A wobble plate type refrigerant compressor including a compressor housing having a cylinder block is disclosed. A plurality of peripherally located cylinders are formed through the cylinder block. A piston is slidably fitted in each of the cylinders and is reciprocated by a drive mechanism which includes a slant plate. The slant plate includes a boss for mounting a wobble plate and balance weight ring thereon. The balance weight ring prevents the axial movement of the wobble plate during operation of the compressor. The balance weight ring includes a centrally located thin plate region defining a recessed portion. The balance weight ring includes a plurality of holes formed at the thin plate region and an annular side wall of the recessed portion tapered to provide sufficient lubrication to the friction surface between the wobble plate and the thin plate region of the balance weight ring during compressor operation. The balance weight ring can rotate smoothly on the wobble plate without the need for a bearing between the wobble plate and the thin plate region of the balance weight ring.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a refrigerant compressor, and more particularly, to a wobble plate type refrigerant compressor for use in an automotive air conditioning system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 64-29678, a slant plate type compressor, such as a wobble plate type compressor, includes a balance weight ring of substantial mass disposed on the nose of the hub or "boss" of the slant plate, in order to balance the slant plate under dynamic operation conditions. The balance weight ring is held in place by means of a retaining ring.
FIG. 5 shows a slant plate type compressor as disclosed in the Japanese application. Wobble plate 60 is mounted about boss 54 of slant plate 50 through bearings 61 and 62 so that slant plate 50 is rotatable with respect respect thereto. Boss 54 includes smaller diameter portion 54a at an axially rearward end (to the right in FIG. 5) thereof, resulting in the formation of annular shoulder 541 forward of portion 54a. Wobble plate 60 includes annular projection 601 formed at an inner periphery of the axially rearward surface thereof and terminated so as to be same axial level of annular shoulde 541. Annular balance weight ring 500 is mounted about smaller diameter portion 54a in contact with shoulder 541 and annular projection 601. Balance weight ring 500 includes annular depression 501 formed at an inner periphery of the axially rearward surface, reducing the thickness of ring 500 at the inner periphery. Relatively thin plate portion 502 remains at the inner periphery of balance weight ring 500, forward of depression 501. Annular groove 55 is formed in the radially outer peripheral surface of smaller diameter portion 54a, and annular snap ring 56 is disposed therein. The radially outer portion of snap ring 56 extends exteriorly of groove 55 and contacts thin plate portion 502 of balance weight ring 500. Thin plate portion 502 of balance weight ring 500 is retained between snap ring 56 and annular shoulder 541. Therefore, balance weight ring 500 is affixed to boss 54 and prevents the axial movement of wobble plate 60. Consequently, an axially rearward end surface of annular projection 601 always contacts the axially forward surface of balance weight ring 500 during operation of the compressor causing friction between annular projection 601 and balance weight ring 500. Excessive rotational friction can occur between annular projection 601 and balance weight ring 500 during compressor operation causing considerable defects such as unusual wear or seizure between annular projection 601 and balance weight ring 500.
In view of this problem, some compressors in the commercial market are provided with a bearing disposed between the axially rearward end surface of annular projection 601 and the axially forward surface of balance weight ring 500. However, this increases the number of component parts and complicates the assembly process.

Wobble plate type refrigerant compressor


Present application discloses side chassis structure. Side chassis structure includes: apron reinforcement member; fender panel covering outside of the apron reinforcement member; and brackets connected to the fender panel. At least one of the brackets includes: main body including support portion supporting fender panel; front leg portion extending downward from front end of inner portion of main body in vehicle width direction, front leg portion being attached to apron reinforcement member; and rear leg portion which extends downward from rear end of the main body, rear leg portion being attached to apron reinforcement member. Front leg portion has inner slotted hole having long axis extending in vehicle width direction, and outer slotted hole which is formed outside inner slotted hole in vehicle width direction, outer slotted hole having long axis longer than long axis of inner slotted hole.

A structure in which a fender panel is attached to an upper end portion of an apron reinforcement member via brackets has been conventionally known, the apron reinforcement member extending in the front-rear direction of the chassis (c.f. Patent Document 1). In addition to the primary fender support function of supporting the fender panel, it is required for the brackets to have a function of reducing damage to a colliding body (such as a pedestrian) hit by the vehicle and thrown on the hood, i.e., an impact force absorbing function for absorbing an impact force which the colliding body receives from the hood. In addition to these functions, it is required for the brackets to have a load reception function for receiving a load, which is caused when the hood is closed, if a hood stopper is attached to the brackets.
A side chassis structure described in Patent Document 2 includes an apron reinforcement member and a fender panel which is supported on the apron reinforcement member via a bracket. The front end portion of the apron reinforcement member is connected to a front side frame. The bracket includes leg portions and an attachment surface portion. The leg portions extend outward in the vehicle width direction and diagonally upward. The leg portions are connected to an upper surface of the apron reinforcement member. A support portion is formed on the attachment surface portion in order to support the fender panel.
A hood stopper is situated at an inner position in the vehicle width direction than the support portion of the attachment surface portion. Accordingly, the side chassis structure according to Patent Document 2 may have functions of distributing a collision load, easily deforming the brackets and withstanding a shock of the hood being closed even though the front end portion of the fender panel is situated at an outer side in the vehicle width direction than the front end portion of the apron reinforcement member.
There are a variety of vehicle designs. Among these designs, there is a structure in which a front end portion of a fender panel is situated near a front end portion of an apron reinforcement member. With regard to such a structure, there may be a too short vertical separation distance between the front end portions of the fender panel and the apron reinforcement member. In this case, an impact force which the colliding body receives from the hood may not be sufficiently absorbed by the bracket structure according to Patent Document 1 or 2.
With regard to a mechanism of impact force absorption by the bracket according to Patent Document 1 or 2, when a downward load acts on the bracket from above, buckling or crushing deformation happens to the leg portions. The impact force absorbing function of the bracket is dependent on the separation distance (deformation stroke) between the front end portions of the fender panel and the apron reinforcement member. If the deformation stroke (so-called vertical length of the bracket) is insufficient, the impact force is not sufficiently absorbed.


Systems, methods, and computer program products for proactively improving image analysis and/or processing in real time are presented, in accordance with various embodiments. In one embodiment, a computer-implemented method includes: receiving an analysis and/or processing request from a mobile device; and either generating or retrieving analysis and/or processing information based on a result of either or both of: determining whether the analysis and/or processing request includes image data suitable for generating an analysis and/or processing result; and determining whether the analysis and/or processing request includes metadata suitable for generating an estimated analysis and/or processing result. In another embodiment, a computer-implemented method includes: capturing image data; evaluating one or more conditions corresponding to the captured image data; generating metadata corresponding to the captured image data; and generating and submitting the analysis and/or processing request to an analysis and/or processing platform. Corresponding systems and computer program products are also described.

The presently disclosed inventive concepts relate to image analysis, and more specifically to improving workflows that rely on image data as a source of input via adaptively and proactively replacing and/or supplementing inputs for analysis in the course of the workflow.
A plethora of online tools and workflows exist which leverage image data as a source of information for various applications. As mobile devices become an increasingly prevalent mechanism to access online tools, capturing image data and performing such analyses via mobile devices is a useful extension of such workflow solutions.
In addition, as optical sensors embedded with mobile devices become more powerful, a wide variety of image-based technologies are migrating to mobile platforms. Accordingly, some tools for mobile applications include the ability to extract textual information from image data, so long as the textual information depicted in the image data is of sufficient quality to allow conventional extraction techniques, such as optical character recognition (OCR), to accurately recognize the characters of the text.
However, due to limitations inherent to the mobile device, and also the variability of conditions surrounding capturing an image using a mobile device, it is often difficult, or even impossible, to capture an image of sufficient quality to allow conventional extraction techniques to accurately recognize the characters of the text or otherwise complete image processing requisite to advance or complete the workflow. As a result, existing image analysis tools are unable to provide an accurate result in many situations.
Accordingly, it would be beneficial to provide systems and techniques for providing accurate image analysis results even when the image data are of insufficient quality to allow conventional techniques to accurately analyze the image data.

Proactive input selection for improved image analysis and/or processing workflows

International Business Machines Corporation


An induction heating device including two induction heating coils and a plug-type contact device has a flat coil carrier for the induction heating coils, the plug-type contact device being arranged on the bottom face of the coil carrier with an insertion direction perpendicular to the surface of the coil carrier. The plug-type contact device has, on the bottom face of the coil carrier, a plug housing being movable with a defined movement travel in a plane parallel to the surface of the coil carrier. The plug housing has four receiving chambers being open at the bottom and having a direction of extent parallel to the insertion direction, in each of which a plug-type contact is arranged. A contact-making line runs from the plug-type contact to the induction heating coil.

The invention is based on the problem of providing an induction heating device of the kind mentioned in the introductory part and also a corresponding induction hob with which induction heating device and induction hob problems of the prior art can be solved and it is possible, in particular, to simplify, and at the same time configure in as reliable a manner as possible, a design of an induction heating device and also the assembly of the induction heating device and assembly of an induction hob.
This problem is solved by an induction heating device and also by an induction hob. Advantageous and preferred refinements of the invention are the subject matter of the further claims and will be explained in greater detail in the text which follows. In the process, some of the features will be described only for the induction heating device or only for the induction hob. However, irrespective of this, they are intended to be independently applicable both to the induction heating device and also to the induction hob. The wording of the claims is included in the description by express reference.
It is provided that the induction heating device has a coil carrier of flat design or a flat and/or planar coil carrier for at least one induction heating coil. In this case, the coil carrier can substantially be a planar plate, under certain circumstances with an edge which is drawn upwards and/or downwards and reinforcement ribs and also possibly recesses. The plug-type contact device is arranged on the bottom face of the coil carrier, the plug-type contact device having an insertion direction downwards or away from the surface of the coil carrier. The insertion direction is advantageously substantially perpendicular to the surface of the coil carrier. The plug-type contact device has a plug housing which is held or mounted on the bottom face of the coil carrier in such a way that the plug housing can move or has an ability to move in a plane parallel to the surface of the coil carrier. This ability to move is restricted or has a defined and limited or maximum movement travel. This movement travel can lie between 1 mm and 10 mm or even 15 mm, advantageously between 1 mm and 5 mm. In the insertion direction however, the plug-type contact device bears against the coil carrier and does not exhibit any movement travel. This results in a kind of floating mounting of the plug-type contact device or of the plug housing on the coil carrier. Owing to the ability of the plug housing to move substantially perpendicularly to the insertion direction, the plug housing can be matched to the position of the mating plug to a certain degree independently of the position of the coil carrier, so that tolerances can be easily compensated for independently of a necessary change in position of the coil carrier. This simplifies production of an electrical connection or a plug-type connection with the plug-type contact device.
Furthermore, the plug housing has at least two receiving chambers with a direction or a longitudinal direction parallel to the insertion direction, that is to say once again substantially perpendicular to the surface of the coil carrier. The receiving chambers are open at the bottom and a plug-type contact, which is preferably elongate or has a longitudinal extent, is arranged in each of the receiving chambers. This longitudinal extent should once again be parallel to the longitudinal direction of the receiving chambers and therefore to the insertion direction, so that the plug-type contacts are substantially perpendicular to the surface of the coil carrier. Finally, a contact-making line is further provided, the contact-making line preferably running freely and being flexible. The contact-making line runs on the plug-type contact to the induction heating coil, that is to say from two plug-type contacts to an induction heating coil as the electrical connection thereof.
Therefore, a plug-type contact device is provided at the bottom of the induction heating device or of the coil carrier as the mainly fixed and supporting constituent part thereof, the plug-type contact device at the same time allowing the plug-type contact-making connection and therefore an electrical connection to be established by attaching the induction heating device or the coil carrier to the induction hob. Tolerances, inaccuracies or the like can be compensated for owing to the floating mounting or owing to the ability of the plug-type contact device to move in a defined manner relative to the coil carrier with a lateral ability to move. Furthermore, attachment and mounting of the plug-type contact-making connection by hand during assembly of the induction hob can be made more reliable and simpler in this way.
In an advantageous refinement of the invention, precisely two induction heating coils are arranged on the coil carrier. The induction heating coils can be electrically connected to the same plug-type contact device which then has four plug-type contacts. The plug-type contacts are advantageously arranged in a square or rectangle in relation to one another, that is to say not in series. The two induction heating coils are particularly advantageously of identical size and/or identical design. It is possible for such an induction heating device to be configured in a substantially mirror-symmetrical manner, wherein the plug-type contact device lies on the mirror axis. Only the winding directions of the induction heating coils can form a deviation from this mirror-image symmetry.
The abovementioned flexible contact-making line of the plug-type contacts to an induction heating coil is advantageously a wire strand. The wire strand is particularly advantageously the same wire strand as that from which the induction heating coil is wound. Therefore, the abovementioned ability to move or flexibility of the wire strand is also provided. In an advantageous refinement of the invention, a contact-making line to a plug-type contact is a projecting section of the induction heating coil or a projecting section of the wire strand or winding of the induction heating coil, so that the contact-making line transitions from the plug-type contact into the induction heating coil continuously and without interruption.
A contact-making line is preferably fastened to an upper end region of the plug-type contact, but particularly preferably not at the very topmost end. Fastening can be performed by welding or soldering, so that fastening is mechanically stable and electrically safe.
In a refinement of the invention, the plug-type contacts can be plug pins. In another and preferred refinement of the invention, the plug-type contacts are plug sleeves which are in turn mounted onto plug pins. In this case, a diameter of the plug sleeves can lie in the range of between 2 mm and 8 mm in order to be mechanically stable and electrically safe.
In a further refinement of the invention, the plug-type contacts have an outside diameter which is smaller than the inside diameter of the receiving chambers at the respectively corresponding level. Therefore, an ability to move, which is restricted in a defined manner but is free, of the plug-type contacts is also possible in the receiving chambers. In particular, this is an ability to move in the direction transverse to the insertion direction. An ability to move in the form of slight tilting of the plug-type contacts is advantageously possible, so that plug-type contacts, with their longitudinal direction, can tilt a little, advantageously 1° to at most 5° or 10°, in relation to the insertion direction. Therefore, compensation of deviations in the orientation of the plug-type contacts or of plug sleeves and plug pins from the exact insertion direction or perpendicular direction in relation to the surface of the coil carrier is possible. The outside diameter of the plug-type contacts can be 1% to at most 20%, advantageously 3% to 8%, smaller than the inside diameter of the receiving chambers. The clear dimension or the size can therefore be correspondingly lower.
Movable mounting or an abovementioned floating mounting of the plug-type contact device on the coil carrier can be of latching design for example, with latching for a base plate of the plug-type contact device or its plug housing. Therefore, the plug-type contact device can be mounted or held on the coil carrier, advantageously by means of the base plate, in a captive manner but with the ability to move as defined according to the invention. Latching hooks or the like can be provided on several sides of the plug-type contact device or the base plate, advantageously on opposite sides. The latching hooks themselves or similar stops such as side walls can define the maximum ability of the plug housing or the base plate to move on the coil carrier. It can be provided that latching is possible manually, but a latching connection can be released only using a tool or at least a screwdriver.
Furthermore, it is possible that the plug housing is held on two opposite sides by overlapping sections, wherein the plug housing still has the said ability to move freely to lateral stops. Therefore, the plug housing, for example by way of the abovementioned base plate, can be pushed into a kind of pocket on the bottom face of the coil carrier.
A plug housing of the plug-type contact device is advantageously of two-part design. The plug housing can firstly have an abovementioned base plate which is fastened, in particular, to the coil carrier. The base plate should be sufficiently stable for this purpose. The plug-type contact device or the plug housing is mounted on the coil carrier by means of a plug-type contact device receptacle, for example the abovementioned latching hooks or overlapping sections. The plug-type contact device receptacle then defines the abovementioned maximum movement travel of the plug-type contact device or of the plug housing on the coil carrier.
The abovementioned base plate can preferably have a radial holder for the plug-type contacts, in particular in the form of a bore and/or a sleeve section which projects away from the base plate, advantageously in the insertion direction away from the coil carrier. This radial holder effects an abovementioned ability of the plug-type contacts to pivot or to tilt relative to the insertion direction. The radial holder should be somewhat larger than the outside dimension of the plug-type contact for the abovementioned ability to move or ability to pivot.
The plug-type contact device or the plug housing advantageously has a cover which is fastened to, advantageously mounted on, the base plate. Mounting can be performed by means of a latching connection which is automatically established during mounting and, for example, can be released again only using a tool. The cover serves substantially to hold the plug-type contacts on the plug housing or in abovementioned bores and/or sleeve sections on the base plate, that is to say in the receiving chambers. The cover can be fastened to the base plate or mounted on the base plate perpendicular to the surface of the coil carrier. The cover advantageously has one passage opening for each plug-type contact, the plug-type contacts projecting through or protruding through the passage opening and preferably projecting slightly beyond the cover at the bottom. The cover can be fastened to or mounted on the base plate in a fixed manner and in an unmovable position. When the abovementioned passage openings are likewise somewhat larger than the outside diameter of the plug-type contacts in this region, the advantageous ability of the plug-type contacts to pivot or to move relative to the insertion direction can be maintained.
It is possible for the receiving chambers of the plug-type contact devices in which the plug-type contacts are arranged to be formed by receiving sleeves which project away from the abovementioned base plate in the manner of a sleeve section. These sleeve sections form a portion of the lateral holder of the plug-type contacts in the form of receiving chambers. Limiting at the top is formed by the base plate itself, wherein here some of the plug-type contacts can project upward through abovementioned bores. The receiving chambers are bounded at the bottom by the abovementioned cover, wherein one passage opening for each receiving chamber is provided in the cover, the plug-type connection being established through the passage opening. The plug-type contact advantageously projects downwards through the passage opening.
In an advantageous refinement of the invention, the abovementioned contact-making lines run laterally out of the plug-type contact device from the plug-type contacts, preferably between the base plate and the cover. The contact-making lines particularly preferably run out of the abovementioned receiving sleeves which project from the base plate. These receiving sleeves have a lateral slot, so that the contact-making lines can run relatively close to the base plate. Furthermore, it is advantageously provided that the contact-making lines exit from the plug-type contact device in different directions, in particular in opposite directions. Therefore, it is advantageously possible for the plug-type contact device to be arranged between two induction coils, so that the contact-making lines to the induction heating coils are also of approximately identical length.
In order to hold the plug-type contacts securely in the receiving chambers, the plug-type contacts can have a thickened portion or a laterally projecting projection, which can be designed in the manner of a circumferential collar. This thickened portion or the projection is particularly advantageously wider than a passage opening through the cover in order to prevent the cover from slipping through the passage opening. Furthermore, the thickened portion or the projection can lie between the cover and the receiving sleeve on the base plate and limit a movement travel of the plug-type contact along the insertion direction. Therefore, the plug-type contact can be limited, for example, to the abovementioned ability to move or to pivot slightly.
In an advantageous refinement of the invention, the plug-type contact device is arranged close to an outer region or outer edge of the coil carrier. In this case, the plug-type contact device can further be located within the area or projection of the coil carrier and adjoin an outer edge. Therefore, easy optical monitoring is possible when the plug-type connection is being mounted or established.
In a further refinement of the invention, it is possible for a further plug-type connector to be provided on the plug-type contact device for a further plug-type contact-making connection, in particular on an outer face, which is freely accessible, because the coil carrier protrudes only slightly beyond the said plug-type contact device or does not project beyond the plug-type contact device at all. This further plug-type connection can advantageously be fastened by an assembly means which can be mounted and also released again without tools. A latching connection is suitable for this purpose, so that the plug-type contact device carries the further plug-type connector in a piggyback arrangement as it were. Both have the same insertion direction, so that both plug-type connections can be established with a single mounting process. Whereas the plug-type contact device according to the invention can be thought of as a power connection for the induction heating coil, a further plug-type connector can electrically connect, for example, sensor coils or other sensors.
The entire induction hob can have a generator housing beneath a hob plate, a generator component carrier, advantageously a so-called generator printed circuit, being located in the generator housing. Power components and possibly also a controller and also further components are arranged on the generator printed circuit and electrically connected. The induction heating device is arranged above the generator housing. A covering sheet or the like can run between the generator housing and induction heating device. In this case, the plug-type contact device points from the induction heating device at the top downward to the generator component carrier, this also indicating the insertion direction. At least two lower plug-type contacts are arranged on the generator component carrier in a fixed and unmovable manner, the plug-type contacts projecting upwards and the plug-type contact device being mounted on the plug-type contacts. The lower plug-type contacts can be arranged fixedly on the generator component carrier, for example can be pressed directly into the generator component carrier, and electrical contact can be made with the lower plug-type contacts.
In a refinement of the invention, it is possible for the plug-type contacts on the generator component carrier to be plug pins which project upwards, wherein the plug-type contacts of the plug-type contact device of the induction heating device are then abovementioned plug sleeves. The plug pins can be slotted and/or of variable diameter in the longitudinal direction for the purpose of matching the plug pins while at the same time making fixed and safe electrical contact-connection. The plug sleeves are then advantageously plug sleeves of which the diameter cannot be varied. Therefore, the plug sleeves are also easier to produce.
These and further features may be gathered from the claims and also from the description and the drawings, with the individual features being capable of being implemented in each case by themselves or severally in the form of subcombinations in an embodiment of the invention and in other fields and being capable of constituting advantageous and independently patentable versions for which protection is claimed here. The subdivision of the application into individual sections and intermediate headings does not restrict the general validity of the statements made under these.

Induction heating device and induction hob comprising an induction heating device of this kind


A wire retaining assembly for use with an electrical device such as a switch or receptacle. The assembly comprises an anchoring bore and a guide slot formed in a wall adjacent each terminal screw to retain the exposed wire on an electrical conductor. By initially locating the end of the exposed wire in the anchoring bore, then bending the wire around the screw shank and locating the other end of the wire in the guide slot, electrical connection to the device is more quickly and securely accomplished. The bore and slot are substantially parallel and have portions with substantially coplanar bottom surfaces so that the bent wire lies in substantially a single plane.

Making an electrical connection between the exposed wire on an electrical conductor and a terminal screw located on the side of an electrical device, such as a switch or receptacle, is intricate and difficult because the screws are small and the end of the wire must be bent closely around the shank of the screw. Accordingly, this operation is time consuming and potentially frustrating. Moreover, it is quite important to make a good connection in order to prevent short circuits or other electrical hazards.
Various prior art devices have been directed towards facilitating such a wire connection; however, they have not been totally successful. This is because some of the prior art devices tend to bend the exposed wire in more than one plane, which can weaken or break the wire and tends to prevent a secure electrical connection. In addition, some of these devices require prebending of the exposed wire, which is difficult and time consuming in and of itself, or do not securely receive the end of the exposed wire so it is free to move transversely of its longitudinal axis, thereby making the connection more time consuming. Some of these devices also require stripping a precise length of the insulation from the conductor, which is time consuming and dangerous if done inaccurately.
One example of these devices includes a pocket and a slot formed in an electrical device having a terminal plate located in a recess. A rear wall partially spans the rear edge of the terminal plate and the end of this wall together with a lower wall extending along the lower edge of the terminal plate define the slot, which is outwardly opening and has a rectangular cross section. The rear wall and an upper wall extending along the upper edge of the terminal plate define a 90.degree. corner with a triangular fillet therein at the bottom and a larger triangular web above the fillet to form the pocket. The pocket receives an end of the wire and the slot receives another part of the conductor after the exposed wire is bent around the terminal screw. This device allows transverse movement of the end of the wire which makes the connection difficult and time consuming.
Other examples of such prior art devices are disclosed in the following U.S. Pat. Nos.: 2,735,080 to Littman; 3,423,724 to Clement; and 3,861,773 to Triantafellow et al.
Thus, there is a continuing need for improvement in an assembly for facilitating electrical wire connection to an electrical device.


A sheet-stacking apparatus has a conveyor including a plurality of parallel upper belts extending in a transport direction for delivering a succession of sheets one at a time to a stacking station and a plurality of blow tubes each having a main portion extending in the direction. The main portions are interleaved with the upper belts and are each formed with a plurality of downwardly open holes. Respective tubular rivet bodies set in the holes have heads bearing upward against the respective tube main portions and form downwardly open nozzles. Interiors of the tubes can be pressurized with air to project jets of air downward from the nozzles of the tube main portions.

Paper sheets are produced from a continuous strip whose longitudinal edges are trimmed and that is then transversely cut into a succession of the sheets that are delivered one at a time one immediately after the other to a stacking apparatus of the type described in commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 5,628,505 of Voss, U.S. Pat. No. 5,672,045 of Schmid, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,681,038 of Kollann. Such a stacking apparatus typically has a vertically displaceable platform on which is supported a pallet. The sheets are delivered by a conveyor to the stacking apparatus to form a stack on the pallet, which is lowered as the stack height increases so that each sheet has only to drop a minimal distance before coming to rest on top of the stack.
Each sheet is gripped upstream of the station between a lower belt or a group of parallel lower belts and a group of upper belts, but of course the lower belt ends at the input side of the station so that the sheets can drop downward. The upper belts normally therefore extend through the station and serve significantly to guide and position the incoming sheets.
In order to ensure clean separation of the sheets from the upper belts it is standard to provide one or more blow tubes. Such systems are described in East German patent 111,870 of Pretzsch, German patent 2,755,160 of Bodewein (U.S. equivalent 4,221,377), German patent document 3,323,052 of Henkenhaf, German patent 4,012,943 of Vits, Swiss patent 637,090 of Bodewein, and European 0,056,924 of Fitzparick. The blow tubes generally are simple tubes extending in the transport direction between the upper belts and formed with downwardly open holes from which respective jets of air are directed at the upper face of the sheets to push them down off the upper belts onto the stack.
As a rule these blow tubes are fairly expensive items to manufacture. They must be carefully shaped and the nozzle holes must be carefully formed. If nozzle fittings are provided to focus the jets, they must be constructed such that the leading edge of the incoming sheet does not catch on them. As a result blow tubes are a significant investment. Furthermore they are difficult to change or replace in the event of a format change in the sheets requiring a shorter or longer tube, so that one is often inclined to use overlong tubes that result in waste of air pressure and premature separation of the sheets from the upper conveyor belts.

Blow tube for a sheet-stacking apparatus


A method may include providing content or a service accessible via a network to a user, and issuing a usage token having a usage credit that corresponds to a usage restriction associated with the user's network access subscription.

Network usage has risen dramatically within recent years. Consequently, network resources associated with a Network Service Provider (NSP) are correspondingly becoming over-burdened. While subscriptions for network usage may allow for unlimited access, this service model may be transitioning towards usage restrictions. Difficulties may arise when enforcing these usage restrictions because NSPs may wish to exclude certain traffic from these usage restrictions. For example, a NSP or a trusted third party of a NSP may offer a service that the NSP does not want the usage restrictions to apply. In such a service model, enforcing usage restrictions while allowing for exemptions may be problematic.


Method and system are provided which permits the very precise integration of high density data scans obtained from different part orientations through the use of Horn's method. The data may be obtained from a laser scanner or other methods for obtaining high density data such as Moire interferometry systems. The method and system use an artificial intelligence technique which permits the very precise determination of the dimensions of analytic features. In the preferred embodiment, the method uses a laser scanner to collect a fine grid of height (z) values of the workpiece. The part is scanned along lines with constant x or constant y. Before the part is scanned, several small reference features are added to the part if needed. These reference features may be small pieces of tape, or small metal washers. Then methods are used to find the precise location of the centers of the reference features. These locations provide the necessary input to Horn's method so local coordinate systems for each scan can be mapped to a single global coordinate system.

Various methods and systems are available for collecting three dimensional data for volumetric digitization of a three dimensional object. This data can be obtained from non-contact devices such as a laser scanner, or camera based Moire interferometry systems. These systems have a problem that they cannot collect data from regions which are out of the line of sight. Therefore, the object from which the data is collected must be oriented in different positions so that parts of the object which are invisible to the data collection device from one orientation will be visible in another, as illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,894,551. This, however, creates a problem with integrating the data sets which have been collected from different orientations.
One solution to the problem of three dimension data collection is use of a device such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,139,339. However, this device is destructive, the data is collected but the part is destroyed in the process. For many applications, part destruction is not a viable option.
Another possibility is to very carefully determine precise part orientation during part setup before data collection with some specialized equipment such as a rotary table. However, precise part orientation is very difficult to achieve.
Another method requires a part to have several locating features such as spherical balls. Coordinate measuring machines are used to accurately determine the center of these balls, and this information can be used to determine coordinate transformations to transform data from one coordinate system to another. A touch probe and operator action is required to find several points on the surface of each ball. Standard mathematical techniques can then be used to calculate the ball's center and radius.

Non-contact method and system for building CAD models by integrating high density data scans


A metal tying wire product has an alkali or alkaline-earth, metal-silicate coating weighing at least 110 but not more than about 470 mg/ft.sup.2 of wire surface, the coating being baked at temperatures in the range of 700.degree.-1200.degree. F. until essentially all physically adsorbed water is driven off so as to achieve a knot joint efficiency of at least 70%. A process for producing a tying wire product with such coatings is also disclosed.

In the field of industrial packaging, bundles of articles or loose materials are sometimes wrapped with metal tying wire applied by automatic machines which twist the wire into a knot to secure the bundle. The wire itself and the knot must meet certain strength requirements such as those specified by the American Association of Railroads (AAR) which require an ultimate tensile strength of at least 1275 pounds for 12 gage, 0.106 inch diameter Grade 145 wire and a knot joint strength when pulled in tension of 1080 pounds. To meet the AAR limits, a drawn round steel wire of AISI 1055 or 1065 composition may be supplied in the sub-critical annealed condition to provide wire ultimate tensile strength of at least 1275 pounds.
In prior art practice, the wire is coated with zinc applied by a hot dip process. The pure zinc outer layer is wiped off with asbestos wipes to leave an iron-zinc alloy coating which provides a good non-slip surface so that knots formed in the wire will meet the knot joint strength requirement. However, even with wiping, a relatively thick zinc layer is inherently formed in the hot-dip coating process. Consequently the wire has excellent corrosion resistance, better than is necessary for the application since moderate rusting may be tolerated after the wire is applied to the bundle. Thus, one disadvantage of the hot-dip galvanized product is that an excess of zinc is inherently used, increasing the cost of the product.
Another disadvantage lies in the fact that the wire must be cleaned prior to hot-dip galvanizing in order to remove drawing lubricant or other material which might prevent obtaining a uniform coating. Acid cleaning is normally used to clean the wire and causes additional expenses for disposal of used acids.

Silicate coated metal tying wire and process for coating said wire


Provided is a surface emitting laser array using a photonic crystal, which allows an active layer to be shared without disconnecting the active layer between the individual surface emitting lasers adjacent to each other, and enables high-density arraying easily. The surface emitting laser array includes: at least two surface emitting lasers formed on a substrate, each having a laminated structure of multiple semiconductor layers including a semiconductor multilayer mirror, an active layer, and a photonic crystal having a refractive index profile in an in-plane direction, the photonic crystal and the semiconductor multilayer mirror in the laminated structure forming a waveguide for guiding light in a resonance mode; and a region without the photonic crystal provided between adjacent surface emitting lasers in the surface emitting laser array, in which the surface emitting lasers have the same semiconductor multilayer mirror and the same active layer.

Recently, a surface emitting laser for emitting laser light perpendicularly to a substrate has been studied extensively because the surface emitting laser can be advantageously arrayed two-dimensionally, compared with an edge emitting laser.
Further, recently, a surface emitting laser using a photonic crystal has been studied.
As such a surface emitting laser using a photonic crystal, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-332351 describes a configuration in which an active layer is sandwiched between cladding layers having a refractive index lower than that of the active layer and a photonic crystal having a refractive index profile is formed in an in-plane direction in the cladding layers.
In the surface emitting laser, light guided in the in-plane direction in the active layer resonates in a plane due to the second-order diffraction function of the photonic crystal, and laser light is taken out in a perpendicular direction by the first-order diffraction of the photonic crystal.
Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-273456 discloses a two-dimensional photonic crystal surface emitting laser in which a reflector and a reflector structure with a period of about a half are provided in the periphery horizontal to the crystal plane of the photonic crystal to suppress the loss of light in the horizontal direction, whereby the use efficiency of light is enhanced.
When the surface emitting laser using a photonic crystal, which is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-332351, is arrayed, in particular, in the case of high-density arraying (for example, an array pitch is 100 μm or less) to be desired industrially, the following problem arises.
More specifically, in the case where surface emitting lasers adjacent to each other, which form the surface emitting laser array, are connected through the active layer, the waveguide mode in one surface emitting laser is guided to the other surface emitting laser through the active layer. As a result, for example, the characteristics of the other surface emitting laser are degraded by such light guiding.
Hereinafter, the above-mentioned problem is described more specifically with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a surface emitting laser array 200 obtained by arraying a surface emitting laser using a photonic crystal, which is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-332351, which is viewed from a direction perpendicular to a substrate.
The laser light from a surface emitting laser 201 that resonates in a plane by a photonic crystal 210 is partially guided in the active layer to leak out of a region of the photonic crystal. Consequently, leaking light 220 reaches the active layer of another surface emitting laser 202 to influence the characteristics of another surface emitting laser.
More specifically, in the case where the laser oscillation wavelengths are the same between those surface emitting lasers, resonators may interfere with each other.
Further, even in the case where the oscillation wavelengths are different from each other, if the leaking light is absorbed by the active layer of another surface emitting laser, the leaking light influences the carrier distribution and consequently influences the output characteristics of another surface emitting laser (optical crosstalk).
The cause of those problems is further described with reference to FIG. 3.
FIG. 3 is a schematic view illustrating a cross-section of the surface emitting laser array 200 illustrated in FIG. 2, which is taken along a line 3-3′ of FIG. 2.
The refractive index of an upper clad (slab layer 320 and cladding layer 330) and a lower cladding layer 340 sandwiching the active layer is lower than that of the active layer.
Therefore, there is a resonance mode that is guided in the active layer due to a total refection in a photonic crystal region 210 (i.e., region of the surface emitting laser 201).
Herein, an active layer 310 illustrated in FIG. 3 includes an active medium such as a quantum well and a spacer layer that adjusts the position of the active medium and the light intensity distribution of the resonance mode.
In the slab layer 320 of the upper clad, the photonic crystal 210 is formed.
The cladding layer 330 of the upper clad may be air.
Herein, even in a region 205 outside the surface emitting laser, the active layer 310 is sandwiched between clads with a low refractive index, and hence there is a waveguide mode at the resonance wavelength of the surface emitting laser 201.
When light intensity distributions of the respective waveguide modes overlap each other inside and outside the region of the surface emitting laser, the laser light resonating in the surface emitting laser 201 is guided to the region 205 outside the surface emitting laser, and further reaches the active layer in another surface emitting laser 202.
As a result, the laser light may influence the characteristics of another surface emitting laser as described above.
Thus, it is necessary to break the connection between the surface emitting lasers adjacent to each other, which form the surface emitting laser array, through the active layer, thereby suppressing light in a waveguide mode of one surface emitting laser from being guided to another surface emitting laser.
In the case of disconnecting the active layer between the surface emitting lasers adjacent to each other for this reason, such a disconnection becomes an obstacle for integrated high-density arraying, and a crystal defect may occur from the disconnected surfaces. This may also lead to the increase in the number of process steps.
Further, when the active layer is disconnected, if the disconnected width between the surface emitting lasers adjacent to each other is small, it is difficult to stop the guiding of light to another surface emitting laser.
In such a case, it is considered to apply the configuration of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-273456 between the surface emitting lasers adjacent to each other. This is because, it is considered that, the suppression of a loss of light in the horizontal direction of a laser element also leads to the suppression of guided light to another element simultaneously.
However, the application of the configuration of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-273456 leads to the following problem.
That is, for arraying laser elements, a reflector structure is provided between the surface emitting lasers adjacent to each other, but the provision of such a reflector structure hinders high-density arraying.
The above-mentioned problem is described specifically with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 4 is a schematic view in which a reflector structure 450 is provided at a position for surrounding the surface emitting lasers 201 and 202.
Further, FIG. 5 is a schematic view in which a photonic crystal structure (560 of FIG. 5) having a reflection function (having a photonic band gap) in a horizontal direction is provided as a reflector.
In the case where the reflector structure 450 is provided in the surface emitting laser array 400 arrayed as illustrated in FIG. 4, the provision of the reflector structure 450 hinders high-density arraying. In particular, when the reflector structure 450 is provided, it is difficult to suppress the transmission of light from a laser element to another laser element without disconnecting the active layer that is a waveguide.
Further, the disconnection of the active layer causes the above-mentioned problems.
Further, as illustrated in FIG. 5, in the case where a photonic crystal structure 560 is provided as a reflector in a surface emitting laser array 500 that is arrayed, it is necessary that the photonic crystal structure 560 have a frequency to some degree, in order to allow the photonic crystal structure 560 to function sufficiently as the reflector.
For this reason, it is necessary to set a wider place for the reflector, which is considered to hinder higher-density arraying.
In the case where the cladding layer 330 is air, wiring for electrically driving each surface emitting laser can be placed in the vicinity of the photonic crystal 210.
However, if the reflector structure as described above is provided, compared with the case where there is no reflector structure between elements and the surface of the slab layer 320 is flat, it is more difficult to install electric wiring necessary in the case of electrically driving each laser element of the surface emitting laser array. Thus, also in this respect, high-density arraying may be become difficult.


A pharmaceutical composition which includes a compound represented by the general formula (I):

The compounds represented by the following general formula (I) and salts thereof have prostaglandin and leukotriene production-suppressing action, and are known as medicaments extremely useful for therapeutic and/or prophylactic treatment of various diseases resulting from the lipid mediators, for example, inflammatory diseases, autoimmune diseases, allergic diseases, pain, and the like. Methods for producing the compounds represented by the general formula (I) or salts thereof are also reported in detail (Patent documents 1 and 2). However, sufficient information of pharmaceutical compositions containing a compound represented by aforementioned general formula (I) or a salt thereof is not disclosed in the aforementioned publications.
Patent document 1: International Patent Publication WO03/070686
Patent document 2: International Patent Publication WO2005/016862

Abstract: or a salt thereof, and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier, wherein the composition does not substantially contain a reducing sugar and/or a carrier containing a reducing sugar as an ingredient as the pharmaceutically acceptable carrier, or when the composition contains a reducing sugar and/or a carrier containing a reducing sugar as an ingredient as the pharmaceutically acceptable carrier, contact of the reducing sugar and the compound represented by the general formula (I) or a salt thereof is eliminated.


A method and apparatus is disclosed that enables a consumer to store a wide variety of items in a customized storage unit. The customized storage unit consists of a plastic storage tray that has a pattern of item-receiving compartments formed therein that will correspond exactly to the shapes of items that the consumer wishes to store. The pattern is developed first reading the profiles of the items the consumer wishes to store into a computer graphics unit and arranging these stored profiles into an optimized pattern. This pattern is next sent to a computer-aided manufacturing unit that is connected to a hot wire cutter that cuts the desired pattern into a sheet of structural foam. The cut-out cores of the profiles of the items to be stored are next removed from the structural foam sheet leaving cavities within the sheet. The structural foam sheet is next placed on the lower platen of a vacuum form machine, and the cut-out cores are attached to the upper platen. A sheet of thermoplastic is heated so that it is malleable and is placed upon the structural foam sheet. A vacuum is applied to the lower platen and the upper platen is next brought downwardly into contact with the thermoplastic sheet and pushes the plastic downwardly into the cavity formed in the structural foam sheet. The upper platen is next brought back upwardly away from the thermoplastic sheet, and the thermoplastic sheet and its associated structural foam sheet are allowed to cool. When forming a compartment for a thinner item, it is not necessary to utilize the cut-out cores. The resulting product is a sturdy plastic storage tray that has an upper sheet of plastic and a lower backing unit of structural foam.

This invention in general relates to a storage tray that a consumer can custom-make to correspond to the items that he may have to store.
Consumers typically have a large number of household goods that are difficult to store. These household goods would include hand tools, flatware, Christmas ornaments, fishing lures, and other miscellaneous parts. As an example, Christmas ornaments are usually stored in a bag or box without having partitions or specific compartments for each ornament. The ornaments will usually break over a period of time or else will be lost, and as a consequence, ornaments are difficult to find from year-to-year. Also, the way they are stored is not usually a very efficient use of space. These problems would also hold true when storing such items as a group of screwdrivers in a drawer or even for storing screws or other small items that need to be retained in a compartment rather than being loose.
Athough several types of storage units are available on the market, none can be individually tailored to a consumer's specific needs. That is, an off-the-shelf storage unit may be available that would have a series of small compartments for storage of various items; however, these storage spaces would not necessarily conform to the exact spaces needed by a consumer for a particular storage application. These off-the-shelf storage units would not have a storage space to conform to the shape of any unusually-shaped items that a consumer may have a need to store. And, in addition, these off-the-shelf items would not conform to the size of a consumer's drawer or other container.
For these reasons, it is an object of the present invention to create a storage unit that can be customized to conform to the exact storage needs of a consumer.
It is further an object of the present invention to create a storage unit that will make the most efficient use of the volume of storage space that is being utilized.
It is moreover an object of the present invention to achieve the above goals with a storage unit that is relatively simple and easy to manufacture.

Customized plastic tray and method of making same


A cable support formed of sheet metal and including a body portion adapted to be driven into a structural member of a building and a U-shaped bracket extending from the body portion for retaining a cable.

Electrical codes and good wiring practice require that electrical wiring within the walls of dwelling or commercial buildings be supported and restrained from movement so as to prevent contact by such things as construction fasteners driven into the walls and organized to allow easy identification and tracing. In the past, metal staples, with or without insulation, or staples in the form of molded plastic pieces with attached nails have been placed over the cables and nailed to the wooden framing members of the building to perform these functions. It is desirable to provide a device which will perform the required restraining, retaining and organizing functions at a reduced cost.

Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company


One embodiment provides a device, including a processor; a plurality of storage units operatively coupled to the processor; and a memory device that stores instructions executable by the processor to: determine a first storage unit from the plurality of storage units; select at least one second storage unit from among the remaining other storage units that comprises a parameter that satisfies a predetermined condition, the predetermined condition being related to the first storage unit; transfer data from at least one of the first and second storage units to at least one the remaining other first and second storage units; and delete data from said at least one of the first and second storage units from which the data was transferred. Other aspects are described and claimed.

Hard disks are typically classified into mechanical hard disks HDD and solid-state hard disks SSD. A mechanical hard disk is a common traditional hard disk which supports overwriting, and thus the deleted data, if marked, may be readily recovered before they are covered by new data. While a solid-state hard disk is formed of an array of solid-state electronic storage chips, and composed of control units and storage units, it does not support overwriting, and must be erased in advance. This is known as trash recycling.
Data recycling is primarily recycling with respect to suitable blocks selected from blocks comprising invalid data, wherein the blocks reside in a memory bank. The memory bank comprises multiple blocks, and each block comprises multiple pages. The valid data is stored in an update block, and the data in the original block can be erased to increase the number of empty blocks to achieve the objective of releasing usable spaces in order to have sufficient blocks for use in data writing.
Currently, the commonly used method is: taking into overall consideration of the number of erasing times, write times, and the number of valid pages, secondly, defining a loss function, and finally, taking the block with the maximum value of the loss function as the block for use in data recycling, that is, the storage unit for data recycling. However, since only one block can be selected for data recycling each time in the data recycling process, it results in resource wasting, increased data recycling numbers, and decreased efficiency.


The present invention provides a method of treating multiple myeloma using polymeric pegylated carfilzomib compounds, and pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof, of Formula I

Cancer is one of the most widespread diseases and a leading cause of death worldwide. In the United States alone, cancer is the second leading cause of death, surpassed only by heart disease. Cancer is often characterized by deregulation of normal cellular processes or unregulated cell proliferation.
Multiple myeloma (MM) is a progressive and malignant neoplastic type of cancer originating from plasma cells. It is characterized by abnormal accumulation of malignant plasma cells within bone marrow, and it accounts for approximately 13% of all hematologic cancers (Palumbo and Anderson, 2011). In 2015, about 26,850 new cases were expected to be diagnosed with MM, and about 11,240 people were expected to die from the disease in the United States (ACS, 2015). The incidence of MM has increased steadily due to increased life expectancy of the general population in the United States (Warren et al., 2013). The disease most commonly affects the elderly population, with the median age of incidence around 69 years old (Howlander et al., 2013, ACS, 2015).
The therapeutic goals of management of MM are to provide symptomatic relief, achieve disease control and provide prolonged remissions (Kurtin, 2013). Conventionally, a combination of high dose chemotherapeutic agents (meclphalan, vincristine, cyclophosphamide, doxombicin, liposomal doxombicin, bendamamustine) followed by autologous stem-cell transplantation (ASCT) has been utilized to treat young, treatment-nalve and medically fit patients (less than 65 years of age) (Palumbo et al., 2011). Age, comorbid conditions and geriatric assessment are the major criteria for deciding patients' eligibility to tolerate high-dose therapy (HDT) followed by ASCT (Palumbo et al., 2014). For elderly patients ineligible for HDT and ASCT, melphalan plus prednisone had been the standard therapy for several decades (Palumbo et al., 2011; Rodriguez et al., 2012). During the last decade, treatment algorithm of MM underwent a paradigm change with the introduction of novel immunomodulatory agents (such as thalidomide, lenalidomide, and pomalidomide) and targeted proteasome inhibitors (bortezomib and carfilzomib) (Richardson et al., 2007; Dmoszyńska, 2008; Gupta et al., 2013).
Carfilzomib is a tetrapeptide epoxy ketone proteosome inhibitor that binds selectively and irreversibly to the constitutive proteosome and immunoproteosome. More specifically, the epoxyketone electrophilic warhead binds to the catalytic threonine residue of the 15 subunit of the proteasome protein. CFZ is well tolerated with acceptable toxicity profile. Carfilzomib, polymorphic forms, methods of making, formulations, its use and other carfilzomib attributes are described in US20050245435. US20140105921 and PCT publications WO2006017842. WO2009045497, WO2014169897, WO2013169282. WO2014011695, WO2006063154, WO2014015016, and WO2010048298, each specification of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Carfilzomib has shown an encouraging response rate in patients with relapsed and refractory MM and with newly diagnosed patients with MM. To this end, carfilzomib was first approved (as Kyprolis®) for treatment in patients with relapsed and refractory MM in July 2012 as a single agent therapy. More recently Kyprolis was approved in combination with lenalidomide and dexamethasone (July 2015) and in combination with dexamethasone (January 2016) for the treatment of patients with relapsed and refractory MM who have received one to three lines of therapy. The approved treatment regimen for carfilzomib is to administer it to the patient by infusion, either over a short 10 minute period or over a slower, longer 30 minute duration of time. This infusion is to occur for 2 consecutive days per week for three consecutive weeks in a 28 day cycle. Thus, to comply with this treatment schedule, patients need to drive or be driven two times per week on consecutive days to an authorized drug administration center, such as a doctor's office, a clinic or a hospital, where carfilzomib can be properly and safely administered. This may be inconvenient or impractical, or may simply be a burden, to some patients, increasing the likelihood of reduced or decreased compliance with, or even complete non-compliance of, the full and complete course of the prescribed carfilzomib therapeutic regimen.
Carfilzomib is rapidly metabolized and cleared in humans. Carfilzomib, a small tetrapeptide compound, exhibits a short half-life in-vivo of about 60 minutes or less in humans. One mechanism of carfilzomib clearance is via hepatic blood flow, resulting in the relatively brief half-life for carfilzomib. Drug products possessing short half lives or rapid clearance in general tend to exhibit reduced target coverage leading to decreased and/or shortened biological inhibitory activity. To overcome such shortfalls, additional drug is typically administered to provide more drug and prolonged efficacy at the biological site of action. Hence, both the rapid clearance and the twice weekly frequency of dosing of carfilzomib leave room for possible improvements in efficacy, delivery and/or patient compliance.
Carfilzomib, as currently approved (Kyprolis®), is a sterile lyophilized formulation comprising sulfabutylether beta cyclodextrin (SBECD) and a sodium citrate buffer. The lyophilate is reconstituted with sterile water, and infused or injected into the patient. The SBECD excipient acts primarily as a solubilizing additive for carfilzomib, and forms a complex with carfilzomib thereby improving carfilzomib water solubility.
History has revealed that attempts to solve weaknesses of drug products have led to the preparation of alternative forms of these medicinal compounds, including production of pro-drug versions, in attempts to enhance their drug pK and/or PD properties. For instance, Greenwald et al disclose Prodrugs of Amine Containing Compounds (J. Med. Chem., 1999, 42, 3657-3667). WO2005063777 discloses benzylphosphate and substituted benzylphosphate prodrugs for the treatment of pulmonary inflammation. WO20090152160 discloses inhaled carbaprotacyclin and prostacyclin prodrugs for the treatment of arterial hypertension. US patent publication no. 20040100225 discloses acyloxymethyl pro-drugs of imatinib (Gleeve®). Also, PCT publication WO2011084846 discloses acyloxymethyl pro-drugs of risperidone. These pro-drug disclosures teach alkyl-acyloxymethyl linked pro-drugs. Another example, US patent application publication no. US20140105921 describes carfilzomib and other epoxyketone proteasome inhibitor pro-drugs having an acyloxymethyl linker connecting the inhibitor to polyethylene glycol units (PEG). However, these carfilzomib pro-drug compounds have been found to release quinone methide byproducts during metabolism in vivo, which may be potentially toxic and may present a safety risk. To this end, it would be desirable to identify alternative forms of carfilzomib and/or alternative ways to deliver the active pharmaceutical ingredient carfilzomib to patients while maintaining or possibly improving the efficacy and/or safety of the currently approved carfilzomib treatments.

Abstract: wherein R1, R2, linker, PEG, n and o are as defined herein.


In a rotating electric machine, a stator includes a stator core having slots formed therein and a stator coil comprised of phase windings each of which includes in-slot portions and turn portions. The turn portions of the phase windings together constitute a coil end part of the stator coil. Further, a cooling mechanism is provided to drop liquid coolant onto the coil end part. Moreover, the turn portions of the phase windings include long-pitch turn portions and short-pitch turn portions. In the coil end part, there are axially-overlapping pairs of the long-pitch and short-pitch turn portions over an entire circumferential range of the stator coil. For each axially-overlapping pair of the long-pitch and short-pitch turn portions, the short-pitch turn portion is located axially inside the long-pitch turn portion and faces the long-pitch turn portion through a void space formed therebetween over entire lengths of the long-pitch and short-pitch turn portions.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to rotating electric machines that are used in, for example, motor vehicles as electric motors and electric generators.
2. Description of Related Art
There are known rotating electric machines that are used in motor vehicles as electric motors and electric generators. These rotating electric machines generally include a rotor and a stator. The stator includes an annular stator core and a stator coil. The stator core is disposed in radial opposition to the rotor and has a plurality of slots arranged in a circumferential direction thereof. The stator coil is comprised of a plurality of phase windings that an mounted on the stator core so as to be received in the slots of the stator core and be different in electrical phase from each other.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP2011109894A (to be referred to as Patent Document 1 hereinafter) discloses a rotating electric machine which includes a three-phase stator coil 140 as shown in FIG. 16. The stator coil 140 is comprised of a plurality of phase windings mounted on a stator core 130. Each of the phase windings is formed of a plurality of substantially wave-shaped electric wires; each of the electric wires is configured with an electric conductor having a substantially rectangular cross-sectional shape and an insulating coat that covers the outer surface of the electric conductor. Moreover, each of the phase windings includes a plurality of in-slot portions 151C and a plurality of turn portions 152. Each of the in-slot portions 151C is received in one of slots 131 formed in the stator core 130. Each of the turn portions 152 is located outside the slots 131 of the stator core 130 to connect one pair of the in-slot portions 151C respectively received in two different ones of the slots 131. Moreover, each of the turn portions 152 includes an apex part 153 that is positioned at the center of the turn portion 152 in the extending direction of the turn portion 152 and extends in the circumferential direction of the stator core 130. Further, at the center of the apex part 153, there is formed a crank-shaped part 154 that is bent to radially offset the turn portion 152. Moreover, those turn portions 152 of the phase windings of the stator coil 140 which are located on a first axial side of the stator core 130 together constitute a first coil end part of the stator coil 140; those turn portions 152 of the phase windings of the stator coil 140 which are located on a second axial side of the stator core 130 together constitute a second coil end part of the stator coil 140.
More specifically, as shown in FIG. 16, the stator coil 140 is wave-wound on the stator core 130 so that each of the turn portions 152 connects a first in-slot portion 151C arranged at the Nth layer counting from the radially inside in a first slot 131 and a second in-slot portion 151C arranged at the (N−1)th layer counting from the radially inside in a second slot 131 that is away from the first slot 131 by six slot-pitches, where N is a natural number greater than or equal to 2.
However, in the rotating electric machine disclosed in Patent Document 1, the stator coil 140 generates heat upon being supplied with electric current, thereby lowering the efficiency of the rotating electric machine. Therefore, it is necessary to suitably cool the stator coil 140. To this end, liquid coolant may be supplied to drop onto the first and second coil end parts of the stator coil 140 which protrude respectively from opposite axial end faces of the stator core 130. In this case, if the liquid coolant dropped on the first and second coil end parts of the stator coil 140 could not effectively flow through the first and second coil end parts, it would be impossible to effectively cool the stator coil 140. Consequently, with an excessive increase in the temperature of the stator coil 140, the insulating coats of the electric wires forming the phase windings of the stator coil 140 might be fused, thus resulting in an insulation failure.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JPH11164506A (to be referred to as Patent Document 2 hereinafter) discloses a rotating electric machine which includes a three-phase stator coil 240 as shown in FIGS. 17-19. The stator coil 240 is comprised of a plurality of phase windings mounted on a stator core 130. Each of the phase windings is formed of a plurality of substantially U-shaped electric conductor segments; each of the electric conductor segments is configured with an electric conductor having a substantially rectangular cross-sectional shape and an insulating coat that covers the outer surface of the electric conductor. Moreover each of the phase windings includes a plurality of in-slot portions 151C and a plurality of turn portions 152. Each of the in-slot portions 151C is received in one of slots 131 formed in the stator core 130. Each of the turn portions 152 is located outside the slots 131 of the stator core 130 to connect one pair of the in-slot portions 151C respectively received in two different ones of the slots 131. Moreover each of the turn portions 152 includes an apex part 153 that is positioned at the center of the turn portion 152 in the extending direction of the turn portion 152 and extends in the circumferential direction of the stator core 130. Further, at the center of the apex part 153, there is formed a crank-shaped part 154 that is beat to radially offset the turn portion 152. Moreover, all the turn portions 152 of the phase windings of the stator coil 240 are located on the same axial side (i.e., the upper side in FIG. 17) of the stator core 130 and together constitute a coil end part of the stator coil 240.
More specifically, as shown in FIGS. 18-19, before being mounted to the stator core 130, each of the electric conductor segments is substantially U-shaped to have a pair of straight portions extending parallel to each other and a turn portion that connects ends of the straight portions on the same side. In forming the stator coil 240, the straight portions are axially inserted, from a first axial side (i.e., the upper side in FIG. 17) of the stator core 130, respectively into two slots 131 of the stator core 130 which are away from each other by six slot-pitches. Then, free end parts of the straight portions, which protrude outside the slots 131 on a second axial side (i.e., the lower side in FIG. 17) of the stator core 130, are twisted respectively toward opposite circumferential sides. Thereafter, each corresponding pair of distal ends of the twisted free end parts of the electric conductor segments are joined by, for example, welding. Consequently, in the resultant stator coil 240, those parts of the straight portions of the electric conductor segments which are received in the slots 131 of the stator core 130 respectively constitute the in-slot portions 151C of the phase windings of the stator coil 240; the turn portions of the electric conductor segments respectively constitute the turn portions 152 of the phase windings of the stator coil 240.
Moreover, according to Patent Document 2, the electric conductor segments forming the phase windings of the stator coil 240 are comprised of a plurality of large electric conductor segments 150A as shown in FIG. 18 and a plurality of small electric conductor segments 150B as shown in FIG. 19. The turn portions 152 of the large electric conductor segments 150A are larger than the turn portions 152 of the small electric conductor segments 150B. In each of the slots 131 of the stator core 130, there received four of the in-lot portions 151C of the electric conductor segments 150A and 150B in radial alignment with each other.
More specifically, as shown in FIG. 18, each of the large electric conductor segments 150A includes a first in-slot portion 151C arranged at the first layer (i.e., the innermost layer) in a first slot 131, a second in-slot portion 151C arranged at the fourth layer (i.e., the outermost layer) in a second slot 131 that is away from the first slot 131 by six slot-pitches, and one turn portion 152 that connects the first and second in-slot portions 151C. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 19, each of the small electric conductor segments 150B includes a first in-slot portion 151C arranged at the second layer in a first slot 131, a second in-slot portion 151C arranged at the third layer in a second slot 131 that is away from the first slot 131 by six slot-pitches, and one turn portion 152 that connects the first and second in-slot portions 151C. Moreover, each joined-pair of the free and parts of the large and small electric conductor segments 150A and 150B respectively protrude from two slots 131 that are away from each other by six slot-pitches.
However, in the rotating electric machine disclosed in Patent Document 2, the stator coil 240 generates heat upon being supplied with electric current, thereby lowering the efficiency of the rotating electric machine. Therefore, it is necessary to suitably cool the stator coil 240. To this end, liquid coolant may be supplied to drop onto the coil end part of the stator coil 240 which protrudes from an axial end face of the stator core 130. In this case, if the liquid coolant dropped on the coil end part of the stator coil 240 could not effectively flow through the coil end part, it would be impossible to effectively cool the stator coil 240. Consequently, with an excessive increase in the temperature of the stator coil 240, the insulating coats of the electric conductor segments forming the phase windings of the stator coil 240 might be fused, thus resulting in an insulation failure.


In one embodiment, a compact for tools, such as cutting, drilling, wire drawing and shaping tools, consists essentially of a porous mass of self-bonded, boron-doped diamond particles and a catalyst-solvent material. The method for making such a compact comprises the steps of bonding a mass of boron-doped diamond particles, aided by a catalyst-solvent material, under high temperatures and high pressures (HP/HT).. In another embodiment, a composite compact, which is made in a similar manner to the first embodiment, consists essentially of (i) a layer of a porous mass of self-bonded, boron-doped diamond particles and catalyst-solvent material; and (ii) a substrate layer of cemented carbide bonded to the diamond layer.

This invention relates to tools such as cutting, drilling, shaping and wire drawing tools and more particularly to tool components comprised of diamond compacts.
Particle is defined as an individual abrasive crystallite or fragment thereof.
A cluster compact is defined as a cluster of abrasive particles bonded together either (1) in a self-bonded relationship, (2) by means of a mechanical or chemical bonding medium disposed between the crystals, (3) by means of some combination of (1) and (2). Reference can be made to U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,136,615; 3,233,988; and 3,690,818 for a detailed disclosure of certain types of cluster compacts and methods for making same. (The disclosures of these patents are hereby incorporated by reference herein.)
A composite compact is defined as a cluster compact bonded to a substrate material such as cemented tungsten carbide. The bond to the substrate can be formed either during or subsequent to the formation of the cluster compact. It is, however, highly preferred to form the bond during formation of the cluster compact. Reference can be made to U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,743,489; 3,745,623; 3,767,371; and 3,831,428 for a detailed disclosure of certain types of composite compacts and methods for making same. (The disclosures of these patents are hereby incorporated by reference herein.)
Before the invention of diamond compacts, large single crystal natural diamond was used in the most severe machining, wire drawing and drilling applications. A primary object of the development of diamond compacts was to replace the large single crystal natural diamonds with a polycrystalline mass in these applications. To do this it was necessary to produce a polycrystalline mass with properties which at least approximate or, more desirably, improve over that of single crystal diamond. This has been essentially achieved. For example, single crystal diamond is sensitive to fracture and chippage along certain planes, thereby requiring precise orientation to maximize its life. A compact, because of its polycrystalline nature, is highly resistant to fracture and chippage and does not require orientation as its properties are non-directional. Also, compacts produced in accordance with the invention set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 3,745,623 have been made with a hardness of between 5,000 and 8,000 knoop hardness at a 3,000 gram load which is approximately 60 to 100% of the hardness of single crystal diamond. The most important factor in producing compacts which have properties competitive with single crystal diamond is the ability to achieve extensive self-bonding or diamond-to-diamond bonding within the compact. Even with the quality of compact products now produced with prior art techniques, the utility and life of such compacts would be improved if more extensive diamond-to-diamond bonding could be achieved. This, of course, would have a significant impact on the commercial success of such a product.
Another approach to making compacts more competitive with single crystal would be to reduce the cost of production. Prior art compacts are produced by a process requiring severe HP/HT conditions. Such processes are inherently expensive thereby yielding expensive products because of the sophisticated apparatus necessary to achieve and maintain such conditions for a sufficient period of time to produce a strong integral compact. It has been found that the degree of self-bonding achieved increases with time of exposure of the compact to HP/HT conditions or with an increase in the HP conditions. However, increases in the exposure time or the HP conditions can mean significantly increased cost of manufacture because of a reduction in life of the HP/HT apparatus used in the process.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved diamond compact by increasing the degree of self-bonding or diamond-to-diamond bonding present in the compact.
Another object of this invention is to provide an improved process for making diamond compacts whereby a high degree of diamond-to-diamond bonding is achieved at less severe HP/HT conditions or at HP/HT values similar to that of the prior art but which are maintained for a shorter period of time.

Compact of boron-doped diamond and method for making same


This invention generally relates to a set of parallelepipedal bodies (cubes) capable of matingly compatible engagement for interconnection with substantially similar cubes or matingly conformed rails, so as to allow up to three degrees of freedom in the sliding movement of an individual cube or grouping of cubes about a grouping of other interconnected cells from the set. Each cube is constructed from six plates or from three plate pairs. The interior physical configuration of tabs and slots lends itself to injection molding of plates or plate pairs. The exterior physical configuration of all plates and at least one of the exterior surfaces of the rails are substantially similar. When a number of cubes are assembled into a cubic array, there can be slab movement, row movement or solo cube movement.

The present invention relates to a set of unique parallelepipedal cubes, capable of a hollow core construction. Each cube has six plates, the rear faces of which matingly interlock in a synergistic design for assembly. There are only two kinds of different plates used in the assembly of each cube. The exterior faces of the two plates are substantially similar in physical configuration and are rectangular, however the interior faces differ in the arrangement and number of tabs and slots used for the assembly of the cube. Six of the two plates, (three of each type), are used for the assembly of one cube. Additionally, the two plates may be formed as a single unit, (a plate pair) three identical plate pairs which still synergistically interlock for assembly to a cube. The design of the plates allow for injection molding of the two kinds of individual plates or of the plate pairs.
The rails are linear members bearing the same physical configuration as the exterior face of the plates on at least one of their surfaces. The rails may have more than five surfaces (as in the case of a triangular linear member), although the most common rail configuration has four sides and two ends (a rectangular linear member) and may or may not have sides of equal width. An "L" shapped rail is utilized for specific construction assemblies.
The exterior face design is such that all exterior faces matingly interlock for sliding engagement. In this manner the cubes are free to move about each other individually or in groupings, generally with three degrees of freedom. (I.E. movement is allowed in each of the X, Y and Z axis.) Similarly, a single cube or array of cubes may slidingly engage a rail.
The interlocking design on the backside of each face plate maximizes the amount of hollow interior space while providing for a rigid unibody design wherein the strength of the cell is a synergistic function of all six face plates. The ease of fabrication and plethora of applicable uses are some of this invention's stronger features.
When a multitude of cubes are assembled into an array, preferably cubic, there can be slab movement, row movement or solo cell movement.
Since the intended field of art for such an invention is personal gaming, this invention's design overcomes the drawbacks of the prior art in that it greatly simplifies the mass fabrication of the cubes as well as the ease of arranging a cube groupings about another cube or cube grouping. It also offers a level of difficulty and variety in hand puzzles that has heretofore not been seen.


A slitting or tenching tool is described comprising a blade adapted to be lowered vertically into the soil and pulled therethrough so as to define a slit or trench having a depth determined by the mean depth to which the blade penetrates the soil, in which a vibrator causes the blade to vibrate at least in a generally up and down manner at the same time as it is moved in a forward direction. A second blade may be provided which is oscillated in a backwards and forwards manner. The second blade includes wings at its lower end to form a horizontal slit which communicates with the vertical trench or slit formed by the first blade. The second blade may be hollow so that finely divided particulate material maybe dispensed therethrough into the trench for backfilling. A pipe or cable dispensing leg may be associated with the blades or situated between them. A tape may be fed into the horizontal slit formed by the second blade. Backfilling may be performed both above and below the horizontal slit which contains the tape. Methods of subsoiling cable and pipe laying with and without marking tape are described.

It is known to penetrate the soil using a blade extending downwardly from a carriage which may be self propelled or trailed behind a tractor or similar vehicle. By arranging for the blade to penetrate the soil to a given depth so a slit or trench the width of which is determined by the thickness of the blade can be formed and it is known to backfill the trench with sand or gravel for drainage purposes or to discharge a cable or pipe at a low level in the trench with or without back filling to perform so-called trenchless cable or pipe laying.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved slitting or trenching tool and method.
It is another object of the invention to provide an implement which includes an improved slitting or trenching tool and further provides for back filling a slit or trench formed by the tool, and method of performing same.
It is another object of the invention to provide an improved pipe or cable laying apparatus utilising an improved slitting or trenching tool, and method therefor.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a subsoil cultivator which operates in conjunction with an improved slitting or trenching tool.


A toy vehicle crash center play set includes a base mounting three separate upright walls. Two of the walls are interchangeable at the center and lateral side positions along one edge of the base. One interchangeable wall includes a mechanical impact meter with a horizontally movable target and a linkage coupled impact indicator. The second interchangeable wall includes four pivotally mounted wall panels having irregular perimeters which interfit with one another and rotate apart as a "break away" wall. A separate launcher including a base, a hand-operated actuator coupled to the base and a carrier movably driven along the base by the actuator, is provided and releasably engages with depressions provided at various positions in the base. Additional elements which are provided for mounting to the base and/or walls include different toy vehicle components, signposts, mailbox and parking meter and a pair of upright supports. The upright supports, the launcher and targets on the first wall can releasably mount any of the toy vehicle parts.

In recent years, toy action figures have gained widespread popularity among children. Also gaining popularity with such figures are play sets in the form of interactive building structures having movable parts designed to set the scene where such figures are typically found and to extend the reality of play.
As part of its mandate to promote highway safety, the Department of Transportation (DOT) has, in recent years, promoted through advertisements and other media, two "living" vehicle crash test dummies: "Vince" and "Larry". Their traffic safety message is often delivered with the depiction of a vehicle crash in a motor vehicle crash test center in which one or both of the dummies is broken apart or otherwise damaged.


An Ultra Low Voltage (ULV) digital circuit includes a logic circuit comprising a plurality of logic gates and a plurality of buffered interconnects for connecting between the plurality of logic gates, a temperature sensor configured to detect a temperature of the logic circuit, and a voltage controller configured to control a driving voltage provided to the logic circuit in order to reduce a power consumption of the logic circuit based on the detected temperature. Each of the plurality of logic gates and buffered interconnects reduces a signal delay as a temperature increases.

The present disclosure relates to a digital circuit, and more particularly, to an ultra low voltage digital circuit and an operation method thereof.
In relation to a conventional digital circuit, a high-performance circuit design technique for maximizing the performance is mainly developed. However, as small digital devices such as mobile devices are used recently, a low-power circuit design technique for reducing power consumption is mainly developed.
In general, a high-performance circuit design technique has its object to maximize the operating speed or operating performance of a digital circuit without considering power consumption. On the other hands, a low-power circuit design technique has its object to minimize power consumption by lowering driving voltage or driving frequency such as Dynamic Voltage and Frequency Scaling (DVFS) or by using clock gating or power gating such as Dynamic Power Management (DPM). The low-power circuit design technique minimizes power consumption but has the disadvantage that operating performance is decreased and the high-performance circuit design technique maximizes operating performance but has the disadvantage that power consumption is increased. Recently, various techniques for simultaneously reducing power consumption and maintaining operating performance are developed.

Ultra low voltage digital circuit and operation method thereof

ELECTRONICS AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS RESEARCH INSTITUTE


A method and system for mastering and distributing enhanced color space content for different display devices (target color space) having display capabilities beyond that of CRT color space. The content creator(s) establishes base or reference color space and enhanced color space data for each target color space. The enhanced color space data is stored as metadata and transmitted over an enhanced color channel separately from the base/reference color space. Both the base/reference data and metadata are encoded before transmission and decoded on the consumer side either by a separate decoder or a display device having an integrated decoder. In other aspects of the invention, auxiliary data relating to the target color space, such as, for example, brightness, luminance, contrast and other display settings can be transmitted over the enhanced color channel and decoded to control the target color space settings (i.e., display settings). The color adjustment metadata could be included in the auxiliary data or maintained separate from the same depending on the desired implementation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to content creation and delivery. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and system for enhancing content creation and delivery for use with new emerging display technologies not based on CRT.
2. Description of the Prior Art
With today's current technology, it is difficult, if not impossible to re-create a content creator's artistic intent (i.e., with respect to color) on a video display device, especially a video display device for home use. Generally speaking, the only place where such re-creation is possible is in the theater on either film or digital cinema. This "content creator's artistic intent" with respect to color is referred to herein as the "color space" of the content.
The color space for consumer use has been always targeted for traditional Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) display devices. The idea of extending the color space for different display devices has been the subject of research and publication. Several companies have proposed methods for enhancing the color gamut and/or dynamic range on their display devices, but to date, no known end- to-end system provides backwards compatibility.
New display technologies are under development and are entering the consumer marketplace. Such new display technologies offer greater picture reproduction capabilities than traditional CRT-based displays. However, present-day video content mastering processes, delivery systems, coding systems and signaling are based solely on CRT.
As new display technologies with High Dynamic Range (HDR), Enhanced Color Gamut (ECG), and other features enter the consumer marketplace, it becomes necessary to establish a new content production chain that can maximize the potential of these display technologies. Examples of these types of new display technologies include, but are not limited to, Liquid Crystal Displays (LCD), Liquid Crystal on Silicon (LCOS), Plasma Display Panel (PDP), Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED), High Dynamic Range (HDR) and Enhanced Color Gamut (ECG) display devices.
FIG. 1 shows the color space relationship 100 in today's post production processes. In this example, three separate color adjustments (106, 108, 110) are performed (i.e., one for film 106, one for digital cinema 108, and one for video 110). The digital course content is color adjusted (104) by a skilled colorist. The Film Master 106 (referred to herein as color space X) requires scene by scene adjustment to prepare the content for film projection. The Digital Cinema Master 108 (Referred to herein as color space Y) requires scene-by-scene adjustments made for digital cinema, and the video master (herein referred to as color space Z) requires a scene-by-scene adjustment made for the home vide environment.
Due to the significant differences between the characteristics of each variation, these color adjustments are very much a creative process and have not been easily automated. To date there exist no widely available mathematical transform that can translate from one of these versions to another. Thus, as these new display types and technologies are added that diverge significantly from those shown in the figure, it becomes necessary to generate additional variant masters to address these new display capabilities.

Method and system for mastering and distributing enhanced color space content