The invention provides a nitrile hydratase activation protein participating in activation of nitrile hydratase derived from Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095, and a gene sequence encoding the same. Further, the invention provides a recombinant plasmid containing the gene, a recombinant plasmid containing the gene and a nitrile hydratase gene, a transformant strain obtained through transformation with the recombinant plasmid, and a process for producing a corresponding amide compound from a nitrile compound using a culture solution and cells obtained by incubating the transformant strain and treated products of the cells.

1. Technical Background of the Invention
The present invention relates to a protein participating in activation of nitrile hydratase derived from Pseudonocardia thermophila JCM3095 (hereinafter simply referred to as xe2x80x9cPseudonocardia thermophilaxe2x80x9d) and a gene encoding the same. Further, the invention relates to a recombinant plasmid containing the gene, a recombinant plasmid containing the gene and a nitrile hydratase gene, a transformant strain obtained through transformation with the recombinant plasmid, and a process for producing a corresponding amide compound from a nitrile compound using the transformant strain, and a culture solution obtained by incubating the transformant treated products thereof.
2. Prior Art
In recent years, nitrile hydratase which is an enzyme having a nitrile hydration activity of converting a nitrile group of various compounds into an amide group through hydration, and a large number of microbial strains that produce this enzyme have been disclosed.
In order to industrially produce an amide compound from a nitrile compound using nitrile hydratase, it is important to reduce the production cost of the enzyme occupied in the production cost of the amide compound. More specifically, the content of the enzyme based on the unit weight of microbes has to be increased. In this respect, an approach to clone the gene of this enzyme has been studied to express the enzyme in a large amount by the method of the genetic engineering using the gene of the enzyme.
The present inventors discovered Pseudonocardia thermophila as a microbe having a nitrile hydratase activity (JP-A-8-56684). The inventors further isolated nitrile hydratase from the same strain, and identified that this enzyme composed of an xcex1-subunit and a xcex2-subunit. Still further, they isolated the nitrile hydratase gene from the same strain, clarified the amino acid sequence and the gene sequence thereof, and successfully produced a recombinant plasmid capable of expressing the gene E. coli (Escherichia coli) in a large amount and a transformant E. coli strain obtained through transformation with the same plasmid (European Patent Application Laid-Open No. 079310). By the way, with respect to Pseudonocardia thermophila, this strain is deposited as JCM3095 in International Patent Organism Depositary, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, AIST Tsukuba Central 6, 1-1, Higashi 1-chome, Tsukuba-shi, Ibaraki-ken, 305-8566, Japan, and freely allotted to any person on demand.
The invention is to provide a protein participating in activation of nitrile hydratase derived from Pseudonocardia thermophila described in European Patent Application Laid-Open No. 0790310 which was clarified by the detailed analysis of a recombinant plasmid (pPT-DB1) capable of expressing this enzyme in a large amount in E.coli, a gene encoding the same, a recombinant plasmid containing the gene, a recombinant plasmid containing the gene and a nitrile hydratase gene, a transformant strain obtained through transformation with the recombinant plasmid, and a process for producing a corresponding amide compound from a nitrile compound using the transformant strain, and a culture solution obtained through incubation of the transformant strain, or treated products thereof.
The inventors have analyzed in detail the base sequence of the DNA fragment derived from Pseudonocardia thermophila in recombinant plasmid pPT-DB1 introduced in MT-10822 strain described in JP-A-9-275978. Consequently, they have acquired the following five findings. First, it has been found that the third open reading frame (hereinafter called xe2x80x9cORF3xe2x80x9d) different from nitrile hydratase structural genes (xcex1- and xcex2subunit structural genes) is present in the DNA fragment in pPT-DB1 and ORF3 encodes a protein having a molecular weight of approximately 15,900. Second, they have produced plasmid pPT-D1 in which only the open reading frame of the xcex1-subunit (hereinafter called xe2x80x9cORF2xe2x80x9d), the open reading frame of the xcex2-subunit (hereinafter called xe2x80x9cORF1xe2x80x9d) and ORF3 in pPT-DB1 are cloned, and have identified that transformant E.coli obtained through transformation with this plasmid has the nitrile hydratase activity. Third, they have constructed recombinant plasmid pPT-F1 having only ORF1 and ORF2 from pPT-DB1. As a result of measuring the nitrile hydratase activity of transformant E.coli obtained through transformation with this plasmid, the nitrile hydratase activity has not been detected from this E.coli. Meanwhile, the presence of polypeptide chains corresponding to the xcex1- and xcex2-subunits has been observed in the cell. Fourth, plasmid pPT-G1 in which only the ORF3 region is cloned has been produced from pPT-DB1, and it has been identified that the nitrile hydratase activity is not observed in transformant E.coli obtained through transformation with this plasmid. Fifth, plasmid pPT-H1 in which the region having lacZ promoter, ORF1 and ORF2 is amplified through PCR and the resulting amplified DNA fragment is re-cloned downstream of the 3xe2x80x2-terminus of ORF3 of pPT-G1 has been produced from pPT-F1. The nitrile hydratase activity of transformant E.coli obtained through transformation with this plasmid has been measured, and the nitrile hydratase activity has consequently been detected in this E.coli.
From these findings, the inventors have concluded that in order for E.coli, in which nitrile hydratase derived from Pseudonocardia thermophila has been introduced to exhibit the same activity, the presence of the ORF3 region is inevitable, and further that the presence of the translation product of ORF3 is inevitable in consideration of the second, third and fifth findings. Further, from the facts that the same enzyme is composed of the xcex1-subunit and the xcex2-subunit (European Patent Application Laid-Open No. 0790310) and that even when the minimum DNA fragment having the three open reading frames ORF1 to ORF3 is introduced in E.coli, recombinant E.coli exhibits the nitrile hydratase activity (second finding), it has been concluded that the translation product of ORF3 participates in activation of nitrile hydratase. That is, it has been concluded that ORF3 is a gene locus encoding a protein that participates in activation of nitrile hydratase derived from Pseudonocardia thermophila. Consequently, the invention has been completed.
That is, the invention is to provide a protein participating in activation of nitrile hydratase derived from Pseudonocardia thermophila and a gene encoding the same. Further, the invention is to provide a recombinant plasmid containing the gene, a recombinant plasmid containing the gene and a nitrile hydratase gene, a transformant strain obtained through transformation with the recombinant plasmid, and a process for producing a corresponding amide compound from a nitrile compound using the transformant strain, and a culture solution obtained through incubation of the transformant strain or treated products thereof.

Protein participating in the activation of nitrile hydratase and gene encoding the same


Adjustable lateral seals for loading dock barriers are disclosed. An example barrier includes a header structure coupled to the wall, where the header structure is horizontally elongate, extending above the doorway, and protrudes in the forward direction from the wall. A lateral seal is coupled to the wall. The lateral seal is vertically elongate and extends below the header structure. The lateral seal extends farther into a cargo passageway of a loading dock when the weather barrier is in a relaxed configuration than when the weather barrier is in an activated configuration. The lateral seal is to be engage by a vehicle when the vehicle is in a parked position. The lateral seal including an upper seal segment and a lower seal segment, the upper seal segment to move between a lowered position and a raised position relative to the lower seal segment. A flexible elongate member has an upper end coupled to the header structure and a lower end coupled to the upper seal segment. The flexible elongate member is to deflect from a relaxed position to a deflected position. The upper seal segment to move from the lowered position to the raised position in response to the flexible elongate member deflecting from the relaxed position to the deflected position.

Dock weather barriers, such as dock seals and dock shelters, prevent or restrict the ingress of outdoor environmental conditions or contaminants (e.g., rain, snow, wind, hot/cold temperatures, insects, animals, etc.) into the interior of a building and cargo area of a vehicle during the loading or unloading of the vehicle. Dock shelters and seals also prevent or restrict the egress of conditioned air from within a building and/or a vehicle cargo area to the outdoor environment.

Adjustable lateral seals for dock weather barriers


Multilayer material comprising a zirconium-based substrate covered with a multilayer coating, the multilayer coating comprising metallic layers composed of identical or different substances chosen from chromium, a chromium alloy or a ternary alloy of the Nb—Cr—Ti system. Such a material has improved resistance to oxidation in accident conditions of a nuclear reactor. The invention also relates to a multilayer coating, a part composed wholly or partly of the multilayer material or of the multilayer coating, as well as the method for manufacturing the multilayer material such as for example a magnetron cathodic sputtering process.

In service conditions, the coolant of a pressurized water reactor ("PWR") is water that is pressurized to 190 bar and reaches a maximum temperature of 360° C.
In such conditions, the zirconium alloy constituting the nuclear fuel claddings oxidizes in contact with the coolant.
As the oxide formed is brittle, the service life of the claddings is partly limited by the acceptable maximum thickness of oxide. Beyond that, the residual thickness of zirconium alloy that is sound and ductile is insufficient to guarantee good mechanical properties with the aim of ensuring optimal confinement of the nuclear fuel.
Limiting the oxidation in nominal conditions would therefore make it possible to increase the service life of the claddings and therefore improve the burn-up fraction of uranium dioxide.
For this purpose, fuel suppliers have developed new alloys that are more resistant to corrosion in nominal conditions, such as the alloy M5™ from the company Areva-NP.
Although these developments have made it possible to improve the resistance of zirconium alloy claddings to the low-temperature oxidation encountered in nominal conditions, they do not provide decisive gains in the resistance to high-temperature oxidation encountered in accident conditions.
The high temperatures are generally above 700° C., in particular between 800° C. and 1200° C. They are for example reached in the case of hypothetical accident scenarios of the RIA type (Reactivity Insertion Accident) or LOCA type (Loss Of Coolant Accident), or even in conditions of dewatering of the spent fuel storage pool. At such temperatures, the coolant is in the form of steam.
As detailed below, high-temperature oxidation is much more critical than low-temperature oxidation, as deterioration of the cladding, the first barrier for fuel confinement, is quicker and the associated risks are greater. These risks are, among others, as follows:                release of hydrogen;        embrittlement of the cladding at high temperature, by oxidation or even, in certain conditions, hydriding of the cladding;        embrittlement of the cladding on quenching, caused by the sudden temperature drop during the massive supply of water for making the nuclear reactor core safe;        low mechanical strength of the cladding after quenching or cooling, such as in the case of operations for post-accident maintenance.
Taking these risks into account, it is therefore essential to limit as far as possible the high-temperature oxidation of the cladding in order to improve the safety of nuclear reactors using for instance water as coolant.
Studies aim to improve the oxidation resistance of zirconium alloy subjected to a temperature above that encountered in service conditions. However, the temperatures encountered in accident conditions are not taken into account.
Document "FR 1493040 A" thus proposes coating a zirconium alloy with a layer of chromium. This monolayer coating is presented as making it possible to protect the zirconium alloy against oxidation at a temperature of 600° C., at atmospheric pressure and in carbon dioxide. However, as demonstrated experimentally below, the proposed coating is unable to significantly limit high-temperature oxidation.
It should moreover be noted that the conditions tested in no case allow prediction of the corrosion resistance of the zirconium alloy at a temperature above 600° C.
This lack of predictability is due to the fact that finding solutions against oxidation in accident conditions requires exploring a new field of research. In fact, as detailed below, the physicochemical conditions and the mechanisms of high-temperature oxidation are fundamentally different from those of oxidation at a temperature less than or equal to 600° C.

Multilayer material resistant to oxidation in a nuclear environment

COMMISARIAT A L'ENERGIE ATOMIQUE ET AUX ENERGIES ALTERNATIVES


According to one embodiment, a network is disclosed. The network includes a first Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) station a first communication medium coupled to the VOIP station a router, coupled to the first communication, that includes a network address translation (NAT) firewall, a second communication medium coupled to the router and a public proxy/gatekeeper (PPG) coupled to the second communication. The PPG masquerades un-translated NAT IP addresses received from the first VOIP station.

Recently, Internet telephony has been gaining world-wide popularity. Internet telephony involves the use of a multimedia personal computer (PC) or handheld device to complete Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) calls using the Internet as a transport medium. Gateways have even been established in various cities in order to permit VOIP calls to be completed to a regular telephone on the Switched Telephone Network (STN).
While VOIP appears to be an attractive alternative to the traditional Public Service Telephone Network (PSTN) voice connections, it has remained foreign to small-office/home-office and consumers for various reasons. First, difficulty in configuration and installation has discouraged retailers because of technical support issues. In addition, a limited availability of public Internet addresses available to Digital Subscriber (DSL) customers limits the number of users on a network. Typically, ninety percent (90%) of the currently installed DSL connections have only one public address available. This address is usually taken with a single PC, or multiple PCs sharing the one public address by use of a DSL Network Address Translating (NAT) router.
The above problems once plagued the PC industry, where multiple PCs could not share one connection to the Internet because only one address was available. Thus, NAT DSL routers solved the problem of limited addresses by masquerading many private Internet addresses into one public Internet address, while at the same time solving the technical support issues by removing the difficulty of configuring the PC by utilizing Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP). These NAT routers have become very popular, as millions are installed thru-out the world.
Because VOIP protocols send address information embedded within the data portion of the protocol packet, the masquerading process of NAT routers is insufficient for such protocols. The ability to deliver a public call to a private VOIP device located behind the NAT router also poses problems preventing VOIP devices from utilizing NAT routers to solve the problems above.
Therefore, a mechanism to enable VOIP communications, with multiple plug and play VOIP devices, with both incoming (called) and outgoing (calling) capability, all operating behind one NAT router sharing one public Internet address, is desired.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Mechanism for implementing voice over IP telephony behind network firewalls


The present invention relates to new .alpha.,.beta.-unsaturated ketones of formula I. The new compounds exhibit an intense, very long lasting green galbanum-type odor with fruity undertones. Compositions containing these novel compounds are also provided.

Inexpensive floral fruity and green fragrances with intense pineapple and galbanum undertones are highly desirable in the art of perfumery. However, many of the natural and commercially available compounds, e.g. galbanum oil, are expensive and show a lack of stability. Moderately weak galbanum type compounds became available in the mid seventies including allyl amyl glycolate (International Flavor and Fragrance Inc.) and CYCLOGALBANATE.RTM. (Dragocco S.A.). Another member of this family, the allyl cyclopentyl glycolate is described in Sprecker, U.S. Pat. No. 4,735,932. However, glycolates are generally not stable in alkali, acid or oxidizing media.
1-(5,5-dimethyl-1-cyclohexen-1-yl)-4-penten-1-one is described by Morris, A. F.; Naf, F; Snowdon, R. L. in Perfumer & Flavorist 1991(16), 33 as an important compound for the perfumery. This compound possesses a powerful metallic odor reminiscent of galbanum with pineapple and hyacinth character that adds fresh, green, floral and fruity aspects to perfumes and perfumed products.


A bandwidth information notification method includes: obtaining current bandwidth information of a link; and sending the bandwidth information to an endpoint of a service connection through the service connection which passes through the link. The endpoint of the service connection can adjust a service policy according to the bandwidth information. An endpoint of a service connection which passes through a microwave link may obtain bandwidth information of the microwave link, where the bandwidth information is obtained after adaptive modulation of the microwave link.

Internet Protocol (IP: Internet Protocol) services increase rapidly, and become a mainstream service type by replacing time division multiplexing (TDM: Time Division Multiplexing) services gradually. And network traffic also increases rapidly. Traditional Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH: Synchronous Digital Hierarchy)/Multi-Service Transport Platform (MSTP: Multi-Service Transport Platform) equipment cannot make full use of a statistic multiplexing feature of a packet service, and cannot meet an increasingly stringent bandwidth requirement in another aspect. Therefore, SDH equipment is being replaced by packet transport network (PTN: Packet Transport Network) equipment.
Meanwhile, microwave equipment is widely applied in the operator' network. Currently, SDH microwave equipment and Plesiochronous Digital Hierarchy (PDH: Plesiochronous Digital Hierarchy) microwave equipment are commonly deployed. As PTN equipment replaces SDH equipment, packet microwave equipment begins to replace SDH/PDH microwave equipment accordingly, and is widely applied in recent years. The packet microwave equipment refers to that packet equipment having one or more microwave interfaces.
A microwave link differs from a fiber link in that the microwave link can perform adaptive modulation (AM: Adaptive Modulation) as the weather changes, which leads to a bandwidth change of the microwave link. Moreover, a bandwidth change is determinate. A transport network generally requires quite high capability of operation, administration and maintenance (OAM: Operation, Administration and Maintenance). However, PTN OAM functions at present are only some general operations.
The PTN OAM functions at present are only some general operations, and therefore, the microwave link after performing adaptive modulation cannot be notified to an endpoint of a service connection which passes through the microwave link, which causes service congestion since the endpoint of the service connection still performs traffic control according to the bandwidth information before applying adaptive modulation.

Bandwidth information notification method, service processing method, network node and communication system


Various embodiments of a security device are provided for attaching to and securing small articles, such as jewelry or other accessories that are either loose or attached to a display card. The security device may engage various sizes of card stock and/or secure articles that include a ring component in a practical and unobtrusive manner. The security device may detect unauthorized removal of the item from the retail premises. In some cases, the security device may also be configured to detect tampering of the security device and may include one-alarm, two-alarm, or three-alarm functionality. Moreover, the security device may also provide other features or functionalities that a retail operator may prefer or consider prior to the use or selection of a particular security device over others. The device may provide easy securing to and/or removal from an object by an authorized operator, such as an employee, and may be reusable.

Electronic article surveillance (EAS) systems are often used to deter and detect shoplifting. Typically, an EAS security system includes an EAS element, a transmitter, a receiver, and an alarm. The EAS element is attached to an article of merchandise. The transmitter and the receiver are positioned at the exit of a retail establishment and configured to establish a detection zone through which a consumer must pass as he or she exits the retail establishment. The transmitter is configured to send signals through the detection zone. When an EAS element enters the detection zone, the EAS element responds and creates a signal or a change or disturbance in the original signal transmitted by the transmitter, which is detectable by the receiver. Upon detection of the EAS element, the alarm is triggered in order to notify store personnel that someone is trying to exit the retail establishment with merchandise that has an attached and active EAS element.
Often, security devices are not used for jewelry items that are below a certain value and are displayed on racks or shelves (i.e., not kept in a locked display enclosure). Although each such item may not necessarily be expensive, the theft of these items in the aggregate costs merchants hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Applicant has discovered then that it would be desirable to provide devices and methods of reliably securing an EAS element to small items including articles of jewelry in a simple, cost-effective, and aesthetically pleasing manner. As described in greater detail below, a variety of challenges were identified and overcome through Applicant's efforts to invent and develop such a device.


An electric lock includes a manual operation mechanism and an electric control mechanism. The manual operation mechanism includes a rotary knob unit, a first attracting member mounted fixedly to the rotary knob unit, a key-operated lockset, and a lock-connecting rod connected to and rotatable by the rotary knob unit and the key-operated lockset. The electric control mechanism includes a power source unit, a clutch gear driven by the power source unit to rotate in two directions, and a second attracting member mounted fixedly to the clutch gear. When the clutch gear is driven by the power source unit to rotate to align the first and second attracting members with each other, a magnetic attraction force is generated between the first and second attracting members to allow for co-rotation of the rotary knob unit with the clutch gear.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an electric lock, and more particularly to an electric lock that can be operated either electrically or manually.
2. Description of the Related Art
In US Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0169525, the applicant discloses an electric lock operable either electrically or manually to increase convenience during use. However, protrusions of rotatable members of the electric lock experience fast wear due to frequent contact therebetween, thereby reducing the service life of the electric lock. Furthermore, locking and unlocking of the electric lock cannot be controlled precisely.


In a coin processing apparatus including a plurality of coin containers, each of the coin containers includes a housing guide and a screw-type conveyance member. The housing guide has both side sections paired in a left-right direction. The housing guide has lateral protrusions formed on inner surfaces of the paired side sections and protruding to extend close to each other. The screw-type conveyance member has a shaft having a cylindrical shape and a blade member spirally provided on an outer periphery of the shaft such that the blade member protrudes outward from the outer periphery, and is provided to the housing guide such that a part of the shaft and a part of the blade protrude upward in a space between the lateral protrusions and may rotate about a central axis of the shaft. The screw-type conveyance member is provided at an off-center position of the housing guide.

The present disclosure relates to coin processing apparatuses.
In the related art, an example of the coin processing apparatuses applied to change machines identifies authenticity and a denomination of a coin dropped in a coin receiving opening, and thereafter, automatically takes in the coin identified as a true coin to house the coin in the corresponding one of the coin containers provided for respective denominations. The coin processing apparatus dispenses, as change, a requested amount of coins to a coin dispensing opening out of the coins housed in the coin containers in accordance with a change dispensing request from an external apparatus (e.g., refer to Japanese Patent No. 5375425).
In the coin processing apparatus, the coins are conveyed by a belt endlessly stretched between a pair of rollers in the coin container. The conveyance method causes a failure in conveyance such as a reduction in conveyance force due to a reduction in friction force caused by dirt coming from the conveyed coins or occurrence of inclined coins, which continue to stay at a constant position while rolling on the belt.
There is a need for a coin processing apparatus that may prevent the reduction in conveyance force and the occurrence of inclined coins, and successfully convey coins.


Disclosed herein are granulated kaolin compositions exhibiting at least one of improved material handling properties, low dusting during transit, easy make-down into mineral-water slurries, and requiring less energy to produce than spray dried kaolin products. The granulated kaolin compositions may, in one embodiment, be characterized by a moisture content ranging from about 12% to about 23% by weight relative to the total weight of the composition. In another embodiment, the granulated kaolin compositions may have an average granule size of greater than about 10 mesh. Also disclosed herein are granulated kaolin compositions having a moisture content ranging from about 12% to about 23% by weight relative to the total weight of the composition, wherein the composition is friable when subjected to a shear force. Further disclosed herein is a method for producing granulated kaolin compositions comprising mixing at least one kaolin slurry with at least one predispersed spray dried kaolin and agglomerating the resulting mixture. Still further disclosed herein is a system for producing granulated kaolin compositions comprising a first zone for mixing at least one kaolin slurry with at least one predispersed spray dried kaolin and a second zone for agglomerating the resulting mixture.

Kaolin products are commonly used by the paper industry to fill and coat paper and paperboard products. These kaolin coatings and fillers may serve to improve the quality of the paper product, for instance, in terms of texture and surface characteristics and resulting in improved printing quality. Kaolin products are also used, for example, in the paint, plastics, and ink industries.
Kaolin is available in various types, for instance, calcined and hydrous types. The type of kaolin is typically selected by the user based upon the desired end product. Untreated kaolin is commonly referred to as "hydrous" because it has not undergone heating to remove hydroxyl groups generally present in its natural structure. Calcined kaolin compositions may be prepared by heating a kaolin clay to a temperature of at least 400° C., for example, a temperature ranging from 400° C. to 1100° C. Depending on the calcination temperature and residence time, the kaolin product may be rendered substantially anhydrous (fully calcined) or partially anhydrous (partially calcined), in which case the kaolin may be referred to as a metakaolin. As used herein, the term "kaolin" is meant to refer to all types of kaolin, including partially calcined kaolin, fully calcined kaolin, and hydrous kaolin.
Kaolin products are often sold to a manufacturer in the form of a pulverized low bulk density powder. That powder may be difficult to handle using conventional shipping methods as they may be dusty, resulting in wasted product and environmental contamination. The powders may also require the use of sparger cars, which are bulk-hopper railroad cars equipped with valves that allow water to be introduced to the kaolin powder upon arrival at the customer's facility. The water may be injected into the railcar and the mixture of kaolin powder and water is agitated by means of turbulence. However, this shipment method is both expensive and inconvenient in terms of handling.
Kaolin products have also been shipped in the form of pre-mixed slurries to avoid the problems associated with shipping low bulk density powders. However, those slurry shipments require specialized storage, shipping, and handling equipment. Furthermore, kaolin slurries may comprise from about 25 wt % up to about 50 wt % water and, thus, the expense of shipping these large volumes of water may become cost prohibitive.
Efforts have been made in the prior art to increase the bulk density of kaolin powders by forming cakes or bricks of kaolin products. Those cakes may be formed by filtering slurries of acid-flocculated kaolin through filter cloths to form a cake and then drying the cake. The cake may then be broken into smaller chunks or lumps and shipped in this form. Once at the customer's facility, the lump kaolin may be mixed with water to form a slurry. However, this lump form of kaolin often requires the use of high shear energy to liberate particles, the use of chemicals to adjust pH to near neutral, and the use of dispersants to enable stable high solids mineral-water slurries. Thus, this method often proves expensive in terms of energy consumption and the additional material cost of chemicals and dispersants.
Alternative methods in the prior art include spray drying of kaolin powders, for instance, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,129,953, which appears to convert clay slurries into small, low-moisture kaolin spheres. While this process may be an improvement over lump kaolin processing in terms of make-down, spray drying often produces kaolin products that are dusty, e.g., products having a large number of particles falling in a size range of less than 200 microns, for example less than 50 microns and by further example less than 10 microns. Thus, spray dried products may be difficult to ship, much like the pulverized kaolin powder products.
Kaolin products may also be shipped in pelletized/agglomerated form, for example, as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,246,220 and 5,364,579; however, pelletization typically involves addition of up to 40 wt % water to form acceptable pellets. Thus, pelletized kaolin products typically result in increased shipping costs or require evaporation of a portion of the water before shipment, which affects production costs. Pellets have also been made using binders other than water; however, those pellets are often more expensive to produce and also may present difficulties when the customer attempts to dissolve the pellets in water for the desired end use.
Finally, efforts have been made in the prior art, for instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,328,506 and PCT Publication No. WO 97/42268, to improve the bulk density and flowability of kaolin agglomerates, e.g., to improve their resistance to compaction during shipment and/or storage. However, those agglomerates still do not exhibit sufficiently improved handling properties in systems such as large silos due to high fines content.
Thus, it would be useful to provide granulated kaolin compositions exhibiting at least one property chosen from improved material handling, low dusting, and easy make-down into a mineral-water slurry, thereby allowing for at least one of more cost effective production, shipment, and handling of the kaolin products.

Granulated kaolin compositions and processes for their production


A method for measuring the quantity of fluid in a tank may include the steps of selecting a match between a measured set of electromagnetic eigenfrequencies and a simulated plurality of sets of electromagnetic eigenfrequencies using a matching algorithm, wherein the match is one simulated set of electromagnetic eigenfrequencies from the simulated plurality of sets of electromagnetic eigenfrequencies, and determining the fill level of the tank based upon the match.

A. Field of Invention
This invention relates generally to measuring the quantity of liquid in a storage container and more particularly to gauge the quantity of propellant in a tank.
B. Description of the Related Art
It is well known in the art to measure the amount of liquid in a storage tank. The general concept of measuring the electromagnetic eigenmodes of a tank as a method to gauge the quantity of liquid in a propellant tank dates back to 1966, when Lockheed Missiles and Space Company first tested the technique as a level sensor in tanks partially filled with RP-1, liquid hydrogen, and liquid oxygen.
While known measurement methods perform well for their intended purpose, there are limitations. One limitation is that the configuration of the liquid in the tank at low or partial gravity is uncertain. Another limitation is that the configuration of a liquid, which is sloshing or splashing within the tank at any gravity, is uncertain. Another limitation is the complexity of converting a tank radio frequency (RF) spectrum into a propellant quantity reading. Another limitation is accurately predicting the field modes of the tank.
Therefore, what is needed is a highly accurate RF measurement method and apparatus to gauge the amount of propellant in a tank.

Radio frequency tank eigenmode sensor for propellant quantity gauging

United States of America as represented by the Administrator of National Aeronautics and Space Administration


A system and method for obtaining a fill image of a bank note being processed. At least one magnetoresistive detector is employed to obtain line-scan sensings of a bank note as the note passes. A central processing unit obtains the sensing as magnetic pattern data which is subsequently stored in a database for processing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to automated currency processing and, more specifically, to the automated imaging, through use of magnetoresistive detectors, of bank notes undergoing high-speed processing.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98
In an effort to combat the counterfeiting of bank notes and other machine-processable security documents, substrate manufactures continue to develop and incorporate new security features into their product. These security features include the utilization of embedded magnetic strips as well as magnetic inks with which to print the currency on the substrate.
Current bank note processing machines feature numerous detectors and sensors to determine various attributes of a bank note being processed. Such machines often incorporate a magnetoresistive detector that detects the embedded magnetic strip and/or magnetic ink on the face of the bill. However, current magnetoresistive detectors only detect the absence or presence of such features which yields only limited information. What is needed is a magnetoresistive detector that is capable of imaging the entire note such that the note's image may be retained as a record or may be further examined by use of specialized imaging algorithms.

Magnetoresistive detection system and method for detection of magnetic image of bank notes


A system is described for determining a relative location of a plurality of items upon a plurality of platforms. The system may include a memory, an interface, and a processor. The memory may store a first item, a second item, a first period of time and a second period of time. The interface may be operative to communicate with a user and an antenna. The antenna may be able to detect an item for a period of time. The processor may be operative to receive from the antenna, via the interface, the first item, the first period of time, the second item and the second period of time. The processor may determine whether the periods of time overlap. If the periods of time overlap the processor may communicate to the user that the items are upon the same platform, otherwise that the items are on consecutive platforms.

Hundreds of thousands of slabs of steel may be transported from a steel mill, by rail or other means, in a given year. An individual shipment of steel slabs may have several distinct delivery destinations and each delivery destination may be allocated specific slabs within the shipment. Upon arriving at a destination the shipper may need to locate the slabs of steel within the shipment allocated to the destination. Locating the allocated slabs within the shipment may require manually identifying each slab in the shipment until all the allocated slabs are found. Manual identification of each steel slab may be a slow and time consuming process. A slow process may be particularly undesirable as there may be little time available for unloading, allocating, and reloading the steel slabs. Additionally manual identification of each slab may increase the costs associated with shipping the slabs.

System for determining a relative location of a plurality of items upon a plurality of platforms


An enhanced memory module assembly comprises a memory module including a substrate with a plurality of conductive traces arranged in an edge thereof. A first connector is detachably and electrically assembled to the edge of the substrate and includes a first housing having an elongate slot extending along a longitudinal direction thereof. The housing further defines a plurality of terminal cell with a plurality of first terminals assembled therein. Each terminal includes a first end extending into the elongate slot for electrically contacting with the conductive traces, and second end. A second connector is electrically connected to the first connector and includes a second housing. The first and second terminals are electrically connected when the first and second connectors are mated.

The present invention relates to a memory module assembly, and more particularly to an enhanced memory module assembly in which the memory module is securely and firmly retained by a first connector and then connected to a second connector thereby providing reliable interconnection between the memory module and the connectors.
Workstations and servers have been widely used in working area. In order to overcome a sever environment, electrical device and components installed in the workstations and servers have to undergo severe test, typically a vibration test.
A connector for use with a memory module is generally referred to a DIMM (dual-in-line-memory-module) connector. A DIMM connector, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,634,803 having the same assignee with the invention, generally includes an elongate housing defining an elongate slot along the longitudinal direction. A plurality of terminals arranged in the elongate slot for electrically connecting with the memory module. The housing further includes a pair of tower each with an ejector pivotally assembled thereto. The tower further defines a guiding slot for easy insertion of the memory module into the slot. However, in order to easily insert the memory module into the slot, the guiding slot is dimensioned to smooth the insertion. As a result, the memory module is simply retained by the contacting ends of the terminals, connections between contacting ends and conductive traces of the memory module can be negatively influenced under vibration. This situation becomes worse in high speed signal transmission.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,364,282; 5,429,523; 5,603,625; 5,775,925 and 5,928,015 issued to Tondreault address different solutions for the above-mentioned issue. The improvement is that ejectors which pivotally assembled to the towers are each provided with a pair of side panels thereby defining a slot therebetween. An edge of the memory module can be received in the slot thereby partially retaining an additional portion of the memory module to overcome the vibration. It seems to solve the problem at the present stage. However, since the signal transmission speed becomes higher and higher, this kind of arrangement is not longer meets the requirements of workstations and server.
In addition, the ejector is pivotally assembled to the tower through a pin and socket arrangement. Since both the ejector and tower are made from plastic material, wearing off is inevitably after a period of usage. Gradually, the retaining force exerted by the ejector is no longer good enough to securely retain the memory module.
Aside that the memory module shall be securely retained within the connector, another problem is the conductive traces arranged along the edge of the memory module. The conductive trace is a copper foil which is plated on a resin sheet. During insertion of the memory module into the connector, contacting ends of the connector will impose a wiping force to the copper foil. The copper foil can be easily peeled off if the insertion of the memory module is not carefully taken. As a result, this is another problem to be addressed.
It is an objective of this invention to provide an enhanced memory module assembly in which the memory module is securely and firmly retained by a first connector and then connected to a second connector thereby providing reliable interconnection between the memory module and the connectors.
It is another objective of this invention to provide an enhanced memory module in which conductive traces are electrically connected to the first connector, which is then stayed together with the memory module thereby preventing the conductive traces from being peeled off during repeatedly insertion and withdrawal to and from the connector.
In order to achieve the objective of this invention, an enhanced memory module assembly in accordance with the present invention comprises a memory module including a substrate with a plurality of conductive traces arranged in an edge of the substrate and includes a first housing having an elongate slot extending along a longitudinal direction thereof. The housing further defines a plurality of terminal cell with a plurality of first terminals assembled therein. Each terminal includes a first end extending into the elongate slot for electrically contacting with the conductive traces, and a second end. A second connector is electrically connected to the firs connector and includes a second housing defining a mounting face and a mating face. A plurality of second terminals corresponding to the first terminals is assembled in the second housing. The first and second terminals are electrically connected when the first and second connectors are mated.
These and additional objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment of the invention take in conjunction with the appended drawings.


An insert assembly for a fitment used with a pouch containing a liquid product producing an off-gas is provided. The assembly includes a vented insert for use with the vented fitment allowing the off-gas to pass there through. A carrier is configured to be attached to the vented insert and includes a liquid impermeable membrane attach to the carrier and fluid coupled to the fitment and insert to allow gas from the product to pass there through. The membrane, which can comprise an EPTFE material allows the gas to pass through, while preventing the liquid product from passing through a wall of the pouch. The insert assembly can be selectively opened and closed to allow or prevent the off-gas produced by the product to pass through the assembly as needed to reduce the pressure within the pouch or container.

One type of container used for storing products is a flexible container or pouch. A flexible container or pouch has limitations, particularly when used to store products that require ventilation. For example, peroxide-based cleaners are best stored and used from a container or pouch that includes a ventilation system. Some containers and pouches include a fitment for delivery and dispensing product to and from the container or pouch. The fitment includes a passageway or passage that can be selectively opened or closed, or can be fluidly controlled to open and close, to allow a gas or gases to be emitted from the pouch, reducing the pressure therein. An insert can be inserted into the fitment to aid in controlling whether the gas is allowed to escape.
One concept has been to use a vented membrane on a separate fitment with vented closure. However, the membrane has been known to wet out when the product in the container sloshed around in the container and came in contact with the vented membrane material. This fitment concept utilizes a check ball inside an angled channel and a vented closure. It is because of this that keeping the membrane dry is particularly difficult in a flexible package.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for an improved method and means for venting a pouch, such as a flexible pouch, that contains a product that emits a gas during transport, storage, and/or use of the product. There is also a need in the art for a new venting fitment that will not wet out the venting membrane in the assembly.


The method of producing induced lightweight exosomes (iLE) provided by the present invention includes preparing a cell culture containing prescribed cultured cells; supplying at least once an artificially produced synthetic peptide to the cell culture and culturing the cell culture for a prescribed interval; and obtaining exosomes produced by the cultured cells following culturing. Here, the synthetic peptide is provided with: (1) an exosome-inducing peptide sequence and (2) a CPP sequence, and has a total number of amino acid residues of 100 or less.

Exosomes are membrane vesicles having a diameter of about 20 nm to 200 nm that are known to be secreted from various cells in the body or cultured cells. The interior thereof (namely, the lumen portion) as well as the membrane structure portion that composes the exosome contains various proteins, and the function of exosomes is known to diversify according to the types of these proteins.
In recent years, research has been proceeding on the application of exosomes to the medical field (such as research relating to drug delivery technology using exosomes as carriers). One example of this is technology relating to a method of forming exosomes from cells (such as cells isolated from tissue). More specifically, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2018-64550 discloses a method of forming artificial exosomes by bringing isolated stem cells into contact with prostaglandin E receptor-4 (EP4) antagonist.
In the case of attempting to apply exosomes to the medical field, there are cases in which technology is required to alter the amount of proteins contained in those exosomes depending on their application. For example, in the case of examining the use of exosomes as drug delivery carriers, it is preferable that substances other than the target drug or other introduced substance not be present, or be present in as low amount as possible, in the exosome to serve as a carrier. Consequently, technology is required for preliminarily reducing the amount of native protein present in the exosome to serve as a carrier. However, it has been difficult for conventional technology to easily and reliably reduce the amount of native protein present in exosomes produced during the production of exosomes serving as carriers.
Therefore, the present invention was created in order to solve the above-mentioned problems in the case of using exosomes as drug delivery carriers, and an object thereof is to provide a method of producing exosomes from prescribed cultured cells that is able to provide induced lightweight exosomes (iLE) in which the content of native protein present in the exosomes (namely, miscellaneous proteins capable of inherently being present) has been preliminarily reduced. In addition, another object of the present invention is to provide induced lightweight exosomes (iLE) produced according to this production method.


A male terminal fitting and a method of manufacturing the same is disclosed as including a plate-shaped contact protrusion (11, 31, 41, 51) formed at one side for mating with a female terminal fitting, and a conductor clamping portion (12, 32, 42, 52) located at the other side for clamping a conductor of an electric wire. The plate-shaped contact protrusion includes a base plate component (14, 34, 44, 54) extending from the conductor clamping portion in a longitudinally elongated shape, and an overlapping fold plate component (15, 35, 36, 45, 46, 55) laterally extending from a side of the base plate component. The plate-shaped contact protrusion further includes a flatness securing plate component (16, 35, 44, 56) laterally extending from the base plate component and overlaps with the overlapping fold plate component to ensure flatness conditions of the base plate component and the overlapping fold plate component. In the method, a plurality of sequentially arrayed male terminal fittings are formed by stamping operation and a forming operation is implemented to form each of the terminal fittings into final shapes, respectively.

The present invention relates to male terminal fittings and, more particularly, a male terminal fitting having a contact protrusion and a method of manufacturing the same.
Various attempts have heretofore been undertaken to develop a male terminal fitting of the type having a plate-shaped contact protrusion as disclosed in FIGS. 1 and 2. In such a male terminal fitting, the plate-shaped contact segment 1 is fabricated first by stamping a conductive thin metal sheet in a developed stage and subsequently bending the thin metal sheet into a final product. In particular, the plate-shaped contact protrusion 1 is comprised of an elongated base plate component 2, and an overlapping fold plate component laterally extending from one end of the base plate component and folded to lie over the base plate component 2. A distal end 3a of the overlapping fold plate component 3 is further folded toward the base plate component 2 such that a tabular portion 4 is formed. The presence of the hollow portion 4 enables the plate-shaped contact protrusion 1 to have a desired thickness L1 even when using the thin sheet material.
However, since the tabular portion 4 is internally formed when forming the overlapping fold plate component 3 toward the base plate component 2, central portions of the base plate component 2 and the overlapping fold plate component 3 are caused to be collapsed in depths L2, L3, respectively, due to external press forces exerted thereto during the forming operation as shown in FIG. 2.
With such deformations, the base plate component 2 and the overlapping fold plate component 3 do not have desired flatness, resulting in a decrease in contact surface areas against mating walls of an associated female terminal fitting with a degraded reliability in electrical contact.
To address such an issue, another attempt has been proposed to develop a male terminal fitting whose plate-shaped contact protrusion is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, wherein a base plate component has a longitudinal extension 7 which is folded back to form an overlapped structure on which overlapping plate components 6, 6 are folded inward to lie on the overlapped structure as disclosed in Japanese Patent Provisional Publication NO. 10-3956. With such a structure, even when the plate-shape contact protrusion is exerted with the external press forces, the presence of the overlapped structure 7, which is laminated with the overlapping plate components 6, 6, avoids the central portions of the base plate component 2 and the overlapping plate components 6, 6 from being collapsed.
However, with a particular structure proposed in such a Japanese Provisional Publication, the presence of the longitudinal extension 7, which longitudinally extends from the distal end of the base plate component, needs an elongated sheet material with a remarkably increased width, causing an increase in a material cost and an increase in waste material.
Further, the presence of a bending step for bending the longitudinal extension 7 such that it is folded back to the base plate component 5 is reflected in an increase in the number of bending formation steps, thereby increasing the manufacturing cost of the male terminal fitting.
The present invention has been made with a view to addressing the above issues and has an object to provide a male terminal fitting and a method of manufacturing the same which is reliable in ensuring a flatness in a base plate component and an overlapping fold plate component while enabling the male terminal fitting to be manufactured at a low material cost and a low manufacturing cost.
To achieve the above object, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a male terminal fitting comprising: a plate-shape contact protrusion formed at one side of said male terminal fitting for mating with a female terminal fitting; and a conductor clamping portion located at the other side of said male terminal fitting to allow a conductor of an electric wire to be clamped; wherein said plate-shaped contact protrusion includes a base plate component longitudinally extending from said conductor clamping portion in an elongated plate shape, an overlapping fold plate component laterally extending from one side of said base plate component and folded to overlap with said base plate component, and a flatness securing plate component overlapping with said base plate component and said overlapping fold plate component to enhance flatness conditions of said base plate component and said overlapping fold plate component, respectively.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a male terminal fitting comprising: a plate-shape contact protrusion formed at one side of said male terminal fitting for mating with a female terminal fitting; and a conductor clamping portion located at the other side of said male terminal fitting for clamping a conductor of an electric wire; wherein said plate-shaped contact protrusion includes a base plate component longitudinally extending from said conductor clamping portion in an elongated plate shape, a first overlapping fold plate component laterally extending from one side of said base plate component and folded in one direction toward the other end of said base plate component to overlap with said base plate component, and a second overlapping fold plate component which extends from said first overlapping fold plate component at a position close to the other end of said base plate component and which is folded back in another direction opposed to said one direction to overlap with said first overlapping fold plate component; and wherein said first overlapping fold plate component serves as a flatness securing plate component to ensure flatness conditions of said base plate component and said second overlapping fold plate component, respectively.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a male terminal fitting comprising: a plate-shaped contact protrusion formed at one side of said male terminal fitting for mating with a female terminal fitting; and a conductor clamping portion located at the other side of said male terminal fitting for clamping a conductor of an electric wire; wherein said plate-shape contact protrusion includes a base plate component longitudinally extending from said conduct clamping portion in an elongated plate shape, a first overlapping fold plate component laterally extending from one side of said base plate component and folded in one direction toward the other end of said base plate component to overlap with said base plate component, and a second overlapping fold plate component which extends from the other end of said base plate component and which is folded back in another direction opposed to said one direction to overlap with said base plate component; and wherein said base plate component serves as a flatness securing plate component to ensure flatness conditions of said first and second overlapping fold plate components, respectively.
In other words, according to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a male terminal fitting comprising: plate-shaped contact means formed at one side of said male terminal fitting for mating with a female terminal fitting; and conductor clamping means located at the other side of said male terminal fitting for clamping a conductor of an electric wire; wherein said plate-shaped contact means includes base means longitudinally extending from said conduct clamping means in an elongated plate shape, overlapping fold means laterally extending from one side of said base means and folded to overlap with said base means, and flatness securing means overlapping with said base means and said overlapping fold means to enhance flatness conditions of said base means and said overlapping fold means, respectively.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a male terminal fitting comprising: plate-shaped contact means formed at one side of said male terminal fitting for mating with a female terminal fitting; and conductor clamping means located at the other side of said male terminal fitting for clamping a conductor of an electric wire; wherein said plate-shaped contact means includes base means longitudinally extending from said conductor clamping means in an elongated plate shape, first overlapping fold means laterally extending from one side of said base means and folded in one direction toward the other end of said base means to overlap with said base means, and second overlapping fold means which extends from said first overlapping fold means at a position close to the other end of said base means and which is folded back in another direction opposed to said one direction to overlap with said first overlapping fold means; and wherein said first overlapping fold means serves as flatness securing means to ensure flatness conditions of said base means and said second overlapping fold means, respectively.
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a male terminal fitting comprising: plate-shaped contact means formed at one side of said male terminal fitting for mating with a female terminal fitting; and conductor clamping means located at the other side of said male terminal fitting for clamping a conductor of an electric wire; wherein said plate-shaped contact means includes base means longitudinally extending from said conductor clamping means in an elongated plate shape, first overlapping fold means laterally extending from one side of said base means and folded in one direction toward the other end of said base means to overlap with said base means, and second overlapping fold means which extends from the other end of said base means and which is folded back in another direction opposed to said one direction to overlap with said base means; and wherein said base means serves as flatness securing means to ensure flatness conditions of said first and second overlapping fold means, respectively.
On the other hand, a first male terminal fitting manufacturing method of the present invention comprises: preparing a blank sheet of elongated conductive metal sheet; stamping said elongated conductive metal sheet to form a plurality of sequentially arrayed terminal fittings, in developed states, which are integrally connected to a carrier, each of said terminal fittings including a conductor clamping portion extending from said carrier, a clamping body connected to said conductor clamping portion, and a plate-shaped contact protrusion which is composed of a base plate component longitudinally extending from said conductor clamping portion via said clamping body, a flatness securing plate component laterally extending from one side of said base plate component, and a overlapping fold plate component laterally extending from the other side of said base plate; and
forming said conductor clamping portion, said clamping body band said plate-shaped contact protrusion into respective final shapes; wherein, after said forming step, said flatness securing plate overlaps with said overlapping fold plate component to ensure flatness conditions of said base plate component and said overlapping plate component, respectively.
A second male terminal fitting manufacturing method of the present invention comprises: preparing a blank sheet of elongated conductive metal sheet; stamping said elongated conductive metal sheet to form a plurality of sequentially arrayed terminal fittings, in developed states, which are integrally connected to a carrier, each of said terminal fittings including a conductor clamping portion extending from said carrier, a clamping body connected to said conductor clamping portion, and a plate-shaped contact protrusion which is composed of a base plate component longitudinally extending from said conductor clamping portion via said clamping body, a first overlapping plate component laterally extending from one side of said base plate component, and a second overlapping fold plate component laterally extending from the other side of said base plate; and
forming said connecting segment, said clamping body and said plate-shaped contact protrusion into respective final shapes; wherein, after said forming step, said base plate component overlaps with said first and second overlapping fold plate components and serves as a flatness securing plate component to ensure flatness conditions of said first and second overlapping fold plate components, respectively.
A third male terminal fitting manufacturing method of the present invention comprises: preparing a blank sheet of elongated conductive metal sheet; stamping said elongated conductive metal sheet to form a plurality of sequentially arrayed terminal fittings, in developed states, which are integrally connected to a carrier, each of said terminal fittings including a conductor clamping portion extending from said carrier, a clamping body connected to said conductor clamping portion, and a plate-shaped contact protrusion which is composed of a base plate component longitudinally extending from said conductor clamping portion via said clamping body, a flatness securing plate component laterally extending from one side of said base plate component, and an overlapping folding plate component laterally extending from the other side of said base plate; and forming said conductor clamping portion, said clamping body band said plate-shaped contact protrusion into respective final shapes; wherein, after said forming step, said flatness securing plate component overlaps with said base plate component and said overlapping fold component to ensure flatness conditions of said base plate component and said overlapping fold plate component, respectively.

Male terminal fitting and method of manufacturing the same


A power operable bone facing cutter has a body with a pilot hole or stem for orientation with the bone to be faced. A cutter disk is removably fastened to the working end of the body and has a cutting edge lying in a plane perpendicular to the pilot axis. The cutting edge extends from a circle centered on the axis, outward to an outer circular edge. The cutting edge is at an angle with respect to a radius from the axis to cut toward the axis as the cutter is rotated. A chip escape slot is provided in the disk and body above the cutting edge. The rest of the bottom surface of the cutter disk is flat to provide a supporting surface spaced at a gage height from the plane of the cutting edge to provide optimum cutting while the supporting surface prevents excessively rapid or deep cutting, thus producing a skiving action.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to orthopedic surgery, and more particularly to tools intended to provide smooth faces on bone surfaces to facilitate installation and anchoring of artificial joint implants and the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A U.S. Pat. No. 2,785,673 issued Mar. 19, 1957 to Anderson discloses a femoral prosthesis and method of installation of it. One of the steps in the procedure is to employ a facer tool 35 which has cutting blades 35' on its lower face as shown on FIG. 8. This tool is rotated on stem 34 to cut a flat face 37 at the upper end of the femur 22 on which the head 39 (FIG. 6) of the prosthesis can be seated.
A more recent U.S. Pat. No. 4,467,801 issued Aug. 28, 1984 to Whiteside shows a similar, hand operated plateau planer having an abraded surface 31 with a plurality of cutting ridges 32 (FIGS. 3 and 4) to provide a flat surface 62 on the tibia to receive and support a tibial prosthesis.
When such planing tools are used by hand, the procedure is comparatively slow and unsatisfactory. When such tools are powered, the tool performance is not particularly satisfactory. For example, there is an accumulation of bone cuttings which inhibit good cutting action. The tendency of the tool operator is to apply more pressure. This, combined with the additional time required, generates heat at the bone surface being treated, which can result in thermal damage to the bone. It can also cause bone perimeter damage, more particularly fragmentation at the edge of the surface. It is an object of the present invention to improve cutting efficiency for bone facing operations to reduce time and effort and avoid a tendency toward bone damage in such operations.


A method of assembling a connection for branched radiator coolant hose in which the hoses to be connected are adhered onto the ends of a T-shaped connector. Then a capsule of rubber is molded around the area of the connection and cured to form a unitary and integral connection.

Coolant systems on internal combustion engines in general, and on automotive engines in particular, are increasingly relying on the use of branched hoses. A branched rubber hose is a difficult article to manufacture with efficiency in great numbers, and many previous attempts at manufacturing such hoses have resulted in products that were not entirely reliable against leakage once the system was pressurized. The junction of a branched radiator hose is the weakest point in the system as far as leakage is concerned, and although many ingenious methods have been devised of branching hoses, this still remains a problem. A branched hose junction should preferably have extra features of construction incorporated into its design to meet the known deficiencies associated with branched hoses, and yet have an esthestically acceptable exterior appearance.


A pneumatic play ball that includes an outer casing of non-stretchable material having a slit therein, the configuration of the casing depending on the nature of the ball. The casing encases a balloon of stretchable material which when unconfined is capable of being inflated to assume a generally globular form, the balloon having an air-passage stem. In its uninflated state, the balloon is inserted into the casing through an open port created by dilating the slit, the stem then projecting out of the port. After the confined balloon is inflated by blowing air through its stem to cause the balloon to conform to the inner surface of the casing and to assume the same configuration, the stem is knotted to seal the balloon. The knotted stem is pushed under the slit which, because the casing is subjected to tension by the inflated balloon confined therein, causes the slit to recover its undilated, substantially closed state whereby no portion of the encased balloon can be extruded from the casing when the ball bounces.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates generally to pneumatic play balls, and more particularly to a light weight play ball whose inner inflatable bladder is an ordinary rubber balloon, yet the ball is of exceptional strength so that it may be subjected to rough handling.
2. Status of Prior Art
A standard football is of oval shape and is made of an inflatable, high strength inner bladder and an outer casing formed of heavy leather, rubber or flexible plastic material. The bladder is provided with a valve so that it can be inflated with air, the valve automatically closing to retain the air in the bladder. Made in a similar fashion are spherical soccer balls, volley balls and basketballs. In these standard balls, the bladder is molded to assume, when inflated, the same shape as the outer casing.
In the process of play, standard sports play balls of the pneumatic type are tossed, kicked and bounced, the balls being capable of withstanding very rough handling. While such balls are not regarded by adults as unduly heavy, they represent an intolerable load to a young child. Moreover, a standard inflatable athletic ball tends to produce a "hand sting." This effect arises when the ball which has a hard casing is caught by the bare hands while moving at high velocity.
While small children are attracted to conventional athletic balls and enjoy watching adults play soccer, football and other ball games, in the hands of a small child these athletic balls are heavy and dangerous, especially in indoor play. The standard inflated athletic ball has a relatively large diameter and a smooth, hard outer casing which makes it very difficult for a small child to grasp, throw and catch.
The toy and game industry has long recognized the need for a lighter, softer and potentially less dangerous ball for young children. Thus, balls in various shapes and sizes are not commercially available which are molded of polyurethane foam material and other light-weight compressible plastics. While such balls are safe in the hands of pre-school children and will inflict no harm even if the ball is hurled toward the body of another child, they fail in many respects to satisfy the typical child's desire for a ball that looks like a real athletic ball of the type used by adults, that is bouncy and is not an unconvincing substitute for a regulation ball.
Thus the soft play balls described in the Wexler U.S. Pat. No. 4,738,450 are provided with an outer casing an an inner core of shredded fibrous material. But such balls, while they look like a standard athletic ball, lack pneumatic characteristics and do not bounce.
Another practical drawback of a conventional inflatable play ball is that it cannot readily be collapsed, flattened out and folded to form a compact package. If, therefore, one wishes to take a conventional play ball to a park or beach for use by children, one must carry the ball in its inflated condition. This presents a problem if the parents accompanying the children are already loaded with folding chairs, picnic baskets and other articles appropriate to the occasion.
My prior U.S. Pat. No. 4,834,382 (Spector) discloses a pneumatic play ball that has the configuration and appearance of a standard pneumatic athletic ball, such as a regulation basketball. Yet the patented ball is much lighter and therefore in the hands of young children is safer to play with, especially in indoor play. Despite its light weight, the ball is exceptionally strong. And when not in use, the Spector ball may be collapsed into a highly compact form.
The Spector ball is constituted by an outer casing and an inner inflatable bladder. The outer casing is formed by contoured segments of high strength, non-stretchable fabric material stitched together to define, when the casing is fully expanded, a play ball of the desired shape and size, such as a football or soccer ball. The inner bladder is a conventional thin-skin rubber balloon whose stem initially projects through an opening in the casing which is provided with a closure.
The stem, after the balloon is inflated with air so that it conforms to the casing, is then tied into a knot to retain the air, the tied stem being pushed into the casing and being concealed by the closure. Because the balloon is fully encased, no portion thereof can be extruded from the casing when the ball is bounced and the internal pressure within the balloon is increased.
Thus when the Spector ball is assembled, no portion of the inflated balloon therein is exposed, for the balloon, including its stem, is then enclosed by the outer casing. An un-encased rubber balloon has little strength and is easily burst by applying external pressure to one region thereof, as a result of which the unpressed region is caused to stretch to its bursting point. But when the inflated balloon is confined within a non-stretchable fabric casing, even though the balloon, per se, is inherently weak, because of the casing does not permit any region of the balloon to further expand beyond its existing degree of expansion, the balloon will not burst even if a heavy adult sits on the ball or the ball is given a hard kick.
The reason the Spector ball has high bounce characteristics is that its internal air pressure is much higher than a conventional beach ball made of a non-stretchable plastic film. In the conventional beach ball, it takes little pressure to blow it up, for the plastic sphere offers little resistance to expansion until it is fully inflated, at which point since the material is non-stretchable, it cannot be further inflated. But with a stretchable rubber balloon, it takes much more air pressure to stretch the rubber from its initial state to its stretched and inflated state, as a consequence of which the internal air pressure in the Spector ball is much higher than in a conventional beach ball. The bounce characteristics of a pneumatic ball is a function of its internal air pressure. Thus in a standard tennis ball, when the internal air pressure is reduced as a result of gradual air leakage, the ball becomes "dead" and then has insufficient bounce for the game.
In the Spector ball, the opening in the casing must be large enough to permit insertion therethrough of an uninflated rubber balloon, and also to permit withdrawal from the casing of the balloon after it has been deflated by puncturing the balloon. While this makes it necessary, in order to reuse the ball, to insert therein a fresh balloon, the cost of a typical rubber balloon lies in the penny range.
The Spector patent discloses an opening in the casing and a separate closure therefor such as a zipper or Velcro fastener. Closures of these types need only add to the cost of fabricating the casing but they also have practical drawbacks. Thus a Velcro fastener necessarily protrudes somewhat above the surface of the casing, while in the case of a zipper, its pull tag will dangle from the casing.
The following patents disclose pneumatic articles which make use of rubber balloons and are therefore of prior art interest: U.S. Pat. Nos. Hendershott, 4,917,382; Murphy, 1,558,200; Hendry, 1,383,115.


An assembly using horizontally oriented heat exchange pipes (10, 10a) and a blower unit (11) for providing heated air adjacent to a furnace (100) and hot water heater (102) is described. The blower unit includes heat exchanger pipes with a downwardly inclined section (10d) and an upwardly inclined section (10e) from horizontal to and from a low point (10c) with a drain (12) for condensed liquids from the flue products exhaust pipe (10a) at the low point. The drain removes condensed liquids which are highly corrosive from the exhaust products pipe without allowing flue gases to pass through the drain.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improvement in heat exchange pipes which exhaust flue products from and provides preheated combustion air to a furnace. In particular the present invention relates to an improvement in such heat exchange pipes which are horizontally oriented to extend outside of a building.
2. Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 4,262,608 to Jackson shows a blower unit for providing heated combustion air around a furnace through heat exchange pipes with an air intake pipe surrounding a flue products exhaust pipe from the furnace so as to provide heated air around a furnace in a building. One variation described includes heat exchange pipes which are horizontally oriented to extend outside the building. This construction is particularly advantageous where an existing building is to be retrofitted with the blower unit and heat exchange pipes. The blower unit of U.S. Pat. No. 4,262,608 works very well; however, a problem arose in that water condensing in the inner flue products exhaust pipe contained SO.sub.x and other absorbed combustion products from the fuel (natural gas or oil) which are highly corrosive. As a result, the exhaust product pipe could be perforated, thus allowing flue products to escape into the outer air intake pipe which was hazardous. Thus there was a need to solve this problem in a manner which was simple and economical.

Heat exchange pipes for a furnace system


The series resistance of a CPP read head having in-stack biasing has been reduced by stitching the AFM layer through a high conductance layer. Both the AFM and high conductance layers have significantly larger cross-sectional areas than the high conductance layer of prior art structures so the contribution, to the total resistance of the device, from the AFM layer as well as from spreading resistance at the stack-lead interface, is significantly reduced. The high conductance layer provides sufficient ferromagnetic coupling to enable the AFM to stabilize the in-stack bias layer. A process to manufacture the device is also described.

The principle governing the operation of most current magnetic read heads is the change of resistivity of certain materials in the presence of a magnetic field (magneto-resistance). Magneto-resistance can be significantly increased by means of a structure known as a spin valve or SV. The resulting increase (known as Giant Magneto-Resistance or GMR) derives from the fact that electrons in a magnetized solid are subject to significantly less scattering by the lattice when their own magnetization vectors (due to spin) are parallel (as opposed to anti-parallel) to the direction of magnetization of their environment.
The key elements of a spin valve are a low coercivity (free) ferromagnetic layer, a non-magnetic spacer layer, and a high coercivity ferromagnetic layer. The latter is usually formed out of a soft ferromagnetic layer that is pinned magnetically by a nearby layer of antiferromagnetic material (AFM). Additionally, a synthetic antiferromagnet (formed by sandwiching an antiferromagnetic coupling layer between two antiparallel ferromagnetic layers) may be used as the pinned layer. This results in an increase in the size of the pinning field so that a more stable pinned layer is obtained.
When the free layer is exposed to an external magnetic field, the direction of its magnetization is free to rotate according to the direction of the external field. After the external field is removed, the magnetization of the free layer will stay at a direction, which is dictated by the minimum energy state, determined by the crystalline and shape anisotropy, current field, coupling field and demagnetization field. If the direction of the pinned field is parallel to the free layer, electrons passing between the free and pinned layers, suffer less scattering. Thus, the resistance in this state is lower. If, however, the magnetization of the pinned layer is anti-parallel to that of the free layer, electrons moving from one layer into the other will suffer more scattering so the resistance of the structure will increase. The change in resistance of a spin valve is typically 8-20%.
Early GMR devices were designed to measure the resistance of the free layer for current flowing parallel to the film's plane. More recently, devices that measure current flowing perpendicular to the plane (CPP) have replaced them. For devices depending on in-plane current, the signal strength is diluted by parallel currents flowing through the other layers of the GMR stack, so these layers should have resistivities as high as possible while the resistance of the leads into and out of the device need not be particularly low. In contrast, in a CPP device, the resistance of the leads and of the other GMR stack layers dominate and must be as low as possible.
Although the layers enumerated above are all that is needed to produce the GMR effect, additional problems remain. In particular, there are certain noise effects associated with such a structure. Magnetization in a layer can be irregular because of reversible breaking of magnetic domain walls, leading to the phenomenon of Barkhausen noise. The solution to this problem has been to provide a device structure conducive to ensuring that the free layer is a single domain and to ensure that the domain configuration remains unperturbed after processing and fabrication steps and under normal operation. For CIP devices this is usually accomplished by giving the structure a permanent longitudinal bias provided by two opposing permanent magnets located at the sides of the device.
As track widths grow very small (<0.2 microns), the above biasing configuration has been found to no longer be suitable since the strong magnetostatic coupling at the track edges also pins the free layer which drastically reduces the SV sensitivity. The solution to this problem that has been adopted by the prior art is illustrated in FIG. 1. Shown there is a magnetic read head whose bottom lead is also bottom magnetic shield 11 on which have been deposited pinning layer 13 and pinned layer 14. As noted earlier, the latter is typically a trilayer of two magnetically antiparallel ferromagnetic layers separated by a layer of an antiferromagnetic coupling material such as ruthenium.
Non-magnetic layer 16, which is usually copper, has been given the shape of a pedestal or disc over whose center the GMR stack has been formed. The latter consists of free layer 17 which has been given its stabilizing bias by bias ferromagnetic layer (BFL) 19. It is important that this stabilizing bias be provided by a magnetostatic field and not by exchange coupling so thin non-magnetic decoupling layer 18 has been inserted between layers 17 and 19. The magnetization of BFL 19 is stabilized by being contacted by a second pinning layer, antiferromagnetic layer 20 while layer 15 is insulating material to provide internal support for the structure.
Layer 21 is a high conductance layer that provides electrical connection to top magnetic shield 12 that also serves as the top lead. To simplify manufacturing the structure seen in FIG. 1, conductive layer 21 is given the same shape and area as the remainder of the GMR stack. Since the top lead/shield 12 is made of relatively high electrical resistivity material, there is a significant spreading resistance, associated with the passage of current from layer 21 into layer 12, which contributes to the overall series resistance of the CPP unit. An another significant contribution to the series resistance comes from layer 20 because of its relatively high resistivity and small cross-sectional area.
The following reference of interest was found during a routine search of the prior art: Frederick Hayes Dill et al, U.S. Pat. No. 6,023,395 2000.

Stitching of AFM and channeling layers for in-stack biasing CPP


A guiding system includes a capsule medical device including a permanent magnet; a magnetic field generating unit to generate a magnetic field to the magnet to guide the capsule, and change a direction of the magnetic field in a three-dimensional space; and a control unit to control the magnetic field generated by the generating unit. Where the capsule is located on a liquid surface, the control unit generates a first magnetic field such that a plane, which is parallel to a vertical axis and in which a magnetic field including a rotating magnetic field where a magnetic field is rotated on the plane is generated, pivots about the vertical axis at a predetermined period and a second magnetic field for generating a magnetic attracting force for moving the magnet vertically downward to submerge the capsule in the liquid, the first and second magnetic fields being applied at a same time.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a capsule medical device guiding system for guiding a capsule medical device, which is introduced into a liquid in a subject and equipped with a permanent magnet, and a magnetic field generating device for generating a magnetic field for the capsule medical device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, in the field of endoscopes, capsule endoscopes that include an imaging function and a wireless communication function in a capsule-shaped casing having a size introducible into an alimentary canal of a subject such as a patient have been developed. Such a capsule endoscope is swallowed through the mouth of a subject, and then is moved in the alimentary canal through peristaltic movement. The capsule endoscope sequentially acquires images (hereinafter, also referred to as in-vivo images) of internal organs of a subject, and wirelessly transmits the acquired in-vivo images to a receiving device outside the subject in sequence, during a time period until the capsule endoscope is excreted to the outside of the subject after being introduced into the alimentary canal of the subject.
The in-vivo images captured by the capsule endoscope are input to an image display unit via the receiving device. The image display unit displays the input in-vivo images on a display in the form of still images or moving images. A user such as a doctor or a nurse observes various in-vivo images of the subject displayed on the image display unit, and examines the internal organs of the subject through observation of the in-vivo images.
Further, in recent years, guiding systems for guiding (hereinafter, referred to as magnetically guiding) a capsule endoscope in a subject by using a magnetic force are being suggested. In general, in such a guiding system, the capsule endoscope further includes a permanent magnet within a capsule-shaped casing, and an image display unit displays various in-vivo images sequentially captured by the capsule endoscope within the subject in real time. The guiding system of the capsule endoscope applies a magnetic field for the capsule endoscope within the subject, and magnetically guides the capsule endoscope within the subject to a desired location due to a magnetic attracting force received by the applied magnetic field. The user manipulates magnetic guidance of the capsule endoscope by using a manipulation input unit of the system while referring to the in-vivo images displayed on the image display unit.
For example, a magnetic guiding system for a capsule endoscope which applies a rotating magnetic field for rotating about a horizontal axis center of a long axis of the capsule endoscope and reciprocally rotates the capsule endoscope about the horizontal axis center of the long axis, in order to submerge the capsule endoscope located on a liquid surface into a liquid against a surface tension of the liquid surface has been suggested (see, for example, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2010-017555). Further, a technology of applying a magnetic field for pivoting a capsule endoscope in a long axis direction of the capsule endoscope while rotating the capsule endoscope about a long axis of the capsule endoscope has been suggested (see, for example, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2005-058430).

Capsule medical device guiding system and magnetic field generating device


A static random access memory with a double vertical channel structure capable of providing a highly integrated memory element and a method of the same. On a substrate of a first conductivity type, first and second layers of the same conductivity type are formed, in order. On respective surfaces of the three layers, impurity diffusion regions are formed, centers of which are located on a vertical line. The first layer having the second impurity diffusion region and the second layer having the third impurity diffusion region are removed at their center portions, except for their opposite side portions, thereby forming trenches. In these trenches, gate electrodes and a ground electrode are formed. Accordingly, the first impurity diffusion region and the remaining opposite side portions of second and third impurity diffusion regions become source/drain regions, while the remaining opposite side portions of first and second layers become a double vertical channel region.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention-relates to a static random access memory, and more particularly to a static random access memory with a double vertical channel structure suitable for a highly integrated memory element and a method of the same.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Among various semiconductor memory elements, dynamic random access memories have only one transistor and one capacitor in every memory cell, whereas static random access memories (SRAM) have four transistors and two load resistors made of polysilicon material or six transistors in every memory cell. Due to such a complex structure, SRAMs are very restricted by the degree of integration. In order to solve this problem, research for developing highly integrated SRAMs is actively progressing.
FIG. 3 illustrates a circuit of a conventional SRAM cell. As shown in FIG. 3, the SRAM includes four transistors Q1 to Q4 and two load resistors R1 and R2 in every memory cell, all being connected with one another.
The operation of the SRAM having the structure of FIG. 3 will now be described. First, in a write operation, a source voltage V.sub.DD from a power source is applied to a word line W/L. At the same time, a bit line BL is also supplied with the source voltage V.sub.DD (that is, a Critical voltage V.sub.th), while a bit line BL is supplied with 0 V. The voltage from the bit line BL is applied to a node a, via the transistor Q1, while the voltage from the bit line BL is applied to a node b, via the transistor Q2. The voltages applied to nodes a and b are applied to transistors Q4 and Q3, as gate voltages, respectively. As the voltage V.sub.DD from the bit line BL supplied to the node a is applied to the transistor Q4 as the gate voltage, the transistor Q4 is turned on. On the other hand, since the voltage (0 V) from the bit line BL supplied to the node b is applied to the transistor Q3 as the gate voltage, the transistor Q3 is turned off. Thus, one data bit is stored.
On the other hand, in a stand-by state, an electric charge is charged in capacitive components which are formed parasitically at nodes a and b. At this time, the word line W/L is supplied with 0 V, so that gate voltages of transistors Q3 and Q4 become 0 V, thereby causing the transistors Q3 and Q4 to be turned off. However, a leakage current is presented in capacitive components of nodes a and b, so that electric charges of capacitor components are gradually discharged into the ground GND. As a result, if the leaked electric charge is not supplied, data stored In the SRAM disappears. In order to avoid this phenomenon, load resistors R1 and R2 are connected between the power source V.sub.DD and the node a and between the power source V.sub.DD and the node b, respectively. With such an arrangement, electric charge corresponding to the amount of leaked electric charge is supplied, so that a constant quantity of electric charge tan be maintained in the parasitic capacitive components.
In read operation, the word line W/L is supplied again with the source voltage V.sub.DD which is then distributed to nodes a and b and bit lines BL and BL. At this time, the voltage at bit line BL is relatively high, while the voltage at bit line BL is relatively low, because the electric charge from the bit line BL is discharged via transistors Q2 and Q4 into the ground GND. Accordingly, the data read operation of the SRAM is to sense the voltage difference between bit lines BL and BL. At this time, the voltage of bit line BL is determined by resistance values of transistors Q2 and Q4 at their ON-states. The lower the resistance value of transistor Q4 at its ON-state, the lower the voltage of node b. At the higher resistance value of transistor Q2 at its ON-state, the influence of the voltage of bit line BL on the voltage of node b is reduced. As a result, it is possible to prevent efficiently an inversion of data in the read operation.
FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a typical conventional SRAM. A method of making this SRAM will now be described, in conjunction with FIG. 4.
First, a silicon substrate 50 having a high resistance is subjected to an ion injection and then a diffusion, thereby forming p-type wells 51 and 52 thereon. Subsequently, a LOCOS (local oxidation of silicon) process is performed, to form field regions 53 for isolating transistors from one another. On the entire surfaces of p-type wells 51 and 52 and field regions 53 is grown a gate oxide film 54. On the gate oxide film 54 is deposited a polysilicon layer which is then subjected to a photo lithography method and an etching method, to form gate electrodes 55.
Although not shown in FIG. 4, a side wall may be then formed on the side surface of each gate electrode 55, so as to produce a transistor having a lightly doped drain structure. Source/drain regions 56 are formed at opposite sides of each gate electrode 55, by injecting n-type ions into p-type wells 51 and 52 disposed at the sides and then diffusing them.
On the entire exposed surfaces, an oxide film 57 is deposited using a CVD (chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. The oxide film 57 is then subjected to the photo lithography method and the etching method, thereby forming interconnection lines for connecting transistors with one another and buried contacts to which source/drains 56 are connected.
Thereafter, a polysilicon layer is deposited on the entire exposed surface by using the CVD method. The polysilicon layer is subjected to the photo lithography method and the etching method, thereby forming interconnection lines 58. Ions of a conductivity opposite to that of the interconnection lines 58 are injected into the remaining polysilicon layer thereby forming load resistors 59.
By using the CVD method, a boron phosphorous silicate glass (BPSG) layer is deposited on the entire exposed surface. The BPSG layer 60 is subjected to the photo lithography method and the etching method so that buried contacts are formed above source/drain regions.
Subsequently, an aluminum layer is deposited on the entire exposed surface, using the CVD method, and then subjected to the photo lithography method and the etching method, to remove unnecessary portions thereof, thereby forming source/drain electrodes 61. On the entire exposed surface, a Si.sub.3 N.sub.4 film 62 is then formed as a passivation layer. Thereafter, bit lines and word lines are formed on the passivation layer. Since the formation of bit lines and word lines has no relation with the feature of the present invention, a detailed description therefor is omitted.
However, the above-mentioned conventional structure is restricted by a reduction in the memory cell size. That is, the conventional SRAM includes horizontally formed channel regions of transistors which limit a reduction in the memory cell size, since adjacent channel regions have to maintain a pitch of not less than the minimum line width therebetween. As a result, it is impossible to obtain a desired chip size and still meet the high integration of SRAM.

Method of constructing reduced size highly integrated static random access memory with double vertical channel structure