With the advent of disposable items made from or bonded by polyvinylalcohol polymers, particularly highly hydrolyzed polyvinylalcohol of limited water solubility, the disposal of used contaminated items has become a significant problem. These disposable products are typically used once and then discarded. During use, the items often come into contact with infective biological liquids and solids that can contain bacteria, viral particles, fecal matter, blood, mucus, etc. This large volume of disposable and often contaminated materials poses a significant problem to the hospitality and healthcare industries. Previously, such disposables are often sterilized using autoclave (high temperature steam) digestion to render the pathogen content substantially harmless. Such a process is time consuming due to the large volume of disposable materials and can be energy wastefull. We have found that polyvinylalcohol containing fabric materials can be treated with an aqueous alkaline treatment or with an alkaline oxidant for the purpose of rendering the pathogens harmless and dissolving the polyvinylalcohol non-woven for disposal purposes.

In the past, hospital and hospitality industries often used conventional cotton and woven fabric materials for a variety of hospital uses. Because of the time involved in collecting, laundering, sanitizing and reusing or recycling conventional fabric materials, replacements for such materials have been sought. One form of replacement including disposable, typically woven or non-woven, fabrics have found substantial use in hospitality and healthcare industries. Such non-woven materials are often made from or bonded with polyvinylalcohol materials. Polyvinylalcohol can be formed into fibers or can be formulated into adhesives which make up structural components of a non-woven fabric material. Non-wovens also can often contain a variety of other ingredients and components to make up fully functional gown, cap, shoe cover, drape, wipe, absorbent article or other component. However, in large part, the polyvinylalcohol materials can act either to maintain the integrity of the unit or can act as the main structural component of the non-woven fabric. Polyvinylalcohol resins have also been used in the manufacture of a variety of items that contain cast, extruded, molded or otherwise manufactured items (apart from woven or non-woven fabrics) that are made of polyvinylalcohol components. Such items can include adhesive materials, films, rigid and non-rigid containers, permeable and non-permeable tubing, permeable and non-permeable membranes, and a variety of other structures. Please note that such structures can contain both fabric and non-fabric components made from polyvinylalcohol resins.
Polyvinylalcohol typically comes in a variety of grades having varieties of water solubility. Partially hydrolyzed polyvinylalcohol, having a hydrolysis degree of about 87 to 88%, is typically an easily solubilized material using cold water. Fully hydrolyzed materials having a degree of hydrolysis of between about 90 and 95% have a reduced cold water solubility as the degree of hydrolyzing increases. Super-hydrolyzed polyvinylalcohol grades typically have a very low cold water solubility and are minimally soluble in aqueous solutions at ambient (room or typical indoor environmental temperature for employees, typically about 20 to 35.degree. C.) temperatures. The water solubility of the polyvinylalcohol polymer can be reduced further by the presence of other typically hydrophobic monomers in the polymer backbone. Such monomers can include ethylene, propylene, vinyl chloride, vinyl alcohol esters, derivatized vinyl alcohol moieties such as those found in polyvinylbutyral, acrylic monomers and others well known to one of ordinary skill in the art. A small proportion of a co-monomer can substantially reduce aqueous solubility.
Non-woven items, woven items, molded sheet or film items made from or formed from polyvinylalcohol fibers or adhesive compositions can be substantially resistant to aqueous materials if the polyvinyl alcohol is selected from the more hydrolyzed or hydrophobic materials. The water solubility of these materials is unique since one would intuitively assume that materials with a high degree of hydrolysis (high proportion of hydroxyls from hydrolysis) would be more water soluble. However, the reverse is true since the reduced acetate content of the polyvinylalcohol results in polymer coiling due to intramolecular hydrogen bonding. These polymer properties result in substantially poorer water solubility as the hydrolysis content increases. Super-hydrolyzed (greater than about 99 wt. % hydrolyzed) polyvinylalcohol is very difficultly solubilized in cold water and when incorporated into a disposable item, can even be more resistant to the action of aqueous solutions because of the protective nature of the this overall structure.
Further, when used in hospitality and healthcare organizations, PVOH items, woven and non-woven materials can often come into contact with pathogenic materials. Non-wovens, in particular, can come into contact and can absorb a variety of biological fluids including whole blood, blood fractions; including red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, serum, plasma; fecal material, urine, ascites, lymphatic fluids, hair, skin and other natural materials. Similarly, in the hospitality industry such non-woven materials can also come into contact with a more narrow range of biological materials. However, these materials can also be pathogenically hazardous. Because these materials are single use materials and because they are often are biohazards due to substantial pathogenic contamination, the disposal of these materials is a significant problem.
Currently we are aware of two approaches of promoting the disposal of woven and non-woven materials made using polyvinylalcohol. In one approach, the woven or non-woven materials are contacted with very high temperature water to maximize the rate of solubility of the materials, resulting in a disposable solution or dispersion of the components making up the disposable item or items. Our experience in using hot water for the purpose of dissolving and disposing polyvinylalcohol containing non-wovens has shown us that even in very hot water, water at 90.degree. C. to 99.degree. C. and higher, the dissolution rate for the certain polyvinylalcohol items is quite slow for efficient operations. Disposing of highly hydrolyzed polyvinylalcohol (99%+hydrolysis) containing non-woven items simply using very hot water can take in excess of one day, often up to three days for complete dissolution. We believe that any successful disposal method for treating polyvinylalcohol non-wovens will take less than 4 hours, typically less than 2 hours. Further, such hot water treatments often do not render the dissolved polymer free from biohazard pathogens. Examples of highly hydrolyzed polyvinylalcohol absorbent technology designed for hot water dissolution include: Honeycutt, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,707,731 and 5,470,653, disclosing a mop head from highly hydrolyzed PVOH and its disposal soluble in hot water; Honeycutt, U.S. Pat. No. 5,650,219, disclosing a process for controlling PVOH solubilization temperature; Honeycutt, U.S. Pat. No. 5,661,217, disclosing manufacture of molded parts from highly hydrolyzed PVOH; Honeycutt, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,628,222 and 5,207837, disclosing a composite highly hydrolyzed PVOH disposable fabric and its disposal in hot water; Honeycutt, U.S. Pat. No. 5,181,967, disclosing disposal of highly hydrolyzed PVOH utensils in hot water.
A second approach to disposing such materials includes the use of a chemically modified polyvinylalcohol polymer composition. The polymers are specially modified to make the polymers more suitable for alkaline digestion and subsequent dissolution. In our experiences using specially modified polyvinylalcohol polymers that are modified to be sensitive to alkaline dissolution can lead to relatively efficient disposal of non-woven materials. However, the costs of the specially modified polyvinylalcohol can be substantial while the use of the alkali digestion can often not achieve full decontamination and elimination of biohazard. Examples of PVOH items modified for disposal via alkaline dissolution include: Patenode in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,630972, 5,567,510, 5,472,518, and 5,508,101, all disclosing a dispersible PVOH copolymer composition and a method of making the composition dispersible via alkaline digestion.
A substantial need exists for improved processes for disposing of used or contaminated polyvinylalcohol items, particularly highly hydrolyzed PVOH containing disposable items with simultaneous substantial reduction or elimination of biohazard populations permitting to safe disposal.

Chemical dissolution of poly(vinylalcohol) item or woven or non-woven fabric with antimicrobial action


A variable displacement vane pump provides a substantially constant output pressure in its regulated operation region. A longitudinal axis of the control spring is inclined, with respect to a plane through the rotational axis of a pivot and a contact point between the control ring and the control spring. The inclination reduces the length of the moment arm between the spring and the pivot when the control ring of the pump is moved from the maximum displacement position to the minimum displacement position. The reduced length moment arm offsets the increase in the moment produced by compression of the control spring is offset to achieve a substantially constant output pressure. The control spring is compressed a reduced amount during pump operation to minimize the change in output force exerted by the control spring as the control ring moves between positions.

Variable displacement vane pumps are well known and are used in a variety of systems. One use for such pumps which is becoming increasingly common is as lubrication oil pumps on internal combustion engines. Lubrication oil pumps in internal combustion engines operate over a wide range of speeds, as the engine operating speed changes, resulting in the output volume and the output pressure (as the output of these pumps is generally supplied to a lubrication system which can be approximately modeled as a fixed size orifice) of the pumps changing with their operating speed.
Generally, an internal combustion engine requires the lubrication oil pressure to increase with engine operating speed from a minimum necessary level at the lowest operating speed of the engine to a maximum desired pressure level, at a given higher operating speed of the engine. The engine's oil pressure requirements do not increase beyond the maximum desired pressure level at any other operating conditions.
As the maximum desired oil pressure level is output from the pump under normal temperature conditions at engine operating speeds well below the maximum engine operating speed, the lubrication oil pump will provide an oversupply of lubrication oil over a significant portion of the engine operating speed and temperature ranges unless its displacement is decreased once the maximum desired oil pressure has been reached. The oversupply of lubricating oil is undesired as it wastes energy, reducing fuel efficiency of the engine, and in some applications as the oversupply results in an overpressure which can damage the engine and/or other components of the engine system.
Accordingly, variable displacement vane pumps include a moveable control ring which allows the displacement capacity per revolution of the pump to be changed. Typically a control spring biases the control ring to the position of maximum displacement and a feedback mechanism, such as a control piston connected to a supply of pressurized oil from the pump, acts to move the control ring towards the position of minimum displacement as the operating speed of the pump increases in order to regulate oil pressure to a specified level.
At engine start up, the feedback mechanism cannot overcome the biasing force of the control spring and the control ring will be in the maximum displacement position to ensure that the pump supplies lubricating oil at the minimum necessary pressure. As the operating speed of the pump increases, the output pressure of the pump increases and the feedback mechanism begins to counter the biasing force of the control spring, reducing the displacement of the pump by moving the control ring towards the minimum displacement position and thus preventing undesired overpressure conditions in the output of the pump.
Ideally, once the output of the pump reaches the maximum desired pressure level for the engine (i.e. the regulated operating region), further increases in the operating speed of the engine and pump result in corresponding decreases in the displacement of the pump such that the output pressure of the pump does not exceed the maximum desired pressure level. However in actual practice, as the above-described control spring is compressed by the feedback mechanism, the force exerted on the control ring by the spring increases for further movement of the control ring toward the minimum displacement position. Thus the displacement of the pump is not decreased sufficiently to completely counter the increased operating speed and the output pressure of the pump continues to increase, albeit at a significantly reduced rate, in the regulated operating region.
It is desired to have a variable displacement vane pump which provides a substantially constant output, independent of operating speed increases, when the pump is in its regulated operating region.

Vane pump with substantially constant regulated output


A composition-of-matter comprising an antibody or antibody fragment including an antigen-binding region capable of specifically binding an antigen-presenting portion of a complex composed of a human antigen-presenting molecule and an antigen derived from a pathogen is disclosed.

The present invention relates to compositions-of-matter capable of specifically binding particular antigen-presenting molecule (APM)/antigen complexes. More particularly, the present invention relates to compositions-of-matter capable of specifically binding a particular human APM/pathogen-derived antigen complex.
Diseases caused by pathogens, such as viruses, mycoplasmas, bacteria, fungi, and protozoans, account for a vast number of diseases, including highly debilitating/lethal diseases, affecting all human individuals at numerous instances during their lifetime. For example, diseases caused by retroviruses are associated with various immunological, neurological, and neoplastic disorders. For example, diseases caused by lymphotropic retroviruses, such as acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) caused by human immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), or the closely related human T-cell lymphotropic virus (HTLV), a causative agent of various lethal pathologies (for general references, refer, for example to: Johnson J M. et al., 2001. Int J Exp Pathol. 82:135-47; and Bangham C R., 2000. J Clin Pathol. 53:581-6), account for lethal disease epidemics of devastating human and economic impact.
However, satisfactory methods of diagnosing, characterizing, and treating many kinds of pathogen-associated diseases such as diseases associated with lymphotropic viruses such as HIV or HTLV are unavailable.
HTLV-1 was the first human retrovirus identified (Poiesz B. J. et al., 1980. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 77:7415-7419). It causes a variety of diseases, including adult T lymphocyte leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL; Yoshida M. et al., 1982. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 79:2031-2035) and a non neoplastic inflammatory neurological syndrome called human T lymphotropic type I (HTLV-1) associated myelopathy/tropical virus spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP; Osame M. et al., 1986. Lancet 1:1031-1032). Several other clinical conditions have been linked to HTLV-1 infection on the basis of seroepidemiological studies; these include Sjogren's syndrome, inflammatory arthropathies, polymyositis, and pneumopathies (Coscoy L. et al., 1998. Virology 248: 332-341). The HTLV protein Tax seems to play a major role in the pathogenesis of. HTLV-1 associated diseases. Tax protein is known to stimulate the transcription of viral and cellular genes such as the genes coding for interleukin-2 (IL-2) and other cytokines, interleukin-2 receptor (IL-2R), proto-oncogenes, c-jun and c-fos, and MHC molecules (Yoshida M., 1993. Trends Microbiol 1:131-135). The transforming potential of Tax has been demonstrated in different experimental systems. It has been shown that rodent fibroblastic cell lines expressing Tax form colonies in soft agar and tumors in nude mice (Tanaka A. et al., 1990. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 87:1071-1075). Also, Tax transforms primary fibroblasts in cooperation with the Ras protein (Pozzatti R. et al., 1990. Mol Cell Biol. 10:413-417), and immortalizes primary T lymphocytes in the presence of IL-2 (Grassmann R. et al., 1989. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 86:3351-3355). Transgenic mice carrying the tax gene develop different types of tumors (Grossman W. J. et al., 1995. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 92:1057-1061). Tax binds directly to DNA but acts in cooperation with several cellular transcription factors, but the role of these different interactions in the cell transformation mediated by Tax is still unclear (Coscoy L. et al., 1998. Virology 248: 332-341). HTLV-1 associated myelopathy is a slowly, progressive neurological disease characterized by inflammatory infiltrates in the central nervous system that consist predominantly of monocytes and CD8 positive T lymphocytes. Systemically, there is an increase in viral load associated with clonal expansion of HTLV-1 reactive CD8 positive T lymphocytes which are primarily reactive with the Tax protein. It has been shown that in patients carrying the HLA-A2 allele, the immune response is dominated by CD8 positive T lymphocytes that recognize the Tax11-19 peptide (Bieganowska K. et al., 1999. J Immunol. 162-1765-1771; Nagai, M. et al., 2001. J Inf Dis. 183:197-205).
The immune system employs two types of immune responses to provide antigen specific protection from pathogens; humoral immune responses, and cellular immune responses, which involve specific recognition of pathogen antigens via antibodies and T lymphocytes, respectively.
T lymphocytes, by virtue of being the antigen specific effectors of cellular immunity, play a central and direct role in the body's defense against diseases mediated by intracellular pathogens, such as viruses, intracellular bacteria, mycoplasmas, and intracellular parasites, by directly cytolysing cells infected by such pathogens. However, helper T lymphocytes also play a critical role in humoral immune responses against non intracellular pathogens by providing T cell help to B lymphocytes in the form of interleukin secretion to stimulate production of antibodies specific for antigens of such pathogens.
The specificity of T lymphocyte responses conferred by and activated through T-cell receptors (TCRs). T-cell receptors are antigen specific receptors clonally distributed on individual T lymphocytes whose repertoire of antigenic specificity is generated via somatic gene rearrangement mechanisms analogously to those involved in generating the antibody gene repertoire. T-cell receptors are composed of a heterodimer of transmembrane molecules, the main type being composed of an αβ dimer and a smaller subset of a γδ dimer. T lymphocyte receptor subunits comprise a transmembrane constant region and a variable region in the extracellular domain, similarly to immunoglobulins, and signal transduction triggered by TCRs is indirectly mediated via CD3/ζ, an associated multi-subunit complex comprising signal transducing subunits.
The two main classes of T lymphocytes, helper T lymphocytes and cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs), are distinguished by expression of the surface markers CD4 and CD8, respectively. As described hereinabove, the main function of helper T lymphocytes is to secrete cytokines, such as IL-2, promoting activation and proliferation of CTLs and B lymphocytes, and the function of CTLs is to induce apoptotic death of cells displaying immunogenic antigens.
T lymphocyte receptors, unlike antibodies, do not recognize native antigens but rather recognize cell-surface displayed complexes comprising an intracellularly processed fragment of a protein or lipid antigen in association with a specialized antigen-presenting molecule (APM): major histocompatibility complex (MHC) for presentation of peptide antigens; and CD1 for presentation of lipid antigens, and to a lesser extent, peptide antigens. Peptide antigens displayed by MHC molecules and lipid antigens displayed by CD1 molecules have characteristic chemical structures are referred to as MHC-restricted peptides and CD1 restricted lipids, respectively. Major histocompatibility complex molecules are highly polymorphic, comprising more than 40 common alleles for each individual gene. "Classical" MHC molecules are divided into two main types, class I and class II, having distinct functions in immunity.
Major histocompatibility complex class I molecules are expressed on the surface of virtually all cells in the body and are dimeric molecules composed of a transmembrane heavy chain, comprising the peptide antigen binding cleft, an a smaller extracellular chain termed β2-microglobulin. MHC class I molecules present 9- to 11-amino acid residue peptides derived from the degradation of cytosolic proteins by the proteasome a multi-unit structure in the cytoplasm, (Niedermann G., 2002. Curr Top Microbiol Immunol. 268:91-136; for processing of bacterial antigens, refer to Wick M J, and Ljunggren H G., 1999. Immunol Rev. 172:153-62). Cleaved peptides are transported into the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) by TAP where they are bound to the groove of the assembled class I molecule, and the resultant MHC/antigen complex is transported to the cell membrane to enable antigen presentation to T lymphocytes (Yewdell J W., 2001. Trends Cell Biol. 11:294-7; Yewdell J W. and Bennink J R., 2001. Curr Opin Immunol. 13:13-8).
Major histocompatibility complex class II molecules are expressed on a restricted subset of specialized antigen-presenting cells (APCs) involved in T lymphocyte maturation and priming. Such APCs in particular include dendritic cells and macrophages, cell types which internalize, process and display antigens sampled from the extracellular environment. Unlike MHC class I molecules, MHC class II molecules are composed of an αβ transmembrane dimer whose antigen binding cleft can accommodate peptides of about 10 to 30, or more, amino acid residues.
The antigen presenting molecule CD1, whose main function, as described hereinabove, is presentation of lipid antigens, is a heterodimer comprising a transmembrane heavy chain paired with β2-microglobulin, similarly to MHC class I, and is mainly expressed on professional APCs, similarly to MHC class II (Sugita M. and Brenner M B., 2000. Semin Immunol. 12:511). CD1/antigen complexes are specifically recognized by TCRs expressed on CD4−CD8− T lymphocytes and NKT lymphocytes and play a significant role in microbial immunity, tumor immunology, and autoimmunity.
The cells of the body are thus scanned by T lymphocytes during immune surveillance or during maturation of T lymphocytes for their intracellular protein or lipid content in the form of such APM antigen complexes.
One strategy which has been proposed to enable optimal diagnosis, characterization, and treatment of diseases associated with an infection by a pathogen involves using molecules capable of specifically binding APM antigen complexes composed of a particular combination of APM and an antigen derived from such a pathogen. Such molecules, for example, could be conjugated to functional moieties, such as detectable moieties or toxins, and the resultant conjugates could be used to detect such complexes or cells displaying such complexes, or to kill cells displaying such complexes. Hence, such conjugates could be used to diagnose/characterize and treat a pathogen infection in an individual, respectively. Alternately, molecules capable of specifically binding such complexes could be used to bind such complexes on cells so as to block activation of T lymphocytes bearing TCRs specific for such complexes. Such molecules could further be used, for example, to isolate such complexes, or cells displaying such complexes, such as cells infected with a pathogen, or APCs exposed to a pathogen-derived antigen.
Several prior art approaches have been described involving molecules capable of binding particular APM/antigen complexes.
One approach involves using TCRs or derivatives thereof specific for particular MHC/peptide complexes in attempts to provide reagents capable of specifically binding such complexes.
Another approach involves using antibodies or derivatives thereof specific for particular mouse MHC/peptide complexes in attempts to provide reagents capable of specifically binding such complexes (Aharoni; R. et al., 1991. Nature 351:147-150; Andersen, P. S. et al., 1996. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A 93:1820-1824; Dadaghio, G. et al., 1997. Immunity. 6:727-738; Day, P. M. et al., 1997. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 94:8064-8069; Krogsgaard, M. et al., 2000. J. Exp. Med. 191:1395-1412; Murphy, D. B. et al., 1989. Nature 338:765-768; Porgador, A. et al., 1997. Immunity 6:715-726; Reiter, Y. et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 94:4631-4636; Zhong, G. et al., 1997. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 94:13856-13861; Zhong, G. et al., 1997. J. Exp. Med. 186:673-682).
A further approach involves utilizing antibodies or derivatives thereof specific for the human MHC class I molecule HLA-A1 in complex with an HLA-A1 restricted peptide derived from the melanoma specific tumor associated antigen melanoma associated antigen (MAGE)-A1 in attempts to provide reagents capable of specifically binding such a complex (Chames, P. et al., 2000. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 97:7969-7974).
An additional approach involves employing antibodies or derivatives thereof specific for the human MHC class I molecule HLA-A2: in complex with an HLA-A2 restricted peptide derived from the melanoma specific tumor associated antigen gp100 in attempts to provide reagents capable of specifically binding such a complex (Denkberg, G. et al., 2002. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 99:9421-9426).
Yet another approach involves using antibodies or derivatives thereof specific for human MHC class I molecule HLA-A2 in complex with an HLA-A2 restricted peptide derived from human telomerase catalytic subunit (hTERT) in attempts to provide reagents capable of specifically binding such a complex (Lev, A. et al., 2002. Cancer Res. 62:3184-3194).
However, all of the aforementioned prior art approaches suffer from significant disadvantages: (i) approaches involving the use TCRs or portions thereof as compounds capable of specifically binding particular MHC/peptide complexes are suboptimal due to the relatively low intrinsic binding affinity of TCRs for such complexes; (ii) approaches involving the use of antibodies or portions thereof specific for MHC/peptide complexes comprising non-human MHC are not suitable for human application; and (iii) approaches involving antibodies or portions thereof specific for MHC/non-pathogen derived antigen complexes are not suitable for specifically binding complexes comprising pathogen derived antigens.
Thus, all prior art approaches have failed to provide an adequate solution for providing molecules capable of specifically binding with high specificity and affinity a particular human APM/pathogen-derived antigen complex.
There is thus a widely recognized need for, and it would be highly advantageous to have, molecules devoid of the above limitation.

Compositions capable of specifically binding particular human antigen presenting molecule/pathogen-derived antigen complexes and uses thereof

Technion Research & Development Foundation Ltd.


In a double data rate (DDR) counter and counting method used in, for example, an analog-to-digital conversion in, for example, a CMOS image sensor and method, a first stage of the counter generates a least significant bit (LSB) of the value in the counter. The first stage includes a first clock input and is edge-triggered on one of the rising and falling edges of a signal applied at the first clock input. The counter includes at least one second stage for generating another bit of the value in the counter. The second stage includes a second clock input and is edge-triggered on the other of the rising and falling edges of a signal applied at the second clock input.

1. Field of the Invention
This application relates to image sensors and analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) and counters for image sensors and, more particularly, to a counter and an ADC and methods in a CMOS image sensor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) image sensors (CISs), which are widely used in digital cameras, capture optical signals and convert the optical signals into electrical signals. The CMOS image sensor has an active pixel sensor (APS) array that includes multiple pixels arranged in rows and columns. Each pixel typically includes a photodiode and a processing or read-out circuit. The photodiode generates electrical charge using absorbed light, converts the generated electrical charge into an analog voltage or current, and delivers the analog voltage or current to the read-out circuit. The read-out circuit converts the analog signal into a digital signal and outputs the digital signal.
An analog-to-digital converter (ADC) processes received pixel data, for example, data associated with all columns in a selected row of the APS array. In the analog-to-digital conversion process, a comparator receives an analog voltage and compares the analog voltage with a ramp voltage and uses a counter to count until the ramp voltage is greater than the analog voltage. Conventionally, when the ramp voltage exceeds the analog voltage, the count value in the counter is digital data corresponding to the analog voltage. That is, the count value is the digital data into which the analog voltage has been converted.
Such an ADC can include a correlated double sampling (CDS) circuit. CDS is a technique for measuring electrical values such as voltages or currents that allows for removal of an undesired offset, and is used frequently when measuring sensor outputs such as those in a CMOS image sensor. In CDS, the output of the sensor is measured twice—once in a known or reference condition and once in an unknown condition. The value measured from the known condition is then subtracted from the unknown condition to generate a value with a known relation to the physical quantity being measured. In dual CDS operation in a CMOS image sensor, an output node is reset to a predetermined reference value, a pixel charge (signal value) is transferred to the output node, and the final value of charge assigned to the pixel is the difference between the reset and signal values. The CDS circuit may also amplify the received reset and signal values.
High-speed counters, such as ripple counters, used in CDS consume a large amount of power. One particular cause of the power consumption in such counters is the frequent toggling of the least significant bit (LSB) in the counter. It is desirable to reduce the power consumption of the counter to reduce the overall power consumption in the ADC and in the CMOS image sensor.

Double data rate (DDR) counter, analog-to-digital converter (ADC) using the same, CMOS image sensor using the same and methods in DDR counter, ADC and CMOS image sensor


A modular locking binder system is disclosed having a channel is coupled to the binder spine. The channel has an open end and a constricted region. A channel block is located at the open end of said channel and is configured to block and unlock the channel opening. The modular locking binder system is configured to removably hold a document module within the channel. The document module includes a module spine having a widened portion configured to operatively engage and be restrained by the constricted region of the channel. By either obstructing or un-obstructing the channel with the channel block, it is possible to removeably secure the document module within the channel when the widened ends of the document module are operatively engaged and restrained by the constricted portions of the channel.

Systems for organizing and holding documents are well-known and exist in many varieties. A common system for organizing documents is with a ring-type binder. These ring-type binders typically include a plurality of loose-leaf page retaining members positioned longitudinally between opposing ends of such binders. The page retaining members are configured to extend through corresponding apertures in the preferred loose-leaf elements thereby retaining the loose-leaf elements in the ring-type binder.
In some ring-type binders, the page retaining members include two separable members which, then adjoined, form a loop for retaining loose-leaf elements. These separable page retaining members are configured to permit the user to insert loose-leaf elements in the binder and to remove or replace loose-leaf elements retained therein.
In other binders, the page retaining members do not separate in a manner which enables the user to insert or replace loose-leaf elements. These binders may take the form of a conventional spiral or other notebooks wherein the loose leafs are fixed therein using a continuous wire member configured in a helix or other manner so as to define a plurality of loose-leaf page retaining members.
Binders come in many standard sizes with respect to both capacity and paper size. The most common type in the United States is a three ring system for letter size pages (8½×11 in), whereas most other countries use a two or four hole system for holding A4 sheets. The lever arch system is particularly useful for larger amounts of paper. Some personal organizers and memorandum books use a six or seven hole system.
Most binder covers are made of three pieces, in the fashion of a hardback book, but are produced in many styles. Materials vary widely. Some vinyl binders have a clear pocket on the outside for cover pages, and many have pockets in the inner cover for loose papers, business cards, compact discs, etc. There are also zipper binders, which zip the binder up and keep papers from falling out.


A double hooked utility hanger having a top attachment hook and a bottom suspension hook, each opposite one another along a connecting shaft, said ends rotated to be perpendicular to each other, or nearly so. A suspension hole is located centrally along the connecting shaft, opening on a plane perpendicular to the top attachment hook of the present invention. This suspension hole is the suspension point for a second and subsequent double hooked utility hanger, providing the means whereby the user may suspend a series of double hooked utility hangers, said series being suspended from a single attachment point from which is suspended the top attachment hook of the first member of the series. Any item capable of being stored in a suspended manner may be thus suspended from the bottom suspension hook of the present invention, either singly or multiply by use of the aforementioned series of double hooked utility hangers. Alternate embodiments include a treble hooked utility hanger, comprising a single top attachment hook connected to a three pronged connecting shaft, the lower two prongs terminating in a bottom suspension hook which provides the means whereby items capable of being stored in a suspended manner may be attached. Along said connecting shafts are located suspension holes for suspending subsequent multiple double or treble hooked utility hangers. An additional alternate embodiment comprises the bottom suspension hook of both the present invention and the preferred embodiment being rotated perpendicularly to said connecting shaft, providing the means for suspended storage of cups and other containers in a horizontal manner.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to hooks and hanging devices, and in particular to double hooks, specifically hooks used in a system application for purposes of suspending a multiplicity of objects.
2. Description of Related Art
With the growing trend to utilize wall and storage space efficiently, there exists a need to suspend multiple objects from walls, doors and other support members, by using either a number of single hooks, each with its own attachment to the wall, or by use of a hanging system of hooks, made possible through the use of a carrier mechanism, which itself is the suspension point for a number of hooks.
Related art thereby requires the user to affix or otherwise attach each individual hook to the a support member, a time consuming and oftentimes damaging process to said support member. The present invention requires only a single attachment, that attachment able to support a vertical series of double hooked utility hangers, each with a suspension hole used for attaching subsequent hangers of the same design.
Other related art utilizes a carrier system attached to a support member, making possible the use of a multiplicity of hooks, however said carrier mechanism is expensive to produce. Neither this added expense nor the added mechanism is required for the present invention to provide a multiplicity of hanging points for the user.
Whatever the precise merits, features and advantages of the prior art, non of them achieves or fulfills the suspension purposes of the present invention, the double hooked utility hanger.
Accordingly, it is a principle object of the present invention to achieve a vertical series of hanging suspension points for items with a suspendable handle, such as cups and cookware as well as all other items capable of storage in a suspended mode. This series of hanging suspension points is accomplished by means of a series of hangers of design comprised within the present invention, the first hanger in the series attached to a wall or other support member by means of its top attachment hook hanging over or otherwise attached to a nail, peg or other secure attachment embedded in said support member. The second and subsequent hangers in the series attach to the preceeding hanger by means of insertion of the top attachment hooks of the subsequent hangers through the suspension hole of preceeding said hangers. Each member of said series is further comprised of a lower or bottom suspension hook, rotated on the connecting shaft of the present invention in such a manner as to facilitate the suspension of objects by hanging said objects from said bottom suspension hook.
It is an additional principle object of the present invention to provide an efficient means for the horizontal suspension of items, such as skiis, ladders and other objects, by means of two series of hangers of the present invention being hung at the same elevation at a sufficient distance apart to carry the load of said skiis, ladders and other objects requiring horizontal storage. By attaching second or subsequent hangers of the present invention by means of inserting the top attachment hooks of the subsequent hangers through the suspension hole of the previous hangers, a multiple series of objects can be stored in a horizontal and/or vertical suspended manner, either those requiring two horizontal hanging support points, and/or those requiring a single hanging support point.
It is a further principle object of the present invention to provide an economical and efficient means of devising a simple hanging storage system and foregoing the expense of manufacture of a carrier and/or a need for securing multiple attachment points for vertical members of the system. This system may be made as extensive as the user wishes, requiring only the needed number of double hooked utility hangers of the present invention, with each vertical series affixed to a single attachment.
Other and further objects, advantages and features of the present invention will be understood by reference to the following specification in conjunction with the annexed drawings, wherein like parts have been given like numbers.

Double hooked utility hanger, with hanger suspension hole


A method and system for determining the position and/or location of plant components of a mining extracting plant, which includes at least one face conveyor, a shield-type support system having a plurality of shield-type support frames and an extracting machine, the position/location of at least one plant component is determined by an evaluation system including a detection unit. To determine the location/position of at least one plant component even in the case of a dynamic mineral mining process, the detection unit includes an image sensor, by way of which at least four object points, which are at a predetermined spacing to each other and are detectable within the optical wavelength range, of at least one measuring object associated with one of the plant components, are detected and the position/location of the plant component can be determined from the projection of the object points detected by the image sensor.

Modern mines for the underground mining (extraction) of minerals in faces shift more and more work to the surface. This includes, above all, the monitoring and also control of the extraction process. In order to be able to visualize the extraction process by way of the extracting plant on the surface and to optimize the extraction process, the most precise knowledge possible is required of the respective current position of as many plant components as possible, such as, in particular, of the face conveyor with, where applicable, a mounted machine control unit for an extracting machine, of the extracting machine itself and, where applicable, also of the support frames of a shield-type support system, by means of which the face or the underground stope is kept open and it is possible to displace the plant components of the extracting plant in the extracting or mining direction. As through the dynamic process, e.g. when extracting coal, there is a change in the position and location both of the technical extracting and conveying systems in the face and that of the plant components positioned in the roads, an effective solution for measuring and determining the position, where possible, of all these plant components in three-dimensional space (3D) and/or for measuring and determining the location of the plant components in relation to each other has long been looked for.
EP 1 276 969 makes known entraining with the extracting machine a measuring system having an inertial navigation system in order to obtain, in two-dimensional space, a determining of a position of the rail guide of the face conveyor and of the extracting machine guided thereon. Drive signals for displacing devices are to be derived in turn from the positional data recorded with the inertial system in order to obtain control of the extracting plant or of the guide means in 3D space. Using the inertial navigation system, changes in location are determined with reference to an initial or starting point, it being possible, whenever a starting point is known in mine surveyor's terms, to also determine absolute 3D coordinates arithmetically from the relative movements determined with the inertial navigation system. The measurement data prepared by the inertial navigation system is coupled to the movement of the extracting machine.
For a shield-type support frame, the mounting of inclination detectors on the shield-type support frame has long been known, such as for example on its shield caps, fracture shield, control levers or runner, by means of which inclination detectors the relative location of the shield components to each other or also the absolute location of the shield components is determined. In DE 10 2007 035 848 B4 a multi-dimensional detector with acceleration sensors is proposed as inclination sensor in order to detect, in conjunction with a self-advancing sensor, the space/time coordinates of the shield-type support frame in relation to the face conveyor and to improve the automation of the mining of a coal face.
A method and device for optical distance measuring is known for geodetic surveying (cf. DE 198 40 049). A triangulation method is frequently employed for land surveying where sensors are used that are also designated as triangulation sensors or reflection light scanners. A light emitter emits light that after reflection at an object by means of a lens is supplied to a locally resolving, mainly optoelectronic image sensor in order to draw conclusions as to the distance of the object from the known geometry of the sensor.

Method for determining the position or location of plant components in mining extracting plants and extracting plant


Object-oriented programming (OOP) design patterns are constructed at least partially by delegating their behaviors to preconstructed OOP patterns to implement the behaviors. A new OOP pattern having one or more behaviors is defined. Each of at least one of the behaviors is delegated to a preconstructed OOP pattern, the preconstructed OOP pattern therefore implementing the behavior. The new OOP pattern is thus constructed at least partially by delegating at least one of its behaviors to the preconstructed OOP patterns. Delegating a behavior to one of the preconstructed OOP patterns can be accomplished within a graphical user interface (GUI). Graphical representations of the new OOP pattern and of the preconstructed OOP patterns are displayed. Dragging the graphical representation of a selected preconstructed OOP pattern onto the graphical representation of the new OOP pattern causes a behavior of the new OOP pattern to be delegated to the selected preconstructed OOP pattern.

Object-oriented programming (OOP) is a type of programming that supports object technologies. OOP is an evolutionary form of modular programming with more formal rules that allow pieces of software to be reused and interchanged between programs. Major concepts of OOP include encapsulation, inheritance and polymorphism.
Encapsulation is the creation of self-sufficient modules that contain the data and the processing, including the data structures and functions that manipulate that data. These user-defined, or abstract, data types are called "classes." One instance of a class is called an "object." For example, in a payroll system, a class could be defined as Manager, and Pat and Jan, the actual objects, are instances of that class.
Classes are typically created in hierarchies, and inheritance allows the knowledge in one class to be passed down the hierarchy. This means less programming is required when adding functions to complex systems. If a step is added at the bottom of a hierarchy, then only the processing and data associated with that unique step needs to be added. Everything else about that step is inherited.
Object-oriented programming allows procedures about objects to be created whose exact type is not known until runtime. For example, a screen cursor may change its shape from an arrow to a line depending on the program mode. The routine to move the cursor on screen in response to mouse movement would be written for "cursor," and polymorphism allows that cursor to be whatever shape is required at runtime. Polymorphism also allows a new shape to be easily integrated into the program.
An OOP design pattern, or more simply an OOP pattern or a pattern, is a common solution to a common problem within a given context. Patterns in the context of software development are used extensively to solve small and large problems in the design, modeling, implementation, deployment, and maintenance of software systems. The application of a pattern to or within a software system results in the system being structured and behaving in certain ways dictated by or consistent with the pattern. As such, a pattern can be considered as defining a set of constraints on the objects that make up the pattern.
The application of a pattern generally occurs by acting upon OOP objects through one or more explicit or implicit models that describe the objects and allow their manipulation. Patterns can be created in a variety of different OOP languages, such as Java, C++, and other OOP languages. Certain patterns and classes of patterns are recognized across the software industry, and may have implementations provided by software development tools.
Patterns can be created in the Java programming language, for example, using a software development tool. There are two different representations of patterns in software code written in the Java programming language in particular. The first representation is the definition of the pattern itself, as provided by the software development tool. The second representation is the definition of a pattern as applied to existing software code, or identified within existing software code that conforms to the definition of the pattern. This representation of a pattern is an instance or application of the definition of a pattern provided by the software development tool.
An important feature of such software development tools is to allow the creation of new patterns by the end users of the tools. These new patterns may be developed to enforce programming paradigms, standards, or conventions within an organization, as well as to provide general accelerators for the development of applications. For instance, one aspect of the creation of patterns that is desirable is the ability to distribute the patterns across an organization, as well as publicly, and to support and maintain the patterns and the software systems to which the patterns have been implied.
However, the creation and development of patterns can be tedious. Existing software development tools generally only allow the creation of patterns from scratch. As such, developers have to painstakingly define new patterns from their foundations upwards, or copy existing patterns and modify them to result in new or desired functionality. Either way, pattern development is less than optimal, resulting in developers potentially taking less advantage of patterns than they should.
For these and other reasons, there is a need for the present invention.

Construction of object-oriented programming (OOP) patterns by behavior delegation

International Business Machines Corporation


Methods and structural configurations of modular barrier systems and cutoff walls used to isolate contaminated soils from the environment in situ. The cutoff walls comprise plastic sheets, preferably of high density polyethylene, inserted in or adjacent to dense soil (such as bentonite modified) walls, and they are connected to each other with tubular connectors having flaps to which the plastic sheets are connected, preferably by welding.

As society progresses, and production of more and more sophisticated products increases dramatically with time, it is inevitable that more and more unwanted and hazardous by-products are also produced. Although minimization of hazardous waste is the most desirable solution in any industrial process, and a final goal should be complete elimination of hazardous waste by-products, this is a very difficult task, because of both technical and economical reasons.
Therefore a number of different ways have been developed to dispose of the hazardous wastes in a manner as safe as possible.
Incineration is a major technique used presently for this purpose, having a rather broad applicability. However, incineration is a rather expensive process, and although it can be used very effectively for eliminating organic compounds, hazardous inorganic compounds remain behind. The inorganic compounds are bound in a relatively low leachable structure, but they are still considered as hazardous.
Landfills have been used for a very long time to bury hazardous wastes which have been produced by the industry, the community and the government. The remaining inorganic wastes after the incineration, most of the time, are also buried in landfills.
These wastes are characterized by different degrees of hazard, and thus it is becomes important to isolate the landfill in a manner to avoid leaching of hazardous compounds to the environment outside the landfill. However, this need to isolate the landfills from the environment had not been realized at the beginning of the EPA era, and thus, there are still in existence a number of old landfills which may not have adequate isolation from the environment.
In addition, there are different pieces of land which have been contaminated in the past for one reason or another. Decontamination of the soil contained in those pieces of land, in most occasions, is not feasible from an economic point of view.
Therefore there is a strong need for economical and practical ways to isolate pieces of land having contaminated soil, especially if the contamination is rather light.
Gundle Lining Systems of Houston, Texas have available modular High-Density-Polyethylene barrier systems, using a connector comprising one solid male portion with a flap, and a female portion having a groove, a tube slot and a flap. The two portions, after being connected, form a tight contact by means of seal in the form of a strip extending lengthwise in the groove of the female portion.
SLT North America, Inc, also have available modular High-Density-Polyethylene barrier systems, using a connector comprising a multi-cavity female portion and a multi-T-shaped male portion of complicated configuration.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,464,081 discloses a hazardous waste system for safely containing hazardous waste and monitoring any water or leachates that might exist in the system. The system includes several protective layers for surrounding the hazardous waste, a perimeter wall to minimize any horizontal slippage of the hazardous waste, a cap to protect the hazardous waste from the surface environment, and a support base including an impervious top surface above the ground for providing a barrier between the ground and the hazardous waste.

Cutoff wall system to isolate contaminated soil


The invention provides a gyroscope employing a sensitive element rotated by a hysteresis motor and which has an improved bias repeatability, the bias arising from vibration of the sensitive element imparted thereto by the hysteresis motor. An identifiable point associated with the sensitive element (9) is sensed by first sensor means (37, 38, 67, 71) and a pole vector associated with the hysteresis motor (6) is sensed directly or indirectly by second sensor means (64), the outputs of these sensor means being applied to comparator means (73) which is operable to compare the phase of the pole vector (V.sub.p) with respect to the identifiable point. Control means (76, 79) are also provided which are responsive to the output of the comparator means (73) and operable to adjust the phase of the pole vector (V.sub.p) with respect to the identifiable point to a required relationship, the gyroscope further comprising means (73), for maintaining that required relationship once established.. The invention is particularly applicable to flexure-suspended free-rotor gyroscopes.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to gyroscopes in general although, for convenience, will in the main be discussed in relation to flexure-suspended, free-rotor gyroscopes since the invention is particularly applicable thereto.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A gyroscope having a sensitive element attached to a rotor of a hysteresis or synchronous motor suffers from a problem in that the hysteresis motor gives rise to vibration of the sensitive element with the result that a bias drift is introduced into the gyroscope, thereby degrading its performance. In the case of a four-pole hysteresis motor, stator coils thereof are arranged around the circumference of the rotor and are energised by sine and cosine waveforms which generate a pole or flux vector (V.sub.p) around the rotor circumference which rotates at half the frequency of the sine and cosine waveforms. Energisation of the stator coils causes a rotating magnetomotive force to accelerate the motor up to full speed. During normal running the angular relationship (.phi.) between an arbitrary vector AB fixed in the motor body and the axis of the rotating magnetising field MN is nominally constant. De-energising the stator coils momentarily whilst the rotor is spinning causes the rotating magnetising field vector MN to re-form at a different angle .phi. to AB.
Inevitable manufacturing and assembly tolerancies associated with hystereses motors mean that the air gap between the rotor and stator is not entirely uniform, hence there is likely to be a point on the the stator ring that is closer to the motor spin axis than any other point on the ring. If a diameter CD is drawn through this point, it will always nominally be fixed with respect to the stator windings.
The rotor, being made of magnetic material, is subject to the forces of magnetic attraction and nowhere is this attractive force so great as when the magnetising field parallel to MN bridges this point of smallest air gap, i.e. when MN is parallel to CD. This attractive force is along CD and occurs twice per rotor revolution and always in the same direction with respect to the stator. An observer fixed to the stator at the point of smallest air gap measuring both the attractive force and the magnetising field would see a sinusoidal magnetising field and a fluctuating or pulsating unidirectional attractive force. This attractive force sets up vibrations which cause the gyroscope to drift. The points on the rotor at which the maximum force is experienced can be indicated by the intersection of MN with the rotor circumference. These points, together with the rotor spin axis, define a plane along which the maximum amplitude pulsations occur and changing the angular relationship .phi. shifts the points, and hence the plane of vibration, which is sufficient to change the value and direction of the bias drift of the gyroscope. Thus the value of bias drift varies from switch-on to switch-on of the gyroscope. It is this lack of bias drift repeatability which is the problem because if the drift were constant, then the necessary correction can be made during calibration.
This change in bias drift, which can be of the order of several degrees per hour, introduced by the hysteresis motor is unacceptable in any high quality gyroscope but is particularly problematical in a flexure-suspended, free-rotor gyroscope such as disclosed, for example, in British Pat. Nos. 1,304,571 and 1,364,757.
There are some known methods of alleviating the identified problem one of which is to employ a servo loop in the gyroscope drive which ensures that the rotational speed of the rotor is slightly different from that which would pertain if the rotor were in synchronism with the rotating vector MN. This method is effective in overcoming the problem but consumes a relatively large amount of power which can be critical in some applications. Another known method is to change the phase of the stator energising signals, by interrupting the signals, so as to change sequentially the direction of the axes of the permanent magnets formed in the rotor and hence the direction of the bias drift. In this way, the bias drift is averaged out. Again this method is effective in meeting the problem concerned but it has now been realised that it is the cause of another problem. Every time the stator energising signals are phase slipped, torque transients are introduced into the rotor which in turn causes a drift in the output signal of the gyroscope.
It is the object of the present invention to overcome the problem of changes in bias drift introduced by the hysteresis motor without degrading the performance of the gyroscope in other respects and without incurring excessive power consumption.


A data de-identification method, a data de-identification apparatus and a non-transitory computer readable storage medium executing the same are provided. Original data including an identification field, a condition field, and a record field is obtained. An event condition is obtained according to the condition field. From the original data, a plurality of event fragment sequences corresponding to each of a plurality of identification data and corresponding to the event condition are obtained according to the plurality of identification data in the identification field and the event condition. Sequence data is obtained according to the plurality of identification data and the plurality of event fragment sequences corresponding to each of the identification data. De-identification data is obtained by adjusting the sequence data.

In recent years, data application has become an unmistakable trend. For business and government, how to find value, solve problems, improve work process and revitalize administrative services through data use has become one of the goals of effective use of data application.
However, the popularity of big data and open data may infringe people's privacy. Therefore, in data release, data de-identification should be considered, such that personal identity will not be directly or indirectly identified from de-identified data.
Therefore, how to remove direct or indirect identification of personal data from released data has become a prominent task for the industries.

Data de-identification method, data de-identification apparatus and non-transitory computer readable storage medium executing the same

INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH INSTITUTE


A pixel circuit includes a light emitting device, a driving circuit configured to drive the light emitting device to emit light, a short circuit control circuit and a light emitting control circuit, wherein the short circuit control circuit is coupled between the light emitting control device and the light emitting device for obtaining an input terminal signal of the light emitting device and outputting a short circuit control signal according to the input terminal signal of the light emitting device, the light emitting control device is coupled to the short circuit control circuit and coupled in series between the driving circuit and the light emitting device and configured to control a connecting branch between the driving circuit and the light emitting device to be turned on and off according to a short circuit control signal.

An Active Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode (AMOLED) is more and more widely used. The pixel display device of an AMOLED is an organic light-emitting diode (OLED). The AMOLED can emit light by driving a thin film transistor in a saturated state to generate a driving current, and the driving current drives the OLED to emit light.
In the related art, at least the following problems exist. In the pixel circuit of the OLED, as the film layers between the anode and the cathode are thin, the anode and the cathode are susceptible to short circuit. Moreover, the manufacturing process is complicated, and if there are foreign matters in the films, or the processes of digging holes and climbing are not controlled appropriately, the film in the light emitting layer will be thinner. Thus, the resistance between the anode and cathode of the OLED is smaller, resulting in a short circuit. If the anode and the cathode of a pixel cathode are short circuit, this pixel will not emit light, resulting in a black spot. Moreover, a large current will flow through the pixel, affecting the surrounding pixels to emit light. Therefore, the short circuit between the cathode and the cathode can seriously affect the display quality. In order to ensure the display quality, this defective pixel needs to be removed in order to restrain the large current caused by the short circuit between the anode and the cathode. The traditional way is to find the defective pixel, and then to destroy the pixel by laser ablation, and the process is complicated.
It should be noted that, information disclosed in the above background portion is provided only for better understanding of the background of the present disclosure, and thus it may contain information that does not form the prior art known by those ordinary skilled in the art.

Pixel circuit, pixel driving method and display device


An image forming apparatus includes a first conveying path, a second conveying path, a detector, a conveyance guide member and an interlock mechanism. The first conveying path communicates the second conveying path through which a sheet supplied from a supply part is conveyed. The detector detects whether or not the sheet is present in the first conveying path. The conveyance guide member composes the second conveying path and one end part thereof is pivotally supported so as to be able to open/close the second conveying path. The interlock mechanism interlocks the detector with the opening/closing operation of the conveyance guide member. The detector detects the opening/closing operation of the conveyance guide member.

The present disclosure relates to a copying machine or a printer or the like including an image forming apparatus.
An image forming apparatus includes a conveying path configured to convey a sheet to an image forming port. The image forming apparatus also includes a mechanism removing (unjamming) a sheet jammed within the conveying path.
For instance, there is a printer including a sheet conveying part (conveying path) of a duplex printing part above a sheet cassette. A sheet guide member is provided so as to be able to open/close under the conveying path. The sheet guide member is lowered to a space from which the sheet cassette has been drawn out. This arrangement makes it possible to remove a jammed sheet. Still further, the sheet guide member is urged to a sheet guide position where the conveying path is closed by a torsion spring. An upper surface of aside plate of the sheet cassette supports the sheet guide member when the sheet cassette is attached to an apparatus body (a space).
The sheet guide member of the printer described above moves automatically to the sheet guide position by a bias force of the torsion spring. However, there is a case when the sheet guide member does not return to the sheet guide position due to a drop of resilience force of the torsion spring. If the sheet is conveyed in this state, jamming occurs again. In order to solve this problem, the abovementioned printer sets the sheet guide member at the correct sheet guide position by attaching the sheet cassette to the printer (the space).
However, the abovementioned printer has a problem that the sheet cannot be conveyed unless the sheet cassette is attached. For instance, the sheet cassette had to attach even if an image is to be formed on a sheet supplied from the manual tray. Therefore, there is a case when user's convenience in use is dropped. Still further, the printer described above is required to provide a device for detecting whether or not the sheet cassette has been attached to the apparatus body. Therefore, there have been problems that the structure of the printer is complicated and it requires extra cost.


A process comprising polymerizing ethylene, or polymerizing ethylene and at least one other olefin, to produce a polymer is provided.

There are many processes that polymerize ethylene, or that polymerize ethylene and at least one other olefin, to produce a polymer. There are also many manufacturing processes that use these types of polymers to produce useful items. One of these manufacturing processes is called blow molding.
In general, blow molding is useful for producing hollow plastic products. A principle advantage of blow molding is its ability to produce hollow shapes without having to join two or more separately molded parts.
In order to produce a good quality blow molded product, one needs to start with a good quality polymer. However, producing such good quality polymers is difficult. It has been especially difficult to produce a good quality polymer that has a high environmental stress crack resistance (ESCR) and that is useful for blow molding applications.
Therefore, the inventors provide this invention so that such good quality polymers with high ESCR's are more readily obtainable, and readily useable in blow molding applications.


A multi-media photograph album comprises a network of electrical conductors which connect with plural data storage devices storing audio data and/or image data. A user, via a user interface, selectively addresses the data storage devices. The user selects individual sound bites for immediate playback via a speaker in the photo album, or via transmission over a wireless link, for playback through an external audio device, for example a hi-fi system. Image data are retrieved from the data storage devices and sent via a wireless link to an image data storage device, e.g., a personal computer. The data storage device can be embedded within a photograph, or can be a separate data storage device attached to the album.

The assignees have performed a study to assess the way in which end users of photographic images perceive their use of those images, and what values they assign to the use of their images. One of the findings of this work is that audio data captured at the time of capture of a photographic image is perceived as having significant value to an end user. Such audio data encompasses not only catalogue narrative, for example narrative describing the time, place and date at which a photograph was taken, but also descriptive narrative, that is audio data describing the content of the image, for example "This is Lucy at her birthday party" or the like, and also context specific audio data such as ambient noise or noise provided by a subject of a photograph, for example in connection with a photograph of a baby, audio data recording the baby's crying. The recorded audio data can be of any type, similar to the types of audio data collected in connection with conventional prior art video sequences.
The assignees have recognized that as an intermediate step between still photograph images, without audio data, and full video sequences comprising video frames with accompanying real-time audio data with over-dubbing, there is an intermediate layer product, comprising still photograph images and associated with those still photograph images, sound bites, where the sound bites comprise audio data, in particular context specific audio data, also encompassing descriptive narrative and/or catalogue narrative audio data.
Capture of sound data at the same time as capture of image data is known in the prior art, in various forms extending back over thirty years. Photograph formats having a magnetic strip for sound recording are known in U.S. Pat. No. 3,439,598; U.S. Pat. No. 4,270,853; U.S. Pat. No. 4,905,029; U.S. Pat. No. 4,270,854; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,276,472.
Conventional photographic images, resulting from developed photographs printed onto paper or film, are displayed typically by means of a hand-held photograph album, being a book having pages onto which the photographs are attached. Other methods of display, for example slide projectors which display still images in sequence, are known.
There is a known photograph album available from Brookstone (HTTP://brookstone.com) which comprises a photograph album having pages, for attachment of flash film photographs in conventional manner, and a module positioned at the bottom of the pages, which allows a user to record up to ten audio sound bites, that is, ten individual sequences of recorded audio sound. However, the functionality of the Brookstone product is very limited in flexibility of association between images and sound bites.
Grouping of images with sound passages to form a linked group is known in WO 00/48388. Further, individual data storage devices capable of storing individual passages of sound are known from WO 00/03299.
However, the above prior art technologies are disparate and do not provide a unified system which is compact and easy to use for playback and manipulation of audio sounds captured at the same time as an image sound.
Specific implementations according to the present invention aim to provide a simple and easy to use method of and apparatus for presenting individual still images in conjunction with audio sound bites recorded at the same time as the still images, in a form suitable for general consumer use.

Photo album with provision for media playback

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A device for covering at least part of a container using a tarpaulin. The device includes an actuator assembly operable selectively in a manual mode and in a motorized mode.

There are many systems for covering top apertures of truck-movable containers, such as open top truck trailers and the bin of dump trucks. Many such systems conveniently roll a tarpaulin covering the top aperture around a rod when the top aperture is uncovered. To facilitate operation of these system, many are provided with an electric motor. However, if the motor fails, the system becomes inoperable.
Against this background, there exists a need for an improved tarpaulin extension and retraction device. An object of the present invention is to provide such a device.

Tarpaulin retraction and extension device


An adsorbent system includes a passage and first and second adsorbents in the passage. The first adsorbent includes granules of non-impregnated activated carbon and the second adsorbent includes granules of acid- or metal salt-impregnated adsorbent. The granules of acid- or metal salt-impregnated adsorbent have, by weight, at least 20% acid or metal salt content. The granules of acid- or metal salt-impregnated adsorbent have, by weight, at least 35% acid or metal salt content. The granules of non-impregnated activated carbon and the granules of acid- or metal salt-impregnated adsorbent have a size of mesh 4 to mesh 40, and, by total combined weight of the granules of non-impregnated activated carbon and the granules of acid- or metal salt-impregnated adsorbent, the first adsorbent has 55%-75% of the granules of non-impregnated activated carbon and the second adsorbent has 45%-25% of the granules of acid- or metal salt-impregnated adsorbent.

Outer space applications often recycle fluid streams to provide clean water or air, for example. Where size and weight capacity permits, a condensing heat exchanger may be used to remove contaminant substances. Where size and weight capacity does not permit a heat exchanger, adsorbent materials can be used to remove contaminant substances. There typically are many target contaminant substances for removal. The adsorbent material often has differing effectiveness for removing different ones of the target contaminant substances.

System with multiple adsorbents for ammonia and organic removal


The present invention relates to a signal converting device and receiving device in a wireless communication system. The receiving device of the wireless communication system includes a differential signal converter for receiving a single ended radio frequency signal and converting it into a differential radio frequency signal, and a frequency down converter for down converting the differential radio frequency signal to down frequency signal.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a signal converting device in a wireless communication system and a receiving device using the same.
(b) Description of the Related Art
A receiving device of a wireless communication system receives radio frequency signals from a transmitting device through an antenna to filter them, amplify them, frequency-convert them, and convert them into analog to digital signals. In this instance, frequency conversion represents a process for converting the radio frequency signal into a baseband frequency or an intermediate frequency (IF) by using a frequency down converter.
The frequency down converter combines an input signal and a local oscillator's signal to generate a baseband frequency signal corresponding to the frequency difference between the two signals. However, when the local oscillator's signal appears as a leakage signal to the frequency down converter's output, it can worsen the entire linearity of the receiving device of the wireless communication system. Therefore, a double balance frequency converter is generally used for the frequency down converter in order to minimize leakage of the local oscillation signal. The double balance frequency converter has a circuit structure of using differential signals.
However, in the receiving device of the wireless communication system, the antenna for directly receiving the radio frequency signals is generally designed to process single ended signals because of size and cost. Hence, the radio frequency signal is required to be converted from the single ended signal to the differential signal before it is input to the frequency down converter.
For this purpose, various differential signal converting devices are additionally inserted into the receiving device of the wireless communication system. However, the addition of such differential signal converting devices increases current consumption of the receiving device, degrades noise figure and linear characteristic at a receiving terminal, and increases size and cost of the receiving device.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.

Signal converter for wireless communication and receiving device using the same

Electronics & Telecommunications Research Institute


The invention relates to an injection syringe for mixing and applying injection substances having a syringe cylinder and a plunger displaceable therein. The plunger has a stopper at its distal end tightly engaged against the inner surface of the cylinder to form an injection volume in the syringe cylinder. A mixing plunger is displaceable in longitudinal direction and guided through the plunger. The mixing plunger projects from the stopper at its proximal end and, at its distal end, has a mixing piston with at least one opening, passing through the surface of the piston. Injection substances can pass through the one opening when the mixing piston is displaced in the injection volume. An effective thorough mixing of the injection substances takes place through to-and-fro movement of the mixing piston in the injection volume. The invention is applicable both to single injection syringes and to double-chamber syringes to provide better miscibility of solutions, suspensions, etc, with minimal losses of active ingredients.

In many cases, injection substances must be brought together and thoroughly mixed before they are used, or specific solutions are to be formed. Examples are aqueous solutions, aqueous suspensions, O/W, W/O emulsions, solutions with soluble dry substances, oily solutions, oily suspensions, solutions with macrocrystals and compresses. Injection substances of the above type are brought together and mixed or dissolved immediately before they are used. In the simplest case, this is performed by placing the substances to be mixed in a small vessel and mixing or dissolving them, e.g., by shaking, whereby the thoroughly mixed injection substance may be drawn up into an injection syringe. This combination of an external vessel for the mixing of the injection substance and an injection syringe is also called a vial syringe. It is clear that, when injection substances of the above type are mixed and drawn up employing a combination of an external vessel and an injection syringe, high losses of one or more active ingredients may occur, as the injection substance placed in the vessel can never be completely taken up into the injection syringe. Moreover, the mixing and drawing up of an injection substance with the vial syringe requires some manual skills on the part of doctors and medical personnel.
Another system for the mixing and application of injection substances of the type mentioned consists of two normal injection syringes whose cannulae or cannula attachments are connected to each other by an attachable line. With this two-syringe system, the filled syringes are connected to each other by means of a connector and the plungers of the two syringes are operated in opposite directions, so that the substances are pumped to and fro between the two syringes. The reduction in cross-section which is caused by the cannula attachments or by the connection line in the connector compared with the syringe cylinders has a substantial throttling effect during the pumping process, the result of which is major turbulences in the flow and thereby a thorough mixing of the substances. However, it is also a drawback with this system that losses of an active ingredient always occur, as injection substance is always left in the syringe which is not used for the application and in the connecting line. In the case of expensive active ingredients, the losses caused thereby are substantial.
The so-called double-chamber syringe, in which the substances to be mixed are contained from the outset in two chambers of the syringe, functions in a similar way. The double-chamber syringe, like a single syringe, contains a plunger with a stopper at the end and also a second stopper which lies between the first stopper and the cannula attachment in the injection volume and divides the latter into a first chamber (between the cannula attachment and the second stopper) and a second chamber (between the first and second stoppers). When the plunger is pressed down, the second stopper is also moved hydraulically, as it were, via the first stopper by the suspension agent present in the second chamber, until it reaches a zone of the syringe cylinder in which the latter has a wider section (bypass) through which the suspension agent passes around the second stopper and overflows out of the first chamber into the second chamber. The substances thus brought together in the first chamber are then mixed by being shaken and the solution or suspension is thereby produced. However, the thorough mixing by means of shaking is not very effective.
An injection syringe with several chambers lying one behind the other in a cylinder for the administration of various injection agents is known from German Patent DE 730 362. The syringe has a syringe cylinder, a first plunger displaceable therein, which lies at its distal end with a stopper tight against the inner surface of the cylinder, and a displaceable second plunger which is guided and displaceable in longitudinal direction through the first plunger and which is fitted at its distal end with a second stopper, so that a first chamber is formed between the first and second stoppers and a second chamber is formed between the second stopper and the bottom of the syringe cylinder which carries the cannula, the two chambers being completely separated from each other by the second stopper. The syringe is also fitted with a bypass line which connects openings in the side wall of the syringe cylinder to the cannula line. The syringe serves to inject an injection agent and, separate therefrom before or after the injection agent, another agent, for example an indifferent solution. In use, the injection agent is drawn up into the first chamber and the solution into the second chamber, with the second stopper being so positioned that it blocks the openings in the cylinder wall to the bypass line. Solution can then be injected first by pressing down the second stopper with the second plunger. As soon as the second stopper has been pushed down a certain distance, it frees the openings in the cylinder wall, as a result of which a link from the first chamber to the cannula is produced through the bypass line. The injection agent can then be injected from the first chamber with the first plunger by pressing down the first stopper with the first plunger. A thorough mixing of the agents in the first and second chambers is not possible with this syringe arrangement.
In EP 0 511 183 A1 there is disclosed a double-chamber syringe with a first chamber with a solvent or suspension agent and a second chamber which contains the substance to be dissolved or suspended. A first stopper, displaceable with a plunger, is arranged in the first chamber and a second displaceable stopper, which separates the two chambers from each other, is arranged in the second chamber. The second displaceable stopper contains a valve element which is raised from its seat by hydrostatic pressure, which is created by advancing the first stopper, and opens a throughflow path from the first into the second chamber. The solvent/suspension agent can be completely forced into the first chamber by advancing the first stopper. There, mixing takes place simply by the uniting of the two agents. The actual injection is carried out when the second stopper is advanced by pressure with the first plunger, in order to thereby drain the first chamber through a cannula. The known double-chamber syringe provides no measures which would make possible an active thorough mixing of the substances which are united in the first chamber.

Injection syringe for the missing and application of injection substances


A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device, includes: forming a first and second interconnect trenches adjacent to each other in an interlayer insulating film; providing a first interconnect and a space thereon within the first interconnect trench, and a second interconnect and a space thereon within the second interconnect trench; forming a first trench larger in width from the first interconnect trench and a second trench larger in width from the second interconnect trench, by conducting isotropic-etching; and forming a first insulating film within the first trench and a second insulating film within the second trench by filling an insulating material in the first trench and the second trench.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device.
2. Description of Related Art
Along with progress in the miniaturization of semiconductor devices, the width of an interconnect for connecting between elements has also been reduced. If the electrical resistance of the interconnect increases due to a reduction in the width thereof, it is difficult to perform predetermined circuit operation. Although a rise in interconnect resistance can be suppressed by increasing the thickness of a conductive film used as the interconnect, in that case, such problems as described below are involved:
In order to precisely process miniaturized interconnects, etching using a hard mask is practiced in general. As the thickness of a conductive film for interconnects is increased, a hard mask also needs to be thick-filmed, in order to ensure resistance to etching. Accordingly, it has become difficult to precisely process the hard mask itself. In addition, an increase in the post-etching aspect ratio of interconnects, including hard mask portions provided thereon, has led to the occurrence of a phenomenon that an interconnect layer collapses during a manufacturing process. This has been a cause for a decline in production yields.
As a method of processing a thick-filmed interconnect layer without using a hard mask, there is known a damascene method in which trenches corresponding to an interconnect pattern are formed in an interlayer insulating film, and a conductive film is filled in the trenches. For example, JP2000-091340A describes a method of forming damascene interconnects in an interlayer insulating film on a semiconductor substrate by performing chemical-mechanical polishing using a polishing stopper film.
On the other hand, there is known a self-alignment method (SAC method) as a technique to densely dispose interconnects. According to the self-alignment method, it is possible to easily form a hole adjacent to an interconnect by covering upper and side surfaces of the interconnect with an etching protection insulating film and performing dry etching for the purpose of forming holes for plugs in an interlayer insulating film, as described in, for example, JP2002-319551A.

Semiconductor device manufacturing method


A scroll compressor includes stationary and orbiting scroll members in engagement with each other. The stationary scroll member includes a stationary end plate having first and second end surfaces opposite to each other, a stationary scroll wrap protruding axially from the first end surface of the stationary end plate, a discharge port defined in the stationary end plate in the proximity of a center thereof, and a recess defined in the stationary end plate on the second surface thereof. A check valve is received in the recess so as to open or close the discharge port. The recess has a shape substantially identical to the shape of the check valve and also has a depth greater than a maximum lift of the check valve.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a scroll compressor for use in, for example, an air conditioner, a refrigerator or the like.
2. Description of Related Art
In view of numerous features that they are compact and light-weight have, a high operating efficiency, and low noise generation and so on, scroll compressor have gained wide market acceptance. Scroll compressors and their operating principles are disclosed in numerous patent and technical literature and are, therefore, well known to those skilled in the art.
As typical examples of the scroll compressor, Japanese Patent Publication (examined) No. 57-49721, published in 1982, discloses a scroll-type fluid machine, while U.S. Pat. No. 4,824,346 discloses a scroll compressor including an eccentric bush mechanism.
FIGS. 5 and 6 depict a conventional scroll compressor and reference thereto will now be made for discussion of the prior art. The conventional scroll compressor shown therein comprises a compressor housing 101 having a rear end portion to which a stationary scroll member 102 in the form of a stationary end plate 103 having a stationary scroll wrap 104 formed on one surface thereof is secured. An orbiting scroll member 106 in the form of an orbiting end plate 107 having an orbiting scroll wrap 108 formed on one surface thereof is accommodated within the compressor housing 101 with the orbiting scroll wrap 108 being in engagement with the stationary scroll wrap 104 of the stationary scroll member 102 to define a plurality of volume-variable sealed working pockets 105 therebetween. The opposite surface of the stationary end plate 103 remote from the stationary scroll wrap 104 is formed with a generally cylindrical partition wall 130 having an end surface secured to the compressor housing 101.
As clearly shown in FIG. 6, the partition wall 130 has a plurality of mounting legs 131 integrally formed therewith and having a thickness greater than that of the partition wall 130. A plurality of bolts 125 extending through a rear wall of the compressor housing 101 are threaded into associated mounting legs 131 to fasten the stationary scroll member 102 to the compressor housing 101.
Referring further to FIG. 5, the opposite surface of the orbiting end plate 107 remote from the orbiting scroll wrap 108 is formed with a generally cylindrical boss 109 in which an annular orbiting bearing 110 is disposed. An eccentric bush 111 in the form of a stud shaft or a disc having a substantial wall thickness and having an eccentric hole 112 defined therein is engaged with and rotatably housed within the annular orbiting bearing 110.
A main shaft 114 has one end formed with an eccentric rod 115 so as to protrude axially from an end surface thereof. The eccentric rod 115 integral with the main shaft 114 is rotatably received in the eccentric hole 112 of the eccentric bush 111 so that, during rotation of the main shaft 114 about its own longitudinal axis, the eccentric rod 115 undergoes an eccentric motion relative to the main shaft 114 to impart an orbiting motion to the orbiting scroll member 106. By this construction, a gaseous medium is introduced into the sealed working pockets 105 which in turn move inwardly around the stationary and orbiting scroll wraps 104 and 108 towards a center discharge port 123 accompanied by progressive reduction in volume thereof. Therefore, the gaseous medium trapped in each sealed working pocket 105 experiences a decrease in volume and an increase in pressure as it approaches the center discharge port 123. Because the center discharge port 123 is opened or closed by a check valve 121, if the pressure inside the working pocket 105 positioned in the proximity of the center discharge port 123 is greater than that of a high-pressure chamber 120 separated therefrom by the check valve 121, the check valve 121 is opened to thereby discharge the compressed gaseous medium accommodated in the working pocket 105 to the high-pressure chamber 120 through the center discharge port 123.
However, the conventional scroll compressor of the above-described construction encounters a problem associated with back-flow of the high-pressure gaseous medium which has been hitherto caused by delayed closure of the check valve 121. In particular, in a scroll compressor having a relatively low compression ratio, the amount of the compressed gaseous medium that flows back into the working pocket 105 from the high-pressure chamber 120 increases, and a resultant reexpansion of the gaseous medium lowers the compression efficiency, thus resulting in a reduction in performance of the scroll compressor.
This conventional scroll compressor has an additional problem in securement of the stationary scroll member 102 within the compressor housing 101. Specifically, forces required to tighten fastening members such as, for example, bolts 125 inevitably generate strains in the stationary scroll member 102 and, hence, no uniform gap can be obtained between the stationary and orbiting scroll wraps 104 and 108, which would eventually result in leakage of the refrigerant. This in turn brings about a reduction in performance of the scroll compressor.

Scroll compressor having a check valve received in a stationary scroll member recess

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


An expandable body suture that has a suture body that is formed in the manufacturing process over at least one pledget device that has an elongate shape with essentially a constant cross section along its mid-section and is of a diameter to fit snugly into a hole formed in a bone, ligament, tendon, or the like. The pledget device can be formed from a cloth, fabric or resinous material, is preferably resilient, is positioned in the suture body during manufacture or can be arranged on a cord or string whereover the suture body is formed during its manufacture as by weaving suture threads or strands thereover. For forming a hole in bone, ligament or tendon to receive the pledget device pulled therein, a needle or needles are secured to the suture body end or ends for forming the hole and pulling the suture body therethrough.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to sutures, and in particular to sutures that include at least one pledget formed therewith of a size to fit snugly in a hole formed into a bone, ligament, or the like.
2. Prior Art
In a surgical procedure for passing a suture into a bone, tendon, ligament, or the like, a hole is generally formed by a needle, or the like, to fit the suture into. Often, to form such hole, a needle, that may be curved or straight, is secured onto the suture end, the suture to follow the needle through the formed hole. Accordingly, as the diameter of the suture and needle junction is greater than the suture diameter, the suture will loosely fit in the hole. Where the suture is under stress, as when it is used to tie a ligament, or the like, onto the bone surface at the hole, the loose fitting suture may move within the hole to become frayed, possibly causing it to fail. The present invention, provides for the inclusion of a pledget, enlarged area, bump, or the like, that is formed in the suture body, that, when that pledget is fitted into the formed hole, provides a tight fit in a hole, resisting damage when a force is applied to the suture, providing for a lower load per unit area on the suture area within the formed hole.
A formation of a enlarged section, pledget, or the like, onto a suture that includes needles connected onto suture ends is not new, and examples of such are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,549,545; 4,981,149; 5,374,268 and 5,383,904. All of which patents show a suture whereon has been secured a raised section, pledget, or the like, that are distinct from the present invention that provides for forming a suture with a pledget type device therein.