A method and device for indirect, quantitative estimation of blood pressure attributes and similar variable physiological parameters utilizing indirect techniques. The method of practice includes (i) generating a sequence of signals which are quantitative dependent upon the variable parameter, (ii) transmitting and processing the signals within a computer system and associated neural network capable of generating a single output signal for the combined input signals, (iii) directly determining an actual value for the parameter concurrent with the indirect generation of signals of the previous steps, (iv) applying weighting factors within the neural network at interconnecting nodes to force the output signal of the neural network to match the true value of the parameter as determined invasively, (v) recording the input signals, weighting factors and true value as training data within memory of the computer, and (vi) repeating the previous steps to develop sufficient training data to enable the neural network to accurately estimate parameter value upon future receipt of on-line input signals. Procedures are also described for preclassification of signals and artifact rejection. Following training of the neural network, further direct measurement is unnecessary and the system is ready for diagnostic application and noninvasive estimation of parameter values.

1. Field of the Invention
Present invention relates to a device and method for calculation of variable physiological parameters such as blood pressure utilizing a neural network. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method for training a neural network to recognize and calculate blood pressure values based on an oscillometric waveform generated by an external blood pressure cuff.
2. Prior Art
Blood pressure is one of the primary physiological measurements used to access the condition of a patient's cardiovascular system. During acute care, as is provided in the operating room and intensive care unit, blood pressure measurements are routinely used to monitor and manage the condition of patients.
Because noninvasive methods of estimating blood pressure are generally a traumatic and present little risk to the patient, they are often used instead of the invasive method, which requires that a catheter or needle be inserted into an artery. A major disadvantage associated with noninvasive methods has been their lack of close agreement with actual blood pressure as would be measured by an invasive method. In addition, lack of close agreement also exists between different noninvasive methods, further adding to the uncertainty of any particular reading derived by noninvasive methods.
Oscillometry has become the most common method used for automatic, noninvasive blood pressure monitoring. One advantage of the oscillometric method over other noninvasive methods is its ability to estimate not only diastolic and systolic pressures, but also mean pressure. Conventional oscillometric blood pressure monitors use an inflatable air filled occlusive cuff that is placed around a limb, usually the upper arm. Small oscillations in the cuff pressure, which correspond to intraarterial pulses in the artery underlying the cuff, are recorded while the cuff pressure is increased from a pressure below diastolic to a cuff pressure, reach a maximum amplitude at cuff pressure, between diastolic and systolic pressure, and then decrease in amplitude with further increases in cuff pressure above systolic. As is characteristic of oscillometric waveforms, the cuff pressure oscillations initially increase in amplitude with increasing cuff pressure.
Although oscillometry has become the most prominent noninvasive blood pressure monitoring method, there is still a general lack of theoretical understanding regarding the origin of the oscillometric waveform and the relationship between that waveform and the respective attributes of blood pressure identified as diastolic, mean and systolic pressure. This lack of theoretical understanding has led to the development of empirical algorithms which serve to estimate diastolic, mean, and systolic blood pressure.
For example, it is generally believed that the minimum cuff pressure at which the cuff pressure oscillations reach their maximum provides a reasonable estimate of mean blood pressure. The maximum amplitude criteria, however, apparently underestimates true mean blood pressure and is dependent for accuracy on such factors as the magnitude of the intraarterial pulse pressure. The maximum amplitude criteria does not therefore provide ideal measurements in all conditions.
Fixed ratio amplitude criteria have been used in commercial blood pressure monitors to estimate systolic and diastolic pressures. Such fixed ratio amplitude criteria involve identifying the cuff pressure at which the oscillations have decreased from the maximum by a fixed amount, such as fifty or eighty percent. Here again, fixed ratio amplitude criteria are dependent for accuracy on such factors as the magnitude of the intraarterial pulse pressure. The accuracy of such fixed ratio methods is dependent on empirical observations and has yet to be explained in theory.
In short, blood pressure monitoring as represented by amplitude oscillometry processed by conventional algorithms merely generalizes relationships which are based on minimum cuff pressure versus maximum oscillation for mean blood pressure and some empirical percentage under the fixed ratio amplitude criteria for estimating systolic and diastolic pressures. Comparison of conventional noninvasive measurement techniques with invasive measurements of blood pressure has shown that noninvasive estimates may vary as much as forty percent from true value.
At least three factors play a dominant role in limiting the performance of conventional oscillometric algorithms. First, oscillometric waveforms are susceptible to artifacts and noise from a variety of sources. Typical algorithms are not capable of dealing with artifacts, common noise and other variations which may be reflected in the oscillometric waveform. In fact, most conventional oscillometric algorithms are based either directly or indirectly on the assumption that blood pressure remains constant during the recording period, which may last as much as ten to thirty seconds. It is apparent that the processing of artifacts and noise interferring with quality signals degenerates the accuracy of any estimation of blood pressure. When this is combined with the occurrence of cyclic changes in blood pressure during recording of the oscillometric waveform, it becomes clear that the accuracy and usefulness of oscillometric estimates are at best an indicator of probable blood pressure rather than an accurate determination.
A second factor that limits the performance of conventional oscillometric algorithms is the over simplistic practice of empirically interpreting the relationship between the oscillometric waveform and arterial blood pressure attributes to be a uniform percentage. This is an over simplification because this relationship in fact varies with changes in arterial blood pressure and pulse pressure. To generalize that values for diastolic pressures are best estimated by identifying the cuff pressure at which the oscillations have decreased by eighty percent from the maximum is at best a general guide. Although there have been a number of attempts to develop more sophisticated algorithms which deal with pulse transformations through pressure-volume curves, these algorithms depend on identification of subtle features within the oscillometric waveform which are very sensitive to artifacts and noise and are difficult to implement in a robust and practical form.
A third factor that limits the performance of conventional oscillometric algorithms is the nonlinear relationship between the oscillometric waveform and intraarterial blood pressure. The relationship is further complicated by also being non-stationary with respect to time and subjects. For example, the shape of the oscillometric waveform is strongly dependent on the state of the cardiovascular system and the interaction of intraarterial pressure pulses with the nonlinear mechanical properties of the arteries. The fact that these relationships change with activity, age and disease further complicates use of an algorithm which tends to generalize relationships between the oscillometric waveform and blood pressure attributes.
Most common pressure monitoring systems include blood pressure estimations based on the shape of the oscillometric pulses rather than the amplitude. This approach has likewise been subject to the problems set forth in the preceding paragraphs. Specifically, such methods require high fidelity recording of the oscillometric signal and tend to be very sensitive to signal noise and artifacts.
What is needed therefore is a fresh approach to the evaluation of the oscillometric signals and waveform for blood pressure measurement which overcomes the (i) regular occurrence of noise and artifacts which regularly occur during blood pressure monitoring, (ii) nonlinear relationship and (iii) lack of theoretical understanding.

Method for determining blood pressure utilizing a neural network


In a multitenant data platform architecture, one or more supporting data tables are used to write and store tenant data responsive to data write requests. Based on the contextual data returning an indication of a data corruption in one or more supporting data structures, an action associated with the data transaction thread is performed. A log of data corruptions and corresponding call stack trace data may be generated. The data transaction thread may be allowed to continue to execute statements that modify data tables, or the data transaction thread may be terminated. Data corruptions may be compensated for by nullifying data changes caused by corruption causing call sites. Verification methods may be used to ensure correctness of data within a transaction thread.

A large-scale cloud-based computer system may include multiple datacenters at various geographic locations to maintain millions of sets of application data for millions of organizations as well as provide millions of sets of application services such as those for customer relationship management (CRM), secured data access, online transaction processing, mobile apps, etc., to respective users and/or customers of these organizations.
Architecturally, the large-scale cloud-based computer system may rely on a multitenant architecture that employs standard and/or custom objects while using custom indexes and other data structures that are used to store and retrieve customer data. However, over time, data corruptions in supporting data structures, such as custom indexes and other data structures, may prevent a tenant from accessing correct data.
Custom indexes and "skinny tables" are meta structures used by processes to generate efficient database queries in response to a tenant's data fetch requests in a multitenant data platform architecture. A corrupt custom index or a corrupt skinny table means that correct data cannot be returned to a tenant (or customer/organization), resulting in a significant trust issue. A skinny table may also be referred to as a user-specified view of data stored in a multitenant data platform architecture generated at runtime.
Even through close and intensive human supervision from experts experienced in various aspects relating to manually identifying corruptions, new data corruptions continue to surface. Manual searches for data corruptions results in errors, inefficient use of resources, lack of transparency, prolonged downtimes, and organization-wide failures. Maintenance code generated to reduce corruptions, such as trigger maintenance, also fails to capture corruptions existing outside the maintenance code. Significant time and resources are spent on a continuing basis to address data corruption at runtime.
The approaches described in this section are approaches that could be pursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, it should not be assumed that any of the approaches described in this section qualify as prior art merely by virtue of their inclusion in this section. Similarly, issues identified with respect to one or more approaches should not assume to have been recognized in any prior art on the basis of this section, unless otherwise indicated.


A semiconductor device including a transistor having high reliability is provided. The semiconductor device includes a transistor. The transistor includes first and second gate electrodes, a source electrode, a drain electrode, first to third oxides, first and second barrier films, and first and second gate insulators. The first barrier film is located over the source electrode, the second barrier film is located over the drain electrode, and the first and second barrier films each have a function of blocking oxygen and impurities such as hydrogen.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a transistor. The present invention relates to an object, a method, or a manufacturing method. One embodiment of the present invention relates to a process, a machine, manufacture, or a composition of matter. One embodiment of the present invention relates to a semiconductor device, a light-emitting device, a display device, an electronic appliance, a lighting device, and a manufacturing method thereof. In particular, one embodiment of the present invention relates to a light-emitting device using an organic electroluminescence (hereinafter also referred to as EL) phenomenon, and a method for fabricating the light-emitting device. For example, one embodiment of the present invention relates to an LSI, a CPU, a power device mounted in a power circuit, a semiconductor integrated circuit including a memory, a thyristor, a converter, an image sensor, and the like, and an electronic device including any of the above as a component.
Note that one embodiment of the present invention is not limited to the above technical field.
In this specification, a semiconductor device generally means a device that can function by utilizing semiconductor characteristics. An electro-optical device, a semiconductor circuit, and an electronic device include a semiconductor device in some cases.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, semiconductor devices have been developed to be used mainly for an LSI, a CPU, or a memory. A CPU is an aggregation of semiconductor elements each provided with an electrode which is a connection terminal, which includes a semiconductor integrated circuit (including at least a transistor and a memory) separated from a semiconductor wafer.
A semiconductor circuit (IC chip) of an LSI, a CPU, a memory, or the like is mounted on a circuit board, for example, a printed wiring board, to be used as one of components of a variety of electronic devices.
A technique by which a transistor is formed using a semiconductor thin film formed over a substrate having an insulating surface has been attracting attention. The transistor is used in a wide range of electronic devices such as an integrated circuit (IC) or an image display device (also simply referred to as a display device). A silicon-based semiconductor material is widely known as a material for a semiconductor thin film that can be used for a transistor. As another material, an oxide semiconductor has been attracting attention.
It is known that a transistor including an oxide semiconductor has an extremely low leakage current in an off state. For example, a low-power-consumption CPU utilizing a characteristic of low leakage current of the transistor including an oxide semiconductor has been disclosed (see Patent Document 1).
A transistor including an oxide semiconductor is known to have a problem of low reliability because of high possibility of change in electrical characteristics, although the transistor including an oxide semiconductor can be operated at higher speed than a transistor including amorphous silicon and can be manufactured more easily than a transistor including polycrystalline silicon. For example, the threshold voltage of the transistor is changed in some cases after a bias-temperature stress test (BT test).

Semiconductor device, semiconductor wafer, module, electronic device, and manufacturing method the same

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


The present invention relates to the delivery of antihistamines through an inhalation route. Specifically, it relates to aerosols containing antihistamines that are used in inhalation therapy. In a composition aspect of the present invention, the aerosol comprises particles comprising at least 5 percent by weight of an antihistamine. In a method aspect of the present invention, an antihistamine is delivered to a mammal through an inhalation route. The method comprises: a) heating a composition, wherein the composition comprises at least 5 percent by weight of an antihistamine, to form a vapor; and, b) allowing the vapor to cool, thereby forming a condensation aerosol comprising particles, which is inhaled by the mammal. In a kit aspect of the present invention, a kit for delivering an antihistamine through an inhalation route to a mammal is provided which comprises: a) a composition comprising at least 5 percent by weight of an antihistamine; and, b) a device that forms an antihistamine containing aerosol from the composition, for inhalation by the mammal.

The present invention relates to the delivery of antihistamines through an inhalation route. Specifically, it relates to aerosols containing antihistamines that are used in inhalation therapy.
There are a number of antihistamine containing compositions currently marketed for the treatment of allergy symptoms. The compositions contain at least one active ingredient that provides for observed therapeutic effects. Among the active ingredients in such compositions are azatadine, brompheniramine, carbinoxamine, chlorpheniramine, clemastine, cyproheptadine, loratadine, pyrilamine, hydroxyzine, and promethazine.
It is desirable to provide a new route of administration for antihistamines that rapidly produces peak plasma concentrations of the compound. The provision of such a route is an object of the present invention.
The present invention relates to the delivery of antihistamines through an inhalation route. Specifically, it relates to aerosols containing antihistamines that are used in inhalation therapy.
In a composition aspect of the present invention, the aerosol comprises particles comprising at least 5 percent by weight of an antihistamine. Preferably, the particles comprise at least 10 percent by weight of an antihistamine. More preferably, the particles comprise at least 20 percent, 30 percent, 40 percent, 50 percent, 60 percent, 70 percent, 80 percent, 90 percent, 95 percent, 97 percent, 99 percent, 99.5 percent or 99.97 percent by weight of an antihistamine.
Typically, the antihistamine is not one of the following antihistamines: dexmedetomidine, diphenhydramine, doxylamine, loratidine, and promethazine.
Typically, the aerosol has a mass of at least 0.10 xcexcg. Preferably, the aerosol has a mass of at least 100 xcexcg. More preferably, the aerosol has a mass of at least 200 xcexcg.
Typically, the aerosol particles comprise less than 10 percent by weight of antihistamine degradation products. Preferably, the particles comprise less than 5 percent by weight of antihistamine degradation products. More preferably, the particles comprise less than 2.5, 1, 0.5, 0.1 or 0.03 percent by weight of antihistamine degradation products.
Typically, the aerosol particles comprise less than 90 percent by weight of water. Preferably, the particles comprise less than 80 percent by weight of water. More preferably, the particles comprise less than 70 percent, 60 percent, 50 percent, 40 percent, 30 percent, 20 percent, 10 percent, or 5 percent by weight of water.
Typically, at least 50 percent by weight of the aerosol is amorphous in form, wherein crystalline forms make up less than 50 percent by weight of the total aerosol weight, regardless of the nature of individual particles. Preferably, at least 75 percent by weight of the aerosol is amorphous in form. More preferably, at least 90 percent by weight of the aerosol is amorphous in form.
Typically, the aerosol has an inhalable aerosol particle density greater than 106 particles/mL. Preferably, the aerosol has an inhalable aerosol particle density greater than 107 particles/mL. More preferably, the aerosol has an inhalable aerosol particle density greater than 108 particles/mL.
Typically, the aerosol particles have a mass median aerodynamic diameter of less than 5 microns. Preferably, the particles have a mass median aerodynamic diameter of less than 3 microns. More preferably, the particles have a mass median aerodynamic diameter of less than 2 or 1 micron(s).
Typically, the geometric standard deviation around the mass median aerodynamic diameter of the aerosol particles is less than 3.0. Preferably, the geometric standard deviation is less than 2.85. More preferably, the geometric standard deviation is less than 2.7.
Typically, the aerosol is formed by heating a composition containing an antihistamine to form a vapor and subsequently allowing the vapor to condense into an aerosol.
In another composition aspect of the present invention, the aerosol comprises particles comprising at least 5 percent by weight of azatadine, brompheniramine, carbinoxamine, chlorpheniramine, clemastine, cyproheptadine, loratadine, pyrilamine, hydroxyzine, or promethazine. Preferably, the particles comprise at least 10 percent by weight of azatadine, brompheniramine, carbinoxamine, chlorpheniramine, clemastine, cyproheptadine, loratadine, pyrilamine, hydroxyzine, or promethazine. More preferably, the particles comprise at least 20 percent, 30 percent, 40 percent, 50 percent, 60 percent, 70 percent, 80 percent, 90 percent, 95 percent, 97 percent, 99 percent, 99.5 percent or 99.97 percent by weight of azatadine, brompheniramine, carbinoxamine, chlorpheniramine, clemastine, cyproheptadine, loratadine, pyrilamine, hydroxyzine, or promethazine.
Typically, the aerosol has a mass of at least 0.10 xcexcg. Preferably, the aerosol has a mass of at least 100 xcexcg. More preferably, the aerosol has a mass of at least 200 xcexcg.
Typically, the aerosol particles comprise less than 10 percent by weight of azatadine, brompheniramine, carbinoxamine, chlorpheniramine, clemastine, cyproheptadine, loratadine, pyrilamine, hydroxyzine, or promethazine degradation products. Preferably, the particles comprise less than 5 percent by weight of azatadine, brompheniramine, carbinoxamine, chlorpheniramine, clemastine, cyproheptadine, loratadine, pyrilamine, hydroxyzine, or promethazine degradation products. More preferably, the particles comprise less than 2.5, 1, 0.5, 0.1 or 0.03 percent by weight of azatadine, brompheniramine, carbinoxamine, chlorpheniramine, clemastine, cyproheptadine, loratadine, pyrilamine, hydroxyzine, or promethazine degradation products.
Typically, the aerosol particles comprise less than 90 percent by weight of water. Preferably, the particles comprise less than 80 percent by weight of water. More preferably, the particles comprise less than 70 percent, 60 percent, 50 percent, 40 percent, 30 percent, 20 percent, 10 percent, or 5 percent by weight of water.
Typically, at least 50 percent by weight of the aerosol is amorphous in form, wherein crystalline forms make up less than 50 percent by weight of the total aerosol weight, regardless of the nature of individual particles. Preferably, at least 75 percent by weight of the aerosol is amorphous in form. More preferably, at least 90 percent by weight of the aerosol is amorphous in form.
Typically, where the aerosol comprises azatadine, the aerosol has an inhalable aerosol drug mass density of between 0.2 mg/L and 2.5 mg/L. Preferably, the aerosol has an inhalable aerosol drug mass density of between 0.35 mg/L and 2 mg/L. More preferably, the aerosol has an inhalable aerosol drug mass density of between 0.5 mg/L and 1.5 mg/L.
Typically, where the aerosol comprises clemastine, the aerosol has an inhalable aerosol drug mass density of between 0.25 mg/L and 6 mg/L. Preferably, the aerosol has an inhalable aerosol drug mass density of between 0.35 mg/L and 4 mg/L. More preferably, the aerosol has an inhalable aerosol drug mass density of between 0.5 mg/L and 3.5 mg/L.
Typically, where the aerosol comprises chlorpheniramine, the aerosol has an inhalable aerosol drug mass density of between 0.5 mg/L and 5 mg/L. Preferably, the aerosol has an inhalable aerosol drug mass density of between 0.75 mg/L and 4 mg/L. More preferably, the aerosol has an inhalable aerosol drug mass density of between 1 mg/L and 3 mg/L.
Typically, where the aerosol comprises brompheniramine, carbinoxamine or cyproheptadine, the aerosol has an inhalable aerosol drug mass density of between 0.8 mg/L and 10 mg/L. Preferably, the aerosol has an inhalable aerosol drug mass density of between 1.4 mg/L and 8 mg/L. More preferably, the aerosol has an inhalable aerosol drug mass density of between 2 mg/L and 6 mg/L.
Typically, where the aerosol comprises loratadine, the aerosol has an inhalable aerosol drug mass density of between 2 mg/L and 25 mg/L. Preferably, the aerosol has an inhalable aerosol drug mass density of between 3.5 mg/L and 20 mg/L. More preferably, the aerosol has an inhalable aerosol drug mass density of between 5 mg/L and 15 mg/L.
Typically, where the aerosol comprises promethazine, the aerosol has an inhalable aerosol drug mass density of between 5 mg/L and 60 mg/L. Preferably, the aerosol has an inhalable aerosol drug mass density of between 10 mg/L and 47.5 mg/L. More preferably, the aerosol has an inhalable aerosol drug mass density of between 15 mg/L and 35 mg/L.
Typically, where the aerosol comprises pyrilamine, the aerosol has an inhalable aerosol drug mass density of between 6 mg/L and 70 mg/L. Preferably, the aerosol has an inhalable aerosol drug mass density of between 13 mg/L and 55 mg/L. More preferably, the aerosol has an inhalable aerosol drug mass density of between 20 mg/L and 40 mg/L.
Typically, where the aerosol comprises hydroxyzine, the aerosol has an inhalable aerosol drug mass density of between 2 mg/L and 100 mg/L. Preferably, the aerosol has an inhalable aerosol drug mass density of between 5 mg/L and 75 mg/L. More preferably, the aerosol has an inhalable aerosol drug mass density of between 10 mg/L and 50 mg/L.
Typically, the aerosol has an inhalable aerosol particle density greater than 106 particles/mL. Preferably, the aerosol has an inhalable aerosol particle density greater than 107 particles/mL. More preferably, the aerosol has an inhalable aerosol particle density greater than 108 particles/mL.
Typically, the aerosol particles have a mass median aerodynamic diameter of less than 5 microns. Preferably, the particles have a mass median aerodynamic diameter of less than 3 microns. More preferably, the particles have a mass median aerodynamic diameter of less than 2 or 1 micron(s).
Typically, the geometric standard deviation around the mass median aerodynamic diameter of the aerosol particles is less than 3.0. Preferably, the geometric standard deviation is less than 2.85. More preferably, the geometric standard deviation is less than 2.7.
Typically, the aerosol is formed by heating a composition containing azatadine, brompheniramine, carbinoxamine, chlorpheniramine, clemastine, cyproheptadine, loratadine, pyrilamine, hydroxyzine, or promethazine to form a vapor and subsequently allowing the vapor to condense into an aerosol.
In a method aspect of the present invention, an antihistamine is delivered to a mammal through an inhalation route. The method comprises: a) heating a composition, wherein the composition comprises at least 5 percent by weight of an antihistamine; and, b) allowing the vapor to cool, thereby forming a condensation aerosol comprising particles, which is inhaled by the mammal. Preferably, the composition that is heated comprises at least 10 percent by weight of an antihistamine. More preferably, the composition comprises 20 percent, 30 percent, 40 percent, 50 percent, 60 percent, 70 percent, 80 percent, 90 percent, 95 percent, 97 percent, 99 percent, 99.5 percent, 99.9 percent or 99.97 percent by weight of an antihistamine.
Typically, the antihistamine is not one of the following antihistamines: dexmedetomidine, diphenhydramine, doxylamine, loratidine, and promethazine.
In certain embodiments, the composition that is heated comprises at least 15 percent by weight of an antihistamine pharmaceutically acceptable salt. Preferably, the salt is a hydrochloric acid salt, hydrobromic acid salt, acetic acid salt, maleic acid salt, formic acid salt or fumaric acid salt.
Typically, the delivered aerosol particles comprise at least 5 percent by weight of an antihistamine. Preferably, the particles comprise at least 10 percent by weight of an antihistamine. More preferably, the particles comprise at least 20 percent, 30 percent, 40 percent, 50 percent, 60 percent, 70 percent, 80 percent, 90 percent, 95 percent, 97 percent, 99 percent, 99.5 percent, 99.9 percent or 99.97 percent by weight of an antihistamine.
Typically, the delivered aerosol has a mass of at least 10 xcexcg. Preferably, the aerosol has a mass of at least 100 xcexcg. More preferably, the aerosol has a mass of at least 200 xcexcg.
Typically, the delivered aerosol particles comprise less than 10 percent by weight of antihistamine degradation products. Preferably, the particles comprise less than 5 percent by weight of antihistamine degradation products. More preferably, the particles comprise less than 2.5, 1, 0.5, 0.1 or 0.03 percent by weight of antihistamine degradation products.
Typically, the particles of the delivered condensation aerosol have a mass median aerodynamic diameter of less than 5 microns. Preferably, the particles have a mass median aerodynamic diameter of less than 3 microns. More preferably, the particles have a mass median aerodynamic diameter of less than 2 or 1 micron(s).
Typically, the geometric standard deviation around the mass median aerodynamic diameter of the aerosol particles is less than 3.0. Preferably, the geometric standard deviation is less than 2.85. More preferably, the geometric standard deviation is less than 2.7.
Typically, the particles of the delivered condensation aerosol comprise less than 90 percent by weight of water. Preferably, the particles comprise less than 80 percent by weight of water. More preferably, the particles comprise less than 70 percent, 60 percent, 50 percent, 40 percent, 30 percent, 20 percent, 10 percent, or 5 percent by weight of water.
Typically, at least 50 percent by weight of the aerosol is amorphous in form, wherein crystalline forms make up less than 50 percent by weight of the total aerosol weight, regardless of the nature of individual particles. Preferably, at least 75 percent by weight of the aerosol is amorphous in form. More preferably, at least 90 percent by weight of the aerosol is amorphous in form.
Typically, the delivered aerosol has an inhalable aerosol particle density greater than 106 particles/mL. Preferably, the aerosol has an inhalable aerosol particle density greater than 107 particles/mL. More preferably, the aerosol has an inhalable aerosol particle density greater than 108 particles/mL.
Typically, the rate of inhalable aerosol particle formation of the delivered condensation aerosol is greater than 108 particles per second. Preferably, the aerosol is formed at a rate greater than 109 inhalable particles per second. More preferably, the aerosol is formed at a rate greater than 1010 inhalable particles per second.
Typically, the delivered aerosol is formed at a rate greater than 0.25 mg/second. Preferably, the aerosol is formed at a rate greater than 0.5 mg/second. More preferably, the aerosol is formed at a rate greater than 1 or 2 mg/second.
Typically, the delivered condensation aerosol results in a peak plasma concentration of the antihistamine in the mammal in less than 1 h. Preferably, the peak plasma concentration is reached in less than 0.5 h. More preferably, the peak plasma concentration is reached in less than 0.2, 0.1, 0.05, 0.02, 0.01, or 0.005 h. (arterial measurement).
Typically, the delivered condensation aerosol is used to treat allergy symptoms.
In another method aspect of the present invention, azatadine, brompheniramine, carbinoxamine, chlorpheniramine, clemastine, cyproheptadine, loratadine, pyrilamine, hydroxyzine, or promethazine is delivered to a mammal through an inhalation route. The method comprises: a) heating a composition, wherein the composition comprises at least 5 percent by weight of azatadine, brompheniramine, carbinoxamine, chlorpheniramine, clemastine, cyproheptadine, loratadine, pyrilamine, hydroxyzine, or promethazine; and, b) allowing the vapor to cool, thereby forming a condensation aerosol comprising particles, which is inhaled by the mammal. Preferably, the composition that is heated comprises at least 10 percent by weight of azatadine, brompheniramine, carbinoxamine, chlorpheniramine, clemastine, cyproheptadine, loratadine, pyrilamine, hydroxyzine, or promethazine. More preferably, the composition comprises 20 percent, 30 percent, 40 percent, 50 percent, 60 percent, 70 percent, 80 percent, 90 percent, 95 percent, 97 percent, 99 percent, 99.5 percent, 99.9 percent or 99.97 percent by weight of azatadine, brompheniramine, carbinoxamine, chlorpheniramine, clemastine, cyproheptadine, loratadine, pyrilamine, hydroxyzine, or promethazine.
In certain embodiments, the composition that is heated comprises at least 15 percent by weight of an azatadine, brompheniramine, carbinoxamine, chlorpheniramine, clemastine, cyproheptadine, loratadine, pyrilamine, hydroxyzine, or promethazine pharmaceutically acceptable salt. Preferably, the salt is a hydrochloric acid salt, hydrobromic acid salt, acetic acid salt, maleic acid salt, formic acid salt or fumaric acid salt.
Typically, the delivered aerosol particles comprise at least 5 percent by weight of azatadine, brompheniramine, carbinoxamine, chlorpheniramine, clemastine, cyproheptadine, loratadine, pyrilamine, hydroxyzine, or promethazine. Preferably, the particles comprise at least 10 percent by weight of azatadine, brompheniramine, carbinoxamine, chlorpheniramine, clemastine, cyproheptadine, loratadine, pyrilamine, hydroxyzine, or promethazine. More preferably, the particles comprise at least 20 percent, 30 percent, 40 percent, 50 percent, 60 percent, 70 percent, 80 percent, 90 percent, 95 percent, 97 percent, 99 percent, 99.5 percent, 99.9 percent or 99.97 percent by weight of azatadine, brompheniramine, carbinoxamine, chlorpheniramine, clemastine, cyproheptadine, loratadine, pyrilamine, hydroxyzine, or promethazine.
Typically, the delivered aerosol has a mass of at least 10 xcexcg. Preferably, the aerosol has a mass of at least 100 xcexcg. More preferably, the aerosol has a mass of at least 200 xcexcg.
Typically, the delivered aerosol particles comprise less than 10 percent by weight of azatadine, brompheniramine, carbinoxamine, chlorpheniramine, clemastine, cyproheptadine, loratadine, pyrilamine, hydroxyzine, or promethazine degradation products. Preferably, the particles comprise less than 5 percent by weight of azatadine, brompheniramine, carbinoxamine, chlorpheniramine, clemastine, cyproheptadine, loratadine, pyrilamine, hydroxyzine, or promethazine degradation products. More preferably, the particles comprise less than 2.5, 1, 0.5, 0.1 or 0.03 percent by weight of azatadine, brompheniramine, carbinoxamine, chlorpheniramine, clemastine, cyproheptadine, loratadine, pyrilamine, hydroxyzine, or promethazine degradation products.
Typically, the particles of the delivered condensation aerosol have a mass median aerodynamic diameter of less than 5 microns. Preferably, the particles have a mass median aerodynamic diameter of less than 3 microns. More preferably, the particles have a mass median aerodynamic diameter of less than 2 or 1 micron(s).
Typically, the geometric standard deviation around the mass median aerodynamic diameter of the aerosol particles is less than 3.0. Preferably, the geometric standard deviation is less than 2.85. More preferably, the geometric standard deviation is less than 2.7.
Typically, the particles of the delivered condensation aerosol comprise less than 90 percent by weight of water. Preferably, the particles comprise less than 80 percent by weight of water. More preferably, the particles comprise less than 70 percent, 60 percent, 50 percent, 40 percent, 30 percent, 20 percent, 10 percent, or 5 percent by weight of water.
Typically, at least 50 percent by weight of the aerosol is amorphous in form, wherein crystalline forms make up less than 50 percent by weight of the total aerosol weight, regardless of the nature of individual particles. Preferably, at least 75 percent by weight of the aerosol is amorphous in form. More preferably, at least 90 percent by weight of the aerosol is amorphous in form.
Typically, where the aerosol comprises azatadine, the aerosol has an inhalable aerosol drug mass density of between 0.2 mg/L and 2.5 mg/L. Preferably, the aerosol has an inhalable aerosol drug mass density of between 0.35 mg/L and 2 mg/L. More preferably, the aerosol has an inhalable aerosol drug mass density of between 0.5 mg/L and 1.5 mg/L.
Typically, where the aerosol comprises clemastine, the aerosol has an inhalable aerosol drug mass density of between 0.25 mg/L and 6 mg/L. Preferably, the aerosol has an inhalable aerosol drug mass density of between 0.35 mg/L and 4 mg/L. More preferably, the aerosol has an inhalable aerosol drug mass density of between 0.5 mg/L and 3.5 mg/L.
Typically, where the aerosol comprises chlorpheniramine, the aerosol has an inhalable aerosol drug mass density of between 0.5 mg/L and 5 mg/L. Preferably, the aerosol has an inhalable aerosol drug mass density of between 0.75 mg/L and 4 mg/L. More preferably, the aerosol has an inhalable aerosol drug mass density of between 1 mg/L and 3 mg/L.
Typically, where the aerosol comprises brompheniramine, carbinoxamine or cyproheptadine, the aerosol has an inhalable aerosol drug mass density of between 0.8 mg/L and 10 mg/L. Preferably, the aerosol has an inhalable aerosol drug mass density of between 1.4 mg/L and 8 mg/L. More preferably, the aerosol has an inhalable aerosol drug mass density of between 2 mg/L and 6 mg/L.
Typically, where the aerosol comprises loratadine, the aerosol has an inhalable aerosol drug mass density of between 2 mg/L and 25 mg/L. Preferably, the aerosol has an inhalable aerosol drug mass density of between 3.5 mg/L and 20 mg/L. More preferably, the aerosol has an inhalable aerosol drug mass density of between 5 mg/L and 15 mg/L.
Typically, where the aerosol comprises promethazine, the aerosol has an inhalable aerosol drug mass density of between 5 mg/L and 60 mg/L. Preferably, the aerosol has an inhalable aerosol drug mass density of between 10 mg/L and 47.5 mg/L. More preferably, the aerosol has an inhalable aerosol drug mass density of between 15 mg/L and 35 mg/L.
Typically, where the aerosol comprises hydroxyzine, the aerosol has an inhalable aerosol drug mass density of between 2 mg/L and 100 mg/L. Preferably, the aerosol has an inhalable aerosol drug mass density of between 5 mg/L and 75 mg/L. More preferably, the aerosol has an inhalable aerosol drug mass density of between 10 mg/L and 50 mg/L.
Typically, where the aerosol comprises pyrilamine, the aerosol has an inhalable aerosol drug mass density of between 6 mg/L and 70 mg/L. Preferably, the aerosol has an inhalable aerosol drug mass density of between 13 mg/L and 55 mg/L. More preferably, the aerosol has an inhalable aerosol drug mass density of between 20 mg/L and 40 mg/L.
Typically, the delivered aerosol has an inhalable aerosol particle density greater than 106 particles/mL. Preferably, the aerosol has an inhalable aerosol particle density greater than 107 particles/mL. More preferably, the aerosol has an inhalable aerosol particle density greater than 108 particles/mL.
Typically, the rate of inhalable aerosol particle formation of the delivered condensation aerosol is greater than 108 particles per second. Preferably, the aerosol is formed at a rate greater than 109 inhalable particles per second. More preferably, the aerosol is formed at a rate greater than 1010 inhalable particles per second.
Typically, the delivered aerosol is formed at a rate greater than 0.25 mg/second. Preferably, the aerosol is formed at a rate greater than 0.5 mg/second. More preferably, the aerosol is formed at a rate greater than 1 or 2 mg/second.
Typically, where the aerosol comprises azatadine, between 0.2 mg and 2.5 mg of azatadine is delivered to the mammal in a single inspiration. Preferably, between 0.35 mg and 2 mg of azatadine is delivered to the mammal in a single inspiration. More preferably, between 0.5 mg and 1.5 mg of azatadine is delivered to the mammal in a single inspiration.
Typically, where the aerosol comprises clemastine, between 0.25 mg and 6 mg of clemastine is delivered to the mammal in a single inspiration. Preferably, between 0.35 mg and 4 mg of clemastine is delivered to the mammal in a single inspiration. More preferably, between 0.5 mg and 3.5 mg of clemastine is delivered to the mammal in a single inspiration.
Typically, where the aerosol comprises chlorpheniramine, between 0.5 mg and 5 mg of chlorpheniramine is delivered to the mammal in a single inspiration. Preferably, between 0.75 mg and 4 mg of chlorpheniramine is delivered to the mammal in a single inspiration. More preferably, between 1 mg and 3 mg of chlorpheniramine is delivered to the mammal in a single inspiration.
Typically, where the aerosol comprises brompheniramine, carbinoxamine or cyproheptadine, between 0.8 mg and 10 mg of brompheniramine, carbinoxamine or cyproheptadine is delivered to the mammal in a single inhalation. Preferably, between 1.4 mg and 8 mg of brompheniramine, carbinoxamine or cyproheptadine is delivered to the mammal in a single inhalation. More preferably, between 2 mg and 6 mg of brompheniramine, carbinoxamine or cyproheptadine is delivered to the mammal in a single inhalation.
Typically, where the aerosol comprises loratadine, between 2 mg and 25 mg or loratadine is delivered to the mammal in a single inhalation. Preferably, between 3.5 mg and 20 mg of loratadine is delivered to the mammal in a single inspiration. More preferably, between 5 mg and 15 mg of loratadine is delivered to the mammal in a single inspiration.
Typically, where the aerosol comprises promethazine, between 5 mg and 60 mg of promethazine is delivered to the mammal in a single inspiration. Preferably, between 10 mg and 47.5 mg of promethazine is delivered to the mammal in a single inspiration. More preferably, between 15 mg and 35 mg of promethazine is delivered to the mammal in a single inspiration.
Typically, where the aerosol comprises hydroxyzine, between 2 mg and 100 mg of hydroxyzine is delivered to the mammal in a single inspiration. Preferably, between 5 mg and 75 mg of hydroxyzine is delivered to the mammal in a single inspiration. More preferably, between 10 mg and 50 mg of hydroxyzine is delivered to the mammal in a single inspiration.
Typically, where the aerosol comprises pyrilamine, between 6 mg and 70 mg of pyrilamine is delivered to the mammal in a single inspiration. Preferably, between 13 mg and 55 mg of pyrilamine is delivered to the mammal in a single inspiration. More preferably, between 20 mg and 40 mg of pyrilamine is delivered to the mammal in a single inspiration.
Typically, the delivered condensation aerosol results in a peak plasma concentration of azatadine, brompheniramine, carbinoxamine, chlorpheniramine, clemastine, cyproheptadine, loratadine, pyrilamine, hydroxyzine, or promethazine in the mammal in less than 1 h. Preferably, the peak plasma concentration is reached in less than 0.5 h. More preferably, the peak plasma concentration is reached in less than 0.2, 0.1, 0.05, 0.02, 0.01, or 0.005 h. (arterial measurement).
Typically, the delivered condensation aerosol is used to treat allergy symptoms.
In a kit aspect of the present invention, a kit for delivering an antihistamine through an inhalation route to a mammal is provided which comprises: a) a composition comprising at least 5 percent by weight of an antihistamine; and, b) a device that forms an antihistamine containing aerosol from the composition, for inhalation by the mammal. Preferably, the composition comprises at least 10 percent by weight of an antihistamine. More preferably, the composition comprises at least 20 percent, 30 percent, 40 percent, 50 percent, 60 percent, 70 percent, 80 percent, 90 percent, 95 percent, 97 percent, 99 percent, 99.5 percent, 99.9 percent or 99.97 percent by weight of an antihistamine.
Typically, the device contained in the kit comprises: a) an element for heating the antihistamine composition to form a vapor; b) an element allowing the vapor to cool to form an aerosol; and, c) an element permitting the mammal to inhale the aerosol.
In another kit aspect of the present invention, a kit for delivering azatadine, brompheniramine, carbinoxamine, chlorpheniramine, clemastine, cyproheptadine, loratadine, pyrilamine, hydroxyzine, or promethazine an inhalation route to a mammal is provided which comprises: a) a composition comprising at least 5 percent by weight of azatadine, brompheniramine, carbinoxamine, chlorpheniramine, clemastine, cyproheptadine, loratadine, pyrilamine, hydroxyzine, or promethazine; and, b) a device that forms a azatadine, brompheniramine, carbinoxamine, chlorpheniramine, clemastine, cyproheptadine, loratadine, pyrilamine, hydroxyzine, or promethazine containing aerosol from the composition, for inhalation by the mammal. Preferably, the composition comprises at least 10 percent by weight of azatadine, brompheniramine, carbinoxamine, chlorpheniramine, clemastine, cyproheptadine, loratadine, pyrilamine, hydroxyzine, or promethazine. More preferably, the composition comprises at least 20 percent, 30 percent, 40 percent, 50 percent, 60 percent, 70 percent, 80 percent, 90 percent, 95 percent, 97 percent, 99 percent, 99.5 percent, 99.9 percent or 99.97 percent by weight of azatadine, brompheniramine, carbinoxamine, chlorpheniramine, clemastine, cyproheptadine, loratadine, pyrilamine, hydroxyzine, or promethazine.
Typically, the device contained in the kit comprises: a) an element for heating the azatadine, brompheniramine, carbinoxamine, chlorpheniramine, clemastine, cyproheptadine, loratadine, pyrilamine, hydroxyzine, or promethazine composition to form a vapor; b) an element allowing the vapor to cool to form an aerosol; and, c) an element permitting the mammal to inhale the aerosol.

Delivery of antihistamines through an inhalation route


Multilayered composite materials comprising as components:    (A) a water vapor permeable plastics foil,    (B) optionally at least one bonding layer and    (C) a polyurethane layer with capillaries passing through the entire thickness of the polyurethane layer.

To produce outerwear apparel by using water vapor permeable plastics foils, the problem which needs to be addressed in many cases is that of providing an outerwear material which satisfies consumer esthetics with regard to optics and haptics and is efficiently bondable to the water vapor permeable plastics foil in question without being impaired in advantageous properties.
Grain leather and suede leather have attractive optics and haptics, but are generally very expensive and in many cases less than optimal in terms of breathability. Nubuck leather has pleasant haptics, but generally is sensitive and has poor physical fastnesses.
The present invention has for its object to process water vapor permeable plastics foils such that they retain their water vapor permeable properties yet have an appealing visual exterior and pleasant haptics. The present invention further has for its object to provide uses for thus processed water vapor permeable plastics foils.
We have found that this object is achieved by the multilayered composite materials defined at the beginning. They comprise as components:    (A) a water vapor permeable plastics foil,    (B) optionally at least one bonding layer, and    (C) a polyurethane layer with capillaries passing through the entire thickness of the polyurethane layer.
By water vapor permeable plastics foils (A), herein also referred to as foil (A) in brief, are herein meant sheetlike structures composed of synthetic polymer, which can have a thickness of 0.5 μm to 1 mm, preferably 1 μm to 0.5 mm and more preferably 5 μm to 0.05 mm. The term polymer herein also comprises copolymers.
By "water vapor permeable" herein is meant a material that has a water vapor permeability or water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) of more than 1 mg/cm2 h to German standard specification DIN 53333.
In an embodiment of the present invention, water vapor permeable plastics foils (A) comprise water vapor permeable plastics foils which are impermeable to water in the liquid state of aggregation. This "impermeable to water in the liquid state of aggregation" shall be determined at atmospheric pressure or not more than 2 atmospheres pressure.
Plastics herein are polyolefins and preferably fluorinated, more preferably perfluorinated polyolefins such as for example polytetrafluoroethylene and copolymers of tetrafluoroethylene with other fluorine-containing comonomers, in particular hexafluoropropylene.
Water vapor permeable plastics foils (A) of polyolefin, preferably of fluorinated polyolefin can be rendered water vapor permeable by mechanical expansion in particular. Water vapor permeable plastics foils (A) of polyolefin, preferably of fluorinated polyolefin can have pores having an average diameter in the range from 1 to 50 μm, in particular of about 10 μm.
In an embodiment of the present invention, foil (A) has an amorphous fraction of about 5% or more.
Examples of producing expanded foils (A) and their production are recited in U.S. Pat. No. 3,953,566.
In another embodiment of the present invention, foils (A) are foils of polyester, polyamides and polyurethanes, preferably chemically modified polyamides or polyurethanes and, in particular, chemical modified polyesters.
The chemically modified polyamides, chemically modified polyurethanes and chemically modified polyesters comprise in particular hydrophilic modified polyamides, polyurethanes and polyesters respectively, which have been modified through incorporation of one or more polyethers such as diethylene glycol, triethylene glycol, tetraethylene glycol or polyethylene glycol, for example, to be hydrophilic. They may also be referred to as polyether-amides, polyether-urethanes and polyether-polyesters, respectively.
The material of which foil (A) is composed differs from the material of which polyurethane layer (C) is composed.
Multilayered composite material of the present invention further comprises at least one polyurethane layer (C) with capillaries passing through the entire thickness of the polyurethane layer. Polyurethane layer (C) with capillaries passing through the entire thickness of the polyurethane layer is herein also referred to in brief as polyurethane layer (C).

Polymeric compositions as pour point depressants for crude oils


Systems and methods for use in communication between a client and a server, via a networking device, are provided. The method may include sending a request to establish a data connection from the client to the server via the networking device, setting a data connection keep-alive interval for the data connection to a predetermined safe value, and sending a request to establish a test connection between the client and the server. The method may further include determining an efficient keep-alive interval for communication between the client and server via the networking device, using the test connection, setting the data connection keep-alive interval to the efficient keep-alive interval determined using the test connection, and uploading the efficient keep-alive interval from the client to the server in an efficient keep-alive interval notification message, for communication to other clients connected to the server.

Networking devices, such as network address translation (NAT) devices, firewall devices, etc., maintain state for each connection they serve. As a mechanism to cleanup connection state, the networking devices may time-out when a connection between a client and a server remains inactive for a predetermined period of time, causing the device to terminate service for this connection. To prevent the networking devices from timing out due to inactivity, a fixed keep-alive interval may be used. The fixed keep-alive interval may be shorter than most or all of the known time-out values corresponding to networking devices on the market. However, the variation in the time-out values of different types or differently configured networking devices may be substantial. Thus, when certain networking devices are utilized, there may be a large discrepancy between their individual time-out value and the lowest common denominator fixed keep-alive interval. This discrepancy may significantly impact the battery life of the client, due to the frequent and superfluous packets sent to and from the networking device. A significant amount of network traffic may also be generated when a fixed keep-alive interval is applied to a large number of clients, increasing network operating costs. Thus, a fixed keep-alive interval may have a negative impact on the computing system as a whole.
To decrease power consumption and increase networking efficiency within such a system the keep-alive interval may be increased to fit with individual time-out characteristics of different devices. One technique which may be used to increase the keep-alive interval involves establishing a connection between a client and a server via a networking device such as a NAT device, firewall, load balancer etc., and incrementally increasing the keep-alive interval until the networking device times out and drops the connection. Subsequent to the time-out, a preceding keep-alive interval which has not failed is used by the client, in an attempt to maintain a persistent connection and over time the process repeats itself with new attempts to increase the keep-alive interval.
However, using the longest keep-alive interval that has not failed in a test may result in inefficiencies and poor user experience since routine network failure may be incorrectly attributed to time-outs, and repeating the test periodically means a periodic break in the connection would be noticeable to the user. This may lead to periods of unneeded network traffic between the client and server, resulting in a poor user experience, poor battery performance, etc. These problems may be multiplied across thousands of users in the user base for a service provider to mobile clients.

Determining an efficient keep-alive interval for a network connection


A main extruder and a side arm extruder are used in the extrusion of plastics with small amounts of additives or other small substances to be admixed. A minor portion of the plastic material is premixed with small quantity additive substances in a side arm extruder. The premixed material is discharged from the side arm extruder into the main extruder and there mixed with a major portion of feed material.

Extruders are often used for processing materials, in particular plastics. Those materials are processed while they are in an at least partially molten state. Alternatively, the materials can be brought into a molten state. In particular, polymers, copolymers, and elastomers are frequently processed in extruders. Other materials of all kinds can be processed in extruders. This includes solids which can be jointly processed with molten materials. Polymers, copolymers, and elastomers can be blended with other substances, which can also be gases. These other substances may be referred to as additives.
Processed materials can be, for example: Acrylonitrile butadiene acrylate (ABAK), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), ABS with polycarbonate (ABS+PC), acrylic rubber (ACM), ethyl acrylate rubber (AEPCMS), acrylonitrile/ethylene-propylene-diene/styrene (AES), nitroso rubber (AFMU), acrylonitrile methacrylate (AMAK), acrylonitrile/chlorinated polyethylene/styrene (APE-CS), acrylonitrile/styrene/acrylic ester (ASA), aliphatic TPE-U (ATPU), urethane rubber, polyester (AU), benzyl (BC), butadiene rubber (BR), cellulose acetate (CA), cellulose acetate butyrate (CAB), cellulose acetate propionate (CAP), cresol formaldehyde (CF), hydrated cellulose, cellophane (CSH), chlorinated PE rubber (CM), carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), cellulose nitrate, celluloid (CN), epichlorohydrin rubber (CO), cyclic olefin copolymer (COC), cellulose propionate (CPL), chloroprene rubber (CR), casein plastics (CS), casein formaldehyde (CSF), chlorosulfonated PE (CSM) rubber, cellulose triacetate (ICTA), dicyclopentadiene (DCP), ethylene acrylic acid (EAA), ethylene vinyl acetate rubber (EAM), ethylene/butyl acrylate (EBA), ethyl cellulose (EC), ethylene copolymer bitumen (ECB), epichlorohydrin rubber (ECO), ethylene chlorotrifluoroethylene (ECTFE), ethylene ethyl acrylate (EEA), polyethylene ionomers (EIM), ethylene/methacrylic acid (EMAK), exo-methylene lactone (EML), ethylidenenorbornene (EN), ethylene-acrylonitrile rubber (ENM), epoxidized natural rubber (ENR), ethylene/propylene (EP), epoxy resins/polyaddition resins (EP), ethylene/propylene/(diene)/rubbers (EP[D]M), epichlorohydrin rubber (ETER), ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE), urethane rubber, polyethers (EU), ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA), ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH), TPE, ethylene-vinyl acetate+polyvinylidene chloride (EVAPVDC), tetrafluoroethylene/hexafluoropropylene (FEP), furan formaldehyde (FF), perfluororubber (FFKM), fluorine rubber (FKM), propylene/tetrafluoroethylene rubber (FPM), phosphazene rubber with fluoroalkyl or fluoroalkyl groups (FZ), propylene oxide rubber (GPO), halogenated butyl rubber (HIIR), hydrogenated nitrile butadiene rubber (HNBR), higher alpha-olefins (HOA), polycyclones (HT-P), polyphenylene (HT-PP), polytriazines (HT-PT), butyl rubber (CIIR, BIIR, IIR), isoprene rubber (IR), hydrocarbon resin (KWH), liquid-crystalline polymers (LCP), methacrylate/acrylonitrile/butadiene/styrene (MABS), methacrylate/butadiene/styrene (MBS), methylcellulose (MC), melamine/formaldehyde (MF), melamine formaldehyde+unsaturated polyester (MF+UP), melamine phenol-formaldehyde (MPF), methyl/phenyl-silicone rubber (MPQ), methyl methacrylate/exo-methylene lactone (MMAEML), melamine phenol-formaldehyde (MPF), methyl silicone rubbers (MQ), alpha-methylstyrene (MS), melamine urea formaldehyde (MUF), melamine urea phenol formaldehyde (MUPF), fluorosilicone rubber(MVFQ), polyacrylonitrile (PAN), polybutene-1 (PB), poly butyl acrylate (PBA), polybenzimidazole (PBI), polybismaleimide (PBMI), polybutylene naphthalate (PBN), polyoxada benzimidazole (PBO), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), polycarbonate (PC) with one of ABS, AES, ASA, PBT, PE-HD, PET, PMMA+PS, PPE, PPE+SB, PS+HI, SMA, TPU, BPA, TMBPA, or TMC; poly-3.3-bis-chloromethyl propylene oxide (PCPO), polycyclohexylenedimethylene terephthalate (PCT), polychlorotrifluoroethylene (PCTFE), polydiallyl phthalate (PDAP), polydicyclopentadiene (PDCPD), polyethylene (PE), polyesteramide (PEA), polyester carbonate (PEC), polyetherketone (PEK), polyethylene naphthalate (PEN), polyethylene oxide (PEOX), polyethersulfone (PES), polyester imide (PESI), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), possibly with an elastomer, MBS, PBT, PMMA, PSU; phenol formaldehyde (PF), phenol formaldehyde+epoxide (PF+EP), perfluoroalkoxy polymer (PFA), phenol formaldehyde melamine (PFMF), polyperfluorotrimethyltriazine rubber (PFMT), PTFE copolymer (PFTEAF), polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA), polyhydroxybenzoate (PHBA), polyimide (PI), polyisobutylene (PIB), polyimide sulfone (PISO), aliphatic polyketone (PK), polylactide (PLA), poly(methyl acrylate) (PMA), polymethacrylimide (PMI), poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), poly (acrylic ester) imide (PMMI), polymethylpentene (PMP), poly-alpha-methylstyrene (PMS), fluoro/phosphazene rubber (PNF), polynorbornene rubber (PNR), polyolefins, polyolefin derivatives and polyolefin copolymers (PO), poly-p-hydroxy benzoate (POB), polyoxymethylene (POM), POM with PUR elastomer or homopolymer or copolymer, polypropylene (PP), chlorinated polypropylene or polyphthalate carbonate, polyamide (PPA), polyphenylene ether (PPE), PPE with PA, PBT or PS, Polydphenyloxide pyrronellithimide U (PPI), polyparamethylstyrene (PPMS), polyphenylene oxide (PPO), polypropylene oxide (PPDX), poly-p-phenylene (PPP), polyphenylene sulfide (PPS), polyphenylene sulfone (PPSU), poly-m-phenylene/terephthalamide (PPTA), polyphenylvinyl (PPV), polypyrrole (PPY), polystyrene (PS), PS with PC or PE or PPE, polysaccharides (PSAC), polysulfone (PSU), polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), polytetrahydrofuran (PTHF), polybutyrene terephthalate (PTMT), Polyester (PTP), polytrimethylterephthalate (PTT), polyurethane (PUR), polyvinylacetate (PVAC), polyvinylalcohol (PVAL), polyvinylbutyral (PVB), polyvinylisobutylether (PVBE), polyvinylchloride (PVC). polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC), polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), polyvinyl fluoride (PVF), polyvinylformal (PVFM), polyvinylcarbazole (PVK), polyvinylmethylether (PVME), polyvinylcyclohexane (PVZH), phosphazene rubber with phenolic groups (PZ), resorcinol formaldehyde (RF), styrene acrylonitrile (SAN), styrene butadiene (SB), styrene/butadiene/methyl methacrylate (SBMMA), styrene/butadiene rubber (SBR), styrene/butadiene/styrene (SBS), styrene-ethenebutene/styrene (SEBS), Styrene/ethylene/propylene/diene rubber (SEPDM), silicone (SI), styrene/isoprene/maleic anhydride (SIMA), isoprene/styrene rubber (SIR), styrene-isoprene-styrene (SIS), styrene-maleic anhydride (SAM), styrene maleic anhydride/butadiene (SMAB), styrene/methyl methacrylate (SMMA), styrene-alpha-methylstyrene (SMS, polyester (SP), thiocarbonyl difluoride copolymer rubber (TCF), TPE with EPDM+PP or PBBS+PP, TPE with PEBBS+PPE or PEBS+PP or with PESST or PESTRUR or with PESTEST or with PESTUR or with PEUR or with SBS+PP, thermoplastic elastomers (TPE), thermoplastic starch (TPS), urea-formaldehyde (UF), vinyl chloride (VC), vinyl chloride-ethylene (VCE), vinyl chloride-maleic anhydride (VCMA), and vinyl ester (VE).
Processing materials in an extruder, in particular blending of two or more substances, can be used to alter or intensify material properties or create new material properties. This includes, for example, increasing a material's heat resistance or wear resistance, or increasing the material's acid resistance or UV stability. It can include reducing a material's degradation under the influence of one or more environmental factors such as heat, light or chemicals such as acids, alkalis and some salts. It can include increasing or reducing the materials resilience/elasticity. Processing may cause a crosslinking of molecules or a chemical reaction of the polymers. It may cause a discoloration of the polymers or increase the color consistency of polymers. It may alter the melting point or facilitate the dispersion and homogenization. Processing may cause or facilitate foam generation. Processing may facilitate a material's extrusion or alter the material's friction coefficient. Processing may improve a material's fire/flame resistance or change its electric conductivity. Substances processed in an extruder may include materials that support further processing or machining of a material. Substances processed in an extruder may also be fillers.
It is common to feed extruders with a compounded material which already contains a desired mixture of a raw material and predetermined amounts of other substances. These other substances may be referred to as additives. Usually, the compounded material is manufactured and delivered by suppliers. It is stored and fed into the extruder like any other feed material.
The compounded material is typically available in practically any desired grain size. Use of a compounded feed material simplifies the entire extrusion process. However, the use of a compounded feed material also eliminates the possibility to make short-term changes in the composition of the compounded material, i.e. in the quantity of additive material contained in the compounded feed material. A change in the composition of the compounded feed material must be made by the supplier of the compounded feed material.
Generally, use of a compounded feed material simplifies processing, but is more expensive than the material cost of the different ingredients contained within the compounded material. Preparing a mixture of different substances directly in an extruder offers cost advantages over the use of a compounded feed material that already contains the same substances. Also, preparing a mixture directly in an extruder allows quick changes and adjustments in the composition of materials. This allows operators of an extruder to make process changes in-house which provides advantages in terms of quality and in terms of costs of the final product.
However, there are additives that are very difficult to blend into a mixture. This is especially true for small blending quantities, which are to be distributed homogeneously within large quantities of material. Small amounts are amounts of less than 4 wt %, less than 3 wt %, possibly less than 2 wt %, or even less than 1 wt %. The percentages by weight relate to the entire material processed in the main extruder. Materials used in such small quantities include, for example, colors and nucleating agents.
Processing challenges can also arise if two feed materials mix poorly with each other even in relatively large proportions. Feed materials that are challenging to process include those that are dust-like or have even finer grain, for example fillers such as chalk.
An object of the present disclosure is to overcome these challenges and present a solution that allows mixing of different feed materials directly at an extrusion line, including additives that are used only in small quantities.

Mixing of extrudable plastics with small amounts of other substances


The present invention provides an optical measuring apparatus and an optical measuring method for being able to correct the influence of a superficial tissue to be able to accurately measure a degree of light absorption of a deep layer tissue such as a human body and fruits, and a storage medium that stores an optical measuring program. The optical measuring apparatus includes a probe, and the probe includes one light emitting diode and two photodiodes. In a configuration of the optical measuring apparatus, one of the photodiodes receives light which is emitted from the light emitting diode and transmitted through a superficial layer and a deep layer of a tissue, and the other photodiode receives light having a deep layer transmission distance different from that of the light received by one of the photodiodes. The light received by the other photodiode is also transmitted through the superficial layer and deep layer of the tissue. Based on intensity of the light received by each photodiode, a control unit computes a propagation constant in a medium through which the light propagates. An arithmetic expression is selected in accordance with an input fat thickness of the tissue, and an absorption coefficient of the light from a muscle tissue using the arithmetic expression based on the fat thickness and a spatial slope. A hemoglobin concentration and an oxygen saturation are obtained based on the obtained absorption coefficient of the light.

Near-InfraRed Spectroscopy (NIRS) is an extremely useful technique of evaluating tissue metabolism, and NIRS is also applied in clinical practice. There is known a technique in which a living body such as a human body is irradiated with near-infrared light and a reflected light transmitted trough the living body is analyzed to measure a change in amount of blood in the living body. The measuring technique is based on a technique of utilizing a difference in light absorption characteristic between oxygenation and deoxygenation of the hemoglobin to detect a blood distribution state, thereby detecting a hemoglobin existing state.
Examples of NIRS include a continuous light method, a time resolved method, spatially resolved method, and an intensity modulation method. In each technique, when the deep layer tissue such as a muscle tissue and a brain is measured, a superficial tissue such as fat has a large influence on quantitative performance. The living body is usually formed by plural tissues, and the tissues have different absorption characteristics for the near-infrared light. Therefore, the analytical result of the reflected light includes information on the plural tissues.
The continuous light method and the spatially resolved method can be realized with a simple apparatus, and the continuous light method and the spatially resolved method have advantages in general versatility, portability, and real-time performance than any other methods. However, although a method for correcting an influence of a fat layer is proposed in NIRS in which the continuous light method is adopted (for example, see Non-Patent Documents 1 and 2), a method for correcting the influence of the superficial tissue is not sufficiently established yet in the spatially resolved method.
Although some investigations describe estimation of an absorption coefficient from a spatially resolved profile (for example, see Non-Patent Documents 3 to 5), there is shown no specific correction method which can easily be utilized for actual measurement of muscle tissue oxygen concentration. In addition to an error of absolute amount of hemoglobin concentration, it is also necessary to clarify an error in computing an oxygen saturation. Other investigation results are also reported (for example, see Non-Patent Documents 6 to 10).
Non-Patent Document 1: Yamamoto K, Niwayama M, Shiga T et al: Accurate NIRS measurement of muscle oxygenation by correcting the influence of a subcutaneous fat layer. Proc SPIE, 1998, 3194: 166-173.
Non-Patent Document 2: Niwayama M, Lin L, Shao J et al: Quantitative measurement of muscle hemoglobin oxygenation using near-infrared spectroscopy with correction for the influence of a subcutaneous fat layer. Rev Sci Instrum, 2000, 71: 4571-4575.
Non-Patent Document 3: Kienle A, Patterson M S, Dognitz N et al: Noninvasive determination of the optical properties of two-layered turbid media. Appl Opt, 1998, 37: 779-791.
Non-Patent Document 4: Fabbri F, Sassaroli A, Henry M E et al: Optical measurements of absorption changes in two-layered diffusive media. Phys Med Bio1, 2004, 49: 1183-1201.
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Optical measuring apparatus, optical measuring method, and storage medium that stores optical measuring program

National University Corporation Shizuoka University


A vehicular lamp and injection mold and manufacturing method for lamp bodies for producing a plurality of different types of vehicular lamps while resulting in a reduced cost of manufacturing due to sharing of a common injection mold. A lamp body of a tail lamp, for example, includes a reflective surface for reflecting light from a light source bulb forward and is formed with a bulb attachment hole for mounting the light source bulb constituted by an insert-molded surface. That is, part of a reflective surface of the lamp body is formed by an insert-molded surface molded with a cavity surface of an insert constituting a part of a fixed mold of an injection mold. To change to molding a different type of lamp body, it is only necessary to change the insert.

The present invention relates to a vehicular lamp and to an injection mold and manufacturing method for a lamp body of the same.
Many types of vehicular lamps such as a rear fog lamp and a tail lamp are configured such that the lamp body thereof includes a reflective surface for reflecting light from a light source bulb forward, and the lamp body is formed with a bulb attachment hole for mounting the light source bulb to the lamp body.
These lamps can vary in light distribution performance depending on the type of lamp even though their appearance may be the same. Therefore, lamp bodies with various shapes of the reflective surface and the bulb attachment hole must be manufactured in accordance with the type of lamp.
A lamp body is typically constituted by an injection molded product. The need for manufacturing a different lamp body for each type of lamp requires a plurality of types of injection molds, which is a major factor in increasing the cost of manufacturing such lamps.
It is possible to use a common lamp body if the lamp body is configured such that a separate reflector can be attached to the reflective surface of the lamp body, in which case the choice of whether or not to provide the reflector is made depending on the type of lamp. For example, when a lamp body which has been designed for a tail lamp is carried over to a rear fog lamp, it is possible to use the same lamp body for a rear fog lamp by attaching a suitable reflector to the reflective surface of the lamp body.
According to this arrangement, however, a different reflector is required depending on the type of lamp, which causes an increase in the number of parts and results in a problem of increased lamp cost.
Considering the foregoing, it is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicular lamp, and an injection mold for a lamp body and a manufacturing method for the same, whereby, when manufacturing a lamp body for a plurality of types of lamps by injection molding, the cost of manufacturing the lamps is reduced by employing a common injection mold.
The present invention aims to accomplish the aforementioned object with a configuration such that a part of a reflective surface is molded with a cavity surface of an insert.
More specifically, a vehicular lamp according to the present invention includes a light source bulb, a lamp body including a reflective surface for reflecting light from the light source bulb forward and being formed with a bulb attachment hole for mounting the light source bulb to the lamp body, and a translucent cover attached to the lamp body so as to form a lamp chamber with the lamp body, wherein the lamp body is constituted by an injection molded product, and a part of the reflective surface of the lamp is constituted by an insert-molded surface molded with a cavity surface of an insert constituting a part of a fixed mold or a movable mold of an injection mold.
Further, an injection mold for a lamp body according to the present invention, which is intended for use in manufacturing by injection molding a lamp body of a vehicular lamp including a reflective surface for reflecting light from a light source bulb forward and being formed with a bulb attachment hole for attaching the light source bulb, is characterized in that one of a fixed mold and a movable mold for forming a cavity with a shape corresponding to the lamp body is constituted by a mold body and an insert detachably attached to the mold body, and a part of the reflective surface is molded by the cavity surface of the insert.
Still further, a method according to the present invention for manufacturing a lamp body by injection molding a lamp body of a vehicular lamp including a reflective surface for reflecting a light from the light source bulb forward and being formed with a bulb attachment hole for attaching the light source bulb, is characterized in that one of a fixed mold and a movable mold for forming a cavity with a shape corresponding to the lamp body is configured such that the insert is detachably attached to the mold body, and a part of the reflective surface is molded by the cavity surface of the insert.
The type of vehicular lamp to which the invention may be applied is not particularly limited, and can be, for example, a rear fog lamp, a tail lamp, a tail and stop lamp, a turn signal lamp, a cornering lamp, a clearance lamp, a fog lamp, a driving lamp, or a headlamp, or the like.
The aforementioned reflective surface may be constituted by a single curved surface, a plurality of curved surfaces smoothly connected with each other, or a plurality of reflective elements.
In addition, the alignment, shape, size and the like of the aforementioned part of the reflective surface is not particularly limited.
The translucent cover may be a plain one, a cover on which lens elements are formed, or a colorless or colored cover.
A vehicular lamp according to the present invention is configured such that the lamp body thereof is constituted by an injection molded product which includes a reflective surface for reflecting light from a light source bulb forward and is formed with a bulb attachment hole for attaching the light source bulb. Because a part of the reflective surface of the lamp body is constituted by an insert-molded surface molded by a cavity surface of the insert constituting a part of a fixed mold or a movable mold of an injection mold, the following advantageous effects can be obtained.
Namely, if injection molding is performed using inserts with different cavity surface shapes, it is possible to manufacture a lamp body with partially different reflection surface shapes while sharing a common main structure for the injection mold. This enables a plurality of types of lamp bodies with different light distribution performance to be obtained.
Therefore, by preparing a plurality of types of inserts having a cavity surface with a predetermined shape corresponding to the light distribution performance of the lamp, and performing injection molding by switching the insert depending on the type of lamp, a plurality of types of lamp bodies can be obtained corresponding to a desired light distribution performance of the lamp without the need to provide a separate reflector for each type of lamp, as in a conventional case.
Accordingly, when manufacturing a plurality of types of lamp bodies by injection molding, the present invention can reduce the cost of manufacturing a lamp by using a common injection mold, and consequently can reduce the cost of a lamp by eliminating the necessity to increase the number of parts.
Moreover, if the bulb attachment hole is also constituted by the insert-molded surface, it is possible to easily mount different types of light source bulbs corresponding to the light distribution performance of the lamp. Further, because a protruding portion is formed on the insert, it is possible to easily attach and detach the insert.
In the aforementioned configuration, if a reflective surface of the lamp body is constituted by a plurality of reflective elements, the following effects can be obtained.
Namely, when the reflective surface of the lamp is constituted by smooth curved surfaces, if only the shape of the insert-molded surface is changed, the thickness of the lamp body will be greatly changed in part from a basic thickness. As a result, shrinkage is likely to occur on the reflective surface, or the flowability of the molten resin is likely to decrease during injection molding.
On the contrary, when the reflective surface of the lamp body is constituted by a plurality of reflective elements, when only the shape of the insert-molded surface is changed, the change in shape occurs in each reflective element, preventing the basic thickness from being greatly changed. Therefore, the occurrence of shrinkage in the reflective surface or a decrease in the flowability of the molten resin during injection molding can be effectively reduced.
Moreover, if the position of the boundary between the insert-molded surface and other parts of the reflective surface is substantially the same as the position of the boundary between the various reflective elements, the profile of the insert formed on the reflective surface by injection molding can be made less conspicuous.
Further, in this configuration, if the translucent cover is constituted by a red-colored translucent cover and the lamp is a rear fog lamp, a tail lamp, or a tail and stop lamp that is designed to emit red light, the light distribution performance for each lamp can be easily ensured by switching the insert based on the use of a common translucent cover.

Vehicular lamp and injection mold and manufacturing method for lamp body of vehicular lamp


A connector device for electronic modules including a housing, i.e., in automation systems, having a termination panel with plug-in locations for wiring, wherein the termination panel is pivotally guidable onto the electronic module, and wherein the connector device is pivotable to a pre-wiring position outside the housing to provide access to the plug-in locations of the termination panel.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to connectors and, more particularly, to a connector device for electronic modules with a housing, especially in automation systems, having a termination panel with plug-in locations for wiring, where the termination panel is pivotally guidable onto the electronic module.
2. Description of the Related Art
Usually, electronic modules, i.e., peripheral modules in automation systems, are connected by connector devices, i.e., front connectors, which establish contact between the corresponding process line and the peripheral modules by substantially permanent wiring. Consequently, replacing a module only involves removing the front connector and no leads have to be disconnected.
Circuit boards, modules or plug-in boards for electronic control devices are advantageously inserted into a standard housing. In such cases, a module carrier receives the modules able to be plugged in by guide rails. The modules are supplied with power or signals by termination contacts that are attached either to the front, or the rear or side, respectively. The modules can also be wired to each other from the rear.
The housings have defined dimensions, are used to accommodate circuit boards and are built into standard switching cabinets. A housing is constructed from two side sections with attachment flanges that are connected to one another by four (4) extruded profiles. The housing is screwed into an electronics cabinet using the two attachment flanges.
Plug-in modules inserted into the housing, such as circuit boards, are controlled by external process signals or are connected to other plug-in modules. For this purpose, plug-in connectors, i.e., front connectors comprising connector strips are used, which are pushed onto the plug-in module from the operating side. In selecting the plug-in connectors, in addition to cost effectiveness and the required contact pins, the primary consideration is reliability of the plug-in connector, mechanical robustness, the ability to combine parts supplied by different manufacturers, insulation capabilities and current loading. While the generally-used plug-in connectors for direct connection fulfill all the cost effectiveness and reliability requirements, the number of contact pins is often not sufficient. The front process connector is particularly used for peripheral devices if, for example, a spatial separation of the system cable from the signal cables within the electronics is required to avoid electrical interference.
The disadvantage of the prior art connectors, however, is that plug-in connectors for electronic modules in automation systems that are able to be installed using pivot technology have previously not had any pre-wiring position. With these plug-in devices this leads to the termination panels, i.e., the terminals, being located inside the electronic module during wiring. Introducing the conductors is thus not a simple matter and the terminals are difficult to access.

Connector device for electronic modules in automation systems


An apparatus for removing a multi-contact component installed in sockets on a circuit board. The apparatus includes at least one elongated post for providing an upward force on the lower surface of the component to remove the component from the sockets. The logitudinal axis of the post is generally normal to the lower surface of the component. At least one screw is mechanically coupled to the post so that rotation of the screw causes longitudinal movement of the post.

The invention relates to removing multi-pin components installed in sockets on circuit boards.
For a variety of reasons, manufacturers of electronic circuit boards often use sockets as a means for connecting integrated circuits (ICs) to a circuit board. While the forces associated with the engagement of a single IC pin with its companion socket are insignificant, the aggregate forces due to a large number of pins, e.g., in a pin grid array (PGA) can make extraction of the IC so difficult that special extraction tools are necessary. Known IC extraction tools operate to grip the edges of the body of the IC and pull the IC away from the sockets.

Method and apparatus for removing a multi-pin component installed in sockets on a circuit board


The object of the present invention is to provide toner bottles and the like in which the possibility to damage the ring gear, in particular the teeth of the ring gear, is remarkably suppressed at processing the toner bottle such as handling, packaging, and transporting, thus packaging and transporting are principally possible without cushioning materials. Accordingly, provided is a toner bottle comprising a cylindrical bottle having a bottom, a cylindrical aperture for supplying a toner, and a ring gear, wherein a helical concave is formed on the side wall of the cylindrical bottle along the axis of the cylindrical bottle, the cylindrical aperture is disposed at one end of the cylindrical bottle, the cylindrical aperture is concentric with the cylindrical bottle, and the outside diameter of the cylindrical aperture is smaller than the outside diameter of the cylindrical bottle, the ring gear is disposed on the cylindrical aperture, the ring gear is concentric with the cylindrical aperture, and the tip circle diameter of the ring gear is smaller than the outside diameter of the cylindrical bottle.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to toner bottles for supplying toners to electrophotographic image forming apparatuses such as copiers, facsimiles, and printers, processes for producing the toner bottles, toner containers comprising the toner bottle and a cap, toner cartridges comprising the toner container and a toner, image forming apparatuses equipped with the toner cartridge, and image forming processes. In the present invention, the term "toner" as used is meant broader sense and the meaning extends to developers utilized commercially.
2. Description of the Related Art
In conventional electrophotographic image forming apparatuses, developers are supplied in a way that a container containing a developer is horizontally mounted to a main body of image forming apparatuses in an attachable and detachable manner, then the container is rotated around the axis of the container.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) Nos. 60-146265 and 9-311535 disclose, in such devices for supplying a developer or container for supplying a developer, a gear for driving rotatably a cylindrical container or a driven gear that is mounted concentrically to a body of a developer container. These containers for supplying a developer are constructed such that an aperture for supplying a developer is formed at one end of a cylindrical container main body having a bottom, and that helical concave portions are formed along the axis; the toner is guided and conveyed by the helical concave portions by rotating the container main body around the axis while maintaining the axis in an approximately horizontal direction; thereby the toner is supplied to the developing portion through the supplying aperture of image forming apparatuses.
Specifically, as described in JP-A No. 60-146265, a toner cartridge of a toner supplying device is constructed as shown in FIG. 8, for example; reference number 80 in FIG. 8 denotes a toner cartridge, 81 denotes the aperture for supplying a toner, 82 denotes a helical rib, 83 denotes a ring gear as a driven gear for rotating toner cartridge 80, and 84 denotes the helical concave portion formed by helical rib 82 for conveying the toner.
Further, the device for supplying a developer described in JP-A No. 9-311535 is so constructed that the residual toner amount that deposits on inner surface of toner containers may be minimized. As shown in FIG. 9, ring gear 95 is provided at the side of outlet aperture 92 of toner bottle 91 as a driven gear, the gear 95 is engaged with driving gear 97 of which the teeth are partly eliminated intentionally; intermittent rotating motion of toner bottle 91 may cause vibration to the toner bottle. In FIG. 9, reference number 93 denotes the axis of the toner bottle, 94 denotes a helical guiding protection for the inner face that forms helical concave 94a for conveying toner, 96 denotes a driving motor, and T denotes a toner.
However, developer supplying containers in the prior art such as toner cartridge 80 shown in FIG. 8 and the toner bottle shown in FIG. 9 are is each equipped with a driven gear of which the tip circle diameter or outside diameter of the gear is larger than the diameter of the bottle body, and constructed such that the driven gear is disposed concentric with the bottle body. Therefore, the outer periphery of driven gears extends outward from the outer face of bottle bodies, thus, the teeth often suffer from damages at handling containers such as packaging and transporting. In order to avoid such a problem, the developer supplying containers should be packaged and transported along with a specific cushioning material.
Typically, the conventional developer supplying containers are molded products of plastics. These molded products are typically produced by a direct blow molding method. Alternatively, these are produced primarily by injection molding, then the resulting primary body is inserted into a specific mold and subjected to biaxial stretching blow molding under certain conditions. However, since the intended shape is that a ring gear is provided on the outer side where a helical concave is formed on a container body, the mold construction of the injection molding or the biaxial stretching blow molding is considerably complicated; in addition, since the ring gear is disposed at the thinner portion of the bottle body, there exist some problems that the rib construction is likely to be complicated, and the thickness of the bottle body should be increased.

Toner container and image forming apparatus


An antenna for a level sensing gauge comprises an environmentally sealed chamber extending from the level sensing gauge and mounting and positionable within the interior of a storage compartment, including a breathable aperture for permitting pressure and humidity equalization between the interior of said chamber and an exterior environment.

In many industrial environments, products are processed and/or stored in tanks or bins. Examples include grain silos, tanks used in the batch processing of foods, beverages, or pharmaceuticals. In these industries, one must be able to reliably determine the amount of contents stored within a tank at any given time. This determination may be made visually or through the use of a level sensing gauge. In many instances, the tank prevents any sort of visual determination of the present level of the contents. For example, many silos are composed of steel and/or concrete or other nontransparent materials and, therefore, any visual inspection of the content level of such tanks would involve manually opening an aperture, which may pose hazards to personnel, and raise the potential of contamination of the contents. Furthermore, visual inspection of content levels lacks accuracy and is time consuming. In order to avoid these problems, level sensing gauges are used to measure content levels.
There are several types of level sensing gauges. Examples include those that use mechanical systems and electrical systems, with the electrical versions including radar transmitters or ultrasonic systems, and others. Radar gauges in particular monitor content levels by transmitting microwave pulses from an antenna toward the surface of the tank contents. These pulses are reflected from the contents and back to the antenna. The antenna cone or rod-shaped. Other radar gauges use a continuous wave rather than pulses with a similar antenna.
Radar sensors are suitable for measuring levels of liquids, solids, powders, granules, dust, corrosive steam and vapors, regardless of the media characteristics, environment, low and high pressures or temperatures. Radar signals are unaffected by noise, by extreme air turbulence (such as during pneumatic filling), by fluctuations in dielectric constant, density, or conductivity. Even liquids having highly agitated surfaces or gas bubbles are usually reliably measured. Gas layering such as that produced by solvents or gases has virtually no adverse effect.
Although radar signals are generally useful for measurement of multiple materials, radar measurement gauges are sensitive devices and prone to malfunction when exposed to dust or condensation, particularly in the transmitting and receiving antenna. Particles of dust within the antenna may create false echoes preventing reliable measurement of level, and drops of fluid in the radar transmission path may have a similar effect.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/178,836, filed Oct. 6, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,134,315 issued Nov. 14, 2006, assigned to the same assignee as this application and incorporated herein in its entirety, describes a mounting for a radar level sensing gauge sold by the assignee, that is particularly intended for sanitary environments such as food processing. For this application, a hole is first cut into the body of a storage tank, generally the roof. Next, the level sensing gauge is then inserted through the hole into the tank with its probe antenna extending into the tank inside of a probe cover. The probe cover includes a sealing flange that seals to the housing of the tank to prevent contamination of the contents of the tank through the hole. The probe is positioned beneath the surface of the tank when the level sensing gauge is attached to the tank, thereby reducing the disruption of radar emissions by the tank itself.
While the above-referenced patent application provides an effective solution to prevent contamination of the contents of a tank, it does not provide a solution for level sensing gauges that utilize a cone-shaped antenna, nor does it provide a seal usable on such a gauge to prevent entrapment of dust or moisture from outside of the tank which could cause false echoes and malfunction of the level sensing gauge. Dust and moisture from such sources is particularly problematic on grain silos which operate in dusty, outdoor environments that are subject to extreme temperature and humidity variations.
In view of the above background, there is need for a level sensing gauge which is usable with a storage tank in a dusty, temperate and moist environment, to prevent the ingress of dust or moisture into the antenna structure and malfunctions resulting therefrom. Further, it is desirable that as the level sensing gauge is mounted to a storage tank the antenna is positioned within the tank to reduce interference between the radar signal and the body of the tank.