In one general aspect, a data collection system for a circuit under test implemented as an integrated circuit or using a programmable logic device is disclosed. It comprises a configurable selection network connected to debug nodes of the circuit. The selection network can be reconfigured after implementation of the circuit to route data from selectable debug nodes in the circuit under test to a controller to allow analysis of the circuit. The data collection system can further comprise a configurable data packer. A method of use of the system associates data from the debug nodes with individual debug nodes of the circuit based on a configuration of the configurable selection network or that of the configurable data packer or both. The method and system of the invention allows for efficient data collection from different sets of debug nodes without having to re-implement the circuit.

Often during the process of developing circuits it is necessary to collect data in order to perform analysis of the circuit and its operation. This is required for a number of reasons including, but not limited to (a) when the circuit does not perform as expected, (b) to determine the performance limits of the circuit, and (c) to enable the optimization of the circuit.
For circuits implemented as integrated circuits, and for those implemented using programmable logic devices, additional circuitry may be added to the original circuit before implementation to collect data, process it and transfer it off the integrated circuit or programmable logic device for analysis. In the present specification the additional circuits are referred to as "instruments" and the process of adding them to an existing circuit is referred to as "instrumentation". In the present specification the circuit before the addition of instruments is referred to as the "original circuit" and the points in the original circuit connected to the instruments are referred to as "debug nodes". In the present specification "implementation" is the process of realizing a circuit from an abstract definition of desired behaviour. Further, software may be used to process, analyze and display the data from these instruments. This software is referred to in the present specification as "debug software".
The primary challenge of this approach to data collection is that the number of debug nodes that require instrumentation in the original circuit may be large. Furthermore, adding additional circuits for instrumentation may affect the cost and reduce the performance of the circuit. Therefore, the size and impact of the circuits used as instruments needs to be minimized. In addition, the physical pins available on the device and their maximum operating frequency limit the bandwidth available to transfer data off the integrated circuit or programmable logic device. Finally, adding or modifying instruments to observe new debug nodes or combinations of debug nodes in the original design is difficult and time consuming for circuits implemented in both integrated circuits and programmable logic devices and furthermore is very expensive in integrated circuits.
To manage these challenges, existing approaches typically either limit the total number of debug nodes that may be instrumented, or require that users decide, in advance, all of the potential combinations of debug nodes that will require observation to fully understand the operation of the original circuit. The result is that existing prior art approaches tend to be time-consuming, inefficient and costly.

In-circuit data collection using configurable selection networks


A football jersey is provided with sleeves and arm openings which provide a tight fit around the arms of a player. Each arm opening extends through both a sleeve and a side portion of the jersey. A portion of the arm opening is defined by a free edge of the sleeve and a portion of the arm opening is defined by a free edge of the side portion of the jersey.

This invention relates to football jerseys, and, more particularly, to a football jersey which is provided with specially tailored sleeves which fit snugly about the arms with any excess material.
Many football players, particularly linemen, want to wear their jerseys as tightly as possible to minimize the opportunity for an opponent to hold onto the jersey. The main portion of the jersey can be worn tightly about the player simply by using a smaller jersey size and by forming a portion of the jersey from elastic or expandable material.
The biggest problem occurs in the sleeve area. The football lineman wears shoulder pads which are substantially bigger than the shoulder pads which are worn by players in other positions. The sleeve area must be big enough to fit over the shoulder pads, but the sleeve should fit tightly around the arm below, the shoulder pad so that excess, loose material is not present.
Many players and equipment managers have gone to the trouble of "custom tailoring" their jerseys by taping excess sleeve material under the arms or by cutting away some of the sleeve material and then stitching or taping the sleeve after the jersey is donned.
The foregoing "custom tailoring" not only requires a considerable period of time before each game, but tailoring the jerseys can cause the jerseys to lose their uniform look. For example, colored stripes or logos are often worn on the sleeves of team jerseys, and the stripes or logos can be stretched, distorted, or obscured by the tailoring.


A strap comprised of a flexible soft material has a raised flexible bar across the palm portion, which aligns a sporting apparatus for proper gripping. The strap is worn around the hand, and a visual alignment indicator can direct the user in proper strap placement before affixing the fastener to secure the strap.

This invention relates to a golf strap worn around a golfer's hand to ensure proper gripping on a golf club. More particularly, the invention relates to a golf strap having an elongated raised flexible bar positioned across the palm portion of the strap and an adjustable fastener disposed on the end portion of the strap, providing adjustable sizing to fit most golfer's hand size. A visual alignment indicator ensures placement of the strap in-line with the golfer's index finger enabling correct positioning of the strap around the golfer's hand. The flexible bar positions the gripping end of a golf club to nest adjacent to the knuckles of the left hand, of a right-handed golfer, in a proper grip, aligning the gripping end of the golf club within the golfer's hand.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A structure and a filter suitable for a paint spray booth, oven, or a combination booth and oven is described and includes outer walls enclosing the structure, only a portion of which provides the structural support for the booth's walls and roof. The interior of the booth has a plurality of filters on the walls and ceilings for supplying air from essentially the walls and ceiling to provide a more uniform air flow so that the painter is less exposed to vaporizing solvents, and when used as an oven, the heating is more uniform. Each of the filters made of a cloth material held in place by filter frames and may be used with either battens fixed to the frames or removable and held in place in pockets provided in the filter cloth.

Heretofore it has been known to make painting structures, such as paint spray booths, ovens or booth/ovens of rectangular or square cross-section or sometimes with a gable in the roof line to accommodate lighting fixtures. Prior art booths of these types can be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 4,220,078 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,222,319. These booths have filtered air emanating from the ceiling of the booth, then flowing into a work space below the ceiling, and thereafter, being drawn out from the bottom of the booth through a downdraft opening in the floor of the booth. While the air flow around the article being worked on, such as for example an automotive vehicle being painted, is excellent, the air flow provided to the workman may not always be ideal when the workman is, say, spraying the lower portion of the vehicle after having sprayed adjacent higher portions. The less than ideal air flow results as the solvents vaporizing off the higher painted portions may be carried to or close to the painter. Additionally, if this type of ceiling air flow is provided in an oven or a spray booth/oven, the temperature of the article may not be uniform as the upper portion of the article is closer to the source of the heat. Hence, the rate of paint solvent vaporization and drying may not be uniform over various portions of the article, and that can cause paint defects.
In another type booth shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,133,255, the filtered air is similarly supplied from the ceiling of the booth, but is withdrawn from the work space beneath the ceiling by exhaust ducts set in the lower ends of the side walls of the booth, instead of through an opening in the center of the booth's floor. This construction is disadvantageous as it pulls the solvent ladden air to the side where the painter may be standing, and particularly when the painter is working down low on the vehicle. Further, if this type painting structure was also a hot air type booth/oven with heated air being supplied from the ceiling, the temperature of the painted article and, consequently, the paint solvent vaporization and paint drying rates would vary depending upon the distance from the ceiling.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,664,061 (FIG. 15) shows an automated spray booth with filtered air emanating from the ceiling and the lower portions of the booth's side walls. However, no air is discharged through the upper portions of the side walls. Thus, there are still some portions (where if a painter were present, the painter's head may spend considerable time), the upper outer portions of the booth, that are not purged as fully as other portions thereof. Further, while there may be air flow throughout the booth and around the article being painted, it is not uniform at all locations. Thus, if this type booth were used as hot air oven or booth/oven for drying paint, the temperature of the article in the oven, the painted surfaces and the rates of vaporization of solvents from the paint and of drying of the paint may not be as uniform as desired.

Structure and filter for paint spray booth


A multi-function hand tool is provided. The multi-function hand tool includes a first member and a second member pivotally connected to the first member such that the hand tool is pivotable between an open orientation and a closed orientation. The first member includes a first cutting element and a second cutting element disposed proximal to the first cutting element. The first cutting element has a first cutting blade and the second cutting element has a second cutting blade and a first at least one groove. The second member extends between a proximal end and a distal end. The distal end of the second member includes a third cutting element corresponding to the second cutting element. The third cutting element has a third cutting blade corresponding to the second cutting blade and at least one second groove corresponding to the first at least one groove.

Blasting caps or detonators are used to induce the detonation of a larger and more powerful explosive, which for safety purposes is designed to detonate only after a certain threshold amount of energy is supplied. Fuses extend from the blasting caps and are designed to carry fire to the blasting caps to initiate ignition. Blasting caps are usually provided with a thin-walled outer metallic shell, into the end of which the fuse or bridge plug with lead wires is inserted. The shell wall is then crimped onto the plug or fuse to seal the shell. It is often difficult in obtaining a good seal in crimping articles of this kind. Pliers-type crimpers can be used to accomplish this task.
Pliers-type crimpers include a single pair of crimping elements, and may include other tool features, such as fuse/cord cutters and a powder punch on one of the handles. Present crimpers are relatively complex and bulky and are not as portable as desired. For safety, it is desirable that a crimper also be non-sparking and non-magnetic. Materials that have the desired properties, such as titanium and beryllium-copper, are relatively expensive, and titanium is difficult to machine. Although aluminum has the desired properties in terms of ease of manufacture and is also non-sparking and non-magnetic, aluminum by itself does not have the desired wear properties. For military use, additional features are required or desirable. Specifically, the crimper should be non-reflective and leave no magnetic signature for reduced detectability in the field.
When dealing with explosives, using multiple separate tools to carry out various functions is inconvenient, and more importantly, increases the danger of setting off a spark that could ignite the explosive being worked on. Therefore, it is desirable to have a tool that includes various functions that are often performed by separate individual tools. This disclosure describes a hand tool that is designed to effectively perform multiple functions that are usually performed with multiple separate tools. The disclosed hand tool, therefore, obviates the risk involved in taking out and putting away multiple tools in the vicinity of high-powered explosives.


A dispenser (20) has a container body (22), a closure valve assembly (24), and a cap. The closure valve assembly has: a seat (100) having an opening (122); a valve element (90); and a plurality of radially inwardly directed petals (106). The valve element is shiftable between: an open position depressed clear of the opening; and a closed position closing the opening. The petals support the valve element with flex spring bias toward the closed position. The cap has: a closed condition depressing the valve element to the valve element's open position; and an open condition disengaged from the valve element.

The invention relates to dispensing of household liquids. More particularly, the invention relates to dosing dispensers for liquids such as laundry detergent and the like.
When dispensing household liquids, it is often desired to be able to dispense a predetermined dose. For example, the dose may represent the desired amount of laundry detergent for a typical load of laundry. A measuring cap with a drain-back spout is the current state of the art in liquid laundry detergent packaging.


Disclosed are a hydrothermally stable porous molecular sieve catalyst and a preparation method thereof. The catalyst consists of a product obtained by the evaporation of water from a raw material mixture comprising a molecular sieve having a framework of Si—OH—Al—, a water-insoluble metal salt and a phosphate compound. The catalyst maintains its physical and chemical stabilities even in an atmosphere of high temperature and humidity. Accordingly, the catalyst shows excellent catalytic activity even when it is used in a severe process environment of high temperature and humidity in heterogeneous catalytic reactions, such as various oxidation/reduction reactions, including catalytic cracking reactions, isomerization reactions, alkylation reactions and esterification reactions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hydrothermally stable porous molecular sieve catalyst and a preparation method thereof, and more particularly to a hydrothermally stable porous molecular sieve catalyst, which, even in an atmosphere of high temperature and humidity, has a relatively stable structure and can maintain its catalytic activity, as well as a preparation method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Porous inorganic materials having a framework of —Si—OH—Al— groups have been widely used in the field of porous molecular sieve catalysts because they have abundant pores, large specific surface area, and many active sites and acid sites.
This porous molecular sieve catalyst is used in, for example, heterogeneous catalytic reactions, such as various oxidation/reduction reactions, including catalytic cracking reactions, isomerization reactions and esterification reactions, particularly heterogeneous catalytic reactions requiring thermal stability under a severe atmosphere of high temperature and humidity. In this case, however, the catalyst has problems in that, when it is placed in a steam atmosphere of more than 500° C., dealumination of its tetrahedral framework will occur, leading to its structural breakdown, and at the same time, the acid sites of the catalyst will be reduced, resulting in a rapid reduction in catalytic activity.
Accordingly, in order to reduce the deactivation of the porous molecular sieve catalyst, which will occur when the catalyst is placed in a severe process atmosphere of high temperature and humidity, methods for modifying a porous solid acid with a phosphate compound and/or a specific metal have been attempted in the prior art.
Regarding these methods, U.S. Pat. No. 4,977,122 discloses a hydrothermally stable catalyst, which comprises: (a) a crystalline zeolite; (b) an inorganic oxide matrix (e.g., silica, alumina, silica-alumina, magnesia, zirconia, titania, boria, chromia, clay, etc.); and (c) phosphorus-containing alumina prepared by contacting alumina with an alkaline earth metal (Be, Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba) salt of phosphoric salt or of phosphorous salt, in which the zeolite is a zeolite USY present in an amount of 1-70 wt %, and the phosphorus-containing alumina is present in an amount of 5-50 wt %, said phosphorus being present in an amount of 0.5-5.0 wt % based on the amount of alumina.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,867,341 discloses a naphtha cracking catalyst obtained by adjusting the distribution of aluminum atoms in zeolite and crystal size of zeolite, as well as a process for cracking naphtha using this catalyst. This catalyst is designed and prepared so that the production of aromatic compounds on the pore surface can be minimized by chemically neutralizing aluminum present outside the pores, whereas ethylene and propylene having small sizes, can be more selectively produced by increasing the concentration of aluminum ions inside the pores to increase the number of acid sites. According to said patent, Al-NMR spectra are presented which indicate that a ferrierite zeolite catalyst obtained by this technology maintains the tetrahedral Al framework intact even when it is placed in an atmosphere of 50% steam at 690° C. for 2 hours. However, it is expected that the hydrothermal stability and structural stability of the catalyst cannot be secured when it is treated with 100% steam at 750° C. for 24 hours.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,835,863 discloses a process for producing light olefins by catalytically cracking naphtha (boiling point: 27-221° C.) using a pelletized catalyst containing 5-75% by weight of ZSM-5 and/or ZSM-11, 25-95% by weight of silica or kaolin and 0.5-10% by weight of phosphorus. However, there is no mention of the specific phosphorus starting material or of the hydrothermal stability of the molded catalyst.
Meanwhile, U.S. Pat. No. 6,211,104 discloses a catalyst for catalytic cracking, which comprises 10-70 wt % of clay, 5-85 wt % of inorganic oxides and 1-50 wt % of zeolite. The zeolite used in the catalyst consists of 0-25 wt % of Y-zeolite or REY-zeolite and 75-100 wt % of pentasil zeolite (SiO2/Al2O3=15-60; selected from ZSM-5, ZSM-8 and ZSM-11 zeolites containing 2-8 wt % of P2O5 and 0.3-3 wt % of Al2O3 or MgO or CaO), in which the starting materials of said aluminum or magnesium or calcium compounds are selected from aqueous solutions of their nitrates, hydrochloride, or sulfates. Particularly, the catalyst is described as showing excellent olefin production even when pretreated in an atmosphere of 100% steam at 800° C. for 4-27 hours. However, in said patent, technology for adjusting/selecting and loading the specific chemical species of P is not disclosed, the added metals are limited to Al, Mg and Ca, and a conventional water-soluble metal salt is used so that the Al, Mg or Ca cations, which are generated during the preparation of the catalyst, can be easily ion-exchanged with the protons of zeolite, resulting in the loss of acidic sites. For this reason, it is believed that it is not easy to prepare the catalyst proposed in said patent under the specified synthesis conditions.
In the prior method of modifying the porous solid acid with a phosphate compound and/or a specific metal as described above, particularly in the case of modifying the porous support with a phosphate ion, the —Si—OH—Al— moiety acting as a Bronsted acid site in zeolite is modified with a phosphate ion ([PO4]3−), as shown in the following formula, so that the ≡P═O group stabilizes unstable Al to minimize dealumination. However, because the phosphate ion is relatively high in acidity, it has the ability to modify non-selectively various acid sites having different acidities in zeolite during a modification reaction using phosphate. Accordingly, in this case, it is not easy to modify acid sites.

Another method can be exemplified by a method of modifying zeolite with rare-earth metals, such as La, and phosphate ions. In this case, because La3+ ions having high oxidation number, or phosphate ions are larger in size than the zeolite pores, the pore surface of zeolite is modified with these ions in general modification procedure during synthesis.
Meanwhile, it is expected that steam existing at high temperature will attack the —Si—OH—Al— moieties present on the surface rather than inside of the zeolite pores so that the dealumination of the —Si—OH—Al— moieties will occur slowly to break their structure. To overcome this problem, if zeolite is loaded with a rare-earth metal, the metal will be placed mainly on the pore surface, and thus, the —Si—OH—Al— moieties can be protected from high-temperature steam, resulting in an improvement in hydrothermal stability.
However, if a conventional water-soluble salt is used as a salt of the metal, large amounts of metal cations, which are generated during the preparation of a catalyst, can be easily ion-exchanged with the protons of zeolite, resulting in the loss of acid sites. Thus, in this case, there is a problem in that the dissolved metal ions are ion-exchanged with the protons of the molecular sieve to reduce the number of acid sites, leading to a reduction in catalytic performance.
Accordingly, there is a continued need for the development of a catalyst which: (1) has a stable structure even in an atmosphere of high temperature and humidity; (2) is modified selectively only at its pore surface while maintaining the fundamental framework structure of the solid acid of the porous molecular sieve; and (3) can maintain its activity over a long period of time even in an atmosphere of high temperature and humidity.

Hydrothermally stable microporous molecular sieve catalyst and preparation method thereof

Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology


Disclosed herein is an energy management decision support system and methods for asset managers of buildings and facilities that can utilize energy usage data captured from meters, such as smart meters, and weather data to provide a systems-based cost reduction and optimization solution for end users. Building system components may be highly inter-dependent and changes to one system element can have substantial effects (positive and negative) upon other system elements. As described in further detail herein, system and method embodiments according to the present disclosure may apply predefined criteria to such building energy usage data to identify energy usage variances, and may graphically present to a user the identified energy usage variances. As a result, facility administrators are provided with more easily interpretable energy usage information. Such information may be applied by the administrators for adjusting operations, upgrading building equipment, or retrofitting building equipment to improve building efficiency.

Energy management is critical for environmentally conscious, cost-effective operation of buildings and facilities where, for example, central heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) and various other facilities' equipment may be used. There are a wide range of building management systems that exist today that can provide facility operations staff with individual equipment control and information on real-time operational status of equipment and short interval energy usage.
However, energy use and equipment information is most frequently provided in such a way that critical information, including systemic operational and cost issues, is not evaluated and presented in a manner easily interpretable by operations staff and management. Consequently, operations staff and management are not able to comprehensively identify issues that reoccur under similar conditions and make appropriate corrective decisions regarding equipment control, maintenance and equipment investments. Given a lack of comprehensive decision support tools, staff are also unable to determine the effects of suboptimal performance on power contracting and regulated utility tariffs. Accordingly, there is a need for improved energy management decision support systems and techniques for operators and management that account for the interdependencies between operations, power contracting/tariff optimization, and capital equipment improvements.

Decision support system for the management of energy use, contracting and capital investments for facilities


The invention is a method of making a novel spherical form of granulated products that can be effectively used in various product forms in drug, fertilizer, foodstuff, feed, agricultural chemical, catalyst, ceramics, powder metallurgy, detergent, plastic, and bio-material fields, for instance, as catalysts, lightweight materials, sound-insulating materials, microcapsules, and lightweight aggregates. To obtain a granulated product which is a spherical solid shell having a spherical space therein, a polymer having high water absorption properties is swollen by the absorption of water therein, and then brought in contact with a powder to form a powder layer all over the surface of the swollen polymer particle. This spherical particle is then dried and fired if necessary.

The present invention relates generally to a method of making a novel granulated product, and more particularly to a method of making a granulated product comprising a spherical shell and having a spherical space within it. More preferably, the present invention relates to a method of making a novel granulated ceramic product, especially a granulated ceramic product comprising a spherical shell and having a spherical (hollow) space within it. In the present disclosure, it is understood that by the term "granulated product" are intended various forms of products inclusive of granules, particles, tablets, pellets, clinkers, spheres, cubes, and beads.
So far, granulated products have applications in a wide range of industrial fields concerning pharmaceutics, fertilizers, foodstuffs, feeds, agriculture, catalysts, coloring materials, ceramics, powder metallurgy, detergents, cosmetics, plastics, and biotechnology.
Such granulated products have been manufactured by various methods such as tumbling granulation, compression granulation, agitation granulation, extrusion granulation, crushing granulation, fluidized bed granulation, melt cooling granulation, spray drying granulation, liquid phase granulation, vacuum freeze granulation, and in-liquid granulation.
With these granulation techniques, however, it is not easy to obtain granulated hollow products; only limited types of hollow products produced by dedicated granulation techniques represented by spray drying granulation are now available.
A primary object of the present invention is to provide a granulated product-making method that enables a hollow product having any desired, easily controllable particle size to be easily produced.

Method for producing granulated material


A motor lorry spring hanger assembly (10) including a pair of generally parallel, co-extensive vertically oriented cheek plates (11). The cheek plates (11) have upper flanges (12, 13) through which bolts pass to secure the assembly to the main frame of the motor lorry. The cheek plates (11) are maintained in a generally parallel spaced relationship by means of a spacer box (16). The lower portions of the cheek plates (11) are provided with apertures (22) through which a spring bolt (21) passes. There is also provided bushing (23) engaging the cheek plates (11) and through which the bolt (21) passes.

The springs which support the carriage of a truck are attached to spring hangers which are suspended from the carriage. Spring hangers of the prior art were steel and included various weldments in their construction. Normally, the prior art spring hangers were welded to the undercarriage of the truck as well. Under the loading conditions imposed, inadequate weldments had a tendency to fail, particularly in critical stress areas. Once damaged, the spring hangers of the prior art were difficult to repair.


A method and apparatus for exiting a low power state based on a prior prediction is disclosed. An integrated circuit (IC) includes a functional unit configured to, during operation, cycle between intervals of an active state and intervals of an idle state. The IC also include a power management unit configured to place the functional unit in a low power state responsive to the functional unit entering the idle state. The power management unit is further configured to preemptively cause the functional unit to exit the low power state at a predetermined time after entering the low power. The predetermined time is based on a prediction of idle state duration made prior to entering the low power state. The prediction may be generated by a prediction unit, based on a history of durations of intervals in which the functional unit was in the idle state.

1. Technical Field
This disclosure relates to integrated circuits, and more particularly, to exiting low power states of integrated circuits.
2. Description of the Related Art
Managing power consumption in integrated circuits (ICs) such as computer system processors and various types of system-on-a-chip (SoC) ICs is increasingly important. This is true not only during times when an IC is actively performing work, but also during times when the IC is idle. In particular, the small feature sizes of transistors in ICs can result in leakage currents and thus power consumption even in functional units that are otherwise not performing any work.
When a functional unit of an IC becomes idle, power management hardware or software may take various actions to reduce power consumption. Reducing clock frequencies or gating clocks may reduce dynamic power consumption. Reducing a supply voltage may provide additional reductions in power consumption. In some cases, a functional unit may be power gated (i.e. may have power removed therefrom) when it is idle. This may be referred to as a deep sleep state.
Entry into a low power or sleep state may be accomplished by performing various actions. Consider for example an SoC having multiple processor cores and a power management unit implemented thereon. Actions performed in placing a processor core into a sleep state may include flushing any caches that will lose power, turning off power from phase locked loops (PLLs), saving system states, and so forth. Upon entry into the low power or sleep state, the processor core may remain there until an external interrupt or other action that causes initiation of a wakeup of the core.


Variable length blade tip molds include standard tip mold sections having a tapered profile and variable length joint mold sections having first ends and second ends with a constant cross section, wherein the variable length blade tip molds can each produce a plurality of tip assemblies of various lengths.

The subject matter disclosed herein relates to wind turbines and, more specifically, to blade tip molds, tip assemblies and methods of manufacturing the same for wind turbine rotor blades.
Wind power can be considered one of the cleanest, most environmentally friendly energy sources presently available, and wind turbines have gained increased attention in this regard. A wind turbine can include a tower, generator, gearbox, nacelle, and one or more rotor blades comprising a composite material. The rotor blades capture kinetic energy from wind using known foil principles and transmit the kinetic energy through rotational energy to turn a shaft coupling the rotor blades to a gearbox, or if a gearbox is not used, directly to the generator. The generator then converts the mechanical energy to electrical energy that may be deployed to a utility grid.
Wind turbines can thus be placed in a variety of locations to effectively help capture the energy of wind power where present. These locations can include both on-shore and off-shore locations and can potentially be located in a wide variety of different topographical and geological positions. However, the specific wind resources available can widely vary by individual locations. Not only may one wind farm experience great winds than another wind farm, but individual wind turbines within a given wind farm may also experience different wind patterns.
To help capture the most amount of energy from a given location, wind turbine rotor blades may be tailor sized based on the expected amount of wind. However, while different sized turbine blades may improve the efficiency of a given wind turbine, creating multiple turbine blades of different lengths can require multiple molds that can similarly be costly and time intensive to produce.
Accordingly, alternative molds, tip assemblies and methods for manufacturing tip assemblies would be welcome in the art.

Variable length blade tip molds, tip assemblies and methods for manufacturing the same


There is provided an improved vial lid fastening device capable of reliably completing lid fastening in a short time. The vial lid fastening device 30 has a lid rotating device 51, a lid placing member 52, 53, a transporting device 55, 56, a first lid body reservoir 115, 116, a vial lid holding and supplying device 57, and a vial discharging device 58. A lid body 3 slides on an inclined flat surface 102 to reach a terminal mechanism part 101, and a stepped section 31 of the lid body 3 engages a stepped section holder 105. The lid body 3 is grasped by chuck claws 35 and is rotated as engaged to the terminal mechanism part 101 of the stepped section holder 105. Then, one of rotation regulating protrusions 28a, 28b of the lid body 3 is allowed to collide with a rotation preventing member 107 of the lid placing member 52. Thus, position determination in a rotation direction is performed with reference to the rotation regulating projections 28a, 28b and such position is maintained fixedly. Thereafter, the lid body 3 is mated with the vial body 2 and then rotated by a chuck.

Vials are containers with a lid for accommodating solid medicines such as tablets, capsulated drugs, etc. In hospitals or drugstores, vials filled with tablets customized according to patients are delivered to such patients or their attendants. Conventionally, the task of filling vials with tablets is manually done by pharmacists. That is, the pharmacist selects one medicine among different types of stocked medicines according to prescription, counts the quantity of the selected medicine and fills a vial with the selected medicine. Then, the pharmacist seals the vial and hands over the same to patients.
However, such task of manually selecting the medicine and filling the vial requires much work and is thus burdensome. In this regard, Patent Document 1 suggests a medicine accommodating and removing device, which automatically performs serial operations from selecting a medicine to filling a vial. Further, Patent Document 2 discloses a device for capping a vial, which is used as a part of the medicine accommodating and removing device.
Patent Document 1: International Laid-Open Patent Application No. WO2005/011563
Patent Document 2: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2006-240738
The device disclosed in Patent Document 2 is configured to be used for a vial with a lid having threads on the outside and inside of the lid. According to the device disclosed in Patent Document 2, the lid is held by the outside thread and is rotated while being pressed against the vial body, thereby fastening the lid to the vial body.
Further, vials including a lock mechanism for preventing children from taking medicines are already known in the art. The device disclosed in Patent Document 2 also discloses an example of such a lock mechanism. The lock mechanism disclosed in Patent Document 2 is configured so that a protrusion that regulates rotation is provided on an inside portion of a lid and a claw of a vial body engages the protrusion. According to the vial disclosed in Patent Document 2, if the lid is rotated and the thread reaches a terminal end, then the protrusion of the lid climbs over the claw to lock the lid.

Vial lid fastening device and medicine accommodating and removing device


An optical fiber cable includes a core that includes optical fibers, a sheath that accommodates the core, and an interposed layer disposed between the core and the sheath. The interposed layer includes sheet materials arranged in a circumferential direction of the optical fiber to cover the core. Each of the sheet materials includes fibers solidified by a matrix.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2013-228647 discloses an optical fiber cable provided with a buffer layer on the outer periphery of a core in which a plurality of optical fibers are bundled in order to reliably protect the internal optical fibers from external force or the like. The buffer layer is wound around the outer periphery of the core of the optical fiber such that the edges of the tape-shaped member are in contact with each other. A holding binder is wound around the outer periphery of the tape-shaped member to fix the tape-shaped member wound in a cylindrical shape.
Incidentally, in such an optical fiber cable, when accessing to the optical fiber inside the buffer layer in the mid-span access operation or the like, an operation of cutting the holding binder, spreading the tape-shaped member, and accessing to the optical fiber is required. Therefore, the operation time of the mid-span access operation may be increased.
As described above, this type of optical fiber cable is required to have a configuration for protecting an optical fiber, and be able to easily access to an optical fiber disposed inside of the optical fiber cable.


Provided is a vehicle operation pedal device comprising: an operation pedal which includes a depressing part provided thereto; a pair of upper support members which are fixed to a dash panel; a pair of lower support members which are fixed to the dash panel and also fixed to the pair of upper support members; an upper center support member which is laid between the pair of upper support members; and a connection hole which supports an operating rod protruding from the dash panel towards a vehicle rear side, such that the operating rod is rotatable with respect to the operation pedal. The upper center support member comprises a sliding receiving part. The pair of upper support members comprise an escape hole.

Conventionally, various techniques have been suggested for a vehicle operation pedal device that prevents a depressing part of an operation pedal from moving rearward at a time of vehicle collision.
For example, a vehicle pedal device disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2017-41102 includes a pedal bracket fixed on a rear surface of a dash panel forming a part of a body shell of a vehicle; a pedal extending in a vehicle width direction and rotatably supported by the pedal bracket around a shaft positioned on a rear side relative to the fixing part to the dash panel of the pedal bracket; a lever bracket fixed to the dash panel and separated from the pedal bracket; a fixing means for fixing the pedal bracket to the lever bracket with a prescribed fixing and holding force and releasing the fixation of the pedal bracket and the lever bracket when the pedal bracket receives a force exceeding the fixing and holding force in a direction where the pedal bracket relatively moves downward with respect to the lever bracket; a rotation lever rotatably supported around a rotation shaft extending in the lever bracket in the vehicle width direction; an instrument panel reinforcement fixed to the body shell and supporting an instrument panel; a lever rotation means fixed to the instrument panel reinforcement and rotates the rotation lever by making contact with the rotation lever from the rear side when the lever bracket moves rearward along with the dash panel; a bracket deformation means fixed to the instrument panel reinforcement and deforms the pedal bracket downward by making contact with the pedal bracket from the rear side when the pedal bracket moves rearward along with the dash panel, wherein the vehicle pedal device further includes a pressing part that can press the fixing means or the pedal bracket downward with the force exceeding the fixing and holding force when the rotation lever is rotated by the lever rotation means.
In this structure, the pedal bracket is fixed to the dash panel by fixing the pedal bracket and the lever bracket fixed to the pedal bracket with the prescribed fixing and holding force with respect to the dash panel. A strength of mounting the pedal bracket to the dash panel can be sufficiently large since the pedal bracket is fixed to the dash panel at two places as described above.
And, there are various directions of components of a force generated in a vehicle due to an actual collision. For example, when not only rearward components but also a lot of lateral components are included, the dash panel is deformed not only in the rearward direction but also in the lateral direction. However, even if the dash panel is deformed in any direction, the pedal bracket and the lever bracket (and the rotation lever) fixed to the dash panel substantially move in the same direction. In other words, a moving direction of the pedal bracket and moving directions of the lever bracket and the rotation lever do not greatly differ from each other when the dash panel is deformed. Accordingly, even when the dash panel is deformed in different directions due to the collision, a twist is prevented from being generated in the fixing part (fixing means) between the pedal bracket and the lever bracket. Therefore, even if the dash panel is deformed in any direction, the pedal bracket can be separated from the lever bracket. In other words, the pedal can be relatively moved to a front side with respect to the dash panel regardless of the deformation direction of the dash panel.


Described is the use of lithium (Li+) for the preparation of a therapeutic composition for the introduction of a polynucleotide into a cell.

The present invention relates to the use of lithium (Li+) for the preparation of a composition for improving transfection or transduction of a polynucleotide into a cell. Such a composition is useful in gene therapy, vaccination, and any therapeutic or prophylactic situation in which a gene-based product is administered to cells in vivo.
Gene therapy has generally been conceived as principally applicable to heritable deficiency diseases (cystic fibrosis, dystrophies, haemophilias, etc.) where permanent cure may be effected by introducing a functional gene. However, a much larger group of diseases, notably acquired diseases (cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis, etc.) might be treatable by transiently engineering host cells to produce beneficial proteins.
Applications are, for example, the treatment of muscular dystrophies or of cystic fibrosis. The genes of Duchenne/Becker muscular dystrophy and cystic fibrosis have been identified and encode polypeptides termed dystrophin and cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR), respectively. Direct expression of these genes within, respectively, the muscle or lung cells of patients should contribute to a significant amelioration of the symptoms by expression of the functional polypeptide in targeted tissues. Moreover, in cystic fibrosis studies have suggested that one would need to achieve expression of the CFTR gene product in only about 5% of lung epithelial cells in order to significantly improve the pulmonary symptoms.
Another application of gene therapy is vaccination. In this regard, the immunogenic product encoded by the polynucleotide introduced in cells of a vertebrate may be expressed and secreted or be presented by said cells in the context of the major histocompatibility antigens, thereby eliciting an immune response against the expressed immunogen. Functional polynucleotides can be introduced into cells by a variety of techniques resulting in either transient expression of the gene of interest, referred to as transient transfection when said polynucleotide consists in plasmid derived polynucleotide, transduction when said polynucleotide consists in a viral derived polynucleotide, or permanent transformation of the host cells resulting from incorporation of the polynucleotide into the host genome.
Successful gene therapy depends on the efficient delivery to and expression of genetic information within the cells of a living organism. Most delivery mechanisms used to date involve viral vectors, especially adeno- and retroviral vectors. Viruses have developed diverse and highly sophisticated mechanisms to achieve this goal including crossing of the cellular membrane, escape from lysosomal degradation, delivery of their genome to the nucleus and, consequently, have been used in many gene delivery applications in vaccination or gene therapy applied to humans.
Besides, non-viral delivery systems have been developed which are based on receptor-mediated mechanisms (Perales et al., Eur. J. Biochem. 226 (1994), 255-266; Wagner et al., Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews 14 (1994), 113-135), on polymer-mediated transfection such as polyamidoamine (Haensler and Szoka, Bioconjugate Chem. 4 (1993), 372-379), dendritic polymer (WO 95/24221), polyethylene imine or polypropylene imine (WO 96/02655), polylysine (U.S. Pat. No. 5,595,897 or FR 2 719 316) or on lipid-mediated transfection (Felgner et al., Nature 337 (1989), 387-388) such as DOTMA (Felgner et al., Proc. NatI. Acad. Sci. USA 84 (1987), 7413-7417), DOGS or Transfectam(trademark) (Behr et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 86 (1989), 6982-6986), DMRIE or DORIE (Felgner et al., Methods 5 (1993), 67-75), DC-CHOL (Gao and Huang, BBRC 179 (1991), 280-285), DOTAPTM (McLachlan et al., Gene Therapy 2 (1995), 674-622) or Lipofectamine(trademark). These systems present potential advantages with respect to large-scale production, safety, targeting of transfectable cells, low immunogenicity and the capacity to deliver large fragments of DNA. Nevertheless their efficiency in vivo is still limited.
Finally, in 1990, Wolff et al. (Science 247 (1990), 1465-1468) have shown that injection of naked RNA or DNA, i.e. without a special delivery system, directly into mouse skeletal muscle results in expression of reporter genes within the muscle cells. This technique for transfecting cells offers the advantage of simplicity and experiments have been conducted that support the usefulness of this system for the delivery to the lung (Tsan et al., Am. J. Physiol. 268 (1995), L1052-L1056; Meyer et al., Gene Therapy 2 (1995), 450-460), brain (Schwartz et al., Gene Therapy 3 (1996), 405-411) joints (Evans and Roddins, Gene therapy for arthritis; In Wolff (ed) Gene therapeutics: Methods and Applications of direct Gene Transfer. Birkhaiser. Boston (1990), 320-343), thyroid (Sikes et al., Human Gen. Ther. 5 (1994), 837-844), skin (Raz et al., Proc. NatI. Acad. Sci. USA 91 (1994), 9519-9523) and liver (Hickman et al., Hum. Gene Ther. 5 (1994), 1477-1483). Nevertheless, Davis et al. (Human Gene Therapy 4 (1993), 151-159 and Human Mol. Genet. 4 (1993), 733-740) observed a large variability of expression of naked DNA injected into skeletal muscle in vivo which would be insufficient for the treatment of primary myopathies, for example. The authors propose solutions in order to obtain an improvement of the efficiency of gene transfer by preinjecting muscles with a relatively large volume of hypertonic sucrose or with toxins, for example cardiotoxin isolated from snake, in order to stimulate regeneration of muscles. Nevertheless, these methods, although promising, would not be applicable for human treatment.
Thus, the available delivery methods are not satisfactory in terms of safety or efficiency for their implementation in in vivo gene therapy.
Therefore, the technical problem underlying the present invention is the provision of improved methods and means for the delivery of nucleic acid molecules, either naked or combined with special delivery facilitating agents such as cationic lipid, polymer, or viral protein, in gene therapy.
This technical problem is solved by the provision of the embodiments as defined in the claims.
Thus, the present invention relates to the use of lithium (Li+) for the preparation of a composition for transferring a polynucleotide into a cell. It was surprisingly found that the specific addition of lithium when transferring a polynucleotide into vertebrate cells, and in particular into vertebrate tissue, leads to a dramatic improvement of the transfer efficiency. Thus, the present invention preferably relates to the use of lithium (Li+) for the preparation of a pharmaceutical composition for an improved transfer of a polynucleotide into a cell.
The term xe2x80x9cpolynucleotidexe2x80x9d within the present invention is intended to designate both naked and non-naked nucleic acid. A xe2x80x9cnucleic acidxe2x80x9d may be a DNA or RNA, single or double stranded, linear or circular, natural or synthetic, modified or not (see U.S. Pat. No. 5,525,711, U.S. Pat. No. 4,711,955 or EP-A 302 175 for modification examples). It may be, inter alia, a genomic DNA, a genomic RNA, a cDNA, an mRNA, an antisense RNA, a ribosomal RNA, a ribozyme, a transfer RNA or DNA encoding such RNAs. The nucleic acid may be in the form of a plasmid or linear nucleic acid which contains at least one expressible sequence that can generate a polypeptide, a ribozyme, an antisense RNA or another molecule of interest upon delivery to a cell. The nucleic acid can also be an oligonucleotide (i.e. a nucleic acid having a short size of less than 100 bp) which is to be delivered to the cell, e.g., for antisense or ribozyme functions. According to the invention, said nucleic acid can be either naked or non-naked. xe2x80x9cNakedxe2x80x9d means that said nucleic acid, irrespective of its nature (DNA or RNA), its size, its form (single/double stranded, circular/linear, . . . ), is defined as being free from association with transfection-facilitating viral particles, liposomal formulations, charged lipids or polymers and precipitating agent (Wolff et al., Science 247 (1990), 1465-1468; EP 465529). On the opposite, xe2x80x9cnon-nakedxe2x80x9d means that said nucleic acid may be associated (i) with viral polypeptides forming what is usually called a virus (adenovirus, retrovirus, poxvirus, etc . . . ) or forming a complex where the nucleic acid while being associated with is not included into a viral element such as viral capsid (see U.S. Pat. No. 5,928,944 and WO 9521259), (ii) with a liposomal formulation, a charged compound (charged lipids or polymers for example ) or with any component which can participate in the transferring uptake of the nucleic acid into the cells (see Ledley, Human Gene Therapy 6 (1995), 1129-1144 for a review). Charged compounds to which the polynucleotide is associated are preferably cationic lipids, especially those disclosed in WO 98/34910 or EP 901463. Preferably, the nucleic acid is in the form of plasmid DNA and the polynucleotide is a naked plasmid DNA. A wide range of plasmids is commercially available and well known by one skilled in the art. These available plasmids are easily modified by the molecular biology techniques (Sambrook et al, 1989, Laboratory Manual, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.). Plasmids derived from pBR322 (Gibco BRL), pUC (Gibco BRL), pBluescript (Stratagene), pREP4, pCEP4 (Invitrogen) and also p Poly (Lathe et al., 1987, Gene 57, 193-201) are illustrative of these modifications.
If the nucleic acid contains the proper genetic information, it will direct the synthesis of relatively large amounts of the encoded polypeptide. When the polynucleotide delivered to the cells contains a nucleic acid encoding an immunizing polypeptide, the use according to the invention can be applied to achieve improved and effective immunity against infectious agents, including intracellular viruses, and also against tumor cells. The genetic informations necessary for expression by a target cell comprise all the elements required for transcription of said DNA into mRNA and for translation of mRNA into polypeptide. Transcriptional promoters suitable for use in various vertebrate systems are widely described in litterature. For example, suitable promoters include viral promoters like RSV, MPSV, SV40, CMV or 7.5 k, vaccinia promoter, inducible promoters, etc. The nucleic acid can also include intron sequences, targeting sequences, transport sequences, sequences involved in replication or integration. Said sequences have been reported in the literature and can be readily obtained by those skilled in the art. The nucleic acid or the polynucleotide can also be modified in order to be stabilized with specific components as spermine.
According to the invention, xe2x80x9cintroduction or transferxe2x80x9d means that the polynucleotide is transferred into the cell and is located, at the end of the process, inside said cell or within or on its membrane. It is also called xe2x80x9ctransfectionxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9ctransductionxe2x80x9d depending of the nature of the polynucleotide; xe2x80x9ctransfectionxe2x80x9d is dedicated to design transfer of polynucleotides which do not comprise viral element such as capsid or viral polypeptide, and xe2x80x9ctransductionxe2x80x9d designate transfer of viruses. Those terminologies are usual in the technical field of the invention.
The term xe2x80x9cimproved transferxe2x80x9d in the scope of the present invention means, in this regard, a more efficient transfer of a polynucleotide by cells when lithium (Li+) is present compared to an introduction performed without lithium. This can be determined by comparing the amount of the polynucleotide taken up without the use of lithium and comparing this amount with the amount taken up by the cells when using lithium under the same experimental conditions. Preferably, the improved transfer can be determined by a higher amount of expression of the polynucleotide transferred into the cells when using lithium (Li+) in comparison to a situation where no lithium (Li+) is used.
The composition prepared according to the use of the present invention can be used for transfection of a polynucleotide into a cell in vivo or ex vivo. In this regard, ex vivo means that the cells into which the polynucleotide is transfected are not located in an organism, but may be transferred into an organism after transfection.
The term xe2x80x9cgene therapy methodxe2x80x9d is preferably understood as a method for the transfer of a polynucleotide into cells in vivo. xe2x80x9cGene therapyxe2x80x9d in particular concerns the case where the gene product is expressed in a target tissue as well as the case where the gene product is excreted, especially into the blood stream.
Lithium (Li+) has been previously described as a first-line approach in the treatment of acute mania and the prophylactic management of manic-depressive illness. It is able to stabilize recurrent depression associated with unipolar disorder, and is efficient in the treatment of refractory major depressive disorder in the presence of an antidepressant (Soares J C; Gershon S, 1998 Neuropsychopharmacology, 19:167182; Lenox R H et al. 1998, J Clin Psychiatry, 59 Suppl 6:37-47)
The term xe2x80x9clithium (Li+)xe2x80x9d as used herein, means the monovalent cation of lithium. Such a product is commercially available associated with one or several biologically acceptable anions, such as, for example, bromide, chloride, fluoride, sulfate, phosphate, nitrate, niobate, petaphosphate, tantalate, manganese oxide, molybdate, oxide, peroxide, silicate, iodide, tetrachloroaluminate, tetrachlorogallate, tetrafluoroborate, etc . . . (see Aldrich catalogue, 1996/1997, for example). According to a preferred embodiment, said lithium (Li+) is associated with chloride (LiCI). In a preferred embodiment the amount of lithium in the compositions prepared according to the use of the present invention ranges between about 0.1 to about 100 mM, preferably from about 0.1 to about 10 mM of lithium, and still preferably is 10 mM. This concentration may also be adapted by those skilled in the art in particular cases where lithium concentration can be affected. For example, when the composition further comprises chelating agent, such as EDTA or EGTA, it would be preferable to improve the lithium concentration in order to compensate for lithium depletion due to chelation. This can occur when the polynucleotide has been previously prepared in a buffer such as TE (Tris-EDTA).
In a preferred embodiment the composition prepared according to the use of the present invention is in a form for administration into a vertebrate tissue. These tissues include those of muscle, skin, brain, lung, liver, spleen, bone marrow, thymus, heart, lymph, bone, cartilage, pancreas, kidney, gall bladder, stomach, intestine, testis, ovary, uterus, rectum, nervous system, eye, gland, connective tissue, blood, tumor etc. Cells where the improved transfer of a foreign polynucleotide would be obtained are those found in each of the listed target tissues (muscular cells, airway cells, hematopofetic cells, etc.). The administration may be made by intradermal, subdermal, intravenous, intramuscular, intranasal, intracerebral, intratracheal, intraarterial, intraperitoneal, intravesical, intrapleural, intracoronary or intratumoral route, by injection with a syringe or other devices. Transdermal administration is also contemplated, as are inhalation or aerosol administration. Site of administration and site of transfer of the polynucleotide can be identical or different. In a preferred embodiment, the therapeutic composition prepared according to the invention is for the transfer into muscle cells, more preferably, by intramuscular injection routes or intravascular route. Referring to the latter, the administration method can be advantageously improved by combining injection in a afferent and/or efferent vessel with increases of permeability of said vessel. In a special embodiment, said increases is obtained by increasing hydrostatic pressure (i.e. by obstructing outflow and/or inflow), osmotic pressure (with hypertonic solution) and/or introducing a biologically-active molecule (e.g. histamine into administered composition) (see WO 98/58542).
In another preferred embodiment, the invention provides the use of lithium for the preparation of a therapeutic composition for improving transfer of a polynucleotide into a cell wherein said therapeutic composition is administered independently from a second administration consisting in administration of a composition containing at least one polynucleotide. According to the present invention, the first administration can be done prior to, concurrently with or subsequent to the second administration, and vice-versa. The therapeutic composition administration and second administration can be performed by different or identical delivery routes (systemic delivery and targeted delivery, or targeted deliveries for example). In a preferred embodiment, each should be done into the same target tissue and most preferably by injection.
In a further preferred embodiment of the use according to the present invention, the composition further comprises at least one polynucleotide. In a particularly preferred embodiment, the polynucleotide which is contained in the composition, contains and is capable of functionally expressing a encoding nucleic acid sequence in said cell.
In general, the concentration of the polynucleotide in the composition is from about 0.01 mM to about 1 M, and in a preferred embodiment is from about 0.1 mM to 10 mM. According to the invention, the polynucleotide can be homologous or heterologous to the target cells into which it is introduced. Advantageously said polynucleotide encodes all or part of a polypeptide, especially a therapeutic or prophylactic polypeptide giving to the composition a therapeutic or prophylactic property. A polypeptide is understood to be any translational product of a polynucleotide regardless of size, and whether glycosylated or not, and includes peptides and proteins. Therapeutic polypeptides include as a primary example those polypeptides that can compensate for defective or deficient proteins in an animal or human organism, or those that act through toxic effects to limit or remove harmful cells from the body. They can also be immunity conferring polypeptides which act as endogenous immunogens to provoke a humoral or cellular response, or both. Examples of polypeptides encoded by the polynucleotide are enzymes, hormones, cytokines, membrane receptors, structural polypeptides, transport polypeptides, adhesines, ligands, transcription factors, traduction factors, replication factors, stabilization factors, antibodies, more especially CFTR, dystrophin, factors Vil or IX, E6 or E7 from HPV, MUC1, BRCA1, interferons, interleukin (IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-7, IL-12, GM-CSF (Granulocyte Macrophage Colony Stimulating Factor), the tk gene from Herpes Simplex type 1 virus (HSV-1), p53 or VEGF. The polynucleotide can also code for an antibody. In this regard, antibody encompasses whole immunoglobulins of any class, chimeric antibodies and hybrid antibodies with dual or multiple antigen or epitope specificities, and fragments, such as F(ab)2, Fabxe2x80x2, Fab including hybrid fragments and anti-idiotypes (U.S. Pat. No. 4,699,880).
In a further preferred embodiment the composition further comprises at least one component selected from the group consisting of chloroquine, protic compounds such as propylene glycol, polyethylene glycol, glycerol, ethanol, 1-methyl L-2-pyrrolidone or derivatives thereof, aprotic compounds such as dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO), diethylsulfoxide, di-n-propylsulfoxide, dimethylsulfone, sulfolane, dimethylformamide, dimethylacetamide, tetramethylurea, acetonitrile or derivatives. Said composition can also comprises at least one component selected from the group consisting of cytokines, especially interleukin-10 (IL-10), and nuclease inhibitors such as, for example, actin G.
In another preferred embodiment the composition prepared according to the use of the invention can be used in a method for the therapeutic treatment of humans or animals. In this particular case, the composition may also comprise a pharmaceutically suitable injectable carrier or diluent (for examples, see Remington""s Pharmaceutical Sciences, 16th ed. 1980, Mack Publishing Co). The carrier or diluent is preferably isotonic, hypotonic or weakly hypertonic and has a relatively low ionic strength, such as provided by a sucrose solution. Furthermore, it may contain any relevant solvents, aqueous or partly aqueous liquid carriers comprising sterile, pyrogen-free water, dispersion media, coatings, and equivalents, or diluents (e.g;, Tris-HCl, acetate, phosphate), emulsifiers, solubilizers or adjuvants. The pH of the pharmaceutical preparation is suitably adjusted and buffered in order to be useful in in vivo applications. It may be prepared either as a liquid solution or as a solid form (e.g.lyophilized) which is suspended in a solution prior to administration.
In another aspect the present invention also relates to a process for transferring a polynucleotide into cells wherein said process comprises contacting said cells with a composition prepared according to the use of the invention before, simultaneously or after contacting them with the polynucleotide. This process may be applied by direct administration of said composition to cells of the animal in vivo. According to the practice of the invention, targeted xe2x80x9ccellsxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cin vivo administration routexe2x80x9d are defined as above described. xe2x80x9cTargeted cellsxe2x80x9d are those where polynucleotide uptake and expression occur ; they are not necessarily located into the injected tissue (site of administration). In a special embodiment, administration is done into vessel and polynucleotide transfection or infection occurs at a proximal or distal site, for example in organ or tissue, such as lung, muscle, liver, kidney; heart, . . . .
Preferably, muscle is used as a site for the delivery and expression of a polynucleotide in a number of therapeutic applications because animals have a proportionately large muscle mass which is conveniently accessed by direct injection through the skin. Accordingly, in a preferred case, the invention concerns a process for introducing a polynucleotide, preferably in naked form, into muscle cells in vivo, comprising the steps of administering in vivo at least a polynucleotide and lithium, preferably intramuscularly, whereby the polynucleotide is directly administered into muscle cells of the tissue or intravascularly, whereby the polynucleotide is administered into efferent and/or afferent muscle vessel. The polynucleotide may encode a therapeutic polypeptide that is expressed by the muscle cells and eventually secreted into the blood stream after the contacting step to provide therapy to the vertebrate. Similarly, it may encode an immunogenic polypeptide that is expressed by the muscle cells after the contacting step and which generates an immune response, thereby immunizing the vertebrate. One important aspect of the invention is a process for the treatment of muscular dystrophy wherein said polynucleotide operatively codes for dystrophin. Preferably, the composition is directly administered into the muscle tissue.
Finally, the present invention relates to the use of lithium (Li+) for improving transfer of a polynucleotide into a cell, either in vitro (or ex vivo, see above) or in vivo.
The invention has been described in an illustrative manner, and it is to be understood that the terminology which has been used is intended to be in the nature of words of description rather than of limitation. Obviously, many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

Use of lithium (Li+) for the preparation of a composition for transfection of a polynucleotide into a cell and compositions useful in gene therapy


A catalyst for the generation of hydrogen from a small organic molecule comprises a tertiary metal composition where: the first metal is either Pt or Ru; the second metal is at least one of Pt, Ru, Au, Pd, Rh, Ir, Os, and/or Re; and Bi, primarily present in the form of an oxide or of a mixture of oxides and carbonates and in the +3 oxidation state. A portion of the first and/or second metal may be in the form of an oxide. The catalyst can be in the form of a nanoparticle and supported on an inert substrate, such as carbon. The catalyst can be used for dehydrogenation of formic acid or other small organic molecules in a liquid state at ambient pressures and at temperatures below the boiling point of the liquid. The liquid can be an aqueous solution of the small organic molecule.

Hydrogen sources for various energy applications, particularly those for "clean" transportation uses, are under development where electric power is impractical as a substitute for those powered by fossil fuels. There is also a strong desire for a portable power source that can perform better than conventional batteries in current consumer devices. Fuel cells are a potential alternative portable power sources that have generated considerable interest because they can: deliver a relatively high energy density; be rapidly refueled; and be used in an "environmental friendly" manner.
Hydrogen generation is commonly carried out by the water-gas-shift (WGS) reaction where carbon monoxide and water are reacted as in Equation 1.CO+H2O→H2+CO2  (1)The WGS reaction is used extensively for coal gasification and fuel reforming and takes place at temperatures of 200-500° C. over a catalyst comprising iron, chromium, nickel, copper, zinc oxide and others metals or oxides. Low temperature WGS reactions are desired and have been suggested in Khan et al., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl. 27 (1988) 12, 1735-6, which discloses a liquid phase CO hydration process. The two-step low temperature WGS reaction involves carbon monoxide hydration using a soluble catalyst in an aqueous phase, Equation 2, to form an intermediate that can subsequently generate hydrogen in a second step, Equation 3, using a heterogeneous catalyst.CO+H2O→intermediate  (2)Intermediate→H2+CO2  (3)By employing appropriate catalysts, the net WGS reaction can occur at temperature below 100° C. that results in an energy savings and allows fueling of indirect fuel cells where the intermediate can be an organic liquid. The two step process, Equations 2 and 3, also allows the purification of a CO containing hydrogen source.
Significant research and development has focused on fuel cells powered by organic liquids of low molecular weight, with methanol being the most widely investigated. The power density attained by a methanol fuel cell is about 60 mWcm−2, which is an order of magnitude lower than that attainable in a hydrogen fuel cell. Additionally, the permeability of polymer electrolyte membranes to methanol allows methanol diffusion to the cathode, which significantly reduces the voltage and efficiency of a low temperature fuel cell so constructed.
Although very high power densities can be generated in fuel cells powered by pure hydrogen, hydrogen has disadvantages with regard to the cost for its generation and its ease of storage. For example, the weight of a metal hydrogen storage tank is typically more than 20 times the weight of the compressed hydrogen that it can store. An alternative approach to hydrogen storage is "chemical storage" where hydrogen is generated in-situ from a chemical that is stored at ambient pressure.
Chemical storage can circumvent the difficulties of generating and storing hydrogen by liberating hydrogen from organic liquids such as methanol or formic acid. Hydrogen fuel cells employing this in-situ hydrogen generation are referred to as indirect fuel cells. Although generation of hydrogen from small organic molecules requires additional equipment and imposes several addition steps, progress has been slowed due to the unfortunate requirement of reforming catalysts that function only at very elevated temperatures. Nevertheless, a miniature micro-channel reactor for hydrogen generation from methanol and a miniature steam reformation reactor that operates at 190 to 290° C. have been developed. An additional impediment to the development of such fuel cells is that almost all existing catalysts for such devices generate some carbon monoxide (CO) as a by-product, which can poison the fuel cell when present at even minute levels. Development of catalysts that are not poisoned by CO is not the most attractive alternative for consumer or other portable devices. Rather, a catalyst that does not generate toxic CO is desired. Hence there remains a need for a catalytic material or system that can generate hydrogen from small organic molecules at lower temperatures and ambient pressures without generation of CO for the construction of indirect hydrogen fuel cells that power zero emission vehicles or portable consumer devices.

Catalyst for hydrogen generation from small organic molecules


A protective helmet of a type worn by a firefighter or by an emergency worker, wherein the protective helmet is equipped with a mounting device, by which a badge having a front face bearing indicia is mounted to the protective helmet. The mounting device comprises a fitment, which is mounted to the protective helmet and which has a recess opening downwardly and receiving an upper portion of the badge, the upper portion comprising an upper end of the badge. The mounting device comprises a blade, which is mounted to the protective helmet and which has a portion extending upwardly along a back face of the badge as far as the upper edge of the badge, or farther. The badge may be predominantly made of leather. The blade is a leaf spring, which biases the badge frontwardly.

Heretofore, it has been known to equip a protective helmet of the type noted above with a mounting device, by which a badge having a front face bearing indicia is mounted to the protective helmet. It has been known for the badge, which may be also called a shield, to be predominantly made of leather.
Moreover, it has been known for the mounting device to comprise a fitment, which is mounted to the protective helmet and which has a recess opening downwardly and receiving an upper portion of the badge, and a blade, which is mounted to the protective helmet and which has a portion extending upwardly along a back face of the badge, toward but not as far as the upper portion of the badge. If the blade is a leaf spring, as has been known, the upwardly extending portion of the blade biases the badge frontwardly.
Because the blade portion extending upwardly along the back face of the badge does not extend as far as the upper portion of the badge, it has been possible for a foreign object, such as a wire, inadvertently to enter the recess from the front face of the badge, to bend the upper portion of the badge backwardly, over an upper end of the blade, and to be thus caught in the recess. It is distracting for a wearer of the protective helmet to have to dislodge a foreign object caught in the recess.
For further background, a protective helmet of the type noted above, as equipped with a mounting device mounting a leather shield to the protective helmet, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,889,537.

Badge-mounting device for protective helmet


A mask defect inspecting method comprises preparing detection sensitivities of defects on a plurality of portions of a mask pattern on a photomask, the detection sensitivities being determined according to influences of the defects upon a wafer, and inspecting defects on the plurality of portions based on the detection sensitivities.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mask defect inspecting method for a photomask used in a lithography process for a semiconductor device; a semiconductor device manufacturing method including the process of inspecting the photomask; a mask defect inspecting apparatus; a method for generating a defect influence map used in mask defect inspection of the photomask; a photomask evaluating method; and a computer program product.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, in manufacture of a semiconductor memory device, high integration of elements, wirings and the like configuring a circuit or fining of a pattern of elements, wirings and the like is underway. For example, in the case of a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) which is a typical semiconductor memory device, it is necessary to form a pattern of 0.13 microns in design rule in fabrication of a 1G DRAM.
Conventionally photomask inspection is carried out by using a die-to-die comparative inspecting technique for comparing the same adjacent patterns with each other or a die-to-data base comparative inspecting technique for comparing a measuring pattern with a design pattern.
FIG. 21 is a schematic diagram depicting a defect inspecting apparatus for use in the conventional die-to-die comparative inspecting technique. The above-described defect inspecting apparatus comprises a light source 80, optical systems 81 and 82, and image sensors 84 and 85 such as CCD. In the above defect inspecting apparatus, the two optical systems 81 and 82 are used for such one light source 80.
A magnified image of a pattern of transmission light from the same two adjacent patterns formed on a photomask 83 is formed on the image sensors 84 and 85. As a result, the magnified image of the pattern of the above-described transmission light is converted into an electronic signal.
The optical systems 81 and 82 each include a reflection mirror 86 and objective lenses 87 and 88. The photomask 83 is placed on an X-Y stage 89. A position of the X-Y stage 89 is controlled by a stage control mechanism 90.
Electronic signals (sensor data) 91 and 92 obtained by the image sensors 84 and 85 are inputted into a comparative logical circuit 93. The comparative logical circuit 93 compares the electronic signals 91 and 92 with each other, and detects an unmatched portion (defect) on a pattern.
A computing unit 94 computes a coordinate of the above-described unmatched portion on the photomask 83 based on position information (X-Y coordinate) on the X-Y stage 89 from the stage control mechanism 90. The above-described coordinate is recorded as detect position information on a mask defect in a defect inspecting apparatus.
On the other hand, FIG. 22 shows a defect inspecting apparatus for use in the conventional die-to-data base comparative inspecting technique. A pattern generating circuit 96 generates a reference pattern 97 by using a design pattern stored in a data base 95. The comparative logical circuit 93 compares the reference pattern 97 with the sensor data 91 obtained from the optical system 81, and detects an unmatched portion of the pattern.
The computing unit 94 computes a coordinate of the above-described unmatched portion on the photomask 83 based on the unmatched portion detected by means of the comparative logical circuit 93 and the X-Y coordinate of the X-Y stage 89. The above coordinate is recorded as defect position information on a defect on a photomask (mask defect) in the defect inspecting apparatus.
However, the conventional die-to-die comparative inspecting technique and die-to-data base comparative inspecting technique have the following problems.
In a photomask, even if design rules are identical to each other, patterns of various sizes are allocated at portions. Therefore, an effect of a mask defect on a resist pattern (transferred pattern) upon a wafer, or an effect upon operation (feature) of a device to be formed on the wafer is different depending on a variety of portions of a pattern region in the photomask.
Here, the conventional die-to-die comparative inspecting technique and die-to-data base comparative inspecting technique are carried out without taking into consideration an effect of a mask defect on a resist pattern or device operation. Specifically, with respect to a controlled dimensional pattern determined for each design rule, in-plane inspection of a single photomask is carried out with detection sensitivity which should detect defect specification of a predetermined size.
In this way, the conventional photomask detection is carried out with uniform detection sensitivity without any discrimination of a portion at which a mask defect has an effect on a resist pattern or device operation or a portion at which the mask defect does not have an effect thereon. Thus, at some portions in an inspection region, inspection is occasionally carried out with detection sensitivity which is severer than necessary.
If inspection is carried out with detection sensitivity which is severer than necessary, a portion which is not essentially regarded as a mask defect may be detected as a mask defect (a pseudo defect). Thus, detecting defects of more types than necessary occurs, and a large amount of time is required for classification of the detected mask defects. In this manner, there occurs a problem that a photomask manufacturing period is prevented from being reduced, and, as a result, a semiconductor manufacturing period is prevented from being reduced.
In addition, as described above, the conventional die-to-die comparative inspecting technique and die-to-data base comparative inspecting technique fail to take into consideration an effect of a mask detect on a resist pattern or device operation. Thus, discrimination between a mask defect (pseudo defect) which does not have an effect on a resist pattern or device operation and a mask defect which has an effect thereon is not clear when an inspection result is obtained.
Because of this, verification of an effect of each mask defect on a resist pattern is carried out with a lithography simulation microscope (for example, MSM 100 available from Karl Zeiss Co., Ltd.) based on defect position information (defect coordinate), and the verified results are classified into a mask defect which has an effect on a resist pattern and a mask defect which does not an effect thereon. Then, with respect to the mask defect which has an effect on transfer, correction is carried out, and a photomask is shipped.
In this way, making discrimination between a mask defect which has an effect on a resist pattern or device operation and a mask defect which does not have an effect thereon causes an increase of manufacturing steps in number. In this manner, there occurs a problem that the photomask manufacturing period is prevented from being reduced, and, as a result, the semiconductor device manufacturing period is prevented from being reduced.
On the other hand, dimensional precision and defect specification required for a photomask for forming a circuit pattern is becoming rapidly more severe with fining. Therefore, the lowered yield in the photomask manufacturing steps is becoming problem.
Even if design rules are identical to each other, patterns of various sizes are allocated in the photomask. For example, a DRAM includes a cell portion whose pattern size is equal to that in design rule; and a peripheral circuit portion whose pattern size is greater than that in design rule is allocated.
It is considered that the cell portion includes a portion which is greatly affected by a mask defect and a portion which is less affected thereby. The mask defect influence used here include an effect of a mask defect upon a resist pattern (transferred pattern) on a wafer and an effect of a mask defect on operation (feature) of a device to be formed on the wafer.
Therefore, in the control of a photomask, it is considered rather more desirable to carry out inspection by classifying the mask in-plane into a severe portion and a not-severe portion than to carry out inspection with uniform severity.
From the foregoing, it is considered that a photomask to be judged as a good product exists from the viewpoint of a wafer among photomasks which have been conventionally disposed after judged to be a faulty product. Therefore, it will be increasingly more important to control a photomask from the viewpoint of a wafer in the improvement of yield in the photomask manufacturing process, and further, in the reduction of photomask price.
In the meantime, critical area analysis is known as one of techniques for predicting the yield of wafers, which has been developed from circuit design technology. With respect to a critical area computing method, for example, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2002-100548 discloses two techniques, i.e., a wiring width expanding technique (geometry technique) and a Monte Calro technique.
The term "critical area" used here denotes an area which causes a fatal fault such as short-circuit between lines on a wafer in the case where a defect center exists. In addition, this type of defect is also called a killer defect.
FIG. 37A to FIG. 37C are conceptual views each showing a killer defect and a critical area with the geometry technique for use in a conventional circuit design technology.
FIG. 37A shows a foreign matter which causes a killer defect (left side) and a foreign matter which does not cause the killer defect (right side). The geometry technique assumes a circular electrically conductive foreign matter on a wafer. If wirings are connected to each other with a foreign matter, short-circuit occurs.
FIG. 37B shows an area which serves as a critical area. If the center of a foreign matter exists, an area with its minimum square area in which wirings are connected to each other with the foreign matter is defined as a critical area.
FIG. 37C shows a method of computing a critical area. Defined as a critical area is a region between wirings in which edges opposite to each other with respect to two adjacent wirings (lines) are left by increasing their wiring widths each by R/2 in radius of a critical matter.
A critical area exists for each size of the foreign matter. This critical area configures a distribution with respect to the size of foreign matter. The critical area distribution is given by a function indicating a relationship between the size of the foreign matter and the corresponding square area of the critical area.
A method for predicting the yield of photomasks includes using the above-described critical area analysis. However, even if the critical area analysis is applied intact to the yield of photomasks, it is difficult to achieve prediction of the yield of photomasks. The reason will be described below.
A photomask pattern is transferred onto a wafer, but the foreign matter on the photomask is not transferred onto the wafer while it is kept unchanged in shape. Thus, an effect of the foreign matter on the photomask upon a wiring pattern to be formed on the wafer is not always the same as that of the foreign matter on the wafer upon a wiring pattern.
Therefore, in the case where the prediction of the yield of photomasks has been carried out by using the conventional critical area analysis, a photomask to be judged as a good product exists from the viewpoint of wafer among the photomasks which have been judged to be a faulty product. In this case, the prediction of the yield of photomasks is incorrect.
In addition, on a photomask, a opaque defect and a clear defect exist as typical defects which have an effect on a wafer. The opaque defect used here denotes a defect which occurs when a light shield film or a semi-transparent film has remained on a transparent substrate at a portion which is essentially an exposed pattern. The white defect used here denotes a defect which occurs when a light shield film or a semi-transparent film has slipped off from the top of a transparent substrate at a portion which is essentially a reserved pattern.
Accordingly, in order to predict the yield of photomasks, it is required to compute a critical area separately with respect to such opaque and clear defects. However, there is no way for a wafer to discriminate these opaque and clear defects. Thus, in the conventional critical area analysis, the critical areas of the opaque and clear defects are not computed.
In short, the conventional critical area analysis is essentially a technique for predicting the yield of wafers. Thus, no consideration is taken into effective information for predicting the yield of photomasks, i.e., defect inspection information (mask defect information) used when a defect on a photomask is inspected. Therefore, even if the conventional critical area analysis is applied intact to the yield of photomasks, it is difficult to achieve a practical method for predicting the yield of photomasks.

Mask defect inspecting method, semiconductor device manufacturing method, mask defect inspecting apparatus, defect influence map generating method, and computer program product


Technologies for protocol-agnostic network packet segmentation includes determining whether a size of a payload of a network packet to be transmitted by the compute device exceeds a maximum size threshold and segmenting the payload into a plurality of segmented payloads if the size of the payload exceeds the maximum size of threshold. The payload may be segmented based on segmentation metadata associated with the network packet.

Modern computing devices have become ubiquitous tools for personal, business, and social uses. As such, many modern computing devices are capable of connecting to various data networks, including the Internet, to transmit and receive data communications over the various data networks at varying rates of speed. To facilitate communications between computing devices, the data networks typically include one or more network computing devices (e.g., compute servers, storage servers, etc.) to route communications (e.g., via switches, routers, etc.) that enter/exit a network (e.g., north-south network traffic) and between network computing devices in the network (e.g., east-west network traffic). In present packet-switched network architectures, data is transmitted in the form of network packets between networked computing devices. At a high level, data is packetized into a network packet at one computing device and the resulting packet transmitted, via a transmission device (e.g., a network interface controller (NIC) of the computing device), to another computing device over a network.
Oftentimes, the data to be packetized is too large to be transmitted in a single network packet, typically limited by a maximum transmission unit/segment size supported by the applicable network. Under such conditions, segmentation is often performed to divide the data into smaller units for transmission over the network, which can be reassembled into the proper order at the receiving computing device. Traditionally, such network traffic has primarily used Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) as the communication protocols to interconnect networked computing devices (e.g., over the internet). However, as computing devices have become more mobile and the device usage has evolved to text, pictures, video and audio, the traffic patterns associated therewith are changing seemingly faster than protocols can be changed to support them. Further, the computing device hardware cannot keep up with the changes in protocols and offloads associated with them, in particular as related to packet processing hardware that includes performing packet segmentation operations.


A lithographic apparatus is provided with a sensor. The sensor comprises a frame that defines a space that is crossed multiple times by wire. Detection electronics are connected to the wire and configured to detect a change of temperature of the wire due to infrared radiation being incident upon the wire. The detection electronics are further configured to provide an output signal in the event that a change of temperature of the wire is detected.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lithographic apparatus and method.
2. Background Art
A lithographic apparatus is a machine that applies a desired pattern onto a substrate, usually onto a target portion of the substrate. A lithographic apparatus can be used, for example, in the manufacture of integrated circuits (ICs). In that instance, a patterning device, which is alternatively referred to as a mask or a reticle, may be used to generate a circuit pattern to be formed on an individual layer of the IC. This pattern can be transferred onto a target portion (e.g., comprising part of, one, or several dies) on a substrate (e.g., a silicon wafer). Transfer of the pattern is typically via imaging onto a layer of radiation-sensitive material (resist) provided on the substrate. In general, a single substrate will contain a network of adjacent target portions that are successively patterned.
Lithography is widely recognized as one of the key steps in the manufacture of ICs and other devices and/or structures. However, as the dimensions of features made using lithography become smaller, lithography is becoming a more critical factor for enabling miniature IC or other devices and/or structures to be manufactured.
A theoretical estimate of the limits of pattern printing can be given by the Rayleigh criterion for resolution as shown in equation (1):CD=k1λ/NAPS  (1)
where λ is the wavelength of the radiation used, NAPS is the numerical aperture of the projection system used to print the pattern, k1 is a process dependent adjustment factor, also called the Rayleigh constant, and CD is the feature size (or critical dimension) of the printed feature. It follows from equation (1) that reduction of the minimum printable size of features can be obtained in three ways: by shortening the exposure wavelength λ, by increasing the numerical aperture NAPS or by decreasing the value of k1.
In order to shorten the exposure wavelength, and thus reduce the minimum printable size, it has been proposed to use an extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation source. EUV radiation sources are configured to output a radiation wavelength of about 13 nm. Thus, EUV radiation sources may constitute a significant step toward achieving printing of small features. Such radiation is termed extreme ultraviolet or soft x-ray, and possible sources include, for example, laser-produced plasma sources, discharge plasma sources, or synchrotron radiation from electron storage rings.
EUV lithographic apparatus use mirrors to condition and direct EUV radiation. These mirrors may be susceptible to damage due to radiation outside of the EUV spectrum being absorbed by the mirrors rather than reflected.


A vehicle radiator structure includes a radiator core, a first fluid tank, a second fluid tank, a first lift assist contact member and a second lift assist contact member. The radiator core has a cooling fin portion. The first and second fluid tanks are fluidly coupled to the radiator core. The first lift assist contact member extends from the first fluid tank with at least a portion of the first lift assist contact member being disposed directly vertically beneath the first fluid tank in a vehicle installed position of the vehicle radiator structure. The second lift assist contact member is separate and spaced apart from the first lift assist contact member, and extends from the second fluid tank with at least a portion of the second lift assist contact member being in lateral alignment with the first lift assist contact member and the radiator core.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a vehicle radiator structure. More specifically, the present invention relates to a vehicle radiator structure having at least one lift assist contact member that is positioned to protect the radiator core from contact by a lift assist during installation of the vehicle radiator structure into the vehicle.
2. Background Information
During assembly of a vehicle, such as an automobile or van, the component typically referred to as a front end module (FEM) is assembled outside of the vehicle, and then installed as a single unit into the vehicle. Typically, an FEM includes a radiator core having cooling fins, and the FEM is encased in a frame structure before installation into the vehicle. To install an FEM into a vehicle, manufacturing workers use, for example, a lift assist machine which has arms configured to lift the heavy FEM that is encased in the frame structure, and then lower the FEM into an installation position within the engine compartment of the vehicle. The FEM is then secured in the engine compartment by bolts, rivets or any other suitable fastening mechanisms.
The type of FEM that is commonly installed in a vehicle has a size that prevents or inhibits the conventional practice of encasing the FEM in a frame structure before installation into the van. However, without the conventional frame structure, the arms of the lift assist machine can typically contact the cooling fin portion of the radiator core. Such contact can damage or bend the cooling fins during installation of the FEM into the van, thereby decreasing the efficiency and operability of the radiator.
In view of the above, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure that there exists a need for an improved FEM which is configured to prevent or at least minimize damage to the radiator cooling fins without the use of a frame structure as in conventional FEMs. This invention addresses this need in the art as well as other needs, which will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure.