinensis suffer damage from mites, the leaves turn brown after chlorosis and become hard and thick. The finished tea has a strong burnt taste, turbid soup color and peculiar smell, resulting in a serious decline in the yield and quality. When citrus suffers damage from mites, it produces necrotic spots on the young shoots, leaves and fruit epidermis, thus destroying the nutrition of the fruit tree, and restricting the nutrient growth of the fruit tree, thus resulting in a significant decline in the yield and quality of the citrus. Therefore, the prevention and control of mites has become one of the important tasks for agricultural production. At present, the agricultural control of mites mainly depends on the control methods of using chemical agents, such as ivermectin preparations, pyrethroid preparations, miticides, chumante, bromomite, pyridaben, benzyl benzoate, and fumigants, among others. ("Recent Progress of Mite Research in China", Umar Abulimu et al., Bulletin of Biology, 2009, 44(4): 12-13, Publication Date: Dec. 31, 2009). However, the long-term, frequent and large amount use of chemical pesticides makes mites prone to develop resistance and cross-resistance to most miticides. In addition, the development of resistance to the chemical pesticide is rapid. Therefore, the problem of chemical pesticide resistance has become increasingly serious.
Current research shows that, to varying degrees, agricultural and forest mites have developed resistance to miticides such as organophosphorus, organochlorines, pyrethroids, mitochondrial electron-transport-chain inhibitors, and novel quaternary acids. In order to prevent and control the damage from mites, the concentration, dose and frequency of the pesticides in application have been increased, and the control frequency is up to 10-30 times per year. For example, in an adult citrus orchard in southern China, the annual application of pesticides for mite control reaches up to 30 times per year. The cost of the prevention and control accounts for more than 80% of the total agricultural control cost, which greatly increases the cost of agricultural production. In addition, these chemical pesticides also kill a large number of the natural enemies of mites, causing them to become more rampant, which becomes a vicious cycle and brings with it serious food safety problems.
Meanwhile, the problem of pesticide residues is severe, which not only causes serious food safety risks, but also causes heavy pollution to the surrounding natural environment. This type of pollution is undoubtedly damaging to the human living environment, greatly effecting the ecological security, and seriously restricting the sustainable and healthy development of industries such as grain, cotton, fruits, and vegetables, among others.
In order to solve the problems mentioned above, biologically-derived miticides have been developed. At present, the existing biologically-derived miticides include avermectin, alkaloids, flavonoids, citrates, and plant essential oils, among others. These biologically-derived miticides have numerous advantages such as non-toxicity, less pollution or even pollution-free, unlikely to induce drug resistance and high efficiency, among others. They are also highly valued and focused. However, compared with chemical pesticides, the biologically-derived miticides have poor acaricidal effect, are slow acting, have a short validity period, have a lack of acaricidal effect stability, and a narrowly controlled range. The drug resistance of mites has been continuously improved after long-term application. For example, in recent years, due to the high-frequency use of avermectin, the resistance of mites to avermectin has continued to increase, and the control effect has gradually decreased.
Therefore, SK Company in South Korea has developed a petroleum oil as a miticide. The petroleum oil can form an oil film on pest bodies to close their stomata, thereby exterminating the pests. Moreover, the pests do not develop resistance to the petroleum oil easily. Mixing the petroleum oil with other pesticides before application can improve the pesticide effect, extend the effective duration, prevent the cloud point of the liquid pesticide from evaporating too quickly, reduce the drift of cloud point, help in dissolving the wax layer on the surface of the pests, and effectively protect natural enemies, thereby directly killing and repelling some small pests and harmful mites. However, this petroleum oil has a limited acaricidal range, which means it cannot be applied at the flowering stage, young fruit stage and fruit maturity stage of fruit trees, thus greatly limiting the scope of application.

CHONGQING LINGSHI AGRICULTURAL TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


A method and substrate composition for treating atherosclerosis are provided. The method involves parenterally administering the substrate composition as an aqueous solution to substantially lower plasma cholesterol and substantially reverse arterial plaque deposition and degenerative changes associated with atherosclerosis. The substrate compositions include mixtures of biologically active levorotatory amino acids as the antiatherosclerotic agent.

The present invention relates generally to compositions and methods for treating atherosclerosis; more particularly, it relates to methods and substrate compositions for treating atherosclerosis whereby the many and varied problems associated with the disease can be arrested, substantially alleviated or even to a certain extent cured. Still more particularly, the present invention utilizes mixtures of biologically active levorotatory (L-form) amino acids to accomplish these results.
In the United States and Western Europe, cardiovascular disease and its associated maladies, dysfunctions and complications are a principal cause of disability and the chief cause of death. One specific entity significantly contributing to this pathophysiologic process is atherosclerosis, which has been generally recognized as the leading health care problem both with respect to mortality and health care costs. During each of the past five years, more than 550,000 deaths have occurred annually in the United States alone as a result of coronary artery disease. Additionally, more than 680,000 hospitalizations for myocardial infarction, the major complication of atherosclerosis, occur annually, and the number is steadily increasing. In recent years, more people in the United States have died as a result of atherosclerosis than of cancer, trauma and infectious diseases combined.
In 1983, the direct health care costs for the management of patients with coronary heart disease in the United States exceeded $8 billion. During the same period the total economic cost to this nation as a result of coronary heart disease as a manifestation of atherosclerosis alone was in excess of $60 billion and for 1987 is estimated to reach $96 billion. These costs do not even reflect the expense required for the management or treatment of the many and varied non-cardiac, atherosclerosis induced conditions.
Atherosclerosis is a disease characterized by the deposition of fatty substances, primarily cholesterol, and subsequent fibrosis in the inner layer (intima) of an artery, resulting in plaque deposition on the surface of, and degenerative changes in, an arterial wall. The ubiquitous arterial fatty plaque is the earliest lesion of atherosclerosis, often found even in children, and is a grossly flat, lipid-rich atheroma consisting of both macrophages (white blood cells) and some smooth muscle fibers. The fibrous plaque representative of the various forms of advanced atherosclerosis has increased intimal smooth muscle cells surrounded by a connective tissue matrix and containing variable amounts of intracellular and extracellular lipid. At the luminal surface of the artery, this plaque or lesion is usually covered by a dense fibrous cap of smooth muscle or connective tissue. Beneath the fibrous cap, the lesions are highly cellular consisting of macrophages, other leukocytes and smooth muscle cells. Deep in this cell-rich region may be areas of cholesterol crystals, necrotic debris and calcification.
If the disease is allowed to progress, it can cause narrowing and obstruction of the lumen of the artery resulting in diminished or occluded blood flow and, consequently, ischemia or infarction of the predominantly affected organ or anatomical part such as the brain, heart, intestine or extremities. The result can be significant loss of function, loss of cellular substance, emergency medical and/or surgical procedures, and significant disability or death. Alternatively, the arterial wall can be severely weakened by the infiltration of the muscular layer with the lipid (cholesterol), inflammatory white blood cells, connective tissue and calcium, resulting in soft and/or brittle areas which can become segmentally dilated (aneurysmal) and rupture or crack leading to organ, limb or even life-threatening hemorrhage.
While the basic definitive cause or causes of atherosclerosis are not fully known or understood, it has been hypothesized that this disorder is related to the plasma cholesterol and lipid levels based on empiric clinical observations of many investigators and medical practitioners. Consequently, one of the currently favored regimens for treating atherosclerosis consists of medication, dietary management, behavior modification and exercise aimed at controlling and reducing the plasma cholesterol levels.
Common medications used to lower plasma cholesterol levels include Atromid-S.RTM. (clofibrate), Choloxin.RTM. (dextrothyroxine sodium), Colestid.RTM. (colestipol hydrochloride), Lopid.RTM. (gemfibrozil), Lorelco.RTM. (probucol), Nicolar.RTM. (niacin/nicotinic acid) and Questran.RTM. (cholestyramine resin). These drugs, and the treatments in general, however, are directed only at the cause and not the result of atherosclerosis and have not been shown to be effective in reversing the plaque deposition and degenerative changes in the arterial walls. The pharmacologic agents also have many other shortcomings such as, for example, adverse side effects (hypertension, cardiac arrhythmias, gastrointestinal disturbances, headache, hypersensitivity, etc.), contraindications (heart, liver or kidney disease, pregnancy, etc.), requirement for lifelong conscientious administration, difficulty in maintaining consistent patient compliance, variable reliability and high cost.
Once the disease has progressed to the stage of significant persistent symptoms and compromised function, the next treatment step has conventionally been artery bypass grafting to repair and/or replace the damaged artery. While coronary artery bypass has become one of the more common major cardiovascular surgical procedures in the United States, surgery clearly is not the solution to the pathologic process since it has no arresting or reversing effect on the progress of the disease and only temporarily overcomes the most critically affected artery or arteries by bypassing them, if possible. Moreover, there is a significant risk of morbidity and mortality associated with surgery which many patients are reluctant to accept. Indeed, the disease may continue to progress even as the operation is being performed, and the autogenous veins or arteries used to bypass the disease impaired arteries undergo atherosclerosis changes postoperatively generally at a faster rate than the original, affected arteries. Furthermore, the conclusion reached by the Coronary-Artery Surgery Study (CASS) sponsored by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) is that there is no overall statistical benefit in the survival rate or the rate of development of myocardial infarction between the surgically and medically treated groups of patients.
As an alternative to coronary bypass surgery, it has been suggested that certain medications and procedures may be used to treat the results of atherosclerosis and not just the cause. These treatments include chelation with ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) and percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA). EDTA treatments, however, are still experimental, unproven and potentially as harmful as they are beneficial. PTCA treatments are invasive, of limited application and success and occassionally manifest lethal complications. Highly experimental intra-arterial laser beam plaque vaporization has limited application and requires an open operative approach to affected vessels.
It has now been surprisingly discovered that parenterally administered solutions comprising certain mixtures of biologically active amino acids are effective in both markedly reducing plasma cholesterol levels and arresting and reversing arterial plaque deposition and degenerative vascular changes associated with atherosclerosis.
Certain amino acid solutions have been parenterally administered intravenously during the past three to four decades for a variety of medical reasons. Total Parenteral Nutrition (TPN), or intravenous hyperalimentation, is now a widely accepted technique for management of nutritional and metabolic problems in patients whose absorption and assimilation of adequate or optimal nutritional substrates cannot or should not be achieved via the alimentary tract. Indeed, use of this technique, pioneered by the present inventor, has been successful in supporting normal growth and development in infants and in one child for more than fifteen years since birth.
Currently, a number of standard TPN solutions are commercially available in the United States, including those sold under the trade name TRAVOSOL.RTM. (Travenol Laboratories), FREAMINE.RTM. (McGaw Laboratories), AMINOSYN.RTM. (Abbott Laboratories) and NOVAMINE (Cutter Medical, Division of Miles Laboratories). These standard intravenous feeding solutions are designed to be nutritionally balanced, that is, they are formulated to provide all of the caloric, protein (amino acid), vitamin, mineral, water and trace element requirements of the average patient. The components of these solutions are also available in modular form, allowing the physician and pharmacist to formulate special solutions tailored to the specific needs of patients during the course of their management. Essential fatty acids and additional calories in the form of a lipid can also be administered separately intravenously as fortified emulsions of soybean or safflower oil in order to meet specific nutritional requirements. In patients with renal failure, hepatic failure or severe stress, special intravenous formulations of amino acids are also commercially available for infusion as an adjunct to the management of these conditions. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,832,465 describes an amino acid solution for nutritional use and U.S. Pat. No. 3,950,529 describes administration of amino acids to patients having liver disease.
No suggestion has been made, however, that parenterally administered biologically active amino acid solutions might be used to treat atherosclerosis, particularly with respect to the reversal of the detrimental complications associated with the disease.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide amino acid compositions and methods for treating atherosclerosis whereby not only the plasma cholesterol levels (contributing cause) are lowered, but also the plaque deposition and degenerative arterial changes (results) and secondary complications associated with the disease can be substantially arrested, reversed or even to a certain extent cured.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide amino acid compositions and methods for treating atherosclerosis which do not produce the many side effects of conventional drug treatments and can effectively decrease or even eliminate the need for major surgery or other interventional procedures in most atherosclerosis patients.

Method and substrate composition for treating atherosclerosis


A toner including a main body particle, a layer B located overlying the main body particle, and a layer A located overlying the layer B is provided. The binder resin includes an amorphous resin and a crystalline resin. The layer B is comprised of particles of a resin B. The layer A is comprised of particles of a resin A. A method of manufacturing the above toner is also provided. The method includes dissolving or dispersing toner components in an organic solvent to prepare a toner components liquid. The toner components include the binder resin. The method further includes emulsifying the toner components liquid in an aqueous medium to prepare an emulsion. The aqueous medium contains the particles of the resins A and B. The method further includes removing the organic solvent from the emulsion and heating the emulsion.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a toner, a method of manufacturing toner, an image forming method, an image forming apparatus, and a process cartridge.
2. Description of Related Art
Recently, various high-speed and high-quality full-color image forming technologies have been developed in electrophotography. Japanese Patent Application Publication Nos. 07-209952 and 2000-075551 each describe a tandem image forming apparatus employing an intermediate transfer method. The apparatus includes tandemly-arranged multiple electrophotographic photoreceptors each adapted to form single-color toner image and an intermediate transfer member onto which the single-color toner images are transferred from the multiple electrophotographic photoreceptors. Intermediate transfer methods are advantageous in preventing the occurrence of background fouling but disadvantageous in terms of transfer efficiency because of including two transfer processes, i.e., the primary transfer process in which toner images are transferred from electrophotographic photoreceptors onto an intermediate transfer member and the secondary transfer process in which the toner images are further transferred from the intermediate transfer member onto a recording medium.
To meet demand for high-quality image, toners have been developed to have a much smaller particle size to more precisely reproduce latent images. Japanese Patent No. 3640918 and Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 06-250439 each describe a polymerization method for manufacturing toner. It is described therein that the polymerization method is capable of control particle size and shape of toner. It is also described therein that small-sized toner particles can precisely reproduce dots and thin lines with smaller pile height (i.e., image thickness).
Generally, in electrophotography, as the size of a toner particle gets smaller, non-electrostatic adhesive force between the toner particle and a photoreceptor or an intermediate transfer member gets larger, which results in poor transfer efficiency. Therefore, when small-sized toner particles are used in a high-speed full-color image forming apparatus, the secondary transfer efficiency may drastically decrease. The reason is not only that the non-electrostatic adhesive force between a toner particle and an intermediate transfer member is increased but also that a time period within which toner particles, in a multilayer, are exposed to the secondary transfer electric field is shortened in the high-speed apparatus, as the size of the toner particle gets smaller.
One approach for improving transfer efficiency includes increasing the secondary transfer electric field, but this approach not always improves transfer efficiency. Another approach for improving transfer efficiency includes increasing the width of the secondary transfer nip so that toner particles can be exposed to the secondary transfer electric field much longer. In a case in which a contact bias roller is employed in the secondary transfer, the contacting pressure or diameter of the bias roller may be increased to increase the width of the secondary transfer nip, each of which is not preferable in terms of image quality and compactness. In a case in which a non-contact charger is employed in the secondary transfer, the number of chargers may be increased to increase the width of the secondary transfer nip, which is not preferable in terms of compactness and cost.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2001-066820 and Japanese Patent No. 3692829 each propose a technique for adjusting the kinds and amounts of external additives of toner. It is described therein that non-electrostatic adhesive force between a toner particle and a photoreceptor or an intermediate transfer member is reduced by adjusting the kinds and amounts of external additives.
However, the external additives may be gradually buried in toner particles as the toner particles receive mechanical stress due to agitation in a developing device. As a result, the external additives may no more function and transfer efficiency may deteriorate. This phenomenon notably occurs in high-speed apparatuses because agitation in developing device is more intensive.
One approach for providing high transfer efficiency for an extended period of time even in high-speed apparatuses involves controlling mechanical strength of the surfaces of toner particles so that external additives are not buried in the toner particles even under exposure to mechanical stress. The toner manufacturing method described in Japanese Patent No. 3640918 has attempted to form a thick layer of resin particles on the surfaces of toner particles to increase mechanical strength of the toner particles. Toner particles having too stiff surface cannot melt well when fused on a recording medium upon application of heat. In a case in which toner particles include a release agent such as wax, the release agent cannot exude from the toner particles when fused on a recording medium upon application of heat.

Toner, method of manufacturing toner, image forming method, image forming apparatus, and process cartridge