A cleaning device in a printing machine includes a cleaning tool and a tilting clamp mechanism for holding the cleaning tool in different positions. The cleaning tool and the tilting clamp mechanism are coupled to, and can be decoupled from, each other by a coupling device. A printing machine having a cleaning device is also provided.

The invention relates in a printing machine having a cleaning tool and a tilting clamp mechanism (or tilting over-center-mechanism) for holding the cleaning tool in different positions. The invention also relates to a printing machine having a cleaning device.
German Patent DE 44 22 612 C1, corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 5,622,112, teaches a cleaning device of that type, having tilting clamp mechanisms which are referred to in the reference as knee lever configurations. Those configurations are held by pressure springs of the tilting clamp mechanisms in a transmission position in which a doctor blade functioning as the cleaning tool contacts a cylinder that must be cleaned, after a dead position of the transmission is overshot. A trough carrying the doctor blades can only be removed from the printing machine, for instance in order to clean the trough, together with the tilting clamp mechanisms that are attached to the trough. Since the connection of the trough and the tilting clamp mechanisms cannot be undone without a tool, it is difficult to handle the trough and the doctor blade during their removal and cleaning.
German Published, Non-Prosecuted Patent Application DE 43 28 834 A1 also describes a cleaning device having a swivel mechanism which does not have a dead position and which is therefore not a tilting clamp mechanism, but is rather what is known as a blocking clamp mechanism.
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a cleaning device in a printing machine and a printing machine with a cleaning device, which overcome the hereinafore-mentioned disadvantages of the heretofore-known devices of this general type and in which the cleaning device is easy to handle outside the printing machine.
With the foregoing and other objects in view there is provided, in accordance with the invention, a cleaning device for a printing machine, comprising a cleaning tool. A tilting clamp mechanism is provided for holding the cleaning tool in different positions. A coupling device is provided for coupling and uncoupling the cleaning tool and the tilting clamp mechanism to one another.
The coupling device makes it possible to detach the cleaning tool from the tilting clamp mechanism, so that the cleaning tool can be removed from the printing machine for maintenance without the tilting clamp mechanism. Following maintenance, the cleaning tool can be inserted into the printing machine again and drivingly connected to the tilting clamp mechanism by way of the coupling device. It is particularly advantageous that the cleaning tool can be detached without a tool by pulling the cleaning tool out of or away from the tilting mechanism, and that the cleaning tool can also be connected without a tool by placing the cleaning tool in or on the tilting clamp mechanism. In this type of realization of the coupling device as a plug connection, there is no need to loosen screws or the like, and therefore the cleaning tool can be coupled and decoupled very quickly.
In accordance with another feature of the invention, the tilting clamp mechanism includes a spring. The tilting clamp mechanism is arbitrarily movable into a lower position in which the spring holds the cleaning tool at a distance from a surface to be cleaned, and an upper position in which the spring holds the cleaning tool at the surface to be cleaned.
In accordance with a further feature of the invention, the surface to be cleaned is a circumferential surface of a cylinder.
In accordance with an added feature of the invention, the tilting clamp mechanism includes a rod about which the spring is wound like a screw.
In accordance with an additional feature of the invention, the tilting clamp mechanism is secured at a printing machine frame. It therefore remains disposed in the printing machine when the cleaning tool is removed from the printing machine.
In accordance with yet another feature of the invention, there is provided a trough. The cleaning tool is a blade secured at the trough. In accordance with yet a further feature of the invention, the tilting clamp mechanism has a journal. The coupling device is a coupling having a first coupling half disposed at the trough and a second coupling half disposed at the journal. In accordance with yet an added feature of the invention, the second coupling half is a groove formed in the journal, and the first coupling half is a profiled pin disposed at the trough and form-lockingly fitted in the groove. In accordance with yet an additional feature of the invention, the tilting clamp mechanism is one of two tilting clamp mechanisms. The trough is a torsionally-rigid synchronous shaft drivingly interconnecting the tilting clamp mechanisms for synchronous adjustment of the tilting clamp mechanisms.
With the objects of the invention in view, there is also provided a printing machine, comprising a cleaning device according to the invention.
Other features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims.
Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in a cleaning device in a printing machine, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims.
The construction and method of operation of the invention, however, together with additional objects and advantages thereof will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.

Cleaning device in a printing machine and printing machine with a cleaning device


A memory device whose speed at the time of operation such as writing or reading is high and whose number of semiconductor elements per memory cell is small is provided. The memory device includes a control unit, an arithmetic unit, and a buffer memory device. The buffer memory device stores data sent from a main memory device and/or the arithmetic unit, in accordance with an instruction from the control unit. The buffer memory device includes a plurality of memory cells. The memory cells each include a transistor including a channel formation region including an oxide semiconductor, and a memory element to which charge with an amount in accordance with a value of the data is supplied through the transistor. Further, a data retention time of the memory cell corresponding to a valid bit is shorter than a data retention time of the memory cell corresponding to a data field.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a memory device and a semiconductor device including the memory device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Central processing units (CPUs) have a variety of architecture depending on their usage, and architecture called stored-program architecture is predominant architecture of current CPUs. In a stored-program CPU, an instruction and data needed for carrying out the instruction are stored in a semiconductor memory device (hereinafter, simply referred to as a memory device), and the instruction and the data are sequentially read from the memory device, whereby the instruction is carried out.
As the memory device, besides a main memory device for storing data and instructions, a buffer memory device called a cache which can perform data writing and data reading at high speed is given. In order to reduce low-speed access to the main memory device and speed up the arithmetic processing, a cache is provided in a CPU to be located between an arithmetic unit or a control unit and a main memory device. In general, a static random access memory (SRAM) or the like is used as a cache. Patent Document 1 shown below discloses a structure in which a volatile memory such as an SRAM and a nonvolatile memory are used in combination as a cache.

Memory device and semiconductor device using the same

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


A composite films which exhibit low oxygen transmission rates. The film comprises a silane resin coated on a plastic substrate then cured by ultraviolet radiation. For the silane coating, this invention relies on a class of organosilicon compounds derived from 1) organohydrogensilanes or organohydrogensiloxanes and 2) propargyl esters of carboxylic acids containing a terminal aromatic hydrocarbon radical, where the carbopropynoxy group of the ester and the aromatic hydrocarbon radical are separated by at least two adjacent ethylenically unsaturated carbon atoms. If more than two of these carbon atoms are present they form a sequence of conjugated ethylenic double bonds which allows the polymer to cross-link upon exposure to ultraviolet radiation.

Packages allowing significant penetration of oxygen or other gases are undesirable where gas transmission contributes to the decay of the packaged product. For example, the development of packages having low oxygen transmission rates, i.e. high oxygen barrier properties, has long been a desirable objective in the food packaging industry, because low gas permeability food packages increase the shelf life of the packaged food products. Packages having low oxygen transmission rates also have utility for packaging other oxygen sensitive materials, such as oxygen activated sealants. Longer shelf life of the product increases inventory efficiency for distributors, and reduces the likelihood that the consumer will accidently purchase a contaminated product. For a plastic film to be qualified for food packaging applications, therefore, the film has to have low oxygen permeability not only at low relative humidity, but also at high relative humidity since the packed food may be stored in the high humidity environment. Unfortunately most of the commercially available plastic film cannot meet these two requirements simultaneously. The ideal film will have both low oxygen permeability and will be insensitive to relative humidity. The present invention solves these problems by teaching a silicone treated plastic film which exhibits excellent low gas transmission characteristics both at 0% relative humidity and at 85% relative humidity.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,077,135 and 5,096,738 to Wyman disclose a method of imbuing polymer films with gas impermeable surface characteristics using a silane compound and cross-linking same, while providing physical adsorption adherence to the film and with sufficient coating to produce gas and related barrier characteristics. However, the present invention is distinguishable from the '135 and '738 patents because the present invention teaches a silane which is cured by ultraviolet radiation rather than electron beam irradiation, which is taught as the cure method in the '135 and '738 patents.

Method of producing an oxygen barrier coating containing trimethoxysilyl functional pentadienoate


A method for detecting glaucoma in a subject based on spatial frequency analysis of the inner limiting membrane (ILM) as obtained from optical coherence tomography (OCT) image data is disclosed. Based on the spatial frequency content of the analyzed ILM profile, a quantity called the Retinal surface contour variability (RSCV) is calculated and the presence or absence of a glaucoma condition is determined based on the RSCV magnitude.

Glaucoma is a disease of the eye characterized by a loss of retinal ganglion cells and concomitant localized thinning of retinal tissue which can cause progressive, irreversible vision loss. Because of the irreversible nature of glaucomatous damage, early diagnosis and treatment are important for maintaining visual function. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a noninvasive, high resolution, depth-resolved volumetric imaging technique that is commonly used to visualize the cross-sectional morphology of the retina. OCT is currently used in glaucoma detection to measure the thickness of retinal nerve fiber layer (NFL) and ganglion cell complex (GCC). However, because overall and regional thickness of the retina and retinal layers is highly variable in the normal population, these structural parameters have low sensitivity to detect early morphological changes that may be associated with glaucoma. Moreover, segmentation of these structures requires sophisticated image processing techniques to reproducibly extract thickness measurements of different retinal layers. Thus a more sensitive approach for characterizing structural changes in the retina is needed.

Systems and methods of glaucoma diagnosis based on frequency analysis of inner retinal surface profile measured by optical coherence tomography


A display device includes: a housing; a roller rotatably disposed on the housing; a flexible display that is rolled around the roller or unrolled from the roller; a first arm connected to the flexible display; an arm supporter provided in the housing; an arm shaft rotatably supported to the arm supporter; a second arm coupled to the arm shaft and rotated together with the arm shaft to rotate the first arm; a rotation mechanism connected to the second arm to rotate the second arm about the arm shaft; and an angle sensor module connected to at least one of the arm shaft and the second arm.

As the information society develops, the demand for display devices is increasing in various forms. In recent years, various display devices such as liquid crystal display device (LCD), plasma display panel (PDP), electro luminescent display (ELD), and vacuum fluorescent display (VFD) have been studied and used.
A display device using an organic light emitting diode (OLED) is superior to a liquid crystal display device in terms of luminance characteristics and viewing angle characteristics, and does not require a backlight unit, thereby realizing an ultra-thin display device.
The flexible display may be bent or rolled around the roller. A flexible display may be used to implement a display device that is unfoldable or rollable around a roller as needed. At this time, there is a problem that the flexible display is stably rolled around or unrolled from the roller.


An automated liquid handling system is disclosed. A system includes a first pipetting group, which includes at least one pipettor, movably arranged on a first arm; and a second pipetting group, which includes at least one pipettor, movably arranged on a second arm, wherein the first arm and the second arm are movably arranged on at least one track such that the first arm and the second arm can independently move along the at least one track while keeping the first arm parallel with the second arm, wherein the at least one pipettor of the first pipetting group is arranged on a side of the first arm facing the second pipetting group, wherein the at least one pipettor of the second pipetting group is arranged on a side of the second arm facing the first pipetting group.

Many life science and diagnostic assays often involve parallel processing of a large number of samples. Liquid handling is an important part of most assays. The development of automated liquid handling systems has brought improved efficiency and safety to laboratory workflow.
Efficiency is mostly achieved by the use of automated robotic workstations. Various workstations are available from vendors, such as the BRAVO™ workstation from Agilent Technologies, Inc. (Santa Clara, Calif.). The main parts of such robotic workstations include automatic liquid handling systems. An automated liquid handling system can provide high throughput and automated processing of liquid samples.
An automated liquid handling system typically includes one or more pipettors arranged as an assembly that can transfer a liquid sample from a source to the desired locations in the work area. For example, FIG. 1 shows a schematic of a liquid handling system (pipetting instrument) 100, which includes a single gantry 101 that controls the movements of pipettor 102. The pipettor 102 can typically move in the X. Y, and Z axis directions. To enable these movements, the pipettor 102 is arranged on a track (not shown) that allows the pipettor 102 to move in the Y axis direction (the direction in-and-out of the plane of the drawing), and the gantry 101 is arranged on a track 105 such that the gantry can move in the X-axis direction (left and right in this view). After moving to the desired plate 103 on the work platform in the pipetting instrument 100, the pipettor 102 can move in the Z-axis direction (up-and-down direction in this view) to aspire or deliver a liquid sample.
The single pipetting group (single gantry) liquid handling system as illustrated in FIG. 1 (or a variation of this configuration) is used in current commercial liquid handling system, such as Biomek™ FX from Beckman-Coulter, Inc. (Brea, Calif.), Freedom EVO™ from Tecan Group, Ltd. (Switzerland), and STAR Line™ from Hamilton Company (Reno, Nev.).
A new system with two blocks on an arm of a robot manipulator is disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0264725. Each block contains two or more pipettes with rigid spacings between them to accommodate well spacings of the existing microtiter plates. The two blocks may be interleaved or interlaced, thereby halving the spacings between the pippetes.
While these prior art liquid handling systems have proven useful, there remains a need for more flexible liquid handling systems.

Liquid handler with dual pipetting groups


A plurality of NIUs are interconnected by a multiple channel communications medium, and each NIU includes a sequence of inputs and outputs. Each channel is connected to a separate input, and exits the NIU at a separate output. The output that each channel exits is connected to the next input in the sequence of inputs on the next connector in the chordal ring. Further, channels which enter at a predetermined input of the NIU are cut and connected to a user equipment before exiting the NIU. Thus, if a predetermined channel is cut and connected to a particular user equipment, it will not be cut again at the next NIU since it will enter the next NIU at a different input in the input sequence. Indeed, the channel will not be cut again until N NIU's are traversed, where N is the length of the sequence. Thus, by choosing N to be the chordal length, an NIU is constructed which may be connected in an identical fasion to each user equipment in order to automatically establish chords in the network.

A typical ring type network of the prior art is shown in FIG. 1. For purposes of simplicity, it is assumed that all data propagates clockwise through the network. The network of FIG. 1 comprises ten exemplary Network Interface Units (NIU) 101-110. Communications from a first NIU to a second NIU is accomplished by passing data packets around the network from one NIU to the next. Each NIU reads the address in an arriving data packet. If the address matches the NIU's address, the data packet is processed by that NIU, and forwarded to the associated user equipment. Otherwise, the data packet is simply passed to the next NIU in the ring. This process continues until the data packet reaches the NIU for which it is destined. For example, a data packet to be transmitted from NIU 101 to NIU 104 is passed from NIU 101-102, from NIU 102 to 103, and from NIU 103 to 104.
Each packet transmitted through the ring network of FIG. 1 must be processed by each of the NIUs disposed between the transmitting and receiving NIUs. Therefore, packets are delayed substantially.
Recently, chordal rings have been proposed in order to help eliminate some of the delay problems posed by the network of FIG. 1. See for example, the article "Analysis of Chordal Ring Network", by B. W. Arden et al. in IEEE Transactions on Computers, Vol. C-30, No. 4, Apr. 1981, pp. 291-295, which analyses the reduction in delay achieved by these chordal ring networks. FIG. 2 shows a typical chordal ring network. The connections among the NIUs of FIG. 2 include all those of FIG. 1. Additionally, in FIG. 2. each NIU is arranged to communicate to the NIU disposed two NIUs away on the network. For purposes of explanation herein, the chordal length of the network is defined as the number of NIUs between the beginning and end of the chord, with the beginning NIU not counted. For example, the chordal length in FIG. 2 would be two.
The chordal ring network of FIG. 2 has much better delay performance than the ring network of FIG. 1. For example, consider the transmission of a data packet in the network of FIG. 2 from NIU 201 to NIU 206. The data packet could be transmitted from NIU 201 to NIU 203, from NIU 203 to NIU 205, and from NIU 205 to NIU 206. Note that only two intermediate NIUs must process the data packet, rather than four, as would be the case for the ring network of FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 shows a slightly more complex chordal ring network. In the network of FIG. 3, 16 NIUs are disposed along a communications medium. Each NIU transmits to the NIU immediately subsequent to it on the network. Additionally, each NIU is arranged to transmit to the NIUs which are disposed two NIUs subsequent to, and four NIUs subsequent to, the NIU in question. For example, NIU 309 transmits to NIU 310, NIU 311, and NIU 313. To analogize to FIG. 2, the network of FIG. 3 has two separate chordal lengths, two and four.
The networks of FIGS. 2 and 3 are a compromise between a fully connected network, where each NIU is connected to every other NIU, and the ring network of FIG. 1. The networks of FIGS. 2 and 3 reduce delay at the cost of additional connections.
Both the networks of FIGS. 2 and 3, as well as other chordal ring networks, suffer from a very practical limitation with regard to their implementation. Specifically, the medium is typically implemented as a bundle of wires or optical waveguides. Considering cross section 317 of FIG. 3, it can be seen that at least seven communications channels are required to implement the chordal ring network. It can also be seen from the network of FIG. 3 that each NIU is inserted serially into a selected three of these seven channels, while the remainder simply propagate by the NIU untouched. Thus, in order to implement the network of FIG. 3, the installer must determine which wires to connect to each NIU from a bundle of wires. This problem becomes quite substantial when the network gets very large; i.e. hundreds or thousands of NIUs, and the number of chords is made greater.


The invention relates to a device and a method for increasing the transdermal permeation of medications. The invention is characterized in that a constituent which effects a local increase in temperature and/or an increase in blood flow or the skin is administered in a addition to the transdermally applied active substance.

The invention relates to a device for and to a method of increasing the dermal and/or transdermal permeation of drugs.
The transdermal administration of pharmaceutical active substances has been known from the time of the first commercial use of a scopolamine transdermal therapeutic system (Scopoderm TTS). Other active substances (nitroglycerine, estradiol, clonidine, isosorbide dinitrate, fentanyl, nicotine, norethisterone etc.) as well are now offered in the form of such a TTS. These active substance patches are adhered to the skin of a patient. The active substance is then released in a controlled manner from the TTS to the skin of the patient, travels through the various layers of the skin, and, finally, enters the circulation.
A problem with this mode of administration of a substance having a systemic action is very frequently that the path taken by the active substance through the differently constructed layers of the skin is very long and the transport of the active substance until it enters the circulation is time-consuming. There are a number of reasons for this. First, the skin possesses a natural barrier function against the penetration of foreign substances into the body.
Secondly, substances having a very large molecular radius possess only a low diffusion coefficient. The latter is a measure of the ability of a substance to travel within a medium; in the case in hand, therefore, the permeation behavior within the skin layers. And, finally, physico-chemical interactions (for example, polar interactions, dipole-dipole interactions, etc.) between the active substance and the various constituents of the different skin layers may lower the rate of diffusion of an active substance in the skin.
All of these phenomena may result in the percutaneous and subsequent absorption of the active substance taking place so slowly that a pharmacological effect occurs only with considerable time delay. This period between the application of a TTS to the skin of the patient and the onset of the pharmacological effect is referred to by the skilled worker as the lag time.
Almost logically, therefore, enhancing the percutaneous permeation of a transdermally administerable active substance has been the subject of extensive research work, especially by the pharmaceutical industry. It has led to the use of a very wide variety of substances which improve skin penetration (known as enhancers) and to the development of specific substances, e.g., Azone(copyright). Enhancers include alcohols, amides, amino acids, derivatives of Azone(copyright), essential oils, fatty acids and fatty acid derivatives such as fatty acid esters, macrocyclic compounds, phospholipids, pyrrolidones, sulfoxides, and others.
When such enhancers are given, the increase in skin penetration (or, more precisely, the acceleration of an active substance""s entry into and travel through the various skin layers and thus, ultimately, the raising of the transdermal absorption rate as well) is essentially achieved by virtue of the fact that these enhancers penetrate the uppermost layers of the skin, where they alter the structure of the skin in such a way that its barrier function is no longer fully effective. This mode of action is explained at the molecular level as follows: the enhancers incorporate themselves into biological membranes and alter the natural structure of lipids and proteinsxe2x80x94causing them, for example, to swell. The active substance applied to the skin is then able to travel more easily, i.e., more quickly, through the different layers of the skin.
The use of the prior art enhancers, however, also possesses many disadvantages. First of all, the enhancer must not be toxic and must not cause any physiological side effects. Further, there must be no chemical or physical incompatibilities between enhancer and both the active substance and the other materials constituting the TTS. Finally, the enhancer must be present in the TTS in an amount such that the permeation-intensifying effect is retained over the entire period of its application (generally from 16 to 24 hours, although there are also 3-day plasters already available). An inevitable result of this, however, is often that said enhancer is administered to the patient likewise in amounts such as to cause a systemic effect.
It is an object of the present invention to accelerate the penetration of an active substance into the skin and/or the travel of this active substance through the different layers of the skin and/or the transport of this active substance through the blood capillary system of the dermis and/or the blood vessels of the hypodermis in such a way that absorption through the skin takes place more rapidly and thus a reduction in the lag time is achieved. In particular, practical transdermal application should be made accessible to active substances which by their nature exhibit a long lag time for absorption through the skin.
This object is achieved by a device which comprises a component which brings about a local temperature increase in the skin and/or increases the circulation. The device of the invention can be, for example, an ointment, a solution, a suspension, an emulsion, a foam, a paste, a gel or a patch, a patch of this kind being a preferred embodiment.
The invention further provides a method which comprises achieving an increase in the rate of penetration of an active substance into the skin and/or of travel of this active substance through the different layers of the skin and/or of transport of this active substance through the blood capillary system of the dermis and/or the blood vessels of the hypodermis by means of a local temperature increase and/or an increase in the circulation of the skin. In this way, ultimately, the transdermal absorption rate of said active substance is increased and the lag time to the onset of a pharmacological effect of said active substance is reduced.
The use of substances which bring about a local temperature increase in the skin for the purpose of increasing the rate of penetration of an active substance into the skin and/or of travel of this active substance through the different layers of the skin and/or of transport of this active substance through the blood capillary system of the dermis and/or the blood vessels of the hypodermis is likewise provided by the present invention. It is possible to achieve either a short-term effect (that is, up to the onset of the pharmacological effect) or a long-term effect (that is, throughout the duration of transdermal administration of the active substance in question).
Further elucidation of the invention is aided by the following definitions:
Skin refers to the uninjured, i.e., undamaged, unshaved skin of a mammal, especially that of a human, said skin having its normal hair cover. For the purposes of this invention, the term skin does not include mucous membrane. Normal skin consists essentially of three layers: the epidermis (situated externally), the dermis, and the hypodermis (which is situated below). The hypodermis is also referred to as the subcutis. The epidermis in turn is composed of the stratum corneum, stratum lucidum, stratum granulosum, stratum spinosum and stratum germativum. The dermis contains, inter alia, the blood capillary system. The hypodermis houses the blood vessels.
Penetration refers to the penetration of an active substance into the outer layers of the skin, especially into those of the epidermis. Permeation refers to the travel of the active substance through the skin, especially through the epidermis (including the stratum corneum) and the dermis.
The term dermal administration as used in the present description means that an active substance is applied to the skin and develops a local or regional (i.e., topical) action in the epidermis and/or dermis. Transdermal administration in the present description means that an active substance is applied to the skin, passes through the epidermis and/or dermis into the blood stream or into the lymph system, is distributed from there throughout the body, and develops a systemic action at the target site. Transdermal absorption is used to denote the takeup of an active substance by the under-skin blood vessels following transdermal administration, thereby permitting a systemic action of the active substance taken up.
Active substances for the purposes of the present invention are essentially pharmaceutical and/or cosmetic active substances which serve to prevent, alleviate, heal or reveal disorders. They include substances which are able to exert a topical and/or systemic action. Active substances are known to the skilled worker and can be found in standard works, such as, for example, the German xe2x80x9cRed Listxe2x80x9d (pharmaceutical active substances) and xe2x80x9cGreen Listxe2x80x9d (cosmetic active substances). Further active substances are specified in U.S. Pat. No. 4,557,934 and in the sources cited therein (col. 10, lines 18-35). In order to avoid repetition, the content of that patent insofar as it refers to active substances is considered part of the disclosure of the present invention by reference. In principle, the nature of the active substance is not critical to the present invention. The term active substance should therefore not be interpreted in a manner which restricts the subject matter of the invention.
Active substances which by their nature exhibit a long lag time on absorption through the skin include the following: opiates such as, for example, morphine, diamorphine, buprenorphine; fentanyl, estrogens such as, for example, 17xcex2-estradiol; hormones such as, for example, testosterone, norethisterone, gestagens; peptides such as, for example, insulin;
analgesics; and alkaloids. This type of systemic active substance can be made amenable to transdermal administration in a particularly advantageous way by means of the-subject matter of the invention.
The component which brings about a local temperature increase and/or an increase in the circulation of the skin is a substance or substance mixture which when applied to the skin results in local heating of the skin. Such substances include especially rubefacientia, vasodilators, and hyperemic substances.
Rubefacientia are substances which as a consequence of hyperemia have a skin irritant and/or skin reddening action. Rubefacientia are therefore a particular group of hyperemic substances. They include, for example, pelargonic acid vanillyl amide, cayenne pepper oil resin, capsicum extract, capsicum tincture, cayenne pepper extract, cayenne pepper, and capsaicin.
Vasodilators are vessel widening substances which bring about a widening of the blood vessels by, for example, relaxing the vessel musculature. This is often accompanied by a lowering of blood pressure. This also takes place, of course, in the peripheral blood vessels, so producing increased blood flow through the area affected. Vasodilators include nicotinic acid; derivatives of nicotinic acid such as, for example, nicotinyl alcohol, benzyl nicotinate, nicotinamide, etc.; adenosine compounds; xanthine, derivatives of xanthine such as caffeine, etc.; arnica extract, arnica blossom extract, pyridyl-3-carbinol and its salts, camomile, phytolacca, guaia gum, cinnabaris, creosotum, Luffa operculata, and tincture of Rhus toxicodendron.
Hyperemic substances are substances which increase circulation. The increase in circulation is brought about by increased blood afflux (reactive hyperemia) or reduced blood efflux (restriction hyperemia). This can have various causes. Hyperemic substances include essential oils, menthol, camphor, nicotinic esters, salicylic esters, hydroxyethyl salicylate, methyl salicylate, and ortho-carbamoylphenoxyacetic acid.
The heat effect in the skin is, therefore, brought about essentially by an improvement in the circulation to the peripheral blood vessels (capillary system). It is not based on a heat effect in the form, for example, of thermal conduction, ultrasound, thermal radiation, etc., being exerted on the skin from the outside. There is no transport of energy from an external energy source into the skin.
Devices of the abovementioned kind are produced in a known manner where the device in question is an ointment, solution, suspension, emulsion, foam, paste, aerosol, or gel. All that must be done is to incorporate the component which brings about a local temperature increase in the skin into the active substance composition in an appropriate process step. Said ointment, solution, suspension, emulsion, foam, paste, aerosol or gel can be applied to the skin area in question directly prior to application of the active substance ITTS. It can also be applied to the skin around the TTS following application of the latter.
Owing to the difficulty in controlling the amount applied in this case of the component which brings about a local temperature increase of the skin, and owing to any concomitant adhesion problems of the TTS on the skin, the preferred embodiment is, as stated, a patch.
A patch of this kind, i.e., a dermal or transdermal therapeutic system, can comprise the following structural elements: an active substance impermeable backing layer, an active substance reservoir, an active substance release controlling (semipermeable or microporous) membrane, an adhesive layer containing active substance, and a redetachable protective layer (known as the release liner).
In accordance with the invention, the component which brings about a local temperature increase and/or circulation increase in the skin can be present in the active substance reservoir and/or in the adhesive layer containing active substance. Alternatively, in order to avoid incompatibilities but also as a preferred embodiment, the component which brings about a local temperature increase of the skin can also be present in a structural element of the device which is spatially separate from the structural elements containing active substance.
The simplest embodiment of this case is a pressure sensitive adhesive layer which comprises the component that brings about a local temperature increase and/or increase in circulation in the skin and which is equipped with a backing layer impermeable to said component. In this embodiment, the device consists of two separate devices, namely an active substance release device and the device containing the component which brings about a local temperature increase and/or circulation increase in the skin. The active substance release device, an active substance TTS for example, is applied first of all to the skin of the patient. Then the device containing the component which brings about a local temperature increase of the skin is placed atop it and judicially fixedxe2x80x94for example, by means of a pressure sensitive adhesive layer located on the bottom, pressure sensitive adhesive strips located on the edge of the device, or a further, cover patch. Likewise preferred is an embodiment in which an outer segment containing the component which brings about a local temperature increase and/or circulation increase in the skin is disposed around an inner segment which contains the active substance intended for transdermal administration. The form of the inner segment is in principle not critical; it can be circular, rectangular or square. The form of the outer segment is likewise in principle not critical; it can also be circular, rectangular or square. Alternatively, the outer segment can be disposed around the inner segment in the form of a ring or as two or more sections which are, for example, rectangular or semicircular. This embodiment is particularly suitable since it profits from the formation of a horizontal concentration gradient in the epidermis and in the dermis/subcutis. Although this so-called lateral diffusion can be derived from the structure of the stratum corneum with its lamellar lipid-water bilayers, this phenomenon has, surprisingly, to date not been considered by those skilled in the art for a practical implementation in terms of increasing the rate of penetration into the skin and/or of travel through the skin, in particular for increasing the transdermal absorption rate of an active substance applied to the skin.
In this advantageous embodiment, the outer segment overhangs the inner segment to a considerable extent; for example, by several millimeters (e.g.: from 5 to 25) or by the length of the diameter of the inner segment. In this way, the principle responsible for the increase in the transdermal absorption rate of the active substance acts on an area which projects beyond the mere release area of the transdermally administered active substance.
The area of the pressure sensitive adhesive layer, or of the outer segment, which contains the component which brings about a local temperature increase and/or increase in the circulation of the skin is generally smaller than 100 cm2.
A preferred embodiment of this kind can likewise be produced by processes known to the skilled worker, as described, for example, in DE 37 14 140, DE 38 09 978 and DE 41 10 027. In order to avoid repetition, the relevant section of the disclosure contents of these documents has not been reproduced here but is considered to be incorporated by reference. It is clear that when producing the outer segment the component which brings about a local temperature increase of the skin must be incorporated into the matrix forming the outer segment, in the appropriate working step. The spatial separation of the segments containing the component which brings about a local temperature increase and/or circulation increase in the skin from the segments containing the active substance intended for transdermal administration is achieved by horizontal or vertical barrier layers or material voids.
Depending on the amount of the component which brings about a local temperature increase and/or circulation increase in the skin, the action of the device of the invention may extend over a relatively long period: for example, about 8, 16, 24, 48 or even 72 hours. The device of the invention is applied to the skin of the patient under normal conditions, i.e., at normalxe2x80x94that is, not increasedxe2x80x94external skin temperature. Alternatively, the device of the invention can be applied before and during an iontophoresis treatment.
Within the device, the amount of the substance which is able to bring about a local temperature increase and/or circulation increase in the skin depends on whether the desire is for a short-term effect, until the onset of the pharmacological effect, or a long-term effect, throughout the duration of the transdermal administration of the active substance in question.
It is also guided in each specific case by the specific properties of the substance. In general, therefore, the amount of this substance within the device is between 0.5 and 20% by weight.
The device of the invention is preferably free from permeation enhancers, i.e., substances which by intervening in the structure of the skin achieve an improvement in the skin permeation of a dermally administered active substance, but may, if desired, comprise such substances. A list of these substances can be found from the article by D. W. Osborne and J. J. Hill on xe2x80x9cSkin penetration enhancers cited in the technical literaturexe2x80x9d on the Internet website http://pharmtech.com/technical/osborne/osborne.htm.

Device and method for increasing the transdermal permeation of medicaments


A polymerizable monomer adopted to a display panel is represented as following chemical formula:

1. Field of the Present Invention
The present invention relates in general to a polymerizable monomer and a liquid crystal material, and more particularly to a polymerizable monomer and a liquid crystal material adapted to a display panel.
2. Description of the Related Art
Liquid crystal display (LCD) panels, having the features of lightweight, thinness, low power consumption and low radiation, have been widely used in commercial and consumer electronic products, and has gradually replaced the conventional cathode ray tube (CRT) monitors. LCD panels are superior to the conventional cathode ray tube monitors in terms of power consumption, luminance and contrast, but are still slightly inferior to the conventional CRT monitors in terms of response time.
In recent years, a new alignment technology, that is, a polymer-stabilizing alignment (PSA) technology, is provided. According to the PSA technology, polymerizable monomers are mixed in a liquid crystal layer, and after the polymerizable monomers are arranged, an energy source (such as a UV light or a heating source) is applied thereto for polymerizing the polymerizable monomers into a polymer film, which guides the arrangement of the liquid crystal compounds in the LCD panel. Despite the PSA technology can conveniently form a polymer film facilitating the alignment of liquid crystal molecules, the performance of the polymer film in the alignment of liquid crystal molecules still needs to be improved.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Polymerizable monomer and liquid crystal material applied to display panel

Abstract: wherein, m≧0; “Z” is selected from oxygen, sulfur, carbonyl, caroboxyl, methyoxy, methylthio, thio, ethenylcarbonyl, carbonylethenyl, difluoromethoxy, difluoro methylthio, ethyl, difluoroethane, 1,2 difluoroethane, vinylene, difluoroethenylene, ethynyl, or single bond. “X1” and “X2” are independently selected from oxygen, sulfur, methyoxy, carbonyl, caroboxyl, -carbamoyl, methylthio, ethenylcarbonyl, carbonylethenyl, or single bond. “Sp1” and “Sp2” are independently a spacer or single bond. “P1” and “P2” are independently a polymerizable group.


In an optical amplifier evaluating system of this invention, a pulse method using optical modulators and a probe method are combined to obtain a gain G and noise figure NF of an optical fiber amplifier. A first optical modulator turns on and off signal light output from a first light source. An optical multiplexer multiplexes the optical signal turned on and off by the first optical modulator and probe light output from a second light source. This optical signal multiplexed by the optical multiplexer is selectively fed into an optical fiber amplifier. A controller properly switches optical path switches to allow an optical spectrum analyzer to measure (1) the light intensity of an input signal of the probe light to the optical fiber amplifier, (2) the light intensity in a region where signal light extracted from the output signal light from the optical fiber amplifier by a second optical modulator is in an OFF period and the probe light is output, and (3) the light intensity in a region where the signal light extracted by the second optical modulator is in the OFF period and no probe light is output. On the basis of measured light intensities (1), (2), and (3), the controller calculates the gain G and noise figure NF of the optical fiber amplifier. In this manner, the optical amplifier evaluating system of this invention can accurately obtain the gain G and noise figure NF of the optical fiber amplifier.

As is well known, in wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) optical communications used in recent large-capacity long-distance optical transmission systems, level deviations between channels lead to deterioration of signals.
Correspondingly, optical amplifiers used in long-distance transmission such as submarine optical cables must have flat and wide-band gain wavelength characteristics in addition to conventional low noise and high efficiency.
This makes evaluation of the wavelength characteristics of an optical fiber amplifier important.
An optical fiber amplifier is of course a kind of an amplifier. Therefore, it is necessary to measure a gain G indicated by the ratio of a light intensity PIN of an input optical signal to a light intensity POUT of an output optical signal.
As is well known, owing to its light amplification mechanism, an optical fiber amplifier produces spontaneous emission, even when no optical signal is input to its input terminal, and this spontaneous emission is amplified and output to its output terminal.
This amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) acts as noise with respect to an amplified optical signal.
It is, therefore, important to measure the light intensity PASE of this amplified spontaneous emission (ASE).
As an index indicating the noise resistance of an optical fiber amplifier, a noise figure NF indicated by equation (1) below which includes the measured gain G and light intensity PASE is generally employed: EQU NF=f(G, PASE, .nu., .DELTA..nu.) (1)
where
.nu.: the optical frequency of an input optical signal PA1 G: gain PA1 .DELTA..nu.: the measurement frequency resolution width (measurement frequency width) of a light intensity measurement apparatus
Hence, the characteristics of an optical fiber amplifier are evaluated in terms of the gain G and the noise figure NF.
Conventionally, to evaluate the characteristics of an optical fiber amplifier, in an arrangement as shown in FIG. 10, a laser light source 101 and an optical fiber amplifier 5 are connected to an optical spectrum analyzer 103 via an optical path switch 102.
First, the optical path switch 102 is closed to the laser light source 101. The optical spectrum analyzer 103 obtains the light intensity PIN, shown in FIG. 11, with respect to an optical wavelength .lambda. of an input optical signal to the optical fiber amplifier 5.
Next, the optical path switch 102 is closed to the optical fiber amplifier 5. The optical spectrum analyzer 103 obtains the light intensity POUT, shown in FIG. 11, at the optical wavelength .lambda. of an output optical signal from the optical fiber amplifier 5.
Accordingly, the gain G is calculated by EQU G=POUT/PIN (2)
As shown in FIG. 11, however, the light intensity PASE of amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) is buried in the light intensity POUT of the amplified output optical signal. This makes the light intensity PASE of the amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) difficult to directly measure.
As a method of measuring the light intensity PASE of this amplified spontaneous emission (ASE), a level interpolation method, polarization nulling method, and pulse method have been proposed.
(Explanation of Pulse Method)
Of these three methods, the pulse method (e.g., Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication Nos. 6-224492 and 9-18391) uses the fact that the recovery time to the ground state of rare earth element light of metastable erbium doped in the core of an optical fiber of an optical fiber amplifier is relatively long. In this method, an input optical signal to an optical fiber amplifier is turned on and off at periods shorter than this recovery time, the light intensity POUT of an output optical signal is measured during the ON period, and the light intensity PASE of the amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) is measured during the OFF period.
FIG. 12 illustrates an optical fiber amplifier evaluating apparatus of the prior application using this pulse method.
That is, an optical modulation unit 21 shown in FIG. 12 is proposed in an international application (PCT/JP98/02015) filed by this international applicant.
As depicted in FIG. 12, a light source 201a for outputting a wavelength .lambda.1 is connected to an optical attenuator 202a, a light source 201b for outputting a wavelength .lambda.2 is connected to an optical attenuator 202b, . . . , a light source 201n for optically outputting a wavelength .lambda.n is connected to an optical attenuator 202n.
An optical multiplexer 203 multiplexes, as will be described later, light components from these optical attenuators 202a, 202b, . . . , 202n.
The optical signal multiplexed by this optical multiplexer 203 is input to an optical fiber amplifier 5 via the optical modulation unit 21.
The output optical signal from this optical fiber amplifier 5 is again input to an optical spectrum analyzer 207 via the optical modulation unit 21.
(Measurement of Light Intensity PIN)
A controller 208 switches, as indicated by the dotted lines in FIG. 12, a first optical path switch 28 and a second optical path switch 33 in the optical modulation unit 21. The controller 208 also sends a light intensity measurement command to the optical spectrum analyzer 207.
In this state, as shown in FIG. 13, a first optical modulator 23 in the optical modulation unit 21 modulates the light, that is emitted by the light sources 201a, 201b, . . . , 201n and so wavelength-multiplexed as to have a plurality of wavelengths .lambda.1, .lambda.2, .lambda.3, . . . , .lambda.n-1, .lambda.n, . . . by the optical multiplexer 203, into a rectangular optical signal which is turned on and off at a predetermined period T0 (FIG. 2A).
The optical signal modulated by this first optical modulator 23 is fed into the optical spectrum analyzer 207 via the first optical path switch 28 and the second optical path switch 33.
The optical spectrum analyzer 207 analyzes the spectrum of this incoming light and obtains the light intensity PIN (.lambda.=.lambda.1, .lambda.2, .lambda.3, . . . , .lambda.n-1, .lambda.n, . . . ) at each wavelength .lambda..
The optical spectrum analyzer 207 sends the measured light intensity PIN(.lambda.) to the controller 208.
(Measurement of Light Intensity POUT)
As shown in FIG. 12, the controller 208 sets the first optical path switch 28 in the steady state indicated by the solid lines and the second optical path switch 33 in switched state indicated by the dotted lines, and sends a light intensity measurement command to the optical spectrum analyzer 207.
In this state, as shown in FIG. 13, the first optical modulator 23 in the optical modulation unit 21 modulates the light, that is emitted by the light sources 201a, 201b, . . . , 201n and so wavelength-multiplexed as to have the wavelengths .lambda.1, .lambda.2, .lambda.3, . . . , .lambda.n-1, .lambda.n, . . . by the optical multiplexer 203, into a rectangular optical signal which is turned on and off at the predetermined period T0.
The optical signal modulated by this first optical modulator 23 is fed into the optical fiber amplifier 5 as an object to be measured and is optically amplified.
The amplified optical signal output from this optical fiber amplifier 5 is directly fed into the optical spectrum analyzer 207 via the first optical path switch 28 and the second optical path switch 33 in the optical modulation unit 21.
The optical spectrum analyzer 207 analyzes the spectrum of this incident light and obtains the light intensity POUT (.lambda.=.lambda.1, .lambda.2, .lambda.3, . . . , .lambda.n-1, .lambda.n, . . . ) at each wavelength .lambda..
The optical spectrum analyzer 207 sends the measured light intensity POUT(.lambda.) to the controller 208.
(Measurement of Light Intensity PASE)
As shown in FIG. 12, the controller 208 sets the first optical path switch 28 and the second optical path switch 33 in the steady state indicated by the solid lines, and sends a light intensity measurement command to the optical spectrum analyzer 207.
In this state, as shown in FIG. 13, the first optical modulator 23 in the optical modulation unit 21 modulates the light, that is emitted by the light sources 201a, 201b, . . . , 201n and so wavelength-multiplexed as to have the wavelengths .lambda.1, .lambda.2, .lambda.3, . . . , .lambda.n-1, .lambda.n, . . . by the optical multiplexer 203, into a rectangular optical signal which is turned on and off at the predetermined period T0.
The optical signal modulated by this first optical modulator 23 is fed into the optical fiber amplifier 5 as an object to be measured and is optically amplified.
The amplified optical signal output from this optical fiber amplifier 5 is fed into a second optical modulator 35 via the first optical path switch 28 and the second optical path switch 33 in the optical modulation unit 21.
From the amplified optical signal fed into the second optical modulator 35, only a partial period TA (FIG. 2D) of its OFF period is extracted and fed into the optical spectrum analyzer 207 via the second optical path switch 33.
The optical spectrum analyzer 207 regards this incoming optical signal in the partial period TA of the OFF period in the amplified optical signal, as amplified spontaneous emission (ASE), and obtains the light intensity PASE (.lambda.=.lambda.1, .lambda.2, .lambda.3, . . . , .lambda.n-1, .lambda.n, . . . ) at each wavelength .lambda. of this amplified spontaneous emission.
The optical spectrum analyzer 207 sends the measured light intensity PASE(.lambda.) to the controller 208.
(Explanation of Probe Method)
The probe method measures the wavelength characteristics of an optical fiber amplifier in WDM transmission.
That is, this probe method measures the characteristics by using weak light (probe light) having no influence on the inversion distribution state of an optical fiber amplifier fixed by signal light (saturated signal light).
In this probe method, signal light having a single wave to several waves is used to set an optical fiber amplifier in the same state as WDM transmission.
FIG. 14 shows an evaluation method of measuring the wavelength characteristics of an optical fiber amplifier by using this probe method.
That is, as shown in FIG. 14, an optical multiplexer 303 multiplexes output signal light from a light source 301 and probe light emitted by a light source 302 via an optical attenuator 309.
(Measurement of Light Intensity PIN)
By setting optical path switches 304 and 306 in states indicated by the dotted lines in FIG. 14, the input light intensity PIN of the light source 302 with respect to an optical fiber amplifier 5 is obtained.
(Measurement of Light Intensity POUT)
By setting the optical path switches 304 and 306 in states indicated by the solid lines in FIG. 14, the amplified output light intensity POUT of the light source 302, which is output from the optical fiber amplifier 5, is obtained.
As shown in FIGS. 15A and 15B, from the optical spectrum of the amplified output light intensity POUT of the light source 302, PASE is obtained by the level interpolation method.
FIG. 15B is an enlarged view of an output light intensity POUT component enclosed with the circular dotted line in FIG. 15A.
(Combination of Conventional Pulse Method and Probe Method)
FIG. 16 depicts an evaluation apparatus for measuring the wavelength characteristics of an optical fiber amplifier by combining the conventional pulse method and probe method.
That is, as shown in FIG. 16, a light source 401 for outputting signal light and a light source 402 for outputting probe light are connected to optical attenuators 408 and 409, respectively.
An optical multiplexer 403 multiplexes the output signal light (FIG. 17A) from the optical attenuator 408 and the output probe light from the optical attenuator 409.
The output light from this optical attenuator 403 is input to an optical fiber amplifier 5 via an optical path switch 404.
Also, the output optical signal (FIG. 17B) from the optical fiber amplifier 5 is input to an optical spectrum analyzer 407 via an optical path switch 406.
(Measurement of Light Intensity PIN)
The light source 401 generates signal light (FIG. 17A) from an optical pulse modulated by a pulse from a pulse pattern generator 400.
The optical output from the light source 401 is shut off by a shutter of the optical attenuator 408, and the optical path switches 404 and 406 are set in states indicated by the dotted lines in FIG. 16. In this manner, the input light intensity PIN at each wavelength (.lambda.) of the light source 402 with respect to the optical fiber amplifier 5 is obtained.
(Measurement of Light Intensity POUT)
Next, the optical output from the light source 401 is transmitted by opening the shutter of the optical attenuator 408, and the optical path switches 404 and 406 are set in states indicated by the solid lines in FIG. 16. Consequently, the light intensity POUT of probe light in which modulation of the signal light shown in FIG. 17A is amplified at the central sampling point (FIG. 17B) in the OFF period is measured in the half period of the optical pulse in synchronism with the optical spectrum analyzer 407.
(Measurement of Light Intensity PASE)
In addition, by shutting off the optical output from the light source 402 in this state by the shutter of the optical attenuator 409, the light intensity PASE of amplified spontaneous emission, which is amplified at the moment the signal light modulation is turned off, is measured in the half period of the optical pulse in synchronism with the optical spectrum analyzer 407.
Unfortunately, the aforementioned conventional optical amplifier evaluating method and optical amplifier evaluating apparatus still have problems to be solved.
That is, the apparatus as shown in FIG. 12 poses no problem when measuring the wavelength characteristics of an optical amplifier in a predetermined range. To perform measurements in a broad range, however, it is necessary to prepare wavelength-multiplexed signal light throughout measurement wavelengths as shown in FIG. 13 and measure the gain and noise figure at each signal wavelength. This enlarges and complicates the apparatus.
In the apparatus using the conventional probe method as shown in FIG. 14, if the probe light wavelength and the signal light (saturated signal light) wavelength are close to each other, the spectra of these light components overlap each other.
If this is the case, the optical spectrum analyzer cannot measure the probe light component alone, so it is impossible to measure the characteristics in the vicinity of the signal light (saturated signal light) wavelength (1995 IEICE Communication Society Convention B-737 "Method of Measuring Gain of EDFA by Using Probe Light").
Furthermore, the apparatus combining the conventional pulse method and probe method as shown in FIG. 16 obtains a numerical value during a transient phenomenon of amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) a few ten .mu.s after the modulation of the signal light is turned off, as shown in FIG. 17D, rather than a numerical value immediately after the signal light modulation is turned off, as shown in FIG. 17C, owing to a low response speed of an amplifier of the optical spectrum analyzer 407 and a low modulation frequency of the light source (signal light).
In the apparatus combining the conventional pulse method and probe method, therefore, the light intensity of amplified spontaneous emission is measured at several points and extrapolated by linear approximation to a certain time immediately after the modulation of the signal light is turned off. This results in poor measurement accuracy.
That is, the apparatus combining the conventional pulse method and probe method shown in FIG. 16 has poor measurement accuracy for the reason to be explained below.
The optical spectrum analyzer 407 used in the conventional apparatus combining the pulse method and probe method shown in FIG. 16 measures in synchronism with the OFF period of the light source (signal light) 401.
Accordingly, the frequency band of an internal light-receiving amplifier of this optical spectrum analyzer 407 must be widened. This increases noise and deteriorates the measurement accuracy.
Also, during the ON period of the light source (signal light) 401, high power is input to the optical spectrum analyzer 407, so the internal light-receiving amplifier of the optical spectrum analyzer 407 is saturated.
A period Te immediately after the light source (signal light) 401 is turned off shown in FIG. 17C indicates a period in which the internal light-receiving amplifier of the optical spectrum analyzer 401 recovers from this saturated state. No normal measurements can be performed during this period Te (from about a few hundred .mu.s to about a few ms).
In FIG. 17C, reference symbol Tc denotes a period during which the light source (signal light) 401 keeps the same intensity as the ASE intensity in the ON period; and Td, a period during which the ASE intensity changes.
On the other hand, the response time (the time which rare earth element light of metastable erbium doped in the core of an optical fiber of an optical fiber amplifier requires to recover to the ground state) of the amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) of the optical fiber amplifier is also from about a few hundred .mu.s to a few ms.
Accordingly, during the period in which the internal light-receiving amplifier of the optical spectrum analyzer 401 recovers from the saturated state and becomes capable of measurements, the amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) of the optical fiber amplifier has changed its intensity from that during the ON period of the light source (signal light) 401.
Hence, as shown in FIG. 17D, the changing amplified spontaneous emission intensity is measured at several sampling points, and a true amplified spontaneous emission intensity P1 (the intensity of the amplified spontaneous emission ASE in the ON period of the signal light 401) is analogically measured by approximation. This analogy also deteriorates the measurement accuracy.

Optical amplifier evaluating method and optical amplifier evaluating apparatus


A robot cleaner is provided. The robot cleaner includes a battery, and a processor configured to, in response to the battery being consumed in accordance with a cleaning operation for the cleaning area and a remaining capacity of the battery reaching a predetermined value, control the robot cleaner to charge some of the battery and clean a remaining area using the charged battery.

Generally, a robot is developed for industrial use and widely used in various industrial sites. In recent years, the field in which a robot is used has been expanded, and the robot is used in a medical field, an aerospace field, and even in a general house.
The representative robot which is used in a general house is a robot cleaner. The robot cleaner autonomously drives an inner space of a house and cleans the space by sucking foreign substances such as dust.
Meanwhile, the robot cleaner generally includes a rechargeable battery and goes around an inner space itself by an automatic driving and performs a cleaning operation. As such, the robot cleaner including the rechargeable battery determines the time to charge the battery by checking a voltage level of the battery by measuring the voltage of the battery while performing a cleaning operation by an automatic driving, and if it is determined that the battery is needed to be charged, the cleaning robot returns to a charging station positioned at a specific location in the interior space and charges the battery automatically.
If it is impossible to clean the whole area only with the fully charged battery, the robot cleaner returns to the charging station, charges the battery, and then performs the cleaning operation again. Here, the robot cleaner normally charges the battery 100%, that is, the battery is fully charged.
However, there is a problem that if the battery is fully charged and then the cleaning operation for a remaining area is performed, the completion time of the cleaning becomes overly longer because the completion time of the cleaning, from the beginning to the end of the cleaning, includes the time to fully charge the battery.

Robot cleaner and method for controlling thereof


A measuring device for sensing different gases and gas concentrations, includes an infrared radiation source, a measurement channel, which has an optical path and a gas interaction path, and radiation detectors arranged along the measurement channel. The optical path has a first band-pass interference filter arranged at a first deflection point and a first radiation detector is arranged after the band-pass interference filter. A method that uses the measuring device, includes: measurement radiation is introduced into the measurement channel containing the gas to be measured, the measurement radiation hits the first band-pass interference filter, wherein only radiation of a wavelength defined by the first band-pass interference filter hits the first radiation detector, radiation reflected at the band-pass interference filter is forwarded along the optical path in the measurement channel to a second radiation detector, and the gas concentrations measured by the radiation detectors are evaluated.

The invention relates to a measuring device for sensing different gases and gas concentrations, which comprises a radiation source, a measuring channel having an optical path and a gas interaction path, and radiation detectors arranged along the measuring channel.
The invention also relates to a method for measuring gases and gas concentrations which uses the measuring device according to the invention.
There are two basic types of gas sensors: interacting and non-interacting gas sensors. In the first, a gas has to physically or chemically interact with a sensor element. In this case, the gas comes into contact with one or more components, for example, electrodes, electrolytes, or sensor surfaces of the gas sensor via, for example, oxidation, reduction, or physical adsorption. These interactions necessarily result in a change of the gas sensor, i.e., a change of sensor parameters in dependence on the interacting components of the sensor, for example, a change of the electrolytes interacting with the gas, whereby a regular calibration and finally the replacement of the gas sensor become necessary. The most frequently used interacting gas sensors are, for example, electrochemical sensors, solid-state sensors, and catalytic sensors.
Noninteracting gas sensors, also referred to as interaction-free, are optical gas sensors. For this purpose, only electromagnetic radiation comes into contact with the gas or interacts therewith, wherein a part of the radiation is absorbed by the gas molecules and the gas molecules thereupon change the excitation state thereof. However, the excited gas molecules return into the base state thereof due to collisions with other gas molecules or the sample chamber, and therefore the state of the gas does not change physically or chemically. The wavelength λ of the electromagnetic radiation extends in this case from the ultraviolet up into the far infrared spectral range (λ=0.2 μm to 20 μm). In this case, non-dispersive infrared (NDIR) gas sensors are the interaction-free gas sensors used most. In addition to the simple construction, they are distinguished above all by a high measurement resolution, a long service life, and good long-term stability. The method utilizes the excitation of energy states in molecules, i.e., the vibration excitation of molecular bonds, by infrared radiation. At these molecule-specific rotation and vibration frequencies, infrared radiation is absorbed. Because of the individual molecular structure, each molecule has very specific absorption bands in the infrared spectral range, whereby it can be unambiguously identified. In this case, the infrared spectral range λ=(2 . . . 20) μm is of technical interest, because the characteristic absorption bands of many compounds are in this spectral range.
The first practically usable NDIR gas sensor was developed in 1938 and is described in patent specification DE 730478. In this construction, the radiation originating from two radiation sources is periodically interrupted by a motor-driven aperture wheel and guided in two pipes separate from one another. The gas or gas mixture to be measured is located in one pipe and a reference gas is located in the other pipe. The radiation then enters two measuring chambers, which contain the gas that is to be detected as a receiver layer. These two measuring chambers are separated from one another gas-tight by a thin membrane. Gas-tight means that no gas is exchanged between the chambers. The membrane forms, with a counter plate arranged in an insulated manner, an electrical capacitor, the capacitance of which can be read off using a measuring instrument. The absorption of the infrared radiation by the gas is therefore detected as a pressure difference by means of a very sensitive microphone. This NDIR gas sensor, which is known as a photoacoustic gas measuring cell, has the significant disadvantages of its structural size and the mechanical susceptibility to vibrations and shocks.
A technology which enabled significantly smaller and more robust NDIR gas measuring devices was finally available with the development of nondispersive, very narrowband optical filters. These so-called interference filters use the effect of interference in order to filter electromagnetic radiation in dependence on the frequency and/or wavelength. In an embodiment as a bandpass filter, a specific wavelength band is transmitted, while shorter and longer wavelengths are reflected or absorbed. The transmission maximum is defined as the center wavelength (CWL) of the bandpass filter. The bandwidth of the filter is specified by the full width at half maximum (FWHM), i.e., the difference between the two argument values for which the function values have dropped to half of the maximum. The transmission spectrum of the bandpass interference filter is finally selected in such a way that it corresponds to a characteristic absorption band of the gas to be measured. The absorption of the infrared radiation by the measured gas is measured in this case using a very sensitive radiation detector, which is arranged behind the bandpass interference filter.
The radiation attenuation caused by the gas as a result of radiation absorption is finally a measure of the gas concentration. The radiation intensity IM of the measurement wavelength changes in this case as a function of the gas concentration c according to the Lambert-Beer law:IM=I0·eα·c·lwherein α denotes the gas-specific absorption coefficient, 1 denotes the absorption path length, and I0 denotes the base intensity of the radiation, i.e., in the absence of the measured gas (c=0).
A simple NDIR gas sensor therefore consists of an infrared radiation source, a measuring chamber (cuvette), in which the gas or gas mixture to be measured is located, and also an infrared detector having a bandpass interference filter, the transmission spectrum of which corresponds to the absorption band of the gas to be measured (FIG. 1). These components are installed along an optical axis. Such a construction is described, for example, in the documents DE 10221708 B4 and DE 10013374 A1. In general a thermal radiator which can be electrically modulated is used, which emits electromagnetic radiation having a continuous spectrum as a result of its temperature, in which all wavelengths of the spectral range of technical interest λ=(2 . . . 20) μm are included. A broad palette having sufficient signal-to-noise ratio and low price is available as the infrared detector, for example, thermopile sensors and pyroelectric detectors.
Modern NDIR gas sensors, as are known, for example, from the documents DE 10 2008 005 572 B4, DE 20 2005 010 475 U1, DE 102 21 708 B4, and DE 296 02 282 U1, are usually operated according to the so-called two-frequency method (FIG. 2). In this case, in addition to the measurement at a measurement wavelength adapted to the measured gas, a measurement is additionally carried out at a second wavelength, the so-called reference wavelength, which lies in a spectral range in which no absorption takes place due to other gases present in the gas mixture or in the surroundings. For this purpose, two infrared detectors arranged in the beam path having different bandpass interference filters are necessary. By means of quotient calculation of the two detector signals, a substantial stability improvement is achieved in this case, whereby, for example, signal changes as a result of intensity drifts of the radiation source or dirt deposits in the measuring chamber can be compensated for. However, the required allocation of the radiation flux emitted by the radiation source onto the two infrared detectors is disadvantageous, whereby the radiation intensity at the infrared detector and thus the detection limit of the gas sensor are reduced. FIG. 2 shows the two-frequency method according to the prior art and the required allocation of the radiation emitted by the radiation source S onto the detectors D1 and D2.
However, only one gas can be measured using the above-mentioned measuring methods and measuring devices suitable for this purpose. In many gas-analytic applications, for example, in the case of an exhaust gas, flue gas, or anesthesia gas measurement, however, it is necessary to sense multiple gases simultaneously and determine the concentrations thereof in the gas mixture.
A so-called multispectral detector for NDIR gas sensors is presented in US 2012/0235038 A1, which has a plurality of detector elements having bandpass interference filters. This enables a simple construction of the gas sensor in accordance with the above-described two-frequency method for a simultaneous measurement of multiple gases. Similar arrangements are also known from the documents DE 34 06 175 A1, DE 41 33 481 A1, and DE 101 40 998 C2. Significant disadvantages of such NDIR gas sensors having multispectral detectors are a constant absorption path or cuvette length for all spectral channels and the distribution of the radiation intensity onto the individual detector elements. Thus, for example, in the case of a four-channel detector, in the ideal case only 25% of the incident radiation intensity is available per detector element for signal generation. In reality, it is usually less than 10%. The detection limit of the gas sensor is therefore greatly reduced in the case of all gases to be measured.
A constant absorption path length for all spectral channels limits, on the one hand, the measurement range and, on the other hand, the detection limit of the gas sensor. This results from the fact that firstly every gas has a gas-specific absorption coefficient, secondly gases are usually present in different concentrations in a gas mixture, and thirdly gases have different toxicities, because of which different limit values apply, which in turn require different measurement resolutions. Thus, for example, the respiratory toxins contained in the flue gas of an oil firing, carbon dioxide (CO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen monoxide (NO), and carbon monoxide (CO), are present in the following concentrations:                (125,000 . . . 140,000) ppm CO2,        (180 . . . 220) ppm SO2,        (80 . . . 150) ppm CO, and        (50 . . . 100) ppm NO.
The maximum workplace concentrations (MAK values) of these flue gas components can be taken from the technical rules for hazardous substances (TRGS 900) and are:                5000 ppm for CO2,        0.5 ppm for SO2,        25 ppm for NO, and        30 ppm for CO.
The radiation attenuation caused by the gas as a result of radiation absorption according to the Lambert-Beer law is thus individual for each gas and therefore an individual absorption path length is reasonable so that an accurate concentration determination can be carried out. Otherwise, a compromise always has to be made with respect to measurement range and measurement resolution.
A gas sensor device for sensing the gas concentrations in a complex gas mixture is proposed in DE 19604167 A1, in which the individual radiation detectors are arranged rotationally-symmetrically about a radiation source, wherein the distance to the radiation source and thus the absorption path length can vary. The allocation of the emitted radiation flux onto a plurality of radiation detectors remains a significant disadvantage of this arrangement, whereby only a very small fraction of the radiation intensity arrives at the detectors and the detection limit of the gas sensor device is greatly reduced. This also applies to the arrangement described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,222,389 A, in which the individual radiation detectors are arranged along the measuring chamber to implement different absorption path lengths. However, a substantial disadvantage therein is also that only a fraction of the measurement radiation is always incident on the detectors, which is moreover dependent on the respective reflection on the measuring chamber wall.
Furthermore, an NDIR gas sensor having only one radiation detector, in which the selection of the measurement wavelength is performed by a filter wheel, is known from KR 1020100052691 A. This filter wheel can be equipped with matching bandpass interference filters in accordance with the gases to be measured, whereby a variety of gases may be identified using a simple construction. However, this can only take place sequentially. A simultaneous sensing of the concentration of different gases in a gas mixture is not possible. Moreover, the absorption path length for every gas is equal and the arrangement may only be miniaturized poorly.
For an improvement of the detection limit of optical gas sensors, it is necessary to focus the highest possible radiation intensities onto the radiation detector. Furthermore, an individual absorption path length is to be provided for every measured gas, so that an optimum determination of the individual gas concentrations in a complex gas mixture can take place and the structural size of the gas sensor can be kept minimal. For many applications, a simultaneous determination of the components in a gas mixture is moreover required.

Measuring device and method for sensing different gases and gas concentrations


To improve the sync code detection reliability while simplifying the sync code position detection process, when a first pattern as a combination of three successive sync codes is compared with a second pattern in which the allocation of sync codes is shifted by one code from the first pattern, two or more sync codes are changed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improvement of a sync frame (synchronous frame) used in an information storage medium such as an optical disc or the like. More particularly, the present invention relates to an information storage medium, an information recording method, an information reproduction method, and an information reproduction apparatus, which are based on an information recording format (sync frame structure) using the improved sync frame. The present invention is compatible to next-generation optical discs (next-generation DVD-ROM standard, next-generation DVD-R standard, next-generation DVD-RAM standard, and the like).
2. Description of the Related Art
On recordable optical discs, preformat information is recorded in advance. When an optical disc apparatus records data on such optical disc, it detects the preformat information, and determines the recording position of data with reference to the detected information.
Normally, a recording track, which is spirally formed on an optical disc, is segmented into address segments each having a predetermined length. Addresses indicating locations are assigned to these segments, and are written as preformat data.
In a CLV optical disc with a constant recording linear density, the address segment lengths are equal to each other. If the number of address segments is too large, a seek time required to seek address information by random access is prolonged. For this reason, a length that can assign 10 to several 10 address segments per round is selected.
As a method of giving the preformat data, the preformat data may be formed as prepits at the head of each segment. However, with this method, that portion cannot be used as a data area. Hence, recent recordable media adopt a method of recording format information by superposing it on a data recording track as a wobble signal which is formed by wobbling grooves.
Upon recording format information as a wobble signal, modulation such as phase inversion, frequency change, or the like is applied. +R adopts such scheme. On the other hand, DVD-R adopts a method of recording format information by discretely forming prepits on lands between neighboring grooves.
As data to be recorded, error correction codes are generated based on original data, and are segmented into smaller sync frames to obtain recording data. For example, in DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), error correction code blocks (ECC blocks) are modulated, and sync codes are appended at given intervals to generate a plurality of sync frames. These plurality of sync frames are used as recording data.
As references related to the present invention, Japanese Patent No. 2,786,810 (reference 1) and Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2002-373472 (reference 2) are known. Reference 1 describes the technical contents related to sync codes used in existing DVD. This reference 1 corresponds to U.S. Pat. No. 5,587,991. Reference 2 describes a method of determining a reproduction position in a sector based on the allocation order of a plurality of (three) sync codes.
The existing DVD standard that adopts sync codes associated with the contents described in reference 1 specifies 32 different sync codes. In order to detect such sync code position by an information reproduction apparatus or information recording/reproduction apparatus, round-robin pattern matching detection is made between reproduction data reproduced from an information storage medium and these 32 different patterns. Since this sync code position detection takes a lot of trouble, a sync code detection circuit is complicated, thus increasing the price of an information reproduction apparatus or information recording/reproduction apparatus.
Also, since a sync code detection algorithm is complicated (due to the presence of 32 different sync codes), the detection reliability is low. In addition, since a code length (the number of bits of a whole sync code) which is to undergo pattern matching is as large as 32 bits, defects on an information storage medium further deteriorate the reliability of sync code position detection.
When the reproduction pattern of a sync code is erroneously detected due to defects or the like on an information storage medium, information immediately after that pattern causes an error, thus posing another problem.
Reference 2 describes a method of determining a reproduction position in a sector based on the allocation order of a plurality of (three) sync codes. However, if one of the plurality of sync code values is erroneously detected upon reproduction due to defects or the like on an information storage medium, the intra-ECC block position of subsequent information is detected while being shifted. Then, the error correction performance of the whole ECC block largely impairs. However, reference 2 does not have any description about measures against detection errors of sync codes.

Sync frame structure, information storage medium, information recording method, information reproduction method, information reproduction apparatus