Rapid removal of settled solids in secondary clarifiers is critical in sewage treatment plants having nutrient removal permits, especially phosphorus, to prevent solids from surfacing after going aerobic and releasing phosphorus. Release of phosphorus could impact the plant's permit limit. This is addressed by the described design of rake blade flights and squeegees that quickly move solids on the clarifier floor to the sludge pickup tubes, usually in one revolution. In a preferred form the blade flights are curved and may be spiral in shape, causing gathered sludge to advance outwardly toward the pickup tube at each flight, usually in one revolution. Previous blade flights included angled linear sections that progressively move the sludge in incremental movements with each revolution of the clarifier mechanism.

This invention is concerned with wastewater treatment plants, particularly with secondary clarifiers and with removal of settled solids via rake arms operating along the bottom of the clarifier.
In a sewage treatment plant, the rate of removal of settled solids in secondary clarifiers can be critical. Most plants have nutrient removal permits, especially regarding phosphorus. The rate of removal of the solids in such plants is important. Settled solids should be removed quickly to prevent them from surfacing after going anaerobic and releasing phosphorus into the wastewater, which can impact the phosphorus permit limit for the plant.
Most conventional clarifier sludge rake arms have blade flights and squeegees, designed to travel along the floor, with a design configuration that can require two or three rake arm revolutions to cause migration of engaged sludge outwardly to a point of removal at a sludge pickup tube. Such pickup tubes draw the sludge upwardly to a elevated sludge return box in a hydraulic differential sludge removal clarifier. If settled sludge in the clarifier basin dwells in the basin too long, anaerobic conditions are created in the sludge blanket, resulting in release of phosphorus into the wastewater rather than removal of the phosphorus from the basin, as noted above. The phosphorus can then float to the surface of the clarifier and potentially exit the clarifier over the influent weirs. As explained above, this can impact the phosphorus permit limit of the treatment plant. Extremely important in plants with strict nutrient limits, this applies as well to and is useful in all secondary clarifiers in municipal wastewater treatment plants.
A typical prior art conventional clarifier sludge removal system included rake arms with blade flights and attached squeegees of straight configuration, mounted at oblique angles to the length of the rake arm. A series of three or four of these are arranged parallel to one another, spaced apart so as to act as a comb, simply pushing or urging the settled sludge outwardly in the clarifier by an incremental distance with each revolution. In this way, sludge moved by a flight in one pass is engaged by a farther-out flight in the next pass of a rake arm (which will be the opposing arm). If four blade flights were positioned between the clarifier center and a sludge pickup tube, then in theory at least four rake arm passes (at least two full revolutions) would be required to move the innermost sludge to the position of the pickup tube. At the pickup tube would be a pair of such flights in a V-formation with the open end forward, tending to collect sludge that has been fed out to that distance from center. Several series of such obliquely angled flights have typically been included on a rake arm, one for each pickup tube location.
As noted above, the requirement of two or three revolutions of the slowly moving rake arms can be objectionable when the plant is limited as to phosphorus discharged in the effluent water from the plant. The objective of the invention is to reduce the number of rotations of the rake arm to bring sludge to pickup points and thus to reduce the dwell time of settled sludge within the clarifier.


Support devices are provided for a lid of a cooking container such as, for example, a pan, pot or casserole, which includes an annular element suitable for resting on a rim of the container that delimits the opening of a compartment of the cooking container containing food, and a support arm hinged to the annular element. The support arm is provided with attachment elements to the lid and is movable between a lowered position, in which it permits the lid to rest on the annular element so as to close the compartment of the cooking container, and a raised position, in which it distances the lid from the annular element to permit access to the compartment.

Lid support devices suitable to perform this function have already been proposed.
In certain cases, however, these known devices require that the cooking recipient be specifically made to receive the lid support device. Such devices are, therefore, only usable on a given container and cannot be regarded as an accessory associable to different containers, in particular in traditional containers, not designed to receive the support device.
An example of such support devices and the related containers is described in EP2218380A1.
In other cases, the support device is attachable to usual cooking recipients, but the coupling system is such as to make it complicated, if not impossible, to completely remove the support device with the related lid from the container during use of the container itself.
For these reasons, all these lid support devices have achieved very little success among users.

Support devices for lids of cooking containers


A method and apparatus for spin flowing necking-in a D&I can is disclosed wherein an externally located free-spinning form roll is moved radially inward and axially against the outside wall of the open end of a trimmed can. A spring loaded interior support slide roll moves under the forming force of the form roll preferably through a cam control surface which controls the forming force acting thereon as the form roll advances radially inward as it slides along a sloped forming surface of a second free roll mounted axially inwardly adjacent the slide roll. To minimize the plug diameter variation between successively necked cans, the radially inward movement of the form roll is halted at a predetermined radial location via contact between the form roll support bracket with a form roll stop bracket. This prevents excessive form roll forces generated during radial inward advancing movement from acting against the second roll in a manner possibly causing undesirable radial movement thereof with correspondingly excessive plug diameter variation or wearing of coating material on interior necked-in can surfaces located between the form roll and the second roll.

Spin flow necking is a process of necking-in an open end of a metal container to ultimately provide a flange which allows a can end to be seamed thereto after filling. Necking also makes conveying of the cans easier since, with only slight flange overlap, the cans contact body-to-body instead of flange-to-flange which would otherwise cause tilting and conveying jams.
While numerous necking processes have been developed since the 1970's, a particularly promising spin flow process and apparatus having the potential of allowing can ends to be necked-in to increasingly smaller diameters is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,781,047, issued Nov. 1, 1988 to Bressan, which is assigned to Ball Corporation and is exclusively licensed to the assignee of the present invention, Reynolds Metals Company. The disclosure of this patent is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. It concerns a process where an externally located free spinning form roll 11 (FIG. 1) is moved inward and axially against the outside wall C' of the open end C' of a rotating trimmed can C to form a conical neck at the open end thereof. With further reference to FIG. 1, a spring-loaded holder or slide roll 19 supports the interior wall of the can C and moves axially under the forming force of the form roll 11. This is a single operation where the can C rotates and the form roll 11 rotates so that a smooth conical necked end is produced. In practice, the can is then flanged. The term "spin flow necking" is used in this application to refer to such processes and apparatus, the essential difference between spin flow necking and other types of spin necking being the axial movement of both the external roll 11 and the internal support 19.
More specifically, the exemplary spin flow tooling assembly 10 depicted in FIG. 1 (corresponding to FIG. 1 of the Bressan et al '047 patent, supra) includes a necking spindle shaft 16a rotatable about its axis of rotation A by means of a spindle gear 16 mounted to the shaft between front and rear bearings (not shown). The slide roll 19 is mounted to the front end of the necking spindle shaft 16a through a slide mechanism 28, keyed to the shaft, which permits co-rotation of the roll 19 while allowing it to be slid by the necking forces described more fully below in the axially rearward direction B' away from the eccentric freewheeling roll 24 located adjacent the front face of the slide roll. The axially fixed eccentric idler roll 24, having an axis of rotation B which is parallel to and rotatable about spindle axis A, is mounted via bearings 16b and 23 to an eccentrically formed front end of an eccentric roll support shaft 18. This shaft 18 extends through the necking spindle shaft 16a. The spindle shaft 16a is rotated by the spindle gear 16 without rotating the eccentric roll support shaft 18.
The outer form roll 11 is mounted radially outwardly adjacent the slide and eccentric rolls 19,24.
The container slide roll 19 is shaped with a conical leading edge 19a designed to first engage the open end C" of the container C to support same for rotation about spindle axis A under the driving action of the necking spindle gear 16 which may be driven by the same drive mechanism driving each base pad assembly 29 engaging the container bottom wall. Slide roll 19 is also free to slide axially but is resiliently biased into the container open end C" via springs 20 which may be of the compression type.
In operation, the container open end C" engages and is rotated by the slide roll 19. The eccentric roll 24 is then rotated into engagement with a part of the inside surface of the container side wall C' located inwardly adjacent the open end C". With reference to FIGS. 2A-2E, the external form roll 11 then begins to move radially inward into contact with the container side wall C' spanning the gap respectively formed between the conical faces 19a,24e of the slide and eccentric rolls 19,24. More specifically, the side wall C' of the spinning container body C is initially a straight cylindrical section of generally uniform diameter and thickness which may extend from a pre-neck (not shown) previously formed in the container side wall such as by static die necking. As the external form roll 11 engages the container side wall C', it commences to penetrate the gap between the fixed internal eccentric roll 24 and the axially movable slide roll 19, forming a truncated cone (FIG. 2B). The side wall of the cone increases in length as does the height of the cone as the external form roll chamfer 11c continues to squeeze or press the container metal along the complemental slope or truncated cone 24e of the eccentric roll 24 as depicted in FIG. 2C. The cone continues to be generated as the external form roll 11 advances radially inwardly (the slide roll 19 continues to retract axially as a result of direct pushing contact from roll 11 through the metal) until a reduced diameter 124 is achieved as depicted in FIGS. 2C and 2D. As the cone is being formed, the necked-in portion 124 or throat of the container C conforms to the shape of the forming portion of the form roll 11. The rim portions 123 of the neck which extend radially outwardly from the necked-in portion 124 are being formed by the complemental tapers 11b,19a of the form roll 11 and the slide roll 19 to complete the necked-in portion.
The above-described spin flow necking process, while producing a large diameter reduction in the open end of the container C (e.g., 0.350"), has various drawbacks when applied to two-piece aluminum can manufacture. One drawback, for example, is grooving of the neck at the initial point of contact between rolls 11,19 in FIG. 2B which occurs on the inside of the container as a result of the small radii on the form roll pushing past and against the small radii on the slide roll as the form roll moves radially inwardly and axially rearwardly during the necking process along the chamfer 24e of the eccentric roll. Due to the force of spring 20 urging the slide roll 19 toward the eccentric roll 24, the metal caught between these colliding radii (which are forcefully pressed together under spring bias), is grooved on both the inner and outer surfaces of the neck. On the inside surface, this grooving results in metal exposure (i.e., wearing away of the protective coating) which often allows the beverage to "eat through" the container side wall C'. It has also been discovered that such grooving often results in actual cutting of the metal as the form roll 11 is radially inwardly advanced from the position depicted in FIG. 2B to that of FIG. 2C.
As the form roll 11 moves into its radially inwardmost position depicted in FIG. 2E, the spring pressure acting against the slide roll 19 in the direction of the form roll disadvantageously results in pinching of the end of the flange-like portion 123 and undesirable thinning of the metal. In some cases, particularly when necking a can to smaller diameters (e.g., 204 or 202), the edge is sometimes thinned down to a knife edge.
To prevent both grooving of the container side wall and excessive thinning of the flange type edge during the aforementioned spin flow necking process, a cam ring is secured to the slide roll to present a cam follower surface which is contacted by the form roll during radial inward advancing movement of the latter at the on-set of the necking-in process. The cam follower surface and the conical surface of the form roll facing the cam follower surface are further arranged to produce the following motions:
In FIG. 3A, the form roll axis has moved radially inwardly closer to the container axis and has started to form the neck. The conical surface 24e on the eccentric roll 24 has forced the form roll 11 toward the open end C" of the container C. The form roll 11 has just touched the cam follower surface 104. The small radius 106 on the form roll 11 is very close to the small radius 108 on the slide roll 19' but does not pinch the metal between these two points. This is because the cam ring follower surface 104 is positioned so these radii 106,108 may approach each other but stay separated by a distance slightly greater than the initial side wall thickness. This is presently understood to be a key feature in the elimination of metal exposure and neck cracks caused by excessive contact pressure between the two small radii 106,108 in the uncontrolled collision of the form roll 11 with the metal wrapped around the small radii 108 on the slide roll 19 in the prior spin flow necking process described hereinabove. In other words, since the form roll 11 contacts the cam follower surface 104 as the two radii 106,108 approach, such contact results in retraction or rearward axial sliding movement of the slide roll 19' which permits the two radii to move past each other.
In FIG. 3B, the form roll 11 has penetrated further between the eccentric roll 24 and the slide roll 19'. The small radius 106 on the form roll 11 is just passing the small radius 108 on the slide roll 19'. The rolls 11,19' do not pinch the metal but have moved closer. As mentioned above, the form roll 11 is forcing the slide roll 19' back by contact between the form roll and the cam ring 102 instead of contact at this point between the form roll and the slide roll as occurred in the aforesaid prior spin flow necking process.
In FIG. 3C, the form roll 11 has continued its penetration and the small radius 106 is past the small radius 108 on the slide roll 19' (point A). At this point, the conical surfaces 19a,11b on the slide roll and the form roll, respectively, are opposite and parallel each other. The slide roll 19' and cam ring 102 have been pushed to the left in FIG. 3C. The combination of the metal thickening as a result of being squeezed between the form roll 11 and the eccentric roll 24 as the metal wraps around the forming surface 11a of the form roll, and the shape of the left or trailing conical surface 11b on the form roll, has reduced the relative clearance between the form roll and the slide roll so that the form roll is now actually putting slight pressure on the metal.
In FIG. 3D, the form roll 11 has now penetrated further into the gap between the eccentric and slide rolls 24,19'. The form roll 11 is clearly clamping the metal between it and the slide roll 19' and, as a result, a gap 130 has opened up between the form roll surface 11b and the cam ring follower surface 104. The form roll 11 is now pushing the slide roll 19' directly in the axially rearward direction through its contact with the metal, and not through the cam ring 102. Since the small radii 106,108 between the form roll 11 and slide roll 19' have already "slipped" past each other without undesirable grooving of the metal therebetween, the direct interaction of the form roll in thinning and shaping the metal against the bias of the conical surface 19a on the slide roll is important to ensure proper necking and distribution of metal.
In FIG. 3E, the form roll 11 has now penetrated to its radially inwardmost position to complete the formation of the spin flow neck. During the entire forming process, between 20 to 24 revolutions of the container C are required, depending on the diameter, thickness and the amount of diameter reduction in the container end. The rolling contact between the form roll 11 and the slide roll 19' has thinned the edge of the flange slightly. Therefore, in accordance with a further feature of this invention, the form roll 11 now once again contacts the cam ring 102 to prevent further thinning of the flange area of the container C, i.e., gap 130 has closed.
The foregoing cam ring improvement to the spin flow necking process is disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/929,933, filed Aug. 14, 1992, by Harry W. Lee, Jr. et al, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,245,848, issued Sep. 21, 1993, patent which is assigned to Reynolds Metals Company, the assignee of the present application. The disclosure of this patent is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
The cam ring advantageously eliminates the grooving and cut necks, as well as excessive thinning of the flange, that were prevalent before its introduction. However, the interaction of the outer form roll with the eccentric and slide rolls to achieve the final necked-in state depicted in either FIG. 2E (no cam ring) or FIG. 3E (with cam ring) has been discovered, through extensive experimentation, to directly affect the plug diameter (i.e., the inner diameter of the necked-in portion such as measured at 124 in FIG. 2E) and the length of flange 123, with or without the cam ring, and at any given base pad setting (i.e., the fixed distance during necking between the base pad 29 supporting the can bottom and the axially immovable eccentric roll), resulting in unacceptable variations therein. In a can plant environment, particularly when employing numerous necking-in tooling assemblies in a multi-station machine of the type disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/929,932, filed Aug. 14, 1992, by Harry W. Lee, Jr. et al, entitled "Spin Flow Necking Apparatus and Method of Handling Cans Therein", now U.S. Pat. No. 5,282,375, issued Feb. 1, 1994, also assigned to Reynolds Metals Company, the present assignee, control over the plug diameter and flange width achieved with the tooling assembly at each station is critical to achieving homogeneity in product and successful continuous operation. The disclosure of the '375 patent is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
To obtain acceptable plug diameter variations, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/953,421, filed Sep. 29, 1992, by Harry W. Lee, Jr. et al, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,349,836, issued Sep. 27, 1994, also assigned to Reynolds Metals Company, discloses spin flow necking tooling assembly 1000 in FIG. 4 wherein a plurality of identical stop spacers 1025 are bolted to the front end of the spindle mounting assembly with bolts 1044 located radially outwardly from the path of movement of the slide roll 19. The spacers 1025 extend radially inward from mounting screws 1044 to define a series of equi-spaced stop surfaces 1050 which are co-planar to each other and intersect the plane of axial movement of the rear facing shoulder 1052 of the slide roll 19.
An exemplary embodiment of such a machine is depicted in FIG. 1A of the U.S. Pat. No. 5,282,375, (hereinafter "the '375 patent"), incorporated herein by reference. Except as noted hereinbelow, the tooling assembly 1000 of FIG. 4A functions in a manner identical to the tooling assembly of FIG. 5 (incorporated herein by reference) disclosed in the '375 patent. Briefly, the eccentric roll 24 is rotated from its eccentric solid line position depicted in FIG. 4A in supporting contact with the can open end into a radially inward clearance position (not shown) via rotation of the pinion 108 through a plurality of tooling activation assemblies 200 mounted to the rear face of the tooling disc turret. FIG. 5 herein corresponds to FIG. 7 (the written disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein) of '375 patent. Therein, it can be seen that rotation of pinion 108 as well as radial movement of form roll 11 (supported by shaft 1010) is controlled through a series of radially extending linkage arrangements 210 respectively interconnecting each tooling activation assembly 200 to a cam follower 204 in rolling contact with a cam surface 206 of a cam ring which is stationarily mounted to a support frame supporting the tooling disc turret. Further relevant details of FIG. 5 will be discussed hereinbelow.
With the stop spacers 1025 of FIG. 4A, as the form roll 11 is moved towards its radially innermost position of FIG. 3E under the action of cam follower 204 of FIG. 5 which rotates shaft 1010 through activation plate 275, the rear surface 1052 of the slide roll 19' contacts the stop surface 1050 of spacers 1025 which prevents further axial retraction of the slide roll assembly. This was expected to prevent or "freeze" final radial movement of form roll 11 which would otherwise occur solely as a result of contact between cam follower 204 with cam surface 206. In this manner, the final radial positioning of outer form roll 11 was intended to be controlled by the contact between the slide roll 19' with the spacers 1025 which axially "locks" the slide roll to override final radially inward camming movement of the outer form roll 11. Therefore, since the final radially inwardmost location of forming surface 11a of form roll 11 is now controlled by the stop spacer arrangement 1025 described supra, the resulting plug diameter formed by this surface 11a tended to be more uniform. Stated differently, as the form roll 11 is forced into the gap between the eccentric roll 24 and the slide roll 19, the slide roll is forced away from the eccentric roll as discussed in connection with FIGS. 3A-3D. When the slide roll assembly 19 hits the stop spacers 1025, movement of the slide roll is halted. This in turn stops further inward radial travel of form roll 11. The eccentric roll 24 is axially rigid so when the slide roll 19 hits the stop surface 1050, the gap cannot get any wider. Therefore, the form roll 11 must stop.
Although it is theoretically possible to stop the movement of the slide roll 19 in the necking tooling of the FIG. 1 embodiment (no cam ring) by placement of a spacer attached to collar 21 to contact the rear shoulder of slide roll 19', this is very difficult in practice. This is because when the form roll 11 forces the slide roll 19' against the stop surface 1025 in FIG. 4A, the force of the form roll that is moving the slide roll toward the stop acts through the cam ring and not through the can flange itself which would otherwise occur without the cam ring. The force required to actually form the can is approximately 80-100 pounds and the override spring 279 (FIG. 5) located on the side of the necking turret is pre-loaded to about 200-250 pounds. Since the cam follower movement transmitted through this spring 279 from cam follower 204 (FIG. 5) to the form roll 11 is a part of the mechanism which controls radial movement of the form roll, when the slide roll stops the form roll, it overrides this spring and the force of the form roll therefore builds from 80-100 pounds up to 200-250 pounds. This extra force must be supported by the cam ring on one side of the form roll and the eccentric roll and the can neck on the other side of the form roll. Therefore, if the cam ring is not used, the force required to stop the form roll must come from the slide roll face through the can flange to the form roll as in FIG. 1. This force on such a narrow can flange would be enough to roll the flange to a thin knife edge which unacceptably causes split flanges and uneven flange width.
Although the spring pre-load force cannot act upon the can material between slide roll 19 and form roll 11 as a result of the cam ring 102, a force vector corresponding to the full pre-load spring force acts directly on the eccentric roll 24 and a necked-in portion of the can extending between the rolls 11,24 as depicted in FIG. 3E. Consequently, this full force spring pre-load tends to cause either grooving or wearing away of the protective coating on the interior surface of the can contacting the eccentric roll 24. This can disadvantageously allow the beverage to "eat through" the container side wall. In addition, since the eccentric roll 24 is cantilevered relative to slide roll 19 through a small sub-shaft, it is theorized that there is a tendency for the eccentric roll to be deflected radially inwardly. It is believed that this uncontrolled deflection creates considerable and undesirable variation in plug diameter of the can open end and flange width to a lesser degree, particularly within the lower range of dimensional variation as a result of the radially inward deflecting movement of the eccentric roll under the spring pre-load force.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to prevent unacceptable variations in can plug diameter and flange width during the spin flow necking process.
Another object is to control the inner action of the outer form roll with the inner eccentric roll to ensure such uniformity in plug diameters and acceptable plug diameter variation.
Still another object is to control the inner action of the outer form roll with both the inner slide roll and inner eccentric roll to ensure the aforesaid uniformity and acceptable variation.
Yet another object is to prevent excessive force from being transmitted from the outer form roll to the inner eccentric roll through the can material so that the final radially inward advancing movement is directly controlled by controlling movement of the outer form roll.
Yet another object is to provide a control mechanism that may be installed in each tooling assembly so as to pre-set the final radially inward movement of the outer form roll either in the plant tool room or on the production floor after installation of the assemblies in a multi-station machine, to achieve the aforesaid uniformity in plug diameter.
Yet another object is to provide a plug diameter control mechanism which is simple in design, easy to install, and capable of rugged continuous operation without wear.

Mechanism for controlling form roll movement in spin flow necking machine


A descender system includes an elongated strap of sufficient length to lower a person from a danger area to a safe area. The descender system includes a harness adapted to support a person connected to a compact descender mechanism having a channel through which the strap passes. First, second and third parallel cylindrical pins supported in side-by-side alignment in the channel, the strap passing through a first end of the passage around portions of the first, second, and third pins and through a second end of the passage. The first pin is held stationary, allowing movement of the second and third pins toward the first pin. A camming surface adjustment moves a camming surface in sliding, leveraged engagement with the third pin to force it toward the second pin, incrementing frictional drag of the first, second, and third pins on the strap.

The invention relates to a portable escape or descender device that enables persons trapped in the interior of a building or other enclosure to safely descend therefrom. Many people have been injured or killed as a result of being trapped by fire in an upper floor of a tall building. Although multilevel buildings such as hotels usually are equipped with permanent fire escape stairways, access to such fire escape stairways is sometimes blocked by fire. In recognition of this problem, numerous portable descender devices have been devised. In U.S. Pat. No. 666, 879, a descender that utilizes a cable wound around a rotatable drum and operates in engagement with a rotatable brake drum is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 666,879. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,145,027, a cable weaves around a plurality of rotating pulleys and a rotary brake pulley with brake lining washers. In U.S. Pat. No. 1,098,223, the cable is engaged by a mechanism including a rotating brake drum, guide wheels, gears, pinions and a brake strap and friction plate operation by a lever. The device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,223,761 includes a rope or cable and rotating rollers and brake shoes, levers, cables and springs. U.S. Pat. No. 3,799,287 utilizes webbing or rope as an escape cord, and discloses a very complex mechanical structure. U.S. Pat. No. 3,834,489 utilizes rope in a structure that crimps the rope into an oval shaped configuration. U.S. Pat. No. 4,778,,030 applies pressure to, a rope escape line by an adjustable brake pad applied to the straight section of the rope as it passes through the device.
None of the above descender devices is sufficiently compact, inexpensive, and reliable to meet the need for a compact descender that travelers can easily carry in their suitcases and confidently utilize for escape in the event of a fire.


There is an exercising device, and a method of use, configured to perform upper body and abdominal type exercise. The exercise device includes a pad member configured to support a forearm of a user. The exercise device also includes a handle extending from a top surface of the pad member about a front end of the pad member and configured to provide a grip for a hand. In addition, the exercise device includes a selectably coupleable attachment member coupled to a bottom surface of the pad member and configured to alter a movement characteristic of the device when in operation. The selectably coupleable attachment member includes a plurality of wheels. The exercise device further includes a tongue and groove attachment member configured to selectably couple the attachment member to the pad member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to exercise devices and methods of use, specifically an exercising device configured to perform upper body and abdominal type exercise and a method of use.
2. Description of the Related Art
A physical exercise is a bodily activity that develops and maintains physical fitness and overall health. It is often practiced to strengthen muscles and the cardiovascular system, and to hone athletic skills. Frequent and regular physical exercise boosts the immune system, and helps prevent diseases of affluence such as heart disease, cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes and obesity. It also improves mental health and helps prevent depression. Exercises are generally grouped into three types depending on the overall effect they have on the human body:
Flexibility exercises such as stretching improve the range of motion of muscles and joints. Aerobic exercises such as cycling, walking, running, hiking or playing tennis focus on increasing cardiovascular endurance. Anaerobic exercises such as weight training, functional training or sprinting increase short-term muscle strength. Physical exercise is important for maintaining physical fitness and can contribute positively to maintaining healthy weight, building and maintaining healthy bone density, muscle strength, and joint mobility, promoting physiological well-being, reducing surgical risks, and strengthening the immune system.
Frequent and regular aerobic exercise has been shown to help prevent or treat serious and life-threatening chronic conditions such as high blood pressure, obesity, heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, insomnia, and depression. Strength training appears to have continuous energy-burning effects that persist for about 24 hours after the training, though they do not offer the same cardiovascular benefits as aerobic exercises do. Exercise can also increase energy and raise one's threshold for pain.
There is conflicting evidence as to whether vigorous exercise (more than 70% of VO2 Max) is more or less beneficial than moderate exercise (40 to 70% of VO2 Max). Some studies have shown that vigorous exercise executed by healthy individuals can effectively increase opioid peptides (aka endorphins, a naturally occurring opiate that in conjunction with other neurotransmitters is responsible for exercise induced euphoria and has been shown to be addictive), positively influence hormone production (i.e., increase testosterone and growth hormone), benefits that are not as fully realized with moderate exercise.
Exercise has been shown to improve cognitive functioning via improvement of hippocampus-dependent spatial learning, and enhancement of synaptic plasticity and neurogenesis. In addition, physical activity has been shown to be neuroprotective in many neurodegenerative and neuromuscular diseases. For instance, it reduces the risk of developing dementia. Furthermore, anecdotal evidence suggests that frequent exercise may reverse alcohol-induced brain damage.
Physical activity is thought to have other beneficial effects related to cognition as it increases levels of nerve growth factors, which support the survival and growth of a number of neuronal cells. Both aerobic and anaerobic exercise also work to increase the mechanical efficiency of the heart by increasing cardiac volume (aerobic exercise), or myocardial thickness (strength training, see Organ hypertrophy). Not everyone benefits equally from exercise. There is tremendous variation in individual response to training: where most people will see a moderate increase in endurance from aerobic exercise, some individuals will as much as double their oxygen uptake, while others will never get any benefit at all from the exercise. Similarly, only a minority of people will show significant muscle growth after prolonged weight training, while a larger fraction experience improvements in strength. This genetic variation in improvement from training is one of the key physiological differences between elite athletes and the larger population. Studies have shown that exercising in middle age leads to better physical ability later in life.
Exercise equipment is any object used in exercise. This can include balls, treadmills, weights, light benches, bicycles, track shoes, jungle gyms, hydraulic equipment or protective equipment such as a back brace. However, current exercise equipment does not provide a simple and convenient abdominal workout that can easily be performed in a small area and/or be performed without excessive equipment. In particular, an arm pad device and method of exercising that efficiently and conveniently exercise abdominal muscles. Some improvements have been made in the field. Examples of references related to the present invention are described below, and the supported teachings of each reference are incorporated by reference herein:
U.S. Pat. No. 7,156,791, issued to Edwards, discloses Yoga grip blocks having one or more block sections and a grip section that provide support and comfort in the practice of yoga exercises. The invention includes preferred materials to fabricate yoga grip blocks and describes methods of using yoga grip blocks.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,582,347, issued to Smith, discloses a device for exercising abdominal muscles comprising a platform having an upper surface and a lower surface adapted for omni-directional motion, a pair of generally longitudinal limb supporting areas positioned on said upper surface, a pair of lateral hand grips each of said pair extending from the upper surface of the platform and disposed in opposed relation laterally and outwardly from one of said limb supporting areas, and a front hand grip extending from the upper surface of the platform and disposed generally forward of the limb supporting areas. Methods for using this device are also disclosed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,768,778, issued to Thomas, Jr., discloses an exercising device for doing a variation of a push-up exercise. The exercising device includes a base, a platform rotatably connected to the base having a plane of rotation, a support extending upwardly from the rotating platform, approximately perpendicular to the plane of rotation, and a handle removably connected to the support, the handle capable of rotation, independent of the support and the platform. And novel exercises using the above device.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No.: 2006/0014615, by Godbold, discloses a rotatable hand supports for performing pushups on a floor or ground surface. The handle of the supports has a grip portion adapted to be grasped by a user. The rotatable base is base has a bottom portion adapted to contact the floor, a top portion rotatably connected to the bottom portion, and a bearing assembly supporting the top portion on said bottom portion. A support connects the handle to the top portion of the base and supports the handle at an elevated position relative to the base and above the floor.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No.: 2006/0040809, by Godbold, discloses a rotatable hand supports for performing advanced pushups on a floor or ground surface. The main handle of the supports has a grip portion constructed to be grasped by a user. The base has a bottom portion adapted to contact the floor, a top portion rotatably connected to the bottom portion, and a bearing assembly supporting the top portion on said bottom portion. A support connects the handle to the top portion of the base and supports the handle at an elevated position relative to the base and above the floor. A hand clutch extends from the main handle and can be squeezed to perform hand-grip exercises simultaneously with a pushup exercise.
The inventions heretofore known suffer from a number of disadvantages which include being ineffective, being inefficient, being bulky, being difficult to use, being expensive, being excessive in size, being limited in application, and being limited in adaptability.
What is needed is an exercise device and method of use that solves one or more of the problems described herein and/or one or more problems that may come to the attention of one skilled in the art upon becoming familiar with this specification.


A computer is caused to execute processing that that determines, based on a first usage amount of a hardware resource which is allocated for processing corresponding to objects of a first category including an essential object located in a target scene, a second usage amount of the hardware resource that is able to be allocated for processing for objects of a second category different to the first category. Also, the computer is caused to execute processing of deciding, for objects of the second category which are located in the target scene, types of those objects and an outer appearance parameter for each type based on the second usage amount and information for deciding outer appearances for when the objects of the second category are located in the target scene.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a storage medium, an information processing apparatus and a control method, and particularly to a technique of generating an object under a hardware restriction.
Description of the Related Art
In recent years, in conjunction with an improvement in computational capabilities of processors such as CPUs and GPUs, a rendering expression that is close to the real world has become possible in the field of computer graphics, and techniques by which it is possible to provide an experience that gives a sense of reality and causes an observer to become more immersed have been proposed. In particular, in the field of computerized games, the so-called open world game format, in which seamless movement in a vast, realistically expressed virtual world can be provided to a player, has achieved a certain assessment from the perspective of degrees of freedom of manipulation (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2012-213485).
Reality presentation in an open world game, as in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2012-213485, is provided not just by beautiful graphics based on a faithful rendering reproduction of the real world (illumination computations or the like), but also by, for example, reproducing a state in which a character, a movable gimmick object (props), or the like dynamically changes in accordance with the situation. In particular in recent years it is possible to cause a player to perceive a higher sense of reality by performing various computations based on a so-called physical simulation that reproduces behavior in accordance with the laws of nature. By implementing so-called artificial intelligence or the like by which a character performs decision-making in accordance with predetermined information, based on variable information that indicates a current state or information embedded in a located field, it is possible to cause a player to recognize the character as an individual that has an individuality.
In contrast, because an implementation for improving such a sense of reality typically consumes many computation resources and memory resources, even if the scale of computational capabilities or memory for a player's game console, PC, or the like improves, there were concerns, for example, that a memory capacity used in holding or loading of corresponding data would be pressed, that an amount of computation that should be caused to terminate within a frame interval would become huge, or the like.
In content such as a game, because provision of necessary game elements that a planner or the like should provide is prioritized, it is necessary to implement measures to improve the reality under hardware restrictions by making processes superior or inferior. However, there is the possibility of not being able to provide a suitable sense of reality by only implementing necessary game elements by performing various computation processing for objects including locating of rendering objects such as a fixed character group, for example. In other words, because reality is something provided based on accidentalness, it is important to construct a desired world-view that dynamically changes in accordance with, for example, a region, time period, the weather, or the like, and to locate and control so-called lively elements, such as objects that have individual variability.
However, a technique that suitably locates and controls lively elements in this way under hardware restrictions, that is by using limited resources that can dynamically change in accordance with required elements, has thus far not been proposed.

Storage medium, information processing apparatus and control method for deciding object types and appearances based on hardware resource usage amounts


The present invention relates to a method for inhibiting high temperature corrosion of corrosion prone metal surfaces by organic acid-containing petroleum streams by providing an effective corrosion-inhibiting amount of 4-sulfophthalic acid, typically up to 1000 wppm, to the metal surface.

The present invention relates to a process for inhibiting the high temperature corrosivity of petroleum oils.
Whole crudes and crude fractions with acid, including high organic acid content such as those containing carboxylic acids, (e.g., naphthenic acids), are corrosive to the equipment used to distill, extract, transport and process the crudes. Solutions to this problem have included use of corrosion-resistant alloys for equipment, addition of corrosion inhibitors, or neutralization of the organic acids with various bases.
The installation of corrosion-resistant alloys is capital intensive, as alloys such as 304 and 316 stainless steels are several times the cost of carbon steel. The corrosion inhibitors solution is less capital intensive; however, costs can become an issue.
The effectiveness of phosphorus compounds against corrosion was discovered in 1906 (Coslett, British Patent 8,667 for phosphoric acid), and the use of these compounds is known for aqueous systems.
Additionally, organic polysulfides (Babaian-Kibala, U.S. Pat. No. 5,552,085), organic phosphites (Zetlmeisl, U.S. Pat. No. 4,941,994), and phosphate/phosphite esters (Babaian-Kibala, U.S. Pat. No. 5,630,964) have been to be effective in a hydrocarbon-rich phase against naphthenic acid corrosion. However, high oil solubility incurs the risk of distillate sidestream contamination by phosphorus. Furthermore, there is also concern for potential downstream impact of phosphorus such as the possibility of catalyst poisoning by phosphorus-containing compounds, and concerns for downstream units. These concerns preclude addition of such inhibitors to sidestreams subjected to catalytic processing. Also, since phosphorus can concentrate in the residuum, processing or product options for the latter may become limited.
There remains a continuing need to develop additional options for mitigating the corrosivity of acidic crudes that use phosphorus-free compounds. Applicants"" invention addresses these needs.
An embodiment of the present invention is a method for inhibiting high temperature corrosion of corrosion prone metal surfaces caused by organic, typically naphthenic acids in petroleum streams by providing the metal surface with an effective corrosion-inhibiting amount of 4-sulfophthalic acid.
Another embodiment of the invention is a method to inhibit the high temperature corrosivity of an organic acid-containing petroleum stream or oil by providing a corrosion prone metal-containing surface to be exposed to the acid-containing petroleum stream with an effective, corrosion-inhibiting amount of 4-sulfophthalic acid at a temperature and under conditions sufficient to inhibit corrosion of the metal surface. The providing of the 4-sulfophthalic acid may be carried out in the presence of an acid containing petroleum stream and/or as a pretreatment of the corrosion prone metal surface before exposure to the organic acid-containing petroleum stream. Corrosion prone metal surfaces include iron and iron-containing metals such as iron alloys.
Another embodiment includes the products produced by the processes herein.
The present invention may suitably comprise, consist or consist essentially of the elements or steps disclosed and may be practiced in the absence of an element or step not disclosed.
Some petroleum streams, contain acids, including organic acids such as naphthenic acids that contribute to high temperature corrosion of internal surfaces of refinery equipment. Organic acids generally fall within the category of naphthenic and other organic acids. Naphthenic acid is a generic term used to identify a mixture of organic carboxylic acids present in petroleum stocks. Naphthenic acids may be present either alone or in combination with other organic acids, such as phenols. Naphthenic acids alone or in combination with other organic acids can cause corrosion at high temperatures in non-aqueous or essentially non-aqueous (hydrocarbon) environments, i.e. at temperatures ranging from about 200xc2x0 C. (392xc2x0 F.) to 420xc2x0 C. (790xc2x0 F.). Inorganic acids also may be present. Inhibition of corrosion due to the organic acid content of such petroleum streams, is desirable in order to increase the corrosion resistance, and thus, useful life of internal (i.e., tube-side surfaces of reactors and other equipment having an external or shell side and an internal or tube side) metal surfaces of refinery equipment that are high temperature corrosion prone and are to be exposed to organic acid-containing petroleum streams at process conditions that result in corrosion of such internal surfaces. It is particularly desirable to provide for mitigation options that use phosphorus-free compounds as additives or inhibitors, since phosphorus can affect downstream catalysts and/or product quality. Examples of such equipment include heat exchanger surfaces, pipestill vessels, transfer lines and piping, and pumps. Examples of metal surfaces that may benefit from treatment are ferrous metals such as carbon steel and iron alloys.
The petroleum streams that can be treated herein are any organic acid-containing petroleum streams, including whole crudes and crude oil fractions. As used herein, the term whole crudes means unrefined, non-distilled crudes.
The 4-sulfophthalic acid is introduced in either a batch or continuous process to untreated (unadditized) petroleum oil. Additionally, or separately, the metal surface may also be preconditioned by adding to a low acidity petroleum feed an amount of 4-sulfophthalic acid effective to inhibit corrosion in the organic acid-containing petroleum oil to be treated before combination with the petroleum stream containing organic acids and blending them by techniques known in the industry. Additional effective amounts may be introduced into the organic acid-containing petroleum stream itself as needed to maintain corrosion inhibition. Desirably, a continuous dosing of 4-sulfophthalic acid to achieve and maintain the effective level of corrosion inhibition is delivered. Typically, a reduction corresponding to at least a fifty (50) percent corrosion rate reduction can be achieved. Thus, the additive/inhibitor acid may be introduced to the hydrocarbon-rich environment or phase and/or to the metal surface itself.
The 4-sulfophthalic acid is added in effective amounts, typically up to a total of 1000 wppm, more typically an effective amount of from about 10-100 wppm.
The effectiveness of corrosion inhibition is typically estimated in the laboratory by weight loss of metal coupons exposed to organic acids with and without 4-sulfophthalic acid present. The relative decrease in metal weight loss due to the presence of the corrosion inhibitor is a measure of the effectiveness of corrosion inhibition.
Naphthenic acid concentration in crude oil is determined by titration of the oil with KOH, until all acids have been neutralized. The concentration is reported in Total Acid Number (TAN) unit, i.e. mg of KOH needed to neutralize 1 gram of oil. It may be determined by titration according to ASTM D-664. Any acidic petroleum oil may be treated according to the present invention, for example, oils having an acid neutralization of about 0.5 mg. KOH/g. or greater.

Method for inhibiting corrosion using 4-sulfophthalic acid

ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company


A photodiode array 1 has a plurality of photodetector channels 10 which are formed on an n-type substrate 2 having an n-type semiconductor layer 12, with a light to be detected being incident to the plurality of photodetector channels 10. The photodiode array 1 comprises: a p−-type semiconductor layer 13 formed on the n-type semiconductor layer 12 of the substrate 2; resistors 4 each of which is provided to each of the photodetector channels 10 and is connected to a signal conductor 3 at one end thereof; and an n-type separating part 20 formed between the plurality of photodetector channels 10. The p−-type semiconductor layer 13 forms a pn junction at the interface between the substrate 2, and comprises a plurality of multiplication regions AM for avalanche multiplication of carriers produced by the incidence of the light to be detected so that each of the multiplication regions corresponds to each of the photodetector channels. The separating part 20 is formed so that each of the multiplication regions AM of the p−-type semiconductor layer 13 corresponds to each of the photodetector channels 10.

In the fields of chemistry and medical care for example, there has been a technology for photon counting which uses a scintillator coupled with a photodiode array based on avalanche (electron avalanche) multiplication phenomenon. Such a photodiode array has divided photodetector channels formed on a common substrate in order to discriminate a plurality of photons which simultaneously enter thereto, and each of the photodetector channels is provided with multiplication regions (for example, see Non-Patent Documents 1 and 2, and Patent Document 1).
Each multiplication region which is very sensitive to faint light is caused to be operated under an operation condition, called Geiger mode. That is, each multiplication region is applied with a reverse voltage that exceeds a breakdown voltage, and then the phenomenon is used in which carriers generated by the incident photons are multiplied in an avalanche process. Each photodetector channel is connected with a resistor for deriving an output signal from the multiplication region, and the resistors are connected with each other in parallel. The photons incident to each photodetector channel are detected based on the peak value of the output signal which was derived outside through each resistor.    [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-46010    [Non-Patent Document 1] P. Buzhan, et al., "An Advanced Study of Silicon Photomultiplier" [online], ICFA Instrumentation BULLETIN Fall 2001 Issue, [searched on 4 Nov. 2004], <URL: http://www.slac.stanford.edu/pubs/icfa/>    [Non-Patent Document 2] P. Buzhan, et al., "Silicon Photomultiplier And Its Possible applications", Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A 504 (2003) 48-52


Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a novel multi-mode platform architecture with means for reducing the interference due to both out-of-band (OOB) emissions and inter-modulation distortion (IMD) products caused by a first radio access technology (RAT) transmitter on a co-located second RAT receiver. The multi-mode platform architecture may be used in a variety of wireless devices and with a variety of co-located RATs, including, without limitation, WiFi, LTE, WiMAX, WCDMA, Bluetooth, and Zigbee, for example.

1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates generally to interference cancellation.
2. Background Art
Wireless devices, such as smart phones, for example, today integrate multiple radio access technologies (RATs) on a single device, including 4G (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE)), 3G, 2G, WiFi, Bluetooth (BT), Global Position System (GPS), etc. Due to the close proximity of the radio devices of the multiple RATs, the transmission of a first RAT can potentially interfere with the reception of a second RAT, despite the fact that the two RATs operate on separate bands. For instance, BT/WiFi operating in the ISM (Industrial, Scientific, and Medical) band, for example, can impact LTE operating in bands 7, 38, 40 and 41.
Existing solutions for mitigating interference between co-located RATs may be classified into two main categories. A first category includes adding sharp transmit and receive filters in the transceivers of the co-located RATs. A significant disadvantage of the first category of solutions is the increase in the bill of material (BOM) and the overall area/size of the platform due to the bulky acoustic type filters that must be added. Other disadvantages of this approach include increased noise figure at the receiver and increased insertion loss at the transmitter, both of which compromise the link performance and system throughput.
A second category of existing solutions includes scheduling and coordination between the RATs to insure non-overlapping transmission and reception. A main problem with the second category is that it sacrifices system throughput in order to reduce interference. The scheduling approach may also require changes to the air interface standards due to necessary signaling between the user equipment and the base station, for example.
The present disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Generally, the drawing in which an element first appears is typically indicated by the leftmost digit(s) in the corresponding reference number.

Interference cancellation in multi-mode radio access technology devices


A magnetic memory is provided with a memory cell. The memory cell includes a magnetic recording element, an interconnection to generate a radio-frequency current-induced magnetic field and a ground line. The magnetic recording element is provided with a first magnetic layer whose magnetization direction is substantially fixed, a magnetic recording layer whose magnetization direction is substantially reversed by spin-polarized electrons passing through the magnetic recording layer and a first nonmagnetic layer provided between the first magnetic layer and the magnetic recording layer. The interconnection is provided above the magnetic recording element to generate a radio-frequency current-induced magnetic field acting in a direction substantially perpendicular to a magnetization easy axis of the magnetic recording layer. The ground line is provided on a side opposite to the magnetic recording element with respect to the interconnection.

Applying a magnetic field has been known as a method of controlling a magnetization direction of a magnetic material. In, e.g., a hard disk drive, a magnetization direction of the medium is reversed by a magnetic field generated from a magnetic head to execute a write-in. In a magnetic random access memory, a magnetization direction of a memory cell is controlled by applying a current-induced magnetic field generated by passing a current to write-in lines provided near a magnetoresistive effect element included by the memory cell. The magnetization direction control by external magnetic fields has a long history, and can be taken as established technology.
On the other hand, along with a recent progress in nanotechnology, bit or cell size of magnetoresistive effect devices has been reduced. Accordingly, magnetization control must be done locally on a nanoscale. However, localizing a magnetic field is difficult, because the magnetic field fundamentally spreads spatially. This causes a problem of "cross talk". Even when a specific bit or cell is selected to control its magnetization direction, a magnetic field spreads to adjacent bits or cells and executes an incorrect write-in on the bits or cells. If a magnetic field generation source is made small to localize the magnetic field, sufficient magnetic fields cannot be generated.
A "current direct driving magnetization reversal method" has come to attract attention in order to avoid the above-mentioned problem (e.g., F. J. Albert, et al., Appl. Phy. Lett. 77, 3809 (2000)). In the method, a current is supplied to a magnetic layer of a magnetoresistive effect element to spin-polarize electrons. Spin-polarized electrons are caused to pass through a target magnetic layer to reverse its magnetization. More specifically, when an angular momentum of the spin-polarized electrons is transmitted to electrons of a magnetic material of the target magnetic layer, a magnetization direction of the magnetic material is reversed.
When the method is employed, by which the current can be caused to more directly act on the magnetic material, magnetic state of the magnetic material may be easily controlled on a nanoscale. The current for the magnetization reversal can also decrease according to miniaturization of the magnetoresistive effect element. Hence, the technique of the "spin-polarized current direct driving magnetization reversal" contributes to realizing spin electronics devices such as high-density hard disk drives or MRAMs.
A method of a spin torque switching assisted by an oscillating-field is disclosed in USPA0070047294. A magnetic memory according to the method is capable of addressing magnetic cells arrayed in a matrix with bit and word lines of the memory. Each magnetic cell is provided with a magnetoresistive effect element which has a layered structure consisting essentially of a ferromagnetic fixed layer/a tunnel barrier layer/a ferromagnetic free layer (magnetic recording layer), and is recorded according to a direction of current flowing across itself. Each magnetic cell is provided also with a switching element (transistor) connected to the magnetoresistive effect element in series. The magnetoresistive effect element of each magnetic cell is connected to a bit line. The switching element (transistor) is connected to a word line. Furthermore, the magnetic memory system has a DC power supply to send a DC current, and an AC power supply to generate an oscillating magnetic field at the time of recording.
The technique of the "spin-polarized current direct driving magnetization reversal" has a problem that an incomplete magnetization reversal often occurs, as a pulse width of a write-in current becomes short. The problem has been pointed out in a literature, e.g., Shehzaad Kakaa, et al., Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials Vol. 286, (2005) p. 375. In order to avoid the problem, it is necessary to increase the write-in current more. An increase in the write-in current causes a further problem about reliability, i.e., characteristics of the magnetoresistive effect element deteriorates under an influence of heat generated within the element. In a magnetic memory using the spin-polarized current direct driving magnetization reversal method, the increase also leads to a problem being caused by miniaturizing selection transistors, i.e., by increasing memory capacity. Then, power consumption of the magnetic memory also increases to be a problem.
In such a magnetic memory described in USPA0070047294, it is not easy to fully flow a radio-frequency (RF) current having a frequency of several GHz or more through a single bit line or word line without a ground line in order to execute a write-in for the memory, causing a big problem.


A spunbond nonwoven fabric useful as a topsheet is produced from polypropylene filaments including a high level of reclaimed polypropylene, while maintaining a product quality, including superior formation, comparable to that obtained when using 100 percent virgin polymer. The spunbond nonwoven fabric is made with multicomponent filaments having at least two different polymer components occupying different areas within the filament cross section, and wherein one of the polymer components comprises reclaimed polypropylene recovered from previously spun polypropylene fiber or webs comprised of previously spun polypropylene fiber. In a specific embodiment, the filaments are sheath-core bicomponent filaments and the reclaimed polypropylene is present in the core component. The core of the bicomponent filament can be comprised of up to 100% reclaimed polypropylene.

A major goal in the nonwovens industry is to reduce cost. At the same time there is growing concern in society about degradation of the natural environment. Disposal of solid waste is a major contribution to this growing environmental concern.
During the production of polypropylene nonwoven fabrics, significant waste polypropylene is generated during startup of the process, from trimming left when the nonwoven web is slit to customer's specification, and from rolls that may have been slightly damaged or otherwise out of specifications. This polypropylene waste, coming from previously spun polypropylene fiber and webs comprised of previously spun polypropylene fiber, can be safely sent to solid waste landfills. However since this is very clean polypropylene it can also be remelted for recycling back through the spunbonding process. Recycle thus meets two goals, saving of the cost of wasted polypropylene and reduced solid waste to downgrade the natural environment.
Recycling such polypropylene is well known in the nonwoven industry. However once the polypropylene goes through the spinning process it is partly degraded by oxidation so that the polymer molecular weight is reduced. This effect can be partly mitigated by the optimized addition of antioxidants. However some degradation is always seen. Such degradation can be seen by measuring the melt flow rate of the processed polymer. The melt flow rate will increase. The melt flow of polypropylene can be measured as taught in ASTM D-1238, at conditions of 230° C. and 2.14 kg.
Because of the reduced molecular weight, the recycled polypropylene is not generally suitable for being used by itself in the manufacture of spunbond nonwoven fabrics. Therefore, it is typically blended with virgin polypropylene. However, the amount of recycled previously spun polypropylene that can be recycled is limited. If too much recycled polypropylene is blended with the virgin resin, then an increase in the number of spinning breaks (broken filaments) will be seen. These broken filaments will cause quality defects in the finished spunbond nonwoven fabric or, in severe cases, a complete disruption of the manufacturing process. Second, the presence of too much recycled polypropylene can reduce the measured tensile strength of the resulting spunbond nonwoven fabric. For these reasons the amount of polypropylene recycled back through the process is usually limited to less than about 20% of the total polypropylene by weight.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Spunbond nonwoven fabrics from reclaimed polymer and the manufacture thereof


A traffic signal state detection apparatus includes a first traffic signal information obtaining part that obtains first traffic signal information generated by a first infrastructure, a first output process part configured to calculate, based on the first traffic signal information from the first traffic signal information obtaining part, a second traffic signal information obtaining part that obtains second traffic signal information generated by a second infrastructure that is different from the first infrastructure, a second output process part that calculates, based on the second traffic signal information from the second traffic signal information obtaining part, and an output part that outputs one of the first and second remaining times in a situation where the first and second output demands are generated simultaneously, the output remaining time being related to one of the first and second output demands that is being continuously generated before the other is generated.

A drive support apparatus includes a part that obtains a traffic signal information related to a light state of traffic signal in time series, and a first output part that outputs to a driver a remaining time before a light state of the traffic signal is changed to a driver (see WO2009/157108 pamphlet which is referred to as "Patent Document 1" hereinafter).
There are infrastructures that provide information to vehicles such as an infrastructure that utilizes optical communication and an infrastructure that utilizes electric wave communication. If the traffic signal information can be obtained from such infrastructures, even when one infrastructure cannot be used at a certain intersection, the remaining time of the red traffic signal can be output to the driver of the host vehicle using another infrastructure. However, when the traffic signal information can be obtained from two or more infrastructures at a certain intersection, output demands between output process parts that are operated based on the respective items of the traffic signal information are in competition against one another. Such competition demands may cause the driver to feel strange if the respective demands are responded normally.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a traffic signal state detection apparatus that can perform arbitration between output process parts that are operated based on respective items of traffic signal information from different infrastructures.

Traffic signal state detection apparatus


Provided is a super junction semiconductor device. The super junction semiconductor device includes a vertical pillar region located in an active region and horizontal pillar regions located in a termination region that are connected with each other while simultaneously not floating the entire pillar region in the termination region. Thus, a charge compensation difference, generated among pillar regions, is caused to be offset, although the length of the termination region is relatively short.

1. Field
The following description relates to a semiconductor device. The following description also relates to a super junction semiconductor device, including one cell as a whole by connecting with each other a pillar region of an active region and a pillar region formed in a termination region that surrounds the active region without floating.
2. Description of Related Art
In alternatives, a high voltage device and a high power device are used in a power IC device for electric power conversion and in an electric control system. For example, a planar gate type MOSFET is used frequently as an IC device.
A cross sectional diagram of a unit cell of a general planar gate type metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) is shown as FIG. 1. A MOSFET is a type of transistor used for amplifying or switching electronic signals. In FIG. 1, a breakdown voltage of a device is determined by a depletion layer formed between a P+ and an N-Epi region by a voltage applied on a drain when a gate voltage and a source voltage are identical.
However, the planar gate type MOSFET is to be designed to sustain over certain thicknesses and concentrations for the N-Epi region, such as to sustain an electric field distribution namely, a breakdown voltage. However, it is difficult to have a component below a certain resistance because of the relationships with the electric field distribution. Especially in the case of a 500 V level MOSFET, such a device has a problem of on-resistance growing larger as a breakdown voltage increases because almost 90% of an on-resistance component is epi resistance. Although measures to improve design or optimize epi resistance are sought after in order to reduce on-resistance, such measures did not produce much improvement.
Thus, a semiconductor device having a super junction structure is proposed. A super junction semiconductor device is similar to a general MOSFET gate and a P-type WELL structure. However, a super junction semiconductor device has a structure of a P-type pillar region formed in an N-type epi layer of a lower P-type body region, and a remaining N-type epi layer becomes an N-type pillar region in order to have a super junction feature. Thus, when a voltage is applied on a drain side, unlike a general MOSFET, which only extends vertically, a depletion layer of the super junction semiconductor device extends both vertically and horizontally. At this time, when both regions become identical, both the N region and the P region become completely depleted, and hence are able to receive a high breakdown voltage. Also, in this example, a horizontal electric field is theoretically generated constantly since electric charge does not exist vertically.
However, when a pillar in floating state on termination region exists in a super junction semiconductor device, the level of charge compensation becomes different in comparison to the adjacent pillar.
Referring the example of FIG. 2, some pillars 12 among the pillars 12, 14 are formed on an N-type epi layer 2 of an N-type substrate 1, such that the pillars 12 are connected to a source contact region 10 and the rest of the pillars 14 are connected to a field oxide layer 20. The pillars 14 connected to the field oxide layer 20 are the pillars in a floating state. In other words, FIG. 2 shows the case of groups of pillars existing alone that are not connected with each other.
When a pillar 12 is in contact with a source contact region 10, a depletion region 30 is extended simultaneously between the pillars. Alternatively, when the pillars 14 are in a floating state as discussed, a depletion region is extending differently from each of pillars 14 as shown with respect to depletion region 40. Thus, when a charge is balanced to maximize the breakdown voltage of a pillar 12 in contact with a source contact region 10, a charge compensation level becomes different. Hence, a breakdown voltage, generated vertically in the region 30, becomes lower than the breakdown voltage generated vertically in the region 40.
To address this issue, a pillar that is currently in a floating state is connected so as not to be in a floating state. However, in this situation, the horizontal length of the termination region is required to be longer. When the horizontal length of the termination region is not extended, a difference in charge compensation occurs as discussed further above or a problem of failing to provide a sufficient breakdown voltage occurs.


A device for adjusting a camera in the initial stage comprises a motor for moving a lens or opening and closing sectors, a motor controller for controlling the rotation of the motor, a measuring device for measuring a focus or exposure and outputting a measured signal to the motor controller, and a measured signal compensator means for correcting the measured signal by outputting a signal to the motor controller. Thus, initial adjustment of a camera in the manufacturing process, for example, the focus adjustment in an infinite distance or the adjustment in an exposure operation, is effected by electronic control with a simplified mechanism and at a lowered cost.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for adjusting a camera in the initial stage which is designed so that the initial adjustment of focus, exposure, etc. can be effectively and readily conducted in the camera manufacturing process.
2. Description of the Related Art
Initial adjustment of cameras in the manufacturing process, for example, the focus adjustment in an infinite distance, has heretofore been effected mechanically in most cases. Examples of conventional mechanical adjustments include one in which a lens is moved spirally by means of a helicoid screw and another in which a lens is moved straight using a cam.
When the focus adjustment in an infinite distance is conducted by the former conventional method, that is, by spirally moving a lens with a helicoid screw, a slide board provided on a male helicoid screw is engaged with a lens drive member and, while the focus condition is being observed, the sliding board is slid and fixed with the screw at an optimal position before being bound.
In the latter method of adjustment wherein a lens is moved straight by the use of a cam, a lens frame is provided with a tap for standing a screw pin and the distal end of the screw pin is brought into contact with a rotating thrust cam to search for the best focus position and then the screw pin is bound or clamped at said position. Alternatively, the respective portions of a male helicoid screw and a lens frame which are engaged with each other are formed into slant surfaces to effect the focus adjustment in the same way.
The above-described conventional focus adjustments in an infinite distance suffer, however, from the following problems. Since the prior art methods are mechanically carried out, the mechanism is complicated and the cost is high. In addition, the operating process that includes adjustment, screwing and binding is complicated.
Particularly, in the case of the inner focusing method wherein focusing is effected by moving intermediate lenses among a plurality of lenses that constitute in combination a lens system, an exceedingly complicated mechanism is needed since the adjustment is conducted by moving the intermediate lenses, i.e., the second lens group, the third lens group, etc., with the front and rear lens groups left fixed after the lenses have been assembled together.

Device for adjusting camera in the initial stage


A telephone terminal is configurable by a user to contain just those features desired by the user. Although equipped with a full set of available features, the terminal also is initially configured only with a minimum default set of features directly and easily accessible by a user. The user is able to reconfigure the telephone terminal for selectively adding features when he or she desired more capabilities.

1. Technical Field
This invention is directed to telephone terminals and more particularly, to a telephone terminal configurable by a user for accessing features available on a telephone terminal through an interactive display arrangement.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Telephone terminals that contain user interactive displays and enable a user to access local and network-based features and also execute local and network-based commands at the telephone terminal are now becoming popular. In such high function terminals, the number of features or commands available for selection by the user is determined by the terminal designer at the time of manufacture of the terminal.
A manufacturer may offer the telephone terminal with a simplistic set of features, which facilitate ease of use. The manufacturer also may offer the terminal with a complex set of features so that the terminal incorporates all of the possible particulars that the manufacturer anticipates a customer might want. In either case, the manufacturer offers the features only in a fixed-feature sized package in each telephone terminal.
Some customers may become frustrated by the lack of a full set of features on the telephone terminal whereas other customers may find a full set of features so complicated that these customers may not be able to easily access and use those basic features provided on the telephone terminal. It is desirable, therefore, that a user of a terminal be able to gain access to and use any desired features on the telephone terminal while, at the same time, avoiding undue confusion by not being able to inadvertently access any undesired features also on the terminal.


The combination, a wire shelf, a shelf liner therefor, and a two element shelf liner retaining mechanism is disclosed. The wire shelf is the type including transverse deck rods supported by longitudinal rods. The shelf liner is in the form of a sheet of a plastic sized to rest on the transverse rods and to extend along the longitudinal rods. The two element liner retaining element includes a spring clip to hold the liner, and an integral rod engaging element to prevent the shelf liner from sliding.

As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,346,077 wire shelving systems are well known and they are becoming increasingly popular. In the past, use of wire, or ventilated, shelves has been limited to industrial or commercial applications, such as in large refrigeration units, stock rooms and warehouses. The advantage of wire shelves was that they allowed circulating air to reach the goods stacked on those shelves.
Recently, wire shelving has come into wide use in homes. As pointed out in U.S. Pat. No. 4,781,349 ventilated rod-type shelving is now being used more widely because it is aesthetically pleasing. It is also desired because it is simple to assemble, even by relatively unskilled homeowners.
Wire shelving of the type contemplated herein generally encompasses a plurality of shelves, each of which includes a number of spaced apart, parallel, transverse deck rods which are supported by longitudinal rods which extend at least along the rearward and forward edges of each of the deck rods. Additional longitudinal rods can be provided across all of the transverse deck rods. Each of the shelves so constructed is mounted on a vertical support structure such as a closet or pantry wall by means of brackets, braces, and the like. Wire shelves are also the subject of other prior art patents, for instance, U.S. Pat. No. 3,367,510, as well as U.S. Pat. No. 5,148,928. And they are specifically described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,316,593.
Increased usage of shelves of the type described in these patents has revealed that they are subject to certain drawbacks. One such disadvantage is that when small electric appliances with legs, such as skillets and waffle irons are placed on the shelves, their legs penetrate the spaces between deck rods. Ultimately they can spread the rods apart. Electric cords used with such appliances also present a problem when it is desired to place them on ventilated or wire pantry shelving. Thus although wire shelves are desirable from the aesthetic and ease of installation points of view there are various end uses which are subject to improvement. The placement of small objects on such shelves can also be a problem, particularly on pantry and bathroom shelves. As an example, on pantry shelves small containers such as spice cans and bottles tend to tilt or fall over. On bathroom shelves care must be exercised if small medicine bottles and pill boxes are to be used, even when transverse rods are spaced one-half inch apart. In closet shelves, with one inch spacing of transverse rods, the heals of ladies shoes tend to drop between transverse rods. In the case of ventilated shelving in storage rooms, tools and the like will hang through, or fall through, the spaces between transverse rods. To overcome such spacing problems a few homeowners have resorted to the placement plywood panels or corrugated box panels on the shelves. Use of these panels, while covering the spaces between rods, defeats part of the reason for the shelves by destroying the aesthetic character of the shelf. It also works against the ease of installation of the shelving, especially if the plywood is being painted, to say nothing of the added weight. Such problems are eliminated by the liner of this invention, and, equally important, the aesthetic values of wire shelving are retained.

Ventilated shelf liners and attachment means therefor


An electronic carrier board for a chip to be mounted thereon is provided, which includes a body and a plurality of solder pads. The solder pads have carrying surfaces for carrying the chip thereon through conductive bumps. The carrying surfaces of at least two solder pads are oppositely inclined with respect to each other, thereby preventing the conductive bumps mounted on the carrying surfaces from displacement and thereby further preventing two adjacent conductive bumps subject to displacement from coming into short-circuit contact.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to electronic carrier boards, and more particularly to an electronic carrier board applicable to surface mounted technology (SMT).
2. Description of Related Art
With the rapid development of IC manufacturing technology, electronic elements have been continuously designed and fabricated to have a minimized profile. Meanwhile, based on large-scale and highly integrated electronic circuits, IC-based products possess more complete functionality.
Conventionally, electronic elements are mounted on an electronic circuit board such as a printed circuit board (PCB), a circuit board or a substrate by through hole technology (THT). However, as the electronic elements used in the THT cannot be further reduced in size, the electronic elements occupy large spaces of the electronic carrier board. In addition, the electronic carrier board needs to have through holes corresponding to the pins of the electronic elements. Also, solder joints formed between the electronic elements and the electronic carrier board are relatively large. Due to these drawbacks, surface mounted technology (SMT) is widely employed nowadays in the mounting process of electronic elements for efficiently mounting electronic elements to an electronic carrier board.
By the THT, through holes need to be formed in an electronic carrier board for accommodating the pins of the electronic elements and the back surface of the electronic carrier board cannot be efficiently used since solder joints are formed thereon. Accordingly, conventional through hole type elements have been replaced by surface mount type elements that can be much smaller in size.
In a conventional flip-chip ball grid array (FCBGA) package, an underfill is filled between a chip and surface of a substrate so as to encapsulate conductive bumps, thereby increasing the strength of the conductive bumps and supporting the chip. Meanwhile, a plurality of solder balls serving as I/O connections is mounted on the other surface of the substrate. Thus, the volume of the package is greatly reduced with the substrate size being close to the chip size. Meanwhile, the need of bond wires is eliminated, thereby reducing the resistance and improving the electrical performance. Related techniques are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,153,930, No. 6,400,036, No. 6,391,683, No. 5,892,289 and No. 5,218,234.
Referring to FIGS. 1A and 1B, a conventional electronic carrier board with a chip mounted thereon before being package is shown. Therein, a plurality of solder pads 11 spaced from each other is formed on predefined positions of the electronic carrier board 1, and a plurality of solder bumps 12 is mounted on the bottom surface of the chip 13. The solder bumps 12 are aligned with the solder pads 11, and the solder bumps 12 are reflowed to form ball shape so as to join the chip 13 and the electronic carrier board 1 together and establish electrical connection therebetween.
However, the chip 13 may be slightly displaced due to vibration transferred by a rail during a reflow process. Since the carrying surfaces of the solder pads 11 and the surface of the carrier board 1 are substantially parallel to each other, the displacement of the chip 13 can easily cause slide of the solder bumps 12 and further cause adjacent solder bumps 12 to join together, as shown in FIG. 1B. Thus, the solder bumps 12 and the solder pads 1I cannot be correctly positioned and a short circuit problem may occur. Even worse, it fails to establish electrical connection between the chip 13 and the electronic carrier board 1.
Also, referring to FIG. 2, as disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,477,086, a round-shaped through hole 211 is formed in the center of a column-shaped solder pad 21 and an opening 212 is formed at one side of the through hole 211 such that a solder bump can be positioned on the solder pad 21 through the through hole 211 and the opening 212 permits gas to escape. However, the through hole 211 is required to be precisely located at the center of the solder pad 21 so as to prevent adjacent bumps from joining together. Otherwise, the desired effect cannot be achieved. Also, the precise alignment of the through hole 211 complicates the fabrication process and increases the fabrication cost and time.
Therefore, how to provide an electronic carrier board so as to overcome the above-described drawbacks has become urgent.

Siliconware Precision Industries Co., Ltd.


A vacuum cleaner nozzle having a nozzle body (10) having a nozzle opening (13) facing a surface to be cleaned and one or more scraper blades. The scraper blades have a single, strip-shaped piece (16), made from rubber, plastic or some other elastic material. The blade has a first edge part (18) resting on the surface (19) to be cleaned and a second, opposite edge part which is secured in a holder (17) in the nozzle body. The distance (A) of the holder from the surface being cleaned is mainly constant when the scraper blade is moved forwards or rearwards on a hard surface. The length of the blade (16) extending toward the surface from the holder under free conditions is larger than the distance (A) from the holder to the surface so that the first edge part (18) during forward and rearward movement will trail behind the holder, as seen in the direction of movement of the nozzle. The blade (16) is shaped and constructed such that when the direction of movement of the nozzle is reversed, the blade serves as a soft spring for forces which are applied on the first edge part (18) from the surface (19) toward the holder (17).

The present invention relates to a vacuum cleaner nozzle comprising a nozzle body having a nozzle or suction opening facing a surface to be cleaned, and one or more scraper blades extending downwardly from the nozzle body adjacent the nozzle opening. Such scraper blades have a single, strip-shaped piece, made from rubber, plastic or some other elastic material. The strip-shaped pieces have a first edge part resting on the surface to be cleaned and a second or opposite edge part which is secured to or mounted in a holder in the nozzle body. The distance of the nozzle body from the surface to be cleaned is mainly constant when the scraper blade is moved forwards or rearwards on a hard surface. The length of the strip-shaped piece extending towards the surface from the holder under free conditions is larger than the distance between the surface and the nozzle body so that the first edge part during forward and rearward movement will trail behind the holder as seen in the direction of movement of the nozzle.
Nozzles of the type described above are previously known. These nozzles are used on soft as well as hard surfaces and comprise a bottom plate facing the surface to be cleaned and have an elongated nozzle or suction opening extending generally perpendicular or transverse to the direction of movement of the nozzle. The nozzle is supported on a hard surface by means of several wheels which, with regard to flow conditions, define an optimal distance between the nozzle opening and the hard surface being cleaned.
Relatively behind the nozzle opening and parallel with it there are one or more rubber blades. These blades have a free length extending from the bottom plate toward the floor, the length being somewhat larger than the distance between the surface and the bottom plate. Such blades are used to convey dirt on a hard surface when moving the nozzle forwards, but they do not hinder the movement of the nozzle on a soft surface. Since the extending free length of the rubber blade is larger than the distance between the surface being cleaned and the bottom plate, the rubber blade will be somewhat curved when in contact with the surface, and the lower edge of the blade will trail with respect to the support point of the scraper blade in the nozzle. If the scraper blade is to perform properly, it has to be comparatively stiff so that the dirt really is conveyed by the scraper blade to the nozzle inlet when the nozzle is moved on a hard surface.
However, the use of a scraper blade also creates a disadvantage since the scraper blade, when the nozzle is moved on a surface, will lift the nozzle vertically when the nozzle is moved back and forth across the surface being cleaned. This is because the scraper blade, when the nozzle is moved in one direction (i.e., either forwardly or rearwardly), is first curved in one direction but, when the direction of nozzle movement is reversed, the nozzle first pivots about the blade, causing the blade to straighten and lift the nozzle off vertically from the floor. Thereafter, the scraper blade will curve in a second direction, opposite to the first, as the nozzle is moved in the opposite direction (i.e., either rearwardly or forwardly). Therefore, there exists a need in the art for a scraper blade which does not lift the nozzle during a change in direction of nozzle movement.


A DNA fragment which contains a mobile genetic element originated from a strain of the genus Brevibacterium is obtained, and a gene is transferred into the chromosomal DNA of the strain making use of the DNA fragment.. This invention provides a DNA fragment which contains a mobile genetic element originated from a strain of the genus Brevibacterium and a process for obtaining the DNA fragment, and a process for transferring a gene into the chromosomal DNA of the strain making use of the DNA fragment and a plasmid vector for use in the gene transfer process.

Intensive studies have been carried out in the prior art on the breeding and improvement of strains of the genus Brevibacterium in order to achieve efficient production of amino acids. As a means for use in the breeding, a large number of genetic engineering techniques have been reported. Gene manipulation techniques for use in the breeding of strains belonging to the genus Brevibacterium have been developed making use of plasmid and phage systems, such as establishment of protoplast transformation methods (Katsumata, R., Ozaki, A., Oka, T. and Furuya, A.: J. Bacteriol. 159 (1984) 306-311, Santamaria, R. I., Gil, J. A. and Martin, J. F.: J. Bacteriol. 161 (1985) 463-467), development of various vectors (Miwa, K., Matsui, K. , Terabe, M., Nakamori, S., Sano, K. and Momose, H.: Agric. Biol. Chem. 48 (1984) 2901-2903, Katsumata, R., Ozaki, A., Oka, T. and Furuya, A.: J. Bacteriol. 159 (1984) 306-311, Santamaria, R., Gil, J. A., Mesas, J. M. and Martin, J. F.: J. Gen. Microbiol. 130 (1984) 2237-2246, Patek, M., Nesvera, J. and Hochmannova, J.: Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol., 31 (1989) 65-69, Yeh, P., Oreglia, J., Prevotos, F. and Scicard, A. M.: Gene 47 (1986) 301-306), development of gene expression controlling method (Tsuchiya, M. and Morinaga, Y.: Bio/Technology 6 (1988) 428-430) and development of cosmids (Miwa, K. , Matsui, K. , Terabe, M., Ito, K., Ishida, M., Takagi, H., Nakamori, S. and Sano, K.: Gene 39 (1985) 281-286). Also reported are cloning of genes making use of such systems (Melumbres, M., Mateos, L. M. , Guerrero, C. and Martin, J. F.: Nucleic Acids Res., 16 (1988) 9859, Mateos, L. M., Del, R. G., Aguilar, A. and Martin, J. F.: Nucleic Acids Res., 15 (1987) 10598, Matsui, K., Miwa, K. and Sano, K.: Agric. Biol . Chem. 52 (1988) 525-531, Mateos, L. M., Del, R. G., Auilar, A. and Martin, J. F.: Nucleic Acids Res., 15 (1987) 3922, Matsui, K., Sano, K. and Ohtsubo, E.: Nucleic Acids Res., 14 (1986) 10113-10114, Peoples, O. P., Liebl, W., Bodis, M., Maeng, P. J., Follettie, M. T., Archer, J. A. and Shinskey, A. J.: Mol. Microbiol., 2 (1988) 63-72, Eikmanns, B. J., Follettie, M. T., Griot, M. U., Martin, U. and Shinskey, A. J.: Mol. Gen. Genet., 218 (1989) 330-339, O'Regan, M., Thierbach, G., Bachmann, B., VGilleval Lepage, P., Viret, J. F. and Lemoine, Y.: Gene 77 (1989) 237-251, Follettie, M. T. and Shinskey, A. J.: J. Bacteriol., 167 (1986) 695-702) and yield improvement of various amino acids (Sano, K., Ito, K., Miwa, K. and Nakamori, S.: Agric. Biol. Chem., 51 (1987) 597-599).
However, there are no reports on mobile genetic elements originated from strains belonging to the genus Brevibacterium.
Mobile genetic element is a DNA fragment which can move on the chromosome and its existence is known in a large variety of organisms ranging from procaryotic to eucaryotic organisms, especially in detail in corn, Drosophila, yeast and the like as eucaryotic organisms and Escherichia coli and the like as procaryotic organisms (Mobile DNA, American Society for Microbiology, Washington D.C. (1989)). Also, Japanese Patent Application Laying Open (Kokai) No. 63-24889 discloses a mobile genetic element originated from Corynebacterium diphtheriae and European Patent Application 0,445,385 A discloses a transposon originated from a bacterium belonging to the genus Corynebacterium.
Mobile genetic elements of bacterial origins are divided into insertion sequence and transposon. Insertion sequence is a DNA fragment having a size of from 760 bp to 2000 bp, with its both termini having inverted repeat sequences and its inner region encoding transposase which is an enzyme necessary for its moving. Transposon is a mobile genetic element having a gene which does not take part directly in the transfer, such as a drug resistant gene, and is present in a form in which said gene is interposed between two insertion sequences or inserted into an insertion sequence. As a characteristic feature common to insertion sequence and transposon, it is known that duplication of a nucleotide sequence of about 10 bp can be found in the periphery of a region where either of them is inserted (Mobile Genetic Elements, Academic Press, New York (1983) p159-221).
Some of the currently known mobile genetic elements, such as Escherichia coli transposons Tn 10 and Tn 5 and Mu phage, are markedly useful in genetic engineering. Examples of such use include gene disruption in which expression of a chromosomal gene is inhibited by inserting a transposon into the gene, gene expression in which a transposon having a promoter sequence inserted therein is transferred on a chromosome thereby effecting expression of its downstream sequence, and gene transfer in which a new gene is transferred into a chromosome by inserting the new gene into a transposon and effecting its transfer on the chromosome (Mobile DNA, American Society for Microbiology, Washington D.C. (1989) 879-925).
An object of the present invention is to obtain a DNA fragment containing a mobile genetic element originated from a strain belonging to the genus Brevibacterium, which is essential for the chromosome engineering-aided improvement of Brevibacterium strains that are important in the amino acid industry. Its another object is to provide a process for obtaining said mobile genetic element and establish a process for transferring a gene into chromosomal DNA making use of said mobile genetic element.

Mobile genetic element originated from brevibacterium strain