A three-dimensional image capturing device comprises a light source for irradiating a distance measuring light beam to a subject. The light source has a plurality of light source rings, each of which is formed of a plurality of LEDs. The LEDs are annularly disposed along an outer periphery of a lens barrel. The ratio of the intensities of light beams irradiated by the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth light source rings is 1:2:4:8:16. The intensity of the distance measuring light beam irradiated by the light source rings is modulated by selecting the light source rings to be turned ON, so that the intensity of the distance measuring light beam changes in accordance with the time.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a three-dimensional image capturing device that obtains three-dimensional information of a measurement subject, based on luminous information obtained by photographing the subject.
2. Description of the Related Art
In these past few years, three-dimensional image technology has been developed, and a three-dimensional image capturing device, which can sense distance information of a subject, has been put into practical use. There are various ways of sensing three-dimensional information of a subject. In particular, there is known a system combining a camera, having a high-speed shutter function, and a modulation unit, for varying the intensity of the distance measuring light beam in accordance with time. In this system, the distance measuring light beam, of which the intensity is modulated, is irradiated onto a subject, and the delay of the reflected light beam, generated in accordance with the distance between the light source and the surface of the subject, is sensed by the high-speed shutter camera, so that the three-dimensional shape of the subject is obtained.
Regarding the light source, it is preferable to use an LED in which the intensity of light is adjusted by changing the electric current, and a plurality of LEDs are electrically connected in series so as to simultaneously adjust therein, intensities. However, since the intensity of light of an LED depends upon the ambient temperature, it is necessary to feedback-control the change in the intensity of light while monitoring it. This creates a particular problem in that the control circuit for controlling the change of intensity of light over a wide range for a single LED is complicated and bulky.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a three-dimensional image capturing device in which the amount of light supplied to the light source irradiating the distance measuring light beam is stably controlled with a simple circuit.
According to the present invention, there is provided a three-dimensional image capturing device, comprising a light source, a modulating processor, a light sensing processor, and a distance obtaining processor.
The light source has a plurality of irradiating units to irradiate a distance measuring light beam to a subject. The intensities of the distance measuring light beams are different from each other. The modulating processor selects at least one of the irradiating units and modulates the intensity of the distance measuring light beam in accordance with the time elapsed from when the light source started irradiating the distance measuring light beam. The light sensing processor senses the distance measuring light beam reflected by the subject in accordance with a timing of the modulation, to obtain luminous information of the subject. The distance obtaining processor obtains distance information of the subject based on the luminous information.
The irradiating unit preferably has a plurality of LEDs that are annularly disposed along an outer periphery of a lens barrel in which a photographing lens is provided, and the LEDs are electrically connected to each other in series. In this case, the modulating processor simultaneously controls electric current flowing in each of the LEDs. Due to this, the modulation of the intensity of distance measuring light beam can be stably performed with a simple circuit.
The plurality of irradiating units maybe concentrically disposed to each other, and may have first, second, third, fourth, and fifth irradiating units, which are arranged from the center to the outmost periphery in this order. The ratio of the intensities of the distance measuring light beams of the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth irradiating units may be 1:2:4:8:16. If this ratio is used, the distance measuring light beam can be uniformly irradiated, and the intensity can be easily modulated stepwise, i.e., in 32 steps by selecting the combination of irradiating units which are to be turned ON.
Preferably, the luminous information comprises first and second luminous information, the first luminous information being obtained by increasing the intensity stepwise using the modulating processor, the second luminous information being obtained by decreasing the intensity stepwise using the modulating processor. The distance obtaining processor can obtain the distance information using the first and second luminous information. Therefore, highly accurate distance information is obtained that does not depend on the reflectance on the surface of the subject nor the uneveness of the distance measuring light beam in space.

Three-dimensional image capturing device


Antibodies or antigen-binding fragments thereof are engineered to bind Transforming Growth Factor-β (TGFβ). TGFβ-isoform selective antibodies or antigen-binding fragments thereof may selectively bind human TGFβ1, compared to human TGFβ2 and human TGFβ3, or may selectively bind human TGFβ3, compared to human TGFβ1 and human TGFβ2. The design of the antibodies or antigen-binding fragments thereof is facilitated by a co-crystal structure of a recombinant Fab fragment of GC1008 bound to TGFβ2 and by another co-crystal structure of the scFv version of GC1008 bound to TGFβ1.

Many severe diseases are linked to malfunctions of the TGFβ-induced signaling pathway. An increased tissue level of TGFβ is believed to be a factor in the development of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and myocardial fibrosis, for example. Furthermore, high local tissue levels of TGFβ can allow the maintenance and progression of some types of cancer cells. The down-regulation of TGFβ signaling therefore can reduce the viability of such tumor cells.
TGFβ isoforms are ˜25 kDa homodimeric molecules with a similar structural framework in which two monomers are covalently linked via a disulfide bridge. The mammalian isoforms share a sequence identity of 70-82%, but have non-overlapping activities in vascular development and the regulation of immune cell function. Three TGFβ isoforms are present in humans: TGFβ1, TGFβ2, and TGFβ3 (Swiss Prot accession numbers P01137, P08112, and P10600, respectively). TGFβ1 and TGFβ3 trigger a cellular signaling cascade upon binding to the extracellular domains of two transmembrane receptors, known as TGFβ receptor types I and II. TGFβ2 binding is also thought to involve TGFβ receptor types I and II, as well as TGFβ receptor type III.
Antibody molecules the can bind human TGFβ1, TGFβ2, and TGFβ3 have been generated (e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 7,723,486 to Genzyme). Grütter et al. (2008) Proc. Nat'l Acad. Sci. USA 105(51): 20251-56, for example, disclose GC1008, a human IgG4 monoclonal antibody (MAb) in clinical development for treating malignancy and fibrotic diseases. GC1008 is a "pan-specific" TGFβ neutralizing antibody, because it can neutralize all three human TGFβ isoforms. GC1008 binds to human TGFβ1, TGFβ2, and TGFβ3 with similar affinities. The TGFβ epitope recognized by GC1008 overlaps the TGFβ binding site for TGFβ receptor types I and II, which is believed to underlie the neutralizing ability of GC1008. Grütter et al. disclose the three dimensional structure of a GC1008 Fab fragment in complex with TGFβ3 at a resolution of 3.1 Å. The complex consists of a TGFβ3 homodimer flanked by two GC1008 Fab fragments. See also Proteopedia entry 3eo0, "Structure of the Transforming Growth Factor-Beta Neutralizing Antibody GC-1008," on the Internet at proteopedia.org/wiki/index.php/3eo0 (last modified Oct. 20, 2012); and Proteopedia entry 3eo1, "Structure of the Fab Fragment of GC-1008 in Complex with Transforming Growth Factor-Beta 3," on the Internet at proteopedia.org/wiki/index.php/3eo1 (last modified Oct. 20, 2012).

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Engineered anti-TGF-β antibodies and antigen-binding fragments


Mechanisms are provided to enable the identification of a UE in both the cellular network (e.g., a 3GPP network) and the WLAN. In some aspects, the UE is provided with information enabling it to find the transport network layer, TNL, address (e.g., an IP address) of the WT and an identifier of the UE. Using the TNL of the WT, the UE can establish a connection towards the WT (either connectionless or connection oriented) and provide the UE identity. The WT and eNodeB exchange information about the UE ID, and the UE is identified in both the 3GPP network and the WLAN. The WT is a logical node and may be integrated in the eNodeB, in a WLAN node (e.g. access controller, access point), standalone or somewhere else. Once identified, user data can be sent to the UE via the WT.

The WLAN technology known as "Wi-Fi" can be used to offload traffic from wide-area cellular networks, such as 3GPP cellular networks. Interest in cooperation between WLANs and cellular networks is rapidly increasing, since virtually all smartphones support Wi-Fi. In some Wi-Fi descriptions, the term "Station" (STA) might be used instead of user equipment (UE). Accordingly, the terms UE, STA and terminal may be used interchangeably herein to describe wireless terminals that support both a cellular technology (such as Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access, or E-UTRA) and WLAN.
In a Wi-Fi architecture, the wireless terminal (UE/STA) is connected on the user plane to the Wi-Fi Access Point (AP), which can be directly connected to the Internet. In the control plane, an Access point Controller (AC) may handle the management of the AP. One AC can handle the management of several APs. Security and authentication of users can be handled via an Authentication, Authorization and Accounting (AAA) entity, which may be a RADIUS server. Remote Administration Dial-In User Service (RADIUS) is the most widely used network protocol for providing a centralized AAA management (RFC 2865).
In working groups of the 3rd-Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), the functionality for sending data from a 3GPP network to a UE, via WLAN, is being standardized. The current architecture in 3GPP is shown in FIG. 1, where the WLAN Termination (WT) is a logical node connected to a 3GPP network (e.g., an eNB in E-UTRAN). The WLAN Termination is also connected to the WLAN.
However, when the UE has found and connected to an AP in WLAN, there is currently no mechanism for the eNodeB to find the UE on the WLAN side, or for the AP to find or know which WLAN Termination is connected to the eNodeB serving the UE.


A modular feed-though adapter that allows an electrical connection to a power line network adapter without xe2x80x9cusing upxe2x80x9d an electrical outlet is described. In one embodiment, the modular feed-through adapter also provides noise filtering to protect electrical equipment plugged into the feed-through outlet. The noise filtering also protects the power line network data signals from noise generated by the devices plugged into the feed-through adapter. In one embodiment, the network connections provided by the feed-through adapter are low voltage connections, thus allowing the network connections from the feed-through adapter to be safely plugged directly into low-voltage equipment such as computer network cards and the like. In one embodiment, the modular adapter includes a balun to couple network data signals to the power line.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to adapters for power line communication systems, in particular, the invention relates to adapters that connect a power line network modem to an electrical outlet or electrical power cord.
2. Description of the Related Art
The widespread availability of computers, especially personal computers, has led to a rapid increase in the number of computer networks. Networking two or more computers together allows the computers to share information, file resources, printers, etc. Connecting two or more personal computers and printers together to form a network is, in principle, a simple task. The computers and printers are simply connected together using a cable, and the necessary software is installed onto the computers. In network terminology, the cable is the network medium and the computers and printers are the network nodes. Unfortunately, in practice, creating a computer network is often not quite as simple as it sounds. Typically, a user will encounter both software and hardware problems in attempting to configure a computer network.
When configuring a network in a home or small office, users often encounter hardware difficulties insomuch as it is usually necessary to install a network cable to connect the various network nodes. In a home or office environment, it can be very difficult to install the necessary cabling when the computers are located in different rooms or on different floors. Network systems that use radio or infrared radiation are known, but such systems are subject to interference and government regulation, and thus are far less common than systems that rely on a physical connection such as a wire or cable.
Virtually all residential and commercial buildings in the U.S. are wired with electrical power lines, and using the existing power lines as a network medium to carry data is both convenient and efficient. Access to the power lines, for both power and data, is typically provided by conventional two-pronged or three-pronged electrical outlets. In most homes and office buildings, several electrical outlets are provided in each room. Nevertheless, many people find that there are never enough available outlets. To combat this problem, a wide variety of multi-outlet adapters have been marketed.
The multi-outlets adapters come in many forms, but they all have the common goal of expanding the number of devices that can be plugged into a wall outlet. One common type of multi-outlet adapter used with computer equipment is the surge-suppressor strip. The surge-suppressor strips usually include a power cord that plugs into an existing wall outlet, a switch, a circuit breaker, and several outlets. The surge-protector strips include surge suppressors and noise filters to protect the computer equipment from voltage spikes and noise often present on the power line.
Unfortunately, the surge suppressors and noise filters in the surge-suppressor strips often cause problems with power line networking systems because the noise filter treats the network data signals as noise that must be removed. Therefore, it is often desirable for the power line networking system to have direct access to the electrical power outlets, rather than the outlets provided by the surge-suppressor strip.
Power line network systems are often installed by homeowners and small business owners who have little, if any, technical training. Some users have encountered difficulty, and dissatisfaction, with prior power line network systems because the user, unwilling to give up an electrical outlet, plugged the power line equipment into a surge-suppressor strip (sometimes rendering the power line network equipment partially inoperative due to the noise filters in the strip). Moreover, previous embodiments of power line adapters have met with some consumer resistance because the need for direct access to the power outlet xe2x80x9cused upxe2x80x9d an outlet that the consumer wanted to use for other purposes. In some cases, the size existing power line equipment that plugged into an electrical outlet forced the user to move furniture away from the outlet (such situations can occur, for example, when the outlet being used for a computer or printer lies behind a desk or bookcase).
The present invention solves these and other problems by providing a compact modular feed-though adapter that allows an electrical connection to a power line network adapter without xe2x80x9cusing upxe2x80x9d an electrical outlet. In so doing, the present invention greatly increases the convenience and usability of power line network equipment. Power line network equipment configured according to the present invention is much easier for the user to install than prior systems and significantly reduces the chance that a user will have problems due to incorrect installations. The feed-through adapter allows the user to plug the power line network adapter directly into the wall without sacrificing an electrical outlet.
In one embodiment, the modular feed-through adapter also provides noise filtering to protect electrical equipment plugged into the feed-through outlet. Unlike a conventional surge-suppressor strip that filters all outputs, putting the noise filter in the feed-through adapter provides filtering where desirable (e.g. to protect a computer) and avoids protective filtering where such filtering would be undesirable (e.g. in the power line network data path). The noise filtering also protects the power line network data signals from noise generated by the devices plugged into the feed-through adapter. In one embodiment, the network connections provided by the feed-through adapter are low voltage connections, thus allowing the network connections from the feed-through adapter to be safely plugged directly into low-voltage equipment such as computer network cards and the like.
One embodiment includes a self-contained feed-through power line network adapter that provides an electrical power connection to a power line, and a network data connection to a computer or other device. In one embodiment, the self-contained unit includes an electrical plug configured to plug into one socket, such as the lower socket, of an electrical power outlet without covering other sockets in the electrical outlet. The self-contained adapter includes a feed-through output socket and a network data/power connector. In one embodiment, the feed-through socket includes a filter to reduce the amount of power line noise and voltage spikes that reaches the equipment plugged into the feed-through socket. The filter also reduces the amount of noise that reaches the data/power connector from the device plugged into the feed-through outlet. In one embodiment, the self-contained network adapter includes a power line network interface and one or more network ports to allow network connections between the self-contained network adapter and a computer or other device.
In one embodiment, a self-contained adapter includes an electrical plug configured to plug into two or more sockets of an electrical power outlet. The two-outlet self-contained adapter includes two feed-through output sockets and a network data/power connector. In one embodiment, the feed-through socket includes a ground-fault interrupter circuit for safety and a filter to reduce the amount of power line noise and voltage spikes that reaches the equipment plugged into the feed-through sockets. The filter also reduces the amount of noise that reaches the data/power connector from the device plugged into the feed-through outlets.
In one embodiment, a modular feed-through power line network adapter provides an electrical power connection to a power line, and a power and data connection to a power line network adapter. The modular adapter provides a feed-through output socket and a power/network connector. In one embodiment, the feed-through socket includes a filter to reduce the amount of power line noise and other voltage transients that reach the equipment plugged into the feed-through socket. The filter also reduces the amount of noise that reaches the data/power connector from the device plugged into the feed-through outlet. In one embodiment, the data/power connector is configured to receive a data/power cable connected to a power line network adapter module. In one embodiment, the data/power connector provides 110-volt power to the network adapter module. In one embodiment, the data/power connector provides relatively lower voltage power to the network adapter module. In one embodiment, the data/power connector provides data signals to a self-powered the network adapter card or module. One embodiment includes a modular feed-through power line network adapter configured as a surge-suppressor strip that includes a network power/data connector.
One embodiment includes a modular feed-through power line network adapter that provides an inline electrical power connection to a computer power-supply connector plug and a data connection to a power line network adapter.
In one embodiment, a low pass filter reduces the amount of power line noise that reaches the device plugged into the feed-through outlet. The low pass filter also reduces the noise that reaches the data/power connector from a device plugged into a feed-through outlet. In one embodiment, the low pass filter is an LC filter.
In one embodiment, the modular adapter includes a balun to couple network data signals to the power line.


Devices and methods are provided for determining frequency spectra, as well as the polarity of frequency, of energy in quadrature signals. In Doppler detection systems, found in sonar, radar, lidar, optical velocimeters using interferometers, and ultrasonics applications, for example, this information can be used to determine target speed and direction. Embodiments obtain a quadrature signal and determine a sine transform of a cross correlation between the I and Q components of the quadrature signal, and can provide an output comprising a signed frequency spectrum. A sign of a sample of the signed frequency spectrum can correspond to a polarity of frequency. The signed frequency spectrum can be rapidly determined over a unipolar frequency span that may be only approximately half the baseband sampling frequency. The signed frequency spectrum may be impervious to imaging under severe conditions of uncorrected quadrature amplitude imbalance.

A quadrature signal is a complex signal with two components, one of which may interpreted as a real component, and the other of which may be interpreted as an imaginary component. By convention, the two components are named I, for in phase signal, and Q, for quadrature phase signal, respectively. These components may be generated from a single real signal by phase-shifted mixing or sampling. Quadrature signal processing and sampling are widely employed in many fields, including precision metrology, optical interferometers and optical velocimetry, detection and ranging systems such as radar, sonar, and lidar, ultrasonic bioinstrumentation, and communications technology. The use of quadrature signal processing may produce many system advantages, including reduced system cost, size, and weight, and increased flexibility of function. In radar and sonar systems, for example, quadrature signals allow determination of amplitude and polarity of Doppler frequency shift which, together with other information, can be used to determine the speed and direction (that is, away from, or towards, the observer) of motion of the target. In some systems, the target may be a reflecting or scattering entity comprising a plurality of objects, sometimes suspended in a gel, a liquid, or a gas. In communications systems, for example, multiple modulation modes may be implemented in the same hardware by varying the manner of baseband signal processing, when quadrature sampling is used.
Nonetheless, prior-art signal processors for quadrature signals suffer from certain disadvantages. For example, a conventional signal processor can determine spectra of a quadrature signal, as follows. Samples of the quadrature signal I, Q components are collected and interpreted as the real and complex components, respectively, of complex numbers. The complex numbers are arranged in chronological order, into complex number records. Fourier transforms of the complex number records are then performed, typically over a bipolar frequency range. Finally, magnitudes of the Fourier transform samples are generated. An ideal prior art system implementing these operations will separate indications of signal energy with positive and negative frequencies explicitly, with signal energy having positive frequency being manifested as spectral peaks or indications at positive frequencies, and signal energy having negative frequency being manifested as spectral peaks or indications at negative frequencies.
However, real world quadrature signals invariably suffer from at least some amplitude error and phase error, introduced during signal generation, propagation, or acquisition, that act to reduce system performance. In many radar, sonar, ultrasonic, and radio systems, for example, the I and Q signals may be generated by a pair of mixers whose local oscillators are phase-shifted by 90.0°. Alternatively, if sampling is used, samplers whose sample clocks are phase-shifted by 90.0°, together with lowpass filtering for analog systems or decimation for digital systems, may be employed to generate the I and Q signals. If the processing gains in the I and Q signal paths of such quadrature signal generators are not identical, the resulting I and Q signals are said to have amplitude imbalance. If the sampling phase for the I and Q signals is not exactly 90.0°, they are said to have phase imbalance. These errors are collectively termed quadrature signal imbalance. Some degree of quadrature signal imbalance arises naturally in all practical applications.
At a system level, such quadrature signal imbalance may be manifested as unwanted spectral images, distortion, and increased bit error rates, for example, in conventional systems.
Furthermore, the spectral transform performed in conventional systems typically requires complex number multiply and accumulates (MACs) at each frequency in the transform. Such complex number operations can be computationally intensive.

Determining frequency spectra and polarity of frequency for imbalanced quadrature signals including for Doppler system target speed and direction


A radio terminal apparatus includes a transmission control unit transmitting an acquisition request for acquiring contract authentication information via a radio channel when a predetermined operation of acquiring the contract authentication information associated with a radio service provider providing a radio connection service is received; a reception unit receiving the contract authentication information transmitted via the radio channel in response to the acquisition request; and a control unit controlling writing the received contract authentication information in a retaining unit.

The present disclosure relates to a radio terminal apparatus, and more particularly, to a radio terminal apparatus connected to a public radio network, a communication system including the radio terminal apparatus, and a method of controlling the radio terminal apparatus.
Hitherto, radio terminal apparatuses connected to a public radio network have come into wide use. For example, as portable radio terminal apparatuses, there are known portable telephone apparatuses or radio terminal apparatuses such as terminal apparatuses for data communication only. Further, as fixed radio terminal apparatuses, there are known radio terminal apparatuses configured to collect data from automated vending machines.
In recent years, there are a large number of radio service providers in each nation or region as radio service providers providing a radio connection service to radio terminal apparatuses.
In order for the radio terminal apparatus to connect to a public radio network, it is necessary to mount a card (card (a so-called UICC card) retaining contract authentication information) issued by the radio service provider providing a radio connection service to the radio terminal apparatus. Further, there has been suggested a technique used to store different information in the card (UICC card) installed in the radio terminal apparatus.
For example, there has been suggested a communication system which appends a credit function of dealing with electronic money or a large-capacity memory card function to the UICC card as well as a USIM function of dealing with subscriber information (for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2008-210301).

Radio terminal apparatus, communication system, and method of controlling radio terminal apparatus


Polypeptides comprising a C3b binding region are disclosed, as well as nucleic acids and vectors encoding such polypeptides, and cells and compositions comprising such polypeptides. Also disclosed are uses and methods using the polypeptides for treating and preventing diseases and conditions.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of blindness in the developed world: AMD is currently responsible for 8.7% of all global blind registrations and it is estimated that 196 million people will be affected by 2020 (Wong et al. Lancet Glob Heal (2014) 2:e106-16). AMD manifests as the progressive destruction of the macula, the central part of the retina at the back of the eye, leading to loss of central visual acuity. Early stages of the disease see morphological changes in the macula, including first the loss of blood vessels in the choriocapillaris (Whitmore et al., Prog Retin Eye Res (2015) 45:1-29) which are fenestrated blood vessels found in the choroid (a highly vascularized layer that supplies oxygen and nutrition to the outer retina).
AMD is largely a genetic disease. Mutations in genes of the complement system, part of our immune system, are highly associated with increased risk of AMD. Indeed, it has become clear that over-activation of complement is a main driver of disease pathogenesis and many examples of complement over-activation can be seen in the choriocapillaris. The role of complement in AMD is reviewed, for example, by Zipfel et al. Chapter 2, in Lambris and Adamis (eds.), Inflammation and Retinal Disease: Complement Biology and Pathology, Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology 703, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC (2010), which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. Complement is activated by the deposition onto a surface of protein C3b, a pro-inflammatory breakdown product of immune system protein C3. C3b associates with other proteins to form convertase enzyme complexes for activating and amplifying complement responses, and initiates the amplification loop of the complement cascade, ultimately leading to cell/tissue destruction and a local inflammatory response (all characteristics of AMD).
The choriocapillaris is separated from the metabolically active retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) by Bruch's membrane (BrM), a thin (2-4 μm), acellular, five-layered, extracellular matrix. The BrM serves two major functions: the substratum of the RPE and a blood vessel wall. The structure and function of BrM is reviewed e.g. in Curcio and Johnson, Structure, Function and Pathology of Bruch's Membrane, In: Ryan et al. (2013), Retina, Vol. 1, Part 2: Basic Science and Translation to Therapy. 5th ed. London: Elsevier, pp 466-481, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
C3b activation of complement on acellular structures, such as BrM and the intercapillary septa (extracellular matrix filling the spaces between capillaries in the choriocapillaris), is regulated by proteins 'complement factor H' (FH) and 'complement factor I' (FI). FI prevents complement activation by cleaving C3b to an proteolytically-inactive form, designated iC3b, which is unable to participate in convertase assembly. However, iC3b is an opsonin and therefore a mediator of leucocyte recruitment with a subsequent inflammatory response, whereas the further breakdown products of C3b, iC3dg and C3d, are poor opsonins. In order to cleave C3b, FI requires the presence of a cofactor, examples of which include the blood borne FH protein and the membrane-bound surface co-factor 'complement factor 1' (CR1; CD35). CR1 is a membrane receptor expressed on a wide range of cells and is involved in immune complex clearance, phagocytosis, and complement regulation. As well as serving as a co-factor in the FI-mediated cleavage of C3b, CR1 acts as a regulator of complement by accelerating the decay of C3 and C5 convertases. CR1 structure and function is reviewed e.g. in Khera and Das, Mol Immunol (2009) 46(5): 761-772 and Jacquet et al., J Immunol (2013) 190(7): 3721-3731, both of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
Hallmark lesions of early AMD, termed drusen, develop within BrM adjacent to the RPE layer (Bird et al, Surv Ophthalmol (1995) 39(5):367-374). Drusen are formed from the accumulation of lipids and cellular debris, and include a swathe of complement activation products (Anderson et al., Prog Retin Eye Res (2009) 29:95-112; Whitcup et al., Int J Inflam (2013) 1-10). The presence of drusen within BrM disrupts the flow of nutrients from the choroid across this extracellular matrix to the RPE cells, which leads to cell dysfunction and eventual death. As the RPE cell monolayer supports the rod and cone cells of the neurosensory retina by providing nutrients and removing waste, their cell death causes dysfunction of photoreceptor cells and subsequent loss of visual acuity.
This represents one of the late stages of AMD, known as 'dry' AMD and also as geographic atrophy, which represents around 90% of AMD cases. In the remaining percentage of cases of late-stage AMD, the presence of drusen promotes choroidal neovascularisation (CNV), where the increased synthesis of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) by RPE cells promotes new blood vessel growth from the choroid/choriocapillaris that breaks through BrM into the retina. These new blood vessels leak and eventually form scar tissue; this is referred to as 'wet' AMD. 'Wet' AMD, while only representing 10% of cases, is the most virulent form of late-stage AMD and has different disease characteristics to 'dry' AMD. There are treatments for wet AMD, where for example the injection of anti-VEGF agents into the vitreous of the eye can slow or reverse the growth of these blood vessels, although it cannot prevent their formation in the first place. Geographic atrophy ('dry' AMD) remains untreatable.


The present invention provides a liquid crystal display device which can enlarge an effective display region without lowering a light quantity and can reduce a thickness and a weight thereof. A thin-film spacers having resiliency is arranged in the inside of a metal frame for holding a liquid crystal display panel. The spacer includes protrusions and a liquid crystal display panel is fixed by utilizing the resiliency of the protrusions. Further, by using resin material having high reflectance as a material of the spacer, it is possible to suppress the leaking of light from a light guide plate so that the lowering of luminance of the liquid crystal display device can be obviated.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device which integrally houses a liquid crystal display panel and a backlight which constitutes an illumination light source and is formed on a back side of the panel in a metal frame, and more particularly to a liquid crystal display device which can expand an effective display region, can reduce the thickness and the weight thereof, and can enhance the luminance by effectively utilizing an illumination light of the backlight.
2. Description of the Related Art
A liquid crystal display device forms an electronic latent image on a liquid crystal display panel and visualizes the electronic latent image by irradiating an illumination light. There have been known a liquid crystal display device which utilizes an external light as the illumination light and a liquid crystal display device which incorporates an illumination light source which irradiates light to a back surface or a front surface of the liquid crystal display panel. With respect to a liquid crystal display device which is utilized as display means of a portable electronic terminal such as a portable phone set, a liquid crystal display device which is usually known as a reflective type and uses an external light has been popularly used to achieve the reduction of weight and power consumption. However, because of a demand for a color display and the enhancement of image quality in recent years, a liquid crystal display device which incorporates an illumination light source in a liquid crystal display panel has been popularly used.
With respect to this type of illumination light source, a front light type light source which installs a light source at a front-surface side of a liquid crystal display panel and a backlight type light source which installs a light source on a back side of the liquid crystal display panel have been adopted as a main stream. Particularly, in a liquid crystal display device which uses a color liquid crystal display panel of an active matrix type, a backlight which can easily provide a uniform illumination over a whole surface of a display region thereof and can obtain an illumination light of high luminance has been popularly adopted.
Among various types of backlights, there have been a direct type which installs a light source right below a back surface of a liquid crystal display panel and a side edge type which laminates a light guide plate on a back side of a liquid crystal display panel and installs a light source such as linear lamps or light emitting diodes at end peripheries of the light guide plate. Particularly, with respect to an electronic terminal having a small screen, a liquid crystal display device which adopts the side edge type backlight has been popularly adopted for reducing the thickness and the weight thereof. In the backlight type liquid crystal display device using such a light guide plate, the liquid crystal display panel and the light guide plate have been integrally housed in a laminated manner in a metal frame.
In performing the housing operation, to fix the liquid crystal display, to protect the liquid crystal display from an external impact, and to prevent the lowering of the luminance ratio of the backlight, the liquid crystal display panel and the light guide plate are once housed in a resin-made frame-like mold (resin mold) and then the resin mold is fitted into the metal frame. Accordingly, an effective display region of the liquid crystal display panel is limited by an inner periphery of the resin mold. Further, to prevent a phenomenon that light which propagates in the inside of the light guide plate leaks from end peripheries of the light guide plate thus reducing a quantity of light irradiated to a liquid crystal display panel side, reflection tapes are adhered to the end peripheries of the light guide plate or reflection materials are applied to the end peripheries of the light guide plate. As the prior art which protects the liquid crystal display panel from an external impact, there have been known techniques disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent 283560/1995, Japanese Laid-open Patent 286623/1996 and Japanese Laid-open Patent 5722/1997.
In general, the resin mold is an injection molded product and hence, at least a minimum wall thickness of approximately 0.5 mm is necessary at a side wall portion and at a bottom wall portion of the resin mold in view of the restriction imposed by molding conditions. Further, a fixing mechanism for fixing the metal frame and the resin mold is also necessary. This pushes up a manufacturing cost of a mold for forming a resin mold or brings about the lowering of yield factor when the fixing mechanism ruptures at the time of assembling. Further, in the liquid crystal display device which adheres the reflection tapes to the end peripheries of the light guide plate or applies the reflection materials to the end peripheries of the light guide plate, the manufacturing steps become cumbersome. These constitute obstacles which hamper the enlargement of the effective display region and the reduction of thickness and weight of the liquid crystal display device.
In view of the above, it may be possible to propose an idea to directly house the liquid crystal display panel and the light guide plate in the inside of the metal frame without using the resin mold. However, since a substrate of the liquid crystal display panel is usually constituted of a glass material, a buffer structure is necessary between the substrate and the metal frame. Further, when the adhesion of the reflection tapes or the applying of the reflection materials to the end peripheries of the light guide plate is omitted, a quantity of light which is irradiated is reduced.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a liquid crystal display device which can enlarge an effective display region and can reduce a thickness and a weight thereof without using a resin mold and without applying reflection tapes or reflection materials to end peripheries of a light guide plate by adhesion or coating thus preventing the lowering of a quantity of irradiating light.
According to the present invention, a thin-wall spacer having resiliency is integrally formed on an inside of a metal frame and a liquid crystal display panel is fixed to the metal frame by utilizing the resiliency of the spacer. Further, the spacer is formed of a resin material having high reflectance so that light from a light guide plate is effectively utilized whereby the lowering of luminance is obviated.
Due to such a constitution, it is possible to reduce the thickness and the weight of a whole liquid crystal display device and, at the same time, to attenuate an external impact transmitted from the metal frame to the liquid crystal display panel and the light guide plate. Further, the removal of the liquid crystal display panel can be prevented by forming the spacer into a given shape or setting physical characteristics of the spacer to given values. Still further, by molding the spacer using a resin material having high reflectance, it is possible to effectively utilize light from the light guide plate thus obviating the lowering of luminance.


A method of and system for designing a satellite network includes selecting an optimal design for a backhaul network to be used as part of the satellite network, selecting a number of radio frequency (RF) gateways for the satellite network, selecting an optimal number of satellite network cores (SNCs) for the satellite network. The method may also include placing each SNC at a site that is geographically separate from locations of the RF gateways, selecting a number of data centers for the satellite network, connecting each SNC to one or more data centers in the satellite network, and connecting each data center to one or more of the RF gateways via the backhaul network.

In recent years, with the increased need for higher bandwidth and capacity, satellite systems have evolved from using low frequency bands such as the C-band to Ku-band and Ka-band. With the use of systems such as a very high throughput satellite (VHTS), the systems have further evolved to use higher frequency bands such as the Q-band and the V-band. Although these higher frequency bands may provide increased bandwidth and capacity, they introduce a set of unique challenges. For example, use of higher frequency bands may result in greater susceptibility to deep rain and rain fades in satellite communications.
Hence, there is a need for an improved design for an interconnected satellite system that uses high frequency bandwidths.

Satellite system including backhaul connection of data centers to gateways


A system for controlling the liquid pressure for a liquid cutting dispenser includes an intensifier for producing a predetermined constant pressurized liquid through a conduit to the cutting dispenser. A plurality of reducing dispensers are connected to the conduit and selectively controlled to reduce the pressure from the predetermined pressure of liquid. By actuating different combinations of reducing dispensers having different jewel sizes, variable pressures are obtained. The selection and duration of the reducing dispensers are programmed into memory along with a path a robot is to follow to allow automated cutting with variable pressures.

An apparatus for high volume, accurate cutting of both hard and soft materials using a fluid jet cutting device is well known in the art. Furthermore, the use of controlled cutting systems having omni-directional capability using water as a cutting agent are also commonly known as set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 4,786,848, issued Nov. 22, 1988 in the name of Nickerson, and assigned to the assignee of the subject invention. In this technology, a stream of high pressure water is utilized to remove excess material from the workpiece or part being processed. Such water jet cutting systems have successfully been used to cut materials such as composites, corrugated paper board, asbestos, asphalt-based materials, foamed plastics, rubber, nylon, mineral fibers, fiberglass and fiberglass-reinforced plastics, high pressure laminates, plywood, chips in board, poly-ethylene sheet, apparel and automobile fabrics, and food and confectionery products.
The basic components of the water jet process includes directing clean water flow to a booster pump, through filters, into an intensifier, through tubes and swivels, thence to a cutting nozzle. The pressurization of the water is obtained by using fluid pressure intensifier principles. This principle is best illustrated by the force equilibrium of a double-acting piston having a piston end and two smaller diameter plungers. Hydraulic oil pressure acting on the piston results in a force on the plunger that pressurizes water in a small diameter chamber. Since the intensification ratio is constant by virtue of the fixed piston to plunger diameter ratio, water pressure can be regulated by controlling the hydraulic oil pressure. The booster pump has a 10, 5 and 1 micron filter and pumps the water to 190 PSI to preload the pump or intensifier high pressure cylinders. A cutter nozzle arrangement usually consists of a pneumatically controlled shut-off valve, nozzle tube, a jewel orifice and a stainless steel holder and nozzle nut.
In this construction, a workable constant cutting pressure must cut the workpiece within the predetermined required cycle time to meet production volume, plus achieve the quality standards of the cut workpiece. The value of the workable cutting pressure is determined by a balance of constant and variable factors that govern the design of the application program including material type; material thickness versus constant cutting pressure, cycle time, and jewel orifice size; cut quality standard versus constant cutting pressure and cycle time; cycle time versus constant cutting pressure and jewel orifice size; and jewel orifice size versus constant cutting pressure. Since the workable constant cutting pressure will be set to produce desired cut standards through most of the workpiece, there can be variations in thickness or material types in the workpiece that can result in lesser cut quality. Examples of other variables that can affect cut quality include cycle time that is restricted due to insufficient cutting pressure in some areas; further, quality can be adversely affected in some areas due to selecting a constant cutting pressure that is an excessive pressure for a particular cut. These problems have been especially pronounced in the past because water jet cutting apparatus has been unable to produce variable pressure jets matched to different cutting requirements on a single workpiece. In such prior apparatus, the cycle time can be restricted by insufficient cutting pressure, i.e., slower machine feed rates in the thicker areas to obtain a clean cut, and increased feed rates in thin, long straight areas. Furthermore, cut quality can be affected by excessive cutting pressure, i.e., slower machine rates for detail areas or induced water saturation can occur in some applications. Such saturation can cause workpiece delamination and/or staining, and scoring of substrate backing in composite workpieces.


An image conversion device is disclosed, having an image converting circuit for receiving a first and a second image frames of a first format and generating a third and a fourth image frames of a second format; and a signal generating circuit coupled with the image converting circuit for generating a plurality of first synchronization signals having a substantially fixed period and one or more second synchronization signals for the third and the fourth image frames, wherein each of the second synchronization signals is synchronized with one of the first synchronization signals and the third image frame contains at least one more first synchronization signal than the fourth image frame.

The present disclosure generally relates to image conversion devices, and more particularly, to image conversion devices for generating synchronized horizontal synchronization signals and vertical synchronization signals.
As the technology evolves, various types of display devices are available on the market. Different display devices may have different specifications for image display. Sometimes, users may also want to watch the image in a format different from the format of the source image data. The source image data, therefore, may need to be converted to the appropriate format in order to be correctly displayed on the display device. Image conversion devices are used to convert the source image data to the appropriate format to be compatible with the specification of the display device, so that the converted image data may be displayed on the display device correctly. The image mentioned hereinafter may comprise pictures, videos, animations, and/or other visually acceptable material.
For example, when the source image frames of the resolution H1×V1 are displayed at a frequency of F Hz (i.e., in 1/F seconds), it means every source image frame has V1 scanlines and every scanline has H1 pixels. The image frames along with the corresponding vertical synchronization signals and horizontal synchronization signals are provided to the display device. The display device may update the image frames according to the vertical synchronization signals and update the scanlines according to the horizontal synchronization signals. Therefore, when generating the vertical synchronization signals and the horizontal synchronization signals, the horizontal blanking interval between the horizontal synchronization signals and the vertical blanking interval between the vertical synchronization signals should be configured to be compatible with the specification of the display device. For example, when the period of the pixel clock is Tclkp1 seconds, the period of the horizontal synchronization signals is (H1+a1)×Tclkp1 second. The H1×Tclkp1 seconds are used to transmit the data of the H1 pixels of a scanline in the source image frame and the a1×Tclkp1 seconds are used as the horizontal blanking interval. The period of the vertical synchronization signals equals (V1+b1) times the period of the horizontal synchronization signals, i.e., (V1+b1)×(H1+a1)×Tclkp1 seconds. The V1×(H1+a1)×Tclkp1 seconds are used to transmit the data of the V1 scanlines and the horizontal blanking intervals. The b1×(H1+a1)×Tclkp1 seconds are used as the vertical blanking interval.
When the source image frames of the resolution H1×V1 are to be displayed on a display device of the resolution H2×V2, the image conversion device needs to convert the source image frames of the resolution H1×V1 into the image frames of the resolution H2×V2. Furthermore, the image conversion device needs to provide the horizontal synchronization signals and vertical synchronization signals compatible with the specification of the display device. For example, when the period of the pixel clock supported by the display device is Tclkp2 seconds, the period of the horizontal synchronization signals of the converted image frame is (H2+a2)×Tclkp2. The H2×Tclkp2 seconds are used to transmit the data of the H2 pixels of a scanline to the display device and the a2×Tclkp2 seconds are used as the horizontal blanking interval. The period of the vertical synchronization signals of the converted image frames equals (V2+b2) times the period of the horizontal synchronization signals, i.e., (V2+b2)×(H2+a2)×Tclkp2 seconds. The V2×(H2+a2)×Tclkp2 seconds are used to transmit the data of the V2 scanlines to the display device and the horizontal blanking intervals. The b2×(H2+a2)×Tclkp2 seconds are used as the vertical blanking interval. Moreover, (V2+b2)×(H2+a2)×Tclkp2 seconds should equal to 1/F seconds so that the converted images frames may be synchronized with the source image frames.
In some applications, the source image frames are to be displayed on the display device of the resolution H1×V1, but the horizontal blanking interval and/or the vertical blanking interval need to be converted. For example, when the period of the pixel clock of the display device is Tclkp3 seconds, the image conversion device needs to provide the horizontal synchronization signals with the period of (H1+a3)×Tclkp3 seconds. The H1×Tclkp1 seconds are used to transmit the data of the H1 pixels of a scanline to the display device and the a3×Tclkp3 seconds are used as the horizontal blanking interval. The period of the vertical synchronization signals equals (V1+b3) times the period of the horizontal synchronization signals, i.e., (V1+b3)×(H1+a3)×Tclkp3 seconds. The V1×(H1+a3)×Tclkp3 seconds are used to transmit the data of the V1 scanlines to the display device and the horizontal blanking intervals. The b3×(H1+a3)×Tclkp3 seconds are used as the vertical blanking interval. Moreover, (V1+b3)×(H1+a3)×Tclkp3 seconds should equal to 1/F seconds so that the converted images frames may be synchronized with the source image frames.
When the horizontal synchronization signals and the vertical synchronization signals of the converted image frame are not synchronized, the data of the pixels of the last scanline in an image frame may not be completely displayed and abnormal images may be shown on the display device, e.g., freeze frames and lost frames. For example, when the start time of the vertical synchronization signals is different from the start time of the horizontal synchronization signals, or when the period of the vertical synchronization signals is not an integer multiple of the period of the horizontal synchronization signals, the horizontal synchronization signals and the vertical synchronization signals are not synchronized. Some image conversion devices try to solve the synchronization problem by adjusting the period of the pixel clock and the horizontal synchronization signals according to the format of the image frames to be displayed, e.g., the resolution, the horizontal blanking interval, the vertical blanking interval, and the display frequency. In the above example, the period of the pixel clock may be configured as 1/[(H2+a2)×(V2+b2)×F] seconds and the period of the horizontal synchronization signals may be configured as 1/[(V2+b2)×F] seconds so that the converted image frames may be displayed on the display device at F Hz. Complicated circuits and algorithms, however, are required to generate the appropriate period of the pixel clock and the horizontal synchronization signals for different resolutions. Besides, some display devices may not support the converted period of the pixel clock and the horizontal synchronization signals, and therefore may not output correct image frames. A simplified conversion device for resolving the compatibility problems is therefore needed.

Method and apparatus for image conversion


A rotation restricting device for restricting the rotation of a rotating part with respect to a base part, comprising a stopper supported so as to be capable of rotating around an axis of rotation of the base part, a lock mechanism capable of switching between a state preventing and a state allowing the rotation of the stopper with respect to the base part, a first block provided on the rotating part and capable of moving between a position interfering with and a position not interfering with a rotation path of the stopper, and a second block provided on the rotating part and capable of moving between a position interfering with and a position not interfering with the rotation path of the stopper. In a state where the rotation of the rotating part with respect to the base part is not restricted, both the first block and the second block are in the position interfering with the rotation path of the stopper, and the stopper is positioned between the first block and the second block.

In recent years, a walking assistance device has been developed that is fitted from an upper leg to a foot (a part beyond the ankle joint) of a user, and assists the movement of a knee joint of the user by applying torque. This type of walking assistance device comprises a foot frame, lower leg frame, upper leg frame, and actuator. The foot frame is configured such that it can be fitted onto the user's foot. The lower leg frame is connected, by a first rotary joint, such that it can rotate with respect to the foot frame. The upper leg frame is configured such that it can be fitted onto the user's upper leg. Further, the upper leg frame is connected, by a second rotary joint, such that it can rotate with respect to the lower leg frame. The actuator is capable of applying torque to the second rotary joint. In this walking assistance device, the first rotary joint rotates coaxially with the user's ankle joint, and the second rotary joint rotates coaxially with the user's knee joint. The movement of the user's knee joint is assisted by torque applied to the second rotary joint by the actuator. The operation of the actuator is controlled by a control unit.
To ensure the safety of the user in the case of the walking assistance device malfunctioning, a configuration is desired that can restrict the rotation of the second rotary joint which is driven by the actuator. E.g., a configuration is desired that, by restricting the rotation of the second rotary joint, can ensure the safety of the user in a state where the user is fitted with the walking assistance device, even if the control unit or the actuator has malfunctioned. In the present specification, "restricting the rotation" means restricting the range of rotation.
A technique of Japanese Published Utility Model Application No. H02-122792 is known as a technique for restricting the rotation of a robot joint such as the second rotary joint of the walking assistance device. A stopper mechanism is taught in Japanese Published Utility Model Application No. 1102-122792, this stopper mechanism having one rotation side fitting, one fixed stopper and two retractable stoppers. During normal operation of the robot joint, the retractable stoppers are in a retreated position and do not interfere with the rotation side fitting. Consequently, the robot joint can rotate until the rotation side fitting and the fixed stopper make contact, and the rotation range of the robot joint is regulated by the fixed stopper. In the case of wanting to restrict the rotation range of the robot joint more narrowly than the rotation range during normal operation, the retractable stoppers are made to protrude to a position where they interfere with the rotation side fitting. In this state, the robot joint can rotate until the rotation side fitting and the retractable stoppers make contact. Consequently, the rotation range of the robot joint can be restricted more narrowly than the rotation range during normal operation.

Rotation restricting device, robot joint and walking assistance device


The invention relates to a novel process that makes it possible to epoxidize xcex1,xcex2-unsaturated enones or xcex1,xcex2-unsaturated sulfones with high conversions and enantiomeric excesses in the presence of a water-soluble base, an oxidant, a diastereomer- and enantiomer-enriched homo-polyamino acid as catalyst, water, an organic solvent that is immiscible or has only limited miscibility with water, and a specific phase-transfer catalyst as cocatalyst.

The invention relates to a novel polyamino acid-catalyzed process for the enantioselective epoxidation of xcex1,xcex2-unsaturated enones and xcex1,xcex2-unsaturated sulfones in the presence of specific cocatalysts.
Chiral, nonracemic epoxides are known as valuable synthons for preparing optically active drugs and materials (for example, (a) Bioorg. Med. Chem., 1999, 7, 2145-2156; and (b) Tetrahedron Lett., 1999, 40, 5421-5424). These epoxides can be prepared by enantioselective epoxidation of double bonds. In this case, two stereocenters are produced in one synthetic step. It is therefore not surprising that a large number of methods have been developed for the enantioselective epoxidation of double bonds. However, there is still a great need for novel, improved methods for enantioselective epoxidation.
The epoxidation methods limited to the specific substrates in each case include methods for the enantioselective epoxidation of xcex1,xcex2-unsaturated enones.
Thus, for example, the use of chiral, nonracemic alkaloid-based phase-transfer catalysts for the epoxidation of enones is described in Tetrahedron Lett., 1998, 39, 7563-7566, Tetrahedron Lett., 1998, 39, 1599-1602, and Tetrahedron Lett., 1976, 21, 1831-1834.
Tetrahedron Lett., 1998, 39, 7353-7356, Tetrahedron Lett., 1998, 39, 7321-7322, and Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. Engl., 1997, 36, 410-412 furthermore describe possibilities for the metal-catalyzed asymmetric epoxidation of enones using organic hydroperoxides.
WO-A 99/52886 describes the possibility of enantioselective epoxidation of enones in the presence of catalysts based on sugars.
Another method for epoxidation using Zn organyls and oxygen in the presence of an ephedrine derivative has been published in Liebigs Ann./Recueil, 1997, 1101-1113.
Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. Engl., 1980, 19, 929-930, Tetrahedron, 1984, 40, 5207-5211, and J. Chem. Soc., Perkin Trans. 1, 1982, 1317-24 describe the Julixc3xa1 epoxidation method in which enantiomer- and diastereomer-enriched polyamino acids are able, in the presence of aqueous hydrogen peroxide and NaOH solution and of an aromatic or halogenated hydrocarbon as solvent, to catalyze the enantioselective epoxidation of xcex1,xcex2-unsaturated enones. Further developments of these so-called three-phase conditions are to be found in Org. Synth.; Mod. Trends, Proc. IUPAC Symp. 6th., 1986, 275. The method is now generally referred to as the Julixc3xa1-Colonna epoxidation.
According to EP-A 403,252, it is possible also to employ aliphatic hydrocarbons advantageously in this Julixc3xa1-Colonna epoxidation in place of the original solvents.
WO-A 96/33183 describes as a specific embodiment the possibility of carrying out the enantioselective epoxidation of enones also in the presence of the phase-transfer catalyst Aliquat(copyright) 336 ([(CH3)(C8H17)3N+]Clxe2x88x92) if at the same time a polyamino acid, an organic solvent (such as, for example, dichloromethane), sodium perborate (which is of low solubility in water) as oxidant, and alkali (for example, NaOH) are present.
Despite these improvements, the three-phase conditions have distinct disadvantages. The reaction times under the original conditions are in the region of days even for reactive substrates. For example, 1 to 6 days are required for the epoxidation of trans-chalcone, depending on the polyamino acid used (Tetrahedron, 1984, 40, 5207-5211). A preactivation of the polyamino acid carried out in the reaction vessel, by stirring in the solvent with the addition of NaOH solution for 12 to 48 h, shortens the reaction time for many substrates to 1 to 3 days. In this case, no intermediate workup of the catalyst is necessary (EP-A 403,252). The preactivation can be reduced to a minimum of 6 h in the presence of the NaOH/hydrogen peroxide system (J. Chem. Soc., Perkin Trans. 1, 1995, 1467-1468).
Despite this improvement, the three-phase method cannot be applied to substrates which are sensitive to hydroxide ions (J. Chem. Soc., Perkin Trans. 1, 1997, 3501-3507). A further disadvantage of these classical conditions is that the polyamino acid forms a gel during the reaction (or even during the preactivation). This restricts the required mixing during the reaction and impedes the working up of the reaction mixture.
Tetrahedron Lett., 2001, 42, 3741-43 discloses that under the three-phase conditions the addition of the phase-transfer catalyst Aliquat(copyright) 336 in the epodixation of phenyl-E-styryl sulfone leads to only a slow reaction rate (reaction time: 4 days) and a poor enantiomeric excess (21% ee). To date, no example of the use of phase-transfer catalysts (PTC) for the epoxidation of xcex1,xcex2-unsaturated enones under the classical three-phase Julixc3xa1-Colonna conditions has been disclosed.
The Julixc3xa1-Colonna epoxidation has been improved further by a change in the reaction procedure. According to Chem. Commun., 1997, 739-740, (pseudo)-anhydrous reaction conditions can be implemented by using THF, 1,2 dimethoxyethane, tert-butyl methyl ether, or ethyl acetate as solvent, a non-nucleophilic base (for example, DBU), and a urea/hydrogen peroxide complex as oxidant. The epoxidation takes place distinctly more quickly under these so-called two-phase reaction conditions. According to J. Chem. Soc., Perkin Trans. 1, 1997, 3501-3507, therefore, the enantioselective epoxidation of hydroxide-sensitive enones under the Julixc3xa1-Colonna conditions is also possible for the first time in this way.
However, the observation that, on use of the two-phase conditions, the polyamino acid must be preactivated in a separate process in order to achieve rapid reaction times and high enantiomeric excesses proves to be a distinct disadvantage. Several days are needed for this preactivation, which takes place by stirring in a toluene/NaOH solution. According to Tetrahedron Lett., 1998, 39, 9297-9300, the required preactivated catalyst is then obtained after a washing and drying procedure. However, the polyamino acid preactivated in this way forms a paste under the two-phase conditions, which impedes mixing during the reaction and the subsequent workup. According to EP-A 1,006,127, this problem can be solved by adsorbing the activated polyamino acid onto a solid support. Polyamino acids on a silica gel support are referred to as SCATs (silica adsorbed catalysts).
A further disadvantage of the two-phase conditions is, however, that the use of costly, non-nucleophilic bases (for example, DBU) is necessary in order to make the reaction possible.
According to EP-A 1,006,111, a further variant of the Julia-Colonna epoxidation is catalysis of the enantioselective epoxidation by the activated polyamino acid in the presence of water, a water-miscible solvent (for example, 1,2-dimethoxyethane), and sodium percarbonate. The use of water-miscible solvents complicates the workup (extraction) in this process.
In the Julixc3xa1-Colonna epoxidation, the reaction rate and the enantiomeric excess (ee) that can be achieved depend greatly on the polyamino acid used and the mode of preparation thereof (Chirality, 1997, 9, 198-202). In order to obtain approximately comparable results, a standard system with poly-L-leucine (pll) as catalyst and trans-chalcone as precursor is used throughout for the development and description of novel methods in the literature. However, besides D- or L-polyleucine, other poly-amino acids such as, for example, D- or L-neopentylglycine are also used successfully (EP-A 1,006,127).
The object of the present invention was to provide a process that makes the polyamino acid-catalyzed enantioselective epoxidation of xcex1,xcex2-unsaturated enones and xcex1,xcex2-unsaturated sulfones possible but is not subject to the disadvantages of the above-described variants of the Julixc3xa1-Colonna epoxidation. It was intended in particular to find a rapid and broadly applicable method that avoids preactivation of the polyamino acid, which must be carried out separately, the use of costly bases and oxidants, and potentially problematic types of reaction procedure and of workup. At the same time, it was intended that the process have advantages in relation to the space/time yield, the handling, economics, and ecology on the industrial scale.
It has now been found, surprisingly, that the epoxidation of xcex1,xcex2-unsaturated enones and xcex1,xcex2-unsaturated sulfones can be carried out with the use of specific phase-transfer catalyst under three-phase conditions with substantially shorter reaction times and, at the same time, even higher enantiomeric excesses.
The invention thus relates to a process for the epoxidation of xcex1,xcex2-unsaturated enones or xcex1,xcex2-unsaturated sulfones in the presence of
(1) a water-soluble base,
(2) an oxidant,
(3) a diastereomer- and enantiomer-enriched homo-polyamino acid as catalyst,
(4) water,
(5) an organic solvent that is immiscible or has only limited miscibility with water, and
(6) a phase-transfer catalyst of the formula (I):
(R1R2R3R4A)+Xxe2x88x92xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(I)
where
A is N or P,
Xxe2x88x92 is an inorganic or organic anion,
R1 and R2 are identical or different and are alkyl, aryl, aralkyl, cycloalkyl, or heteroaryl radicals that are optionally substituted by one or more identical or different halogen radicals, and
R3 and R4 are identical or different and are alkyl, aryl, aralkyl, cycloalkyl, or heteroaryl radicals that are optionally substituted by one or more identical or different halogen radicals or R3 and R4 together form a C4-C6-cycloalkyl ring with A,
where
(i) the total of the carbon atoms and heteroatoms present in the radicals R1, R2, R3, and R4 is at least 13, and
(ii) the accessibility q of the phase-transfer catalyst is in the range 0.6 to 1,3, where q is calculated from the following formula:   q  =      ∑          x      =      1        4
[1/(total of the carbon atoms and heteroatoms in Rx)]
As an essential feature, the process according to the invention includes the use of specific phase-transfer catalysts.
The variable called the accessibility q is an empirical parameter of a given phase-transfer catalyst of the general formula (I), which has already been described in the literature for tetraalkylammonium salts (ACS Symp. Ser., 1997, 659, 100-102). The phase-transfer catalysts employed in the process according to the invention have an accessibility q in the range 0.6-1.3, preferably in the range 0.7-1.3, and particularly in the range 0.8-1.2.
Xxe2x88x92 in the general formula (I) is preferably Fxe2x88x92, Clxe2x88x92, Brxe2x88x92, Ixe2x88x92, OHxe2x88x92, NO3xe2x88x92, HSO4xe2x88x92, SO4xe2x88x92, CH3COOxe2x88x92, CF3COOxe2x88x92, C2H5COOxe2x88x92, C3H7COOxe2x88x92, CF3SO3xe2x88x92, or C4F9SO3xe2x88x92.
Phase-transfer catalysts of the general formula (I) that have proved suitable are those in which A and Xxe2x88x92 have the above-mentioned meanings, R1, R2, R3, and R4 are identical or different and are C1-C18-alkyl, C6-C18-aryl, C7-C19-aralkyl, C5-C7-cycloalkyl, or C3-C18-heteroaryl and, at the same time, the above-mentioned conditions (i) and (ii) are met.
Particularly suitable phase-transfer catalysts are ((C4H9)4N)+Halxe2x88x92, particularly ((C4H9)4N)+Brxe2x88x92, ((C4H9)4P)+Halxe2x88x92 (particularly ((C4h9)4P)+Brxe2x88x92), or ((C4H9)4N)+HSO4xe2x88x92.
Phase-transfer catalysts such as Aliquat(copyright) 336 ([(CH3)(C8H17)3N+]Clxe2x88x92) and Aliquat(copyright) 175 ([(CH3)(C4H9)3N+]Clxe2x88x92), for which accessibility is outside the range of values 0.6 to 1.3, and phase-transfer catalysts such as PEG 400, by contrast, do not lead to the advantages of the process according to the invention. When such catalysts are used, the target products are obtained with only poor enantiomeric excess or poor space-time yield.
The phase-transfer catalysts to be employed according to the invention are normally commercially available or else can be prepared by methods familiar to those skilled in the art.
The amount of added phase-transfer catalyst is not critical and is normally in the range 0.1 to 20 mol % (preferably in the range 0.5 to 15 mol %, and particularly preferably in the range 0.5 to 11 mol %), in each case based on the xcex1,xcex2-unsaturated enones or xcex1,xcex2-unsaturated sulfone employed. However, it is to be observed with amounts which are even lower than 0.1 mol % that the reaction rate decreases markedly, while the high enantiomeric excess is unchanged.
It is possible to employ as xcex1,xcex2-unsaturated enones or xcex1,xcex2-unsaturated sulfones the compounds of the general formula (II):
in which
X is (Cxe2x95x90O) or (SO2), and
R5 and R6 are identical or different and are (C1-C18)-alkyl, (C2-C18)-alkenyl, (C2-C18)-alkynyl, (C3-C8)-cycloalkyl, (C6-C18)-aryl, (C7-C19g)-aralkyl, (C1-C18)-heteroaryl, or (C2-C19)-heteroaralkyl, each of which radicals is optionally substituted once or more than once by identical or different radicals R7, halogen, NO2, NR7R8, PO0-3R7R8, SO0-3R7, OR7, CO2R7, CONHR7, or COR7, and
where optionally one or more CH2 groups in R5 and R6 are replaced by O, SO0-2, NR7, or PO0-2R7,
where R7 and R8 are identical or different and are H, (C1-C18)-alkyl, (C2-C18)-alkenyl, (C2-C18)-alkynyl, (C3-C8)-cycloalkyl, (C6-C18)-aryl, (C1-C18)-heteroaryl, (C1-C8)-alkyl-(C6-C8)-aryl, (C1-C8)-alkyl-(C1-C19)-heteroaryl, (C1-C8)-alkyl-(C3-C8)-cycloalkyl, each of which radicals is optionally substituted once or more than once by identical or different halogen radicals.
A (C1-C18)-alkyl radical means for the purpose of the invention a radical that has 1 to 18 saturated C atoms and that may have branches anywhere. It is possible to include in this group in particular the radicals methyl, ethyl, n-propyl, isopropyl, n-butyl, isobutyl, sec-butyl, tert-butyl, pentyl, and hexyl.
A (C2-C18)-alkenyl radical has the features mentioned for the (C1-C18)-alkyl radical, with the necessity for at least one carbon-carbon double bond to be present within the radical.
A (C2-C18)-alkynyl radical has the features mentioned for the (C1-C18)-alkyl radical, with the necessity for at least one carbon-carbon triple bond to be present within the radical.
A (C3-C8)-cycloalky radical means a cyclic alkly radical having 3 to 8 carbon atoms and, where appropriate, a branch anywhere. Included are, particularly, radicals such as cyclopropyl, cyclobutyl, cyclopentyl, cyclohexyl, and cycloheptyl. One or more double bonds may be present in this radical.
A (C6-C18)-aryl radical means an aromatic radical having 6 to 18 carbon atoms. Included are, particularly, radicals such as phenyl, naphthyl, anthryl, and phenanthryl.
A (C7-C19)-aralkyl radical means a (C6-C18)-aryl radical linked via a (C1-C8)-alkyl radical to the molecule.
A (C1-C18)-heteroaryl radical designates for the purpose of the invention a five-, six-, or seven-membered aromatic ring system that has 1 to 18 carbon atoms and that has one or more heteroatoms (preferably N, O, or S) in the ring. These heteroaryl radicals include, for example, 2- and 3-furyl, 1-, 2-, and 3-pyrrolyl, 2- and 3-thienyl, 2-, 3-, and 4-pyridyl, 2-, 3-, 4-, 5-, 6-, and 7-indolyl, 3-, 4-, and 5-pyrazolyl, 2-, 4-, and 5-imidazolyl, 1-, 3-, 4-, and 5-triazolyl, 1-, 4-, and 5-tetrazolyl, acridinyl, quinolinyl, phenanthridinyl, 2-, 4-, 5-, and 6-pyrimidinyl, and 4-, 5-, 6-, and 7-(1-aza)-indolizinyl.
A (C2-C19)-heteroaralkyl radical means a heteroaromatic system corresponding to the (C7-C19)-aralkyl radical.
Halogen or Hal mean in the context of this invention fluorine, chlorine, bromine, and iodine.
The substrates preferably employed in the process according to the invention are preferably xcex1,xcex2-unsaturated enones or xcex1,xcex2-unsaturated sulfones of the general formula (II) in which R5 and R6 are identical or different and are (C1-C12)-alkyl, (C2-C12)-alkenyl, (C2-C12)-alkynyl, (C5-C8)-cycloalkyl, (C6-C12)-aryl, or (C1-C12)-heteroaryl, each of which radicals is optionally substituted once or more than once by identical or different radicals R7, halogen, NO2, NR7R8, PO0-3R7R8, or OR7, and R7 and R8 have the meanings indicated above for the general formula (II).
Substrates particularly preferably employed in the process according to the invention are xcex1,xcex2-unsaturated enones or xcex1,xcex2-unsaturated sulfones of the general formula (II) in which R5 and R6 are identical or different and are (C1-C12)-alkyl, (C2-C12)-alkenyl, (C2-C12)-alkynyl, (C5-C8)-cycloalkyl, (C6-C12)-aryl, or (C1-C12)-heteroaryl, each of which radicals is optionally substituted once or more than once by identical or different radicals R7, halogen, NO2, NR7R8, PO0-3R7R8, or OR7, and R7 and R8 have the meanings indicated above for the general formula (II), with the proviso that at least one of the radicals R5 or R6 is a (C2-C12)-alkenyl, (C2-C12)-alkynyl, (C6-C12)-aryl-, or (C1-C12)-heteroaryl radical.
It is particularly preferred to subject substrates of the general formula (III) to the epoxidation according to the invention:
where
n and m are identical or different and are the numbers 0, 1, 2, or 3,
R9 and R10 are identical or different and are NR7R8, NO2, OR7, (C1-C12)-alkyl, (C2-C12)-alkenyl, (C2-C12)-alkynyl, (C5-C8)-cycloalkyl, (C6-C12)-aryl, or (C1-C12)-heteroaryl, each of which radicals R9 and R10 is optionally substituted once or more than once by identical or different halogen radicals, and
R7 and R8 have the meanings mentioned previously for formula (II).
The process according to the invention for preparing the enantiomer-enriched epoxides is carried out in the presence of diastereomer- and enantiomer-enriched homo-polyamino acids as catalyst. It is possible in this connection to use a wide variety of diastereomer- and enantiomer-enriched homo-polyamino acids. Preference is given to the use of homo-polyamino acids selected from the group of polyneopentylglycine, polyleucine, polyisoleucine, polyvaline, polyalanine, and polyphenylalanine. The most preferred from this group are polyneopentylglycine and polyleucine.
The chain length of the polyamino acids will normally be chosen in this connection so that, on the one hand, the chiral induction in the reaction is not impaired and, on the other hand, the costs of synthesizing the polyamino acids are not too great. The chain length of the homo-polyamino acids is preferably in the range from 5 to 100 amino acid repeating units, preferably in the range from 7 to 50 amino acid repeating units. Homo-polyamino acids with 10 to 40 amino acids are very particularly preferred.
The homo-polyamino acids to be employed are not subjected before the epoxidation to any separate preactivation with intermediate isolation nor are they applied to an inorganic support. This increases the economic attractiveness of the process considerably and moreover facilitates industrial implementation.
The homo-polyamino acids can be either employed as such unchanged in the reaction or previously crosslinked with polyfunctional amines or chain-extended by other organic polymers. The crosslinking amines advantageously employed for a crosslinking are diaminoalkanes, preferably 1,3-diaminopropane, or crosslinked hydroxy- or aminopolystyrene (CLAMPS, commercially available). Suitable polymer enlargers are preferably nucleophiles based on polyethylene glycol or polystyrene. Polyamino acids modified in this way are described in Chem. Commun., 1998, 1159-1160, and Tetrahedron: Asymmetry, 1997, 8, 3163-3173.
The homo-polyamino acids to be employed in the epoxidation themselves can be prepared by state of the art methods (J. Org. Chem., 1993, 58, 6247-6254, or Chirality, 1997, 9, 198-202). The method is to be applied to both optical antipodes of the amino acids. The use of a particular antipode of a polyamino acid correlates with the stereochemistry of the epoxide, that is to say a poly-L-amino acid leads to the optical antipode of the epoxide that is obtained with a poly-D-amino acid.
The amount of the homo-polyamino acid employed is not critical and is normally in the range 0.0001 to 40 mol % (preferably in the range 0.001 to 20 mol %, particularly preferably in the range 0.01 to 15 mol %, and especially in the range 1 to 15 mol %), in each case based on the xcex1,xcex2-unsaturated enone or xcex1,xcex2-unsaturated sulfone employed.
The oxidants used are, as a rule, peroxides, peracids, or inorganic oxidants such as sodium hypochlorite or sodium percarbonate. Peroxides, peracids, or sodium hypochlorite are preferred. An aqueous H2O2 solution is particularly preferably employed. This aqueous solution may moreover have all the usual concentrations. Further oxidants to be employed in this reaction are the compounds mentioned in Methoden Org. Chem. (Houben-Weyl), volume 4/1a+b, 59-319, and the compounds mentioned in Oxidation in Organic Chemistry, ACS Monograph 186, Washington D.C., 1990, 1-47.
The amount of the oxidant employed may be varied within the wide limits of 1 to 40 equivalents. Surprisingly, and advantageously, the reaction according to the invention still takes place with short reaction times and high enantiomeric excesses even with relatively small amounts of oxidant in the range 1 to 10 equivalents, preferably 1 to 3 equivalents, particularly preferably 1.1 to 2.5 equivalents.
The process according to the invention is carried out in the presence of a water-soluble base. It has proved suitable to employ for this purpose alkali metal hydroxides such as NaOH, KOH, or LiOH. The base is normally employed in the form of an aqueous solution.
The amount of the base employed may be varied within the wide limits of 0.1 to 10 equivalents. Surprisingly, and advantageously, the reaction according to the invention still takes place with short reaction times and high enantiomeric excesses even with relatively small amounts of bases in the range 0.5 to 5 equivalents, preferably 0.8 to 2 equivalents.
The process according to the invention is carried out using a solvent that is immiscible or has only limited miscibility with water. A solvent is regarded as having limited miscibility with water in the context of this invention if a mixture of the organic solvent and water at 20xc2x0 C. can contain no more than 20% by weight (preferably not more than 10% by weight, and particularly not more than 8% by weight) of water in order to remain a single phase.
Suitable organic solvents are in general unsubstituted or substituted aromatic hydrocarbons, aliphatic hydrocarbons, haloalkanes, and ethers. Particularly suitable are toluene, xylene, hexane, tert-butyl methyl ether, diethyl ether, chloroform, and methylene chloride.
In the optimization of the enantiomeric excess and the reaction rate as a function of the solvent used, similar effects are observed as under conventional three-phase conditions. That is to say, high enantiomeric excesses are obtained, particularly in aromatic hydrocarbons such as toluene, whereas particularly short reaction times are achieved in ethers such as tert-butyl methyl ether or in haloalkanes such as chloroform.
It has furthermore been found that the homo-polyamino acid pll aggregates in tert-butyl methyl ether. Hence tert-butyl methyl ether is an interesting and suitable solvent for a continuous reaction procedure.
The temperature used in the epoxidation is generally in the range from xe2x88x9210 to +50xc2x0 C., preferably in the range from 0 to +40xc2x0 C., and particularly at +10 to +30xc2x0 C.
The pH set during the reaction can be chosen so that an excess of deprotonated H2O2 is present compared with nondeprotonated H2O2. On the other hand, the pH in the reaction should not be chosen to be so high as to harm the organic compounds that are employed. The pH is preferably in the range 7 to 14, more preferably in the range 7.5 to 13.
The water content of the system normally results from the fact that, as previously described, individual reaction components of the system, such as the base and the oxidant, are employed in the form of aqueous solutions. The total water content in the reaction mixture is in the range 1 to 70% by weight, preferably in the range 5 to 50% by weight, based on the complete reaction mixture.
In relation to carrying out the reaction, the procedure is normally carried out in such a way that the base, the homo-polyamino acid, the phase-transfer catalyst, the solvent, water, and the substrate are mixed and then the oxidant is added.
The process according to the invention is distinguished by greatly reduced reaction times. Instead of requiring days, epoxidation of the xcex1,xcex2-unsaturated enones and of the xcex1,xcex2-unsaturated sulfones can be achieved with high conversion and high enantioselectivity in only a few hours or even only minutes.
The use according to the invention of the phase-transfer catalyst as cocatalyst permits the necessary amounts of oxidant and of base to be reduced very markedly without having an adverse effect on the reaction rate, conversion, or enantiomeric excess. An additional advantage is that particularly low-cost bases and oxidants can be employed.
Because of the very short reaction times, for the first time hydroxide-sensitive substrates, which cannot be successfully epoxidized by the conventional three-phase conditions (J. Chem. Soc., Perkin Trans. 1, 1997, 3501-3507), are also amenable to enantioselective epoxidation under aqueous, three-phase conditions by the process according to the invention.
The following examples further illustrate details for the process of this invention. The invention, which is set forth in the foregoing disclosure, is not to be limited either in spirit or scope by these examples. Those skilled in the art will readily understand that known variations of the conditions of the following procedures can be used. Unless otherwise noted, all temperatures are degrees Celsius and all percentages are percentages by weight.

Polyamino acid-catalyzed process for the enantioselective epoixdation of xcex1,xcex2-unsaturated enones and xcex1,xcex2-unsaturated sulfones


The invention provides a resin molded article containing a wholly aromatic liquid crystalline polyester resin and formed by being subjected to heat treatment, in which the enthalpy change Δ H1 at the melting point of the first cycle and the enthalpy change Δ H2 at the melting point of the second cycle of the temperature elevation process measured by a differential scanning calorimeter satisfy Δ H1/Δ H2≥2.0, and the dielectric loss tangent measured by the split-post dielectric resonator (SPDR) method at a measurement frequency of 10 GHz is 0.85×10−3 or less.

In recent years, along with the increasing amount of information and telecommunication in the communication field, signals having frequencies in the high-frequency band are used more in electronic equipment, telecommunication equipment, and the like, and in particular, active use is made to signals having frequencies in the gigahertz (GHz) band in which the frequency is 109 Hz or more. For example, a high frequency band of the GHz band is used in the automobile field. Specifically, millimeter-wave radars and quasi-millimeter-wave radars which are mounted for the purpose of preventing collisions of automobiles use high frequencies of 76 to 79 GHz and 24 GHz, respectively, and their use is expected to further increase in the future.
However, as the frequency of the signal to be used becomes higher, the quality of the output signal deteriorates, which may cause misrecognition of information, that is, the transmission loss becomes larger. This transmission loss consists of a conductor loss caused by a conductor and a    dielectric loss caused by an insulating resin constituting the electrical and electronic component such as a substrate in an electronic device or a telecommunication device, and since the conductor loss is proportional to 0.5 power of the frequency used and the dielectric loss is proportional to 1 power of the frequency, the influence of the dielectric loss becomes extremely large in the high frequency band, particularly in the GHz band. Since the dielectric loss also increases in proportion to the dielectric loss tangent of the resin, a resin having a low dielectric loss tangent property is required to prevent deterioration of information.
To solve the above problem, Patent Document 1 proposes a liquid crystalline aromatic polyester comprising two or more structural units derived from p- or m-hydroxybenzoic acid and structural units derived from hydroxynaphthoic acid as a liquid crystalline aromatic polyester exhibiting a low dielectric loss tangent in the high frequency band.
Resins constituting the electrical and electronic component are required to have high heat resistance to heating during molding, and resin molded articles such as films formed using the resins are required to have high heat resistance to heat processing by means of solder or the like. Therefore, for example, Patent Document 2 proposes improving heat resistance by adjusting the crystallinity and density of the film by heat treatment of the film.

Resin molded article comprising wholly aromatic liquid crystalline polyester resin capable of reducing dielectric loss tangent by heat treatment and electrical and electronic component


Methods and apparatus for generating a facial feature. A specific embodiment of the method includes: acquiring a to-be-recognized face image; inputting the to-be-recognized face image into a first convolutional neural network to generate a feature area image set of the to-be-recognized face image, the first convolutional neural network being used to extract a feature area image from a face image; inputting each feature area image in the feature area image set into a corresponding second convolutional neural network to generate an area facial feature of the feature area image, the second convolutional neural network being used to extract the area facial feature of the corresponding feature area image; and generating a facial feature set of the to-be-recognized face image based on the area facial feature of the each feature area image in the feature area image set.

Facial recognition is generally a biometric recognition technology for identification based on facial feature. The related technologies of capturing an image or a video stream containing a face using a video camera or a camera, automatically detecting and tracking the face in the image, and then performing recognition on the detected face, are commonly referred to as facial recognition.

Method and apparatus for generating facial feature

Baidu Online Network Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd.


In an arrangement for communication between a base station and further stations of a mail processing machine and for the emergency shut-off thereof, two interfaces are provided per station in order to connect two neighboring stations as an interface and the mail processing machine is fashioned so as to be expandable in unlimited fashion toward both sides. The control arrangement is programmed to evaluate the incoming message or to forward it to the other interface when it is not directed to the receiving station. Hardware and software stages are provided so that every station can activate an emergency shut-off of all stations via an emergency off-line.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a mail processing machine of the type having a number of individual stations arranged in succession for conveying postal matter from station-to-station in order to process the postal matter, and in particular to an arrangement for communication among the stations of such a mail processing machine.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A mail processing machine of this type is suitable for processing filled letters of different formats given moderate through large shipping quantities. The structure composed of stations enables an economic adaptation to different customer demands. The system fashioned for communication can be operated as franking system, shipping system or postal matter evaluation system and can be quickly shut down in case of emergency.
Above a medium through higher number of letters or other postal matter to be sent, postage meter machines are utilized in a standard way for franking the postal matter. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,746,234 is directed to a thermal transfer postage meter machine that is surrounded by a secured housing.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,200,903 discloses connections of a personal computer or a work station via a multi-path cable to a peripheral postage meter machine that contains an accounting and control module (meter) and a printer, both for printing the franking stamp and for printing the receiver address. A modem is connected to the personal computer. The personal computer functions as a communication means and assumes the calculation of the respective postage fees for the individual items to be shipped on the basis of stored postage fee schedule tables. The peripheral accounting module is relieved of this calculating-intensive and memory-intensive function. An additional scale must be connected to the postage meter machine if the weight of the letter cannot be calculated by the personal computer on the basis of the letter content. The accounting module of the postage meter machine includes a processor system with postage memories and undertakes the accounting, and the directly connected control module controls the printing of address and franking stamp. The low working speed of the overall system is disadvantageous. The working speed is determined by the data transmission rate of the connection between the input/output part of the personal computer as well as by the accounting module. Moreover, it is up to the user to assure that the envelopes are printed with the correct value, or with the correct address. These solutions thus do not allow the automatic processing of filled letters having different thicknesses and different formats. A fast, automatic processing of mixed mail with postage fees that change from letter to letter is thus practically precluded.
Given a higher volume of mail, a mail processing system with postage meter machines, possibly together with other mail handling devices, is likewise utilized in a mail center for franking postal matter (see German Patent Applications 196 17 586.0, 196 17 473.2, 196 17 476.7, 196 17 557.7, respectively corresponding to pending U.S. application Ser. No.08/850,805, Ser. No.08/850,413, and Ser. No. 08/850,051, assigned to the same Assignee as the present application, whereby a scanner scans a bar code from the envelope in order to acquire an input information. This solution requires a computer-supported system in the office for prior application of the bar code onto the envelope. The postage meter machine controls the other devices accordingly. An intelligent scale for automatic postage calculation is also included.
Some mail processing machines are thus composed of stations having built-in intelligence. In general, such a mail processing machine is composed of a number of devices, for example of an automatic feeder station, a dynamic scale, a postage meter machine and a letter deposit. The devices are either centrally controlled or enter into communication with one another.
If, however, the number of connectable devices has an upper limit, an additional auxiliary device cannot be connected. Later customer needs for an auxiliary station, and thus for a flexible mail processing machine, then cannot be satisfied, merely for reasons of connection and control of the base station.
Given an increasing number of devices, each of which can be equipped with its own user interface, i.e. with its own display and with its own keyboard, the probability increases that error messages that are not overly serious are overlooked. Such error messages, however, can lead to further errors that can only be eliminated with a high expenditure of time.
When an error occurs, for example, because a device was opened, the respective device usually switches the supply voltage off. Corresponding, legal guidelines exist so that the user is protected against harm. When such an error occurs during a mail processing cycle, then a paper jam can arise when the postage meter machine is stopped but preceding devices continue to work for some time. The postal matter is crumpled or even destroyed given such jams. It is particularly time-consuming to eliminate such jams. Every malfunction has an especially disadvantageous effect, particularly given mail processing machines with a high mail processing volume.

Arrangement for communication between stations of a mail processing machine