An aqueous coating composition for paper or paper boards comprising a mixture of smectite clay with starch in an aqueous solution wherein the starch comprises about 75 to about 95 percent by weight and the swellable clay comprises about 5 to about 25 percent by weight of the solids content of the aqueous coating composition. In addition, there is disclosed a process for the production of an aqueous coating composition for paper containing a smectite clay.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to paper coating compositions. More particularly, it relates to paper and paper board coating compositions containing smectite clays and starch which improve the performance of the paper and paper boards.
2. Prior Art
Chemicals, additives and polymers are often added to paper and paper boards in order to improve their performance. In order to obtain high quality paper it is necessary that the surface of the paper be smooth and have uniform porosity. Smooth and uniform paper is a prerequisite for good images printed thereon and also for good transfer of ink to the paper.
Smooth paper is conventionally obtained by coating the raw paper surface with a pigment composition. Coating compositions which create a smooth surface on paper have generally been aqueous dispersions, comprising mainly mineral fillers or pigments, such as Kaolin clay, calcium carbonate, and titanium oxide along with pigment binders of natural proteins, for example, casein or soy protein, starch or synthetic polymer emulsions. Coating compositions are usually applied to a continuous web of paper by high speed coating machines, such as blade coaters, air knife coaters, rod coaters and roll coaters.
The flow properties or runnability of coating compositions for paper and paper boards are of significant importance. These flow properties are often controlled by a thickener or co-binder.
The most common polymer used for the coating of paper is starch, preferably a modified starch such as hydroxyethylated starch. These modified starches can be augmented with other additives such as strengthening aids or hydrophobes. An example of a bulk strengthening aid, other than starch, is polyvinyl alcohol. Examples of hydrophobes or water repellant crosslinking agents are styrene acrylic polymers and melamine formaldehyde resins.
The clays conventionally used for pigments are preferably kaolinite or similar clays which generally has a relatively low surface area of about 10 to 25 m.sup.2 /g, relatively low viscosity of less than 100 centipoise at 10% solids and a relatively low aspect ratio of less than 50 to 1. (Aspect ratio is generally recognized in the industry as the ratio of the diameter to the thickness of the particular particle.) These clays, which are conventionally used as pigments or fillers, are generally used in pure form and are easily dispersible in water. For best results, these clays are used in slurry form with high clay concentrations of at least about 40 percent, with the lowest reasonable viscosity, preferably less than 100 centipoise.
Starch has also been used in these pigment coating compositions. In these compositions the clay is used as the pigment with the starch forming the adhesion material for adhering the clay pigment to the paper. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,607,331 discloses a paper coating composition comprising 30 to 50 percent clay, 5 to 7 percent a water soluble starch, 35 to 55 percent water and a starch insolubilizing agent.
European Patent Application No. 283 300 discloses a method of producing a coated paper suitable for gravure printing using a clay pigment. The printing process utilized does not require the paper to have high surface strength. The pigment is comprised predominantly of a water swellable, smectite-type clay. The suspension applied to the paper for use as a pigment contains up to 20 percent by weight of the pigment. In some of the Examples in the application, the smectite clay was merely slurried with water and then applied as a pigment to the surface of the paper. In Examples 3 and 4, a paper coating adhesive was added to the clay to assist in the binding of the smectite clay to the paper surface. In Example 3 the adhesive product was a latex of an acrylic copolymer, while in Example 4 a starch paper coating adhesive was used, wherein up to three times as much starch by weight as bentonite clay was used to secure it to the paper.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,869,296 discloses a paper pigment composition, wherein starch is utilized to adhere the pigment, such as a kaolin clay, to the paper, wherein a latent water insolubilizer for the starch is also added to the coating composition. Preferably, 100 parts of clay are combined with 20 parts of starch in the coating composition.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,283,129 and 5,494,509 disclose pigment coating compositions, wherein various materials are added to the clay/starch composition to enhance the quality of the paper. In each of these patents the starch is utilized as the binding agent for the clay, while the clay forms the pigment for the coating. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,283,129 the ratio of the clay to the starch binder is from about 75 up to 90 parts clay pigment to about 15 to 30 parts starch binder. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,494,509 the clay pigment portion comprises approximately 60 percent of the pigment slurry.
A binder complex, such as a colloidal silicic acid or cationic starch, is also commonly used to bind a filler to paper wherein the filler may be comprised of a kaolin, bentonite, titanium oxide, chalk or talc in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,388,150, 4,385,961 and 5,071,512. See also U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,795,545 and 4,210,490.
Starch and clay products, such as bentonite clay, have also been utilized with cellulose fibers in the formation of paper and pulp sheets. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,210,490 discloses the combination of a cationic starch with a kaolin clay filler mixed with an aqueous solution of cellulosic fibers to form a paper product. See also U.S. Pat. No. 5,277,764 which discloses the utilization of a highly cationized starch for the formation of paper. See also U.S. Pat. No. 5,126,014.
When starch is used in paper coatings, but not as a binder to bind pigments to the paper, its primary role is twofold: (1) to penetrate into the sheet of paper in order to provide bulk strength and (2) to remain on the surface of the paper to improve surface strength, control porosity and absorbency. These two roles are in conflict as improvements in surface strength, porosity and absorbency require the starch to remain on the surface while improvements in bulk strength are achieved only through penetration of the starch into the paper sheet. Controlling the penetration of the starch into the paper sheet is thus necessary to balance these two characteristics and thus achieve optimum performance for the paper product.
In addition to controlling the extent of the penetration of the starch into the paper, enhanced quality for the paper products can be achieved by controlling the retrogradation of the starch product. Retrogradation, which is the association of starch chains, results in an increase in viscosity of a starch solution as that solution is cooled. Retrogradation problems are particularly present with unmodified starches, such as pearl starch, while they are less of a problem with modified starches, such as hydroxyethylated starches and particularly cationic starches. Being able to control the extent of penetration of the starch into a base sheet of paper and at the same time being able to stabilize the viscosity of the starch (retrogradation) would offer definite advantages in the production of paper.
Therefore, it is an object of this invention to produce a surface modifier for paper comprised of a smectite clay and starch which will both control the penetration of the starch into the paper and reduce its rate of retrogradation.
It is a further object of this invention to produce a coating for paper which will decrease the porosity of the sheets.
It is a still further object of this invention to produce a coating for paper with improved printing characteristics.
It is a still further object of this invention to provide a precoat for paper and boards to prevent a final coating from migrating into the sheet.
It is a still further object of this invention to produce a coating for paper comprised of a smectite clay and starch which does not require the use of a cationic starch.
It is a further object of this invention to produce a coating for paper with high viscosity at low solids and a very high aspect ratio.
These and other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from a consideration of the following detailed description and claims. The description provides selected examples of the preferred embodiment of the invention to illustrate the invention.

Coating composition for paper and paper boards containing starch and smectite clay


An organic electroluminescent display comprises a shadow layer, a transparent electrode, a light emitting layer, a reflective electrode and a cap layer formed on a substrate. The transparent electrode is connected to a transistor, located on the shadow layer, and has a larger area than the shadow layer. The cap layer is formed on the upper surface of the transparent electrode, and corresponds to the shadow layer. The light emitting layer is formed on the upper surface of the transparent electrode. And, the reflective electrode is formed on the upper surface of the light emitting layer.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an organic electroluminescent display with high resolution.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Each pixel of the typical organic electroluminescent display includes two transistors and one capacitor. The area ratio of the transistors and the capacitor covering the whole pixel can affect the size of the light-emitting region. For example, comparing two displays with the same size, the one with higher resolution has smaller pixel size than the other one. As the pixel size is reduced, the transistors and the capacitor cover more area of the pixel. Whereupon the area used to emit light is getting small in the pixel. When the pixel size is getting small until no perfect region provided for light passing, the light only accesses the gaps between the transistors and the wires.
FIG. 1A is a conventional organic electroluminescent display. Each pixel 110 of the organic electroluminescent display 100 has a switching transistor 111, a driving transistor 112, a capacitor 113 and an organic light emitting diode 114. As the size of the pixel 110 is large enough, the organic light emitting diode 114, transistors 111 and 112, and the capacitor 113 do not overlap with each other, so it has a perfect light-emitting region.
FIG. 1B is another organic electroluminescent display 200 with higher resolution than the organic electroluminescent display 100 shown in FIG. 1A. Each pixel 210 of the organic electroluminescent display 200 includes a switching transistor 211, a driving transistor 212, a capacitor 213 and an organic light emitting diode 214. Unlike FIG. 1A, the organic light emitting diode 214 overlaps with the transistors 211, 212, or the capacitor 213. The physical light-emitting region is only a gap between the transistors 211, 212 and the capacitor 213.
FIG. 1C is a sectional view of the display 200 shown in FIG. 1B. Its fabricating process comprises forming the components such as transistors 211, 212 etc. on the substrate (not numbered); next forming an ITO layer 214a on the forgoing components; and forming a cap layer 215 by a photo mask to define a opening region 216. As shown, the wires, the transistors or the capacitors cover a part of the opening region 210, so the light cannot exit through the part, and the top view of the opening region 216 can refer to FIG. 1D.
To sum up, when the pixel size is getting small until no perfect region provided for light passing, the light only accesses the gap between the transistors and the wires. If the opening region of the cap layer includes some non-light-emitting regions, it may still consume the power, but generate no brightness.

Bottom-emission organic electroluminescent display of high resolution and power saving


Coding of an audio signal (x) represented by a respective set of sampled signal values (x(t)) for each of a plurality of sequential time segments is disclosed. The sampled signal values are analyzed to determine one or more sinusoidal components for each of the plurality of sequential segments. The sinusoidal components are linked across a plurality of sequential segments to provide sinusoidal tracks, where each track comprises a number of frames. An encoded signal (AS) is generated, including sinusoidal codes (Cs) comprising a representation level (r) for each frame or including sinusoidal codes (Cs) where some of these codes comprise a phase (φ), a frequency (ω) and a quantization table (Q) for a given frame when the given frame is designated as a random-access frame. The invention allows random access in a track while avoiding long adaptation of the quantization accuracy in a quantizer and/or the need for a large bit stream while still maintaining improved audio quality.

When transmitting broadband signals, e.g. audio signals such as speech, compression or encoding techniques are used to reduce the bandwidth or bit rate of the signal.
FIG. 1 shows a known parametric encoding scheme, in particular a sinusoidal encoder, which is used in the present invention, and which is described in WO 01/69593 and European Patent Application 02080002.5 (PHNL021216). In this encoder, an input audio signal x(t) is split into several (possibly overlapping) time segments or frames, typically having a duration of 20 ms each. Each segment is decomposed into transient, sinusoidal and noise components. It is also possible to derive other components of the input audio signal such as harmonic complexes, although these are not relevant for the purposes of the present invention.
In the sinusoidal analyser 130 of FIG. 1, the signal x2 for each segment is modeled by using a number of sinusoids represented by amplitude, frequency and phase parameters. This information is usually extracted for an analysis time interval by performing a Fourier transform (FT) which provides a spectral representation of the interval including: frequencies, amplitudes for each frequency, and phases for each frequency, where each phase is "wrapped", i.e. in the range {−π;π}. Once the sinusoidal information for a segment is estimated, a tracking algorithm is initiated. This algorithm uses a cost function to link sinusoids in different segments with each other on a segment-to-segment basis to obtain so-called tracks. The tracking algorithm thus results in sinusoidal codes CS comprising sinusoidal tracks that start at a specific time instance, evolve for a certain period of time over a plurality of time segments and then stop.
In such sinusoidal encoding, it is usual to transmit frequency information for the tracks formed in the encoder. This can be done in a simple manner and with relatively low costs, because tracks only have a slowly varying frequency. Frequency information can therefore be transmitted efficiently by time-differential encoding. In general, amplitude can also be encoded differentially over time.
In contrast to frequency, phase changes more rapidly with time. If the frequency is (substantially) constant, the phase will change (substantially) linearly with time, and frequency changes will result in corresponding phase deviations from the linear course. As a function of the track segment index, phase will have an approximately linear behavior. Transmission of encoded phase is therefore more complicated. However, when transmitted, phase is limited to the range {−π;π}, i.e. the phase is "wrapped", as provided by the Fourier transform. Because of this modulo 2π representation of phase, the structural inter-frame relation of the phase is lost and, at first sight, appears to be a random variable.
However, since the phase is the integral of the frequency, the phase is redundant and, in principle, does not need to be transmitted. This reduces the bit rate significantly. In the decoder, the phase is recovered by a process which is called phase continuation.
In phase continuation, only the encoded frequency is transmitted, and the phase is recovered at the decoder from the frequency data by exploiting the integral relation between phase and frequency. It is known, however, that when phase continuation is used, the phase cannot be perfectly recovered. If frequency errors occur, e.g. due to measurement errors in the frequency or due to quantization noise, the phase, which is being reconstructed by using the integral relation, will typically show an error having the character of drift. This is because frequency errors have an approximately random character. Low-frequency errors are amplified by integration, and consequently the recovered phase will tend to drift away from the actually measured phase. This leads to audible artifacts.
This is illustrated in FIG. 2a where Ω and ψ are the real frequency and real phase, respectively, for a track. In both the encoder and decoder, frequency and phase have an integral relationship as represented by the letter "I". The quantization process in the encoder is modeled as added noise n. In the decoder, the recovered phase {circumflex over (ψ)} thus includes two components: the real phase ψ and a noise component ε2, where both the spectrum of the recovered phase and the power spectral density function of the noise ε2 have a pronounced low-frequency character.
Thus, it can be seen that in phase continuation, the recovered phase is a low-frequency signal itself because the recovered phase is the integral of a low-frequency signal. However, the noise introduced in the reconstruction process is also dominant in this low-frequency range. It is therefore difficult to separate these sources with a view to filtering the noise n introduced during encoding.
Furthermore, in phase continuation, only the first sinusoid of each track is transmitted for each track in order to save bit rate. Each subsequent phase is calculated from the initial phase and frequencies of the track. Since the frequencies are quantized and not always estimated very accurately, the continuous phase will deviate from the measured phase. Experiments show that phase continuation degrades the quality of an audio signal.
European Patent Application 02080002.5 (PHNL021216) addresses these problems by proposing a joint frequency/phase quantizer, where the measured phases of a sinusoidal track, which have values between −π and π, are unwrapped by using the measured frequencies and linking information, resulting in monotonic increasing unwrapped phases along a track. In the encoder, the unwrapped phases are quantized by using an Adaptive Differential Pulse Code Modulation (ADPCM) quantizer and transmitted to the decoder. The decoder derives the frequencies and the phases of a sinusoidal track from the unwrapped phase trajectory.
As an example, the ADPCM quantizer can be configured as described below. For the first continuation of a track, the unwrapped phase is quantized in accordance with Table 1.
TABLE 1Representation table R used for first continuation.Representation level rRepresentation table RLevel type0−3.0Outer level1−0.75Inner level20.75Inner level33.0Outer level
The quantization boundaries are defined in accordance with this table by: {−∞; 2·T (r=1), 0, 2·T (r=2), ∞}. For each consecutive continuation, the tables are scaled. If the representation level is in the outer level, the tables are multiplied by 21/2, making the quantization accuracy coarser. Otherwise, the representation levels are in the inner level and the tables are scaled by 2−1/4, making the quantization accuracy finer. Furthermore, there is an upper and lower boundary to the inner level, namely 3π/4 and π/64.
The quantization of the unwrapped phase trajectory is a continuous process in the above methods, where the quantization accuracy is adapted along the track. Therefore, in order to decode a track, the decoding process has to start from the birth or starting point of a track, i.e. the decoder can only de-quantize a complete track and it is not possible to decode a part of the track. Therefore, special methods enabling random-access have to be added to the encoder and decoder. Random-access may e.g. be used to 'skip' or 'fast forward' in an audio signal.
A first straightforward way of performing random access is to define random-access frames (or refresh points) in the encoder/quantizer and re-start the ADPCM quantizer in the decoder at these random-access frames. For the random-access frame, the initial tables are used. Therefore, refreshes are as expensive in bits as normal births. However, a drawback of this approach is that the quantization tables and thus the quantization accuracy have to be adapted again from the random-access frame and onwards. Therefore, initially, the quantization accuracy might be too coarse, resulting in a discontinuity in the track, or too fine, resulting in large quantization errors. This leads to a degradation of the audio quality compared to the decoded signals without the use of random-access frames.
A second straightforward way is to transmit all states of the ADPCM quantizer (that is the quantization accuracy and the memories in the predictor as mentioned in European Patent Application 02080002.5 (PHNL021216). The quantizer will then have similar output with or without random-access frames. In this way, the sound quality will hardly suffer. However, the additional bit rate to transmit all this information will be considerable. Especially since the contents of the memories of the predictor have to be quantized according to the quantization accuracy of the ADPCM quantizer.
The present invention addresses these problems.


An air cathode for a metal-air cell and methods for making it are provided. In the air cathode of the present invention, manganese compounds of valence state +2 act as catalysts for the reduction of oxygen, and are distributed substantially evenly throughout a carbon matrix. Manganese compounds of valence state +2 form between carbon particles after the carbon particles are added to an aqueous solution of potassium permanganate.

The recent increase in small electrically-powered devices has increased the demand for very small metal-air electrochemical cells. Such small cells are usually disc-like or pellet-like in appearance, about the size f garment buttons, and generally have diameters ranging up to about 1.0 inch, and heights ranging up to about 0.60 inches. The small size and the limited amount of active material contained in these small metal-air cells results in considerable attention being directed to improving the efficiency and completeness of the power generating electrochemical reactions occurring therein.
Metal-air cells convert atmospheric oxygen to hydroxyl in the air cathode, the hydroxyl then migrating to the anode, where it causes the metal contained therein to oxidize. Usually the anode material in such cells is comprised of zinc.
More particularly, the desired reaction in a metal-air cell air cathode involves the reduction of oxygen, the consumption of electrons, and the production of hydroxyl, the hydroxyl being free to migrate through the electrolyte towards the anode, where oxidation of zinc may thereupon occur. Equation 1 outlines the overall reaction occurring in the air cathode of a metal air cell: EQU 4e.sup.- +O.sub.2 +2H.sub.2 O.fwdarw.4OH.sup.-
In most metal-air cells, air enters the cell through one or more ports in the cell, the ports being immediately adjacent to the cathode assembly, or being separated from the cathode assembly by an air chamber. In either arrangement, air diffuses into the cathode assembly, and oxygen in the air reacts with water to form hydroxide ions.
The cathode assembly of metal-air cells generally consists of a mixture of activating chemicals supported by a current collecting substrate capable of being connected to electrical circuitry. more particularly, the activating chemicals are typically comprised of carbon and manganese dioxide, and current collecting substratum usually consists of a cross-bonded screen having nickel-metal strands woven therein, or a fine-mesh expanded metal screen.
Two models are commonly forwarded to explain the overall reaction set forth in equation 1: The adsorbed Species Model and the Free Radical Model. The chains of reactions corresponding to both of these models are set forth below:
______________________________________ Adsorbed Species Model Free Radical Model ______________________________________ O.sub.2 .fwdarw. 2O.sub.Ads O.sub.2 + e.sup.- .fwdarw. O.sub.2 .sup.-. 2O.sub.Ads + 2e.sup.- .fwdarw. 2O.sup.- .sub.Ads O.sub.2 .sup.-. + H.sub.2 O + e.sup.- .fwdarw. HO.sub.2 .sup.- + OH.sup.- 2O.sup.- .sub.Ads + H.sub.2 O .rarw..fwdarw. HO.sub.2 .sup.- + OH.sup.- HO.sub.2 .sup.- .fwdarw. Bulk HO.sub.2 .sup.- + H.sub.2 O + 2e.sup.- .rarw..fwdarw. HO.sub.2 .sup.- + H.sub.2 O + 2e.sup.- .rarw..fwdarw. 3OH.sup.- 3OH.sup.- ______________________________________
Either model's chain of hypothesized reactions results in the production of peroxides (HO.sub.2.sup.-) and hydroxyls (OH.sup.-). In metal-air cathodes, peroxide may oxidize back to water and adsorbed oxygen, and act parasitically in respect of the production of hydroxyls from oxygen in the desired reaction. This parasitic effect lowers the voltage produced by conventional metal-air cells.
In the art known heretofore, MnO.sub.2, wherein the manganese in the MnO.sub.2 compound is of valence state +4, has been used in the carbon matrix to reduce the parasitic effects attending peroxide generation in metal-air cells. The use of manganese having a higher oxidation state, such as manganese (IV) dioxide (where IV denotes valence state +4), manganese (IV) oxide, or manganese (IV) hydroxide, for the reduction of oxygen in a gas diffusion electrode is well known. The introduction of manganese (IV) compounds into the carbon matrix of an air cathode has heretofore required that very finely divided manganese dioxide particles be distributed evenly by mechanical or chemical means throughout the carbon matrix of the air cathode. Heretofore, it has generally been believed that a very finely divided form of manganese dioxide is required for optimum cathode performance.
Numerous prior art disclosures have been made suggesting methods of introducing manganese compounds having a valence state of +4 into the carbon matrix of an air cathode, including:
______________________________________ Country Patent Number Inventor/Applicant Issue Date ______________________________________ Yugo. -- Zoltowski et al 1973 U.S.A. 3,948,684 Armstrong 1976 U.S.A. 4,256,545 Deborski 1981 U.S.A. 4,894,296 Borbely et al 1990 U.S.A. 4,906,535 Hoge 1990 U.S.A. 5,032,473 Hoge 1991 ______________________________________
Zoltowski et al, in an article entitled "Carbon-air electrode with regenerative short time overload capacity: Part 1--Effect of manganese dioxide," published in the Journal of Applied Electrochemistry, volume 3, pp. 271-283 (1973), disclose the use of potassium permanganate to catalyze activated carbon, wherein most of the permanganate is reduced by the carbon to MnO.sub.2, and wherein the manganese in the MnO.sub.2 compound is of valence state +4.
Similarly, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,948,684 Armstrong discloses an admixture of potassium permanganate and activated carbon, wherein the potassium permanganate is reduced in situ by heating or by the introduction of hydrogen peroxide to form manganese dioxide.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,256,545 Deborski discloses the use of potassium permanganate while heating cathodes to between 250.degree. and 700.degree. C. in an oxidizing atmosphere to form MnO.sub.2, Mn.sub.2 O.sub.3, and Mn.sub.3 O.sub.4.
In U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,906,535 and 5,032,473 Hoge discloses the use of potassium permanganate as a catalyst for carbon black.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,894,296 Borbely et al disclose the introduction of finely divided gamma MnO.sub.2 particles into activated carbon. Because the gamma MnO.sub.2 used by Borbely et al is not watersoluble, extensive and expensive milling is required prior to its introduction into the metal-air cell carbon matrix.
The prior art shows that heretofore the uniform introduction of manganese or manganese oxides into the carbon matrix of metalair cell cathodes has required extensive milling prior to such introduction, or high-temperature heating or chemical treatment after such introduction.
In a metal-air cell having an air cathode containing MnO.sub.2 and constructed in accordance with the teachings of the prior art, the MnO.sub.2 particles distributed throughout the carbon matrix participate in the oxygen reduction reactions occurring therein. MnO.sub.2 particles act then not merely as chemical catalysts, but as electrochemical catalysts in metal-air cells. As a result of their electrochemical activity, the physical dimensions of the MnO.sub.2 particles change as the chemical composition of those particles changes to Mn.sub.2 O.sub.3, and possibly other species, upon cell discharge.
During non-discharge or rest periods, the particles of manganese-containing species derived from MnO.sub.2 particles during cell discharge change back to MnO.sub.2 particles as a result of oxygen oxidation reactions. Through successive discharge-rest period cycles, and as a result of the repeated cycles of particle expansion and contraction corresponding therewith, the relatively inelastic carbon matrix surrounding the MnO.sub.2 particles becomes permanently deformed, and new void spaces are created between the MnO.sub.2 particles and the carbon matrix. These new void spaces may cause the air cathode material to lose mechanical integrity because of a reduction in the internal pressure exerted on the Teflon.RTM. gasket interposed between the air cathode and the cell container. In consequence of the reduction in cell internal pressure, the Teflon.RTM. seal may rupture, and electrolyte may leak from the cell. Metal-air cells having air cathodes containing MnO.sub.2 particles may therefore have a shorter service life than would otherwise be indicated by the electrochemical capacity of the cell; the service life of such a cell may be attenuated by mechanical failure of the teflon seal before the electrochemical capacity of the cell is exhausted.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to introduce catalytically active manganese compounds uniformly and easily into the carbon matrix of an air cathode.
It is another object of the present invention to introduce into the carbon matrix of an air cathode a manganese-containing water-soluble compound that will reduce in situ to form catalytically active non-soluble manganese-containing compounds without any heat or additional chemical treatment steps.
It is yet another object of the present invention to introduce into the carbon matrix of an air cathode a manganese-containing water-soluble compound that will reduce in situ to form catalytically active but essentially electrochemically neutral manganese compounds.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide for metal-air cells having air cathodes of improved mechanical integrity and increased service life.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide for metal-air cells having high current densities and high closed circuit voltages.
Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the detailed description of the invention.

Metal-air cathode and cell having catalytically active manganese compounds of valence state +2


A cardiac pacemaker having a pacing rate responsive to a control function of a physiological parameter indicative of activity levels. The coefficients of the function are automatically calculated and modified in response to the trend of the measured physiological parameter in order to correspond to the patient real needs. For monitoring the physiological parameter minute ventilation (VE), the basic value VE low and maximum value VE max are calculated in order to vary the slope and intercept of the straight line representative of the control relation of the pacing rate FC by the minute volume VE.

If the pacing rate of a pacemaker is maintained constant, the patient could not react in an optimum manner during both rest periods and effort periods, i.e., where the patient's level of activity is greater than at rest. Rate adaptive pacemakers typically modify the pacing rate, between a programmed maximum rate and a programmed minimum rate, based on a measure of a physiological parameter of the patient that is related to the patient s activity level. Such suitable physiological parameters that provide a measure of the physical activity of the patient include, e.g., blood temperature, cardiac output, the QT interval, the right ventricle oxygen saturation, respiration rate, and minute volume (also known as minute ventilation).
The minute volume is a physiological parameter that is known to vary linearly with the consumption of oxygen and therefore with the heart rate. The pacing rate (FC) is thus calculated by the pacemaker in accordance with a control function that relates the measure of minute volume (VE) and pacing rate FC via the linear relation: FC=a(VE)+b.
When initializing a rate adaptive pacemaker, it is necessary to provide coefficient values for the control function, for example, coefficients a and b of a linear function. In a usual manner, the coefficients are defined when implanting the pacemaker in the patient based on effort tests carried out in a hospital.
Document EP-0 151 689 refers to a pacemaker that uses the minute volume as representative of the activity of the patient and a straight line, linear control function relating the pacing rate and the minute volume. The straight line has a slope that is programmed by the physician based on an assessment of the patient's condition. Thus, the heart pacing rate varies between a programmed minimum pacing rate and a programmed maximum pacing rate as a function of the variations of the sensed minute volume according to the selected slope.
Document EP-0 299 208 refers to a pacemaker of this type in which the straight line representative of the pacing rate as a function of the signal received by the sensor of a physiological parameter is defined by means of two effort tests of the patient. The two tests are performed under different activity conditions, e.g., at rest and at a maximum effort level. These tests define the slope corresponding to the maximum minute volume and maximum pacing rate and the minute volume measure at rest and minimum pacing rate.
One problem with these techniques is that the control function is essentially fixed at implantation and does not allow for variations in the range of the patient's activity levels as in sleep, the starting again of an activity, and the practice of a sport. Another problem is that initialization is based on a medical assessment or controlled effort tests that are not representative of normal life. Consequently, the pacemaker may not provide a pacing rate to support all of the patient's activity. A further problem is that the function can be modified only by a further intervention of the physician and reprogramming of the pacemaker, e.g., in response to additional tests.
There is thus a continuing need to provide for improved rate adaptive pacemakers for pacing the heart as a function of a monitored physiological parameter. There is a further need for modifying the control functions relating the physiological parameter to the pacing rate based on recent patient activity without requiring intervention by the physician.

Automatic adjustment of the control function for a rate adaptive pacemaker


A metal-oxide-semiconductor digital-to-analog converter unit includes a multiplicity of current mirror components 20 in a symmetric array, a resistance network activated by voltage sources providing weighted biasing potentials for the current mirror components, and an electrical coupling of the current mirror components to compensate for variations physical properties across converter unit substrate area. The current mirror components 20 include a current steering portion 21.sub.0 -21.sub.N-1 and 25.sub.0 -25.sub.N-1 coupled to an annular bias transistor 22. The resulting digital-to-analog converter has improved performance characteristics when compared to previously implemented digital-to-analog converter units.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to digital-to-analog converter units and, more particularly, to digital-to-analog converter units based on current mirror techniques. In the conventional implementation of a digital-to-analog converter unit, a constant current flows through the unit while the digital input signals steer or divide the current between two conductors, the difference in the divided current resulting in a current mode representation of the digital word or data group.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring to FIG. 1, the general structure of an digital-to-analog converter unit 10 based on current mirror techniques, according to the related art, is shown. Digital input signals are applied to current mirror 11. Current mirror 11 provides two output currents, I.sub.0 and I.sub.1. The sum of these two output currents is a constant. The digital input signals determine the division of the current between I.sub.0 and I.sub.1. The currents I.sub.0 and I.sub.1 flow through resistors 12 and 13, respectively. The detection unit 14 provides an analog output signal determined the voltages across resistors 12 and 13. This analog output signal is a result of the digital input signals applied to the current mirror 11.
The current mirror-based digital-to-analog converter units rely on the property of a current mirror circuit to replicate a selected unit current. Well designed current mirror units generally have an accuracy of 1%. The current matching between two similar metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) transistors operated with similar gate voltages and drain voltages is determined by variations in the diffusion widths, in the poly-silicon widths, in the gate oxide thickness, and ground potential. The present accuracy in current matching was achieved by reducing these variations during the fabrication of the converter units. In spite of improvements, digital-to-analog converter units with even greater accuracy are needed.
A need has therefore been felt for a digital-to-analog converter unit and a related method with a higher accuracy than has been possible with conventional techniques.

Apparatus and method for current steering digital-to-analog converter units


A transducer for a hard disk drive system has a planar magnetic core and a pair of poletips that project transversely from the core for sliding contact with the disk during reading and writing. The transducer is formed entirely of thin films in the shape of a low profile table having three legs that slide on the disk, the poletips being exposed at a bottom of one of the legs for high resolution communication with the disk, the throat height of the poletips affording sufficient tolerance to allow for wear. The legs elevate the transducer from the disk sufficiently to minimize lifting by a thin air layer that moves with the spinning disk which, in combination with the small size of the thin film head allows a low load and a flexible beam and gimbal to hold the transducer to the disk. The transducer includes a loop shaped core of magnetic material that ends at the poletips, the core extending further parallel than perpendicular to the disk surface and preferably being formed of a plurality of slightly spaced ribbons of magnetic material in order to increase high frequency permeance. A high magnetic saturation layer may be formed adjoining the gap in at least the trailing poletip, in order to avoid saturation at the poletips during writing. The dimensions of the yoke adjacent to the poletips are also designed to avoid saturation at the poletips by saturating at a lower flux in the yoke than the poletips. The close relationship between the transducer and the media of the disk affords high density magnetic data storage and retrieval.

The present invention relates to hard disk drive systems having transducers including a magnetic core with a gap adjacent to a magnetic storage disk.
Hard disk drives have traditionally employed electromagnetic transducers that are spaced from a rapidly spinning rigid disk by a thin layer of air that moves with the disk surface. Such an air layer helps to avoid damage between the rapidly spinning disk and the essentially stationary transducer, which is constructed with a large, aerodynamic xe2x80x9csliderxe2x80x9d designed to xe2x80x9cflyxe2x80x9d over the surface, buoyed by the moving air layer. The air layer, however, creates an additional space between the transducer and the magnetic medium of the disk that is used to store information. This spacing lowers the density with which data can be stored and lowers the resolution and amplitude with which data can be retrieved.
Conventional flying heads have a pair of poletips formed by thin film processes on a back end of the slider and terminating coextensively with the slider air bearing surface. In flight, the slider is tipped so that the back end is lower than the front end and the poletips are closer to the disk than the remainder of the slider. Other flying heads, representative of which is U.S. Pat. No. 4,698,708 to Lazarri, have poletips that are flush with the air bearing surface of the slider partially between the front and back ends.
In an attempt to lower the spacing loss and thereby increase resolution and amplitude, transducer flying heights have generally decreased over many years in the magnetic recording industry. Lowering the flying height, however, encounters a countervailing problem of catastrophic head crash that occurs when the transducer impacts the rapidly spinning disk. In recent years a solution to the conflict between flying height and head crash has been achieved by designing the drive system so that the head supporting structure is run in continuous sliding contact with the disk, which can reduce the problem of impact between the head and disk and decrease the spacing between the head and disk. Any perturbation that causes separation between the head and disk, however, can result in a crash when the two recontact. Such a perturbation can be due to a shock to the drive, such as would occur from accidental bumping of the drive or its support, or can be due to the presence on the disk surface of an asperity or debris. Note that in either situation, a potentially destructive impact can occur due to the initial perturbation, instead of or in addition to the crash upon recontact.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,041,932, Hamilton discloses a transducer that operates in contact with a rigid disk surface without destructive head crash, essentially by designing the mechanical and inertial characteristics of the transducer to conform to the rapidly spinning rigid disk without damage to the disk or transducer. A different approach for a hard disk drive system for allowing operational contact between the head and the disk is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,819,091 to Brezoczky et al., which proposes that nondestructive wear may be possible provided that the slider material is so much more thermally conductive than the disk that the slider surface is maintained at a lower temperature than the much larger disk surface as the slider rubs on the disk. And U.S. Pat. No. 4,901,185 to Kubo et al. teaches operational contact between a disk and a slider having a head appended and spaced from contacting the disk to avoid damage to the head. More recently, U.S. Pat. No. 5,327,310 to Bischoff et al. teaches a transducer similar to that disclosed in the Hamilton patent but having a ring-shaped transducer mounted vertically on a trailing end of a slider that makes intermittent, bouncing contact (xe2x80x9cpseudo-contactxe2x80x9d) with the disk.
An object of the present invention is to provide a transducer optimized for minimal head-medium spacing during longitudinal recording on and reading from the medium. A related object is for such a transducer to be stable and biased toward contact with a disk surface without the need for excessive force to hold the transducer to the surface against the lifting force of an air layer that moves with the disk, thereby avoiding problems of vibration and damage to the disk and/or transducer. In concert with the above objects it is desired to provide a transducer having efficient electromagnetic signal transduction.
The above objects are achieved with a transducer shaped like a low-profile table with three short support legs that slide on the medium surface during information transfer between the transducer and the medium. The transducer includes a magnetic core which stretches like a shallow, symmetric loop within the plane of the table, with ends of the loop extending into one of the legs to form a pair of closely spaced magnetic poletips exposed to the disk surfacein close proximity to the medium. Inductively coupled to the core is a conductive coil that spirals in opposite directions around laterally opposed sections of the core, the spirals stacked like pancakes centered on the opposed core sections. The core and the coil extend substantially further in the plane of the table top than along the direction with which the legs project, affording the mechanically and aerodynamically favorable low profile shape. The table top may be T-shaped or trapezoidal, reducing the mass of the transducer and increasing the number of transducers that can be obtained per wafer while retaining three-legged stability.
During writing of information to the medium, a current in the coil creates a magnetic field along the length of the loop shaped core, creating a magnetic field that spans the microscopic gap between the ends of the core and induces a similarly directed magnetic field in the adjacent media layer. Since the poletips are in contact with the disk surface and have an extremely small gap, very high resolution writing of information can be accomplished with this system. Unlike conventional heads which have tight tolerances for vertical throat height, the dimensions of the planar core of the present invention allow the throat height to vary substantially without impeding writing and reading efficiency, affording tolerance for wear of the sliding poletips. Additionally, the planar core allows the head to assume a relatively flat, stable, low-profile conformation with lower moment arms about the head-disk contact area, including both a lower moment of inertia of the chip and a lower effective mounting point of the beam holding the chip.
Reading of magnetic patterns imbued in the medium occurs due to the changing magnetic field seen by the poletips from the spinning disk on which the tips slide, creating a voltage in the inductively coupled coil that is read as a signal. Due to the intimate contact between the poletips and the recording surface, very high signal resolution and amplitude is achieved. In order to increase the high frequency permeance of the head, the core is formed of elongated strips, layers or filaments. Additionally, the poletips may be coated with a high magnetic saturation material adjacent to the gap in order to provide an intense magnetic field across the gap without saturation, even at field strengths of up to and exceeding 10,000 Gauss. In a preferred embodiment, the core is shaped like a clamshell, allowing formation of several coil layers within the core without unnecessarily increasing the reluctance of the core.
The low-profile, three-legged transducer is attached via a gimbal to a load beam to present a dynamic configuration that closely and rapidly conforms to a spinning disk so as to maintain contact and high resolution communication with the medium. Due to the small legs, which act like short stilts lifting the rest of the transducer above the thin moving air layer that adjoins the disk, little of the transducer is impinged upon by that thin moving air layer, and so minimal lifting force is generated that must be overcome to maintain contact. The interconnection between the transducer and the gimbal is made with exposed conductive bumps that pierce and are anchored to an outer insulative layer of the transducer, providing mechanical as well as electrical connections. The transducer is built in layers, along with many other transducers, on the surface of a wafer substrate from which the transducers are later removed, allowing the transducer to be much smaller and lighter in weight than conventional transducers that include bulk substrate materials. The legs, including the magnetically active leg containing the projecting poletips, are formed last, allowing careful tailoring of the most sensitive portions of the transducer.

Planar magnetic ring head for contact recording with a rigid disk


A wide supply range flyback converter consists of a Schmitt trigger driving a switching device such as MOSFET. The circuit employs a feed forward voltage controlled current source and two other voltage controlled current sources, one of which is responsible for minimizing on time and the other for increasing off time in order to achieve high efficiency, low standby power, and improved overload conditions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to power converters. Specifically, the present invention relates to power converters operating in flyback mode and more specifically those that maintain high efficiency despite a wide range of line and load variations, have very low idle power consumption, and are low cost. Wherein, the ratio of high line to low line can be greater than 3 to 1.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Prior art embodiments customarily use DCM (Discontinuous Conduction Mode) operation for low power and CCM (Continuous Conduction Mode) operation for medium power conversion for wide range input AC to DC adapters. Employing purely CCM operation inherently produces high switching losses at high line whereas DCM operation for low power produces undesirably high conduction losses at low line input voltages. DCM operation allows for the minimization of the transformer size but increases conduction losses whereas CCM operation increases the transformer size requirement and switching losses.


The present invention enables adjustment of a motion range of a workpiece conveying mechanism by a simple configuration. Provided is a workpiece conveying device including a simple motion range adjusting mechanism for conveying workpieces of different sizes. According to one embodiment of the invention, the workpiece conveying device for conveying workpieces includes a workpiece holding mechanism configured to operate to hold and release the workpiece. The workpiece conveying device also includes an actuator equipped with a movable member directly or indirectly connected to the workpiece holding mechanism to drive the workpiece holding mechanism. The workpiece conveying device further includes a stopper device having a male member and a female member, and these male member and female member are configured to engage with each other in at least two different arrangements, thereby defining at least two predefined discontinuous holding positions of the workpiece holding mechanism connected to the movable member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a movable range adjusting mechanism for a workpiece conveying device.
2. Technical Field of the Invention
In a manufacturing process of a semiconductor device, a device which conveys workpieces such as semiconductor wafers is commonly used (e.g., Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-272526 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-300879). For example, there is a workpiece conveying device which holds a semiconductor wafer by a pair of arms driven to open and close by an actuator equipped with a cylinder, and moves the semiconductor wafer to a desired position (e.g., Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-309089). In the manufacturing of a semiconductor device, it may be necessary to convey semiconductor wafers of different sizes in some cases.
Since a conveying mechanism for semiconductor wafers is designed and adjusted according to the size of the wafer to be processed, wafers of different sizes may not be properly conveyed. For example, when the size of the semiconductor wafer is smaller than the size to which the conveying mechanism is adjusted, the holding force becomes smaller and clearance becomes too large at positions where the wafer is held, which may lead to deterioration of positioning accuracy of the wafer. On the other hand, when the size of the semiconductor wafer is larger than the size to which the conveying mechanism is adjusted, the holding force becomes too large, which may cause excessive stress on the wafer or prevent the wafer from being properly held.
In some holding mechanisms such as the arm of the conveying mechanism, a motion range thereof may be changed according to the size of the workpiece, such as the semiconductor wafer, to be conveyed. When controlling the motion range of the holding mechanism of the conveying mechanism by a motor-based actuator, the motion range can be changed by changing motion parameters of the motor (e.g., a pulse number, etc. in the case of a pulse motor). However, such a motor-based actuator tends to be costly. Motion mechanisms using a pneumatic or hydraulic actuator such as a cylinder mechanism are generally less costly than a motor-based actuator. When changing the motion range of such a cylinder-based actuator, the motion range is changed by adjusting a position of a stopper which defines the motion range. For example, the position of the stopper can be adjusted by a screw. However, when adjusting the stopper position by the screw, the stopper position may be slightly different after each adjustment operation, and repeatability and accuracy of the positioning may not be adequate. In addition, it tends to take time to adjust the stopper position when the screw is used to adjust the stopper position.

Movable range adjusting mechanism for workpiece conveying device


A cap assembly for a bottle includes a cap member mounted to the bottle and having a top with an opening defined therein. A wall member and a flexible connecting member respectively extend from a periphery defining the opening, the flexible connecting member connected to the wall member so as to define an aperture between a top of the wall member and a top of the connecting member. A tube extends from a periphery defining the aperture. A cover is pivotally and detachably mounted to the cap member such that the tube is pushed by an underside of the cover when the cover is mounted to the cap member and the flexible connecting member is folded downwardly and the aperture is sealed by the downward folded connecting member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cap assembly and, more particularly, to an improved cap assembly for a bottle and includes a flexible connecting plate from which a tube is connected so that when a cover pivotally connected to the assembly is opened, the tube is pivoted upright because of a biasing force from the connecting plate.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Bottles for water, drink, oil or the like each generally have a cap securely mounted to an open end of the bottle so that the water can be flowed out from the bottle by removing the cap from the open end. However, when the open end of the bottle is tilted, a volume of the water flowing from the open end is difficult to control. In this case, it could become a dangerous result if a kid has to have the water from the open end of the bottle directly. A straw is required for the kid to suck the water, but the straw has to be removed form the bottle if the cap is again mounted to the bottle. Furthermore, if the bottle has viscid liquid received therein such as shampoo, it will be inconvenient for a user to flow the viscid liquid from the bottle simply by tilting the open end. A type of a cap assembly has been developed which has a center tube with a movably sleeve mounted thereto so that when pulling the sleeve upwardly, a passage is defined in the center tube so as to access the water or the like in the bottle and when pushing the sleeve downwardly, the passage is blocked to prevent from leaking. This type of cap assembly needs at least three sets of molds to manufacture the assembly and the molds are expensive.
The present invention intends to provide an improved cap assembly to mitigate and/or obviate the above-mentioned problems.


To overcome conventional increase of insertion loss and conventional discrepancy of phase characteristic of an S/N enhancer provided for increasing S/N of an electro-magnetic wave to be converted into a magneto-static wave by utilizing saturation of magneto-static wave power propagating through a ferrite thin film, a novel operational principle is used, wherein a large variation of impedance of a strip line, provided for converting electro-magnetic waves into magneto-static waves in the vicinity of saturation of the magneto-static wave. The electro-magnetic wave reflected from the input terminal of the strip line is selectively derived as an output wave through a directional coupling device.. As a result, particularly for an electro-magnetic wave applied with wide-band FM modulation, S/N can be remarkably increased without any increase of insertion loss or any influence of phase characteristic discrepancy.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an S/N enhancer which utilizes a magneto-static wave device for increasing a signal to noise ratio (S/N) of a high frequency electro-magnetic wave signal (e.g. a micro-wave signal) by utilizing the saturation of a magneto-static wave converted from an electro-magnetic wave, which propagates through a thin film of ferri-magnetic material (e.g. a ferrite thin film), so as to efficiently improve the S/N of the original signal without any increase of insertion loss thereof in a transmission path.
2. Related Art Statement
The magneto-static wave propagating through the ferrite thin film in the magneto-static wave device of this kind, particularly a superficial magneto-static wave propagating along the film surface thereof, is readily saturated even in a small amplitude region thereof. So that, the device of this kind presents a non-linear input-to-output characteristic for an electro-magnetic wave which has an electric power as large as that of the magneto-static wave converted therefrom exceeds the threshold of saturation, while it presents a linear input-to-output characteristic for the electro-magnetic wave which has an electric power as small as that of the magneto-static wave converted therefrom which does not reach to the threshold of saturation.
In this connection, a conventional S/N enhancer has been developed in which, according to the utilization of the magneto-static wave device presenting the aforesaid input-to-output characteristics, noise components among an input electro-magnetic wave which don't reach the threshold of saturation are entirely consumed through the conversion into the magneto-static wave, while signal components which do exceed the threshold of saturation are passed through, so as to increase the signal-to-noise ratio. However, according to this conventional development, a sufficient increase of S/N could not be attained because of the impedance variation caused as described in detail later and the like.
In connection with the above, another conventional S/N enhancer has been developed utilizing the magneto-static wave. In such a S/N enhancer, two channels are provided, which respectively present the aforesaid non-linear and linear input-to-output characteristics, by replacing the order of series connection with each other between a magneto-static wave device and an attenuator and are separately supplied with the same input electro-magnetic wave. The respective outputs of these two channels are mixed with each other, such that noise components thereof are canceled by each other, so as to increase the signal-to-noise ratio thereof.
However, in these conventional S/N enhancers utilizing magneto-static waves, because the input-to-output characteristic is based on an extremely low threshold of saturation of the magneto-static wave propagating through the ferrite thin film, as for the channel presenting the linear input-to-output characteristic, the attenuator is prefaced to prevent the saturation of the magneto-static wave device. Hence, the output level of the mixed electro-magnetic wave, from which noise components are canceled, is extremely lowered. As a result, the insertion loss of the S/N enhancer is extremely increased. In addition, another defect of this S/N enhancer is that when the electric power levels of the electro-magnetic waves individually supplied to the magneto-static wave devices in the two channels differ greatly from each other, a discrepancy is caused between respective phase characteristics thereof, so that a electro-magnetic-wave having an excessively large electric power can not be supplied to this S/N enhancer. Consequently, the prevention of the effect of the discrepancy of the phase characteristic without any increase of the insertion loss is the conventional problem to be solved as for an S/N enhancer of this kind utilizing magneto-static waves.


A new and distinct cultivar of Senecio plant named ‘Sunsenevio’, characterized by its upright and mounded plant habit; freely branching growth habit; freely flowering habit; and large daisy-type inflorescences with purple violet-colored ray florets and darker violet-colored disc florets.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Senecio plant, botanically known as Senecio cruentus×Senecio heritierii, and hereinafter referred to by the name 'Sunsenevio'.
The new Senecio plant is a naturally-occurring whole plant mutation of a proprietary selection of Senecio cruentus×Senecio heritierii identified as code number 6S16-B 326, not patented. The new Senecio plant was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant in a controlled greenhouse environment in Higashiomi, Shiga, Japan in February, 2006.
Asexual reproduction of the new Senecio plant by terminal cuttings in a controlled greenhouse environment in Higashiomi, Shiga, Japan since March, 2006, has shown that the unique features of this new Senecio plant are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.


A dental composition is produced from a dilatant silicone polymer composition by dispersing a bioactive component in the polymer composition. The dental composition is shaped and pressed against the teeth and gum surfaces and allowed to remain in place for a period of time sufficient to release the active component to the tooth and gums. The dilatant rheological properties enable the dental composition to be pushed under the gingival flap to remove food particles and treat tooth and gum surfaces below the gum line. The composition is sufficiently plastic to be easily removed from the teeth without pieces breaking and adhering to tooth surfaces.

In the field of dental hygiene numerous devices and products have been developed to reduce and prevent gum disease and tooth decay. Gum disease typically results in the inflammation of the gum tissue by the accumulation of bacterial plaque on tooth surfaces and in particular on the tooth surface below the gum line. The plaque as well as the acids that decay teeth are produced by the sugars present in the mouth. Dental diseases can be often prevented with the use of mechanical, dietary, chemical and immunological plaque control. The toothbrush and dental floss in cooperation with a dentifrice are the usual convenient dental hygiene devices to control tooth decay and gum disease. These devices do have their limitations in effectively cleaning and treating some areas of the teeth. Other devices which have been produced include products that include a dentifrice or antibacterial product incorporated within the product. These products may be in the form of a chewable component, paste or a liquid such as a mouthwash.
One example of this type of product is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,554,154. This product includes a substrate of a malleable plastic or aluminum strip having a biologically acceptable adhesive on the outer surface of the strip. The malleable plastic is disclosed as a strip that covers and adapts to the shape of the tooth surfaces. The strip may be a chewable plastic strip, plastic foam shape, chewing stick, capsule or cloth, an encapsulated cleaning stick, toothbrush bristle containing many fine parallel fibers so that the bristle ends conform to the shape of the tooth surface, or a fiber chewing gum. The substrate may carry a biologically acceptable adhesive by impregnation, lamination, coating or encapsulation. The adhesive is disclosed as containing a remineralizing agent, immunological agent, enzyme, lysozyme or antibacterial agent. The plastic strip is intended to be chewed in a manner similar to chewing gum to treat the chewing surfaces of the teeth. This device does not effectively enter the spaces between the teeth or under the gum tissue to remove food particles and apply the dentifrice to the tooth surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,531,914 relates to a dental device for gingival retraction and gum conditioning prior to a subsequent dental procedure such as crowning. The dental device is disclosed as a moldable, flowable, coherent plastic material. In one embodiment, the disclosed material is a plastic thixotropic medium such as a hydrolyzed high polymer silicone that is rendered hydrosorbent by incorporating fibers into plastic. The balance and placement of the fibers and plastic are reported to be critical because the essential physical property of the medium is antithetical to the other and an imbalance renders the device ineffective. In use, the mass of thixotropic material is provided with a layer of the fibers to render the surface of the mass hydrosorbent. The fibers may be impregnated with a vascoconstricting agent to arrest bleeding of traumatized gingival tissue. The material is pressed into place to push gingival flap away from the tooth surface and remove any fluids from the area to enable the dental procedure to proceed. This device does not apply dentifrices to the tooth surface and does not remove plaque and debris from between the teeth.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,138,820 relates to a tooth cleaning and gum massaging device in the form of a strip or pellet of a sponge-like material that expands in the presence of moisture. The material is disclosed as a cellular body having a dentifrice, germicide, or medicament. The device is chewed to massage the gums and to release the dentifrice through the pores of the sponge-like material.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,964,164 relates to a material for applying preventive and therapeutic agents to the teeth of a patient. The material is disclosed as a moldable mass as a carrier which may contain an active agent. The moldable carrier may be a plastic or elastic impression mass such as impression wax or wax compositions, hydrocolloidal impression masses and rubber impression masses. The molding material may further be a gelatin or agar having a calcium sulfate reactor. In the disclosed embodiments the molding material is initially plastic to be applied to the teeth and conform to the tooth surface. The molding material is then allowed to set or polymerize into a tough or viscous material. This product has the disadvantage of requiring the user to mix or heat the components of the molding material to activate the setting action of the material. The material must further be molded quickly when activated to prevent the material from hardening before being shaped.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,650,665 relates to an absorbable biologically compatible putty-like composition used as a matrix from which immunologically or pharmacologically active agents can be introduced into the body to provide sustained release of the agent. The disclosed matrix is a mixture of calcium stearate, dextran and castor oil. Dextran is disclosed as the most preferred absorption enhancing agent.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,598,123 relates to a bandage for administering drugs by absorption. The device includes a backing member including a pressure-sensitive adhesive. A systemically active drug is encapsulated in microcapsules which are distributed throughout the adhesive. The encapsulating material is disclosed as polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinylacetate, collagen, wax, silicon rubbers and others.
Other types of dental treating devices include those which have a shaped member to conform to the teeth of the user. These devices often have a foam or sponge-like material that can be formed and shaped around the teeth to deliver a dentifrice or other material. Some of these devices include a substantially horse shoe-shaped tray to apply a dentifrice to the teeth. Examples of these devices may be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,339,547, 3,844,286, 3,527,219, 3,416,527, 3,688,406 and 3,379,193.
The above-noted devices and compositions do not provide a convenient and effective means for removing food particles from between the teeth and for applying a dentifrice or medicament to the tooth surface below the gum line. Many of these devices cannot be easily molded and cannot be comfortably worn by the user. Some of the molding compositions which have been previously used require heat or chemical activation which increases the burden of using the composition. The present invention is directed to a composition that is easily molded to conform to the contours of the teeth and gums to apply a dentifrice to the tooth surface under the gum line.

Dental material and method for applying preventative and therapeutic agents


A clutch (A,B) includes a cam (20,70) and a rotor (22,74), both of which revolve around a common axis (X). The cam has a camming surface (30,72) provided with lobes (32), whereas the rotor carries pistons (26,80) which bear against the camming surface of the cam. The pistons project from piston cavities (40,42; 76) in the rotor and those cavities communicate through a connecting cavity (44,78), to thereby form a fluid chamber (56,82) of constant volume which contains a magneto-rheological fluid (28,84). An electrical coil controls the viscosity of the rheological fluid. When the viscosity is low, the pistons will move inwardly and outwardly on the rotor as the camming surface passes over them and no torque will transfer between the cam and rotor. However, when the fluid is viscous, the fluid will impede displacement of the pistons in the piston cavities, and the pistons will grip the camming surface sufficiently to enable torque to transfer between the cam and rotor.

The typical clutch serves as a coupling between two machine components which at times must rotate in unison and at other times must be disconnected so that the one component may rotate while the other remains at rest. Of course, when the clutch is engaged and the two components rotate in unison, torque transfers from the driving component to the driven component. In most applications a clutch must engage gradually to avoid imparting mechanical shocks to the equipment of which it is a part.
Clutches come in a variety of designs and configurations and find widespread use in automotive and industrial equipment. A good clutch should have minimal drag torque, both when engaged and disengaged, should be relatively insensitive to centrifugal and centripetal forces, should be capable of engaging and disengaging at varying speeds and speed differentials, should transmit torque bidirectionally, that is in both directions of rotation, should have low backlash, should damp vibrations, and should protect against overload.
Many clutches of current manufacture require complex actuating mechanisms to engage and disengage them. These mechanisms increase the weight and size of such clutches, not to speak of complexity. Indeed, these clutches typically rely on complex linkages to operate them, and this adversely affects the responsiveness of the clutches and their capacity of to modulate the transfer of torque between rotating components.

Clutch having a variable viscosity fluid


The present invention comprises human DNA compositions encoding proteins that confer potassium channel activity to membranes or recipient cell lines. The DNA compositions include structural genes coding for the potassium channel proteins, expression and replication plasmids or vectors containing the structural genes and host cells expressing those genes. Methods of screening compounds for potassium channel modulating activity are also described.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention comprises human DNA compositions encoding proteins that confer potassium channel activity to membranes or recipient cell lines. The DNA compositions include structural genes coding for the potassium channel proteins, expression and replication plasmids or vectors containing the structural genes and host cells expressing those genes. Methods of screening compounds for potassium channel modulating activity are also described.
2. Description of the Related Art
Ho, K., et al. "Cloning and expression of an inwardly rectifying ATP-regulated potassium channel." Nature (4 Mar. 1993) Vol. 362 pp. 31-38. Describes the gene that encodes an ATP-regulated potassium channel protein from the inner stripe of outer medulla of rat kidneys.
Chandy, K., et. al., WO 92/02634, PCT/US91/05168, published 20 Feb. 1992. Describes the gene product known as MK3, a voltage dependent, type n potassium channel protein in T lymphocytes.
Harpold, M., et. al., WO92/02639, PCT/US91/05625, published 20 Feb. 1992. Transcription assays that identify compounds that modulate the activity of cell surface proteins. Cells that contains DNA that encode reporter genes, transcriptional control elements and heterologous cell surface proteins that may be potassium ion channels.
Luzdunski, M., "Potassium Channels: Structure-Function Relationships, Diversity, and Pharmacology," Cardiovascular Drugs and Therapy, (1992) Vol. 6, pp. 312-319. General description and information concerning potassium channels.
3. Background
Ionic channels of cell membranes are the basic sites where ionic fluxes take place. The modem era of the study of drug-channel interactions began when voltage clamp techniques were used to demonstrate the block of Sodium, (Na.sup.+), and potassium, (K.sup.+), channels of squid axons caused by procaine and cocaine. Narahashi, Ann Neurology (1984); 16(suppl): S39-S51.
This invention concerns potassium channels. Pharmacological and biophysical studies have revealed multiple subtypes for membrane ion channels that form potassium selective pores in the plasma membrane of many mammalian cells. Comparison of the pharmacological and electrophysiological properties of these potassium channels has given rise to an operational definition for grouping the various subtypes based largely on their gating properties.
Voltage-gated potassium channels sense changes in membrane potential and pass potassium ions in response to this alteration in the cell membrane potential. Ligand-gated potassium channels are regulated by small molecular weight effectors which include calcium, sodium, ATP or fatty acids (particularly arachidonic acid). Lazdunski, Cardiovascular Drugs and Therapy (1992) Vol. 6 pp. 313-319. Although these channel proteins share the common property that they selectively move potassium ions, their distinct biophysical, biochemical and pharmacological properties suggests that they are different gene products encoded by distinct genes.
The ATP-Sensitive, or ATP-gated, potassium channel is an important class of channels that links the bioenergetic situation of the cell to its electrical excitability. The channel is blocked by high intracellular ATP concentrations and it opens when ATP decreases. Lazdunski (1992). Although ATP-gated potassium channels were originally described in cardiac tissue; Noma, A. Nature (1983) Vol. 305 pp. 147-148, they have subsequently been described in pancreatic .beta.-cells; Cook et. al., Nature (1984) Vol. 311 pp. 271-273, vascular smooth muscle; Nelson, M. T. et. al., Am. J. Physiol. (1990) Vol. 259 pp. C3-C18 and in the thick ascending limb of the kidney; Wang, W. et. al. Am. J. Physiol. (1990) Vol. 258, pp. F244-F-253.
Molecular cloning studies on potassium channel proteins has yielded some information, but only for members of the voltage-gated family of potassium channels. Various genes encoding these voltage-gated family of potassium channel proteins have been cloned using Drosophila genes derived from both the Shaker, Shaw and Shab loci; Wei, A. et. al., Science (1990) Vol. 248 pp. 599-603.
All known attempts to clone members of the ligand-gated family of potassium channel proteins using probes based on the known sequences of voltage-gated potassium channels have been unsuccessful. Taken together with the electrophysiological and pharmacological properties of these potassium channels, these results further confirm that the ATP-gated channel proteins are encoded by genes that are distinct from the genes that encode for voltage-gated potassium channels. These results indicate that there is little or no homology between the genes encoding voltage-sensitive potassium channels and the ATP-gated potassium channels.
A cDNA encoding a rat kidney potassium channel has been isolated by expression cloning, using a size-fractionated mRNA from the rat kidney thick ascending limb. When expressed in oocytes, the protein encoded by this gene displays many but not all of the hallmarks of a ATP-gated potassium channel. Ho, K., et al., Nature, Vol. 362 pp. 31-38 (4 Mar. 1993).
This invention describes the first successfully cloned human kidney ATP-gated and related potassium channel genes. Cloning these important genes will allow the production of important channel proteins into systems that will permit the identification, characterization and cloning of potential drug targets. This invention includes the development of a high volume mechanistic screen and it will allow the production of appropriate systems for the production of material for biochemical study.
The discovery of the highly selective and potent sodium channel blocking action of tetrodotoxin ignited a widespread interest in using specific chemicals as probes for the study of ionic channels. Narahashi (1984). The present invention provides an important potassium channel that may allow the discovery of other important physiological compounds.

Human DNA sequence encoding a kidney ATP-dependent potassium channel


A simple device for transporting materials is formed of a sheet of a flexible plastics material of generally tear drop shape to define a front tapered converging portion connected directly to a rear semicircular cupping portion. A rope passes through a pair of transversely spaced holes at the front edge to define a forwardly extending handle portion. The rope extends rearwardly along each side of the front portion to a hole at or adjacent a rear edge of the side edge and is covered by a stiffening tube. The rope passes through holes at the rear cupping portion to define a rear portion of the rope outside the sheet across the rear covered by a stiffening tube engaged over the rear portion of the rope.

It is known that materials to be transported can be placed on a sheet such as a tarpaulin dragged across the ground.
Attempts have been made to apply some technology to such a simple device so that the device can carry more material in a more stable manner. Many of those attempts are directed to specific end uses such as transporting human patients when injured on an easily transported stretcher. An example of such a device is shown in U.S. Design Pat. 421413 (Calkin) issued Mar. 7, 2000.
Other areas where devices of this type are proposed is in regard to transporting animals hunted in the wild since these must be carried back to a home base often from remote locations. A device of this type is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 7,810,820 (Wolf) originally published Mar. 23, 2006 as US 2006/0061050.
These devices are particularly concerned with initial portability to get to the remote location and in strapping the load effectively in place
None of these devices has been designed to provide a simple inexpensive device to enable many different types of materials to be quickly loaded, transported and discharged as a simple alternative to a wheel barrow or the like.

Transport device formed from plastic sheet


The present invention provides a method, apparatus, and computer implemented instructions for sharing highlighted passages and notations in an electronic book. A user can highlight passages and/or notes, which are tagged and automatically sent to a designated set of recipients. The designated recipients can enter search criteria so that the highlighted passages and/or notes are displayed in their electronic book based on the specified criteria.

The Internet, also referred to as an "internetwork", is a set of computer networks, possibly dissimilar, joined together by means of gateways that handle data transfer and the conversion of messages from protocols of the sending network to the protocols used by the receiving network (with packets if necessary). When capitalized, the term "Internet" refers to the collection of networks and gateways that use the TCP/IP suite of protocols.
The Internet has become a cultural fixture as a source of both information and entertainment. Many businesses are creating Internet sites as an integral part of their marketing efforts, informing consumers of the products or services offered by the business or providing other information seeking to engender brand loyalty. Many federal, state, and local government agencies are also employing Internet sites for informational purposes, particularly agencies, which must interact with virtually all segments of society such as the Internal Revenue Service and secretaries of state. Providing informational guides and/or searchable databases of online public records may reduce operating costs. Further, the Internet is becoming increasingly popular as a medium for commercial transactions.
Currently, the most commonly employed method of transferring data over the Internet is to employ the World Wide Web environment, also called simply "the Web". Other Internet resources exist for transferring information, such as File Transfer Protocol (FTP) and Gopher, but have not achieved the popularity of the Web. In the Web environment, servers and clients effect data transaction using the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), a known protocol for handling the transfer of various data files (e.g., text, still graphic images, audio, motion video, etc.). The information in various data files is formatted for presentation to a user by a standard page description language, the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). In addition to basic presentation formatting, HTML allows developers to specify "links" to other Web resources identified by a Uniform Resource Locator (URL). A URL is a special syntax identifier defining a communications path to specific information. Each logical block of information accessible to a client, called a "page" or a "Web page", is identified by a URL. The URL provides a universal, consistent method for finding and accessing this information, not necessarily for the user, but mostly for the user's Web "browser". A browser is a program capable of submitting a request for information identified by an identifier, such as, for example, a URL. A user may enter a domain name through a graphical user interface (GUI) for the browser to access a source of content. The domain name is automatically converted to the Internet Protocol (IP) address by a domain name system (DNS), which is a service that translates the symbolic name entered by the user into an IP address by looking up the domain name in a database.
The Internet also is widely used to transfer applications to users using browsers. With respect to commerce on the Web, individual consumers and business use the Web to purchase various goods and services. In offering goods and services, some companies offer goods and services solely on the Web while others use the Web to extend their reach. Many sources of information are available on the Web, including electronic books and journals. The demand and need to gather information quickly is increasing as technology advances.
When using an electronic book, referred to as an "e-book", a user has the ability to highlight and notate text for further reference. Various methods exist providing users the facility of tagging specific passages of e-book text. These methods include allowing the user to highlight passages of text and notate partial or complete sections of text. The ability to share this information is desired. E-books may contain large amounts of text. Multiple people may view the same e-book. When others want to discuss various areas of the e-book, referring back to highlighted text is desired, but may be cumbersome and time consuming due to the size of the electronic book. Therefore, it would be advantageous to have an improved method, apparatus, and computer instructions to share information gathered from the electronic book.

Method and system for automated collaboration using electronic book highlights and notations

International Business Machines Corporation


There is a case in which a generated acoustic wave is decreased owing to the attenuation of light, whereby a desired output is not obtained from an electromechanical transducer device that receives the acoustic wave. The control apparatus for controlling an electromechanical transducer device of the present invention includes: a conversion unit that converts a current output from a first electrode of the electromechanical transducer device to a voltage; a DC voltage applying unit that applies a DC voltage to a second electrode arranged with a gap between itself and the first electrode; and a generation unit that generates a control signal which makes at least one of the DC voltage and a conversion ratio for converting the current to the voltage be changed, on the basis of information about an elapsed time from a point in time at which an inspection object was irradiated with light.

There exists a measurement system in which an inspection object is irradiated with light to make a measurement object in the inspection object generate acoustic waves (typically, ultrasonic waves) due to the photoacoustic effect, and the generated photoacoustic waves are received using an electromechanical transducer device. An exemplary existing electromechanical transducer device is a capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (CMUT) device, which is a capacitive electromechanical transducer device that has an advantage of having a wide acoustic-wave receiver frequency band. CMUT devices are produced using a MEMS process, which is an application technology of a semiconductor process. A method of using a CMUT device as an electromechanical transducer device which is used in a measurement system based on the photoacoustic effect is proposed in Patent Literature PTL 1.

Control apparatus and method for electromechanical transducer device, and measurement system


A femoral head shaft prothesis is disclosed with an oblong shaft portion (2, 3) which can be implanted into a marrow cavity (not shown) of an upper thigh bone and can be attached therein by means of a cement layer. According to the invention raised areas in the form of nub rows (17, 18, 19, 21) with small surfaces by comparison to the size of the circumference of the shaft portion (2, 3) are formed at a small number of appropriate locations on said circumference of said shaft portion to serve as spacers in relation to the inner wall of the marrow cavity. The lower shaft portion (2) is formed to be cylindrical and is intended to be inserted into a cylindrically drilled marrow cavity of the femoral neck stump. In this manner a uniform cement layer thickness with only minimal interruptions is achieved, ensuring primary and long-term stability.

The invention pertains to a femoral head shaft prosthesis and, in particular, to a femoral head shaft prosthesis with a shaft portion which can be implanted into the marrow cavity of the femoral neck stump and can be attached in the marrow cavity by a cement layer surrounding the shaft portion.
A femoral head shaft prosthesis acts in a known manner together with a pin which can be screwed into the pelvic bone and which is threaded on the outside on a titanium outer dome. The outer dome is preferably conical in order to ensure increased support in addition to the contact with the threads. The inner cup of the pan is made of polyethylene which yields the best tribological values especially in combination with a ceramic finish of the femoral head.
Problems have arisen in the past, especially with respect to the primary stability and the long-term stability of the shaft portion in the marrow cavity of the upper thigh. Basically, two types of attachment are known. In a first process which used to be carried out regularly in the past, the shaft portion is attached by means of a cement combination in the marrow cavity of the upper thigh. The invention relates to a femoral head shaft prosthesis for this type of attachment which is still used today when it is necessary to put loads on the femoral head early, e.g. with older people.
The second process consists in cement-free implantation of a self-healing femoral head shaft prosthesis. A known method for this consists in coating the surface with hydroxyl apatite which induces the formation of new bone and promotes the incorporation of the prosthesis shaft through healing. Difficulties occur due to the fact that the marrow cavity in the femoral neck is physiologically different in each person, bends forward and to the outside to some extent and also varies in its cross-section. For this reason the known prosthesis shafts have been made in different shapes, and especially elliptical cross-sections and so-called physiological curves were produced.
With an implantation without cement all of these models have in common that the prosthesis shafts make contact only at points or over very small surfaces in the marrow cavity of the femoral neck so that incorporation through healing is delayed and impeded due to the initially unstable seating of the prothesis shaft.
To bring about an improvement in this matter, the implantation without cement of a femoral head shaft prosthesis has already become known (EP 0,359,097 Al) in which the lower portion of the shaft is cylindrical and can be implanted into a marrow cavity which has been drilled cylindrically to an equal diameter. Large contact surfaces with great primary stability and improved bone incorporation is thus achieved. The main problems with a cemented embodiment of a femoral head shaft prosthesis are basically different ones. To attach the prothesis shaft the latter is introduced with its relatively smooth surfaces into the marrow cavity which has been prepared with cement. A known embodiment (DE 32 47 726 Al) has a conical shaft tapering conically downward. The shaft bears here with portions of its circumference directly upon the inner wall of the marrow cavity so that direct contact is effected therein without intermediate cement layer. Due to the lack of a cement layer where direct contact occurs there is no bonding, so that the required strong fixing is reduced. A particular disadvantage is however especially due to the fact that the gap for the cement layer next to the points of direct contact first widens gradually so that the cement layer is very thin there and its layer thickness only increases at a further distance from the point of contact. This very thin cement layer in immediate proximity of the direct points of contact tends to come loose and to crumble because of its low internal stability. As a result the connection and the firm support are further reduced in the area adjoining the points of contact. Furthermore such detached cement particles have a toxic and destructive effect on the surrounding bone.
In order to achieve an improvement with respect to uniform cement layer thicknesses a method is already known by which a plastic star is pushed into the marrow cavity until it is in a position on which the underside of the prosthesis shaft will come to rest and by which the lower end of the prosthesis shaft is centered in the marrow cavity in this plastic star. For this purpose the prosthesis shaft is perforated and is set into the marrow cavity by means of a guide rod connected to the plastic star and passing through this perforation. Following the implantation the guide rod is removed. This process is obviously complicated and expensive, and despite the plastic star it cannot be ensured that the lower portion of the prosthesis shaft is seated securely and is centered in the receiving portion of the plastic star during the curing period of the cement. Also, the plastic star is a foreign body that remains disadvantageously permanently in the stump of the femoral neck. Ribbing and profiling of shaft surfaces are also known methods.
For an implantation without cement, relatively closely adjoining raised areas with small surfaces over the entire shaft surface are known and are intended to improve the anchoring of the prosthesis shaft (CH PS 675 826; DE-OS 32 16 539; DE-OS 34 15 934 and DE-GM 81 24 912). Such a surface structure with a plurality of relatively closely adjoining raised areas can provide advantages for the anchoring with an implantation without cement. When a prosthesis shaft is cemented in, such a surface structure is not suitable because the area of the cement layer would be constantly interrupted by many thinner areas and transitions so that the disadvantages described earlier in this context would occur at many locations.
Furthermore the structuring of the shaft surface by means of longitudinal grooves intended to achieve an improvement in cement bond between marrow cavity and shaft surface is also known (DE GM 88 11 758). These longitudinal grooves are however cut relatively deeply into the surface so that wide variations in the cement layer thickness are produced at the passage points between grooves and circumferences with a negative effect on stability.
It is the object of the instant invention to further develop a femoral head shaft prosthesis of this type so that improved primary and long-term stability can be achieved.


A food smoker includes a smoker body having a lid and a removable smoke and heat source secured within a base. Located adjacent the upper portion of the smoker body is a plurality of apertures configured to support at least one hanger rod. The hanger rods are capable of suspending foodstuff within the smoker body.

Spending time in the great outdoors is among the most popular fair weather leisure time activities. Quite often, cooking and eating a meal is made part of the outdoor activity. Whether it is a family gathering, at a picnic or just having a cookout, a great deal of time is spent around a grill.
A common way to enjoy cooking outdoors is by smoking the food, which is a great way to enjoy the cooking of food outdoors, as smoking requires a long amount of time to cook and the almost constant presence of burning fuel to induce smoke from a source such as wood. This process imparts a special smoked taste to foods. Food smokers are a low-tech way to create a great taste to the food but do take a lot of time.
A common way to smoke the food is to have grill grates that are horizontally suspended in the smoking section where the food rest upon. This requires specialized interior features and specific grates that can be properly suspended. This also creates an extra feature to clean, as well as it may introduce unwanted food spillage in the instances where the food and gates must be removed to reintroduce fuel or a smoking source, There is then a seen benefit to have such a way to suspend the food in the smoking section without having to be removed when adding fuel and a smoking source, and as a way to easily remove the food. The development of the food smoker described fulfills this need.


A network device receives a unique device identifier (UDID) associated with a mobile device belonging to a user, and content channel subscription information associated with the user, and stores the UDID and the content channel subscription information in a database. The network device receives the UDID and a channel identifier (ID) from a content application executing at the mobile device, and accesses the database with the UDID and the channel ID to verify the user's subscription to a content channel identified by the channel ID. The network device sends, if the user's subscription to the content channel is verified, a channel permission and a timestamp, to the mobile device, such that the mobile device is able to access content at a content provider corresponding to the channel ID prior to an expiration time that is based on the timestamp.

Cable television networks include systems for distributing television programs via radio frequency signals transmitted through coaxial cables and/or optical signals via fiber optic cables to, for example, customer endpoints. At the customer endpoint, a television, or a set-top box connected to a television, may connect to the cable television network and may convert the transmitted radio frequency signals into audio and visual data for presentation to the customer. Television content may be provided, by content providers, to the cable television network service provider which transmits the content (e.g., television (TV) content) to the customer endpoints via the coaxial and/or fiber optic cables of the network.

Seamless multi-channel TV everywhere sign-in