A bicycle transmission includes a hub axle, a drive member rotatably mounted around the hub axle, a hub body rotatably mounted around the hub axle, and a planetary gear mechanism coupled between the drive member and the hub body for communicating rotational force from the drive member to the hub body through multiple rotational force transmission paths. The planetary gear mechanism includes a planet gear supported by a planet gear rack for rotation around the hub axle, and a ring gear engaging the planet gear. The ring gear includes a transmission pawl that can be displaced between a first position for transmitting rotational motion between the ring gear and the hub body and a second position for inhibiting the transmission of rotational motion between the ring gear and the hub body. A clutch is mounted around the hub axle, wherein the clutch is movable in the direction of a longitudinal axis of the hub axle for selecting a rotational force transmission path through the planetary gear mechanism and for selectively operating the transmission pawl. The clutch includes a first clutch member and a second clutch member capable of movement relative to each other in the direction of the axis of the hub axle. The first clutch member and the second clutch member move relative to each other in the direction of the axis of the hub axle when the drive member rotates in a first rotational direction for causing the transmission pawl to be in the first position for transmitting rotational motion between the ring gear and the hub body.

The present invention is directed to bicycle transmissions and, more particularly, to bicycle transmissions internally mounted within a wheel hub.
A typical internally mounted bicycle transmission is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application 58-10711. The hub disclosed in that document includes a hub axle, a driver rotatably supported by the hub axle, and ring and planet gears serving as transmission paths for transmitting power to the hub body. A transmission pawl which may assume either an upright state or a reclined state is used to couple the rotational power from the driver to the hub body. More specifically, the transmission pawl transmits the rotational power of the driver to the hub body when the transmission pawl is in an upright state, typically through engagement of the transmission pawl with the inner periphery of the hub body, whereas the rotational power of the driver is not transmitted to the hub body when the transmission pawl is in the retracted state. An operating element for putting the transmission pawl into the upright state or the reclined state is operated by the displacement of a shifting rod in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the hub axle. In conventional hub transmissions, once the operating element is set to cause the transmission pawl to be in the upright state, the transmission pawl is maintained in the upright state regardless of whether driving power is being applied by the driver.
Most internal hubs are provided with coaster brakes, wherein the brakes are applied by reversing the rotation of the pedals. More specifically, when the rotation of the pedals is reversed and that of the driver is reversed to operate the coaster brakes, the brakes are applied to prevent rotation of the hub body. The pedals must be rotated in the forward direction to release the brakes and apply drive power to the rear wheel. However, if the transmission pawl is in an upright state, the transmission pawl may engage the hub body while the brakes are applied. Since the brakes prevent forward rotation of the hub body, and since the pedals are coupled to the hub body through the transmission pawl, the pedals cannot be rotated forward to release the brakes. This results in the problem referred to as brake lock, where the brakes cannot be released.
Another problem is caused by the constant engagement of the pawl with the hub body when the bicycle rolls back on an incline such as a hill. In this case the rotation of the wheel is transmitted by the pawl to the planetary gear mechanism and prevents the coaster brake from operating unless the cyclist can rotate the pedals backwardly at a faster rate than the wheels. In reality the coaster brake is almost impossible to operate in this situation.
Even in bicycles which are not equipped with coaster brakes, when the transmission pawl is brought into contact with the hub body during the reverse rotation of the driver, the transmission pawl comes into contact with the hub body, resulting in the problem of noise.


Thrombolytic hybrids are formed as covalent or non-covalent complexes of fibrin fragments and plasminogen activator molecules. Native plasmin degradation fragments of fibrin or non-native fibrin fragments are covalently or non-covalently linked to plasminogen activators such as t-PA, scu-PA, urokinase, streptokinase, and the like. Useful native fibrin fragments which may be utilized to form complexes with plasminogen activators include fragments E.sub.1, E.sub.2, E.sub.3, D and DD, and (DD)E complex. The fibrin fragment component targets the hybrid to vascular thrombi, immobilizing the plasminogen activator molecule onto the fibrin surface of the thrombus. Once localized on a thrombus surface, the plasminogen activator component of the hybrid activates only the clot-surface bound plasminogen transported by the fibrin fragment vehicle, without significant systemic activation of plasminogen. The hybrids are strong potentiators of plasminogen activator activity, generating more plasmin from fibrin-surface bound plasminogen than the plasminogen activator molecule alone. The hybrids have a longer half-life in circulation than the corresponding unprotected plasminogen activator molecules.

A safe, effective method of dissolving vascular thrombi is urgently needed, owing to the life-threatening complications of thromboembolic disease. The most common of such disorders is the formation of thrombi, in a blood vessel or heart cavity that remain at the point of formation. Thrombi in heart vessels, for example, can restrict blood flow, resulting in myocardial infarction. Coronary arteriographic studies indicate that 87% of transmural myocardial infarctions are caused by occlusive coronary artery thrombosis. DeWood et al., N. Eng. J. Med. 303:397-902 (1980).
In addition, parts of a thrombus may dislodge from its point of attachment and move through the blood vessels until it reaches a point where passage is restricted. The resulting blockage is known as a thromboembolism.
Plasminogen activators function mainly by converting the zymogen plasminogen into plasmin, which is regarded as the end stage non-specific proteolytic enzyme in fibrinolysis. Plasmin lyses the fibrin matrix and acts on other components of the thrombus as well. The efficiency of the lytic activity of exogenous plasminogen activator depends significantly on the amount of plasmin it generates from endogenous plasminogen, which is present in free-form in circulating blood and bound form on the fibrin surfaces of thrombi and hemostatic plugs. In any thrombolytic therapy, it is desirable to generate the maximum amount of plasmin on the fibrin surface i.e., plasmin immobilized on the thrombus, with a minimum quantity of plasmin (if possible, none at all) in the circulating blood. While immobilized plasmin efficiently carries out the lysis of the thrombus and helps establish reperfusion, circulating plasmin exhibits fibrinogenolytic activity, degrades platelet receptors, digests thrombospondin, and consequently decreases the platelet aggregation capacity of the patient. The result is the so called "lytic state", which is accompanied by various undesired complications.
A variety of plasminogen activators have been utilized to promote dissolution of thrombi and restoration of blood circulation to blocked vessels. However, the available plasminogen activators are far from ideal. Streptokinase, which is of bacterial origin, is antigenic. A loading dose is needed to neutralize pre-existing antistreptokinase antibodies. Streptokinase treatment must be limited in duration because of an increase in such antibody levels. Conard et al., Semin. Throm. Haemostas. 13:212-222 (1987). Streptokinase works efficiently to dissolve thrombi if administered locally, but local administration requires catheterization, which may often preclude administration promptly enough to provide significant benefit to the patient. Systemic administration of streptokinase in acute myocardial infarction causes an undesirable side effect by degrading fibrinogen and severely depleting plasminogen in the circulation. Mentzer et al., Am. J. Cardiol. 57:1220-1226 (1986).
Another widely used plasminogen activator, urokinase, is available in three forms. So called "two-chain urokinase" (hereinafter "urokinase") can be extracted from human urine or prepared from kidney cell cultures. Another form, "single-chain urokinase" or "pro-urokinase" (hereinafter "scu-PA"), a precursor of urokinase, has been isolated from human fluids and also obtained by recombinant DNA technology. A low molecular weight form of urokinase is obtained from long plasmin digestion of two-chain urokinase.
Although urokinase is not antigenic, its mechanism of plasminogen activation parallels that of streptokinase, resulting in a significant fibrinogenolytic response in the circulating blood. Single-chain urokinase has promising characteristics. However, it has not yet been adequately tested in man. In a small study of normal human subjects, scu-PA displayed fibrinolytic activity comparable to urokinase, and a lower systemic action than urokinase. Trubestein et al., Hemostasis 17:238-244 (1987).
Non-urokinase plasminogen activators, which include tissue plasminogen activator ("t-PA"), are physiologic activators of plasminogen which may be manufactured by cell culture and genetic engineering. t-PA is capable of binding fibrin, and is believed to convert plasminogen to plasmin at the fibrin surface. Thus, it works more efficiently than streptokinase or urokinase when administered systemically. However, initial clinical trials indicate that lysis of fibrinogen is still significant during administration of t-PA. Sherry, N. Engl. J. Med. 313:1014-1017 (1985).
Although it has high specificity for fibrin, t-PA has certain limitations. It has a very short biological half-life time in the circulation of humans, on the order of five minutes. Cellular clearance of t-PA by the liver is believed responsible for this limited biological half-life time. Rapid decrease of t-PA in the blood after intravenous administration constitutes a major difficulty in drug therapy with respect to maintaining an adequate concentration of the activator.
Plasma contains plasminogen activator inhibitors which can bind and inactivate plasminogen activators. Continuous infusion of large doses of t-PA are therefore necessary to overcome the effect of these inhibitors. At physiologic levels, free t-PA is bound by the plasma inhibitor, PAI-1. Wun et al., Blood 69:1354-1362 (1987). The latter has shown to be present in elevated levels in the plasma of patients with myocardial infarction, Hamsten et al., N. Engl. J. Med. 313:1557-1563 (1985); recurrent deep venous thrombosis, deJong et al., Thromb. Haemostas. 57:140-143 (1987); and coronary artery disease, Paramo et al., Br. J. Med. 291:573-574 (1985). When purified t-PA is added to plasma to create higher-than physiologic levels to overcome the inhibitory effect of PAI-1, it complexes with other inhibitors present in plasma, such as C1-inhibitor, alpha.sub.2 -antiplasmin and macroglobulin. Thorsen et al., Biochem. Biophys. Acta 802:111-118 (1984); Rijken et al., J. Lab. Clin. Med. 101:285-294 (1983); Kruithoff et al., Blood 64:907-913 (1984).
Administration of urokinase, streptokinase and t-PA results in an increased tendency for bleeding, limiting the usefulness of these agents, particularly during surgical procedures.
Streptokinase and urokinase do not have inherent fibrin specificity. They indiscriminately convert both circulating and fibrin-surface bound plasminogen into plasmin at presently-used therapeutic dosages. While t-PA and scu-PA have fibrin specificity, they have short half-life times in the blood. A high dosage must be infused over a long period of time in order to maintain a therapeutic concentration in the blood. Consequently, hemostatic imbalances are encountered. Moreover, since the specificities of t-PA and scu-PA for fibrin are not absolute, they leave a small amount of activators in the liquid phase, and some amount of plasmin is gradually produced in the circulating blood.
Complexes have been formed from urokinase and antifibrin murine monoclonal antibodies. Bode et al., Science 229:765-767 (1985); Bode et al., J. Biol. Chem. 262:10819-10823 (1987) and J. Mol. Cell Cardiol. 19:335-341 (1987). In an in vitro model of a thrombus in a circulating plasma loop, the antibody-urokinase complex displayed a greater rate of fibrinolysis than an equivalent amount of pure urokinase. However, therapeutic use of such complexes is unattractive due to the immunogenicity of murine monoclonal antibodies.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,564,596 discloses urokinase derivatives comprising urokinase covalently bonded to fibrinogen, either directly or through a specific aliphatic diamine. The derivatives are reported to have an increased affinity for fibrin and prolonged fibrinolytic effect. However, fibrinogen has procoagulant action, and may promote further development of thrombi. Thrombus-bound fibrinogen which is carrying urokinase will promote extension of the thrombus via either platelet aggregation or fibrin deposition, acting locally as a procoagulant agent. This may lead to reocclusion of the vessel.
Fibrinogen must be treated with thrombin, in order to maximize targeting to thrombi. Thus, the fibrinogen-urokinasae hybrid of U.S. Pat. No. 4,564,596 requires the presence of a thrombotic state for optimal performance. Moreover, fibrinogen is an adhesive protein, since it contains the amino acid sequence Arg-Gly-Asp. Fibrinogen binds to a variety of cells, providing a bridge between cells. Consequently, much of the injected fibrinogen-urokinase hybrid may bind to cells in the circulating blood, making less hybrid available to bind to thrombi.
Human fibrin fragment E.sub.1 binds specifically to polymers of fibrin, Olexa et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 77:1374-1378 (1980), and has the ability to bind to aged as well as fresh thrombi. Knight et al., J. Clin. Invest. 72:2007-2013 (1983). .sup.123 I-labeled fragment E.sub.1 has been used to detect venous thrombi in patients. Knight et al., Radiology 156:509-514 (1985). In addition to fragment E.sub.1, fragment E.sub.2 and peptides having an amino acid sequence intermediate between fragments E.sub.1 and E.sub.2 may be labeled to detect thrombi, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,427,646.
CNBr-digest fragments of fibrinogen have been shown to accelerate the activation of t-PA. Nieuwenhuizen et al, Biochem. Biophys. Acta 755:531-533 (1983); Lijnen et al, Eur. J. Biochem. 144:541-544 (1984); Nieuwenhuizen et al, Biochem. Biophys. Acta 748:86-92 (1983). However the fibrinogen fragments afford no protection from inactivation of t-PA by plasminogen activator inhibitors present in plasma.
What is needed is a thrombus-dissolving agent having more potent lytic activity than the known plasminogen activators, but without the disadvantages of such known activators. Ideally, a thrombolytic agent should have very high fibrin specificity, and should immobilize itself on or near the fibrin surface of a thrombus. It should activate only fibrin surface-bound plasminogen without activating circulating plasminogen. In addition, a lytic agent should have a very high potential for plasmin generation on a thrombus surface, and have a prolonged half-life time in the circulation so that lengthy, high-dose infusions are not necessary. The thrombolytic agent which has the potential to produce more plasmin from a given amount of plasminogen will perform as a better lytic agent, because the required amount of plasmin concentration on the thrombus surface can be achieved by using a smaller amount of activator units.
By "plasminogen activator" is meant any agent capable of activating the zymogen plasminogen to the fibrinolytic enzyme plasmin.
By "fibrin fragment" is meant any fragment resulting from the single or sequential plasmin cleavage of intact cross-linked or non-cross-linked fibrin ("native fibrin fragment"), and any such fragment which is further cleaved, derivatized or modified in any manner, while retaining a substantial portion of the native fragment amino acid sequence ("non-native fibrin fragment").
By the term "linked", as used herein in describing the union between a plasminogen activator and a fibrin fragment, is meant any form of chemical association or bond, including, but not limited to non-covalent complex formation, covalent bonding (including but not limited to covalent bonding by means of one or more cross-linking agents), and the like. Also included in the scope of such associations is the formation of a unitary protein by genetic engineering, resulting from the co-expression of genetic information for all or part of the fibrin fragment and plasminogen activator as a single protein.

Thrombus-targeted complexes of plasminogen activator and fibrin fragments

Temple University of the Commonwealth System of Higher Education


A threaded metal container capable of improving strength (neck portion transverse rigidity) in a direction perpendicular to a container axis at a neck portion composed of a mouth portion and a shoulder portion. The container includes a body portion, a shoulder portion, and a mouth portion. The mouth portion includes a base portion connected to an upper end of the shoulder portion, and a skirt valley portion, a skirt portion, and a threaded portion, which are above the base portion. The base portion 8 includes a protruding portion protruding radially outward and has a diameter gradually increasing downward from the skirt valley portion and a bead portion radially inwardly protruding and smoothly curving downward from the protruding portion. The bead portion circumferentially extends in a linear or dotted pattern. The bead height between the protruding portion and the bead portion in the direction perpendicular to the container axis is 0.1 to 0.6 mm.

FIG. 9 is a partial front view showing the vicinity of a mouth portion of a beverage can which is a conventional threaded metal container, and FIG. 10 is a partial cross-sectional view showing the capping process. The threaded metal can 51 has a two-piece type and a three-piece type, and each can is formed into a bottle shape through a specific manufacturing process (not shown). That is, in the case of a two-piece can, an aluminum plate is formed into a bottomed cylindrical body, and the upper end opening portion of the cylindrical body is necked to reduce the diameter. With this diameter reduction, a shoulder portion 53 inwardly inclined with respect to the container axis is formed, and a cylindrical mouth portion 54 is formed at a portion above the upper end 53a of the shoulder portion 53. Further, a cylindrical body portion 52 is formed below the shoulder portion 53. Then, by forming a threaded portion 55, a skirt portion 56, and a skirt valley portion 56a smaller in diameter than the skirt portion at the mouth portion 54 and further forming a curled portion 57 at the upper end of the mouth portion 54, a threaded metal can 51 is produced. Also, in the case of a three-piece can (not shown), the bottom portion of the cylindrical body is drawn to reduce the diameter. With this diameter reduction, a shoulder portion 53 inwardly inclined with respect to the container axis and a bottomed mouth portion 54 are formed on the bottom portion side of the cylindrical body, and a body portion 52 is formed on the opening portion side of the cylindrical body. Then, the upper end of the bottomed mouth portion 54 is cut to open. A threaded portion 55, a skirt portion 56, and a skirt valley portion 56a smaller in diameter than the skirt portion are formed at the mouth portion 54. The upper end of the mouth portion 54 is formed into a curled portion 57. By joining a bottom cover (not shown) to the lower end opening portion of the body portion 52, a threaded metal can 51 is produced. Note that a base portion 58 larger in diameter than the skirt valley portion 56a is formed below the skirt valley portion 56a in these two-piece can and three-piece can. The region from the base portion 58 to the curled portion 57 of the upper end forms the mouth portion 54, and the base portion 58 is connected to the upper end 53a of the shoulder portion 53.
After filling contents in such a threaded metal can 51, the mouth portion 54 is sealed with a metal cap 60 by a capping process shown in FIG. 10. That is, a cylindrical cap 60 is put on the mouth portion 54 and a load is applied to the can 51 in the axial direction with a pressure block 61. Then, in a state in which the contents are sealed with the cap 60 to which this axial load is being applied, from the side of the cap 60, a thread forming roller 62 is pressed along the threaded portion 55 of the can 51, and a hem bending roller 63 is pressed along the area from the skirt portion 56 to the skirt valley portion 56a of the can 51. With this, on the side wall of the cap 60, a female threaded portion 60a is formed. At the lower end of the side wall, a fastened portion 60b is formed along the step 56b between the skirt portion 56 and the skirt valley portion 56a. The sealed state of the contents is maintained until the cap 60 is unscrewed and opened. As described above, in the production process of the threaded metal can 51, when forming the female threaded portion 60a and the fastened portion 60b on the cap 60, a load is applied to the can 51 in the container axis direction with the pressure block 61, and loads are applied to the can 51 in a direction perpendicular to the container axis with the thread forming roller 62 and the hem bending roller 63.
Recently, in order to reduce the production cost of the can, there is a strong demand for thinning the thickness of the material of the can in order to reduce the amount of materials used. However, thinning the material causes a reduction of the overall strength of the threaded metal can. Particularly, since the hem bending roller 63 is directly pressed against the skirt valley portion 56a, the load applied in a direction perpendicular to the container axis causes local deformation in the neck portion composed of the mouth portion 54 and the shoulder portion 53. This local deformation is likely to occur in a can in which the outer diameter of the mouth portion is 30 mm or more, especially in a wide mouth can in which the outer diameter of the mouth portion is 35 mm or more, and that the (mouth diameter/body diameter) ratio of the outer diameter of the mouth portion to the outer diameter of the body portion is 0.5 or more, especially 0.6 or more. Therefore, especially in cases where the mouth portion is wide, since it is necessary to prevent deformation during the capping process, there was a limit to thinning of the thickness of the threaded metal can, and therefore the amount of the material used could not be reduced.
Patent Document 1 discloses a threaded metal can aimed at improving radial and axial strength of a threaded portion lower end and a shoulder portion upper end in which a single concave portion smoothly curved inward and/or a single convex portion smoothly curved outward are formed around a tapered shoulder portion upper end radially expanding from the mouth portion lower end.


Gel-forming battery separators and methods for constructing them. Particles are embedded into pores of a porous support to form a composite. The chemical make-up of surfaces of the particles includes a silanol group. The composite, when contacted with an effective amount of liquid electrolyte, is capable of forming a gelled matrix that includes electrolyte residing within the porous support. Batteries and methods of forming batteries featuring gel-forming separators are also disclosed. No pre-mixing of siliceous material with electrolyte is required facilitating battery construction.

Valve regulated ("sealed") lead acid (VRLA) batteries are known. These batteries include a plurality of positive and negative plate electrodes, as in a prismatic cell, or include layers of separator and electrode tightly wound together, known as "jelly roll" cells. The electrodes within a battery are arranged so that they alternate, negative-positive-negative, etc., with separator material between adjacent plates.
The separator, typically composed of a mat of fiberglass, serves several purposes. These include to retain electrolyte and to electrically insulate one electrode from the other. In addition, the partial saturation of the separator allows for void spaces through which gaseous oxygen may be transferred from a positive electrode, where it is generated, to a negative one, where it is consumed and reincorporated into the electrolyte. This is generally referred to as the internal oxygen cycle.
In order to establish an efficient oxygen cycle, the electrolyte should be immobilized. There are two known techniques to achieve this goal. One consists of absorbing the electrolyte within a fine fiber absorbent separator; the other is solidifying/gelling it by reaction with fine particles of, typically, fumed or colloidal silica. In this latter technique, the battery requires microporous separators to keep opposing electrodes apart. Various aspects regarding the process of gelling the electrolyte cause practical difficulties.
Some of the difficulties arise because sulfuric acid electrolyte reacts with fine silica particles quite readily. To prevent premature gel formation prior to filling the battery with a mixture of electrolyte and silica particles, the mixture may either be stirred, or chilled to about 15 degrees Celsius below the ambient temperature. Further, the amount of fine silica particles needed to gel sulfuric acid depends on the acid concentration. Thus, if a dilute sulfuric acid solution is desirable, a much larger amount of silica particles will be necessary to initiate gelation. An aqueous solution of sulfuric acid, having a specific gravity of 1.280 will require 6% of its weight in fumed silica particles to form a gel. A weaker solution, having a specific gravity of about 1.050, will require about three times as much silica to form a gel.
Two processes are currently available to the battery manufacturer to produce batteries with gelled electrolyte. One process entails assemblage of a battery with its plates already electrochemically charged, followed by filling the battery with an electrolyte having a specific gravity in the range of 1.240–1.260. Approximately 6%–9% of fine silica particles are then added to the electrolyte. To prevent gel formation, the mixture must be kept continuously stirred and/or chilled 15–20 degrees Celsius below the ambient temperature. Once filled, the batteries are recharged and the electrolyte specific gravity rises to a range between 1.270 and 1.300. The second process includes the assembly of a battery with electrochemically uncharged plates. The plates are then treated with an electrolytic solution with specific gravity in the range of 1.200–1.240 to "form" the battery. Following formation, the battery is completely discharged. In this state, the sulfate content of the plates is known to be quite high. The electrolytic solution used during formation is then removed and the battery is refilled with a mix of sulfuric acid solution, with specific gravity in the range of 1.050–1.100, and 12%–18% (by weight) of fine silica particles. The battery is then recharged. Upon completion of recharging, the electrolyte/silica will be gelled. The electrolyte specific gravity will have reached a level of 1.280–1.300.
A need exists for a battery separator which overcomes these drawbacks to current technology.


A phone case having a bottom wall, opposing side walls, and mouth and ear end walls that form a pocket with an opening having a rim for extending from ear to mouth and around the mouth to hide it from view and to muffle and block beyond the case words spoken into a phone nested therein. A sidewall portion of the rim may have a curved shape conforming generally to the contour of a human face from ear to mouth, and the pocket walls may be made of a flexible, sound absorbing material so that the rim of the opening is sufficiently deformable to conform substantially to the ear to mouth contour and form a sound seal when pressed against a human face. The ear end wall may form an ear portion of the rim for placement over an ear lobe to reduce interfering external noise.

It has become common practice for phones of all kinds, particularly cell phones, to be used in public places, such as restaurants, bars, parks, trains, and transportation terminals such as train stations and airport terminals. Phone users in public places often speak louder than usual in order to be heard by the call recipient and, whether speaking in a normal voice or louder, may be easily overheard by other persons within a relatively large radius that may be fifteen feet or greater. In addition, the mouth movement of the user is often visible to others who may be capable of reading lips. This often makes the phone user uncomfortable and often compromises privacy making the user unwilling to discuss private matters in a phone conversation in a public place, and many people near a phone user in a public place are disturbed by overhearing his or her telephone voice. Moreover, background noise may often interfere with voice and sound clarity. Therefore, there is a need for a device capable of covering a phone user's mouth and of muffling and/or blocking his or her voice beyond the case sufficiently to the make a phone conversation unintelligible to another person within a few feet of the device, even if the user is speaking louder than normal.


An objective lens for an optical disk including one lens and capable of satisfying an excellent focusing property on any of two kinds of optical disks each having a different thickness. The objective lens (2) is formed of a single lens having aspheric surfaces on both sides with the surface (3) at the side of the light source a rotationally symmetric aspheric surface. Furthermore, the surface at the side of the optical disk (6) of the objective lens (2) is divided into an inner circumference region (4) and an outer circumference region (5) and a surface (7) forming the difference in level of about 0.3 μm that is provided in parallel to the optical axis (in the direction of the optical axis) at the boundary between the inner circumference region (4) and the outer circumference region (5). The spherical aberration is corrected by the inner circumference region (4) and outer circumference (5) of the objective lens (2) corresponding to the optical disks having a different thickness.

In general, an optical head device for an optical disk often employs a single lens having an aspheric surface as an objective lens for recording or reproducing information by focusing light beams into a diffraction limited point image on an information medium. However, in recent years, it is increasingly required to reproduce data compatibly with optical disks each having a different thickness. For example, it is required to read a CD (compact disk) or a CD-ROM having a disk thickness of 1.2 mm and a DVD (digital versatile disk) or DVD-ROM having a disk thickness of 0.6 mm by a single optical head. In this case, one method is to use two objective lenses, one lens corresponding to and one lens corresponding to the CD or CD-ROM having a disk thickness of 1.2 mm and one lens corresponding to the DVD or DVD-ROM having a disk thickness of 0.6 mm. However, from the viewpoint of simplifying an optical system, it is advantageous to use a single lens that is applicable for two kinds of optical disks each having a different thickness. In other words, in the optical head using two objective lenses, since a mechanism for switching lenses is needed, the configuration of the optical head becomes complicated, thus making it difficult to achieve a small size and low cost. Furthermore, it is desirable that the objective lens be as simple as possible.
For example, in JP8 (1996)-334690A and JP9 (1997)-184975A, a so-called two-zone divided type lens is disclosed as an objective lens in order to attain the above-mentioned object. In this configuration, a lens is divided into two regions, in which an inner circumference portion is designed to be suitable for use with a CD or CD-ROM, and an outer circumference region is designed to be suitable for use with a DVD or DVD-ROM. Hereinafter, a conventional objective lens will be described with reference to FIG. 28. FIG. 28 is a view of an arrangement showing a relationship between an objective lens and an optical disk in the prior art.
FIG. 28(a) is a view showing an optical path of a two-sided aspheric objective lens 33 when a light beam is focused onto an optical disk 32 having a thickness of 0.6 mm. The surface of the objective lens at the side of the light source includes an outer circumference region 34 and an inner circumference region 35. In the outer circumference region 34, the spherical aberration is corrected with respect to the optical disk 32 having a thickness of 0.6 mm. On the other hand, in the inner circumference region 35, the spherical aberration is corrected with respect to the optical disk having a thickness of 0.9 mm. The boundary between the inner circumference region 35 and the outer circumference region 34 is determined by the NA that is necessary to reproduce data of the disk having a thickness of 1.2 mm for a light source of a wavelength of 655 nm. For example, when an optical disk having a thickness of 1.2 mm is reproduced at a wavelength of 780 nm and a NA of 0.45, the NA of the light source of 655 nm is about 0.37. The inner circumference region 35 has a spherical aberration with respect to the optical disk having a thickness of 0.6 mm. Herein, the total aberration is much smaller than 0.07 λ (which is called a diffraction limit) and falls in a sufficient aberration for reproducing the optical disk of a thickness of 0.6 mm.
FIG. 28(b) is a view showing an optical path when a light beam is focused onto an optical disk 36 having a thickness of 1.2 mm by using the same objective lens 33. Since the inner circumference region 35 of the same objective lens 33 is optimized with respect to an optical disk having a thickness of 0.9 mm, the aberration is small for the optical disk 36 having thickness of 1.2 mm. However, since the outer circumference region 34 is optimized with respect to an optical disk 32 having a thickness of 0.6 mm, the aberration is large for the optical disk 36 having a thickness of 1.2 mm, so that it does not contribute to the light focusing. Therefore, the outer circumference region 34 also functions as an aperture.
When there is one light source, under the above-mentioned conditions, sufficient performance with respect to two kinds of optical disks each having a thickness of 0.6 mm and 1.2 mm respectively can be attained. However, when it is necessary to reproduce the optical disk having a thickness of 1.2 mm by using the light source of 780 nm like CD-R, the wavelength becomes longer. Consequently, it is necessary to increase the NA relatively, so that the aberration with respect to the optical disk having a thickness of 0.6 mm becomes larger, thus deteriorating the focusing property.
Furthermore, not shown in FIG. 28, a mold for molding an objective lens with a difference in level between an inner circumference portion and an outer circumference portion has been produced by cutting with the use of a diamond cutting tool in order to precisely work a portion having the difference in level.
Furthermore, in a profile measuring device for measuring and evaluating the worked mold, a rotationally symmetric aspheric surface is used as design profile data which is reference data for evaluating measurement values. When a zone-divided type objective lens is measured, the inner circumference portion and the outer circumference portion are measured separately, or a fitting of the profiles of the inner circumference portion and the outer circumference portion is carried out by the use of a higher order aspheric coefficient of about 20-th order to express the profile and the profile is compared with the measurement values.
When the above-mentioned zone-divided type objective lens has the portion having the difference in level between an aspheric surface of the inner circumference portion and an aspheric surface of the outer circumference portion, an ideal design is to provide a surface forming the difference in level approximately parallel to the optical axis. However, in actual working, it is necessary to weaken the surface forming the difference in level to such an extent that the portion having the difference in level can be worked. JP 9 (1997)-184975A discloses the profile in which the portions having the difference in level are smoothly connected. However, it is a profile in which an aspheric surface of the inner circumference portion and an aspheric surface of the outer circumference portion are weakened approximately uniformly. Such a profile can be obtained only by cutting with the use of a cutting tool. Herein, in cutting with the use of the cutting tool, there is a limitation on the type of metal material that can be worked. Unless a relatively soft metal having excellent cutting properties is used, a sufficient working accuracy cannot be obtained. On the other hand, for press molding the lens from a glass material, it is necessary to mold the lens at high temperature and high pressure. It is desirable that a metal material having high hardness, such as a cemented carbide (a sintered metal including WC as a main component) is used. However, the cemented carbide cannot be worked by cutting with the use of cutting tool. In other words, the zone-divided type objective lenses, which have been proposed to date, have a profile for plastic molding. Therefore, most of the conventional objective lenses molded by the use of glass materials have a difficulty in working a mold.
Furthermore, the refractive index of the lens using a plastic material is changed greatly due to a change in temperature. For example, in an optical head device that is necessary to secure operation in a wide range of temperatures, for example, for vehicle apparatus, in general, glass lens is used. However, as mentioned above, a zone divided type DVD/CD compatible lens is designed based on plastic molding. Thus, the temperature characteristics are extremely deteriorated.
Furthermore, in a profile measuring device for measuring and evaluating a mold for molding a lens, the measured profile and the preliminary stored design profile are compared with each other and a working error is calculated. However, a design profile that can be input is only a profile such as a rotationally symmetric aspheric surface. In the method for measuring the zone divided type objective lens by separating the inner circumference portion and the outer circumference portion, since the entire area of the lens is not measured at one time, it is impossible to know the error in profile exactly. Furthermore, in the method of measuring the profile of the entire lens by expressing the profile of the entire lens by fitting with the use of a higher order aspheric coefficient and using this aspheric profile as a design profile, the fitting error occurs around the portion having the difference in level, and thus sufficient measuring accuracy cannot be obtained.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


Stents having struts with narrowed portions are described. The narrowed portions have a coating disposed thereon for the local delivery of a drug.

This invention relates to implantable medical devices, such as stents. More particularly, this invention relates to a stent having drug delivery capabilities.
Percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) is a procedure for treating heart disease. A catheter assembly having a balloon portion is introduced into the cardiovascular system of a patient via the brachial or femoral artery. The catheter assembly is advanced through the coronary vasculature until the balloon portion is positioned across the occlusive lesion. Once in position across the lesion, the balloon is inflated to a predetermined size to radially compress against the atherosclerotic plaque of the lesion to remodel the lumen wall. The balloon is then deflated to a smaller profile to allow the catheter to be withdrawn from the patient's vasculature.
A problem associated with the procedure includes formation of intimal flaps or torn arterial linings that can collapse and occlude the conduit after the balloon is deflated. Moreover, thrombosis and restenosis of the artery can develop over several months after the procedure, which can require another angioplasty procedure or a surgical bypass operation. To reduce the partial or total occlusion of the artery by the collapse of arterial lining and to reduce the chance of the development of thrombosis and restenosis, an intraluminal prosthesis, an example of which includes an expandable stent, is implanted in the lumen to maintain the vascular patency. Stents are scaffolding structures, usually cylindrical or tubular in shape, functioning to physically hold open, and if desired, to expand the wall of the passageway. Typically stents are capable of being compressed for insertion through small cavities via small catheters, and then expanded to a larger diameter once at the desired location.
To treat the damaged vasculature tissue and further fight against thrombosis and restenosis, there is a need to administer therapeutic substances to the treatment site. For example, anticoagulants, antiplatelets and cytostatic agents are commonly used to prevent thrombosis of the coronary lumen, to inhibit development of restenosis, and to reduce post-angioplasty proliferation of the vascular tissue. To provide an efficacious concentration to the treated site, systemic administration of medication can produce adverse or toxic side effects for the patient. Local delivery is a highly suitable method of treatment in that smaller levels of medication, as compared to systemic dosages, are concentrated at a specific site. Local delivery produces fewer side effects and achieves more effective results.
One commonly applied technique for the local delivery of the drugs is through the use of medicated stents. One method of medicating stents involves the use of a polymeric carrier coated onto the body of the stent. A polymer dissolved in a solvent and a drug added thereto can be applied to the stent. Once the solvent evaporates, a coating of the polymer containing the drug remains on the stent. The embodiments of the present invention provide various stent structures for containing a coating, such as a polymeric coating, for the local delivery of a drug.


The invention provides compositions and methods for determining the likelihood of successful treatment with an effective amount of an anti-VEGF antibody or equivalent thereof, in combination with anti-EGFR antibody or equivalent thereof, and, in some aspects in combination with a topoisomerase inhibitor. The methods comprise determining the identity of a gene of interest in a patient sample and correlating the patient's genotype with the predictive response. Patients identified as responsive are then treated with the appropriate therapy.

In nature, organisms of the same species usually differ from each other in some aspects, e.g., their appearance. The differences are genetically determined and are referred to as polymorphism. Genetic polymorphism is the occurrence in a population of two or more genetically determined alternative phenotypes due to different alleles. Polymorphism can be observed at the level of the whole individual (phenotype), in variant forms of proteins and blood group substances (biochemical polymorphism), morphological features of chromosomes (chromosomal polymorphism) or at the level of DNA in differences of nucleotides (DNA polymorphism).
Polymorphism also plays a role in determining differences in an individual's response to drugs. Pharmacogenetics and pharmacogenomics are multidisciplinary research efforts to study the relationship between genotype, gene expression profiles, and phenotype, as expressed in variability between individuals in response to or toxicity from drugs. Indeed, it is now known that cancer chemotherapy is limited by the predisposition of specific populations to drug toxicity or poor drug response. For a review of the use of germline polymorphisms in clinical oncology, see Lenz (2004) J. Clin. Oncol. 22(13):2519-2521; Park et al. (2006) Curr. Opin. Pharma. 6(4):337-344; Zhang et al. (2006) Pharma. and Genomics 16(7):475-483 and U.S. Patent Publ. No. 2006/0115827. For a review of pharmacogenetics and pharmacogenomics in therapeutic antibody development for the treatment of cancer, see Yan and Beckman (2005) Biotechniques 39:565-568 and Lenz, H.-J., Pharmacogenomics and Colorectal Cancer, Chpt. 18 in TRENDS IN CANCER FOR THE 21ST CENTURY, 2nd Ed., Springer (2006).
Colorectal cancer (CRC) represents the second leading lethal malignancy in the USA. In 2005, an estimated 145,290 new cases will be diagnosed and 56,290 deaths will occur. Jemal et al. (2005) Cancer J. Clin. 55:10-30. Despite advances in the treatment of colorectal cancer, the five year survival rate for metastatic colon cancer is still low, with a median survival of 18-21 months. Douglass et al. (1986) N. Eng. J. Med. 315:1294-1295.
The Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of Cetuximab, an antibody to the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), either alone or in combination with irinotecan (also known as CPT-11 or Camptosar®) to treat patients with EGFR-expressing, metastatic CRC, who are either refractory or intolerant to irinotecan-based chemotherapy. One recent study (Zhang et al. (2006) Pharmacogenetics and Genomics 16:475-483) investigated whether polymorphisms in genes of the EGFR signaling pathway are associated with clinical outcome in CRC patients treated with single-agent Cetuximab. The study reported that the Cyclin D1 (CCND1) A870G and the EGF A61G polymorphisms may be useful molecular markers for predicting clinical outcome in CRC patients treated with Cetuximab.
Other polymorphisms have been reported to be associated with clinical outcome. Twenty-one (21) polymorphisms in 18 genes involved in the critical pathways of cancer progression (i.e., drug metabolism, tumor microenvironment, cell cycle regulation, and DNA repair) were investigated to determine if they will predict the risk of tumor recurrence in rectal cancer patients treated with chemoradiation. Gordon et al. (2006) Pharmacogenomics 7(1):67-88.
In addition to genetic polymorphisms being predictive molecular markers, gene expression levels have also been examined for their association with cancer patient clinical outcome. One study (Vallbohmer et al. (2005) J. Clin. Oncol. 23(15):3536-3544) showed that gene expression levels of COX-2, EGFR, IL-8, and VEGF in patients with metastatic CRC may be useful markers of clinical outcome in single-agent Cetuximab treatment. Additionally, gene expression of VEGF, survivin, and EGFR could be associated with lymph node involvement in patients with locally advanced rectal cancer describe in Yang et al (2006) Clin. Colorectal Cancer 6(4):305-311. However, to the best of Applicant's knowledge, correlation of the genetic markers identified herein and responsiveness to combination therapy has not been previously reported.

Genetic markers for predicting responsiveness to combination therapy


A delay train ignition buffer (45) is positioned between a transmission tube (11) and a delay train (25) in a detonator housing (15) or a signal transmission tube housing. The buffer controls the rate at which the transmission tube temperature/pressure pulse is applied to the delay train pyrotechnic surface, attenuating the effects of the pulse with a resulting improvement in delay timing precision. The buffer also attenuates the effects of sudden depressurization within the detonator resulting from the rupture of the transmission tube or ejection of the tube from the housing, thereby preventing separation of the reacting pyrotechnic which could otherwise cause the reaction to cease at the point of separation, thus causing failure of the delay train to continue combustion of the pyrotechnic through its length.

In detonating a plurality of blasting charges, it is often required that the timing of such detonations be controlled precisely. This is true, for example, in quarry blasting, where sequential delays between charges must be controlled within milliseconds. In order to control such timing of charges, transmission tubes are deployed from a central initiating point to send a signal to detonate individual blasting charges. Normally, these transmission tubes consist of one or more main trunk lines connected to a plurality of down lines.
The timing of the detonations is normally controlled by using a preselected length of signal transmission tube, such as a shock tube or deflagrating tube, connected to a detonator consisting of a housing which encloses a delay train and an explosive output charge. Where additional delay time is required, a delay unit may be inserted intermediate the transmission tube ends, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,742,773.
The transmission tube may be of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,590,739, sold under the trademark "Nonel", and sometimes referred to as "shock tube". As used herein, the term "signal transmission tube" refers to any detonating or deflagrating signal transmission tube or line including a flexible hollow tube, which can carry a detonating or deflagrating signal along its interior, which signal does not destroy the tube. An alternative transmission device may consist of detonating cords and the like.
The term "signal" when used in connection with the aforementioned transmission tube is intended to refer to both the detonating shock wave or deflagrating flame front which is transmitted along the interior of the tube by combustion of the reactive substances contained therein. The detonator is activated by first initiating the transmission tube, which transmits a signal by propagating the temperature/pressure reaction down its length and into the detonator. The incoming signal ignites the delay train which contains a pyrotechnic composition that burns at a controlled rate in a linear fashion toward the opposite end, which is in contact with an explosive output charge. Where a delay train is used in a transmission tube delay unit, the opposite end of the delay train is in contact with a second section of transmission tube. The signal from the second section of transmission tube can then be used to ignite a further delay train in a detonator.
The rate at which the pyrotechnic reacts and the length of the delay train provides the designed functioning time to which the delay train was made. The rate at which the pyrotechnic burns is a function of the pyrotechnic chemical composition, and the temperature and pressure at which the composition burns.
Delay trains may be provided to operate at various functioning times by proper selection of delay train length and chemical composition. However, the reaction pressure from a transmission tube may vary, causing changes in the functioning time of the delay train. An increased pressure from the transmission tube causes an increased rate of burning, thereby resulting in a shorter than desired functioning time. Similarly, a decreased pressure from the transmission tube causes a decreased rate of burning, thereby resulting in a longer than desired functioning time.
Another problem associated with conventional delay trains is that after the transmission tube ignites the pyrotechnic of the delay train, the interior of the detonator or delay unit housing, being a closed system, becomes highly pressurized. This high pressure condition may cause rupture or ejection of the transmission tube from the housing, causing a rapid depressurization which may result in the separation of the reacting pyrotechnic from the unreacted pyrotechnic, thereby resulting in propagation failure. Such a depressurization may be so violent that the reacting pyrotechnic is physically sucked out of the delay train.
A high pressure pulse from the transmission tube may also cause variations in the effective length of the delay train. The pressure pulse may blow out a portion of the delay train pyrotechnic, or cause changes in the density of the pyrotechnic, which could alter the rate of ignition and the depth of ignition into the pyrotechnic column, thereby resulting in variations in the desired functioning time.
Variations in the functioning time of detonators and delay units in actual blasting conditions may result in out-of-sequence bore hole detonations, thereby causing increased ground vibrations and fly rock, and reduced control of fragmentation. Failure of a detonator in a blast pattern may cause the bore hole explosive to remain uninitiated and become buried and mixed with the fragmented burden. This creates a significant safety problem during digging and removal of burden which contains live explosive and a failed but still live detonator.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved signal delay assembly for use with a detonator or a signal transmission tube delay unit.
It is another object of the present invention to provide control of the rate that pressure is applied to the delay train pyrotechnic.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a delay assembly with a functioning time which can be accurately predicted.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a delay assembly which has improved reliability.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a delay assembly which securely retains the reacting delay train pyrotechnic.
Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out in more detail hereinafter.
A better understanding of the objects, advantages, features, properties and relations of the invention will be obtained from the following description and accompanying drawings which set forth certain illustrative embodiments and are indicative of the various ways in which the principles of the invention are employed.


A stroller includes a frame assembly, a seat supported by the frame assembly, and first and second adjustable seat supports engaged with the frame assembly to support the seat in a position relative to the frame assembly. A link couples the first and second seat supports such that a movement of the first seat support is mirrored in a corresponding movement of the second seat support to adjust the position of the seat.

1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure is generally directed to strollers, and more particularly to strollers having adjustable seating.
2. Description of Related Art
Strollers are usually capable of re-configuration and other adjustments after assembly. Most strollers can adapt from an in-use configuration to a folded configuration for purposes of storage, transport, etc. Folding arrangements and other adjustments have often involved adjustable connectors, brackets and other links between frame sections. Using the adjustable links, re-configuration of the stroller can be accomplished without disassembling the stroller. Other adjustments have involved reclining seat backs, removable or replaceable occupant trays, and adjustable foot rests.
Some strollers have also been capable of accommodating infant child occupants. To this end, a seat assembly has been adjustable to receive an infant car seat carrier. For example, strollers have been equipped with a seat frame capable of repositioning a seat back to allow an infant car seat carrier to engage the seat frame. In these cases, the seat frame is often shaped to resemble an infant car seat base, to which the infant car seat carrier is coupled.
Unfortunately, the above-described adjustments have provided only limited amounts of stroller versatility. For example, a seat assembly may be well suited for children of a certain size, while not as well-suited for children of other sizes. Seat assemblies are also often adequately positioned for only certain uses of the stroller.
One stroller marketed as a widely compatible design is the Xplory stroller available from Stokke L.L.C. (Kennesaw, Ga.; www.stokkeusa.com). The Xplory stroller has a seat assembly that connects to a central, inclined column. The connection can be re-positioned to raise or lower the seat assembly along the central, inclined column. Further details on this stroller design are set forth in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2006/0001226.
Unfortunately, seat position changes can lead to complications as well. In some cases, the added functionality poses the risk of the child occupant initiating the seat position change. If the change occurs at an undesirable time, the safety of the child occupant could be compromised. Even if operational safeguards are in place, the relative movement of structural parts of the stroller can lead to mechanical failures or other complications.

Stroller with synchronized seat height adjustment


A vehicle driving control device is configured to improve response to driver braking operation and shorten the free running distance. The vehicle driving control device processes an image showing an area ahead of the host vehicle to recognize a preceding vehicle in the host vehicle lane, and then determines whether or not the preceding vehicle is making a sudden lateral movement based on this image processing result. If the vehicle driving control device determines that the preceding vehicle is making a sudden lateral movement, then a preliminary braking force is generated.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle driving control device that generates a preliminary braking force prior to operation of the brakes by the driver, thereby improving response to brake operation by the driver and shortening the free running distance.
2. Background Information
In recent years, many vehicles have been equipped with various automatic speed control technologies. For example, an adaptive cruise control system has been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,311,120 that is capable of executing a following control function. In such an automatic speed control device, when a host vehicle (an ACC vehicle) is traveling in a following control mode in which a host vehicle (an ACC vehicle) is automatically follow a preceding vehicle, the automatic speed control device maintains the host vehicle's distance from the preceding vehicle at a desired inter-vehicle distance. In particular, the automatic speed control device controls the host vehicle's speed so that the host vehicle is automatically accelerated or decelerated.
There is also known a preliminary braking force control device that generates a preliminary braking force prior to operation of the brakes by the driver, thereby improving response to brake operation by the driver and shortening the free running distance. One such preliminary braking force control device is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2000-309257.
In view of the above, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure that there exists a need for an improved vehicle driving control device. This invention addresses this need in the art as well as other needs, which will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure.


A method and an apparatus for removing foreign particles such as dust from an object of complex shape is disclosed. An object is placed in an enclosed chamber and agitated by mechanical vibration means and by pulsed air jets while rotating, all to separate the dust particles from that object. Periodic injection of compressed air causes the dust particles to be suspended in that air and subsequently removed when the air is aspirated. The method and an apparatus can be used in combination with a household vacuum cleaner for cleaning of large household items such as clothing, pillows, linens, etc. In industrial use, the method of invention can be used for cleaning of electronic components from foreign particles.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to cleaning devices similar to vacuum cleaners for removal of foreign particles such as specs of dust, contaminants and alike for in-house or industrial use. More particularly, the method of the present invention describes a cleaning process combining mechanical agitation and pulsed air flow as used for cleaning purposes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Vacuum cleaning and other methods of removing of dust and other foreign particles are well known in the prior art. Various methods of dust removal were suggested in the past for use in the industrial as well as in-house environment.
Combining the effects of dust agitation from the compressed constant flow air jets with evacuating the air containing dust specs from an enclosed chamber for use as carpet cleaning means in household vacuum cleaners is described in many U.S. patents. Examples of such patents include U.S. Pat. No. 5,647,092 by Miwa; U.S. Pat. No. 5,603,775 by Sjoberg; U.S. Pat. No. 5,454,137 by Reeves; U.S. Pat. No. 4,300,261 by Woodward; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,037,290 by Rose. These patents typically describe various attachments to a commonly used household vacuum cleaner containing a chamber or a shroud placed over a carpet section to be cleaned and having provisions for supplying air jets at a constant flow rate to agitate the fibers of the carpet and to separate the dust particles therefrom. Vacuum hose is used to evacuate the air filled with these suspended dust particles and thus the carpet or a section of the floor is cleaned. Among the limitations of these relatively simple designs, those skilled in the art can point to the limited ability of the constant flow air jets to lift the dust particles and also the inability of these attachments to clean large objects of complex shape, such as a pillow, pieces of clothing, or bed linens due to the limitations of the volume and design of the enclosing chamber. The chamber according to these US patents is typically opened from one end and assumes an available flat surface of the object to be cleaned to form a complete enclosure in combination with that object.
An electrically operated transducer producing agitating waves where this transducer being incorporated in a vacuum cleaner suction head is described in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,400,466 by Alderman. The use of the transducer instead of the air jets is suggested for better and simpler agitation of the dust particles. This design suffers from similar limitation, namely the inability to clean larger objects with complex geometry.
Vacuum cleaners of the prior art are also known to use pulsed air flow as agitation means. Examples of the use of pulsed or reversed direction air flow are contained in U.S. Pat. No. 4,333,205 by Woodward and U.S. Pat. No. 4,174,204 by Chase. In addition to the same limitation of the size and volume of the objects to be cleaned, these designs are quite complex and may have limited reliability.
The use of a large elastic bag for storing and cleaning of large household items made of fabric is known from the U.S. Pat. No. 5,480,030 by Sweeney describing a storage enclosure with provisions for evacuating air. Another example is described in a manual to the vacuum cleaner produced by Rexair, Inc. (Troy, Mich.) describing the use of a large bag ("AEROFRESH BAG") containing pieces of clothing or linen and a manual procedure for the use of an upholstery tool to evacuate the dusty air from the bag. This description does not contained provisions for agitating the item to be cleaned nor suggests repeating of the process at least several times and thus is limited in its efficiency.
Finally, effective dust removal is an important part of the manufacturing process for many industries, especially for the electronics industry. Mechanical vibration coupled with plasma blowing over electronic components is a suggested method of cleaning according to U.S. Pat. No. 5,531,862 by Otsubo and U.S. Pat. No. 5,849,135 by Selwyn. These patents propose the use of a totally enclosed chamber equipped with a mechanical agitator for separating the foreign particles from the object to be cleaned, such as semiconductor components. In addition to a complex nature of these devices, constant plasma flows are suggested which limits the efficiency of the process of cleaning.
Therefore, the need exists for a simple method and apparatus capable of efficient separating and removing the dust particles from an object of complex shape.

Method and apparatus for removing foreign particles


An image compression method based on symbol matching is disclosed. Precompression of the image is performed prior to symbol matching to improve efficiency. A voting scheme is used in conjunction with a plurality of novel similarity tests to improve symbol matching accuracy. A template composition scheme achieves image enhancement. Other disclosed features provide further advantages. Apparatus for implementing the image compression method for image transmission, storage, and enhancement are included.

This invention relates to compression of images, in particular, to compression methods employing symbol matching.
A standard 8.5 by 11 inch page, when scanned as a binary image at 300 dots per inch (DPI), comprises over 8,000,000 bits of information-about a megabyte. The same page, when scanned at 200 DPI, the scan rate of fax fine mode, comprises almost half a megabyte of information. Because of the large capacity needed to store such images, some sort of image compression is typically implemented in image storage and transmission devices.
One current standard method for binary image compression, in widespread use as the standard for facsimile transmission, is the CCITT-3 standard. This is a lossless binary image compression algorithm based on Huffman encoding of a run-length encoding of the image. The CCITT-3 standard typically compresses an image by an order of magnitude by taking into account first-order statistical regularities in the lengths of runs. Thus, a 300 DPI image may be compressed from a megabyte to 100 kilobytes.
Symbol matching can be used to increase compression ratios for binary images which consist primarily of machine-printed text. Such text is characterized by many small regions of connected black pixels, representing characters, surrounded by white pixels. A typical document might use only a few hundred different characters representing the letters of the alphabet in upper- and lowercase in a few different type faces (e.g., Times and Helvetica) and type styles (e.g., plain, bold, italics). In compression techniques employing symbol matching, similar characters are grouped, and their description as an array of black pixels is represented only once as a template. The entire binary image is represented as a sequence of templates along with references to their positions within the image. In this way, the representation contains far fewer bits than the original image. The amount of compression that can be achieved using symbol matching depends on how many characters are matched, how the templates are represented, and how the character positions are represented.
Unfortunately, characters that appear similar to the human eye are not usually pixel-identical. The printing method, subsequent photocopying, and, most importantly, the scanning process itself introduce error into the original image. An example is illustrated in FIG. 1, which depicts two instances of the letter "b" in 12 point Courier scanned at 200 DPI. The error pixels are also shown. In order for a symbol matching scheme to significantly contribute to binary image compression, error between two characters must be allowed, but bounded. Some notion of the matching of two characters based on perceptual similarity is needed for this purpose. Furthermore, since the matching characters are not all identical, a way of defining a template from the matching characters is required. Since such a template is necessarily not identical to all of the characters used to define it, the representation by templates does not encode the image perfectly. But since the characters vary only slightly in appearance from the template, the difference is not perceptible.
The success of symbol matching in binary image compression hinges crucially on how similarity of two characters is judged (how characters are matched). A matching metric allowing large pixel differences between characters is prone to substitution errors. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 2, an instance of a "b" and an instance of an "h" in the same font and size can have a relatively small pixel error. If they are matched, the reconstructed image will be riddled with errors. On the other hand, if the matching metric is too stringent, then multiple instances of the same character will not be matched and little compression will be achieved.
The use of symbol matching in binary image compression dates back to at least 1974 (see "A means for achieving a high degree of compaction on scan-digitized-printed text," by R. N. Ascher and G. Nagy, in IEEE Transactions on Computers, 23(11):1174-1179, Nov. 1974). Since then, a variety of compression systems employing symbol matching have been proposed. (See "Combined symbol matching facsimile data compression system," by W. K. Pratt et al., in Proceedings of the IEEE, 68(7):786-796, July 1980, and U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,091,424, 4,288,782, 4,410,916, 4,463,386, 4,499,499, and 4,606,069.) The present invention is a compression method employing a substantially improved matching process, as well as other improved features which increase the compression ratio.

Method and apparatus for compression of images


The invention relates to a standardized platform (1) equipped with two beams (11, 11′) which are transverse relative to its front end and its rear end. The transverse beams extend beyond the lateral edges of the platform, such that the ends of these beams can receive slings (24a-24d) which allow the assembly to be secured to hoisting and handling means of containers.

The maritime transport of many goods is assured by means of so-called container ships which can transport standardized containers which are stacked on one another on the ship.
This method of transport makes it possible in particular to reduce the costs significantly: since the containers have standardized dimensions, they can be placed on top of one another such as to form a compact assembly.
These standardized containers which are parallelepiped comprise on each of their upper tops a hooking base, which makes it possible to manoeuver them on a loading terminal using standardized hoisting and handling means.
These hoisting means, of the crane type or the like, comprise a mobile ceiling unit equipped with four hooking units, each of which is engaged in a corresponding hooking base of the container in order to grasp the container then handle it.
In addition, a container of this type also comprises on each top of its lower surface a hooking base which can be rendered integral with a hooking base of an upper surface of a container on which it is placed. One base is rendered integral with another by means of a removable lock. The containers are thus stacked whilst being attached to one another, which makes it possible to assure that they are transported in satisfactory conditions of safety, and for a significantly reduced cost.
When the goods to be transported have a height which is greater than that of a container, it is possible to secure these goods to a platform in order to load this platform on the ship by placing it on a container to which it is then attached.
Specifically, a platform of this type has a rectangular form with the same dimensions as a container in plan view, and it is equipped at the tops of its upper surface and of its lower surface with hooking bases of the same type as those which equip the containers. A platform of this type can thus be handled like a container, i.e. by using hoisting and handling means of the same type as those used for the containers.
Thus, a platform of this type makes it possible to transport on a container ship goods which are too wide, too long or too high to be accommodated in a container.
However, when the goods to be transported are both wider and longer than the platform, it is no longer possible to use a platform of this type, since the hooking units of the tops of its upper surface are no longer accessible by the hoisting means once these goods have been secured to the platform.
Specifically, it is thus not possible to handle a platform of this type if it is supporting goods which are both too wide and too long.
In practice, goods of this type must therefore form the basis of so-called oversized transport, by being stowed for example in the hold of a cargo ship, which is detrimental with reference to both the volume which is actually monopolized in the cargo ship, and the handling cost.

Method for loading oversized merchandise onto a container ship

Abstract: It is thus possible to transport goods (21) which are both wider and longer than a standardized platform (1), on this platform (1). The goods can therefore be handled and loaded by means of hoisting and handling means for containers, i.e. for a cost which is reduced in comparison with oversized transport.


A catalyst solution includes a precious metal nanoparticle and a polymer having a carboxyl group and a nitrogen atom. The catalyst solution is useful for a catalyzing an electroless process for plating metal on non-conductive surfaces.

Electroless metal deposition or plating is useful for the deposition of a metal or mixture of metals on a non-conductive or dielectric surface in the absence of an electric source. Plating on non-conductive or dielectric substrates covers a wide range of applications, including decorative plating and electronic device fabrication. One of the main applications is the manufacture of printed circuit boards. The electroless deposition of a metal on a substrate usually requires pretreatment or sensitization of the substrate surface to make the surface catalytic to the deposition process. Various methods have been developed to catalyze the substrate.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,011,920 discloses a method to catalyze a substrate by immersion of the substrate in the colloidal catalyst solution prepared by palladium ions with stannous ions to form a palladium-tin colloid. This method requires a step of acceleration after catalyzing the substrate surface whereby the catalyst core is exposed. U.S. Pat. No. 3,904,792 discloses an improvement of colloidal palladium-tin catalysts to provide catalyst in less acidic environments. Hydrochloric acid is partially replaced by a soluble salt of the acid. Such a palladium-tin catalyst systems present a number of limitations. The outer shell of the catalyst colloid (SnCl4)2− is easily oxidized, thus the catalyst particles grow in size and lose their catalytic surface area dramatically.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,725,314 discloses a process for preparing a catalytic adsorbate in aqueous solution using an organic suspending agent to protect the colloid with a maximum dimension not exceeding 500 angstroms. Polyvinyl pyrrolidone may serve as an organic suspending agent.
Because of the high cost of palladium, considerable effort has been focused on the development of non-noble metal catalyst systems. U.S. Pat. No. 3,993,799 discloses the use of a non-noble metal hydrous oxide colloid for treating non-conductive substrates followed by reduction of the hydrous oxide coating on the substrate to achieve at least a degree of activation for subsequent electroless plating. U.S. Pat. No. 6,645,557 discloses a method to form a conductive metal layer by contacting the non-conductive surface with an aqueous solution containing a stannous salt to form a sensitized surface followed by contacting the sensitized surface with an aqueous solution containing a silver salt having a pH in the range from about 5 to about 10 to form a catalyzed surface.
JP10229280A discloses a catalyst solution which is composed of silver nitrate or copper sulfate, as well as an anionic surfactant, such as polyoxyethylene lauryl ether sodium sulfate and a reducing agent such as sodium borohydride. JP11241170A discloses a non-palladium catalyst which includes at least one of iron, nickel, cobalt and silver salt, in conjunction with an anionic surfactant and a reducing agent.
JP200144242A discloses a manufacturing method for preparation of a high dispersing colloidal metal solution with high conductivity, which contains at least one amino group and one carboxyl group. U.S. Pat. No. 7,166,152 discloses a sliver colloid based pretreatment solution comprising three components: (i) sliver colloidal particles; (ii) one or more ions selected from metal ions having an electric potential which can reduce a sliver ion to silver metal in the solution; and (iii) one or more ions selected from a hydroxycarboxylate ion, a condensed phosphate ion and an amine carboxylate ion. Normally, aqueous solutions of colloidal tin-free silver are much more stable than those systems involving stannous ions, which are easily oxidized to tin (IV) with air agitation. Colloidal silver catalyst systems would reduce cost and be less unstable than palladium systems. Such colloidal silver catalyst systems also show promising catalytic properties in electroless plating processes without sacrificing the interconnect reliability. Therefore, a colloidal catalyst system which has a balance of bath stability, adsorption capability and catalytic activity at the same time is desired.


The present invention discloses a burst detection apparatus and method. The burst detection apparatus of the present invention comprises a power module, a soft-metric RMS module, and a quality determination module. The bust detection method comprises the following steps: At first, a reciprocal value of the received signal's power is calculated. Next, a RMS value of the soft-metrics according to the received signal is computed. At last, a product of the reciprocal value and the RMS value is compared with a given threshold value to generate a Boolean outcome as a quality determination decision. If the product of these values is lower than the given threshold value, it means the received signal is believed as noise; otherwise, it is believed as the real signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a radio frequency receiver, and more particularly, to a burst detection apparatus and method for radio frequency receivers.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a communication field environment, the reception methods of RF (radio frequency) signal have to distinguish the desired signal from the noise. Naturally, the desired signal and noise cannot be fully recognized by these reception methods. Therefore, the probability of mistaking noise as signal is denoted as Psignal|noise. Like wise, the probability of mistaking signal as noise is denoted as Pnoise|signal. It is desired in the field of the art to reduce both the above-mentioned probabilities.
A so-called "burst detection" method is used to determine whether the received signal is a desired signal or noise. In some communication systems, wrong outcomes of burst detection method would lead to communication delays, interruptions, data drops, or even channel breakdowns. For example, the well-known GSM (Global System for Mobile communications) specification 11.10 defines that the frequency emitted should be kept within a precise range. Usually, an AFC (Automatic Frequency Control) mechanism is provided to maintain the precision of frequency. Besides, the GSM specification 11.10 requires that during a temporary gap of absence of the required signal, the MS (Mobile Station) shall maintain the frequency and timing of its transmission. If the received waves is determined by the burst detection method as noise, the frequency estimated by the AFC will be cast away in order to maintain the precision of frequency. If the result from the frequency estimation of noise is accepted, the consequence may lead to the loss of traffic or even a release of a channel.
A well known burst detection method, the correlation algorithm, is chosen to determine a correlation value. In order to perform this correlation method, a pre-acknowledged training sequence is included in the signal burst as well as the synchronization should be performed. Since noise has little correlation with the acknowledged training sequence, whenever the strengths of the received signals are equal, the correlation value of noise generated by the correlation algorithm should be much less than the correlation value of the desired signal. Hence, a threshold value is compared with the normalized correlation peak value in order to determine whether the received signal is a desired signal or noise. In a GSM system, a correlation value below the given threshold value leads to a rejection of the frequency estimated by the AFC function. Otherwise, a correlation value higher than the chosen threshold guarantees that the estimated frequency by the AFC would be adopted.
By adjusting the selectable threshold value, Psignal|noise can be reduced to an acceptable level effectively while keeping Pnoise|signal at a fairly low level. However, the method has two shortcomings. First, the length of training code sequence is merely 26, false correlation peak value may be appeared. It is possible to mistake noise as signal. Second, in multi-path propagation, if signal strengths of two or more paths are similar, the normalized correlation peak value according to the strength of one path may be lower than the threshold. In consequence, it is possible to mistake signal as noise.
In summary, it is desired to have a receiver apparatus and method to reduce the probabilities of mistaking noise as signal, and vice versa.

Burst detection apparatus and method for radio frequency receivers


The present invention provides a method for controlling transmission latency in a communications system, wherein the communications system is subject to a noise signal having at least a first noise phase and a second noise phase. The method includes determining a first bit rate for symbols transmitted during the first noise phase, and a second bit rate for symbols transmitted during the second noise phase, the first bit rate and the second bit rate being constrained such that a transmission latency does not exceed a pre-determined maximum allowed transmission latency; and transmitting symbols at the first bit rate during the first noise phase and at the second bit rate during the second noise phase. In other variants, the invention provides an apparatus, a constrained rate receiver, a transmitter and a signal.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to communications systems, and in particular to adaptive rate communications systems that suffer time varying noise conditions, such as Annex C ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) systems.
2. Related Art
In ADSL systems (e.g., using the G.992.1 and G.992.2 standard, etc.), data processing generally might be byte oriented (e.g., octet oriented). All of the bit-level processing in both the fast and interleaved transmit data paths of such systems is performed in groups of 8. The 8-bit bytes from both paths are combined and inserted into symbols in the tone ordering block (cf. FIG. 5-1 in G.992.1). Therefore, the number of bits per symbol in such systems always is a multiple of 8. One problem with such systems is that some data capacity is wasted because of the inherent 8-bit data restriction.
Annex C ADSL operates over twisted pairs that are bundled with Japanese ISDN-carrying twisted pairs. FIG. 1 is a plot depicting TCM (Time Compression Multiplex)-ISDN crosstalk noise. The crosstalk noise 101 generated by the ISDN twisted pairs is time varying, and is synchronous to a clock, called a TTR clock, having a time period 102. The TTR clock is an example of a noise clock.
Unlike an Annex C ADSL system, an Annex A ADSL system has no means of synchronization to a TTR clock and, indeed, cannot handle a time varying noise source. Thus all computations in an Annex A ADSL system such as the computations used for the derivation of equalizers (gain adjust, bit allocation, etc.) are based on a continuous average measure of the noise environment.
By contrast, an Annex C ADSL system implements two different receivers, each optimized to the characteristics of its associated noise phase. While Annex C ADSL adapts better to time varying noise than Annex A ASDL, a drawback with Annex C ASDL is that the instantaneous bit rate varies in each phase. In order to achieve a constant bit rate, significant buffering is needed, which causes latency added to the data transmission. In some applications, the additional latency is unacceptable. Thus a fallback position is to use an Annex A ASDL solution, where disadvantages in handling time varying noise are to be expected.

Apparatus and method for latency control in a communications system


A flexible fuel sensor is disclosed where two concentric conductors, adapted to receive the fuel mixture, are shorted to provide a resonant electromagnetic cavity.

The present invention relates generally to a flexible fuel system and more particularly to a flexible fuel sensor using a resonant electromagnetic cavity to determine fuel composition.
The interest in flexible fuel vehicles has increased dramatically in recent years. This is especially true with respect to vehicles capable of operating on blends of gasoline and alcohol.
In such vehicles, it is necessary to monitor the fuel mixture (e.g., the percentage by weight of alcohol) in order to adjust engine performance. The signal from the flexible fuel sensor is typically transmitted to and utilized by an electronic engine control to properly set spark timing, exhaust gas recirculation and fuel enrichment. The flexible fuel system plays a particularly important role during open-loop feedback conditions, i.e., cold start-up and wide-open throttle.
The flexible full sensors presently under investigation fall into two major categories: optical effect and dielectric effect. Optical sensors utilize the index of refraction or infrared absorption pattern of the fuel blend. Dielectric sensors operate upon a change in the dielectric constant of the fuel blend as the fuel mixture varies.

Resonant cavity flexible fuel sensor and system