An automobile interior trim component includes a molded substrate laminated onto a cover sheet including a foam backing and a skin film having a surface texture. The cover sheet is preheated so the skin film is in a melted viscous liquid state above its melting temperature, and the foam backing remains in a solid elastic foam state below its melting temperature. The preheated cover sheet is mechanically pre-molded by a back mold into a front mold. Pressurized air is applied through the back mold, to blow-mold the cover sheet against the front mold, so the melted skin film reproduces a surface texture of the front mold surface while the solid foam backing acts as a buffer and air barrier layer. Vacuum is applied through the front mold surface. The mold is opened, a substrate is introduced, and the back mold then molds and thermally laminates the substrate against the foam backing of the cover sheet.

The invention relates to a method of manufacturing molded parts, such as automobile interior trim components, that have a molded-in surface texture, as well as an apparatus for carrying out such a method.
In various technical fields, and particularly in the automobile manufacturing industry, there is a constantly growing demand for various molded parts that have a surface texture molded into or onto the surfaces of such parts. For example, it is increasingly desired to provide interior trim components of a motor vehicle, such as headliners, door trim insert panels, column trim covers, consoles, parcel shelves, dashboards, and the like, with a surface texture such as an artificial leather grain, an artificial wood-like grain, a pattern of dots or lines or the like, simulated stitching lines, raised bumps and indented depressions or even molded-in text or logos. Such surface textures enhance the appearance of the visible surface of the molded part, or enhance the surface feel or grip characteristic provided by the surface, or provide intended information in the way of text or logos or the like.
In any event, however, the molded-in texture must be accurately and consistently represented or reproduced on the surface of the molded part, in order to achieve the intended effects. On the other hand, if the intended surface texture is inaccurately or distortedly reproduced on the surface of the molded part, this results in a visually unacceptable part which must be scrapped. Thus, it has been a significant problem in the industry, that defective or unacceptable surface texturing leads to a rather high reject and discard rate of such parts, although the parts may otherwise be fully in conformance with other requirements.
If has also been extremely difficult or impossible up to the present time, to achieve complex, or finely detailed surface textures, without distortion or misrepresentation, using conventionally known methods. One conventional method involves providing a flat starting sheet of cover stock that is pre-textured with the desired surface texture. Then, this pre-textured cover stock or cover sheet is deep-drawn and molded while being laminated with a backing substrate or the like. During this molding operation, which forms three-dimensional contours of the finished molded part, the pattern or surface texture of the cover sheet is necessarily distorted at different areas, depending on the degree of stretching and three-dimensional molding that has taken place at these respective areas. Namely, an area that is more deeply or extensively drawn and stretched will suffer an area expansion of the intended surface texture. Thus, a regular geometric pattern of dots or lines or the like on the starting cover sheet material will clearly show the areas of distortion resulting from the three-dimensional molding, and will generally not be acceptable. Text or the like can also not be provided at molded areas. Such a technique is generally only suitable for random textures of which a distortion is not readily apparent, or for providing a texture on areas that are not strongly contoured. Another problem of such a conventional process arises when the textured surface of the cover sheet is pressed in contact with a flat surface of a mold. In such a case, the surface texture will be at least partially crushed or flattened or xe2x80x9cironed outxe2x80x9d, so that any resulting surface texture cannot have a very strong or roughly profiled texture.
To avoid the above-mentioned distortion that arises when deep-drawing or molding a pre-textured cover sheet, techniques have been developed to apply a surface texture onto a cover sheet or a surface of a molded part after the molding rather than before the molding operation. Such techniques are complicated, time consuming and not economical in production.
Two further conventional processes for forming a contoured skin sheet with a surface texture are the powder and spray slush methods. In the powder slush method, a thin galvanically fabricated zinc sheet is used as a contoured and textured mold which is heated and dipped into or coated with a polymer powder such as a polyvinyl chloride (PVC) powder, which then melts and forms a corresponding contoured and textured PVC skin on the zinc mold. The skin is peeled off, and can thereafter be applied onto a molded substrate. Alternatively, in the spray slush method, a liquid polymer such as polyurethane is sprayed onto the textured mold to form a textured skin, which can thereafter be peeled off and applied on a molded substrate. These slush skin methods are rather complicated, time consuming, and costly due to several additional required steps. Moreover, these processes generally use polyvinyl chloride and polyurethane materials, which are becoming ever more undesirable because they are not easily recycled, and they represent toxic risks and disposal problems. Also, the thin mold sheets have a relatively short useful life cycle, which leads to high tooling costs, and the surface textures that can be achieved are limited. Also, the conventional patterning or texturing processes all involve additional steps end additional work effort, beyond the molding operation itself.
In view of the above, it is an object of the invention to provide a method and an apparatus for producing a molded part having a surface texture that accurately represents the intended surface texture without distortion, and that is not limited as to the type of surface texture, but instead can be used to form synthetic leather grains, synthetic wood grains, patterns of dots and stripes or the like, raised bumps, indented depressions, synthetic stitching lines, text, logos, and the like with great detail, accuracy, and reproducibility. It is a further object of the invention to be able to mold the intended surface texture into the surface of the molded part during its molding fabrication, without requiring additional work steps or effort to achieve this surface texture. Another object of the invention is to use materials that are easily recyclable for the textured cover sheet, in combination with essentially any possible backing or substrate material. The invention further aims to avoid or overcome the disadvantages of the prior art, and to achieve additional advantages, as apparent from the present specification.
The above objects have been achieved according to the invention in a three-dimensionally contoured molded part including a substrate and a cover sheet laminated thereon, wherein the cover sheet includes a skin film and a foam backing that is adhered or bonded onto the substrate. The skin film is provided with a surface texture that is uniformly and consistently applied without distortion over three-dimensionally contoured areas of the molded part. Such a molded part may be produced, and the above objects have further been achieved according to the invention, in a method of molding a three-dimensionally contoured molded part having a surface texture.
The inventive method involves the following steps. A cover sheet is provided, which includes a surface skin film and a foam backing. The cover sheet is heated in such a manner so that the skin film is heated to at least its melting temperature while the foam backing is heated only to a temperature below its melting temperature. Thereby, particularly, the skin film material is entirely melted to a viscous liquid state, while the foam backing remains an elastic foam solid, whereby the foam backing acts as a solid carrier for holding and carrying the viscous liquid film. To some extent, the viscous liquid skin film material also penetrates into or partially saturates the open pores at the interface surface of the foam backing, somewhat like a liquid being absorbed into a sponge. However, since the foam backing is a closed-cell foam that is not permeable through its thickness, the extent of absorption of the viscous liquid skin film material into the foam backing is limited to the interface surface. Preferably the cover sheet is a foam-backed thermoplastic polyolefin (TPO) sheet material. Suitable thermoplastics for the skin film include polypropylene, polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) polymers, for example.
The pre-heated cover sheet is arranged between a first or front mold and a second or back mold. The mold surface of the front mold has been provided with an exact negative image of the desired resulting surface texture of the finished molded part. Namely, this surface texture has been provided on the mold surface by mechanical engraving, embossing, chemical etching, or the like, after the surface of the mold has been milled and highly polished. After the pre-heated cover sheet has been arranged between the molds, the front mold and the back mold are closed relative to each other, while the back mold preferably mechanically pre-molds the cover sheet toward the front mold. An air-tight seal is provided between the front and back molds. A pressurized pressure medium is introduced into a gap between the back mold and the foam backing of the cover sheet, whereby the pressure medium further blow-molds the cover sheet toward and against the front mold. Air is vented out from between the skin film of the cover sheet and the textured surface of the front mold, and a low vacuum is applied between the skin film and the textured surface of the front mold.
In this manner, the pressurized pressure medium presses the cover sheet so that the skin film (in the melted viscous liquid state) is pressed uniformly and evenly into contact with the textured mold surface of the front mold, so as to mold the inverse texture into the skin film. Meanwhile, the low vacuum ensures that all air pockets between the skin film and the textured mold surface are removed, and that the skin film is held in fixed registration on the textured mold surface to avoid distortion or double imprinting of the texture image. Since the foam backing of the cover sheet is closed-cell foam that is non-permeable and that remains in an elastic solid (non-melted) state, there is no danger of a blow-through of the pressure medium, but instead, the foam backing acts as a molding buffer or intermediary layer to uniformly apply the molding pressure to the skin film to press it uniformly against the contoured and textured surface of the front mold.
Since the skin film is in a melted viscous liquid state as mentioned above, the skin film material is molded against the textured surface of the front mold, so as to accurately reproduce the opposite or inverse of the texture of the mold surface into the skin film surface. By then cooling against the front mold, the skin film re-solidifies with this surface texture fixed therein. Since the cover sheet is essentially simultaneously contoured and imprinted with the surface texture, there is no risk of the surface texture being distorted due to the contouring or molding of the cover sheet. Instead, any surface texture that can be engraved or etched or otherwise formed on the contoured mold surface can be accurately reproduced on the skin sheet.
In a subsequent step, the mold is opened, and the finished textured skin may be removed for further separate use, or a substrate can be formed or laminated onto the back surface of the foam backing of the cover sheet directly in the same molding apparatus. In a preferred embodiment, a pre-heated sheet of a substrate material (such as a composite of natural fibers, glass fibers or polyester fibers with thermoplastic fibers such as polypropylene fibers) is molded by the back mold against the back surface of the foam backing. According to further alternatives, a foaming polymer resin material may be injected, sprayed, poured or cast against the back surface of the foam backing, and then molded against the foam backing by the back mold. For example, in this regard, the substrate material could be a foaming polyurethane material. Preferably, the front mold and the back mold are so dimensioned and configured relative to each other, to accommodate the cover sheet therebetween, as well as a gap in the range of 2 to 5 mm, which acts as a pressure medium receiving gap during the initial molding of the cover sheet as mentioned above, and which will receive and form the substrate therein during the subsequent substrate laminating step.
Preferably, the pressure medium is compressed air which is provided at a gage pressure in the range from 1 to 30 bar and especially in the range from 5 or 6 to 20 bar. On the other hand, the low vacuum applied from the side of the front mold is substantially less than 1 bar below atmospheric pressure, and especially less than 0.5 bar below atmospheric pressure, or even less than 0.3 bar (e.g. 0.05 to 0.3 bar) below atmospheric pressure, and especially about 0.1 bar below atmospheric pressure.
The vacuum is applied through very fine vacuum holes, such as laser bored holes having a diameter of less than 0.5 mm, especially less than 0.3 mm, and particularly about 0.2 mm, through the mold surface of the front mold. The very fine diameter of these vacuum holes, in combination with the very low vacuum being applied, and the buffering effect of the solid foam backing, ensures that the melted skin film material will not be sucked into these vacuum holes, and the finished surface of the skin film on the molded part will not show any nubs or pips of skin material at the locations of the vacuum holes. Instead, the finished textured surface of the molded part will be an exact reproduction of the surface texture provided on the front mold surface, without any distortion and without any vacuum hole marks.
Moreover, as is evident from the above discussion, the objects of the invention have further been achieved using a molding apparatus including a first front mold and a second back mold. The front mold has a mold surface that has been milled to the required contour and then highly polished, and thereafter provided with a surface texture by mechanical engraving, milling, etching, or the like. The front mold includes a vacuum plenum connected to a source of vacuum, and vacuum holes extending from the vacuum plenum through the front mold surface. These vacuum holes particularly include a mechanically bored hole portion, and a laser bored hole portion extending from the mechanically bored hole portion through the front mold surface. The laser bored hole portions have diameters as described above. Both the front mold and the back mold are tempered by flowing cooling water or cooling oil or the like through coolant passages, for example to maintain the molds at a temperature of 50 to 60xc2x0 C.
The back mold substantially mates with the front mold, with a suitable mold gap therebetween, and is movable relative to the front mold. Namely, either one of the molds is movable relative to the other, or both molds are movable relative to each other. The back mold includes pressure medium distribution passages and pressure medium holes, connected to a source of pressure medium, such as pressurized air with a pressure in the range from 1 to 30 bar. The pressure medium holes are provided on all surfaces of the mold surface of the back mold, to ensure a uniform distribution of the pressure medium. A perimeter seal frame provides a seal between the front mold and the back mold around the perimeter thereof. The seal frame is preferably mounted to the back mold with a yielding connection, such as by a spring-loaded slide arrangement. The seal frame can also function as a mechanical stop that limits the closing travel of the molds so as to reliably maintain the intended gap therebetween as mentioned above.
Either the front mold or the back mold may be configured as a female mold, while the respective opposite mold is a mating male mold. Similarly, either the front mold or the back mold may be considered as the negative mold or the positive mold, and either of these molds may be the top mold or the bottom mold. Preferably, the front mold is the top mold, while the back mold is the bottom mold. This mold arrangement corresponds to the cover sheet being oriented with the foam backing on the bottom, carrying the melted skin film material on top of it. This is necessary especially for larger molded parts, because flipping this arrangement xe2x80x9cupside downxe2x80x9d would allow the melted skin film material to flow or drip down from the foam backing that acts as a carrier. The xe2x80x9cupside downxe2x80x9d arrangement can, however, be used successfully for smaller sized parts to be molded.
The inventive apparatus and method further include a heater arrangement, preferably with an infrared heater on top for heating the upper skin film material (e.g. to about 200xc2x0 C.) by infrared radiation heating, and a liquid-cooled metal tempering plate on the bottom to support and keep the foam backing material at a lower temperature (e.g. about 140xc2x0 C.), in a preferred embodiment. The term xe2x80x9caboutxe2x80x9d with reference to temperatures herein means xc2x15xc2x0 C., unless otherwise defined. The cover sheet is carried by a tensioning frame, clamp frame, tentering frame or the like. This frame carries the cover sheet into the heater arrangement, then from there into the forming mold arrangement.

Method and apparatus for molding components with molded-in surface texture


Various thienopyrimidine-based analog compounds are able to selectively inhibit the Src family of tyrosine kinases. Compounds of the present invention, capable of such selective inhibition, are of the basic structure seen in formulae (I), (II) or (III):

1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to the fields of medicinal chemistry and biochemistry. It concerns novel compounds useful for treatment of diseases related to the Src family of tyrosine kinases, methods of synthesis of these compounds and methods of treatment employing these compounds. The novel compounds are thienopyrimidine-based compounds capable of inhibiting the Src family of tyrosine kinases.
2. Related Art
It is a current problem that there are few potent small-molecule inhibitors of the Src family of tyrosine kinases that possess suitable pharmacokinetics, affinity, or specificity to serve as effective treatments for disease (Zhu et al., 1999; Sun et al., 2000; Missbach et al., 2000). Many previously identified small-molecule inhibitors show low specificity for individual protein tyrosine kinases (PTKs) and/or require high concentration of the compound to inhibit the kinase.
The thienopyrimidine-based inhibitors of the Src family act by blocking the enzymatic activity of some or all members of the Src family. Src is a protein tyrosine kinase (PTK) associated with cellular membranes and is involved in signal transduction and growth regulation pathways. It transmits cellular signals by transferring the gamma phosphate of ATP to the side chain of tyrosine residues on substrate proteins. To this date, nine members of the Src protein tyrosine kinase family have been discovered. The members are Src, Yes, Fyn, Fgr, Blk, Lck, Lyn, and Hck. Fgr, Blk, Lck, Lyn, and Hck are expressed and active primarily in hematopoietic cells (Wiener et al., 1999). Alterations in the phosphorylation of Src substrates are key events in cellular signaling. Most normal cells contain very low levels and activity of Src (Barnekow, 1989; Punt et al., 1989) and the enzyme is not required for the establishment or maintenance of cell viability (Soriano et al, 1991).
Src activity is greatly increased in many human cancers: breast cancer (Ottenhoff-Kalff et al., 1992; Partanen, 1994), stomach cancer (Takeshima et al., 1991), colon cancer (Rosen et al., 1986; Bolen et al., 1985; Bolen et al., 1987; Cartwright et al., 1989; Cartwright et al., 1990; Talamonti et al., 1992; Talamonti et al., 1993; Termuhlen et al., 1993), hairy cell leukemia and a subgroup of B-cell lymphomas (Lynch et al., 1993), low grade human bladder carcinoma (Fanning et al., 1992), neuroblastoma (Bolen et al., 1985; O'Shaughnessy et al., 1987; Bjelfman et al., 1990), ovarian cancer (Wiener et al., 1999) and non-small cell lung carcinoma (Budde et al., 1994). In the case of colon cancer, Src is activated more frequently than Ras or p53 (Jessup and Gallick, 1993), and undergoes two distinct activations corresponding with malignant transformation of colonocytes (Cartwright et al., 1990) and tumor progression (Talamonti et al., 1991, 1992; Termuhlen et al., 1993). Antisense to Src inhibits growth of human monoblastoid leukemia cells (Waki et al., 1994), K562 human leukemia cells (Kitanaka et al., 1994) and HT-29 human colon cancer cells (Staley et al., 1995). Src activity was reduced in a human ovarian cancer cell line (SKOv-3) by antisense technology. The reduced Src activity in SKOv-3 was associated with altered cellular morphology, reduced anchorage-independent growth, diminished tumor growth and reduced vascular endothelial growth factor mRNA expression in vitro (Wiener et al., 1999). In addition, growth inhibition of colon tumor (Garcia et al., 1991; Novotny-Smith & Gallick, 1992) and neuroblastoma cell lines (Preis et al., 1988) correlate with decreases in tyrosine kinase activity of Src. In a colon adenocarcinoma cell line, HT29, the mRNA expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) was decreased in proportion to the decrease in Src kinase activity caused by expression of a Src antisense expression vector. In nude mice, there was a decrease in tumor vascularity in subcutaneous tumors from Src antisense transfectants (Ellis et al., 1998).
Changes in Src activity are associated with changes in the cell cycle (Chackalaparampil & Shalloway, 1988) and alterations in the regulation of Src activity have been associated with neoplasia (Bolen et al., 1985; Bolen et al., 1987; Zheng et al., 1992; Sabe et al., 1992). Inhibition of Src would have the effect of interrupting the signal transduction pathways in which it participates and would thereby reduce the rate of growth of cancer cells. Drugs directed to inhibit the Src family may have the advantage of limited or no systemic toxicity but high specificity for tumors shown to have elevated activity of one or more members of the Src family.
In addition to their potential as anti-tumor agents, Src inhibitors have potential for treatment of osteoporosis, a condition in which bone resorption is increased resulting in weakening of bone. It was shown that mice depleted of the Src gene developed osteopetrosis (Soriano et al., 1991) and that Src is involved with bone resorption (Hall et al., 1994). Herbimycin A, a Src inhibitor, inhibits osteoclastic bone resorption in vivo (Rodan and Martin, 2000).
Excessive tyrosine kinase activity is associated with cancer and autoimmune diseases. Tyrosine kinase inhibitors are currently being studied for use in treatment of hematologic tumors, solid tumors, inflammatory diseases and autoimmune diseases (Sinha and Corey, 1999). Treatments which alter the levels of Fyn in appropriate tissues have been proposed to be effective treatments in alcoholism and autoimmune disease (Resh, 1998). Lck and Fyn play an important role in T cell activation through their association with CD4 and CD3, respectively. Autoimmune disease could by treated by inhibition of T cell activation through Lck and Fyn (Sinha and Corey, 1999). In allergic/immunological diseases, development of inhibitors of Lyn, Hck, Lck, Fgr, and Blk are proposed to be useful in treatment of allergic diseases, autoimmunity, and transplantation rejection (Bolen and Brugge, 1997). Some members of the Src family are targets for treatment or prevention of allergic responses; for example, Lyn is indispensable for mast cell-mediated allergic responses (Hibbs and Dunn, 1997). Lyn plays a role in B cell receptor and IgE receptor signal transduction. Inhibition of Lyn may provide a treatment for anaphylaxis or allergy. Lyn-deficient mice are unable to experience anaphylaxis (Sinha and Corey, 1999). The Src-family of tyrosine kinases plays a critical role in blood cell function. Many members of the Src-family of tyrosine kinases are found exclusively or primarily in blood cells. These members are Fgr, Blk, Lck, Lyn, and Hck. Defects in the Src-family of tyrosine kinases have been observed in patients with hematologic disease. Inhibitors of Src kinases have been shown to block leukemic cell growth (Corey et al., 1999).
The level of Fyn, a Src family tyrosine kinase, is up-regulated in Alzheimer's Disease. The phosphorylation by Fyn of the microtubule-associated protein, tau, affects the ability of tau to bind to microtubules. Abnormally phosphorylated tau is found in the neurofibrillary tangles of Alzheimer's Disease. It is also thought that the Aβ peptide in senile plaques activates tyrosine kinases (Lee et al., 1998). Src has been demonstrated to regulate the NMDA receptor (Yu and Salter, 1999). Therefore, the neuronal Src family members may be prime targets for treating CNS disorders including, but not limited to, Parkinsons Disease and chronic pain (Wijetunge et al., 2000). Neuronal Src kinase activity is increased in hippocampal slices treated with a potassium channel blocker in Mg2+-free medium to induce epileptiform discharges. The frequency of the epileptiform discharges is decreased by the addition of an inhibitor of the Src family of tyrosine kinases. Therefore, the Src family may provide a key target for treating epilepsy and other disorders related to NMDA receptor function (Sanna et al., 2000).
Herpesviridae, papovaviridae, and retroviridae have been shown to interact with non-receptor tyrosine kinases and use them as signaling intermediates. The HIV-1 Nef protein interacts with members of the Src family of tyrosine kinases. Nef mediates downregulation of CD4 membrane expression, modification of T-cell activation pathways, and increases virus infectivity (Collette et al., 1997). The HBx protein of the hepatitis B virus is essential for infection by hepadnaviruses and activates Ras by activating the Src family of tyrosine kinases. The activation of Ras is necessary for the ability of the HBx protein to stimulate transcription and release growth arrest in quiescent cells (Klein and Schneider, 1997). Activity of the Src family of tyrosine kinases is altered by association with viral proteins such as mouse and hamster polyomavirus middle-T antigens, Epstein-Barr virus LMP2A, and herpesvirus saimiri Tip (Dunant and Ballmer-Hofer, 1997).
Src family tyrosine kinases have also been implicated in bacterial infection. For example, Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a bacteria that causes opportunistic infections in humans. Both its invasion and cytotoxicity involves the Src family (Evans et al, 1998). Likewise, gonorrhea is caused by the bacterium Neisseria gonorrhoeae and its invasion requires the activity of the Src PTK family (Hauck et al., 1998).
Potential sites for targeting inhibitors of Src are the SH2 and SH3 domains (Waksman et al., 1992; Luttrell et al., 1994), the phosphoryl transfer site (SH1 domain), or other unknown sites on the enzyme. Compounds binding to SH2 and SH3 domains would block the protein-protein interactions and the recruitment of other signal transduction proteins mediated by these domains. Inhibitors of the present invention are targeted to the phosphoryl transfer site (SH1 domain), i.e., the active site. Active-site directed inhibitors could be targeted to the ATP binding site, the protein substrate binding site, or both (bisubstrate analogues).
Several "small molecule" inhibitors of PTKs isolated from natural products have been identified, such as lavendustin A, piceatannol, erbstatin, quercetin, genistein, herbimycin A, etc. (reviewed by Chang and Geahlen, 1992; Burke, 1992). The polyhydroxylated phenyl and styryl groups of erbstatin and piceatannol, and the salicyl group of lavendustin A have been identified as pharmacophores and several groups have carried out structure activity studies of molecules possessing these features (Burke, 1993, 1994; Chen et al., 1994; Cushman et al., 1991a,b,c; Dow et al., 1994; Fry et al., 1994; Maguire et al., 1994; Thompson et al., 1994). The small molecule inhibitors tend to compete with ATP binding and show low specificity for individual PTKs. Typically, these inhibitors have IC50 or Ki values in the low μM range for a variety of PTKs, the exceptions being PD 153035 (4-(3-bromophenylamino)-6,7-dimethoxyquinazoline) of Fry et al., (1994) which has a Ki of 5 pM for EGFR kinase activity, and CAQ (4-(3-chlorophenylamino)-quinazoline), which has a Ki value between 16 and 32 nM (Ward et al., 1994).
Prior to the present invention, few potent small-molecule inhibitors of the Src family possessed suitable pharmacokinetics, affinity, or specificity to serve as effective treatments for disease (Zhu et al., 1999; Sun et al., 2000; Missbach et al., 2000). Therefore, the inventors of the present invention have identified a number of thienopyrimidine-based inhibitors of the Src family that are suitable to act as pharmaceuticals.

Thienopyrimidine-based inhibitors of the src family

Abstract: These compounds are useful in the treatment of a wide variety of diseases including hyperproliferative diseases, hematologic allergic/immunological diseases, or viral infections. Methods of synthesis of these compounds and their methods of inhibiting the Src family of tyrosine kinases are presented.

Board of Regents, The University of Texas Systems


In a method for assisting the calculation of vehicle speed in a vehicle that comprises an axle differential on at least one vehicle axle and a braking device for decelerating individual wheels of the vehicle axle, in the case of deceleration of the vehicle via the drive train, one wheel of the vehicle axle is additionally decelerated by way of the braking system, the rotation speed of the oppositely located wheel being taken as the basis for ascertaining the vehicle speed.

Conventionally, measured wheel rotation speeds are used as the basis for calculating vehicle speed. If the measurement occurs during deceleration of the vehicle simultaneously with engagement of an ABS antilock system, the wheel rotation speeds are affected by slip. If, in this situation, the brake pressure at individual wheels is at least slightly lowered, the wheel rotation speed that can be taken as the basis for calculating vehicle speed is thus increased. A prerequisite for this method, however, is that braking torques can be modulated at individual wheels of the vehicle, which is usually the case with hydraulic wheel braking devices.
In the case of braking devices that apply a braking torque via the drive train in the vehicle, for example during recuperative braking in hybrid or electric vehicles, or in the context of retarders in commercial vehicles, it is not possible to reduce the braking torque at only a single wheel in order to accelerate that wheel. On road surfaces having a low coefficient of friction, the result is that all the wheels are uniformly affected by brake slip, which can lead to a systematic error in calculating the vehicle speed. The calculated vehicle speed is lower than the actual speed, which can result in an overbraked vehicle with reduced steerability, and unstable vehicle behavior.

Method for assisting in the calculation of a vehicle speed in a vehicle


A vapor control system (10) utilizes a variable speed compressor (11) driven by a motor (12) or the like. A condenser (13) is provided downstream of the compressor (11). Multiple evaporators (14, 15, etc.) are arranged in parallel with stepper motor controlled thermal expansion valves (16, 17, etc.) located upstream thereof. Refrigerant exit temperatures (T.sub.r1, T.sub.r2, etc.) are sensed at the exits of the evaporators (14, 15, etc.) and source exit temperatures (T.sub.S1, T.sub.S2, etc.), are also sensed. A function generator (18) calculates refrigerant dewpoint temperature (T.sub.dew) is subtracted from each of the refrigerant exit temperatures (T.sub.r1, T.sub.r2, etc.) to determine a minimum superheat temperature which is used to calculate an error signal for providing a speed signal (N.sub.c). The loads on the evaporators (14, 15, etc.) are individually controlled with the thermal expansion valves (16, 17, etc.) whose positions are responsive to signals (X.sub.C1, X.sub.C2, etc.) which are generated by calculating an error signal based upon comparisons of the individual source exit temperatures (T.sub.S1, T.sub.S2, etc.) with preselected setpoint temperatures (T.sub.S1 SETPOINT, T.sub.S2, SETPOINT, etc.).

A general vapor cycle system is basically an air conditioning system, i.e. it has the same essential elements as the general components of a home or car air conditioning system such as a compressor, a condenser and an evaporator. In most household and even most car applications, there is typically a single evaporator.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,539,823, illustrates a typical known refrigeration system which provided a single evaporator control. This system attempted to avoid unnecessary power consumption due to the lack of refrigerant in the evaporator and to eliminate variations in the air temperature immediately downstream of the evaporator. To accomplish this, the system used compressor capacity to control air temperature. However, this arrangement was intended for a single evaporator. It used a reciprocating compressor with variable displacement. A thermal expansion valve (TXV) appears to have been mechanically/pneumatically driven. The TXV controlled superheat at the evaporator exit.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,633,675, involves a system for controlling compressor capacity which was also limited to a single evaporator system in which there is provided a reciprocating compressor with variable displacement driven by a car engine in accordance with the load of the A/C system. Again, this device uses compressor capacity to control heat load via measurement of the air temperatures across the evaporator.
In a typical closed-circuit vapor cycle system, a refrigerant fluid is compressed and supplied to an upper heat exchanger which is a vapor condenser (with some superheat). The condenser exchanges heat outwardly through, for example, a counterflow of source cooling water or air. The cooled refrigerant fluid is then expanded through a thermal expansion valve to reduce the pressure and flash the refrigerant into a partially gaseous state and is then passed through an evaporator to exchange heat inwardly at which point the refrigerant is in the vapor state. The vapor is then elevated by a compressor to a higher pressure and condensing temperature so that it will liquify in its transfer of heat to atmospheric level. In order to prevent damage to the compressor, it is desired that the refrigerant fluid admitted to the compressor be a superheated, nearly dry saturated vapor. It was known that second lower temperature evaporator could be added but this created problems in that the refrigerant from the evaporators mixes together.
The basic concept is to cycle refrigerant through a condenser or out of a condenser with cold refrigerant emerging from the condenser. The cold refrigerant is then expanded across a thermal expansion valve where the refrigerant pressure drops so that the refrigerant in effect flashes up into a two-phase liquid/gas mixture. The evaporator in this type of VCS has counterflow or source fluid which can be, for example, air returning on the other side of the evaporator.
However, the vapor cycle system under consideration is more specifically directed to the type of unit used in aircraft, particularly large transport aircraft. In aircraft, unlike household and automotive applications, there is often a desire to incorporate more than one evaporator in a single circuit even though it is only necessary to dump all the heat generated in the aircraft into one heat sink which can either be the stored fuel or outside ambient air. In such VCS's, variable speed compressors have been used with their speed modulated based upon evaporator load temperature and their thermal expansion valve position modulated based upon evaporator exit refrigerant superheat. With multiple evaporators in one circuit, there can be, for example, an evaporator in the cockpit cooling off the cockpit heat load and one in the main cabin cooling off the main cabin load. The temperatures in the cockpit and in the main cabin can be controlled independently while all of the heat load from the main cabin and the cockpit can be dumped to a single heat sink such as the ambient air. However, when the VCS includes multiple evaporators, the compressor speed cannot independently control multiple load temperatures where, for instance, one evaporator is cooling off the cockpit load and another evaporator is cooling off a main cabin load.
Prior to the present invention, it was further known that a single compressor and a common condenser could be used with an invertor circuit control for a variable speed compressor. In that arrangement, however, the inverter circuit control section received signals from a pressure sensor which detected the suction side of the compressor. While this arrangement had the advantage of a stepless frequency control, it suffered from slow response and difficulty in detecting slight pressure changes.
The prior art was also cognizant of the importance of protecting the compressor by keeping the refrigerant in the superheat range when introduced into the compressor inlet. However, the importance of controlling temperature at the exit of an evaporator to obtain higher evaporator efficiency while maintaining sufficient superheat was not recognized or achieved.
Systems using multiple evaporators were also known as previously mentioned. U.S. Pat. No. 4,658,596, discloses a refrigerating apparatus with a single compressor and multiple evaporators in which an additional set of electromagnetic valves were used, one for each evaporator. This apparatus aimed at providing more accurate compressor drive control by detecting the temperature of the refrigerant flowing through a bypass at the outlet of the compressor such that when one evaporator was closed the bypass temperature fell and the compressor operating frequency was adjusted. Because of the change in the operating frequency, the saturated or vapor temperature of the evaporators in correspondence to the pressure of the low pressure side was kept at a constant value. An electronic control circuit compared a detected temperature signal at a bypass pipe between a tank and the refrigerant side of the accumulator with a prescribed temperature. If the detected temperature was lower than the prescribed temperature, the control circuit sent a control signal corresponding to the temperature difference to the inverter circuit. The electromagnetic valves were of the on/off type, and the TXVs might have been pneumatically controlled. Compressor speed was controlled by the sink temperature, and the TXVs controlled evaporator exit superheat while the electromagnetic on/off valves controlled evaporator temperature. Consequently, each evaporator required a separate electromagnetic valve to control evaporator temperature and a thermal expansion valve to control exit superheat.
Microcomputer-based refrigeration systems utilizing a variable speed compressor and a motorized expansion valve are known as shown, for example, in a paper entitled "Digital Control System for a Refrigerator Heat Pump for Spacecraft Environment" by D. Parnitzki (describing what is hereinafter referred to as "the Parnitzki system") presented at the 18th Intersociety Conference on Environmental Systems in San Francisco, CA in July 1988. The Parnitzki system was a heat pump system which transferred power from a heat generating payload to an evaporator wherein refrigerant was evaporated after leaving the compressor in a vapor state at an elevated temperature and pressure, and was then converted to liquid within an accumulator-condenser where an outward heat exchange was generated. The liquid refrigerant then passed through a narrow opening in the expansion valve and left the valve at low temperature and pressure. A heat exchanger was provided between the accumulatorcondenser and the expansion valve in the system circuit to subcool the refrigerant before entering the expansion valve in order to reduce vapor bubbles which could otherwise clog the valve and to make the refrigerant slightly overheated vapor when it left the evaporator to increase the efficiency of the compressor.
However, the Parnitzki system was designed for a spacecraft environment where the compressor must accept incompressible liquid at its input without any damage, as may occur at zero gravity. The motorized expansion valve had a mechanical pressure control loop in which a spring loaded diaphragm controlled the valve opening so that the valve opening kept the output pressure constant roughly proportional to the spring force. Thermistors were provided for control and monitoring purposes as were pressure sensors.
The Parnitzki system also proposed, inter alia, a vapor overheat regulator scheme to control compressor speed, but this scheme proved to be unsatisfactory. In particular, a constant reference overheat temperature, Tohref, had the actual degree of vapor overheat, Toh, subtracted therefrom, and the resulting deviation from the desired degree of overheat, Toherror, was supplied to a regulator for the compressor motor speed. Although this scheme was described as having been found useful for regulating small deviations from the optimum operating states, it was not deemed satisfactory for large deviations. This is due to the physical characteristics of heat exchangers where, on one hand, if the refrigerant flow rate is increased in the evaporator at a constant pressure the amount of superheat will decrease and, on the other hand, if the refrigerant flow rate is constant and the pressure is decreased, the superheat will increase. Instead, a regulator scheme was adopted which regulated the temperature difference between evaporator wall and refrigerant to a constant value by way of a pressure loop and thereby the temperature of the refrigerant entering the evaporator was controlled.
The Parnitzki system was also based on a mechanical pressure control motorized expansion valve which incorporated internal pressure feedback. Rather than control the flow area by changing the position of a poppet valve, the Parnitzki system valve changed compression on a preloaded spring which acted on a diaphragm to change the operating pressure of the evaporator. The diaphragm had the pressure of the evaporator refrigerant, and this pressure acted on the diaphragm which was spring loaded. As the spring loading was changed, the flow area changed and thereby the pressure which balanced out against the spring force. The compressor controlled evaporator refrigerant flow, and the thermal expansion valve controlled pressure. If the degree of vapor overheat was too high, then the vapor overheat regulator reduced it by increasing the compressor speed. In other words, increased compressor speed reduced the overheat. If it is assumed there was a constant valve position, increases in compressor speed produced more flow because pressure begins to decrease in the evaporator and open the valve further with the net effect of increasing the refrigerant flow rate in the evaporator while the pressure remains constant with a decrease in superheat. In any event, multiple evaporators could not be controlled with this arrangement because the thermal expansion valve controlled pressure, and the pressures were common.
Although it was known prior to the present invention that it was important to protect a compressor by keeping the refrigerant being fed thereto in the superheat range, it was not recognized that it was also important when using multiple evaporators to control the air temperature at the exit of the evaporators.
Although the prior art show various systems and techniques to control compressors associated with evaporators, the conventional systems did not use the concept of varying the compressor speed as a function of pressure at the inlet of the compressor and evaporator and temperature.

Vapor cycle system with multiple evaporator load control and superheat control


Disclosed herein are monoclonal antibodies specific for factor XI (fXI) that prevent activation of fXI by factor XIIa (fXIIa). The monoclonal antibodies are universal fXI antibodies, capable of binding all mammalian species tested. The anti-fXI monoclonal antibodies prolong clotting time in mammalian plasmas. Moreover, administration of the fXI monoclonal antibodies disclosed herein results in inhibition of thrombosis without altering hemostasis in animal models of thrombosis. Thus, provided herein are monoclonal antibodies specific for fXI that block activation of fXI by fXIIa, compositions and immunoconjugates comprising such antibodies and their methods of use.

Thrombosis is a general term for diseases caused by the localized accumulation of circulating blood elements within the vasculature that result in vessel occlusion. Conventional antithrombotic drugs can inhibit thrombus growth by targeting coagulation pathways (for example, heparin and warfarin) or platelet-dependent mechanisms (such as aspirin or clopidogrel). Thrombolytic agents (e.g., streptokinase) are used to degrade thrombi in situ to restore blood flow. Despite advances in this field, the search for new strategies continues because existing treatments impair hemostasis, and must be administered at doses that do not achieve maximum efficacy (Gruber and Hanson, Curr. Pharm. Des. 9(28):2367-2374, 2003).
Hemostasis is a vital function that stops bleeding and protects the integrity of blood circulation on both molecular and macroscopic levels. Hemostasis includes a coagulation cascade of sequentially activatable enzymes that is traditionally divided into three parts: (1) an intrinsic pathway, which includes interactions of blood coagulation proteins that lead to the generation of coagulation factor IXa without involvement of coagulation factor VIIa; (2) an extrinsic pathway, which includes interactions of blood coagulation proteins that lead to the generation of coagulation factor Xa and/or IXa without involvement of factor XI; and (3) a common coagulation pathway, including interactions of blood coagulation proteins II, V, VIII, IX and X that lead to the generation of thrombin. Thrombin activates platelets and generates fibrin, both of which are essential building elements of the hemostatic plug that is responsible for sealing the vascular breach. Complete absence of thrombin or platelets causes paralysis of hemostasis and leads to lethal hemorrhage.
The plasmas of placental and marsupial mammals contain factor XI (fXI) (Ponczek et al., J. Thromb. Haemost. 6:1876-1883, 2008), the zymogen of a plasma protease (fXIa) that contributes to fibrin formation and stability through factor IX activation (Furie et al., Hematology: Basic Principles and Practice, 4th ed. New York: Churchill Livingstone 1931, 2005). fXI deficiency causes a variable trauma-induced hemorrhagic disorder in humans and other species (Seligsohn et al., Thromb. Haemost. 98:84-89, 2007; Knowler et al., J. Am. Vet. Med. Assoc. 205:1557-61, 1994; Ghanem et al., J. Vet. Med. Sci. 67:713-715, 2005; Troxel et al., J. Am. Anim. Hosp. Assoc. 38:549-553, 2002). The physiologic mechanism by which fXI is converted to fXIa has been a topic of debate (Pedicord et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 104:12855-12860, 2007; Blat & Seiffert, Thromb. Haemost. 99:457-460, 2008). When blood is exposed to a charged surface, the process of contact activation converts factor XII (fXII) to the protease fXIIa, which then activates fXI (Gailani and Broze, Metabolic and Molecular Basis of Inherited Disease, Scriver et al., eds., New York, N.Y.: McGraw-Hill, pages 4433-4453, 2001). The contribution of this reaction to hemostasis is uncertain as fXII deficiency, unlike fXI deficiency, is not associated with abnormal bleeding in any species in which it has been identified (Gailani and Broze, Metabolic and Molecular Basis of Inherited Disease, Scriver et al., eds., New York, N.Y.: McGraw-Hill, pages 4433-4453, 2001). This is a key piece of supporting evidence for hypotheses proposing that fXI is either activated during hemostasis by a protease distinct from fXIIa, or that auxiliary mechanisms for fXI activation can compensate for the absence of fXIIa (Broze et al., Biochemistry 29:7539-7546, 1990; Davie et al., Biochemistry 30:10363-10370, 1991; Renné et al., Expert Rev. Cardiovasc. Ther. 5:733-741, 2007).
In addition to fXIIa, other candidates for fXI activators include α-thrombin (Naito et al., J. Biol. Chem. 266:7353-7358, 1991; Gailani et al., Science 253:909-912, 1991), meizothrombin (von dem Borne et al., Thromb. Haemost. 78:834-839, 1997), and fXIa (autoactivation) (Naito et al., J. Biol. Chem. 266:7353-7358, 1991; Gailani et al., Science 253:909-912, 1991). Thrombin has received much attention in this regard. Work from several laboratories supports a model in which thrombin or another protease generated early in coagulation activates fXI (von dem Borne et al., Thromb. Haemost. 78:834-839, 1997; von dem Borne et al., Blood 86:3035-3042, 1995; von dem Borne et al., J. Clin. Invest. 99:2323-2327, 1997; Cawthern et al., Blood 91:4581-4592, 1998; Keularts et al., Thromb. Haemost. 85:1060-1065, 2001; Oliver et al., Arterioscler. Thromb. Vasc. Biol. 19:170-177, 1999; Wielders et al., Arterioscler. Thromb. Vasc. Biol. 24:1138-1142, 2004), with fXIa then sustaining coagulation. This hypothesis has been challenged by a study that did not find evidence for fXI activation in thrombin or tissue factor (TF) stimulated plasma in the absence of fXII (Pedicord et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 104:12855-12860, 2007). This work also showed that the process of collecting and preparing plasma can generate fXIa, giving the false impression in subsequent assays that fXIIa-independent fXI activation has occurred. These observations have been presented in support of a hypothesis, proposed previously by other investigators (Brunnée et al., Blood 81:580-586, 1993), that normal hemostasis in fXII deficiency reflects loss of fXIIa-initiated processes, such as fibrinolysis, that negate the propensity to bleed from simultaneous loss of fXI activation (Pedicord et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 104:12855-12860, 2007; Blat et al., Thromb. Haemost. 99:457-460, 2008).
Coagulation factor XII (fXII) has long been considered a potential target of safe antithrombotic therapy. However, no sufficiently potent inhibitor for fXII activity, such as a potent and useful antibody, has yet been identified. A small molecule fXIa inhibitor has been previously described; however, this irreversible enzyme inhibitor blocks both fXIa and plasma kallikrein (Schumacher et al., Eur. J. Pharmacol. 570(1-3):167-174, 2007). Thus, a need exists for a potent, universal and specific inhibitor of fXI.


An impedance matching device 1 includes multiple capacitance elements and a control unit that controls on or off of semiconductor switches. The capacitance elements and respectively include a first capacitance element group and a second capacitance element group. The control unit updates the state of the first semiconductor switch included in the first capacitance element group with a first cycle until a predetermined time period elapses during which the state of the first semiconductor switch included in the first capacitance element group is maintained while the control unit updates the states of the semiconductor switch and respectively included in the first capacitance element group and the second capacitance element group with a second cycle longer than the first cycle after the predetermined time period elapses during which the state of the first semiconductor switch included in the first capacitance element group is maintained.

An impedance matching device has been known that matches an output impedance of a high-frequency power source to an impedance viewed from the high-frequency power source toward a load side in order to eliminate reflected power from a load and efficiently supply power to the load when power is supplied from the high-frequency power source to the load such as a plasma load or the like (for example, refer to Japanese Patent application Laid-Open No. 2012-142285 as Patent Document 1).
The impedance matching device disclosed in Patent Document 1 includes a variable capacitor, and is provided between a high-frequency power source and a load. The variable capacitor disclosed in Patent Document 1 includes multiple capacitors connected in parallel to each other, and is configured to change the capacitance of the variable capacitor by performing switching control of turning on or off semiconductor switches (PIN diodes) connected in series to the respective capacitors. The impedance matching device disclosed in Patent Document 1 achieves impedance matching by changing the capacitance of the variable capacitor.

Impedance matching device and impedance matching method


The present invention features biarsenical molecules. Target sequences that specifically react with the biarsenical molecules are also included. The present invention also features kits that include biarsenical molecules and target sequences. Tetraarsenical molecules are also featured in the invention.

Many techniques in the biological sciences require attachment of labels to molecules, such as polypeptides. For example, the location of a polypeptide within a cell can be determined by attaching a fluorescent label to the polypeptide.
Traditionally, labeling has been accomplished by chemical modification of purified polypeptides. For example, the normal procedures for fluorescent labeling require that the polypeptide be covalently reacted in vitro with a fluorescent dye, then repurified to remove excess dye and/or any damaged polypeptide. Using this approach, problems of labeling stoichiometry and disruption of biological activity are often encountered. Furthermore, to study a chemically modified polypeptide within a cell, microinjection can be required. This can be tedious and cannot be performed on a large population of cells.
Thiol- and amine-reactive chemical labels exist and can be used to label polypeptides within a living cell. However, these chemical labels are promiscuous. Such labels cannot specifically react with a particular cysteine or lysine of a particular polypeptide within a living cell that has numerous other reactive thiol and amine groups.
A more recent method of intracellular labelling of polypeptides in living cells has involved genetically engineering fusion polypeptides that include green fluorescent protein (GFP) and a polypeptide of interest. However, GFP is limited in versatility because it cannot reversibly label the polypeptide. The ability to generate a wide range of specifically labeled molecules easily and reliably would be particularly useful.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Synthetic molecules that specifically react with target sequences

The Regents of the University of California


A cladding element configured to clad a structural element disposed in a vehicle. The cladding element comprises a transponder. An item of position information, indicating the position of the structural element is stored by the transponder. A method is provided comprising reading out the position information from the transponder of such a cladding element. A computer program is provided for executing and/or controlling the method. Apparatuses for executing and/or controlling the method are disclosed. A vehicle is disclosed having such a cladding element as is a system comprising such a cladding element and such an apparatus.

The present disclosure relates in general to position information that indicates the position of a structural element disposed in a vehicle.
Specifically, the present disclosure relates, inter alia, to a cladding element comprising a transponder, an item of position information being stored by the transponder. The disclosure additionally relates, inter alia, to a vehicle having such a cladding element, a method comprising reading out the position information from the transponder, a corresponding computer program, corresponding apparatuses, and a system comprising such a cladding element and such an apparatus.
Vehicles nowadays have a multiplicity of built-in components. In vehicles for passenger transport, in particular, it is often the case that multiples of a component of a particular type are built in, e.g., respectively one for each of the possible passengers. If information relating to a particular component disposed in the vehicle is to be logged or stored, this particular component may be identified on the basis of its position.
EP 2 693 406 A2 and US 2014/0039717 A1 disclose a system for documenting the status of a component on board a means of transport. Multimedia information concerning the status of the component is logged by means of a mobile recording device. By means of a transmission arrangement, the recorded items of multimedia information can then be communicated to a central logbook arrangement, such that a multimedia logbook entry can be generated there in order to document the status of the component. The mobile recording device may have a locating arrangement for determining the position of the mobile recording device and/or for determining the position of the component. Position determination may be satellite-based, for example. The position data may likewise be transmitted to the central logbook arrangement. The mobile recording device may have an identification arrangement for identifying the component. For example, a code that designates the component may be read out from an RFID transponder, and the component identified on the basis of the read-out code. The information concerning the identified component can be integrated into the recorded multimedia status information, and likewise communicated to the central logbook arrangement. The multimedia logbook entry can thus be used to log the component at which the status information was recorded.
DE 10 2010 035 374 A1 and EP 2 423 108 A2 and US 2013/0053779 A1 disclose a system for collecting defect data of structural elements in a passenger cabin of a vehicle. Provided for this purpose is a locating arrangement, which is configured to determine a position of a structural element in three-dimensional space. The locating arrangement may have, for example, a series of base stations, fixedly disposed in a passenger cabin, which are configured to enable the position of a pointing arrangement to be ascertained. For this purpose, the locating arrangement may use measurement of differences in propagation times of signals exchanged between the individual base stations and the pointing arrangement. Following ascertainment of a defect of a structural element, the respective structural element is located by means of the locating arrangement. The latter forwards the located position of the structural element to the structural-element identification arrangement. There, the identification of the respective structural element is obtained from its three-dimensional position, by means of a structural-element identification database. Furthermore, RFID transponders containing structural-element identification data may be provided for structural elements. In addition to the structural-element identification based on the three-dimensional position determination based on propagation time, by means of the pointing arrangement, the structural-element identification data of the transponders of nearby structural elements may be read out, in order to improve the structural-element identification.
Against this background, it is desirable that it is easy to provide and log an item of position information for a component disposed in a vehicle.

Position information stored by transponder


In accordance with an embodiment, a non volatile semiconductor memory device includes a substrate, a first electrode, a functional film, and a second electrode. The first electrode is provided on the substrate. The functional film is located on the first electrode and serves as a storage medium. The second electrode is provided on the functional film or in the functional film, and has a convex curved upper surface.

Along with the increase of products that use semiconductor memories, a further increase in their storage capacities is demanded.
However, due to element miniaturization, if the storage capacities are increased, a short-wavelength expensive light source, for example, has to be used, and manufacturing costs are increased.
A MEMS probe-type memory is known as a memory that does not utilize the element miniaturization. However, one problem is that when a monocrystalline ferroelectric film is used as a functional film, each memory cell is increased in size. Another problem is that when a resistance change film is used instead of the ferroelectric film, a contact failure is caused between a probe and the functional film, and thus reliability decreases.

Non volatile semiconductor memory device and manufacturing method thereof


The invention relates to methods of treatment and prevention of aquatic mold infections in aquatic organisms and methods of disinfecting equipment used in raising aquatic organisms. The methods comprise use of one or more stilbene derivatives, including 4,4′-bis-(1,3,5-triazinylamino)stilbene-2,2′-disulfonic acid derivatives.

Oomycetes (water molds) such as Saprolegnia, Branchiomyces and Aphanomyces are responsible for devastating infections of fish in aquaculture, fish farms and hobby fish tanks.
Members of the genus Saprolegnia cause saprolegniosis, a disease that is characterized by visible white or grey patches of filamentous mycelium on the body or fins of freshwater fish. If untreated, infection with Saprolegnia species (spp.) leads to death by haemodilution. Saprolegnia spp. also infect fish eggs by adhesion to and penetration of the egg membrane. Saprolegnia spp. are considered opportunistic pathogens that are saprophytes. Infection frequently occurs during the winter, often resulting in large-scale "winter kill" epidemics. Conditions which promote proliferation of Saprolegnia spp. and their infectious zoospores include abrupt decreases in water temperatures and high density fish farming activities, and also appear to render fish vulnerable to infection due to increased physiological stress and immune system suppression.
Saprolegnia parasitica is one of the most economically damaging fish pathogens, causing losses of millions of dollars annually worldwide, particularly in the salmon and trout markets. In addition to being an opportunistic pathogen, some S. parasitica strains are highly virulent and cause primary infections.
Branchiomycosis is another infection occurring in fresh water fish, primarily in carp and eel. It is caused by Branchiomyces sanguinis and B. demigrans, with affected fish showing prominent gill necrosis and respiratory distress. The disease occurs most commonly in ponds with abundant organic matter, and high ammonia levels.
Parasitic infections are often concurrent with or accompany oomycete infections in commercial fish farming settings. Such parasitic infections include those caused by Ichthyophthirius multifilis, Trichodina spp., Dactylogyrus spp. and Gyrodactylus spp.
Oomycetes, including Saprolegnia spp. and Branchiomyces spp. are filamentous eukaryotic microorganisms which have many fungus-like characteristics, but are not true fungi. Like the true fungi, they feed on decaying matter and grow as branching filaments with non-septate hyphae. However, their cell wall is not composed of chitin (as in the true fungi) but is composed of a mixture of cellulosic compounds and other β-glucans. Further, oomycetes have several clearly defined developmental stages that are not found in fungi. Recent molecular studies have shown however, that closely related virulence components are shared between oomycetes and fungi.
Prior art methods for treatment of pathogenic oomycete infections, including saprolegniosis and branchiomycosis suffer from various disadvantages. The chemicals Diquat (a herbicide), benzalkonium chlorides, copper sulfate and potassium permanganate have all been disclosed to be useful for treatment of branchiomycosis. None of these however, are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for disease control in food fishes.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,160,023 discloses use of bronopol (2-bromo-nitropropane-1,3-diol) for treatment and prophylaxis of S. parasitica infections in fish, and for disinfecting equipment used in raising fish. This compound is mainly effective against infection present in fish eggs, but not that occurring in fish. In addition, it is relatively toxic to commercially important fish species.
Malachite green (4-[(4-dimethylaminophenyl)-phenyl-methyl]-N,N-dimethyl-aniline) was previously widely used to control saprolegniosis. While this organic dye is very efficient at killing S. parasitica, its use has been banned since 2002 around the world, due to its carcinogenic, teratogenic and toxicological properties. This has resulted in a dramatic increase of Saprolegnia infections in commercial settings. Therefore, there is an urgent need for novel alternative methods of management of saprolegniosis.
Methods are also known for controlling parasitic infections in fish. U.S. Pat. No. 5,464,837 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,188,832 disclose use of triazine dione compounds; U.S. Pat. No. 5,313,911 discloses use of hydrogen peroxide; U.S. Pat. No. 6,054,454 discloses use of oxadiazine derivatives; U.S. Pat. No. 6,982,285 discloses use of benzoylurea derivatives; U.S. Pat. No. 6,117,457 discloses use of peracetic acid; U.S. Pat. No. 5,593,678 discloses use of orthovanadate salts; U.S. Pat. No. 5,504,081 discloses use of nitromethylene derivatives. None of these methods are known to be useful for simultaneous control of oomycete and parasitic infections.
Stilbene derivatives, including 4,4′-bis-(1,3,5-triazinylamino)stilbene-2,2′-disulfonic acid derivatives, are known fluorescent brightening agents which bind to polysaccharides having β-glucosidic linkages, including cellulose and chitin. Such compounds show antifungal activity, presumably due to interaction with and disruption of chitin microfibrils which constitute a major structural element in the fungal cell wall (Roncero et al. (1985) J. Bacteriol. 163:1180-1185). Antifungal effects of fluorescent brighteners have been demonstrated in true fungi which contain chitin in their cell walls, including plant pathogenic fungi (Seppanen et al. (2004) Plant Cell. Rep. 22:584-593), human pathogenic fungi-like yeasts (Roncero et al. (1988) J. Bacteriol. 170:1950-54), dermatophytes (Inamori et al. (1985) Chem. Pharm. Bull. (Tokyo) 33:2904-9) and red alga (Belliveau et al. (1990) Stain Technol. 65:303-311), but not in aquatic molds which contain cellulose instead of chitin in their cell walls.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,723,034 discloses 2-vinyl stilbene derivatives useful as fungicides for plant protection and wood preservation.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,359,131 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,852,015 disclose stilbene derivatives having anti-viral effects.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,879,674 discloses methods of protecting plant crops from insect attack by using stilbene derivatives to induce epizootic viral infections.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,919,452 and US patent application publication No. US 2005/0230662 disclose 4,4′-bis(1,3,5-triazinylamino)stilbene-2,2′-disulfonic acid derivatives and their use as fluorescent brightening agents.
Nowhere in the prior art is it taught or suggested that stilbene derivatives may be used to treat aquatic mold infections.

Use of stilbene derivatives for treatment and prevention of aquatic mold infections

State of Israel, Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development, Agricultural Research Organization

Hadasit Medical Research Services and Development Ltd.


A multichannel data compressor (20) for a data transmission system having a plurality of data sources. The multichannel data compressor has a plurality of data latches (44,46,48) for temporarily storing the data generated by each data source and a plurality of difference circuits (52,54,56), one for each data source, which subtract the data stored in the data latches from the next subsequent data value generated by the data sources to generate a difference data value. A plurality of summing circuits (58,60,62) sum the difference data values to generate a plurality of composite data values. A selector switch (64) transfers the composite data values or selected current data values to a multiplexer (72) when the magnitude of at least one of the composite data values exceeds a predetermined value. The multiplexer (72) formats the received data into a predetermined format, converts it to a serial format, then forwards the data to a transmitter for transmission. A receiver system (4) has a multichannel data expander (26) that regenerates, in response to a received data transmission, data as originally generated by the data sources.

1. Field Of The Invention
The invention is related to data compression communication systems and, in particular, a data compressor which generates a composite data value from the data received from a plurality of data sources.
2. Prior Art
Data compression has been known in the art to reduce the bandwidth of the transmission system or to increase the sampling rate of the data to be sent. As data requirements become higher and higher, data compression remains one way in which more data can be transmitted without having to increase the bandwidth of the transmission system. Eng et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 4,593,318 discloses a technique for time compressing television signals in which the transmission comprises a line, frame, or field, as received plus two other lines, frames or fields as differential signals Eng et al. also teaches multiplexing the output of three different video sources so that the output of the three different video sources can be transmitted in the same time span normally required to transmit the same data, as originally generated from a single video data source.
Cavanaugh, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,099,202, Brown et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 4,237,484, Shimoyama et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 4,542,406 and Tu in U.S. Pat. No. 4,544,950 teach the multiplexing of the digital audio and video data for simultaneous transmission, rather than transmitting them on separate sidebands as done with commercial television transmissions.
Various data compression techniques and multiplexing data from a plurality of data sources are known in the art. The present invention is a multichannel data compression system wherein the data from a plurality of data sources is compressed and multiplexed to generate a compressed data word which significantly increases the sampling rate of the plurality of data sources over the sampling rate if the data from each data source was transmitted in its entirety.


A decision processor for 802.11b codewords for 1 Mb and 2 Mb data rates includes a sliding correlator for the acquisition of correlation peaks. During a training interval, these correlation peaks are summed into a channel profile memory. The correlation peaks corresponding to a codeword are added into the channel profile memory, and correlation peaks corresponding to the inverse of this codeword are inverted and added into the channel profile memory during the training interval. After the training interval, a decision interval follows whereby correlation peaks are multiplied by the complex conjugate of the contents of the channel profile memory. The multiplication results are accumulated over a codeword window interval to produce a decision output.

Prior art wireless communication systems are defined in IEEE protocols for 802.11b. IEEE 802.11b is an example of a spread spectrum wireless protocol whereby a transmitter emits a typically isotropic or multidirectional transmission of a sequence of baseband codewords translated in frequency to a carrier frequency, where the codewords are phase modulated according to a known sequence, which is referred to as a chipping code. For 1 Mb and 2 Mb IEEE 802.11b data rates, the chipping code is a Barker code, which has the properties of maximum self-correlation and minimum cross-correlation. When a typical IEEE 802.11b receiver is placed within a reception distance from the source, it is common for a plurality of signals to arrive at the receiver. These signals may consist of a first signal which travels a shortest path, followed by a plurality of reflected signals which have path lengths longer than the shortest path. Occasionally, the shortest path will be through an attenuating medium, such that the shortest path does not correspond to the strongest signal. The receiver then must recover this plurality of signals and apply some method of filtering or reconstruction to regenerate the transmitted codeword. One prior art method uses channel sounding, whereby the communications channel is characterized by sending a known signal such as a preamble. Then applying an inverse filter function compensates the channel for the reflections, thereby restoring the channel. The process for generating the inverse filter coefficients such as in a finite impulse response (FIR) filter typically involves identifying the plurality of received signals, applying a delay and a weight to each signal, and performing the signal reconstruction with an FIR filter. Since the coefficients of an FIR filter must be computed from the delays and weights, this may require extensive computation complexity and computation time, and may not be achievable during the short preamble time of the incoming packet, where the coefficients must be computed before the packet data arrives.
FIG. 1 shows a wireless Local Area Network (LAN) operating in a typical office environment, wherein two mobile stations may be transmitting and receiving data through the wireless medium. While both station 100 and station 102 are typically transmitting and receiving wireless signals, for simplicity of analysis, station 100 is shown as a transmitter and station 102 is shown as a receiver. In the figure, receiver 102 receives a first signal from an attenuated path R1 112 r1 114 with an attenuating barrier 106, followed by the next signal with the path length R2 108 and reflection r2 220, followed by the next signal with the path length R3 116 and reflection r3 118. In this figure, a small number of such path reflections are shown, however as a practical matter, an infinite number of such reflection paths exist, shown generally by path Rn 120 and reflected path rn 222. In the wireless IEEE 802.11b protocol, the use of spread spectrum transmission and reception techniques improves the bit error rate (BER) in the presence of multi-path reflections to the receiver. However, the BER can be greatly reduced if the various reflections (r1 to rn) are used to make a decision at the receiver demodulator, rather than using the strongest (relatively) signal only, ignoring all other multi-path reflections present. Moreover, the absence of a direct path in such communications (as shown by path R1-r1) means that the information is highly dispersed and arrives strongly attenuated and through various path lengths so that the single correlation peak energy is spread out over many correlation peaks arriving at later times. A temporal Maximal Ratio Combiner (MRC) operating on the spread spectrum correlation peaks would give a much higher BER than a simple decision based on a single maximum peak. The combining of signal energy arriving at different times associated with the transmission of data is the basic principle on which the rake combiners for spread spectrum receivers operate. A plurality of weighted delays in the form of a Feed Forward Filter (FFF) is used to cause the various correlation peaks associated with the delayed arrival of a plurality of multipath reflections of a given codeword to recombine into a single peak. Additionally, since the multipath reflections cause the rotation of incoming codeword symbols out of their original quadrature channels, an additional function of the MRC is to apply phase compensation to rotate these symbols back in to the original quadrature channels, so that received signal energy is rotated back into the proper I and Q channels, thereby adding to the signal that is received on the direct path.
FIG. 2 shows a decision block for a direct sequence spread spectrum receiver 140 that includes a sliding correlator 130 which correlates the Barker codeword 131 with the signed incoming quadrature symbol stream 142. The incoming quadrature symbol stream 142 comprises an analytic signal formed by receiver quadrature mixing using the relationship ejφ(t)=cos(φ(t))+j*sin(φ(t)), where the first term represents in-phase (I) information in the real channel and the second term represents quadrature (Q) symbol information in the imaginary channel. Each channel of the incoming symbol stream is digitized using an Analog to Digital Converter into positive and negative values N-bit wide (where N is the width of the converter outputs), where the positive and negative values of the input stream contain Barker codewords:
I channel1 = {+1, −1, +1, +1, −1, +1, +1, +1, −1, −1, −1};0 = {−1, +1, −1, −1, +1, −1, −1, −1, +1, +1, +1}Q channel1 = {+j, −j, +j, +j, −j, +j, +j, +j, −j, −j, −j};0 = {−j, +j, −j, −j, +j, −j, −j, −j, +j, +j, +j}                where the Q channel codewords are simply the I channel codewords multiplied by j. A phase rotator function in the aforementioned receiver digital signal processing causes the symbols to be rotated into the I or Q channels of the correlator input 142.
For an 11 bit Barker code, the soft (N-bit wide) I and Q channels are cross-correlated with the respective Barker codewords for 1. This cross-correlation of the input stream containing Barker codes for 1 produces the impulsive value +11, while the cross correlation of the input stream containing 0 produces the impulsive value −11. In this manner, the cross-correlation of the incoming data against the Barker codewords produces I and Q values which have a peak impulsive positive response for the 1 codeword, a peak impulsive negative response for the 0 codeword, and approximately 0 at all other times. Because of the impulsive nature of the cross correlation response, the incoming quadrature signal 142 is typically presented as an over-sampled signal at twice the bit rate, or 22 Mhz, so that information for compensating timing drift between the transmit and receive DAC and ADC clocks is retained in the digitized signal. Additionally as mentioned above, the incoming quadrature symbol stream is multi-valued rather than binary, so the correlation outputs 138 and 139 are an over-sampled, multi-valued quadrature data stream. The code acquisition function 132 maintains a correlation output history and determines the peak correlation points, which are used to produce a synchronization pulse accompanied by an indication for the start and end of the codeword window. Once codeword acquisition is achieved, the baseband Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS) codewords 142 are presented to a simpler fixed window correlator 134, which performs a correlation 137 of the incoming quadrature symbol stream 142 to the Barker codeword 143. The multi-valued quadrature result of this cross correlation output 139 is stored in memory 135 at a synchronization time determined by code acquisition function 132, which presents a pulse at the point of maximum positive or negative signal, as described earlier. Decision block 136 examines the positive or negative value stored in memory 135, and decides whether a Barker codeword for 1 or 0 was received. For a 2 Mb data rate, the fixed window correlator 134 is separately correlating the I and Q streams with the Barker codeword, thereby storing in memory 135 1 bit of decision data from the I and Q stream for each 1 us codeword interval. For a 1 Mbps data rate, the phase encoding is in the I (or Q) channel alone, and the Q (or I) channel contains only correlation and thermal noise. For the 2 Mbps data rate, the number of possibilities double since now the receiver can get (1,0), (−1,0), (0,1) or (0,−1) in each 1 us duration, i.e., 2-bits of information every microsecond. The spread spectrum signal comprises one of the two 11 bit Barker codewords occurring within 1 us boundaries for IEEE 802.11b wireless communication systems. Examining the codeword output 138, the code acquisition function 132 of FIG. 2 stores several windows of samples and extracts a synchronization signal 144. This synchronization pulse and a window signal (shown as timing 151 in FIG. 3) to establish the framing of codewords is sent to the fixed window correlator 134 and to the decision function 136 which determines which chip code is the closest approximation. In direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) signals, chip codes that are dependant on the particular 802.11b data rates are used for encoding and decoding. These chip codes are Differential Binary Phase Shift Keying ((D)BPSK) using Barker codes for 1 Mbps, and Differential Quadrature Phase Shift Keying ((D)QPSK) using Barker codes for 2 Mbps. The higher data rates of 5.5 Mb and 11 Mb use Complementary Code Keying (CCK). In the present invention, we are concerned with 1 Mbps and 2 Mbps data rates using 11 bit Barker codes. It is essential that the decision block for a direct sequence spread spectrum receiver 140 of FIG. 2 properly synchronize to the peak and window of the 11 bit codewords, done during the preamble interval of the packet with sliding correlator 130. An unsynchronized stream of incoming codewords 142 is referred to as a symbol stream, and once the synchronization to the 11 bit codewords is accomplished, this is referred to as a codeword stream. The codeword stream is then converted into binary values comprising a data stream 148. Examining the quadrature multi-valued output of the sliding correlator 130, a datum point may be defined as the strongest correlation response of the present symbol. Pre-cursors are signals received prior to the datum point, and post-cursors are signals received after the datum point. The sample window includes pre-cursors, the datum point, post-cursors, and has a duration equal to a symbol length. Directly received signal in the presence of attenuation followed by multi-path reflection produces correlation output 138 which comprises pre-cursors, followed by the strongest correlation response of the present symbol earlier referred to as a datum point, and finally post-cursors representing the multipath reflections. In combination, these signals represent the total signal power available for use by the decision processor. Although received at different times, the sum of these signals in the channel represent the total signal power available. In one prior art receiver, the strongest correlation response is selected for synchronization signal 144 and the pre-cursors and post-cursors are ignored, which results in reduced signal to noise, since the noise level is constant while the signal power associated with the pre-cursor symbols and post-cursor symbols is discarded. It is desired to use a plurality of symbols including pre-cursors and post-cursors to generate a composite signal which uses the pre-cursors and post-cursors so that the signal to noise ratio is improved.
FIG. 3 shows waveform 150 of output 138 of the sliding correlator 130, both from FIG. 2, for a Barker codeword 1 followed by a Barker codeword 0 presented to the input 142 from FIG. 2. In the absence of multi-path reflection or noise, the sliding correlator 130 output 138 would appear as shown in curve 150 of FIG. 3. Every sample time, the incoming symbol stream 142 of Barker codes for 1 followed by 0 is correlated 133 with Barker codeword 131 in the sliding correlator 130, which produces the positive peak 152a followed by a negative peak 152b. These peaks are detected by code acquisition function 132, which uses an algorithm for defining a window comprising the timing points 0 through 10 151 of FIG. 3, as shown. Once this synchronization is achieved, the timing of the remainder of the Barker codewords may be maintained by the precision of the clock oscillators of the receiver and transmitter. The synchronization signal 144 is applied to fixed window correlator 134, which selects one of two codewords in the I (or Q) channel for a 1 Mb data rate, or one of four codeword combinations in the I and Q channel for a 2 Mb data rate. In the absence of noise or multi-path reflections, the decision block 140 for a direct sequence spread spectrum receiver 140 of FIG. 2 performs well, and the cross correlation of the Barker codeword 131 with the incoming symbol stream produces the correlator output 150 as shown in FIG. 3. In the presence of multi-path reflections, degradation of the cross correlation output 138 occurs. For example, given the signal paths shown in FIG. 1, an attenuated signal traveling path r1 114 followed by a stronger reflected signal r2 220, followed by a weaker reflected signal r3 118 would produce signal 154 comprising the attenuated response r1 156a, reflected and phase shifted maximum signal r2 158a, and reflected and attenuated signal r3 160a respectively as shown in FIG. 4. The phase rotator (not shown) which performs phase rotation of the incoming signal stream prior to delivery as stream 142 uses maximum level signals as the datum for this phase rotation. In FIG. 4, the phase rotation causes maximum responses 158a and 158b to be rotated in phase until they are aligned in the I channel. Using maximum response only, the code acquisition function 132 could incorrectly determine that r2 158a is code position 0 based on purely amplitude considerations, when the actual synchronization time is r1, as shown by the alignment with the time interval 0 155. FIG. 4 shows the I and Q components of the incoming signal, which have been phase rotated by the phase shifter (not shown), such that the strongest signal 158a has been shifted exclusively into the I channel, and precursor 156a is shifted in phase, as is postcursor reflection 160a, as evidenced by the shifting of energy into the Q channel for 156a and 160a. Similarly, for the 0 symbol, strongest signal 158b is only seen in the I channel, while precursor 156b and postcursor reflection 160b is shifted in phase.
FIG. 5 shows a prior art rake combiner 190 with the rake having three fingers. This allows for improved signal to noise performance and multi-path reflection reduction, and implements a function known as temporal maximal ratio combining (MRC). An MRC identifies a finite number of strongest signals, and combines them to rearrange the signal power of each of the delayed signals into a single signal with maximum power such that there is maximum likelihood of decoding the signal correctly. In FIG. 5, the baseband signal stream 194 is comprised of the FIG. 4 signals r1 156a, r2 158a occurring τ1 later, and r3 160a occurring τ2 thereafter. The code acquisition 162 generates a synchronization pulse 196 from the output of the sliding correlator 192, similar to sliding correlator 130 of FIG. 2, but delayed by τ1+τ2. The baseband symbol stream 194 is provided to correlator 168, and the same signal is provided to correlator 166 delayed by τ2, and to correlator 164 delayed by τ1+τ2. In this manner, at the instant of synchronization pulse 196, correlator 164 is providing signal associated with r1 in FIG. 4, correlator 166 is providing signal associated with r2 in FIG. 4, and correlator 168 is providing signal associated with r3 in FIG. 4. These signals are multiplied by a conjugated series of complex coefficients α0, α1, and α2, respectively. The conjugated complex coefficients α0 174, α1 176, and α2 178 are a linear array of complex numbers with a length equal to the length of the incoming signal stream window, repeated continuously, as it known to one skilled in the art of finite impulse response filters operating on periodic signals. The correlators 164, 166 and 168 are multiplied by the complex conjugate of the linear array of conjugated complex coefficients α0 174, α1 176, and α2 178, respectively. The conjugated complex coefficients α0 174, α1 176, and α2 178 reverses the sign of the imaginary part of the coefficient. For example, the complex conjugate of (a+jb) is (a−jb), and vice-versa. Multiplying a value by its complex conjugate has the effect of converting all of the signals in the imaginary channel into the real channel. The complex multi-valued outputs of multipliers 180, 182, and 184 are summed respectively by adder 186, and provided to decision block 188, which performs in the same manner as decision block 136 of FIG. 2.
FIG. 6 shows a maximal ratio combiner processor 201, where the signals and later reflections are delayed and multiplied by a linear array of conjugated complex coefficients α0 208, α1 210, and α2 212, then summed to form a signal containing maximum combined signal power. Similarly to the rake combining signal processing system of FIG. 5, the function of the MRC processor 201 is to delay pre-cursor signal 156a of FIG. 4 with delay element 204 and to delay the strongest symbol 158a of FIG. 4 with delay element 206 such that these signals align in time with post-cursor 160b of FIG. 4. The MRC processor 201 then multiplies each stream of pre-cursors, the strongest signal, and post-cursors separately with a linear array of conjugated complex coefficients α0 208, α1 210, and α2 212, respectively, and then sums the aligned and multiplied streams in adder 220, thereby producing reflection-compensated output 228. This reflection-compensated output 228 is then fed to correlator 222, which is gated by synchronization pulse 226 similar to synchronization pulse 196 in FIG. 5. The effect of multiplying by the conjugated complex coefficients α0 208, α1 210, and α2 212 is the phase rotation of reflected multi-path signals back into the proper channel. For both of the maximal ratio combiners in FIGS. 5 and 6, the computation of delay coefficients for delay elements 170 and 172 of FIG. 5, delay elements 204 and 206 of FIG. 6, as well as the linear arrays of conjugated complex coefficients α0 174, α1 176, and α2 178 in FIG. 5, and the linear arrays of conjugated complex coefficients α0 208, α1 210, and α2 212 in FIG. 6, are done based on the strongest correlation signals. These conjugated complex coefficients must be computed based on the amplitude and the phase of the particular pre-cursors and post-cursors present, which depends upon the nature of multipath present.
FIG. 7 shows the waveform for time-shifted cross correlation (normalized so that peak is one) for the 256 possible complementary code keying (CCK) codewords used in the 11 Mbps data rate of IEEE 802.11b wireless communication systems. It can be seen that the cross-correlation response (with time shifts of +/−7 symbols) of up to 0.4 times the peak (autocorrelation) rules out any major multipath tolerance of a system using the autocorrelation properties of CCK codewords to do an MRC combining. This has the additional implication that the maximal ratio combiner 201 of FIG. 6 could be placed in the signal processing stream for both the Barker and CCK codewords. This would not be possible with the rake combining signal processing system 190 of FIG. 5, since the multiplication and summing is done post-correlation. But FIG. 7 shows the CCK codeword response for cross-correlation is poor and hence any system relying on such an MRC combining for multipath tolerance would fail for the CCK rates under multipath.
FIG. 8 shows a waveform for the sliding correlation output for Barker codewords. The figure shows the 1 us timing and response of a noise-free signal presented to a sliding correlator operating at twice the bit rate, or 22 Mhz. FIG. 9 shows the waveform for the sliding correlation output for noise input—noise that would ordinarily be present with the signal of FIG. 8.

All-tap fractionally spaced, serial rake combiner apparatus and method


A duct leading to a bypass and a duct leading to a heat exchanger are arranged at the output side of the gas turbine. The two ducts can be closed alternately by flaps. Pivotable guide plates are arranged in the branching area of the two ducts. The guide plates are pivoted by linkages connected to the flaps in the duct leading to the heat exchanger, so that, when the flaps in the bypass are open, the guide plates are inclined relative to the flow of combustion gases and deflect the flow into the duct leading to the bypass. When the flaps in the duct leading to the bypass are closed, the guide plates are pivoted to extend parallel to the flow of combustion gases. In this position, the guide plates do not provide any resistance to the flow of combustion gases to the heat exchanger.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device at the output side of a gas turbine for conducting the combustion gases to a heat exchanger or into a bypass. The device includes guide surfaces arranged in the branching area between the heat exchanger and the bypass.
2. Description of the Related Art
The operation of gas turbines which are followed by a heat exchanger usually requires during start-up of the gas turbine that the heat exchanger is bypassed by means of a bypass. Flap valves are used for optionally guiding the combustion gases to the heat exchanger or to the bypass. These flap valves are arranged in the duct leading to the heat exchanger which duct extends in the flow direction of the combustion gases and the flap valves are arranged in the duct leading to the bypass which duct extends perpendicularly to the flow direction of the combustion gases. These ducts have extremely large cross-sectional areas, for example 20 square meters or more.
The result obtained from the operation of these devices are not satisfactory. The flaps which are closed during the bypass operation and lead to the heat exchanger begin to leak after a very short time and the flaps are frequently damaged until they are destroyed. A reason for this is that the hot combustion gases impact directly on the closed flap with high kinetic energy. In addition, a pulsation occurs in the combustion gases which has a low vibration frequency and substantially contribute to rendering the flaps prematurely useless.
In another known arrangement, the combustion gases are not conducted along a straight line from the gas turbine to the heat exchanger. Rather, to the horizontal ducts at the output side of gas turbine is connected a perpendicularly extending duct portion to which, in turn, are connected a horizontally extending duct which leads to the heat exchanger and a duct which extends in perpendicular direction and leads to the bypass. Stationary guide surfaces are arranged in the deflection region between the horizontally extending ducts from the gas turbine and the perpendicularly extending portion. These guide surfaces facilitate the deflection of the horizontally arriving flow of the combustion gases into an approximately perpendicularly extending direction.
The arrangement described above also has significant disadvantages. The guide surfaces are continuously subjected, i.e., during the start-up as well as during the continuous operation with the heat exchanger, to the pressure of the hot combustion gases and, thus, the guide surfaces wear quickly. The heat exchanger cannot be arranged in the same plane as the gas turbine, but rather the heat exchanger must be raised relative to the gas turbine. Accordingly, the heat exchanger requires an extensive substructure and a greater height of the building in which the unit is set up than is necessary normally. Finally, the guide surfaces constitute a significant resistance to the flow of the combustion gases from the gas turbine. This resistance is continuous, i.e., it does not only occur during the start-up of the turbine.
It is, therefore, the primary object of the present invention to provide a device of the above-described type which is simple and inexpensively avoids the above-mentioned problems.

Device at the output side of a gas turbine

Stober + Morlock Warmekraft Gesellschaft mbH