A vibration/acceleration sensor is provided which includes a basic sensor unit fixed to a casing adapted to be mounted on a body the vibrations of which are to be detected. The sensor unit is surrounded by a resinous material having a low heat transfer coefficient. The sensor unit includes a vibration detecting unit including a piezoelectric bending vibrator, thin plates each formed of, for example, a resinous material having a low heat transfer coefficient, provided respectively on the upper and lower surfaces of the vibration detecting unit, and a signal processing circuit formed on the upper thin plate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vibration/ acceleration sensor for detecting the vibration of a substance and the acceleration caused due to such vibration by utilizing the electromechanical conversion characteristics of a piezoelectric material.
2. Statement of the Related Art
In general, conventional piezoelectric type vibration/acceleration sensors for detecting the elastic vibration of a vibrating body include those of a longitudinally effective type which utilize compression and tension in the thicknesswise direction of a piezoelectric element and those of a shear-effect type which utilize a shear force in the piezoelectric element. However, in the case where the resonance frequency is made to coincide with a specific vibration of a vibrating substance to detect only specified frequency components, or in the case where the vibration components in a specified region of frequencies are detected so as to increase the sensitivity in the region of low frequencies, a laterally effective type vibrator, i.e., a cantilever type vibrator utilizing a bending vibration mode has hitherto been widely employed. In case of the vibration/acceleration sensor having the cantilever type vibrator structure, a difficulty is encountered in satisfying conditions for fixing one end of the vibrator. In order to solve this problem, one conventional technique such as that disclosed in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 59-70923 stabilizes the fixing of one end of the vibrator with the use of a cantilever type bending vibrator constituting a vibration detecting portion which is fabricated by (1) forming a slit in a laminated plate-like member, such as a disc-like piezoelectric element, with the bending vibrator being integral, at one end, with the laminated plate-like piezoelectric element, and by (2) fixing the outer surface of the bending vibrator in place and supporting the same, thus making it possible to stabilize the fixing condition of the vibrator.
The above-described prior art piezoelectric vibration/acceleration sensor detects a mechanical force such as acceleration and, at the same time, generates an electrical charge in accordance with variations in the ambient temperature. This is due to the pyroelectric effect of a piezoelectric material and the electrical charge generation is given by the following formula: EQU dQ/dt=k dT/dt (1)
where Q represents the electrical charge, T the temperature, t the time, and k a proportional constant. Namely, the generation of this electrical charge can not be distinguished from the electrical charge produced due to an acceleration desired to be detected, causing a large error in detecting the degree of acceleration. The acceleration sensor of a structure wherein two sheets of piezoelectric materials are bonded together can theoretically achieve mutual cancellation of their generated charges in both types, that is, (1) a serial type in which the two sheets of piezoelectric material are bonded together so that the directions of the polarizing axes may become opposite to each other and so that the respective opposing surfaces of the two bonded sheets may serve as signal take-out electrodes, and (2) a parallel type in which the respective opposing surfaces of the two upper/lower bonded sheets are connected together to serve as a signal take-out electrode and the bonded surface electrode is also used as a signal take-out electrode. However, in the conventional acceleration sensor, transfer of heat to the piezoelectric material is non-uniform and in addition the electrical charges generated due to the pyroelectric effect fail to cancel each other out under severe temperature conditions so that output signals are generated from an asymmetrical electrode constituted by a bending vibration mode vibrator serving as the signal take-out portion. This makes it impossible to provide an acceleration sensor capable of achieving highly precise detection.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A ground shield is disclosed that includes a ‘cheesed’ metal positioned within a dielectric layer and a metal region positioned within a first metal level over the cheesed metal. The ground shield can have different forms depending on the metal used, and provisions are made to prevent diffusion of copper (Cu) when that is used as the metal in the cheese metal of the ground shield. The ground shield provides a low sheet resistance, very thick metal at a first metal (M1) level for passive RF elements in conjunction with the standard back-end-of-line (BEOL) integration. The invention also includes a method of forming the ground shield.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to semiconductor fabrication, and more particularly, to a ground shield for a semiconductor device and a related method.
2. Related Art
In silicon radio frequency (RF) applications, magnetic fields created by current flowing through RF passive elements (e.g., inductors, capacitors, transmission lines, etc.) creates eddy currents in the underlying conductors and silicon substrate. As a result, the magnetic field dissipates power in the silicon, and degrades the quality factor of the RF passive element. To address this situation, the lossy silicon substrates are often shielded from RF passive elements by a metal ground shield or ground plane, which provides a low resistance return path for the magnetic field-induced electrical current. A ground shield is typically located on top of the silicon substrate and under the RF passive element to block eddy currents from entering the substrate.
Current practice is to use the available first metal (M1) wiring level to provide a ground shield in various complementary metal-oxide semiconductors (CMOS), bipolar CMOS (BiCMOS), silicon germanium (SiGe) BiCMOS, RF-CMOS, etc., technologies. This approach, however, suffers from a number of drawbacks. For example, ideally the ground shield should be as thick as possible to minimize the resistance and block as much of the eddy currents as possible. In contrast, the first metal wiring level is ideally as thin as possible to facilitate tight pitch wiring. For example, a typical 90 nm CMOS generation first metal (M1) wiring pitch and height are approximately 220 nm and approximately 240 nm, respectively; while a passive inductor pitch and height are approximately 2.4 μm and approximately 3 μm, respectively. Accordingly, if the ground shield is made thicker, the aspect ratio of the metal wire is increased, which detrimentally results in higher metal resistances for the ground shield. The ground shield also disadvantageously increases capacitance between conductors and ground. This situation occurs, for example, in aluminum (Al) or copper (Cu) metal systems. For a low loss ground shield, the wire resistance should be very negligible, i.e., the ground shield needs to act as a nearly ideal ground with minimal power loss. For power amplifier technologies, in particular, the return loss on the ground shield can be a substantial limiting factor in efficiency (i.e., wasted power in inductors due to I*I*R*f).
In view of the foregoing, there is a need in the art for an improved ground shield.

International Business Machines Corporation


An embodiment of a method for manufacturing an electronic device realized on a semiconductor substrate and protected against electro static discharge by the provision of supporting means for the electronic device to keep it far from contacts with possible sources of an ESD event during the manufacturing phases. The supporting means are associated with said electronic device in all the manufacturing stages for instance when assembling the device, when picking and placing it in trays a first time, during the burning-in testing phases, when picking and placing it in trays a second time, or when picking and placing it in a scanner. In an embodiment, the supporting means are protective notches associated with the back side of the semiconductor substrate and provided at each edge corner of the semiconductor substrate.

As it is well known, the trend in the semiconductor world is that as electronic devices become smaller and faster, they inevitably become more sensitive to electro static discharge (ESD).
In particular, typically the most ESD sensitive devices are class zero devices, which can resist ESD events of less than 250 Volts (V). After assembly, a class zero device goes through many handling stages and each stage comes with its own threats of ESD event occurrence. For example, if the electric contacts of a charged device touch another material or object that is not ESD safe, at any stage from assembly stage to testing and packing stage, there is a good possibility for the device to be damaged by an ESD event. Likewise, if an uncharged device touches a surface or object which is not sufficiently grounded, an ESD event and resulting damage is probable.
It is also well known that the Ball Grid Array (BGA) is a kind of package which is very prone to ESD events. FIG. 1A shows a BGA package 1 comprising a substrate 2 including a plurality N of electric contacts realized on its surface and comprising copper pads 3a connected to solder balls 3b. As it appears from the top view of the BGA package/shown in FIG. 1B, the solder balls are completely exposed, causing the package to be susceptible to ESD events and physical damage. In fact, a substantial percentage of the final yield loss in BGA is due to physical defects on the balls such as squashed, dented, sheared, and missing balls. As an example, the finishing stage alone results in an average yield loss of 0.25% on otherwise good parts.
In addition, after assembly, the ESD sensitive BGA package goes through many handling stages, and each stage comes with its own threats of ESD event occurrence.
The ESD effect is also present in a Quad Flat No-Lead (QFN) package. As shown in FIG. 2A, a QFN package 11 comprises a substrate 12 having on its back surface a plurality N of electric contacts comprising contact pads 13 without solder balls. So, the contacts are typically less prone than the contacts in a BGA package to physical damage. Nevertheless, the pads of the QFN package are still exposed, and thus the QFN package is typically as susceptible to ESD damage as the BGA package.
Many techniques to reduce the impact of ESD on devices have been implemented. At present, a lot of investment, resources, and time are utilized to avoid the occurrence of such damages. For example it is recommended that new, expensive ESD-safe floor mats be installed everywhere a device will be handled, ionizers should be installed in the environment where the devices are handled, and all personnel in charge of the manufacturing of the device should wear heel straps and wrist straps. Furthermore, trays and all material which could come in contact with the devices, and even material which could not come in contact but could be a short distance away (and thus be capacitively coupled to a device), should be ESD safe and properly grounded.
Nevertheless there are still some problems in implementing such safe measures due to the fact that ESD safe material is very expensive, and requires regularly scheduled checking and maintenance. Some ESD dissipative materials also have a finite lifetime and must be changed periodically.
ESD damage affects production yields, product quality, reliability and profitability, and manufacturing costs. It has been estimated in an article: "The ESD Control Process is a Tool for Managing Quality", Electronic Packaging and Production, April 1990, pp 50-53, which is incorporated by reference, that the actual cost of ESD damage to the electronic industry runs into billions of dollars annually when including the associated costs of repair and rework, shipping, labor, and overhead.
Several solutions are known in the prior art to reduce the ESD events, but they are all based on modifying and monitoring the device's environment during all manufacturing processes. These solutions however, may be relatively complex, unreliable, and unmanageable, and the devices for which these solutions are applied may still be prone to ESD damage.

Electronic device protected against electro static discharge


A hospital bed weighing system includes four carriage assemblies and a frame assembly. Each of the four carriage assemblies includes a wheel support member for receiving and supporting one of the four wheels of a typical hospital bed. Two caster wheels are mounted at opposite ends of each carriage assembly by a load cell. Inputs from the load cells is analyzed and displayed by a weight display unit which may be calibrated to weigh a bed occupant by subtracting out the weight of the supported bed. The four carriage assemblies are positioned relative to each other by an adjustable frame assembly which is designed to not transfer substantial loads between the carriage assemblies. Since the carriage assemblies are supported by caster wheels, a bed supported by the weighing system may be moved about substantially as if it were rolled upon its own wheels.

The prior art teaches hospital beds having integrated load transducer type weighing systems for providing patient weight data. Separate, stand alone hospital bed weighing devices for placement under each supporting wheel have also been proposed for use with hospital beds which lack an integrated weighing system. However, present stand alone bed weighing devices, once in place, prevent movement of the hospital bed. For various reason, there may exist a need, even an urgent need to move a hospital bed. What is needed is a stand alone weighing system which supports a bed and still allows rolling movement of the supported bed.


Protective articles for resisting mechanical loads and associated methods are generally described. The load resistant articles described herein can incorporate one or more features that enhance the ability of the article to absorb an applied force.

Articles designed to resist mechanical loads can be useful in protecting objects from damage imparted by applied forces. Such articles can be useful in a wide variety of systems. For example, helmets and pads (e.g., worn by athletes), armor (e.g., worn by soldiers, police officers, or first responders), and the like can be useful in providing protection to otherwise unprotected parts of the body. Load resistant articles can also be used in product packaging to protect goods from mechanical damage. Load resistant articles also can have a variety of industrial uses. Given the wide range of applications for load resistant articles, improved compositions, structures, and methods are desirable.

Protective articles for resisting mechanical loads and related methods


An image forming apparatus includes plural image forming units of plural colors, each including a print head including plural LED chips aligned in a main scanning direction; a screen angle selecting unit that selects screen angles for the plural colors respectively based on the amounts of skew of the plural image forming units; an image processing unit that performs image processing on input data to be expressed by pixels of the plural colors such that the pixels of the colors have the corresponding screen angles selected by the screen angle selecting unit; a correction amount determining unit that determines a total amount of skew correction based on the amount of skew detected by the skew detection unit, and determines the amounts of skew correction in the sub-scanning direction for predetermined groups of the pixels, based on the total amount of skew correction, for each of the colors.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and a method of adjusting an image and more specifically, to an image forming apparatus and a method of adjusting an image capable of adjusting error caused by a print head.
2. Description of the Related Art
Within an electro-photographic image forming apparatus, a latent image which has an equivalent shape as an original image is formed by irradiating light on a photosensitive body such as a photosensitive drum which is formed in a drum shape, for example. First, the image forming apparatus charges a surface of the photosensitive drum by a charging device, and then irradiates light, which is controlled based on image data, onto the charged photosensitive drum to form an electrostatic latent image on the surface. Subsequently, the image forming apparatus applied toner to the electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum with a development unit to form a visible toner image. Thereafter, the toner image is transferred to a transfer unit in accordance with a rotation of the photosensitive drum to be electrostatically transferred onto a recording paper or on a middle transfer body. The toner image transferred on the recording paper is fixed.
For an exposure apparatus used in such an image forming apparatus, a laser light scanning apparatus such as a Raster Output Scanner (ROS) in which laser light is scanned in a main scanning direction using a laser diode and a polygon mirror has been used.
However, recently, an exposure apparatus including a light emitting diode print head (LPH: LED Print Head) composed of plural LEDs aligned in the main scanning direction has also been adopted in order to miniaturize the size and decrease an electrical power consumption. The LPH includes an LED array in which plural LED chips composed of plural LEDs aligned in a line are further aligned in the main scanning direction. Further, the LPH generally includes a rod lens array composed of plural aligned rod lenses for focusing light emitted from the corresponding LEDs on a photosensitive body.
The image forming apparatus forms an image on the photosensitive body by controlling the LEDs of the LPH based on input image data to emit light toward the photosensitive body and controlling the rod lens array to form the image with the light on the photosensitive body. With this operation, an electrostatic latent image of a single line extending in the main scanning direction is formed on the photosensitive body. Then, the same operation for forming an image of a next single line extending in the main scanning direction on the photosensitive body is performed after the photosensitive body is rotated with respect to the LPH. By repeating this operation, an entire electrostatic latent image is formed on the photosensitive body in a sub-scanning direction.
For the image forming apparatus including such an LPH, if the irradiation light for a single line extending in the main scanning direction emitted, from the LPH is not in a parallel relationship with an axis direction of the photosensitive body, the electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive body includes distortion.
For example, if the irradiation light for a single line extending in the main scanning direction is inclined with respect to the axis direction of the photosensitive body, even when an image of a straight line extending in the main scanning direction is about to be formed, an electrostatic latent image actually formed on the photosensitive body becomes an inclined line with respect to the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction.
Further, if the LED chip of a single line extending in the main scanning direction is not aligned on a straight line with respect to the axis direction of the photosensitive body, even when an image of a straight line extending in the main scanning direction is about to be formed, an electrostatic latent image actually formed on the photosensitive body includes a distortion in the sub-scanning direction.
At such a case, when forming a monochromatic image where only a single LPH is used, the result is just an obtained image including distortion. However, when forming a color image by a color printer using a tandem engine, for example, where plural LPHs are used corresponding to plural colors, an obtained image includes distortions of plural colors such that image quality is seriously reduced.
Further, for the image forming apparatus, gradation of image data is converted to be expressed by pixels using image processing such as dithering, and generally, patterns for the image processing such as dithering patterns are designed and prepared not to reduce image quality. However, if the LED chips for a single line extending in the main scanning direction are not aligned on a straight line with respect to the axis direction of the photosensitive body, the influence of dithering is easily reflected to lower the image quality.
Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for correcting the displacement or skew of plural LED chips. In Patent Document 1, an image forming apparatus capable of performing a skew correction in which the plural LEDs aligned in the main scanning direction are divided into plural groups, and timings for lighting the LEDs are shifted for each of the groups. With this skew correction, degradation of image quality due to a skew in the sub-scanning direction or displacement in attaching the LED chips may be reduced.
However, according to the image forming apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1, there may be error in the skew correction.
FIG. 1 is a view for explaining a method of correcting skew of an LPH and displacement of LED chips in a sub-scanning direction.
The image forming apparatus includes sensors for detecting an amount of skew caused by the LPH. The image forming apparatus, using the LPH, forms alignment marks 200 and 202 on a recording paper 210 (or on a middle transfer body) for detecting the amount of skew caused by the LPH and detects the amount of skew of the LPH in the sub-scanning direction. The amount of skew means a shift amount between timings at which the alignment marks 200 and 202 are detected by the sensors of the image forming apparatus. For the example shown in FIG. 1, the amount of skew is expressed as Δa.
However, some of the LED chips included in the LPH may also be shifted with respect to other LED chips within the LPH. Therefore, it is necessary for the image forming apparatus to correct such displacement of the LED chips as well. For the example shown in FIG. 1, the LED chip "n+2" is shifted by Δb in the forward direction of the sub-scanning direction (shown as "SUB") with respect to other LED chips "n", "n+1" and "n+3". Thus, the image forming apparatus is necessary to correct the skew and the displacement.
However, recently, as image forming apparatuses are becoming able to form high resolution images, the amount of skew Δa or the amount of displacement Δb becomes very small to be smaller than the minimum shifting amount for which the image forming apparatus is capable of correcting. Therefore, for the amount of skew Δa, plural of the LED chips divided into the same block are shifted for an amount corresponding to the minimum shifting amount in the sub-scanning direction. For the amount of displacement Δb, each of the LED chips is also shifted for the amount corresponding to the minimum shifting amount. Thus, by performing both the skew correction and the displacement correction where the amount of skew and the amount of displacement are both added, errors may be added as well. In other words, errors are larger than in the case where only skew correction or only displacement correction is performed.
If the errors are added, the image quality is drastically lowered. For example, by performing image processing such as dithering, due to the regularity of the dithering patterns, relatively large degradation of image quality may occur.

Method of compensating for errors caused by a print head using skew correction


A sandbox architecture that isolates and identifies misbehaving plug-ins (intentional or unintentional) to prevent system interruptions and failure. Based on plug-in errors, the architecture automatically disables and blocks registration of the bad plug-in via a penalty point system. Publishers of bad plug-ins are controlled by disabling the bad plug-ins and registering the publisher in an unsafe list. Isolation can be provided in multiple levels, such as machine isolation, process isolation, secure accounts with limited access rights, and application domain isolation within processes using local security mechanisms. A combination of the multiple levels of isolation achieves a high level of security. Isolation provides separation from other plug-in executions and restriction to system resources such as file system and network IP. Moreover, the architecture is highly scalable, stateless, and low administration architecture for the execution of the plug-ins, which can be scaled by adding/removing additional sandbox servers on-the-fly without prior configuration.

With the existing number of applications currently deployed, software vendors seek ways in which to provide value to customers other than through new product purchases. This can be served by providing a feature that allows custom code to run as part of a normal application operation. The custom code is added in the form of "plug-ins" or auxiliary applications which can be configured to run at specific points in the application operation. In an online environment, it becomes challenging as the code runs on a hosted server, and hence, errors in coding or malicious code can cause damage to the corporate computer systems or corporate networks.


A digital feedforward (FF) amplifier system is disclosed for use in an RF transmission system. The digital FF amplifier uses digital signal processing to generate error correction signals that reduce intermodulation distortion caused by saturation of the main power amplifier. The digital signals in the improved FF amplifier may be buffered, if necessary, thereby eliminating the need for delay lines. A main amplification branch includes a digital combiner for summing input digital signals, digital-to-analog converters, RF modulation circuitry and a main power amplifier. An error correction signal branch includes an error correction signal generator, digital-to-analog converters, and RF modulation circuitry. The RF outputs of the main amplification branch and the error correction signal branch are combined to produce an RF output signal with reduced distortion. Optionally, an amplifier characterization branch may be included comprising RF output feedback circuitry and an amplifier model. The amplifier model updates the error correction generator with time varying characteristic information about the main power amplifier.

In 1996, more than 75 million people worldwide used cellular telephones. Reliable predictions indicate that there will be over 300 million cellular telephone customers by the year 2000. Within the United States, cellular service is offered not only by dedicated cellular service providers, but also by the regional Bell companies, such as U.S. West, Bell Atlantic and Southwestern Bell, and the national long distance companies, such as AT&T and Sprint. The enhanced competition has driven the price of cellular service down to the point where it is affordable to a large segment of the population.
This competition has also led to rapid and sweeping innovations in cellular telephone technology. Analog cellular systems are now competing with digital cellular systems. In order to maximize the number of subscribers that can be serviced in a single cellular system, frequency reuse is maximized by making individual cell sites smaller and using a greater number of cell sites to cover the same geographical area. Accordingly, the increased number of cellular base stations has resulted in increased infrastructure costs. To offset this increased cost, cellular service providers are eager to implement any innovations that may reduce equipment costs, maintenance and repair costs, and operating costs, or that may increase service quality and reliability, as well as the number of subscribers that the cellular system can service.
Much of this innovation has focused on service quality improvements, such as expanded digital PCS services or smaller and lighter cellular phone handsets having a longer battery life, or equipment cost reduction, such as smaller, cheaper, more reliable transceivers for the cellular base stations. However, there has been only limited innovation directed to reducing the operating costs of a cellular system.
Every cellular base station has a transmitter for sending voice and data signals to mobile units (i.e., cell phones, portable computer equipped with cellular modems, and the like) and a receiver for receiving voice and data signals from the mobile units. It is important that the transmitter power amplifier is highly linear, especially for a signal whose envelope changes in time over such a wide range, such as in CDMA or multi-carrier operations. One of the techniques used in the design of highly linear amplifiers is known as the feedforward technique. In the prior art, it is based on two-loop designs. Typically, the first loop isolates the error signal produced by intermodulation distortion in the power amplifier and the second loop subtracts the error signal from the power amplifier output. However, the two-loop designs contain a high number of components and require delay lines in the power amplifier outputs that consume a large amount of power and greatly reduce the efficiency of the transmitter. The need for delay lines is due in part to the fact that the prior art amplifiers are, by and large, analog designs that are unable to buffer signals.
There is therefore a need in the art for improved cellular systems that are less expensive to operate. In particular, there is a need in the art for improved transmitter power amplifiers based on simpler feedforward designs that do not require the use of a delay line in the power amplifier output. There is a further need for feedforward transmitter power amplifiers that are implemented using more reliable digital design techniques, particularly in CDMA systems.

Digital feedforward amplifier for use in an RF transmitter and method of operation


A seat belt retractor has a spool mounted for rotation in the retractor, for retraction or pay-out of seat belt webbing depending upon the rotation direction of the spool. A locking ring is attached to one end of the spool. A locking pawl locks the locking ring against rotation when a crash is sensed. Load limiting is provided by a length of wire and a winding drum attached to one of the spool and the locking ring and a pin fixed to the other of the spool and the locking ring. The wire is coiled around the pin and arranged so that when there is relative movement between the spool and the locking ring, then the wire is pulled around the pin and is wound onto the winding drum.

The present invention relates to a seat belt retractor with load limiting.
A seat belt retractor generally comprises a cylindrical bobbin or spool with a circular cross-section. Seat belt webbing is attached to and wound around the spool. The spool is mounted on a spool shaft to be rotatable in the retractor to wind in webbing under action of a retractor spring and to pay out webbing under the influence of relatively gentle forwardly directed movement of a vehicle occupant, for example normal movement associated with reaching the controls for a radio or a window or to reach a glove compartment or door pocket. In a crash the more extreme momentum of the vehicle occupant activates a crash sensor that locks the spool against rotation and prevents forward motion of the vehicle occupant and collisions with the interior fixtures of the vehicle. However, this sudden locking of the seat belt spool in a crash can sometimes cause injury to the vehicle occupant due to sudden impact of the torso with the belt webbing. In recent years this problem has been recognized and some solutions proposed.
One known solution is to effect load limiting by interposing a plastically or elastically deformable member in the force path. For example, a torsion bar may be incorporated into the spool. A torsion bar is made of steel that twists when high torque is applied to it and can rotate up to seven or eight times before breaking. It is connected to both ends of a split spool. One end of the spool is held against rotation by a locking ring engaged by a load bearing pawl in a crash. The other end of the spool is prevented from rotating by its connection to the locking ring via the torsion bar, but when the crash forces exceed a predetermined level the torsion bar will twist and allow a limited controlled further pay-out of belt webbing. The additional pay-out of belt webbing is generally in proportion to the momentum of the vehicle occupant at the moment of a crash. This pay-out of belt webbing lessens the otherwise severe restraining forces on the vehicle occupant at high vehicle speeds, especially during the initial moments of a crash.
However torsion bars are complex and expensive to make, and are not easily adaptable to different conditions, such as different vehicle characteristics, or different sizes and weights of vehicle occupants. There is a need for a cheaper and less complex load limiting system.
There is provided in accordance with one aspect of the invention a seat belt retractor comprising: a spool mounted for rotation in the retractor; a locking ring attached to one end of the spool; a locking pawl for locking the locking ring against rotation in a crash; and load limiting means for allowing further pay-out of the seat belt webbing under the influence of a vehicle occupant""s forward momentum after the locking ring has locked, wherein the load limiting means comprises a length of wire and a winding drum attached to one of the spool and the locking ring and a pin fixed to the other of the spool and the locking ring, wherein the wire is coiled around the pin and arranged so that when there is relative movement between the spool and the locking ring the wire is pulled around the pin and is wound onto the winding drum.


There is disclosed a pharmaceutical composition comprising racemic aminopterin or pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof. There is further disclosed a method to treat a disorder in a patient comprising administering a therapeutically effective amount of racemic aminopterin or pharmaceutically acceptable salts of racemic aminopterin. More particularly, there is disclosed a method for treating disorders modulated by at least dihydrofolate reductase activity, such as cancers and inflammatory disorders, wherein the method comprises administering to a patient in need thereof a therapeutically effective amount of racemic aminopterin or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof.

An enantiomer is one of two stereoisomers that are not superimposable mirror images of each other, much as one's left and right hands are mirror images but are not superimposable. Enantiomers have essentially identical physical (except for their ability to rotate plane-polarized light by equal amounts but in opposite directions) and chemical (except in a chiral environment) properties. A mixture of equal parts of an optically active isomer and its enantiomer is a racemate, and has a net rotation of plane-polarized light of zero.
Many drug molecules are chiral, and synthetic chemical reactions involved in their production often produce racemates. However, since many biomolecules are chiral, there may be a marked difference in the effects of the two enantiomers in a racemate on living beings, including human beings. Differences in biologic effects, if any, between enantiomers in a racemate or between separate enantiomers and their racemate combination, is extremely difficult to predict a priori, and may include no differences, different pharmacokinetics, and quantitatively or qualitatively different pharmacologic or toxicologic effects.
For example, cases in which both enantiomers in a racemate had similar biologic activity include: both enantiomers of dobutamine which are positive inotropes; both ibuprofen enantiomers which are anti-inflammatory agents; both enantiomers of warfarin and phenprocoumon which are anticoagulants; and the enantiomers of bupivicaine which both produce local anesthesia.
Alternatively, cases in which one enantiomer in a racemate had biologic activity and the other had no activity include: the enantiomers of the quinolones (e.g., 1-propranolol is a (3-blocker and d-propranolol is not) and the β-lactam antibiotics.
In still other examples, cases in which each enantiomer in a racemate had completely different activities include racemic sotalol, where d-sotalol is a type 3 antiarrhythmic agent and 1-sotalol is a β-blocker. In these cases, there are even instances in which toxicity has been linked to the enantiomer not responsible for the desirable activity of the racemate. For example, granulocytopenia is related to the d-isomer of levodopa; vomiting is caused by the d-isomer of levamisole; and myasthenia gravis symptoms were no longer observed when the d-isomer was removed from racemic carnitine.
Due to the potential for the enantiomers in a racemate to have different pharmacological effects on living beings, it is generally desirable to develop a drug manufacturing process that produces substantially only a single enantiomer. A disadvantage of this approach is the higher cost associated with a process that produces substantially a single enantiomer as compared to a process that produces the racemate.
Whereas choosing to develop a drug as a racemate may reduce the post-approval manufacturing costs relative to producing one of its enantiomers in substantially pure form, this is countered in the pre-approval phase by the higher costs associated with the increased regulatory burden of developing the racemate. The increased regulatory burden of the racemate arises from additional testing and development requirements in manufacturing control, pharmacologic and toxicologic assessment, characterization of metabolism and distribution, and clinical evaluation.
"Aminopterin [54-62-6]N-[4-[[(2,4-Diamino-6-pterdinyl)methyl]amino]benzoyl]-L-glutamic acid" (page 83, The Merck Index, 13th Edition, Merck & Co., Inc., Whitehouse Station, N.J. 2001) is described and used in the art as the L enantiomer. According to The Merck Index, aminopterin is prepared "from 2,4,5,6-tetraminopyrimidine sulfate, 2,3-dibromopropionaldehyde and p-aminobenzoylglutamic acid: Seeger et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 69, 2567 (1947); from 6-(bromomethyl)-2,4-diaminopteridine HBr: Piper, Montgomery, J. Heterocycl. Chem. 11, 279 (1974)." Therefore, the use of the term "aminopterin" in the art refers to the L enantiomer.
It would therefore be a significant advantage if a drug could be developed as its racemate, while obviating many of the additional testing and development costs relative to developing it as a single enantiomer. It would be a further advantage if the racemate (i.e., the combination of the enantiomers) had additional favorable biologic properties compared to the enantiomer responsible for the majority of the desired biologic effects. Aminopterin, or N-4-[[2,4-diamino-6-pteridinyl)-methyl]amino]benzoy-1]-L-glutamic acid, is a potent antifolate useful for treating a variety of human and animal diseases. It is optically active, having a single chiral center.

Pharmaceutical composition comprising racemic aminopterin


The present invention relates to a dental implant fixture, and more particularly, to a dental implant fixture which rotates about a central axis thereof, and thus is inserted into a bone tissue constituted by a cortical bone and a spongy bone to form an artificial tooth root, wherein the dental implant fixture includes a first portion, a second portion, and a third portion. The first portion is inserted into the cortical bone and has an outer surface with a first screw thread whereon first vertices and first valleys are alternately arranged. The second portion is disposed beneath the first portion and inserted into the spongy bone, has an outer surface with a second screw thread whereon second vertices and second valleys are alternately arranged. The distance between the adjacent second vertices of the second screw thread is larger than the distance between the adjacent first vertices of the first screw thread. The third portion is disposed beneath the second portion, and has an outer surface with a third screw thread whereon third vertices and third valleys are alternately arranged, and a first cutting part which is hollowed such that the first cutting part is closer to the central axis than the third valleys. The lower outer diameter of the second screw thread is smaller than the upper outer diameter of the second screw thread.

A screw type implant fixture includes a body having a screw thread formed on an outer surface and is used as a fixing unit to fix a dental or orthopedic prosthesis or the like into a bone. A bone tissue into which a fixture is to be inserted consists of cancellous and cortical bones. The cancellous bone refers to a relatively soft bone tissue of a bone, and the cortical bone refers to a relatively thin film, which is harder than the cancellous bone and generally encloses the cancellous bone. A length of the cancellous bone is usually longer than the cortical bone and thus the inserted fixture is implanted into the cancellous bone.
FIG. 1 illustrates an implant fixture 100 according to the conventional art. The implant fixture 100 includes a second portion 120 having a large screw thread 121 including peaks 121a and roots 121b alternating with one another on a central axis of the implant fixture 100, a first portion 110 disposed above the second portion 120 and including a smaller screw thread 111 than the screw thread 121 of the second portion 120, and a third portion 130 disposed below the second portion 120 and including a cave cutting portion 131 on the central axis of the implant fixture 100. A depth of a cave of the cave cutting portion 131 is longer than the bone of the third portion 130 so that the cave cutting portion 131 enables the implant fixture 100 to be easily inserted into a bone tissue at an initial stage. Also, outer diameters D1 of the first portion 110 and the second portion 120 are the same along the central axis.
The implant fixture 100 is inserted into an implant hole formed in a bone tissue of the human body using a drill. When the implant fixture 100 is inserted into the bone tissue, the third portion 130 and the first portion 110 are sequentially implanted into a cancellous bone, and the first portion 110 is implanted into a cortical bone. After the implantation is completed, bone tissues near the implant fixture 100 are grown to integrate with a surface of the implant fixture 100 to thereby fix the implant fixture 100.
However, the implant fixture 100 according to the conventional art has the following drawbacks.
First, the second portion 120 of the implant fixture 100 is not inserted into the bone tissue by sufficiently applying a pressure to the bone tissue, and thus the implant fixture 100 does not have a sufficient initial fixing force when the implantation is completed. Thus, bone absorption may occur near the implant fixture 100. The bone absorption is an atrophy due to a reduction in the amount of a bone tissue near the implanted implant fixture 100, which deteriorates the fixing force of the implant fixture 100, thereby hindering the whole stability of the implant fixture 100 or damaging a prosthesis attached to an upper end of the implant fixture 100.
Second, when a large implant hole is formed before the implant fixture 100 is inserted, osseointegration takes a long time and the initial fixing force is likely deteriorated as well. More specifically, such a large implant hole causes a bone tissue near the implant fixture 100 and the surface thereof to be far away from each other, which increases the amount of the bone tissue to be grown on the surface of the implant fixture 100, thereby increasing the total time for osseointegration.
Third, when an implant hole is not formed using a drill in a desired direction in a straight manner before the implant fixture 100 is implanted, if a thread has a stumpy peak cross section as shown in the conventional art, the implant fixture 100 is implanted in a wrong direction. More specifically, the implant fixture 100 follows a direction of the implant hole and has difficulties in changing a direction thereof to a desired direction or moving a position thereof. When the implant fixture 100 is implanted in a wrong position, it is necessary to remove the implant fixture 100 from the wrong position, form a new implant hole, and insert the implant fixture 100 into the new implant hole.


A process for the treatment or processing and transportation of a natural gas from a gas well to a reception and treatment or processing terminal comprises, in a zone in the producing well, contacting the natural gas and a recycled liquid phase containing water and at least one anti-hydrate additive and/or at least one anti-corrosion additive, both of which being at least partly miscible with water and which vaporize in the pure state or as an azeotrope. The resultant additive-containing gaseous phase is cooled to form an uncondensed and a condensate. The condensate containing substantially all of the additive is separated from the uncondensed gas and is recycled to the contact zone in the producing well.

The present invention relates to a process taking place within and in the environment of a condensate gas or natural gas well for the use and regeneration of additives inhibiting hydrates and/or corrosion for the transportation and treatment or processing of the natural gas from said well to a reception and treatment or processing terminal.
In the case of the production of natural gas in a difficult area, i.e. in the ocean or on land in remote or relatively inaccessible areas, producing companies attempt to transport the gas, which can be produced in different wells and is then collected, to a central processing and conditioning site following a minimum of transformations and/or prior treatment, so as to minimize capital and exploitation costs. This amounts to reducing the operations on the production site to what is strictly necessary to ensure that the transportation of the gas by a gas pipeline to the processing site can take place safely. Thus, certain constituents of the natural gas, namely water and acid gases (CO.sub.2, H.sub.2 S) require special precautions.
As water is present in the deposit, the natural gas is saturated with water at the production temperature. During transportation, the gas normally undergoes a pressure drop, which brings about condensation of part of the water, but in certain circumstances this can also give rise to the formation of hydrate crystals, which are inclusion compounds of hydrocarbon molecules in crystalline structures formed by water molecules and which form at a temperature well above 0.degree. C. However, the formation of hydrates in a gas pipeline can lead to blockages and to production stoppages. To avoid this, it is necessary either to dehydrate the gas prior to its transportation, or inject into the gas a hydrate inhibitor such as methanol or ethylene glycol. In the first case, the gas is generally treated in a washing unit by glycol in order to adjust the water dew point to the value imposed for transportation, the latter taking place under single-phase conditions. In the second case, the inhibitor is introduced into the gas just after the well head and transportation takes place at least partially under two-phase conditions.
Most natural gases contain in varying proportions acid gases, i.e. CO.sub.2 and/or H.sub.2 S, which cannot generally be separated at the production site and must therefore be transported with the gas. However, acid gases give rise to corrosion in the pipelines, particularly in the presence of water. Therefore, as from the well head it is necessary to inject corrosion inhibitors into the gas so as to protect the pipes, because in the long term corrosion can give rise to pipe fractures or significant gas leaks. These corrosion inhibitors are injected in trace amounts, but as they are generally expensive products, they contribute to increasing the gas production costs.
On arriving at the processing site, the gas, which may come from several different wells and is collected in the same gas pipeline, is generally dehydrated in order to obtain a water dew point lower than that required for transportation purposes. This second dehydration stage can be performed in most cases either by an absorption of the water in glycol, or by an adsorption of the water on molecular sieves. Thus, this dehydration process can differ from that used at the production site in order to ensure the water dew point necessary for transportation purposes. This second dehydration stage is indispensable if it is wished to be able to cool the gas to a relatively low temperature, which can e.g. be between -10 and -40.degree. C. with a view to extracting therefrom the natural gas liquids, i.e. hydrocarbons other than methane, which can be supplied in liquid form at ambient temperature. Under these conditions the additives which have been injected for transportation purposes (corrosion and hydrate formation inhibitors) are absorbed during the treatment and are not recycled.
The prior art is illustrated by U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,456,067, 3,348,614, and 4,416,333 and in particular FR-A-2 657 416, which describes a contact zone of a natural gas passing out of a well with anti-hydrate and/or anti-corrosion additives located outside said well. The installation of said contact zone in hostile environments, e.g. in the ocean, still causes technical problems which are difficult to solve.

Process for the treatment and transportation of a natural gas from a gas well


The object of a pulsed laser arrangement and a method for adjusting the pulse length of laser pulses is to change the pulse length over a wide range substantially independent from the laser output power, in particular to counteract a reduction in output and to prevent a negative change in the beam parameters when lengthening the pulse by means of varying the oscillator output. A multistage laser amplifier in which an amplifying medium with a small-signal amplification of more than 10 is provided in every stage (17-22) is arranged downstream of a diode-pumped Q-switched solid state laser oscillator with variable oscillator output for supplying oscillator pulses. The total small-signal amplification brought about by all of the amplifying media is greater than 1000. The pulsed laser arrangement and the method can be used for industrial and medical purposes requiring pulse lengths in the range of several hundred ns to several μs at pulse repetition rates between 10 kHz and 200 kHz.

a) Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the adjustment of pulse length in diode-pumped, Q-switched, solid state laser oscillators with variable oscillator output, particularly fundamental mode lasers with a high output power of more than 10 W.
b) Description of the Related Art
For many industrial or medical applications, it is advantageous to vary the pulse lengths and the pulse energy of a laser so as to be able to control its action in a deliberate manner. Pulse lengths in the range of several hundred ns to several μs at pulse repetition rates between 10 kHz and 200 kHz are particularly relevant. At present, the preferred medical application is in ophthalmology and the preferred industrial application is in laser separation of chips on silicon wafers or GaAs wafers. However, there is also an urgent need in the field of materials processing, e.g., for machining ceramics and diamonds, laser honing and laser drilling, although particularly short pulses below 10 ns are required in this case.
Many existing embodiment forms of continuously pumped acousto-optic, Q-switched, solid state laser oscillators, which primarily comprise lamp-pumped or transverse diode-pumped Nd:YAG rod lasers, typically achieve pulse lengths from 50 ns to 200 ns. The large pulse lengths can be achieved at low pump output and only at a high pulse repetition rate, but the short pulse lengths can be achieved only at a low pulse repetition rate. Pulse lengths greater than 200 ns cannot feasibly be produced in technical respects with these constructions because of the difficulty in achieving the transverse fundamental mode operation and due to a low pulse stability. Further, lasers of this kind can also only operate within a very limited parameter window.
While particularly high average outputs are achieved by end-pumped Nd:YVO4 laser oscillators at repetition rates of 100 kHz, it is also the case here that the pulse length at a given cavity configuration (L, V, R, Pth) can only be varied by changing the pump output Pp and, because of the correlation between pulse length and pulse energy, a drastic reduction in output power results when the pulse length is increased. This relationship is described in R. Iffländer, Solid state Lasers for Materials Processing, Springer Series in Optical Sciences, Springer Verlag, Berlin (2001), according to which the pulse length can be calculated from the parameters of pump output Pp, pump output at the laser threshold Pth, out-coupling coefficient R, loss factor V, and cavity length L by the following formula:
  τ  =            L      c        ·                            P          p                          -                                    ln                                            (                                  V                                                        R                                                  )                                                                [                                                P                  p                                -                                  P                  th                                -                                                      P                    th                                                                          ln                                                              (                                                                        P                          p                                                /                                                  P                          th                                                                    )                                                                                ]                                          .
Further, the change in the intra-cavity output due to the variation in pump beam output generally leads to a change in the thermal lens of the laser crystal, so that the beam parameters of the coupled-out beam also change. This effect is troublesome in many applications and, in particular, an anisotropically acting thermal lens leads to asymmetry in the beam profile.
A change in the repetition rate of the laser is also directly connected to a change in the pulse duration and output power. The pulse duration and the average output decrease at lower repetition rates.
Further, it is known from DE 199 58 566 A1 and DE 199 27 918 A1 to achieve a variation in pulse length in diode-pumped lasers with intra-cavity frequency doubling for medical applications by means of controlling the Q modulation.
It is disadvantageous that additional oscillator losses caused by the disruption of the pulse buildup lead to poor efficiency and that the highly nonlinear dynamics due to the exponential pulse rise result in a complicated solution with respect to control engineering.

Pulse laser arrangement and method for setting pulse length for laser pulses


A system is disclosed to use a first rotary milling head to break or cut the bond of a heat transfer fin base to a boiler tube, thereby removing the heat transfer fins from the boiler tube, and a second rotary milling head to bevel the exposed end of the boiler tube, thereby facilitating the more efficient repair of the boiler tube.

Steam-generating boilers are generally large structures containing numerous boiler tubes, usually made of steel, that are in thermal contact with a burning fuel, such as coal. The burning fuel heats water circulating through the boiler tubes. The heated water, or more usually the resulting steam, is used to drive turbines for generation of electricity or other purposes. In order to facilitate thermal transfer to the water in a boiler tube, heat transfer fins are placed around the boiler tube. They are typically brazed or welded to the boiler tube by high frequency welding. Because of deterioration due to corrosion and the like, boiler tubes may require replacement. Ordinarily repair of a damaged boiler tube involves cutting and removal of the damaged section of the tube and replacement with a new section. The section of boiler tube to be replaced is generally cut out using a power saw or cutting torch. However, heat transfer fins on the boiler tube must first be removed to gain access to the boiler tube. Removal of the heat transfer fins from the boiler tube has, before the present invention, been done with portable power tools such as a grinding tool having a rotary abrasive wheel or with air chisels. These techniques are at best time consuming.
In addition, after removal of the damaged section of boiler tube, it may be necessary to remove heat transfer fins at or near the end of the remaining tube ends and to prepare the tube ends for welding to a new section of boiler tube. Proper preparation of the exposed tube ends requires beveling of the exposed tube ends for a good weld. More specifically, the exposed tube ends should have a frustoconical bevel to facilitate a good weld. It is highly desirable that this be done as quickly as possible.
It is, therefor, an object of the present invention to remove heat transfer fins from boiler tubes, more quickly and efficiently, and at the same time to bevel the exposed tube ends.

System for removing heat transfer fins from, and beveling the ends of, boiler tubes


A light source is disclosed. The light source includes a primary excitation source configured to emit electromagnetic radiation at a first peak wavelength and a band of wavelengths around the first peak wavelength. A secondary emitter conversion element is optically coupled to the primary excitation source and is configured to absorb at least a portion the electromagnetic radiation at the first peak wavelength from the primary excitation source and emit electromagnetic radiation at a second peak wavelength and a band of wavelengths around the second peak wavelength. The second peak wavelength is longer than the first peak wavelength. A non-imaging optical coupler is optically coupled to the secondary emitter conversion element. An optical system includes the light source optically coupled to a transparent rod.

Light emitting devices including light emitting diodes (LEDs) are well known solid devices that generate light having a peak wavelength in a specific region of the light spectrum. LEDs are typically used as illuminators, indicators, and displays. LEDs have been developed to emit light in a relatively narrow band around a peak wavelength. Light having a first peak wavelength ("primary light") can be converted into light having a longer peak wavelength ("secondary light") using a process known as luminescence. The luminescent process involves absorbing the primary light by a photoluminescent phosphor material, which excites the atoms of the phosphor material, and emits the secondary light. The peak wavelength, and the band of wavelengths around the peak wavelength, of the secondary light will depend on the phosphor material.
High flux density solid state light generators are now used in many applications to replace conventional light sources. Some conventional high flux density solid state light generators use light radiation emitted by LED elements in dice form (integrated circuit chips) directly. In many applications, high flux density light generators require very specific peak wavelength emission by the primary light source. Currently, LEDs can only supply peak wavelengths in the spectral bands of 420-460 nm, 520-540 nm, 620-660 nm, and a phosphor converted false white spectrum made from combining blue LEDs with a YAG (Yttrium, Aluminum, and Garnett) phosphor. It has been difficult, however, to maintain a constant correlated color temperature radiation from LED light sources.
Phosphorescent LEDs have a luminescent phosphor coating applied on top of a light emitting surface of the LED die. Generally, however, it is difficult to apply the luminescent phosphor coating uniformly on the die such that the primary light emitted from the LED has the same constant correlated color temperature, e.g., the same warmness, as a function of angle. A varying correlated color temperature is manifested when viewing the LED straight on and then from a wide angle of 80° or 90°. When viewed head on, the light will appear to have one color temperature, but when viewed from a greater angle, 80° or 90° angle from straight on, the light will appear to have another color temperature. Thus, conventional luminescent phosphor (phosphorescent) LEDs cannot produce a constant correlated color temperature radiation.

Light source with secondary emitter conversion element


A power converter converts a DC voltage including a pulsation component into an AC voltage and outputs the AC voltage to a synchronous electrical motor. A control device for controlling the power converter includes a pulsation component detection unit and a control circuit. The pulsation component detection unit detects a pulsation component. The control circuit controls the power converter so that a load angle of the synchronous electrical motor is increased in accordance with increase in an instantaneous value of the pulsation component.

An electrical motor driving device for driving an electrical motor is conventionally proposed. For example, the electrical motor driving device includes a converter, an inverter, and a capacitor. The converter converts an AC voltage into a DC voltage, and outputs the DC voltage between a pair of DC buses. The capacitor is connected between the pair of DC buses. The inverter converts the DC voltage between the pair of DC buses into the AC voltage, and outputs the AC voltage to the electrical motor.
The DC voltage between the pair of DC buses pulsates due to switching of the inverter, for example. That is to say, the DC voltage includes a pulsation component.
Japanese Patent No. 4750553 and Japanese Patent No. 5853360 are cited as techniques associated with the present application.


A non-irritating multi-ply absorbent article made by treating an inner surface with one or more antimicrobial agents and treating the one or more outer surfaces with one or more siloxane compositions, and methods of making and using the same. The antimicrobial agent will remain confined to the inner portion of the absorbent article, thereby preventing irritation to the user, and the siloxane treated ply(s) will provide a pleasing, soothing, non-irritating tactile quality. In one embodiment, the siloxane composition comprises an amine-modified polysiloxane, in which case the product will also entrap any absorbed fluid, holding it in contact with the antimicrobial agent, and preventing it from wetting through the product and contacting the user.

Antimicrobial articles treated with virucides and germicides are known in the art. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,828,912 and 4,897,304, both issued to Hossain et al., pertain to the use of a carboxylic acid/surfactant virucidal composition in absorbent products. U.S. Patent Nos. 4,764,418 and 4,824,689, both issued to Kuenn et al., pertain to the addition of water-soluble humectants to carboxylic acid/surfactant virucides for use in tissue products to reduce irritation potential. U.S. Pat. No. 4,738,847 issued to Rothe et al., pertains to adding a carboxylic acid/surfactant virucide to the center ply of a three ply tissue to prevent transfer of the virucidal composition to the user, and thereby reduce irritation potential.
Products such as those disclosed in the Hossain et al. and Kuenn et al. patents can be highly irritating because the virucidal carboxylic acids come in contact with the skin when the tissue is used. There is also no mechanism for preventing the body secretion or fluid from soaking through the tissue and contacting the user.
Products such as those of Rothe et al. have less potential for irritation because the virucidal composition is confined in the inner ply. However, these tissues tend to be harsh rather than soft because the water added with the virucidal composition degrades the tactile properties of the tissue. There is also no mechanism for preventing the body secretion or fluid from soaking through the tissue and contacting the user.
Irritation caused by virucidal or germicidal treatments to absorbent articles is a persistent problem. There have been attempts to ameliorate this problem by mixing the virucidal or germicidal treatment with lotions or emollients. U.S. Pat. No. 5,720,966 issued to Ostendorf, pertains to a "medicated" lotion absorbent article. The "medication" may be a virucide or disinfectant. U.S. Pat. No. 5,830,487 issued to Klofta et al. pertains to a tissue with a virucidal lotion. The lotion comprises a carboxylic acid/nonionic surfactant virucidal composition. In both the Ostendorf and Klofta, et al. patents, the intent is for the lotion to reside predominantly on the surface of the absorbent article and transfer to the user.
Products such as those disclosed in the Ostendorf and Klofta et al. patents also have a high potential for irritation because the virucidal or germicidal composition is on the surface of the tissue and is intentionally transferred to the user, so the user remains in prolonged contact with the irritant. There is also no mechanism for preventing the body secretion or fluid from soaking through the tissue and contacting the user.
Siloxane treated tissues are also known in the art. U.S. Pat. No. 5,227,242 issued to Walter et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,059,282 issued to Ampulski et al., each pertain to a tissue treated with a siloxane composition resulting in a tissue that is soft, absorbent, and leaves a low amount of residue.
Prior art products such as those of Walter et al. and Ampulski et al. are very soft. However, they do nothing to kill or inactivate any microorganisms that may be present, so the discarded products remain a breeding ground and reservoir of potentially harmful microorganisms that may contribute to the spread of disease.

Antimicrobial absorbent article, and methods of making and using the same


A medical device includes an insertion tube, having a proximal end and a distal end, which is configured for insertion into a body cavity of a subject. An optical assembly is contained in the distal end and configured to form an image of a target region in the body cavity. A working channel passes through the insertion tube and is configured to convey a fluid from the proximal to the distal end. The working channel has a segment adjacent to the distal end that is narrowed so as to cause the fluid to exit the working channel into the target region in a diverging cone.

The present inventive subject matter relates generally to medical instruments, and specifically to endoscopic devices and methods.
Endoscopes commonly contain a working channel, which may be used to introduce specially-designed diagnostic and therapeutic instruments into the area under view inside the body. In some systems, the working channel may be connected to a pump outside the body and used for suction or fluid delivery (irrigation) to the area of the distal tip of the endoscope. For example, a clear fluid, such as saline solution, may be injected through the working channel in order to clean the endoscope viewing window and/or clear debris from the area under view.
PCT International Publication WO 03/053226, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes an endoscope for use in intravascular photographic imaging. In one embodiment, a fluid is injected via an open channel in order to dilute the blood in the vicinity of a target region to be imaged. A control unit controls the amount of injected fluid according to whether the imaging data meets a predetermined threshold of resolution or other measure of quality.
U.S. Patent Application Publication 2001/0004692, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes an endoscopic spraying instrument, which can spray liquid uniformly over all directions. A rotatingly-guiding groove at the leading end of a liquid-supplying tube is rotated about an central axis within a liquid-rotating chamber at the leading end. The liquid is discharged forwardly from an ejection hole formed in the wall of the liquid-rotating chamber. An annular, protruded wall is spaced outwardly from the outer periphery of the ejection hole.

Endoscope with an improved working channel


An aluminum electrolytic chip capacitor having excellent resistance against vibrations is disclosed. The capacitor is free from breakage of soldered portions or lead wires due to the vibrations upon being mounted on a board. The capacitor includes a metal case accommodating a capacitor element and having its open end sealed with a sealing member, and an insulated terminal plate mounted on the case. The case is provided with an annular shrink portion at the sealing of the open end. The terminal plate includes wall portions disposed at positions other than on a line of the lead wire bending direction of the periphery of the terminal plate. The wall portions cover at least the shrink portion. Inner surfaces of the wall portions abut the periphery of the case, thereby holding the case.

The present invention relates to a chip capacitor required to have a large vibration resistance, and particularly to an aluminum electrolytic chip capacitor to be mounted on a board as a surface-mounted capacitor.
FIGS. 16(a) and 16(b) are a front sectional view and a side sectional view of a conventional aluminum electrolytic chip capacitor, respectively. Aluminum electrolytic chip capacitor 21 (hereinafter called capacitor 21) includes a capacitor element 23, an open-bottomed cylindrical metal case 24 in which the element 23 and electrolyte for driving are accommodated, and a sealing member 25 for sealing the open end of case 24. The capacitor element 23 is formed by winding anode foil and cathode foil (not shown) with an anode lead wire 22a and a cathode lead wire 22b connected thereto, respectively, with a separator disposed between them. A shrink portion (reduced-diameter portion) 24a is formed at sealing of the case 24.
An insulated terminal plate 26 is disposed so as to abut the open end side of case 24, and its outer surface (a bottom of the figure) has holes 26a and groove portions 26b. Through the holes 26a, the lead wires 22a and 22b led out of capacitor element 23 pass, and in the groove portions 26b, the lead wires 22a, 22b bent perpendicularly are placed. The bent portions of lead wires 22a, 22b are finished flat. In this manner, the capacitor 21 is mounted on a surface of a board (not shown).
After the conventional capacitor is mounted on the board, when a strong stress of vibration is applied thereto in the Y direction perpendicular to the X direction, i.e., the direction of connecting the lead wires 22a and 22b as shown in FIG. 17, the capacitor 21 vibrates like a pendulum since it is connected to the board only at two portions of the lead wires 22a and 22b. Accordingly, soldered portions of the lead wires 22a and 22b connected to the board are peeled off, which may cause breakage of the lead wires.
Another conventional capacitor includes an insulated terminal plate of housing-like shape surrounding a capacitor body with lead wires connected thereto. In this technology, it is necessary to make the outer diameter of the body substantially identical to the inner diameter of a housing portion of the terminal plate in order to improve the vibration resistance. Therefore, it is difficult to mount the capacitor body in the housing portion.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.9-162077 discloses a support portion that rises and extends from a periphery of an insulated terminal plate, and a projection disposed at the support portion which fits in a shrink groove portion of a capacitor. This document further discloses a capacitor including a support portion split by notches, and a capacitor including a cylindrical support portion made of resin having elasticity unitarily formed with an insulated terminal plate. These capacitors, since their support portions have annular shapes, have their capacitor bodies mounted. Since the support portions are formed only up to the shrink groove portions, these capacitors cannot stand sufficiently against vibrations in consideration of mounting in, for example, automobiles.
As shown in FIG. 18, when being bent along the groove portion 26b disposed in the insulated terminal plate 26, the lead wires 22a and 22b are bent at acute angles only at one portion of each hole 26a. Therefore, the lead wires 22a and 22b, once bent and placed in the groove portions 26b, tend to return to their original positions due to a spring-back effect of the bent portions, and thereby generate a float t. The float t lowers soldering strength when a thin solder is applied.
Further, as shown in FIG. 19, in a capacitor including a dummy terminal 28 disposed on the outer surface (soldering surface or bottom surface) of the insulated terminal plate 27, the above problem is particularly remarkable. In the worst case, the solder does not contact with the dummy terminal 28. This may lead particularly to a serious problem since a thinner solder has been used recently.
In order to solve such problem, the lead wires 22a are 22b are bent with stronger forces, or the groove portions 27a in the insulated terminal plate 27 are formed deeper, thereby coping with the spring-back effect. However, such measure may invite a problem that the lead wires 22a and 22b cannot be soldered since they remain deep in the groove portions 27a.
An aluminum electrolytic chip capacitor is easily mounted, has an excellent vibration resistance, and can be soldered reliably even if a lead wire is positioned deeply in a groove portion formed in an insulated terminal plate.
The capacitor includes a capacitor element including a lead wire for leading to the exterior, a metal case for accommodating the capacitor element, a sealing member to seal an open end of the metal case, and an insulated terminal plate disposed so as to abut the sealing member. The metal case has a shrink portion of annular shape formed at the sealing. The capacitor further includes a wall portion disposed at a position other than on a line in a lead wire bending direction of a periphery of the insulated terminal plate. The wall portion is equal to or higher than the height of the shrink portion, and has its inner surface abut and hold the periphery of the metal case.
The capacitor, upon being mounted on a board, stands strong against vibrations given in all directions including a direction crossing the lead wire bending direction, thereby assuring excellent reliability.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


Systems and methods for handling input/output operations during a space crunch are described herein. An example method includes striping a volume across a plurality of storage nodes, and maintaining a cluster volume table (CVT) storing information regarding distribution of the logical blocks. Additionally, the CVT includes a plurality of entries, where each of the entries includes information identifying a respective owner storage node of a respective logical block. The method also includes receiving a write I/O operation directed to an unallocated logical block owned by a landing storage node, where the landing storage node lacks free storage capacity, and locking the unallocated logical block. The method further includes updating the CVT to identify a storage node having free storage capacity as owner storage node of the unallocated logical block, and unlocking the unallocated logical block, wherein the write I/O operation proceeds at the storage node having free storage capacity.

Scalability is a requirement in many data storage systems. Different types of storage systems provide diverse methods of seamless scalability through capacity expansion. In some storage systems, such as systems utilizing redundant array of inexpensive disk (RAID) controllers, it is often possible to add disk drives (or other types of mass storage devices) to a storage system while the system is in operation. In such a system, the RAID controller re-stripes existing data onto the new disk and makes the capacity of the other disks available for new input/output (I/O) operations. This methodology, known as "vertical capacity expansion," is common. However, this methodology has at least one drawback in that it only scales data storage capacity, without improving other performance factors such as the processing power, main memory, or bandwidth of the system.
In other data storage systems, it is possible to add capacity by "virtualization." In this type of system, multiple storage servers are utilized to field I/O operations independently, but are exposed to the initiator of the I/O operation as a single device, called a "storage cluster." Each storage server in a cluster is called a "storage node" or just a "node." When data storage capacity becomes low, a new server may be added as a new node in the data storage system. In addition to contributing increased storage capacity, the new storage node contributes other computing resources to the system, leading to true scalability. This methodology is known as "horizontal capacity expansion."
In a horizontally federated storage system with multiple storage nodes, a volume resides across various storage nodes. The volume is distributed such that each node owns a particular region of the volume. For example, data is striped across multiple storage nodes in conventional horizontally federated storage systems in much the same way as data is striped across disks in RAID arrays.

Systems and methods for implementing space consolidation and space expansion in a horizontally federated cluster


An apparatus for determining the position of a target object using a two-channel monopulse radar. The radar may include two transmitting antennas and one common receiving antenna disposed in a coplanar arrangement. The transmitting antennas may be positioned on the focal plane of the radar along a focal plane axis that extends through, and that is perpendicular with, a boresight axis of the radar. The transmitting antennas may be spaced apart from one another in a first dimension a distance equal to about one half of one wavelength of the radar's center operating frequency. One of the transmitting antennas may be squinted at an angle of θ1 relative to the boresight axis and the other transmitting antenna may be squinted at an angle of θ2 relative to the boresight axis in a second dimension. The transmitting antennas are not squinted relative to one another in the first dimension.

Over the past several decades, radar systems have been implemented in a broad range of applications for detecting target objects such as vehicles and airplanes. More recently, radar systems have been implemented in automobiles. Automotive radar systems have been developed for helping drivers to park their cars, to follow traffic at a safe distance, and to detect driving obstacles. For example, when an automotive radar system detects an obstacle or slowing traffic in front of the vehicle, the system may issue an audio and/or visual warning to the driver, such as in the form of an audible tone or a visible warning light. The system may also exercise active control over the vehicle, such as by applying the brakes, in order to avoid an accident.
A radar system may detect the range (e.g., distance) to a target object by determining the roundtrip delay period between the transmission of a radar signal and the receipt of the signal returning back to the radar antenna after it bounces off of the target object. This round-trip delay, divided in half and then multiplied by the speed of the signal radiation, gives the distance between the radar antenna and the target object, assuming the transmitting antenna and the receiving antenna of the system are the same antenna or are very close to each other.
In addition to detecting the range to a target object, a radar system may be used to detect the direction of a target object as expressed in terms of the target object's elevation angle, azimuth angle, and range relative to the radar antenna. Such direction detection is commonly achieved using a monopulse radar system having four channels for facilitating either amplitude-comparison monopulse (wherein the beams emitted by the four channels of the radar system are squinted) or phase-comparison monopulse (wherein the beams emitted by the four channels of the radar system are not squinted), or three channels if two channels are compared to a common base channel. By comparing the magnitudes for magnitude-comparison monoplulse or the phases for phase-comparison monopulse of the beams reflected off of a target object, the elevation angle and azimuth angle of the target object may be derived.
Conventional four-channel monopulse radar systems with three-dimensional detection are generally implemented using one of four different configurations. For example, referring to FIG. 1A, a four-channel monopulse radar system configuration is shown that includes a common transmitting channel TX and four receiving channels RX1-4 disposed in a 2×2 arrangement in the x and y directions. Referring to FIG. 1B, a system configuration is shown that includes one common receiving channel RX and four transmission channels TX1-4 disposed in a 2×2 arrangement in the x and y directions. Referring to FIG. 1C, a system configuration is shown that includes two transmitting channels TX1 and TX2 disposed in a side-by-side arrangement in the x direction and two receiving channels RX1 and RX2 disposed in a side-by-side arrangement in the y direction. Referring to FIG. 1D, a system configuration is shown that includes two transmitting channels TX1 and TX2 disposed in a stacked arrangement in the y direction and two receiving channels RX1 and RX2 disposed in a side-by-side arrangement in the x direction.
While four-channel monopulse radar systems are generally effective for determining the elevation and azimuth angles of target objects, the antenna and circuitry requirements of such systems can make them too large and too costly for practical implementation in automobile applications. Moreover, four-channel systems can present long detection times if the channels of a system are operated in series. It would therefore be desirable to provide a monopulse radar system for automobile applications that can be implemented in a compact volume and at a low cost.

Two-channel monopulse radar for three-dimensional detection


An uplock assembly for retaining and releasing landing gear systems, said uplock assembly comprising: a thermal actuator comprising: a chamber configured to contain expansible material therein; a heating mechanism coupled to said chamber for heating said expansible material and causing volumetric expansion thereof; a piston slidably coupled to said chamber and adapted to extend in response to said volumetric expansion; and an uplock release mechanism releasably engaged by said piston when extended such that said engaged uplock release mechanism causes the release of said landing gear.

Aircraft uplock mechanisms are designed to lock the landing gear in a retracted position and assist in carrying the weight of the gear during flight. Conventional uplock mechanisms consist of a spring-loaded catch that locks the gear in place and a hydraulic cylinder to release the locking mechanism to free the gear to be lowered for landing.
Current aircraft systems typically use a multitude of hydraulic subsystems as a source of mechanical energy. Typical state of the art uplocks employ one hydraulic actuator to perform the unlocking function, and often use a manually actuated cable system to perform the unlocking in the case of a hydraulic system failure. Other existing uplocks employ a secondary hydraulic actuator for the alternate release. Disadvantageously, hydraulic actuation system are complex and add unnecessary additional weight for the aircraft to carry.
There has been a trend in the aircraft industry toward electrical actuation systems. An overall reduction in aircraft weight can be observed through the use of electrical systems in preference to hydraulic systems. However, electrical actuation systems are complex to manufacture and not fully reliable.
To meet the challenge of releasing an uplock using electrical energy, two approaches have been investigated. In the first approach, an electromagnetic solenoid can be employed as the principal release actuator. Solenoids typically offer relatively low force per unit of mass, but they are simple and reliable. Solenoid systems can be employed where the weight of the landing gear can be lifted off the uplock hook prior to the solenoid being activated. In the case of a failure in which the landing gear lifting mechanism becomes inoperable, the weight of the gear on the hook would be too much for the solenoid to release. Systems employing solenoids for primary release also have a secondary release mechanism. This release mechanism can be of the manual, cable operated variety, but typically an electromechanical actuator is employed. An electromechanical actuator uses an electric motor coupled to a gearbox to provide a high force/torque actuation system. Electromechanical actuators have a high level of complexity and a number of vexing failure modes.
Accordingly, there is therefore a need for an aircraft landing gear actuation system which allows the release of the uplocks such as to obviate or mitigate at least some of the above presented disadvantages. Additionally, there is a need for an actuator which obviates or mitigates at lease some of the above presented disadvantages of actuators.

Landing gear uplock mechanism employing thermal phase-change actuation


A mounting system, in one embodiment, includes two support ears, each support ear adapted for securing an electronic component to a rack. Each support ear includes a planar portion which includes at least one hole for receiving one or more fasteners for coupling to a side of the electronic component and a portion extending perpendicular to the planar portion having a frontal area. The perpendicular portion includes at least one pin positioned on a side opposite the frontal area for engaging with at least one hole in the rack, the at least one pin extending normal to the perpendicular portion in a direction about parallel to a plane of the planar portion, and a first fastener positioned on the side opposite the frontal area for coupling to the rack, the first fastener extending normal to the perpendicular portion in the direction about parallel to the plane of the planar portion.

The present invention relates to rack mounting systems, and more particularly, to a rack mounting system for electronic equipment installation.
Many types of Information Technology (IT) rack-mounted equipment use a cantilevered style of mounting. In this conventional cantilevered style mount, an electronic component (e.g., router, server, switch, workstation, etc.) is supported by a left and a right mounting ear that are attached to a left and a right rack flange, such as on an Electronics Industry Alliance (EIA) IT equipment rack. In this common mounting configuration, the rear portion of the electronic component hangs freely without support of any kind. This is very different from a more traditional type of mounting where L-shaped brackets or slide rails extend from the front rack rails to the rear rack rails and provide a support shelf for the electronic component. The cantilever mount is often chosen over the L-bracket mount due to cheaper costs, and in many cases, the electronic component's weight does not justify or require the use of additional support in the IT rack.

Self-supporting cantilevered mounting system and methods of installation thereof


A dip-formed article includes a laminate in which a rubber layer is laminated on a fiber base material. The thickness of the rubber layer is 0.2 to 0.8 mm, the rubber constituting the rubber layer penetrates into the fiber base material, the maximum depth to which the rubber has penetrated into the fiber base material is 0.1 to 0.3 mm, and the maximum stress at 50% elongation of the laminate is 20 N or smaller.

Conventionally, protective gloves produced by coating fiber gloves with rubber, resin or the like are used as working gloves in various applications such as factory manufacturing work, light work, construction work, and agricultural work. Such a working glove is required, for example, to have waterproofness, chemical resistance, workability, and the like. Patent Literature 1 discloses a working glove produced by coating a fiber glove with a plurality of layers of coating films and thus having permeation resistance to sulfuric acid.


The present disclosure relates to a method/system for preparing encapsulated exosomes from a biological sample containing exosomes, said method comprising: a) dispersing inorganic oxide particles into a buffer solution comprising a polymer and a biological sample comprising exosomes, b) allowing the polymer to react with the inorganic oxide particles to form capsules, wherein the exosomes are inside the capsules. The present disclosure also relates to a method/system for isolating and purifying encapsulated exosomes, said method comprising: a) preparing an aqueous micellar system comprising at least one surfactant, and at least one salt; b) mixing a biological sample containing encapsulated exosomes with the aqueous micellar system from step a); c) allowing the aqueous micellar system to phase separate, wherein the surfactant partitions substantially into one phase, and the other phase has a lower concentration of surfactant; and d) obtaining the encapsulated exosomes from the capsule-rich phase.

Exosomes are small extracellular vesicles with a size of approximately 30-200 nm in diameter. Exosome is made by a double lipid layer associated with a membrane of proteins. In the past several years, nanoscale vesicles, including exosomes and microvesicles, that originate from cancer cells have been discovered to be circulating in patients' blood. Exosomes are found in abundance in body fluids including blood, saliva, urine, and breast milk (Kosaka et al., Silence 3 (2010) 1-7; Mitchell et al., PNAS 105 (2008) 10513-10518; Palanisamy et al., PLoS One 5 (2010) e8577). The exosomal contents, including nucleic acids and proteins, are found to be representative of the cell of origin. Proteomic and genetic information contained in the exosomes become a useful tool for monitoring and diagnosis of cancer and other diseases.
The most commonly used method for isolating exosomes involves ultracentrifugation steps as disclosed in Thery et al., Curr. Protoc. Cell. Biol., Chapter 3, Unit 3: 22 (2006). The ultracentrifugation steps include the removal of cells and huge debris by centrifugation at 1000 g for 15 minutes, followed by the removal of subcell particles, apoptotic bodies and undesirable organelles by centrifugation at 18,000 g and 4° C. for 30 minutes. After the centrifugation steps, the supernatant needs to be filtered through nylon membranes and to undergo subsequent centrifugation steps to produce pellets of exosomes. However, exosomes have been proven to be difficult to isolate with high purity. The presence of cellular debris and other contaminants may affect the downstream genetic and biochemical analysis of exosomes. This typical approach of concentrating the biological medium using ultracentrifugation before proceeding with exosome isolation is very time-consuming and requires specialized laboratory equipment. Other methods such as affinity chromatography (Taylor & Gercel-Taylor, 2008), size exclusion chromatography (Grant et al, 2011), and chemical-mediated precipitation (Taylor et al, 2011, U.S. Pat. No. 8,901,284) which are known in the art have also been used. However, these existing technologies usually require complicated and time-consuming procedures for isolating extracellular microvesicles and exosomes. In addition, these procedures are limited by the amounts of processing materials.
Despite the evident importance of exosomes, their split and isolation from biological substances while preserving their structural and functional integrity for subsequent studies and uses presents a problem. Conventional methods of isolation and purification of exosomes are difficult to implement, slow and do not guarantee structural and functional conservation of the particles.
Therefore, there remains in the art a need for new methods, compositions, and kits that preserve the structural and functional integrity of exosomes from biological samples during the isolation and purification of exosomes, particularly disease-related and cancer-derived exosomes. The identification of simple and cost-effective methods for handling large volumes of biological materials without the needs for complicated laboratory equipment and ultracentrifugation steps is essential to speeding up the laboratory analysis process. It would be advantageous if the isolation and purification of exosomes can be carried out in an easier and quicker way to speed up the analysis in the laboratory.
The present invention provides that encapsulating the exosomes from biological samples before the isolation and purification can significantly protect the structural and functional integrity of exosomes. Moreover, the present invention provides that the isolation and purification of encapsulated exosomes may be carried out using an aqueous micellar system comprising a composition of at least one surfactant, and at least one salt.

Method of isolating exosomes using encapsulation and aqueous micellar system