A drive system is provided for a motor vehicle having: a first wheel pair driven by an internal combustion engine and an electric motor; a second wheel pair driven by an electric motor; an internal combustion engine which is coupled to the first wheel pair; a generator which can be operated as an electric motor and which is coupled to the internal combustion engine and the first wheel pair; and an electric motor which is coupled to the second wheel pair and is set up to convert energy produced by the generator into mechanical energy. A planetary gear is provided which is used to couple the internal combustion engine to the generator and the first wheel pair.

The present invention relates to a drive system for a motor vehicle. Commercially available electric vehicles are distinguished by the fact that they can cover only a small range with one battery charge. Therefore, systems are increasingly offered which have a range extender (REX). This is generally a classic reciprocating piston internal combustion engine which drives a generator. The generated electrical energy is available to the drive system either directly or indirectly by buffering in an electrochemical battery. The range extender serves here to generate electrical energy and not to drive the vehicle directly.
In addition, there are so-called plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEV). These also have an electric motor and a reciprocating piston internal combustion engine. However, these two units are generally coupled by means of a complex gear mechanism and, as a result, are able to drive the vehicle directly.
Electric vehicles with REX are so-called serial hybrids. The internal combustion engine is not directly used for propulsion here but instead charges the energy store via a generator. In this context, energy conversion losses are incurred since the mechanical power of the internal combustion engine is firstly converted by the generator into electrical power, and the electrical power is subsequently converted again into mechanical power by the electric traction motor. If the generated electrical energy is buffered, the efficiency level of the energy store must also be taken into account here.
In the case of PHEV vehicles, the internal combustion engine can drive the vehicle directly, but this usually requires a very complex gear mechanism in order to adapt the characteristic of the internal combustion engine to the driving function. These gear mechanisms are usually heavy and require a large amount of installation space.
DE 100 12 221 A1 discloses a hybrid vehicle with an internal combustion engine for driving a first axle and two electric machines for driving the first axle and a further axle.
Taking this prior art as a basis, an object of the present invention is to provide an improved drive system for a motor vehicle.
This and other objects are achieved by a drive system for a motor vehicle, a method of operating the drive system, as well as a vehicle equipped with the drive system, in accordance with embodiments of the invention.
According to one aspect, a drive system according to the invention for a motor vehicle has a first wheel pair driven by an internal combustion engine and an electric motor, a second wheel pair driven by an electric motor, the internal combustion engine which is coupled to the first wheel pair, a generator which can be operated as the electric motor and is coupled to the internal combustion engine and to the first wheel pair, and the electric motor which is coupled to the second wheel pair and is configured to convert energy generated by the generator into mechanical energy. In addition, a planetary gear mechanism is provided via which the internal combustion engine is coupled to the generator and to the first wheel pair.
The electric motor and the generator are preferably embodied as an asynchronous motor (ASM) or as a permanently excited synchronous machine (PSM). As a result, both can be operated either as a generator for generating energy or for the purpose of generating torque.
The internal combustion engine is coupled to the generator and to the output via the planetary gear mechanism. This arrangement makes it possible to transmit mechanical power to the output in a variable fashion. In this context, the rotational speeds of the internal combustion engine and of the generator can be varied. This degree of freedom permits particularly flexible adaptation of the electrical power provided by the generator to the demand of the on-board electrical power system.
The innovation consists, in particular, also in the arrangement of the individual components. The electric motor which is preferably arranged on the rear axle, i.e. the second wheel pair, can be embodied similarly to the manner in a pure electric vehicle. As a result, cost-effective standard solutions can be used here. By preferably adding the drive of the first wheel pair, which is based on an internal combustion engine, for example on the front axle, the possibility is provided of both extending the range of the vehicle with a low consumption of fuel, and of making available additional drive power. Both the consumption and the driving power can be improved compared to a classic electric drive by making the drive act on the first wheel pair. If the drive on the first wheel pair is dispensed with, a fully functionally capable drive is still available, which provides advantages in terms of the modularity.
The drive of the first wheel pair is preferably configured in such a way that it is possible to drive without difficulty at constant speeds up to the maximum speed and also with relatively low accelerations. This drive is therefore suitable for electric vehicles which travel over relatively large distances. Extremely small internal combustion engine power levels and generator power levels (coverage of the basic drive load) are already sufficient for this. When there is a high driving dynamic, the preferably relatively strong electric motor at the second wheel pair is then used. The drive system also provides the advantage that an all-wheel vehicle can preferably be implemented on the basis of a purely rear-wheel-drive vehicle.
According to one advantageous refinement of the drive system according to the invention, the first wheel pair is assigned to a front drive axle, and the second wheel pair is assigned to a rear drive axle. This provides the advantage that the assemblies which are assigned to the internal combustion engine, even the generator, can be accommodated in the front of the vehicle in the engine compartment, while only the relatively compact electric motor is accommodated at the rear. As a result, space advantages can be implemented.
According to a further advantageous refinement of the drive system according to the invention, a battery for storing and outputting energy is provided connected to the generator and the electric motor. As a result, better uncoupling of the generation of energy by the generator and the provision of drive torque by the electric motor can be implemented. A temporarily relatively low generation of energy by the generator, for example owing to a switchover process, can be compensated so that energy can be continuously retrieved by the electric motor.
According to a further advantageous refinement of the drive system according to the invention, a first brake is provided for braking, in particular securing, a ring gear of the planetary gear mechanism. As a result, the internal combustion engine can be particularly easily started by the generator. The first brake is embodied, for example, as a dog clutch, which permits freedom from slip in the closed state and also low frictional losses in the opened state.
According to a further advantageous refinement of the drive system according to the invention, a second brake is provided for braking, in particular securing, a web element of the planetary gear mechanism. This permits the generator to be able to be used additionally in the case of electric driving for driving the vehicle. This additional element additionally permits a recuperative braking torque by way of the generator on the first wheel pair, preferably on the front axle.
According to a further advantageous refinement of the drive system according to the invention, an uncoupling device is provided which is connected between the internal combustion engine and the first wheel pair. In the purely electric mode of operation, it is possible to uncouple the drive of the first wheel pair by way of the uncoupling device. This has the advantage that frictional losses which arise as a result of the driving of the elements in the planetary gear mechanism, for example the generator, are eliminated. This increases the efficiency level and makes it possible to implement a range in the electric driving mode which is only slightly restricted compared to a pure electric vehicle. The uncoupling device can be embodied as a dog clutch. As a result, the drag losses when the clutch is open can be minimized. The uncoupling device is preferably assigned to the first wheel pair and intermediately connected between the first differential and the first wheel pair. The uncoupling device can preferably be provided as a wheel hub clutch on the first wheel pair, which is advantageous with respect to moved masses, because the differential and the corresponding shafts are deactivated and a particularly large number of components can be deactivated by way of the uncoupling device. In addition, the uncoupling device can preferably be intermediately connected between the internal combustion engine and a first differential provided assigned to the first wheel pair, which permits relatively favorable utilization of the installation space to be achieved.
According to a further advantageous refinement of the drive system according to the invention, the generator is additionally embodied as a starter for the internal combustion engine. As a result, it is possible to dispense with an additional starter for starting the internal combustion engine. This is advantageous in terms of saving installation space, reducing the weight of the vehicle and reducing the vehicle costs. For this purpose, uncoupling is preferably carried out by way of the wheel hub clutch, and the first brake is closed and the second brake opened.
According to a further advantageous refinement of the drive system according to the invention, the drive system can preferably be switched into at least the following modes of operation: driving only the second wheel pair by use of the electric motor, wherein the internal combustion engine is uncoupled from the first wheel pair by way of the uncoupling device; driving the first wheel pair by use of the internal combustion engine or driving the first wheel pair by use of the internal combustion engine and driving the second wheel pair by use of the electric motor; driving the generator by use of the internal combustion engine, wherein the first wheel pair is uncoupled from the internal combustion engine by way of the uncoupling device, and the second wheel pair is uncoupled from the electric motor; and driving both wheel pairs by way of the electric motor and the generator, wherein the second brake is closed.
The aspects of the invention described above and the associated advantageous refinements of the drive system according to the invention also apply correspondingly, and vice versa, to the aspects of a vehicle described below, the method according to the invention and the advantageous refinements thereof.
A vehicle according to the invention has a drive system as described above.
According to one aspect, a method for operating a drive system has at least the following modes of operation: driving only the second wheel pair by use of the electric motor, wherein the internal combustion engine is uncoupled from the first wheel pair by way of the uncoupling device; driving the first wheel pair by use of the internal combustion engine or driving the first wheel pair by use of the internal combustion engine and driving the second wheel pair by use of the electric motor; driving the generator by use of the internal combustion engine, wherein the first wheel pair is uncoupled from the internal combustion engine by way of the uncoupling device, and the second wheel pair is uncoupled from the electric motor; and driving the first wheel pair by use of the electric motor and the second wheel pair by use of the generator, wherein the second brake is closed.
According to one advantageous refinement, in the mode of operation of driving the first wheel pair by use of the internal combustion engine or driving the first wheel pair by use of the internal combustion engine and driving the second wheel pair by use of the electric motor, the outputting of energy by the generator is controlled by adjusting the rotational speed of the internal combustion engine. This permits particularly flexible adaptation of the electrical power which is provided by the generator to the demand of the on-board electrical power system.
Further possible implementations of the invention also include combinations, not explicitly specified, of features which are described above or below with respect to the exemplary embodiments. In this context, the person skilled in the art would also add individual aspects as improvements or additions to the respective basic form of the drive system.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of one or more preferred embodiments when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft


A modular chemical reactor. The reactor includes a reactor housing having identical and interchangeable ends, a reaction chamber within the reactor housing, a pair of identical and interchangeable modular seal nuts connected to the ends of the reactor housing, and a pair of double-sided screen seals within the modular seal nuts.

The present invention relates to chemical reactors. More particularly, the invention relates to modular chemical reactors having the same outside dimensions and different internal volumes.
Although the prior art includes descriptions of many different types of chemical reactors, there is no provision for varying the internal volume of the reactors within the same-size reactor housing, nor for providing such reactors with interhcangeable screen seals. The present invention addresses and meets these and other needs apparent to those skilled in the art.


The present invention provides a solid formulation comprising (a) 10-40% by weight of 1-methyl-2-nitro-3-[(3-tetrahydrofuryl)methyl]guanidine, (b) 5-30% by weight of at least one carbonate selected from sodium hydrogencarbonate, sodium carbonate and potassium carbonate, (c) 5-30% by weight of at least one solid acid selected from citric acid and malic acid and (d) 10-80% by weight of a feed and/or attractant for flies, that is light and easy-handling in view of possibility of quickly dissolving it at the application place.

The present invention relates to a new formulation of 1-methyl-2-nitro-3-[(3-tetrahydrofuryl)methyl]guanidine, which is a solid formulation for preparing aqueous bait for controlling flies.
1-Methyl-2-nitro-3-[(3-tetrahydrofuryl)methyl]guanidine is an excellent insecticidal compound described in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,532,365. Further, it is provided to try this compound to use as an active ingredient for baits in JP-Hei-10-139604A. However, the controlling effects for pests are unsatisfactory when said compound is utilized for usual solid baits. Furthermore, aqueous baits containing said compound as an insecticidal ingredient are suggested in JP-2000-53505A. However, the weight of the aqueous bait composition is large as the content of water in the composition is large. Therefore, the composition is bulky and heavy, and the increase of the distributive cost for transportation or storage is worried.
The object of the present invention is to provide a portable solid formulation for preparing an aqueous baits containing 1-methyl-2-nitro-3-[(3-tetrahydrofuryl)methyl]guanidine (hereinafter, referred to as dinotefuran) as an insecticidal ingredient.
The present invention provides a solid formulation which comprises (a) 10-40% by weight of dinotefuran, (b) 5-30% by weight of at least one carbonate selected from sodium hydrogencarbonate, sodium carbonate and potassium carbonate, (c) 5-30% by weight of at least one solid acid selected from citric acid and malic acid and (d) 10-80% by weight of a feed and/or attractant for flies. Further, it provides an aqueous formulation that is obtainable by dissolving or dispersing the solid formulation described above with water. Furthermore, it also provides a method for controlling flies that comprises applying the aqueous formulation to a place where flies inhabit.
Dinotefuran is a known insecticidal compound, and it is utilized for agricultural use. It can be obtained according to the description of U.S. Pat. No. 5,532,365 or provided by Mitsui Chemical.
The solid formulation of the present invention contains 10-40% by weight of dinotefuran.
The carbonate utilized in the present invention is sodium hydrogencarbonate, sodium carbonate or potassium carbonate, and the carbonate may be one carbonate solely or a mixture of two or more at any mixing ratio. The content of the carbonate is 5-30% by weight in the present solid formulation.
The solid acid utilized in the present invention is citric acid or malic acid, and the solid acid may be one solid acid solely or a mixture of two at any mixing ratio. The content of the solid acid is 5-30% by weight in the present solid formulation.
In the solid formulation of the present invention, the weight ratio of dinotefuran and the carbonate is usually 4:1 to 1:3, preferably 2:1 to 1:2. Further, the weight ratio of the carbonate and the solid acid is usually 2:1 to 1:2 in the solid formulation of the present invention.
The solid formulation of the present invention contains 10-80% by weight of a feed and/or attractant for flies. Examples of the feed and attractant for flies include saccharides such as sucrose, glucose, fructose, lactose, dextrin and starch that is originated from corn, potato, sweat potato and so on; crop powder such as flour, rice powder, corn powder, potato powder; fish powder, animal powder and insect powder such as beef, shrimps, crabs, fish and insects; dairy products such as skim milk and dried cheese powder; attractants such as 9-tricosene; acetal (acetaldehyde diethyl acetal) and trimethylamine acid adducts (e.g. trimethylamine hydrochloride, trimethylamine hydrobromide). The content of the feed and/or attractant for flies is 10-80% by weight, preferably 30-70% by weight in the present solid formulation.
The solid formulation of the present invention may also contain a desiccant for preventing chemical reaction in preservation such as anhydrous sodium sulfate, calcium oxide and magnesium oxide. Further, it may optionally contain a coloring agent such as tar dyes and a fungicide such as benzoate esters and sorbic acid.
The powdery solid formulation of the present invention can be obtained by mixing and pulverizing dinotefuran, the above-mentioned carbonate, the above-mentioned solid acid and the feed and/or attractant, optionally the desiccant, coloring agent, fungicide and so on. The tablets or granules of the solid formulation of the present invention can be obtained by further granulation with tablet machine or bricketting machine.
The solid formulation of the present invention is usually added to water at the ratio of 0.0025 g to 500 g per 1 liter, and it is easily dissolved to produce aqueous bait, which is the aqueous formulation of the present invention.
The obtained aqueous formulation can be applied to a place where flies inhabit for controlling the flies. Typical application methods of the aqueous formulation include a method for applying it by power sprayer to a place where flies inhabit; a method for coating a place where flies inhabit such as floor, wall, pillar and so on by using brush, roller and so on; and a method for applying it by setting non-woven cloth, sponge, cotton absorbing it to a place where flies inhabit.
When the aqueous formulation is applied to a place where flies inhabit, the application rate is usually 0.01 mg to 1000 mg, preferably 0.1 mg to 250 mg of dinotefuran per 1 m2 of the floor area of the place for controlling flies.
The place where flies inhabit is typically floor, wall, ceiling and pillar in houses, cattle sheds and so on; food, feed and cattle""s neighborhood; and so on. Examples of the flies include Musca domestica (housefly), Muscina stabulans (false housefly), Fannia canicularis (little housefly), Phoridae, Drosophilidae (vinegar flies) and Psychodidae (moth flies).


A fixing apparatus comprising built-in heating means, a heat-fixing roll which is driven to rotate, and an endless pressure belt which is stretched along a plurality of rolls and made to be contact and wound around the heat-fixing roll, wherein the heat-fixing roll is provided with a resilient layer on the peripheral surface thereof; one of the plurality of rolls for stretching the pressure belt is a pressure roll which is located in a press contact portion where the pressure belt is forced to be contact with the heat-fixing roll on the downstream side in the direction of rotation of the heat-fixing roll and pressed against the heat-fixing roll so that the resilient layer of the heat-fixing roll undergoes compressional deformation; an auxiliary pressure roll is provided on the upstream side of the press contact portion and forced to be contact with the heat-fixing roll via the pressure belt; and a soft resilient layer formed of material not harder than what is used to form the resilient layer of the heat-fixing roll is formed on the peripheral surface of the auxiliary pressure roll.

The present invention relates to a fixing apparatus for heat-fixing an unfixed toner image in an imaging apparatus utilizing eletrophotography in copying machines, printers, facsimiles and the like, and more particularly to a belt-nip type fixing apparatus.
There are known fixing apparatus for fixing an unfixed toner image carried on a recording sheet by heating-melting such a toner image. A typical fixing apparatus is designed to fix a toner image by forcing a pressure belt capable of endless movement to be contact a heat-fixing roll rotatably supported, and feeding a recording sheet between them. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publications Nos. 69337/1977, 151677/1985, 151681/1985, 14675/1987, Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication Nos. 104852/1985, 30961/1990 (No. Hei 2-30961) and Japanese Unexamined Patent Publications Nos. 50885/1992, 150679/1993 disclose fixing apparatus of the sort mentioned above.
FIG. 7 shows a fixing apparatus proposed by the present patent applicants and disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 150679/1993. A heat-fixing roll 101 used in this fixing apparatus has a cylindrical core 112 of metal such as aluminum offering a high thermal conductivity and a resilient layer 120 formed on the surface of the core. The resilient layer 120 is formed with a primary layer 113 of HTV silicone rubber for directly covering the surface of the core, and a topcoat 114 of RTV silicone rubber for covering the primary layer.
A halogen lamp 107 as a heat source is placed inside the core. Further, a temperature sensor 111 in contact with the surface of the heat-fixing roll 101 is installed and used for measuring the temperature of the surface of the resilient layer. A temperature controller (not shown) operates to control ON/OFF of the halogen lamp 107 according to a measurement signal from the temperature sensor 111, so that the temperature of the surface of the heat-fixing roll 101 is adjusted to a predetermined level. Moreover, a parting agent is supplied by an oil supply unit 110 to the surface of the heat-fixing roll 101, whereby part of an unfixed toner image 116 is prevented from being offset-printed on the heat-fixing roll 110 when the unfixed toner image 116 is fixed on a recording sheet 115.
The pressure belt 102 is stretched along support rolls 104, 105 and a pressure roll 103, and the pressure roll 103 is forced to be contact with the heat-fixing roll 101, so that part of the pressure belt 102 is in contact with and wound around the heat-fixing roll 101. Further, an auxiliary pressure roll 106 is pressed against the heat-fixing roll 101 via the pressure belt on the upstream side of a portion where the heat-fixing roll 101 and the pressure belt 102 contact each other. When the heat-fixing roll 101 is driven to rotate, the pressure belt circumferentially rotates in direction of arrow in FIG. 7, and the aforementioned contact portion forms a nip through which the recording sheet 115 carrying the toner image 116 is passed. When the recording sheet 115 carrying the unfixed toner image is fed into the nip, it is held between the heat-fixing roll 101 and the pressure belt 102 before being conveyed further. Toner is then melted by the heat transmitted from the heat-fixing roll 101 and forced by the press contact force of the pressure belt 102 or the pressure roll 103 to stick to the recording sheet 115.
The adoption of the belt-nip type fixing apparatus like this is advantageous in that the recording sheet conveyance speed is increased while fixing time is sufficiently secured in comparison with an apparatus in which a heat-fixing roll and a pressure roll are forced to be contact with each other without using a pressure belt, since the recording sheet is continuously fed to cover the length of the belt nip (the length in the range in which the pressure belt is kept in contact with the heat-fixing roll) and is also continuously heated. As the heating time in the belt-nip type is longer than that in any other type without using the pressure belt provided the conveyance speed is equal, moreover, a great deal of heat can be transmitted by means of toner. Accordingly, the belt-nip type fixing apparatus is specifically fit for use in a color copying machine in which multilayer toner is to be colored as desired.
In the fixing apparatus, further, the resilient layer 120 is formed on the surface of the heat-fixing roll 101. The resilient layer 120 is deformed on receiving the press contact force of the pressure roll so as to be slightly distorted in the circumferential direction. In other words, a portion of the resilient layer 120 that the pressure roll is forced to be contact is distorted as the heat-fixing roll 101 turns and that portion is set free from distortion after the heat-fixing roll 101 turns further. When the heat-fixing roll 101 is driven to rotate at a peripheral velocity of V0 in a portion without deformation, the peripheral velocity V1 in the portion of the pressure roll producing distortion .epsilon.1 in the circumferential direction is expressed by the following equation: EQU V1=V0(1+.epsilon.1)
The phenomenon in which the peripheral velocity of the heat-fixing roll in the portion that the pressure roll contacts occurs likewise even when the leading end of the recording sheet passes through the belt nip, and a slight deviation develops between the recording sheet 115 fed substantially at a velocity of V0 and the surface of the resilient layer 120. Therefore, the adhesion of the toner image 116 to the heat-fixing roll 101 is canceled and the recording sheet 115 strips off the heat-fixing roll 101. As the adhesion of the molten toner to the surface of the heat-fixing roll 101 is affected by the physical property of the chemical materials of both on the interface, the behavior of the recording sheet 115 which tends to strip off differs according to the kind of toner and the material quality of the resilient layer 120. In this fixing apparatus, however, the recording sheet can be stripped off the heat-fixing roll 101 without using a peel pawl normally employed in a fixing apparatus comprising a fixing apparatus and a pressure roll (hereinafter called self-stripping). In this fixing apparatus, moreover, thin paper difficult to strip off because of so-called weak nerve and paper with a large quantity of toner sticking thereto can also be self-stripped.
In order to ensure the self-stripping like this, the value of distortion .epsilon.1 in the circumferential direction is ought to be increased to a certain degree. When, however, great press contact force is applied to the pressure roll 103 to secure such distortion, the frictional force between the recording sheet 115 and the heat-fixing roll 101 in that portion increases, and the conveyance speed Vp of the whole recording sheet may become almost equal to the speed V1 of the portion where the distortion has developed. Then the peripheral speed of the heat-fixing roll 101 on the upstream side of the press-contact position of the pressure roll 103 substantially moves to V0 (the peripheral speed of the portion where no deformation is produced). The problem in this case is that the difference between the speed Vp of the recording sheet and the peripheral speed V0 of the heat-fixing roll causes a deviation on the contact face, which results in image aberration.
In consideration of the above problems, the apparatus disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent No. 150679/1993 is provided with the auxiliary pressure roll 106 disposed on the upstream side in the travel direction of the recording sheet with respect to the pressure roll 103 so as to press the auxiliary pressure roll 106 against the heat-fixing roll 101. Even when the leading end of the recording sheet 115 reaches the press contact position of the pressure roll 103 to exert the force of conveying the recording sheet at a speed almost equal to V1, the following portion of the recording sheet is pressed against a portion of the heat-fixing roll 101 moving substantially at the peripheral speed V0 to cancel the difference in speed between the heat-fixing roll 101 and the recording sheet 115. Image aberration is thus avoided.
When, however, the auxiliary pressure roll 106 is strongly pressed, compressional deformation is caused to the resilient layer of the heat-fixing roll 101 even in the portion against which the auxiliary pressure roll 106 is pressed as shown in FIG. 8, and distortion circumferentially develops in the peripheral surface in that portion.
When such a distortion develops, the peripheral velocity of the heat-fixing roll 101 becomes V3, which is greater than the peripheral velocity V0 of the portion without deformation, as in the press-contact position of the pressure roll 103 so as to exert the force of conveying the recording sheet at a speed greater than V0. Therefore, the frictional force base on the press contact force of the pressure roll and what is based on the press contact force of the auxiliary pressure roll make the recording sheet conveyance speed Vp almost equal to V1 or V.sub.3. Consequently, there is produced the difference between the recording sheet conveyance speed Vp and the peripheral velocity V of the heat-fixing roll in the portion between the press-contact portion and the auxiliary pressure roll (an area A shown in FIG. 8), which results in image aberration.
In the case of a fixing apparatus in which pressure rolls for use in stretching a pressure belt along them is forced to be contact with a heat-fixing roll, on the other hand, there is a problem arising from ruining the luster of the image already fixed on one side of a recording sheet at the time another image is fixed on the other side when it is attempted to fix toner images successively on both sides thereof. The reason for this is considered attributable to the fact that the pressure roll is kept in press-contact with the heat-fixing roll having a built-in heating means via the pressure belt and is always heated at high temperatures. More specifically, the toner image already fixed on the one side of the recording sheet is heated again by the heat form the pressure roll when the image on the other side thereof is fixed, and the luster of the image on the one side is considerably changed as the toner image melts. When the toner image on the one side of the recording sheet melts, the trace of the joint of the pressure belt may be left thereon and in a case where the recording sheet is fusion-bonded to the pressure belt, the problem is that the recording sheet is not readily stripped off.

Fixing apparatus for reducing image distortion


A thin-film transistor substrate constituting a liquid crystal display includes: a thin-film transistor including, a gate electrode, a gate insulating film covering the gate electrode, a semiconductor layer opposing the gate electrode via the gate insulating film, a channel protective film covering the semiconductor layer, a protective film covering over the channel protective film, source and drain electrodes in contact with the semiconductor layer through first contact holes penetrating through the protective film and the channel protective film; a first electrode electrically connected to the drain electrode; a gate wiring extending from the gate electrode; and a source wiring electrically connected to the source electrode. The source wiring and first electrode are respectively electrically connected to the source electrode and drain electrode through respective second contact holes penetrating through the protective film. The first electrode and source wiring have a first transparent conductive film formed on the first insulation film.

A TFT active matrix substrate (hereinafter, referred to as a "TFT substrate") using thin-film transistors (hereinafter, referred to as "TFTs") as switching devices is used for optoelectronic devices, for example, displays using liquid crystals (liquid crystal displays: hereinafter, referred to as "LCDs") and the like.
Liquid crystal displays (LCDs) are widely used for monitors of personal computers, portable information terminal devices, and the like, utilizing the advantages of low power consumption, compactness, and lightweight. In recent years, LCDs are widely used for television sets.
Generally, display modes of the LCD are roughly categorized into the TN (Twisted Nematic) mode and the lateral electric field mode represented by the in-plane switching mode and the FFS (Fringe Field Switching) mode. The liquid crystal display of the lateral electric field mode provides a feature of a wide viewing angle and a high contrast.
With respect to a liquid crystal display of the in-plane switching mode, display is performed by applying a lateral electric field to the liquid crystals held between opposing substrates, and pixel electrodes and a common electrode to which a lateral electric field is applied are provided on the same layer; thus, the liquid crystal molecules located right above the pixel electrodes are not sufficiently driven, whereby the transmittance is low.
On the other hand, in the FFS mode, because the common electrode and the pixel electrodes are disposed with an inter-layer insulating film therebetween, an oblique electric field (fringe electric field) is created, and an electric field in the lateral direction can be applied also to the liquid crystal molecules right above the pixel electrodes, whereby the liquid crystal molecules can be sufficiently driven. Therefore, a higher transmittance can be achieved at wide viewing angles than in the in-plane switching mode.
Further, in the liquid crystal display of the FFS mode, the liquid crystals are driven by the fringe electric field created between liquid crystal control slit electrodes and the pixel electrode disposed below the liquid crystal control slit electrodes with an inter-layer insulating film therebetween. In this configuration, a pixel aperture ratio can be prevented from being decreased when the pixel electrodes and the liquid crystal control slit electrodes are formed of an oxide-based transparent conductive film such as ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) containing indium oxide and tin oxide, or InZnO containing indium oxide and zinc oxide.
Further, because holding capacitors are formed by the pixel electrodes and the liquid crystal control slit electrodes, it is not always necessary to separately form a pattern for the holding capacitors within the pixels, differently from the liquid crystal display of the TN mode. This arrangement can achieve a high pixel aperture ratio.
Further, for switching devices of a TFT substrate for a liquid crystal display, amorphous silicon (a-Si) is conventionally used as a semiconductor material for a channel layer. Major reasons for that include the facts that a film having high uniform properties can be formed even on a large region substrate because amorphous silicon is amorphous and that, because a film can be formed at relatively low temperatures and the TFT substrate can be manufactured even on a low cost glass substrate whose thermal resistance is not good, the TFT substrate is highly suitable for liquid crystal displays for typical television sets.
However, in recent years, TFTs are being actively developed using an oxide semiconductor for a channel layer. The oxide semiconductor can stably provide an amorphous film having high uniformity when the composition is optimized, and has a higher mobility than conventional a-Si; therefore, the oxide semiconductor has an advantage that small-sized high-performance TFTs can be achieved. Therefore, application of such an oxide semiconductor film to a TFT substrate of the above FFS mode provides an advantage that it is possible to achieve an FFS mode TFT substrate having a higher pixel aperture ratio.
The TFT in which a-Si is used for a channel layer has a back channel etching (BCE) structure in which a channel region of the channel layer is exposed to wet etching when a source electrode and a drain electrode are formed. However, if an oxide semiconductor is applied to the BCE structure TFT, the oxide semiconductor is also etched by the wet etching of the source electrode and the drain electrode, whereby a channel cannot be formed.
To solve this problem, in Patent Document 1, an channel protective Si film is formed on an oxide semiconductor channel. With this configuration, the oxide semiconductor is not exposed to the wet etching, of the source electrode and the drain electrode, after forming the channel protective film, and it is thus possible to form the oxide semiconductor channel. Therefore, a TFT substrate can be configured by using TFTs whose channels are made of an oxide semiconductor.

Thin-film transistor substrate, thin-film transistor substrate manufacturing method, and liquid crystal display


A semiconductor memory test device is capable of reducing the test time and increasing test reliability by applying an effective stress in a burn-in level or a wafer level. The semiconductor memory test device controls a sense amplifier using an additional sense amplifier driving signal when a 2rb pattern stress is applied. Therefore, the semiconductor memory test device applies a uniform stress by applying the constant supply voltage to a cell corresponding to the entire wordlines.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a semiconductor memory test device and, more particularly, to a semiconductor memory test device in which uniform stress can be applied at a constant voltage to cells corresponding to entire wordlines.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The 2rb pattern stress represents a mode in which each of a pair of wordlines is alternately driven in a burn-in test. For example, wordlines WL0-WL7 can be classified into a unit pair of the wordlines (WL0, WL1), (WL2, WL3), (WL4, WL5) and (WL6, WL7), respectively. An enable state of this unit pair will be below explained. First, the wordlines (WL2, WL3) and (WL6, WL7) are disabled when the wordlines (WL0, WL1) and (WL4, WL5) are enabled, and the wordlines (WL0, WL1) and (WL4, WL5) are disabled when the wordlines (WL2, WL3) and (WL6, WL7) are enabled.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a conventional burn-in stress apparatus. A main wordline (mwl) is connected to a sub X-decoder 10 and the sub X-decoder 10 is also connected to a plurality of sub-wordlines wl0-wl7. A sub-hole 40 outputs eight wordline driver driving select signals (px<0:7>) to the sub X-decoder 10. A test mode decoder 20 decodes an input signal to produce an even wordline driving signal (even), an odd wordline driving signal (odd), the entire wordline driving signal (all), wordline driving signals (2rbe—with sa and 2rbo—with sa) and a normal sense amplifier enable signal (nsae) to a sense amplifier control unit 30. The sense amplifier control unit 30 outputs an inverted wordline driver driving select signal (pxz<0:7>), an inverted bit line equalizer signal (bleqz), a sense amplifier pull-up driving signal (rto) and an inverted sense amplifier pull-down driving signal (sz) to the sub-hole 40, depending on each of the signals received from the test mode decoder 20. A plurality of sense amplifiers 50 each sense and amplify data applied to bit lines bl, bl depending on a bit line equalizer signal (bleq), an inverted sense amplifier pull-up driving signal (rtoz) and a sense amplifier pull-down driving signal(s) from the sub-hole 40.
FIG. 2 is a detailed circuit diagram of the sense amplifier control unit in FIG. 1. An X-decoder 31 decodes an even wordline driving signal (even), an odd wordline driving signal (odd), the entire wordline driving signal (all) and a wordline driving signals (2rbe—with sa and 2rbo—with sa), which are received from the test mode decoder 20, to produce an inverted wordline driver driving select signal (pxz<0:7>) to the sub-hole 40. Also, a sense amplifier driving unit 32 outputs an inverted bit line equalizer signal (bleqz), a sense amplifier pull-up driving signal (rto), and an inverted sense amplifier pull-down driving signal (sz), for controlling the sense amplifier 50, to the sub-hole 40, depending on the wordline driving signals (2rbe—with sa and 2rbo—with sa) and the normal sense amplifier enable signal (nsae).
FIG. 3 is a detailed circuit diagram of the sense amplifier-driving unit 32 in FIG. 2. The sense amplifier driving unit 32 includes a NOR gate NOR1 for NORing the wordline driving signals (2rbe—with sa and 2rbo—with sa), and an inverter IV1 for inverting the normal sense amplifier enable signal (nsae). A NAND gate ND1 NANDs the output signals of the NOR gate NOR1 and the inverter IV1 and outputs a sense amplifier driving signal (sae). Inverters IV2 and IV3 delay the sense amplifier driving signal (sae), and then the inverter IV3 output an inverted bit line equalizer signal (bleqz). Inverters IV4 and IV5 delay the sense amplifier driving signal (sae), and then the inverter IV5 outputs a sense amplifier pull-up driving signal (rto). An inverter IV6 inverts the sense amplifier driving signal (sae) to produce an inverted sense amplifier pull-down driving signal (sz).
An operating procedure of the conventional burn-in stress apparatus having this structure is described below with reference to FIGS. 4–7.
In a process of manufacturing a general dynamic random access memory (DRAM), a method by which an artificial stress is applied between cell-to-cell, line-to-line and node-to-node at a high temperature burn-in mode in order to verify reliability and secure the quality is usually employed. One of the artificial stresses used is a 2rb pattern stress.
FIGS. 4–7 illustrate a process of applying stress in this 2rb pattern stress method, which includes enabling the wordlines WL by two and driving the sense amplifier so that HIGH or LOW signals are applied to corresponding cells and stress is applied between neighboring nodes.
FIG. 4 shows a case in which the even wordline-driving signal (even) is enabled and the sense amplifier driving signal (sae) is not outputted from the sense amplifier-driving unit 32. If the sense amplifier driving signal (sae) is disabled, the sense amplifier pull-up driving signal (rto) becomes HIGH, the inverted sense amplifier pull-down driving signal (sz) becomes LOW, and the bit line precharge signal (blp) and the bit line equalizer signal (bleq) become HIGH. At this time, the even (0, 2, 4, 6) wordlines WL0, WL2, WL4 and WL6 are selected and the bit line precharge voltage (Vblp) becomes LOW.
FIG. 5 shows a case in which the odd wordline-driving signal (odd) is enabled and the sense amplifier driving signal (sac) is not outputted from the sense amplifier-driving unit 32. In this case, the odd (1, 3, 5, 7) wordlines WL1, W13, WL5 and WL7 are selected and the bit line precharge voltage (Vblp) becomes HIGH.
FIG. 6 shows a case in which the wordline driving signal (2rbe) is enabled and the sense amplifier driving signal (sac) is outputted from the sense amplifier-driving unit 32. Also, the 2rbe wordlines WL0, WL1, WL4 and WL5 are enabled by the wordline driving signal (2rbe). At this time, if the sense amplifier driving signal (sac) is enabled to HIGH, the sense amplifier is driven to write HIGH and LOW into the bit lines bl, /bl, respectively, corresponding to the 2rbe wordlines WL0, WL1, WL4 and WL5 and a stress is applied to corresponding nodes via the bit lines bl, /bl for a predetermined time.
FIG. 7 shows a case in which the wordline driving signal (2rbo) is enabled and the sense amplifier driving signal (sac) is outputted from the sense amplifier-driving unit 32. Also, the 2rbo wordlines WL2, WL3, WL6 and WL7 are enabled by the wordline driving signal (2rbo). At this time, if the sense amplifier driving signal (sac) is enabled to HIGH, the sense amplifier is driven to write HIGH and LOW into the bit lines bl, /bl, respectively, corresponding to the 2rbo wordlines WL2, WL3, WL6 and WL7 and apply a stress to corresponding nodes via the bit lines bl, /bl for a predetermined time. An operating timing of the conventional burn-in stress apparatus is shown in FIG. 8.
However, this type of a conventional burn-in stress apparatus applies a stress to cell-to-cell, storage node contact (snc)-to-snc and snc-to-cell, while selectively enabling the wordlines corresponding to the wordline driving signals (2rbe and 2rbo).
At this time, the conventional burn-in stress apparatus enables the wordlines WL by dividing it into two units using the wordline driving signals (2rbe and 2rbo) and drives the sense amplifier. Therefore, there is a problem that the test time increases and a portion of the device is partially over-stressed and another portion of the device is relatively under-stressed.


An aspherical fiber coupling lens applied to a photoelectric coupling module is disclosed. The spherical fiber coupling lens is a bi-convex lens with positive refraction power and having a first optical surface and a second optical surface, both are aspherical surfaces while optical features of the lens satisfy the following conditions:

The present invention relates to a fiber coupling lens that is applied to a photoelectric coupling module for efficiently collecting and focusing light from a semiconductor laser to be transmitted by optical fiber.
Optical communication is one of promising industries in recent years. In optical communication elements, a photoelectric coupling module includes a light source such as laser diode or LED, a fiber coupling lens and an optical fiber. A data light beam emitted from the laser diode passes the fiber coupling lens, then converges at the optical fiber for transmission. Refer to FIG. 1, due to small diameter of the optical fiber ranging from several microns to decades of microns and small size of the fiber coupling lens, not only precise alignment in directions (X-directions) perpendicular to the optical direction of the laser beam in the optical fiber is required, but also accurate alignment in the direction (Z-direction) of the optical axis is required.
Conventional fiber coupling lens may be formed by a single-piece of lens or multiple-piece lens. The fiber coupling lens formed by the multiple-piece lens collects maximum amount of light and has good focusing effect. However, single-piece type fiber coupling lens is more competitive in the market. As to short focal length (from a light source to focus point) single-piece type fiber coupling lens, a bi-convex design is the most common used, as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,764,838, 4,932,763, 5,293,269, and JP62059912. Generally, the diameter of the fiber coupling lens is quite small so that diffraction may happen when the distance to the focus point is relative long. Besides the problem of diffraction, alignment accuracy and coupling efficiency of the lens should also be required, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,642,233, US2003/012496, JP09-061665, JP63-010119, JP05-273463, JP62-108217, JP02-150816, and JP07-128616 etc. Moreover, while the data light from a laser source of the photoelectric coupling module passing through the fiber coupling lens, the temperature of the lens will be increase. In order to avoid deformation of the fiber coupling lens caused by a long term heat exposure, the fiber coupling lens is made of glass by glass molding, as shown in JP63-297233, US2002/114085, TW240706, and TWD 076092 etc.
In order to achieve optimal effects of the fiber coupling unit (module), the fiber coupling lens has optical features such as small focal point, high coupling efficiency, and large numbers of apertures on objective side. In order to achieve above effects, conventional fiber coupling lens is designed to be formed by diffraction lens, as shown in WO2007145118, JP2006-227366, and US2003/0012496 etc. Yet such design also increases difficulties in manufacturing so that the cost is difficult to be reduced. Thus there is a need to develop a fiber coupling lens having simple optical surface with low cost and made by glass molding technique for enhancing development of optical communication industries.

Abstract: 0.5      <                        d          2                f            <      1.5        ;              1.0      <                                    R            1                    -                      R            2                                                R            1                    +                      R            2                              <      2.0        ;        1.2    <                  (                              1                          R              1                                -                      1                          R              2                                      )            ·      f        <    2.2  wherein f is the effective focal length of the lens, d2 is thickness of the lens on optical axis, Nd is refraction index of the lens, R1, R2 respectively are curvature radiuses of the first optical surface and the second optical surface of the lens. Thereby the lens has features of small focus, compact volume and high coupling efficiency so that applications of the photoelectric coupling module are improved.


A communication network is operated by receiving traffic from a user device at a gateway device associated with a gateway service provider, which manages gateways to both secure and insecure networks. The gateway uses security policies to determine if traffic is destined to the secure or insecure network and applies appropriate policies which cause the traffic to be routed, dropped, or analyzed.

The present application relates generally to communication networks, and, more particularly, to methods, systems, and computer program products for managing communication traffic between user devices and various networks by establishing a Virtual Private Gateway (VPG) between the user devices and various networks. These networks can be insecure such as the Internet, or secure such as an Enterprise network. Efficiency and security of a communication network may be improved by managing traffic via security policies.
It is not uncommon for mobile workers to connect to their secure network with different devices either to get email or access enterprise applications, such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Devices may vary from laptops using cable modems (wireline), laptops using wireless PC cards (wireless) to smart mobile devices, such as iPhones and Blackberries. Typically, enterprises are required to balance the needs of security and the flexibility of remote access demanded by mobile workers.
A basic security challenge is to develop a technology platform to protect all Internet Protocol (IP) communications between the employee and the secure enterprise network. Typically, enterprises have turned to IP Sec based Virtual Private Network (VPN) solutions to secure traffic between employees and the enterprise This solution is valuable, but may lead to inefficient bandwidth utilization and potential scalability problems. The system described hereafter takes advantage of the security features of an IP Sec based VPN access solution, but also introduces mechanisms to improve efficiency and scalability of the gateway system.

Methods, systems, and computer program products for providing a virtual private gateway between user devices and various networks


A motor speed detecting device for use between a motor and a system is provided. A motor speed detecting device for use between a motor and a system includes a first input terminal and a second input terminal, wherein the first and second input terminals are electrically connected respectively to a constant voltage potential and a ground potential for continuously receiving an electrical power; and a third input terminal electrically connected between the motor and the system, wherein the third input terminal receives a control signal sent by the system for controlling a speed of the motor. A motor speed control method using in a motor speed detecting device between a motor and a system is also provided.

Nowadays, the integration degree in electronic ICs is more and more increased and developed. Heat dissipating has become the most important problem in all the electronic devices. Take portable computer as an example, the heat generated from the high speed processing ICs will critically affect the stability of the system, if heat can't be well dissipated. Therefore, the fan inside the computer is so-called the active dissipating element, which is the most useful and basic requirement for the portable computer. Please refer to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic block diagram of the foregoing fan controlled by a pulse width modulated (PWM) signal for heat dissipating. The main elements are the fan motor 10 and the speed output module 11. When the system between the first terminal 101 (power source) and the second terminal 102 (ground potential) of the fan motor 10 provides a PWM signal (as shown in FIG. 2(a)), the fan motor 10 changes its speed in response to the frequency and the duty cycle of the PWM signal, and then the speed output module 11 outputs a square wave signal (as shown in FIG. 2(b)) in response to the speed of the fan motor 10. The frequency of the square wave signal is proportional to the speed. According to the arrangement of the electronic devices illustrated by FIG. 1, the speed output module 11 is powered by the PWM signal. Thereby, the speed output module 11 outputs the square wave signal only when the PWM signal is active. In other words, the speed variation of the fan can't be monitored in the whole process. For the system which changes the duty cycle of the PWM signal corresponding to the fan speed and the ambient temperature, errors might be generated because of the inaccuracy resulted from the unstable monitoring time. That will affect the control of the fan speed in the system, and it will be very difficult to get a balance among the heat dissipating efficiency, energy consumption, and the noise generated from the fan.
From the above description, it is known that the conventional motor speed detecting device is not very practical when the user needs to precisely control the fan speed in the whole process. It is needed in the industry that an apparatus that is designed for detecting the fan speed allows the fan to be precisely controlled by the system in the whole process.

Motor speed detecting device for use between motor and system


Provided are a method and a device for dynamically constructing a virtual cell. The method includes: a master station sending an event A4 to UE and receiving an A4 measurement report from the UE; and the master station adding a cell corresponding to a cell identity carried in the A4 measurement report as a slave station, herein the master station and slave stations form a first virtual cell. In the technical solution, a serving cell selected by UE may be any cell and is not necessary to be a macro cell, the master station adds a cell which satisfies an event A4 as a slave station and thereby a virtual cell is realized.

In order to realize 5G goals such as increase of mobile data flow in each area at 1000 times of speed, increase of throughput of each user at 10 to 100 times of speed, increase of the number of devices connected by each user at 10 to 100 times of speed, increase of battery service life of low-power devices by 10 times and decrease of end-to-end delay by 5 times, some new wireless technical solutions must be put forward in 5G.
At present, Ultra-Dense Network (UDN) is an important means to achieve the first two indexes of 5G. The key technology of UDN is to enable a great number of nodes to coexist in a homogeneous or heterogeneous way in a dense region. Since ultra-dense deployment causes very serious interference between cells, a capacity of each area is impossible to linearly increase with the number of nodes in this area. In addition, when User Equipment (UE) moves between cells, a great amount of switching is caused. Ultra-dense deployment brings about a tough challenge to mobile signaling load and mobile robustness.
In the related art, in order to solve the problem existing in mobility, new concepts have already been put forward, e.g., virtual cells such as soft cell and phantom cell. A soft cell or phantom cell consists of a macrocell and microcells with best communication quality in neighboring cells of the macrocell. In a process of movement, UE only needs to change a microcell in the soft cell without being switched between microcells.
However, in the related art, if UE is not in the coverage range of the macrocell, a virtual cell cannot be realized.

Method and device for dynamically constructing virtual cell


A partitioned storage subsystem includes a plurality of directors, each having at least one processor thereon, each of the directors acting as one of: a primary director and a secondary director for a subset of logical devices handled by the partitioned storage subsystem, where primary directors actively perform I/O operations for logical devices and wherein secondary directors receive data to mirror memory of a corresponding primary director. The partitioned storage subsystem also includes a global memory distributed among the plurality of directors, where a different portion of the global memory is provided on each of the directors, and includes metadata for the logical devices, provided in the global memory, where the metadata contains information that correlates logical device data with physical device data. The physical device data may be provided by at least one disk drive coupled to at least one of the directors.

1. Technical Field
This application relates to computer storage, and more particularly to the field of partitioning computer storage.
2. Description of Related Art
Host processor systems may store and retrieve data using a storage device containing a plurality of host interface units (host adapters), disk drives, and disk interface units (disk adapters). Such storage devices are provided, for example, by EMC Corporation of Hopkinton, Mass. and disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,206,939 to Yanai et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,778,394 to Galtzur et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,845,147 to Vishlitzky et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,857,208 to Ofek, all of which are incorporated by reference herein. The host systems access the storage device through a plurality of channels provided therewith. Host systems provide data and access control information through the channels to the storage device and the storage device provides data to the host systems also through the channels. The host systems do not address the disk drives of the storage device directly, but rather, access what appears to the host systems as a plurality of logical devices (also referred to as "logical volumes"). The logical devices or may not correspond to the actual disk drives. Allowing multiple host systems to access the single storage device allows the host systems to share data stored therein.
FIG. 1 is a diagram 20 that shows a host 22, a conventional local storage device 24 and a conventional remote storage device 26. The host 22 reads and writes data from and to the local storage device 24 via a host adapter (HA) 28, which facilitates the interface between the host 22 and the local storage device 24. Although the diagram 20 only shows one host 22 and one HA 28, it is also possible to use multiple HA's and it is also possible that one or more HA's may have one or more hosts coupled thereto.
Data from the local storage device 24 is copied to the remote storage device 26 via an RDF link 29 to cause the data on the remote storage device 26 to be identical to the data on the local storage device 24. Although only the one link 29 is shown, it is possible to have additional links between the storage devices 24, 26 and to have links between one or both of the storage devices 24, 26 and other storage devices (not shown). Note that there may be a time delay between the transfer of data from the local storage device 24 to the remote storage device 26, so that the remote storage device 26 may, at certain points in time, contain data that is not identical to the data on the local storage device 24. Communication using RDF is described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,742,792, which is incorporated by reference herein.
The local storage device 24 includes a first plurality of RDF adapter units (RA's) 30a, 30b, 30c and the remote storage device 26 includes a second plurality of RA's 32a-32c. The RA's 30a-30c, 32a-32c are coupled to the RDF link 29 and are similar to the host adapter 28, but are used to transfer data between the storage devices 24, 26.
The storage devices 24, 26 may include one or more disks, each containing a different portion of data stored on each of the storage devices 24, 26. FIG. 1 shows the storage device 24 including a plurality of disks 33a, 33b, 33c and the storage device 26 including a plurality of disks 34a, 34b, 34c. The RDF functionality described herein may be applied so that the data for at least a portion of the disks 33a-33c of the local storage device 24 is copied, using RDF, to at least a portion of the disks 34a-34c of the remote storage device 26. It is possible that other data of the storage devices 24, 26 is not copied between the storage devices 24, 26, and thus is not identical.
Each of the disks 33a-33c is coupled to a corresponding disk adapter unit (DA) 35a, 35b, 35c that provides data to a corresponding one of the disks 33a-33c and receives data from a corresponding one of the disks 33a-33c. Similarly, a plurality of DA's 36a, 36b, 36c of the remote storage device 26 are used to provide data to corresponding ones of the disks 34a-34c and receive data from corresponding ones of the disks 34a-34c. An internal data path exists between the DA's 35a-35c, the HA 28 and the RA's 30a-30c of the local storage device 24. Similarly, an internal data path exists between the DA's 36a-36c and the RA's 32a-32c of the remote storage device 26. Note that, in other embodiments, it is possible for more than one disk to be serviced by a DA and that it is possible for more than one DA to service a disk.
The local storage device 24 also includes a global memory 37 that may be used to facilitate data transferred between the DA's 35a-35c, the HA 28 and the RA's 30a-30c. The memory 37 may contain tasks that are to be performed by one or more of the DA's 35a-35c, the HA 28 and the RA's 30a-30c, and a cache for data fetched from one or more of the disks 33a-33c. Similarly, the remote storage device 26 includes a global memory 38 that may contain tasks that are to be performed by one or more of the DA's 36a-36c and the RA's 32a-32c, and a cache for data fetched from one or more of the disks 34a-34c.
The storage space in the local storage device 24 that corresponds to the disks 33a-33c may be subdivided into a plurality of logical devices (also referred to as "logical volumes"). The logical devices may or may not correspond to the physical storage space of the disks 33a-33c. Thus, for example, the disk 33a may contain a plurality of logical devices or, alternatively, a single logical device could span both of the disks 33a, 33b. Similarly, the storage space for the remote storage device 26 that comprises the disks 34a-34c may be subdivided into a plurality of logical volumes or logical devices, where each of the logical devices may or may not correspond to one or more of the disks 34a-34c.
FIG. 2 is a diagram 40 that illustrates an embodiment of the storage device 24 where each of a plurality of directors 42a-42c are coupled to the memory 37. Each of the directors 42a-42c represents one of the RA's 32a-32c, the HA 28, and/or the DA's 38a-38c. In some cases, there may be up to sixtyfour directors coupled to the memory 37, but in other instances there may be a higher or lower maximum number of directors that may be used.
The diagram 40 also shows an optional communication module (CM) 44 that provides an alternative communication path between the directors 42a-42c. Each of the directors 42a-42c may be coupled to the CM 44 so that any one of the directors 42a-42c may send a message and/or data to any other one of the directors 42a-42c without needing to go through the memory 37. The CM 44 may be implemented using conventional MUX/router technology where a sending one of the directors 42a-42c provides an appropriate address to cause a message and/or data to be received by an intended receiving one of the directors 42a-42c. Some or all of the functionality of the CM 44 may be implemented using one or more of the directors 42a-42c so that, for example, the directors 42a-42c may be interconnected directly with the interconnection functionality being provided on each of the directors 42a-42c. In addition, a sending one of the directors 42a-42c may be able to broadcast a message to all of the other directors 42a-42c at the same time.
In the conventional design illustrated by FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, all of the directors share common resources, such as the memory 37, even though the storage device 24 may be used in environments where different unrelated hosts and/or different groups of hosts are performing unrelated activities and thus, do not share any logical storage devices. Such an arrangement may be inefficient in some cases and may even require active allocation of resources, which adds to overhead. Furthermore, since the conventional system illustrated by FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 uses a single operation system to manage the various components of each of the storage devices, then any change to the operating system (e.g., upgrade) would affect the entire storage device 24 and all of the hosts coupled to the storage device 24.
Thus, it is desirable to be able to partition a storage device in a way that eliminates the need for unrelated hosts or groups of hosts to compete for resources and allows for separately modifying the system of each partition in a way that minimizes the effect on other partitions.

Asymetrical device distribution for a partitioned storage subsystem


The drive circuit is formed on a substrate by a first fabrication process and drives a plurality of elements to be driven being formed on the substrate by a second fabrication process which is different from the first fabrication process. The drive circuit includes driver transistors provided between a first signal line and the plurality of elements to be driven, a control circuit for performing on-off control on the driver transistors and a test circuit for testing the drive circuit. The test circuit includes switching elements and resistor elements that are series connected between a second signal line and junctions of the driver transistors and the elements to be driven, respectively, and performs on-off control on the switching elements in response to a control signal. The testing method tests the drive circuit that has been formed on the substrate, before the plurality of elements to be driven are formed on the substrate. The method turns on the switching elements of the test circuit in response to the control signal and performs on-off control on the driver transistors by the control circuit.

This invention relates to a drive circuit for driving a plurality of elements to be driven which is furnished with a test circuit for testing itself. The invention also relates to a method of testing the drive circuit.
To fabricate the recording head of a thermal ink-jet printer, for instance, a drive circuit is formed on a semiconductor substrate (silicon substrate) and overlaid on it with a heater (heat-generating resistor) material, followed by the formation of cavities and orifice nozzles on the heater. The cavities serve as pixel-based ink chambers and ink is projected through the orifice nozzles. Since the ink will be supplied from a back side of the silicon substrate, ink supply holes are made through the silicon substrate.
The heater material is usually polysilicon and other materials that are manufactured in the ordinary semiconductor fabrication process. Occasionally, for instance, Ta alloys and other special materials that are not very common in the ordinary semiconductor fabrication process are employed. In a case of using a special material on the heater, a semiconductor fabrication process for forming the drive circuit is followed by another fabrication process that is intended to form a heater using the Ta alloy.
After the semiconductor fabrication process, it is preferable that the semiconductor device can be tested to confirm its completion without connecting the heater as elements to be driven. If the semiconductor device is found inoperable at this stage, for instance, one can avoid waste by not forming a heater on a defective device. However, the conventional drive circuit has had a problem of inability to test the semiconductor device unless the heater is formed on it.
This problem is further described below with reference to two examples of the prior art drive circuit.
FIG. 3A shows in conceptual form a thermal ink-jet head using an exemplary prior art drive circuit in its completed form, and FIG. 3B shows the same thermal ink-jet head except that the drive circuit is in an incompleted form. In a recording head 38 shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B a drive circuit 40 comprises driver transistors T11-T15 and a control circuit 36 for performing on-off control on these driver transistors T11-T15. Driver transistors T11-T15 correspond to heat-generating resistors R11-R15, respectively, which in turn correspond to a plurality of recording elements that perform printing.
The heat-generating resistors R11-R15 are connected at one end to a common ground GND and connected at the other end to sources of the driver transistors T11-T15. Drains of the driver transistors T11-T15 are connected to a common power supply VD1 and their gates are supplied with control signals from the control circuit 36 respectively. In the illustrated case, only five recording elements are shown to simplify the explanation.
The control circuit 36 in the illustrated case is a decoder which comprises decoder circuits D1-D5 for decoding signals C1-C4. The control circuit 36 may be composed of a shift register and other circuits, for instance, as shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B. The control circuit 36 in FIGS. 3A and 3n is replaced by the shift register 42 in FIG. 4A which shows the drive circuit of a thermal ink-jet head in its completed form and in FIG. 4B showing the same drive circuit in an incompleted form.
In addition to the shift register 42 for accessing heat-generating resistors R11-R15, the drive circuit shown in FIGS. 4A and 43 also has a control signal line CTRL2 for performing on-off control of the heat-generating resistors R11-R15, as well as transistors T31-T35 which are switching elements connected to the control signal line CTRL2 to control connection and non-connection between outputs of the shift register 42 and driver transistors T11-T15.
In the recording head 38 in completed form which is shown in FIG. 3A, for instance, when driver transistors T11-T15 are turned on in response to control signals from the control circuit 36, current flows through the respectively corresponding heat-generating resistors R11-R15 and a specified amount of ink is projected from nozzles which are the corresponding recording elements. Conversely, if the driver transistors T11-T15 are turned off, no current flows to the heat-generating resistors R11-R15 and no ink is projected from the nozzles.
In the recording head 38 in an incompleted form which is shown in FIG. 3B, the heat-generating resistors R11-R15 to be driven are not connected to the drive circuit 40 and the sources of the driver transistors T11-T15 are opened, so it is impossible to check if the drive circuit 40 is operative or not. While the problem with the prior art has been described above with particular reference to the recording head of an ink-jet printer, it should be noted that the same problem exists in all other devices that are furnished with the drive circuit, as exemplified by an LED (light-emitting diode) array, an EL (electroluminescent) panel, a magnetostrictor and other devices.
An object of the present invention is to solve above described problem based on the prior art to provide a drive circuit that can be tested for reliability after it has been formed on a substrate by the first fabrication process but before a plurality of elements to be driven are formed on the same substrate by the second fabrication process.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method of testing the drive circuit.
The object of the invention can be attained by a drive circuit that is formed on a substrate by a first fabrication process and that drives a plurality of elements to be driven being formed on the substrate by a second fabrication process which is different from the first fabrication process, comprising driver transistors provided between a first signal line and the plurality of elements to be driven; a control circuit for performing on-off control on the driver transistors; and a test circuit for testing the drive circuit, the test circuit comprising switching elements and resistor elements that are series connected between a second signal line and junctions of the driver transistors and the elements to be driven respectively, wherein the test circuit performs on-off control on the switching elements in response to a control signal.
Preferably, the plurality of elements to be driven are heat-generating resistors, magnetostrictors or light emitters and are connected between each of the driver transistors corresponding to each of the plurality of elements to be driven and the second signal line.
Another object of the invention can be attained by a method of testing a drive circuit that drives a plurality of elements to be driven, the drive circuit comprising a driver transistors provided between a first signal line and the plurality of elements to be driven, a control circuit for performing on-off control on the driver transistors, and a test circuit for testing the drive circuit, the test circuit comprising switching elements and resistor elements that are series connected between a second signal line and junctions of the driver transistors and the elements to be driven respectively, the test circuit performing on-off control on the switching elements in response to a control signal, comprising steps of: forming the drive circuit on a substrate by a first fabrication process; before the plurality of elements to be driven are formed by a second fabrication process which is different from the first fabrication process, on the substrate on which the drive circuit has been formed, turning on the switching elements of the test circuit in response to the control signal; and performing on-off control on the driver transistors by the control circuit.
Preferably, the drive circuit is tested by changing electric potential of the first signal line to either power supply potential or ground potential.
Preferably, the drive circuit is tested by adjusting electric potential of the first signal line to an intermediate level between power supply potential and ground potential.

Drive circuit and method of testing the same


An electrode for a nonaqueous electrolyte battery of the embodiment includes a current collector; and an active material layer which includes an active material and is formed on the current collector. The active material layer includes at least one of a silicon particle and a silicon oxide particle. The active material layer has a plurality of cracks extending in a thickness direction of the active material layer.

In recent years, a small portable terminal typified by a smartphone and a tablet, etc. is rapidly spread, which increases the demand for a battery having a small size and a high energy density for driving this terminal.
In general, a graphite material is used for a negative electrode of a lithium ion secondary battery. The theoretical capacity of a graphite material is 372 mAh/g (LiC6), and at the present, the achieved capacity is approaching this limit. In order to further improve an energy density of a lithium ion secondary battery, it becomes necessary to select a new material. From this viewpoint, silicon and tin, which have the large specific capacity and the next lower potential than carbon and lithium, have attracted attention.
Of these materials, silicon can absorb 4.4 lithium atoms per 1 silicon atom in molar ratio, and theoretically, it is possible to obtain about 10 times the capacity of a graphite-based carbon material. However, when a silicon particle absorbs lithium, the volume thereof expands to about 3 to 4 times the original volume, and thus, there is the problem that repeated charge and discharge causes the deterioration, which results in the capacity reduction. This phenomenon was carefully analyzed, and the following was confirmed. When lithium is inserted into a silicon-containing active material, the volume expansion causes fine cracks in an electrode, and an electrolyte solution enters through these fine cracks, which forms a new coating film (SEI layer). In this process, an irreversible capacity is generated, which consequently reduces a battery capacity. This phenomenon appears as the change of a charge and discharge efficiency during cycles. The reduction of a cycle efficiency at an initial stage of cycles, at which volume change is particularly large, has a significant effect on the life of a battery including a positive electrode having a high charge and discharge efficiency. Therefore, when using a silicon-containing active material, it is the important issue to minimize the change of an electrode structure caused by the aforementioned volume expansion.
Examples of the method of dispersing and relieving the stress caused by volume expansion include the method of providing a large number of voids in an active material layer constituting an electrode. In the method of preparing a porous active material layer and connecting voids in a three-dimensional manner, it is possible to obtain a certain effect on the relief of volume expansion, but there are the problems of the decrease in electrode strength and the inability to increase a volume energy density. In addition, there is the proposed method of preliminarily patterning an active material layer so as to form grooves and to divide an electrode into small regions. However, in this method, the groove part does not include an active material, and thus, there is the problem of the decrease in the energy density per unit volume of an electrode.

Electrode for nonaqueous electrolyte battery, nonaqueous electrolyte battery including the same, and battery pack


A non-aqueous electrolyte battery using a lithium-containing metal oxide containing manganese as a positive electrode active material, which can suppress the elution of manganese from the positive electrode active material. The non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery has a negative electrode capable of intercalating and deintercalating lithium ions, a positive electrode containing a lithium-containing compound as a positive electrode active material, and a non-aqueous electrolyte in which a lithium salt is dissolved in an organic solvent. The lithium-containing compound is a lithium-containing metal oxide containing manganese, and the non-aqueous electrolyte contains a fluorosilane compound:

In accordance with the widespread use of portable electronic devices such as portable personal computers, handy video cameras and information terminals in recent years, non-aqueous electrolyte secondary batteries having a high voltage and a high energy density have been widely used as power sources. Furthermore, in view of environmental problems, battery automobiles and hybrid automobiles utilizing electrical power as a part of the power thereof have been put into practical use.
In non-aqueous electrolyte secondary batteries, various additives for non-aqueous electrolytes have been suggested so as to improve the stability and electric properties of the non-aqueous electrolyte secondary batteries. For example, it is considered that 1,3-propanesultone (for example, see Patent Literature 1), vinyl ethylene carbonate (for example, see Patent Literature 2), vinylene carbonate (for example, see Patent Literature 3), 1,3-propanesultone, butanesultone (for example, see Patent Literature 4), vinylene carbonate (for example, see Patent Literature 5), vinyl ethylene carbonate (for example, see Patent Literature 6) and the like form a stable film called an SEI (Solid Electrolyte Interface) on the surface of a negative electrode, and this film covers the surface of the negative electrode to suppress the reductive decomposition of a non-aqueous electrolyte. Furthermore, it is considered that a disiloxane having an unsaturated group such as a vinyl group (for example, see Patent Literature 7), a fluorosilane to which an alkenyl group is bonded (for example, see Patent Literature 8), an alkylenebisfluorosilane (for example, see Patent Literature 9), a fluorosilane to which an ether group is bonded (for example, see Patent Literature 10) and the like are adsorbed on the surface of a positive electrode to thereby protect the positive electrode and suppress the oxidative decomposition of a non-aqueous electrolyte.
On the other hand, it is known that 1,2-bis(difluoromethylsilyl)ethane can be used as an additive for lithium secondary batteries (for example, see Patent Literature 11), but any test result as a battery has not been disclosed, and any effect on positive electrode active materials has not been known at all.
Conventionally, lithium cobaltate has been widely used as a positive electrode active material in non-aqueous electrolyte secondary batteries, but the cost of cobalt as a raw material has been raising in recent years, and thus positive electrode active materials using inexpensive metal materials other than cobalt have been developed, and use of inexpensive positive electrodes using such positive electrode active materials has been rapidly prevailed. Lithium-containing metal oxides that contain manganese are excellent in performance in view of the output of lithium secondary batteries, but are inexpensive, whereas they have a problem that elution of manganese easily occurs at a high temperature, and the capacities of lithium secondary batteries are decreased by repetitive use. However, additives for non-aqueous electrolytes which have been conventionally known as those mentioned above could not exhibit a sufficient effect on a positive electrode containing a lithium-containing metal oxide that contains manganese as a positive electrode active material, and thus further improvement has been demanded.

Non-aqueous electrolyte secondary battery

Abstract: R1 to R3 each represents a 1-8 carbon alkyl group, a 2-8 carbon alkenyl group, a 5-8 carbon cycloalkyl group, a 6-8 carbon aryl group or a fluorine atom, and R4 represents a 1-8 carbon alkylene group or a 4-8 carbon alkylene group having an ether group.


An ultrasonic flow sensor, in particular for determining the flow velocity of a medium flowing through a pipeline, has at least one ultrasonic converter for transmitting and/or receiving ultrasonic signals, an oscillator, which is connected with the ultrasonic converter, and an evaluation unit, which determines a phase shift of the ultrasonic signal that was received, with respect to a reference signal. The evaluation unit includes a plurality of quadrature demodulators, which operate with different demodulation frequencies and each determine phase information about the ultrasonic signal that was received, and when a vernier unit is provided, which determines—based on the individual pieces of phase information—a phase angle or a quantity proportional thereto.

The present invention relates to an ultrasonic flow sensor for determining the transit time of an ultrasonic signal, and to a related method.
Ultrasonic flow sensors are used, in particular, to measure the volumetric flow, mass flow, or the flow velocity of a gaseous or liquid medium flowing through a pipeline or the like. A known type of ultrasonic flow sensor includes two ultrasonic converters located such that they are offset in the direction of flow, each of which generates ultrasonic signals and transmits them to the other ultrasonic converter. The ultrasonic signals are received by the other converter and are evaluated electronically. The difference between the transit time of the signal in the direction of flow and the transit time of the signal in the opposite direction is a measure of the flow velocity of the fluid.
FIG. 1 shows a typical design of an ultrasonic flow sensor with two ultrasonic converters A, B, which are diametrically opposed at a distance L from each other. A fluid 1 flows in pipeline 3 with a velocity v in the direction of arrow 2. Measurement path L is tilted relative to flow direction 2 at an angle δ. While a measurement is being carried out, ultrasonic converters A, B send ultrasonic pulses to each other. The signals are decelerated or accelerated, depending on the direction of the flow. The transit times of the ultrasonic signals are a measure of the flow rate to be determined.
FIG. 2 shows a greatly simplified schematic depiction of electrical evaluation circuit 4. The two ultrasonic converters A, B are connected with control and evaluation electronics 4 and are activated by an oscillator with a specified clock frequency 8 (a square-wave signal in this case). Ultrasonic signals 15 generated as a result (only envelope 16 of ultrasonic signals 15 is shown in the figure) travel along measurement path L and are detected by the other ultrasonic converter A, B. Transit time t12 or t21 of signals 15 is measured.
Various methods for determining the transit time of ultrasonic signals are known from the related art. According to a first type of method, the instant when an ultrasonic signal is received is determined unequivocally and exactly. The first zero crossing of the ultrasonic signal that occurs after the signal amplitude has been exceeded a specified threshold value is the "reception time" of the signal. As an alternative, e.g., the instant at which the maximum amplitude occurs, or the instant at which the centroid of the envelope of the ultrasonic signal 15 occurs is used as the "reception time".
According to a second type of method for measuring transit time, the phase of an ultrasonic signal that has been received is determined with respect to a reference timing signal. It is known, for example, to determine the phase angle (Δφ) of an ultrasonic signal relative to a reference timing signal using a quadrature demodulation scheme, to calculate the total transit time of the ultrasonic signal based on the phase angle (Δφ), and to calculate a remainder (r(t)), which is a whole-number multiple of 2π. The ultrasonic signal is inverted in a segmented manner using a demodulation signal and a phase-shifted demodulation signal. The signals, which have been inverted in a segmented manner, are then preferably filtered or integrated, and the phase angle (Δφ) is determined using a trigonometric calculation. In this evaluation method, the unambiguous range of the calculated phases is equal to the reciprocal of the modulation frequency. The latter is determined by the ultrasonic frequency and/or the properties of the ultrasonic converter, however. This therefore typically results in a relatively small unambiguous range. For signals with a frequency of, e.g., 200 kHz, an unambiguous range of only 5 μs results. Determining the remainder (n*2π) is often a very complex procedure.

Ultrasonic flow sensor with quadrature demodulation


A targeting thymidine kinase photosensitizer and pharmaceutical composition and use for cancer treatment thereof is provided, which improves the selectivity of photosensitizers to tumor cells, has better tolerance, can reach maximum blood concentration in 24 hours, has a bigger conjugated system, a longer absorption wavelength and an advantage in treating depth tumors; the wavelength area does not need to consume much energy of a light-output device and even LEDs can be used, which render PDT more practical and economical. The targeting thymidine kinase photosensitizer can be used for diagnosis and for treating prostatic carcinoma via the guidance of fluorescence imaging. The pharmaceutical composition uses a combination of a chemotherapeutic agent and the targeting thymidine kinase photosensitizer, which further improves the therapeutic effect of the PDT method, expands the application range for tumors and has good effects on metastatic tumors as well.

Prostatic cancer is the most common non-skin infectious malignant tumors, and is the second leading cause of death in males, second to lung cancer. In United States, near 190 thousand of people are diagnosed as suffering prostatic cancer each year, in which approximately 31 thousand of people die from it. Prostatic cancer is a multifocal disease, so that the whole gland should be managed and treated. At present, the treatment methods mainly include observation only (intimate observation and wait), operation (radical prostatectomy), radiation (external irradiation or brachytherapy using an implanted radioactive source), radiation together with hormonotherapy (new adjuvant therapy) and hormone therapy (androgen-blocking therapy). Furthermore, it has been reported that cryotherapy, chemotherapy and other novel methods are also used for a local lesion by some doctors. Unfortunately, however, there are some disadvantages in all these methods, so that novel treatment methods are urgently demanded for prostatic cancer.
It has been demonstrated by clinical studies that photodynamics therapy (PDT) is an attractive form for cancer treatment, the principle of which includes: a photosensitizer is selectively absorbed by the tumor tissue and stored inside, and subsequently the photosensitizer is activated under local irradiation using the light at an appropriate wavelength, so that photosensitive effect is created. There will not be severe systemic side effect resulted from PDT, and it can be used repeatedly. PDT will not affect the tissue cells around when it destroys the tumor cells. There are 3 prominent advantages of PDT, including: favorable acceptability, low side effect and high efficiency.
At the end of 1970s and the early of 1990s, many attempts have been made by scientists to obtain a photosensitizer-PDT for prostatic cancer, so that the tissue-based photosensitizer has been developed. Meanwhile, novel PDT-mediated photosensitizer appears to have a great potential for the treatment of prostatic cancer (Photodynamic Therapy: A New Approach to Prostate Cancer. Curr. Urol. Rep. 2003, 4, 221-228). It has been proved by the University College London (London, UK) that there was a potential therapeutic effect of temoporfin for the treatment of prostatic cancer. Zaak and his colleagues reported the use of aminolevulinic acid-mediated protoporphyrin IX for the treatment of prostatic cancer (Photodynamic therapy by means of 5-ALA induced PPIX in human prostate cancer—preliminary results. Medical Laser Application 2003, 18, 91-95). Motexafin lutetium is a remarkable vessel activating photosensitizer, and has been tested in dog model (Photodynamic therapy in the canine prostate using motexafin lutetium. Clin Cancer Res 2001, 7, 651-660), Motexafin lutetium has also been applied to the patient after radiotherapy. It has been reported that it is better to use high dose PDT than low dose PDT. Padoporfin (Tookad®) and padeliporfin (Stakel®) are palladium-bacteriopheophorbide photosensitizer. On the first test stage of Padoporfin, 28 Canada patients suffered from periodic prostate cancer were enrolled for radiotherapy. It has been indicated that the pharmacuetical dosage of 2 mg/kg has the best therapeutic effect. Subsequently, the effect of using padeliporfin in the treatment of prostatic cancer of male patients without radiotherapy is also quite favorable. In conclusion, since the first use of photodynamics therapy for the treatment of prostatic cancer in 1978 (Photoradiation Therapy for the Treatment of Malignant Tumors. Cancer Res. 1978, 38, 2628-2635), and with the significant development of light transmission and photosensitizer design, many photosensitizers can be finally evaluated in formal clinical trials.
Although many photosensitizers have been developed in recent years and some were tested in clinical trials, such as Tookad and m-THPC, there are inherent disadvantages in these two analogues. For example, although no obvious skin phototoxicity induced by Tookad after long wavelength irradiation is observed, the therapeutic effect is not completely the same for all the patients, since the infusion and light process almost occur at the same time due to very short time span from the injection to the light process (i.e., very short effective treatment window). Additionally, after the injection of m-THPC, the medicine concentration will be adequate to kill tumor cells after a long period (3-4 days) of blood circulation; furthermore, it will also have severe skin phototoxicity.
There is another type of well-tested photosensitizer of tetrapyrrole or reduced tetrapyrrole structure, 2-((1′-n-hexyloxy)ethyl)-2-devinyl-pyropheophorbide-α (HPPH) and the analogues thereof, wherein the HPPH has the following structure:

The preparation method of HPPH and the salts thereof can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,198,460 (Publication No. RE39094) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,314,905 (Publication No. RE38994) or the following article: Methyl Pyropheophorbide-a Analogs: Potential Fluorescent Probes for the Peripheral-Type Benzodiazepine Receptor. Effect of Central Metal in Photosensitizing Efficacy. J. Med. Chem (rapid communication). 2005, 48 (11), 3692-3695. The phototoxicity duration of HPPH is much shorter than that of other photosensitizers, and HPPH has less damage to normal tissues with better therapeutic effect. However, erythema and other injuries will still be induced when tumor and other hyperplastic tissues are treated.
In another aspect, the key point in the use of photosensitizer-PDT therapy for the treatment of prostatic cancer is to enhance the selectivity of PDT photosensitive reagent to prostatic cancer cells. At present, in many cancer imaging and treatment methods, proliferation of tumor cells and DNA synthesis are utilized. The synthesis of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) occurs at a special stage—S phase in cell cycle. A great amount of DNA is synthesized during tumor cell proliferation, while thymidine kinase 1 has higher activity in hyperplastic cells, which is regulated by cells of S phase. Accordingly, the cell proliferation can be investigated by comparing the DNA synthesis of cells of stationary phase and hyperplastic cells of S phase in cell cycle via labeled thymidine. Early in laboratory, thymidine was labeled by 3H and 14C, and subsequently, 11C-thymidine was synthesized using positron emission tomography (PET). Pyrimidine is the basic unit for DNA synthesis, so that the use of 11C-thymidine for imaging is of great significance. Although this method is suitable for survey and effectiveness investigation, it is still not well acceptable due to excessively short half life of 11C. Since the half life of 11C-thymidine is very short and it may be degraded rapidly, the regular clinical application is not practical. As a result, efforts have been continuously made to find thymidine analogs with better imaging performance.
Thymidine analogs have been widely investigated as a possible therapeutic compound in both pharmaceutical industry and academic field. These analogs have been initially investigated by Dr. Charles Heidelberg. He tried to find a thymidine analog that can interfere the synthesis of DNA, and 5-fluorouracil was finally developed in 1975. 5-fluorouracil is a very effective antineoplastic drug, and still extensively employed in clinical treatment. When the thymidine analog 18F-FLT enters inside of the body, it can be absorbed by cells and aggregated after phosphorylation by thymidine kinase 1. It has been found that 3′-deoxy-3′-fluorothymidine (FLT) can be labeled by 18F (18FLT), an isotope with longer half-life (109.8 min). By evaluation of the performance of many nucleoside analogs for the imaging of hyperplasia, 18F-FLT (3′-deoxy-3′-fluorothymidine) is still the best method by far.
Furthermore, when prostatic cancer is treated by photosensitizer-PDT therapy, the whole prostate is demanded to be exposed under illumination at appropriate wavelength (based on the photosensitizer used). In addition, although photosensitizer-PDT therapy is very effective for cancer treatment, it only can be used for local treatment, i.e., for primary tumor, and it has limited application in the treatment of metastatic tumor. For metastatic tumors, chemotherapeutic agents are commonly needed, such as paclitaxel, which has systemic effectiveness. Accordingly, it is limited, at present, to use photosensitizer-PDT therapy or chemotherapy alone for the treatment of prostatic cancer, which has undesirable effect.

Targeting thymidine kinase photosensitizer and pharmaceutical composition and use for cancer treatment thereof