A sealing structure and a refrigerated container having same. The sealing structure comprises a base, a protruding portion, a deforming portion, and connections through holes. The base is a bar having a predetermined thickness. The protruding portion and the deforming portion are on a sealing surface of the base, and are configured to protrude outwards relative to the sealing surface and extend lengthwise along the base. The deforming portion extends by the same length as but higher than the protruding portion. When the deforming portion is subjected to a force toward the sealing surface, the height decreases. The holes are between the protruding portion and the deforming portion along the base. The holes are spaced apart from each other in the lengthwise direction of the base. The performance of the sealing structure improves hermeticity of products, reduces quality risks, and ensures pressure-resistance installation and anti-weathering performance that extends service life.

At present, a round of sealing tape is usually affixed on a surface of bolt holes on a front frame before the refrigerator of the refrigerated container is installed, which allows the front end to meet a sealing requirement after installation of the refrigerator.
Existing refrigerator tapes for refrigerated container are categorized into two types. One type is a common solid EPDM tape, and its material is EPDM. A round of tapes may be divided into four sections. The cross section of the tape is in a flat type. Both edges of the tape are provided with bosses, and there are bolt holes in the middle of the tape. The tape is installed between the surface of the front frame of the refrigerated container and the surface of the refrigerator to perform the sealing function. Another type is foaming EPDM tape, made of foaming EPDM. A round of tapes may be divided into four sections. The cross section of the tape is in a flat type and this kind of tape is thicker than the solid EPDM tape. There are bolt holes in the middle of the tape without any bosses provided on both edges. The tape is installed between the surface of the front frame of the refrigerated container and the surface of the refrigerator to perform the sealing function.
The first type is generally applied in sealing solutions of the front frame of the refrigerated container since the tape has a simple structure and is manufactured conveniently. However, its disadvantage lies in that the texture of the tape is hard due to the solid EPDM material. The inner surface of bolt hole flange for the refrigerator cannot completely fit with the solid EPDM tape, which causes a gap between the inner surface and the tape, and reduces the airtight effect of the entire front frame.
The problems caused by the first type can be efficiently avoided by the second type. However there are still problems in two aspects:
1. During the process of refrigerator installation, hidden trouble of being smashed and crushed may be readily caused to the tape due to the soft texture and poor pressure resistance of the foaming EPDM tape and high pressure applied on the tape by the refrigerator, which affect the use of the foaming EPDM tape.
2. The material of the foam-type EPDM weathers easily, which causes a short life span in normal use.
Therefore, a sealing structure and a refrigerated container are provided to at least partially solve the above problems.

Sealing structure and refrigerated container having same


The present invention relates to triazine derivatives of formula (I) for their use in the treatment of type 1 diabetes mellitus, and to compositions comprising said triazine derivatives.

Diabetes mellitus is a chronic metabolic disorder of multiple aetiology, characterized by chronic hyperglycemia with disturbance of carbohydrate, fat and protein metabolism resulting from defects in insulin secretion, insulin action, or both. The effect of diabetes mellitus includes long-term damage, dysfunction and failure of various organs. Diabetes mellitus is usually divided into two major categories:                Type 1 diabetes (formerly insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus) encompasses the majority of cases which are primarily due to pancreatic islet beta cell destruction, usually develop in childhood or adolescence and are prone to ketosis and acidosis. Type 1 diabetes accounts for around 10% of all diabetes.        Type 2 diabetes (formerly non insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus) includes the common major form of diabetes which results from defect(s) in insulin secretion, almost always with a major contribution from insulin resistance. Type 2 diabetes accounts for around 90% of all diabetes.
The onset of symptoms in type 1 diabetes is usually acute and frequently follows an antecedent viral infection which might be the trigger to a process leading to destruction of beta cells secondary to auto immune insulitis. When beta cells destruction reaches the critical point, the patient's reduced insulin levels lead to hyperglycaemia with the typical symptomatology of type 1 diabetes.
Type 1 diabetes can affect many major organs, including heart, blood vessels, nerves, eyes and kidneys leading to cardiovascular diseases, retinopathy (up to blindness), neuropathy and nephropathy (up to dialysis). Adequate control of blood glucose concentration can dramatically reduce the risk of many complications. The main treatment regimen for type 1 diabetes involves administration of insulin, usually subcutaneously. There are different regimens for insulin therapy, and various combinations of long acting, intermediate and short acting insulins can be used depending on the context. Continuous insulin delivery using a pump can also be used to accurately control blood glucose concentration. The more intensive regimens tend to provide better control of blood glucose, however they are much more intrusive to the patient's life, which can be a particular problem when treating juveniles with this condition.


A billing processing method is disclosed for a telephone system comprising at least one central office switching system, wherein a peripheral subsystem is connected to the central office switching systems via a call connection channel, the peripheral subsystem comprising means for providing at least one auxiliary call processing capability via the call connection channel; and the peripheral subsystem comprising means for providing billing information out to a central office communication network. The billing processing method comprising the steps of: (1) receiving raw billing data from the peripheral subsystem; (2) associating the raw billing data with a formatting object; (3) converting the raw billing data as specified in the formatting object into a formatted data object; and (4) outputting the data object to the central office communication network.

Over the past few years, the number of new services and features offered over enhanced telephone networks has grown. These enhanced telephone networks are known as "Advanced Intelligent Networks" (AINs). Telephony control networks conforming to AIN architecture contain intelligent subsystems for controlling switched traffic and user services such as call waiting, call forwarding, voice announcements, voice response, keyboard response, etc.. These intelligent subsystems, called "Intelligent Peripherals" (IP), are configured for specific regional calling services.
Multi-processor systems used as an AIN system are disclosed in the patent application Ser. No. 08/792,018 by Deborah L. Acker and Thomas E. Creamer and assigned to International Business Machines (IBM) and is incorporated herein by reference.
Accounting and billing for customized telephony services running on an IP requires the assembly of raw billing information, such as, the length of the call, type of service, time of day, etc. that must be communicated to a billing provider. Most billing services such as Bellcore, have specialized formats for example the Bellcore Automatic Message Accounting Format (BAF), to which the raw billing data must be made compatible. Typically the specific data format requirements for these billing service providers are accomplished using dedicated custom software code that converts the raw source billing data (the raw data format) to a specified data target (the billing service data format).
In a telephony billing system where the raw billing data (e.g., source data) can change with the type, brand or even versions of IP, the dedicated custom software code that converts the raw data must be revised. In addition, in telephony billing systems where billing service data format changes (e.g., target data), the dedicated custom software must be revised in this instance as well. Therefore, a need exists for converting the raw source billing data format into the desired target data without having to modify the dedicated custom software code which converts the data.

Billing formatter for telephone systems utilizing intelligent peripherals in advanced intelligent network


A liquid composition for use as an odontostomatological aid comprises a water solution of suitable amounts of calcium hypochlorite and potassium chloride. The composition is valuable in therapy owing to its many properties as disinfectant, lubricant, stabilizer, enzyme activator, immunosuppressor, analgesic and haemostatic agent.

The present invention relates to compositions for therapeutic use, and in particular to an aqueous solution to be used in the odontostomatological field.
It is known that in oral surgery, such as odontotripsy, tooth extraction, apicectomy and so on it is imperative to accurately clean and disinfect the concerned area in order to avoid subsequent complications and/or infections. Such post-surgery operations are usually carried out by using suitable solutions containing for example surfactant agents (e.g. quaternary ammonium compounds), hydrogen peroxide or other oxygen delivering compounds, or especially sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl).
However the above disinfecting solutions are sometimes not devoid of undesirable side effects, or have not at least some desirable properties such as analgesic, osteogenic or cicatrizing activity. Sodium hypochlorite has for instance the following drawbacks: cytotoxic effects on vital tissues, allergy, massive apical extrusion.

Composition for odontostomatological use in cleaning and disinfecting the root canals and viable dentine


The preparation of compositions containing cyclodextrin moieties which are modified by fusing 1,4 dioxane rights to glucopyranosyl residues is described. These compositions are suited as carrier for pharmaceuticals, agricultural chemicals and

For solubilization of non-polar compounds, either organic solvents or detergents are routinely used. Water soluble compounds with molecules forming a cavity into which non-polar compounds can be included can be used instead of solvents and detergents; cyclodextrins are an example of such compounds.
Cyclodextrins are a group of cyclic oligosaccharides in which glucopyranosyl residues are joined by alpha (1 to 4) glycoside linkages. Three cyclodextrins are of particular interest: alpha-, beta- and gamma-. They have, respectively, six, seven or eight glucopyranosyl residues. Since each of the glucopyranosyl residues has two secondary hydroxyls (located at the principal, wide, entry to the cavity) and one primary hydroxyl (located on the narrow opening of the cavity), alpha-, beta- and gamma-cyclodextrins have, respectively, 18, 21 or 24 hydroxyls, any of which can be alkylated.
Previous Art Related to Epichlorohydrin
Reactions of cyclodextrins with epichlorohydrin have been repeatedly investigated. Wiedenhof et al. (Starke, Vol. 21, pp. 119-123 (1969)) summarized the initial results. Cyclodextrin and epichlorohydrin were condensed in concentrated aqueous solutions with a strong base (e.g., 10% sodium hydroxide) and, depending on conditions, water soluble or water insoluble products were obtained. These products were called by Wiedenhof, et al. and others water soluble polymers or E-resins to denote that their molecules contain multiple cyclodextrin residues joined together by residues derived from epichlorohydrin. Wiedenhof et al. identified correctly these and other epichlorohydrin derived residues attached to cyclodextrins; dihydroxypropyl ether groups were one of the epichlorohydrin residues Wiedenhof et al. identified.
The matter was re-investigated by Fenyvesi et al. (communicated as a lecture in October 1981 and published subsequently in Proceedings of the First International Symposium on Cyclodextrins, D. Reidel Publishing Company, Dordrecht, Holland, 1982, pp. 345-356). Fenyvesi et al. found that products from previous investigators called water soluble polymers are not really polymers. Fenyvesi et al. describes seven different preparations made from beta-cyclodextrin and epichlorohydrin. Their data show that these preparations contained compounds with just one cyclodextrin per molecule (i.e., were partial dihydroxypropyl ethers of cyclodextrins). Their preparations also contained compounds which had just a few cyclodextrin residues per molecule (in further discussion we refer to these as oligomers). Nevertheless, through power of precedent, Fenyvesi et al. continued to use the term `polymer` for their products and this name has remained in use to present.
Fenyvesi et al., furthermore, tested and found the products made from beta-cyclodextrin and epichlorhydrin form inclusion complexes (and solubilize) compounds which according to Remington's Pharmaceuticla Sciences (15.sup.th edition, Mack Publishing Company, Easton, Pa., 1975) have direct uses in pharmaceutics. Fenyvesi et al. described pharmaceutical formulations of indomethacin (analgesic and antipyretic agent), benzoic acid (antifungal agent), cholic acid (digestant) and anethole (flavoring agent) . Fenyvesi et al. did not unequivocally specify which of their preparation were used in these experiments, but gave full characterization of all of their preparations, from which the minimal concentration of partial dihydroxypropyl ethers of beta-cyclodextrin in these preparations can be calculated. Fenyvesi et al. taught that the mixtures contained molecules of molecular weight ranging from 1200 to 10,000 daltons. The pharmaceutical formulations made by Fenyvesi et al. had the form of aqueous solutions and previous art establishes that further ingredients can be added to solutions of inclusion complexes, or these solutions can be freeze dried, without complications.
At a later time, European Patent 0 149 197 B1 was awarded to Brauns and Muller claiming pharmaceutical formulations which encompass the teachings of Fenyvesi containing inclusion complexes of medicinal substances with `partially etherified cyclodextrin, the ether substituent of which are . . . or dihydroxypropyl groups.` The partially etherified betacyclodextrin, the ether substituent of which are `. . . dihydroxypropyl groups` is just a chemically synonymous name to the `cyclodextrin-glycerol-ether` of Fenyvesi et al. European Patent 0 149 197 B1 does not teach the preparation or describe any particular use of the dihydroxypropyl ethers of cyclodextrins and does not address the previous art of Fenyvesi, et al.
Some aspects of the present invention are to be considered novel extensions of previous art by Fenyvesi et al., both with respect to preparation and uses employing new conditions of controlled basicity at minimal effective level in the reaction mixture, the products containing mainly molecules with just one cyclodextrin unit can be made and these possess new structural elements. Nevertheless, analysis of prior art shows that pharmaceutical uses of compositions of matter of this invention are not covered by description or claims in European Patent 0 149 197 B1. European Patent 0 149 197 B1 and the earlier art of Fenyvesi et al neither describe how to make or use the instant invention. (It should be noted that while the patent claim specifically encompasses dihydroxypropyl cyclodextrins of Fenyvesi.) Specifically, Fenyvesi described pharmaceutical formulations containing inclusions complexes of medicinals with cyclodextrin derivatives of which 87% or less were `cyclodextringlycerol-ethers` which had just one cyclodextrin residue per molecule or dihydroxypropyl ethers of cyclodextrins by another name. The concentrations of dihydroxypropyl ethers of cyclodextrins in the materials described in the present invention are lower than those in the materials of Fenyvesi et al. The inclusions complexes containing medicinals with the derivatives of cyclodextrins described herein are neither disclosed nor claimed in European patent 0 149 197 B1.
Previous Art Related to Vicinal Dihalides
No records of a reaction of cyclodextrins with 1,2-dichloroethane, 1,2-dichloropropane, or their congeners were found.
Previous Art Related to Methylation
This reaction was a subject of many investigations. Chemically individual methyl derivatives of cyclodextrins were prepared either by a several step synthesis or without control of basicity during the reaction. The preparation of randomly methylated cyclodextrin derivatives, well suited for solubilization of non-polar compounds, was described in a European patent publication 0 646 602 A1; this patent publication also analyzed related previous art. This publication claims methods of reacting cyclodextrins with alkylating agents by a method wherein the cyclodextrins are dissolved in a fraction of the total base used and, thereafter, the alkylating agent and the remaining base are added. The novel process disclosed and claimed herein differs from the present invention in that under previous methods the basicity of the reaction mixture was essentially uncontrolled. Consequently, the type of distribution between the secondary and primary hydroxyls is quite different from the distributions obtained by the method of the present invention. Methods described in European patent publication 0 646 602 A1 produce up to 62% of methyl groups on secondary hydroxyls. Methods of other previous art analyzed in the same publication introduce up to 52% of methyls to secondary hydroxyls.
Previous Art Related to Alkylation by Other Reagents with One Alkylating Group
In the previously described reactions of this type, the basicity of the reaction was neither controlled nor kept at its minimal effective level. For example, in alkylation of beta-cyclodextrins with sultones described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,134,127, the concentration of sodium hydroxide in the reaction mixtures was recommended to be, set at a level higher than 10% (wt/wt), preferably in the range of 40-60% (wt/wt). Products of the alkylation performed at such high basicity contained some starting cyclodextrin, which had to be removed by purification. When basicity of the reaction mixture is kept constant and at minimal effective level, as described in this invention, products without contaminating starting cyclodextrins can be obtained.

Dioxane-substituted cyclodextrin macromolecules and inclusion complexes


An electrical adapter fitting for use on modular furniture panels of a kind electricaly prewired with a raceway along a lower edge of the panel. The adapter being L-shaped in cross-section with upstanding fingers adapted to straddle an electrical raceway along a bottom side edge of the modular panel. The fingers adapted to support the panel by lateral side flanges flanking the raceway. A modular panel lifter for use with the electrical adapter fitting, or other adapters, having telescoping inner and outer sections and a jack screw for raising and lowering the outer section upon which the adapter may be mounted.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lifter for a modular panel and to a special electrical adapter fitting for use with modular panels of a kind electrically prewired with a raceway along a lower edge of the panel. More particularly, the invention is concerned with a combination tool including a lifter in accordance with the present invention and a special electrical adapter fitting, which can be used with other lifters, for raising modular partitions or modular panels with electrical raceway systems at the bottom of the partition or panel, for the purpose of installing a floor covering, making floor repairs, removing and installing carpeting, leveling partitions or panels on uneven floors or reconfiguring the panels.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Wall structures formed from a plurality of prefabricated panels are used extensively in commercial and industrial buildings for dividing interior regions of the building into smaller working spaces. Such structures have proven particularly effective in creating a sense of place which is very important to people, while additionally minimizing noise.
When the carpeting under a modular system wears out or when it necessary to make floor repairs, level the partitions or panels on uneven floors or to reconfigure the panels, the modular furniture must be disassembled. This is an expensive and disruptive procedure as each desk and work area must be cleared of all business supplies and personal items. Computer, telephone, telex and other communication systems must be disconnected and all equipment removed. Each desk, bookshelf, or accessory must be removed from the furniture panels and the panels then disassembled.
In order to avoid the expense and disruption in disassembling modular furniture, there have been several types of lifting devices for raising and lowering the panels so that the floor or the panels can be worked on. Insofar as known, there is no tool that adequately addresses the problem of safely raising panels with an electrical raceway along the bottom edge. The modular panels manufactured and sold by Haworth, Inc. of Holland, Mich. are electrically prewired with electrical power blocks disposed adjacent opposite corners of the panel. The power blocks are interconnected by suitable wires or cables which extend through a channel, called a POWER BASE.TM. raceway, fixed to the lower edge of the panel. The raceway is particularly sensitive to lifting. Lifting at the panel channel supports is not possible, because the panel track is independent of the panels themselves. The track slides down and hooks into holes on the panel and lifting from the track will only dislodge the track from the hooks thereby lifting the track but not the panels, which may disconnect or short out the electrical system. What is needed is a special electrical adapter fitting that allows the panel to be lifted along the raceway without damaging the electrical connections.
Some panel systems, such as those sold by Steelcase, Inc. of Grand Rapids, Mich., have strips with slots upon which desks, bookshelves or accessories are hung and by which the panels can be lifted. In U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,261,643 and 5,385,335 to Wurdack, a method for lifting a panel with a rachet jack is described. The method makes use of a special three-fingered adapter that mates with the slots and is useful only with panels having such slots. The jacking mechanism, which was originally designed for use as a car jack, works on a rachet with a long leverage bar, giving the panel a shake with each click as the panel is lifted and raised. In addition, it is not always easy to find a location along a panel where there is enough space to use the long leverage bar without removing something from the panel.
In some modular panel configurations, a panel joins three or four other panels to form neighboring offices separated by common walls. Because of the weight of the desks, bookshelves and accessories hanging on the panels, it is necessary to apply a lifting force on more than one panel at such a corner to avoid undue torque and stress. With a crowbar or even a jack such as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,261,643 and 5,385,335, it is very difficult to apply an equal force on the panels in the corners.


A recording apparatus and method wherein a plurality of LEDs record pixel information on an electrophotographic recording medium. The LEDs are driven by a grey level driver to control the size of each pixel. The location of a pixel is controlled during a main line recording period to shift the pixel's centroid or center. Where a pixel is located at an edge or border of a text-like structure and its centroid is shifted to reduce edge raggedness, an exposure duration of the LED is increased to compensate for overlap with pixels that are within the text-like structure.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to non-impact printing apparatus and method for recording using printheads having a plurality of recording elements such as light-emitting diodes (LEDs) or the like.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
In electrophotographic recorders using a fixed sized dot low resolution output printer, the smoothness of text and line graphics suffers due to line raggedness of near vertical and near horizontal lines. To reduce the "scalloped" effect on the near vertical and horizontal lines, one can increase the printing resolution (or dpi) of the writing system (but typically this entails much higher costs). Another way to do this is to use multiple dot sizes that can be done with a grey level LED printhead either via multi-bit pulsewidth modulation (PWM) methods such as proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,750,010 or binary multiple address printing methods such as proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,138,337. But there is a limit on the dot size variation (dynamic range between maximum and minimum size) due to exposure emitter size constraints, MTF of the lens and the toner's capability to carry a very small dot by itself. Therefore, it is desirable to be able to shift the centroids of the exposure dots or pixels so that smaller size dots can be placed closer to other larger dots for process stability reasons. Also, one can get a better dot edge placement at the same time. One way to do this is to use multiple address printing methods in either a binary printhead or just a regular multiple-bit printhead running in the multiple address mode; see for example U.S. Pat. No. 5,025,322. Since the data for every sub-line has to be reloaded in the multiple address mode, the printing speed of the system is usually slower. One can speed that up with multiple input data lines, but cost and the size of the system goes up significantly. Therefore, it is desirable and an object of the invention to provide a printer apparatus and method that is adapted to record multiple dot sizes, have centroid shift capability to enhance rendition and have a faster data loading capability for use with higher speed recording systems.

Electrophotographic recording with multiple-bit grey level LED printhead with enhanced addressability


A mud flap for land vehicles, comprising at least one drive element (4) cooperating with the mud flap (1) for pivoting thereof to a desired position around the vehicle wheel.

Mudguards are arranged over the wheels of vehicles for preventing wheel-thrown mud or water from splashing onto the interior and partly the exterior of the chassis, while the respective land vehicle is driven on wet or muddy road surfaces. A mudguard has typically a half crescent form, and is assembled to the vehicle chassis, which remains above the wheel.
Most mudguards are not quite efficient in preventing from splashing mud to lateral surfaces of a motor vehicle when same is driven on watery road surfaces.
Use of mud flaps mounted to the chassis at the back of wheels substantially vertical to the ground is known for preventing the splashing of mud onto the chassis of a vehicle.
Since such mud flaps were fixed to the chassis of a vehicle, their use has been abandoned in modern vehicles as the existence (permanently) of mud flaps have not been found by users eye-pleasing. However, the problem of splashing of mud onto the chassis of a vehicle while the same is driven on watery or muddy roads maintain its presence, as has been in the past.


The subject invention pertains to a method and apparatus for lightning protection for a vessel or structure operated on a fluid such as water. In a specific embodiment, a sailboat mast or lightning rod collects the lightning charge and a flexible conductive wire is attached to the mast or lightning rod which goes over the side of the vessel. A grounding electrode has buoyancy so that the grounding electrode is substantially kept at the water surface. The grounding electrode and buoyancy may also serve to allow the grounding electrode to hydrodynamic plane at the water surface when moving through the water. The buoyancy place's portions of the grounding electrode both above or below the water line and the buoyancy keeps the electrode substantially positioned with respect to the water surface even if the vessel or structure is heeled.

Most lightning protection systems for water-based vessels are intended to provide a continuous conducting path from the point of the lightning attachment into the water to minimize damage to the hull, crew and electronics. A typical marine lightning protection system consists of one or more air terminal, one or more down conductors and one or more grounding conductors. The down conductors and grounding conductors must be of sufficiently low inductance and impedance as to prevent voltage potential from building on components of the system such as the air terminal. A voltage potential buildup could result in an uncontrolled ionization discharge from the air terminal or components of the air terminal to the water surface. The grounding terminal electrode should minimize impedance and voltage potential drop to the earth ground.

Buoyant grounding terminal electrode apparatus for lightning protection


Methods and apparatus for classifying or predicting the classes for samples based on gene expression are described. Also described are methods and apparatus for ascertaining or discovering new, previously unknown classes based on gene expression.

Classification of biological samples from individuals is not an exact science. In many instances, accurate diagnosis and safe and effective treatment of a disorder depends on being able to discern biological distinctions among morphologically similar samples, such as tumor samples. The classification of a sample from an individual into particular disease classes has typically been difficult and often incorrect or inconclusive. Using traditional methods, such as histochemical analyses, immunophenotyping and cytogenetic analyses, often only one or two characteristics of the sample are analyzed to determine the sample's classification, resulting in inconsistent and sometimes inaccurate results. Such results can lead to incorrect diagnoses and potentially ineffective or harmful treatment.
For example, acute leukemia was first successfully treated by Farber and colleagues in the 1940's, and it was recognized that treatment responses were variable (Farber, et al, NEJM 238:787–793 (1948)). Subtle differences in nuclear shape and granularity were suggestive of distinct subtypes of acute leukemia, but such morphological distinctions were difficult to reproduce (C. E. Forkner, Leukemia and Allied Disorders, (New York, Macmillan) (1938); E. Frei et al., Blood 18:431–54 (1961); Medical Research Council, Br Med J 1:7–14 (1963)). By the 1960s, these distinctions were further strengthened by enzyme-based histochemical analyses which demonstrated that some leukemias were periodic-acid-schiff (PAS) positive, whereas others were myeloperoxidase positive. This was the basis of the first attempts to classify the acute leukemias into those arising from lymphoid precursors (acute lymphoblastic leukemia, ALL) and those arising from myeloid precursors (acute myeloid leukemia, AML). This classification was further solidified by the development in the 1970s of antibodies recognizing either lymphoid or myeloid cell surface molecules. Most recently, particular subtypes of acute leukemia have been found to be associated with specific chromosomal translocations; for example, the t(12;21)(p13;q22) translocation occurs in 25% of patients with ALL, whereas the t(8;21)(q22;q22) occurs in 15% of patients with AML.
No single test is currently sufficient to establish the diagnosis of AML vs. ALL. Rather, current clinical practice involves an experienced hematopathologist's interpretation of the tumor's morphology, histochemistry, immunophenotyping and cytogenetic analysis, each of which is performed in a separate, highly specialized laboratory. Correct distinction of ALL from AML is critical for successful treatment: chemotherapy regimens for ALL generally contain corticosteroids, vincristine, methotrexate, and L-asparaginase, whereas most AML regimens rely on a backbone of daunorubicin and cytarabine. While remissions can be achieved using ALL therapy for AML (and vice versa), cure rates are markedly diminished, and unwarranted toxicities are encountered. Thus, the ability to accurately classify a biological sample as an AML sample or an ALL sample is quite important.
Furthermore, important biological distinctions are likely to exist which have yet to be identified due to the lack of systematic and unbiased approaches for identifying or recognizing such classes. Thus, a need exists for an accurate and efficient method for identifying biological classes and classifying samples.

Methods for classifying samples and ascertaining previously unknown classes

Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research


Disclosed herein is a filler metal for joining (mainly by high energy density beam welding) a part of porous sintered material to a part of the same material or steel, which gives rise to a weld zone free of such defects as cold cracking and blowholes.. The filler metal contains, by weight, at least one selected from the group consisting of Cr, Mo, and Si and at least one selected from the group consisting of Ni, C, and Mn in an amount specified by the equations below EQU Y .gtoreq.-(1/3)X +23 and Y .gtoreq.12. where. X =Cr(%) +Mo(%) +1.5 Si(%) PA1 Y =1.2 Ni(%) +20 C(%) +0.8 Mn(%). and at least one selected from the group consisting of Al, Ti, Zr, and V in a total amount of 0.3-5%, with the balance being Fe and inevitable impurities. The filler metal may be in the form of solid wire or cored wire. The filler metal for arc welding has a composition defined by Y .gtoreq.-(1/3)X +18 and Y .gtoreq.7.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a filler metal to be used for welding a part of porous sintered material to a part of the same material or steel in the assembling of automotive transmission systems.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The joining of steel to steel is accomplished mostly by arc welding or high energy density beam welding (such as electron beam welding and laser beam welding) These welding techniques, however, cannot be applied to sintered materials, because sintered materials contain pores, which, during welding, form large blowholes in the weld metal, resulting in insufficient weld strength There have been proposed several methods for joining sintered materials but they suffer from their respective disadvantages as follows.
(1) Joining by brazing
This involves difficulties in selecting brazing filler metals and establishing adequate brazing conditions and also presents problems associated with the wettability of brazing filler metal. With excess wettability, the brazing filler metal is absorbed by pores of base materials, resulting in a shortage of brazing filler metal on the joint interface. With poor wettability, the brazing filler metal does not achieve good joining of sintered materials, particularly those of medium and high carbon contents. In addition, brazing tends to grow pores near the joint interface, which is detrimental to uniform strength.
(2) Joining by shrinkage fit or expansion fit
This is accomplished during or after sintering by utilizing the difference of two parts in their coefficient of linear expansion. A joint by this method tends to lose its strength with time in some environment.
(3) Joining by infiltration
This joining method is by melting an infiltration material (such as copper) placed between two parts, thereby filling it into pores in the joint surface. Since the bond strength depends on the infiltration material, the joint strength is much lower than that of the base material. Fundamentally, this method cannot be applied to the joining of a part of steel to a part of sintered material.
(4) Joining by high energy density beam welding after infiltration
This joining method is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 160185/1990. According to this method, the beam welding is performed after the filling of pores with an infiltration material, which prevents the occurrence of blowholes. However, the beam welding with rapid cooling brings about transformation cracking and cold cracking when applied to sintered materials incorporated with 0.4-1% carbon for reinforcement. In addition, the infiltration material, which is usually copper, increases the copper content in the weld metal. This copper in conjunction with sulfur originating from the base metal makes the weld metal highly susceptible to hot cracking. Consisting of two steps of infiltration and beam welding, this method is poor in productivity.
(5) Joining by high energy density beam welding which employs a high-manganese filler material
This joining method was proposed by the present inventors. It is by high energy density beam welding which employs a high-manganese filler material incorporated with aluminum and titanium. It is free of all the shortcomings involved in the joining of sintered materials. The only one problem is that the weld metal is hard and poor in toughness because it is composed of Fe, C, and Mn.
As mentioned above, the conventional joining method and filler material are liable to give rise to several defects and poor in productivity and they do not provide sufficient joint strength and toughness. At present, there are no joining methods and filler materials which meet all the requirements.
If the above-mentioned high energy density beam welding can be applied to the joining of a part of porous sintered material to a part of the same material or steel, it would be advantageous in penetration depth, productivity, and strain. Unfortunately, defects such as cold cracking due to carbon and blowholes due to pores are inevitable in the joining of sintered materials, because sintered materials are porous and usually contain a considerable amount of carbon. (Small hot cracks are permissible, but large ones should be avoided.) For the beam welding to be of practical use in the field where high productivity is important, it is necessary that it does not give rise to cold cracking and blowholes but invariably provides joints of adequate strength.

Filler metal for welding sintered materials


A light amount correcting method for a light emitting apparatus having a plurality of light emitting devices, includes: measuring light amount values of a plurality of the light emitting devices; extracting high frequency components from the measured light amount values; extracting low frequency components from the measured light amount values; calculating a first correction value for correcting a light amount value of a first light emitting device on the basis of the high frequency components; and correcting a second correction value for correcting the light amount value of the first light emitting device on the basis of the low frequency components; and correcting a light amount value of a second light emitting device such that it is included in both of the first allowable range and the second allowable range.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a light amount correcting method for a light emitting apparatus, an image forming apparatus, and a display apparatus
2. Related Art
An image forming apparatus such as a copier using line heads constructed by arraying a plurality of light emitting devices in a line as exposure units has been developed. With respect to the image forming apparatus, there has been proposed a technique for suppressing occurrence of a change in brightness caused from deterioration in characteristics of the light emitting devices or a variation of brightness caused from deterioration of lightening over the entire heads.
In order to solve the problem, a technique for measuring a variation in light amount and adjusting voltages, current, and light emitting time for pixels so as for the light amounts to be uniform is disclosed in, for example, JP-A-59-194566. On the other hand, a technique for detecting light amounts with optical sensors and correcting the light amounts based on the detected light amount values is disclosed in, for example, JP-A-60-107373. In addition, a technique for counting light emitting times for the pixels with a counter and correcting the light amount based on the counted light emitting times is disclosed in JP-A-62-246753.
However, in tone technique disclosed in JP-A-59-94566, the light amount correction value for a pixel having a small light amount greatly increases so as for the light amount to be uniform in comparison with a pixel having a large light amount. Therefore, the deterioration of the pixel becomes as large as the correction value. In addition, since a large number of bits of the correction value are required so as for the light amount to be uniform, a size of a circuit becomes large. On the other hand, in the technique disclosed in JP-A-60-107373, since the light sensor is provided to each of the pixels, production cost increases. In the technique disclosed in JP-A-62-246753, since the counter is provided to each of the pixels, production cost also increases.

Light amount correcting method for light emitting apparatus, image forming apparatus, and display apparatus


Amide-functional polymers, and compositions including such polymers, are disclosed. The compositions, which optionally may be hardenable, are useful for treating a surface.

Thermally reversible gel compositions including a thermally responsive viscosity modifier are useful for applications in environments where the temperature is generally higher than the ambient or pre-treatment temperature of the composition. Such compositions can be of low viscosity at ambient temperature, but substantially increase in viscosity or thicken to a thickened, semi-solid, or gel-like composition in the higher temperature environment (e.g., an oral environment). Known thermally reversible compositions include, for example, a poly(oxyalkylene) as a thermally responsive viscosity modifier.
What is needed are non-poly(oxyalkylene)-based polymers that may preferably be useful as thermally responsive viscosity modifiers in thermally responsive compositions.

Amide-functional polymers, compositions, and methods


A system and method for verifying the existence of a deposit account, such as a checking account, are provided. The system and method may also be used to determine whether the deposit account is configured to receive automatic transactions for withdrawal. For example, a lender may extend an offer of credit to a borrower where payments of principal and interest are to be made by automatic withdrawals. Prior to transferring the principal, the lender verifies the existence and configuration of the borrower's deposit account by charging a fee to establish the line of credit and retrieving the fee by automatic withdrawal. Once the transaction clears and the lender receives the fee, the lender is assured that the account does exist and is configured to receive automatic transactions. Two exemplary methods of retrieving the fee are electronic funds transfer and remote creation of a paper negotiable instrument.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally a method and system for verifying the configuration of a financial account, and more specifically to a method and system for verifying that an account exists, along with verifying that a positive balance is present in the account, and that the account is configured to be compatible with automatic transactions.
2. Background Art
With the advent of technology, transactions involving an exchange of money are becoming faster and faster. Not too long ago, the process of paying the telephone bill was time consuming and involved a lot of paper. For instance, a person might first receive a physical paycheck from his employer. He would then physically go to the bank, to deposit the paycheck in his checking account. Once the physical paycheck proceeded through the check clearing system, the funds would be credited to the person's account. With the funds securely in his checking account, the person would then physically write a check to the telephone company and mail it. The telephone company would then physically go to the bank, deposit the check and so forth. The entire process may take ten days or more to complete.
With new technologies, this "revenue cycle" may be reduced to a day or two. For example, commonly assigned, copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/415,645, entitled "Method and System for Extending Credit with Automated Repayment", teaches a system and method with which a lender may extend a line of credit to a borrower wherein payments of principal and interest are made by recurring automatic withdrawals. With such a system, the borrower is relieved of having to remember to send in payments as the creditor—with the borrower's permission—automatically withdraws payments at periodic intervals.
With such a line of credit, the lender may not receive a physical check from the borrower. Instead, the lender receives perhaps a routing number for the borrower's financial institution and a bank account number. With these numbers, the lender is able to execute the recurring automatic withdrawals, but only if the account is configured to receive such transactions. To be successful in completing the recurring automatic withdrawals, the lender needs a way to verify that an account corresponding to the borrower's information is in existence, and that it is configured to receive such transactions. One method of verifying these elements is to physically telephone the borrower's financial institution to confirm that the account and routing numbers are accurate, and to determine the configuration of the account. There are two problems with this method, however. First, the borrower must provide additional information to the lender, including financial institution telephone number, address, correspondence contact, etc. Second, the process of physically calling each financial institution of each applicant is burdensomely time consuming and cost prohibitive.
There is thus a need for an improved method and system for determining the existence or configuration of a financial account.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.

Method and system for account verification

Compucredit Intellectual Property Holdings Corp. II


There is provided a bisazo compound which is useful as a reactive dye for dyeing or printing a fiber material in an orange to scarlet or red color; the bisazo compound being represented by the following formula (1): ##STR1## wherein m and n represents 0 or 1; W represents a divalent connecting group represented by --NH-- or --NHCONH--;. D.sup.1 and D.sup.2 represent a group represented by the following formula (2a), (2b), (2c) or (2d) ##STR2## wherein Y represents --CH.dbd.CH.sub.2 or --CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 L, in which L represents a group eliminatable by the action of an alkali.

The present invention relates to a fiber-reactive bisazo compound and a method for dyeing or printing a fiber material using the compound.
Hitherto, various reactive dyes have been widely used in the field of dyeing and printing of fiber materials. For example, monoazo reactive dyes having a vinylsulfone-type reactive group are known (JP-B-60-36515, etc.).


This disclosure concerns methods for transmitting a signal in an optical system. In one example, the method begins when an optical signal is generated. Then, the optical signal is manipulated such that the optical signal defines a substantially annular intensity profile, where power of the optical signal varies in the intensity profile. Finally, the optical signal is launched into an input face of an optical fiber such that a predetermined part of the intensity profile of the optical signal is located proximate an optical axis associated with the optical fiber.

The present invention pertains to optical transmission of signals and more particularly to high speed light signal transmission in optical fibers.
Achieving a high gigahertz bit per second data rate in an optical fiber system is difficult and requires careful control of intensity distribution of light signals at the input face of the optical fiber in the system.

Methods for signal transmission in optical fiber


Electron beam sterilization equipment includes an outer-surface sterilization zone Z2 for sterilizing the outer surface of a container B by emitting electron beams when the container B is transported along circular paths L1 and L2; and an inner-surface sterilization zone Z3 for sterilizing the inner surface of the container B. An electron beam irradiator E1 is located near the upstream side of a 1-2 joint J1-2 of the circular paths L1 and L2 disposed in the outer-surface sterilization zone Z2, and a electron beam irradiator E2 is located near the downstream side of the joint. Thus, the electron beam irradiator E1 and the electron beam irradiator E2 are brought close to each other so as to sequentially sterilize the one half outer surfaces and the other half outer surface of the container B.

When electron beams (cathode rays) emitted for sterilizing cellular microorganisms (hereinafter referred to as a contaminant) collide with metallic shields (containing lead) disposed as shields, the electron beams are attenuated and then are reflected and diffracted as X-rays in a widely diffused state. For example, if electron beams collide with the shield three or four times, although depending on the intensity thereof, X-rays can be attenuated to a degree of intensity that does not affect a human body.
The intensity of electron beams passing through a plastic container may be increased to simultaneously sterilize the inner surface and the outer surface of the container. As the intensity of electron beams increases, the material may be changed in quality, colored, deformed, or caused to give off an odor. Thus, the use of an electron-beam deflector has been proposed such that the deflected electron beams are introduced to the inner surface of a container through the inlet to simultaneously sterilize the inner and outer surfaces of the container. However, the introduction of sufficient electron beams to the inner surface of the container cannot be expected.
In recent years, for example, patent literature 1 is proposed as a technique of sterilizing the inner surface of a container with an electron beam irradiation nozzle inserted into the inlet of the container. Patent literature 2 proposes the layout of an electron beam irradiation nozzle for sterilizing an inner surface and an electron beam irradiator for sterilizing an outer surface.

Electron beam sterilization equipment for containers that uses revolving transport device


A vibratory conveyor has a bed or trough that carries the workpieces, and supported above a base plate. A vibratory motor employs linear bearing to provide vibratory that is kept in the plane of the conveyor bed. A directional fabric material lying on the trough is smooth or slippery in one direction but grips the workpieces in the opposite direction. The vibratory motor keeps the motion in the back and forth direction, with almost no vertical component, for quieter operation and without shaking that can damage delicate workpieces. The direction of motion can be selected by orienting the fabric.

This invention concerns vibratory conveyors, which may be used for conveying articles or parts from one location to another, or as a parts feeder for bringing articles or parts to a given process step, or as an orientation device for orienting parts so that a process step may be carried out more efficiently.
The invention is more concerned with devices which use vibration to convey and/or orient parts on a reciprocating trough or platform.
In vibratory conveyors, there is a bed or trough that carries the workpieces, a vibratory motor that provides vibratory motion. Conventional unidirectional vibratory drive motors produce a jumpy or jerky motion with a significant vertical component. These miss out on the advantages possible with a more-or-less harmonic vibratory motion, where motion is confined to the horizontal plane, i.e., the plane of the conveyor bed.
Vibratory feeders have been used for many years and there are many different methods used to impart the vibration that leads to workpiece movement and orientation. These methods involve movement in two directions in respect to the conveyor trough: typically with both a longitudinal component and a vertical component, or a longitudinal component and a horizontal component. In either case, there is a jerky ratcheting motion, with the workpieces being thrown forward and upward or forward and sideways by the reciprocating trough for moving the parts with each vibration. These systems are loud and somewhat inefficient, and produce shaking which limits their usefulness to handling of tough durable workpieces.
Previously, vibratory motors for these conveyors have been unable to provide motion only in a back and forth direction, or to provide the vibrations without the rough shaking and jerking that can damage the more delicate parts and components on the assembly line.

Vibratory conveyor with non-biased oscillation


The present invention provides a process for the synthesis of an .alpha.,.beta.-unsaturated ester from a mono-olefin-ester using Fe(CO).sub.5.

The isomerization of olefins is catalyzed by a variety of agents including bases, acids, and a plethora of transition metal complexes. These catalysts yield a thermodynamic mixture of isomeric olefins if the isomerizations are allowed to proceed to equilibrium. Non-thermodynamic distributions of products are obtained if equilibrium is not achieved, but it is rare that olefin isomerization leads to high yields of one isomer unless it is highly favored thermodynamically.
As there is considerable commercial interest in transformations of olefin-esters to their .alpha.,.beta.-unsaturated esters, particularly the transformation of esters of oleic acid, it would be highly desirable to perform the isomerization in Equation 1. ##STR1##
This is a particularly challenging isomerization because of the many olefin isomers that are possible within the seventeen-carbon hydrocarbon chain. Because none of these isomers is highly favored thermodynamically, the .alpha.,.beta.-unsaturated ester isomer has been prepared by very elaborate methods. See, for example, Howton, Org. Prep. Proc. lnt., 6, 175, 1974; Barve et al., Chem. Phys. Lipids, 7, 311, 1971, Grimmer et al., Lieb. Annt. Chem., 685, 154, 1965; and Palameta et al., Tetrahedron, 19, 1463, 1963. A less complex method for such syntheses would be highly desirable. A less complex method that would promote the isomerization in Equation 1 could presumably also be used for the isomerization of other mono-ene esters to .alpha.,.beta.-unsaturated esters. Such reactive products would be useful intermediates for the synthesis of other new compounds.
Iron carbonyls have been used extensively as catalysts for the isomerization of olefins. For example, 1-pentene isomerizes to give an equilibrium mixture of cis-2-pentene (21%) and trans-2-pentene (76%) in the presence of Fe(CO).sub.5 in C.sub.6 H.sub.6 solvent under ultraviolet photolysis (Schroeder et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 98, 551, 1976). The same product distribution is obtained when Fe(CO).sub.3 (cis-cyclooctene).sub.2 catalyzes 1-pentene isomerization without photolysis (Fleckner et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 106, 2027, 1984). A mixture of isomers is obtained from the Fe.sub.3 (CO).sub.12 -catalyzed isomerizations of n-hexenes, n-pentenes, and methyl-1-pentenes under reflux (Manuel et al., J. Org. Chem., 27, 3941, 1962). Similarly, Fe(CO).sub.5 catalyzes the isomerization of n-alkenyl- and cyclohexenylcarboxylate esters and ethers to a mixture of isomers when refluxed (125.degree.-150.degree. C.) in hydrocarbon solvents or photolyzed at 20.degree. C. (Damico, J. Org. Chem., 33, 1550, 1968). Methyl oleate itself has been reported to give a very complex mixture of olefin isomers when heated at 185.degree. C. with Fe(CO).sub.5 ; however, in this mixture the amount of the .alpha.,.beta.-ester isomer was too small to be detected (Frankel et al., J. Am. Oil Chem. Soc., 43, 307, 1966).
Not only do the iron carbonyls catalyze olefin isomerization but there is evidence that under the proper conditions they might weakly stabilize the .alpha.,.beta.-ester isomer (Equation 1) by coordinating it as an .eta..sup.4 -oxadiene to Fe(CO).sub.3 as in A. ##STR2## Isolable Fe(CO).sub.3 complexes of .eta..sup.4 .alpha.,.beta.-unsaturated aldehydes (RCH.dbd.CH--C(.dbd.O)H), ketones (RCH.dbd.CH--C(.dbd.O)R') and imines (RCH.dbd.CH--C(.dbd.NR')H) are well known. The olefin-esters, .eta..sup.4 methyl acrylate and methyl trans-crotonate, also form .eta..sup.4 complexes, Fe(CO).sub.3 (.eta..sup.4 -H.sub.2 C.dbd.CHCO.sub.2 Me) and Fe(CO).sub.3 (.eta..sup.4 -CH.sub.3 CH.dbd.CHCO.sub.2 Me), that have been detected in ultraviolet-irradiated, low temperature matrices (10-12 K) containing Fe(CO).sub.5 and the .alpha.,.beta.-unsaturated esters. Even at -5.degree. C., Fe(CO).sub.3 (.eta..sup.4 -H.sub.2 C.dbd.CHCO.sub.2 Me) has been observed in n-hexane where it is in equilibrium with Fe(CO).sub.3 (.eta..sup.2 -H.sub.2 C.dbd.CHCO.sub.2 Me).sub.2, whose concentration depends on the concentrations of the complex and added methyl acrylate.
Although such studies suggest that it may be possible to stabilize the .alpha.,.beta.-ester isomer of methyl oleate by .eta..sup.4 coordination to Fe(CO).sub.3 if the complex (of type A) is produced at relatively low temperatures, this would mean that Fe(CO).sub.5 must catalyze the isomerization at low temperature. However, Fe(CO).sub.5 is known to be inactive as an olefin isomerization catalyst at low temperatures (e.g., at temperatures below about 0.degree. C. Furthermore, although at high temperatures (e.g., at temperatures greater than about 125.degree. C.), Fe(CO).sub.5 is an olefin isomerization catalyst, the .alpha.,.beta.-ester isomer cannot be stabilized by .eta.4 coordination to Fe(CO).sub.3 because the complex of type A is not stable at such high temperatures.

Process for the synthesis of .alpha., .beta.-unsaturated esters

Iowa State University Research Foundation, Inc.


A method is disclosed of forming a bonding pad that is immune to IMD cracking. A partially processes semiconductor wafer is provided having all metal levels completed. A blanket dielectric layer is formed over the uppermost metal level. Patterning and etching said dielectric layer horizontal and vertical arrays of trenches are formed passing through the dielectric layer and separating the dielectric layer into cells. The trenches are filled with a conducting material and, after performing CMP, bonding metal patterns are deposited. Wires are bonded onto said bonding metal patters, after which a passivation layer is formed.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to semiconductor integrated circuit processing and more particularly to contact pad structures that resist intermetal dielectric cracking.
(2) Description of Prior Art
Bonding pads are the interfaces between the integrated circuits contained in semiconductor chips and the chip package. A large number of bonding pads is required to transmit power, ground and impute/output signals to the chip devices. It is thus important that the bonding pad yield be sufficiently high to ensure a high per chip yield.
The general bonding pad structure consists of metal layers, emanating from the terminals of the chip devices, separated by intermetal dielectric (IMD) layers that are often silicon oxide. Metal vias, W is often used, pass through the IMD layers connecting the metal layers. Wires are bonded to a bonding metal pattern and to the chip package forming electrical connections between the chip and the package. A passivation layer covers the surface, except over the bonding sites, to seal the chip from contaminants and for scratch protection.
One mode of failure of the bonding pad relates to the peeling of the wire from the metal pattern due to forces exerted especially during the bonding process. This has been addressed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,002,179 to Chan et al., who teach a bonding pad structure with increased peeling resistance and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,731,243 to Peng et al., who show a cleaning method to ensure contamination free bonding. Another failure mode that has been observed relates to bonding pad peel back, where forces during wire bonding may cause a delaminating of one or more of the underlying layers. Bonding pad structures that resist bond pad peeling have been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,025,277 to Chen et al. and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,707,894 to Hsiao.
Another failure mode involves cracking of the IMD. Referring to FIGS. 1a, 1b, and 1c, there is shown conventional via hole arrays. Regions 10 are IMD oxide layers, and regions 12 are metal filled via holes passing through the IMD. Cracks that are observed in the IMD are similar to that depicted in FIG. 2. These are cracks that propagate along the IMD layer avoiding the metal of the vias. Once a small crack is initiated it will, under stresses prevalent in the layer during processing, grow extensively. Approaches to alleviate this cracking of the IMD focus on producing IMD layers with low residual stress. Composite silicon oxide layers serve this purpose and are used, such as HDP plus PETEOS layers. However, even with composite silicon oxide layers to reduce stress, the IMD layer is not strong enough to withstand stresses encountered during chip packaging and IMD cracking is still observed.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Bonding pad structure to minimize IMD cracking


Disclosed herein is a canal type earphone with a pressure equilibrium means, capable of eliminating a pressure difference between a user's external auditory meatus and an outside during wearing of the canal type earphone. A pressure equilibrium means includes a side air passage through which air within a tube or air within a speaker unit in the canal type earphone is discharged to a side surface of a gasket or a side surface of the speaker unit, and a rear air passage through which air in the side surface of the speaker unit is discharged to the rear of the speaker unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a canal type earphone, and more particularly to a canal type earphone with a pressure equilibrium means, capable of eliminating a pressure difference between a user's external auditory meatus and an outside during wearing of the canal type earphone.
2. Description of the Related Art
A canal type earphone is a type of a speaker converting electric energy into acoustic energy, and enables listening by transferring vibration to an eardrum of an ear instead of emitting sound into a space.
The canal type earphone is put in a user's ear and enables speaker sound to be directly transferred into the user's ear. Since the canal type earphone enables listening to sound even at small output and rarely causes discomfort to those around a user in the course of listening, it is widely used for audio equipment such as a mobile phone and an MP3 player.
Earphones may be mainly classified into an open type earphone and a canal type earphone according to a method of wearing them on the ear. The open type earphone is adapted to wear the earphone as if to put it on an ear, and deteriorates sound insulation due to generation of a space therebetween since people have different ear shapes. On the other hand, the canal type earphone is adapted to insert the earphone into a user's ear, and uses earpieces (tips) having various sizes. Accordingly, the canal type earphone is wearable and has excellent sound insulation, compared to the open type earphone.
Although the canal type earphone is suitable to be used in a noisy place because of having excellent sound insulation, there is a problem in that a differential pressure may be generated due to a complete blockage between a user's external auditory meatus and an outside.
FIG. 1 shows an example of a conventional canal type earphone 1. As shown in the drawing, the canal type earphone includes a speaker unit 10, a housing 20 receiving the speaker unit 10, and an earpiece 23 installed on an outer surface of a cylindrical tube 25 which is integrally formed at the front of the housing 20.
The housing 20 defines a space for receiving the speaker unit 10, and is divided into a first housing 11a and a second housing 11b so as to easily mount the speaker unit 10. The tube 25 is integrally formed on a front surface of a first housing 11 so as to emit sound emitted from the speaker unit 10 into a user's ear. The tube 25 has a cylindrical shape and the earpiece 23 is fitted on an outer surface of the tube 25.
The earpiece 23 is made of a soft material such as silicon, and is formed of a shape and size corresponding to a user's external auditory meatus. The earpiece 23 is inserted into the user's external auditory meatus, thereby preventing sound emitted from the speaker unit 10 from leaking to the outside or preventing external noise from being transferred into the user's ear.
As shown in FIG. 2, when a user inserts the canal type earphone 1 into a user's external auditory meatus 2, the user's external auditory meatus 2 is completely blocked from the outside by the earpiece 23 installed to the canal type earphone 1. When the speaker unit 10 vibrates in a state in which air within the user's external auditory meatus may not be discharged to the outside, a pressure in the external auditory meatus is gradually increased so that a pressure difference is generated between the inside of the external auditory meatus and outdoor air.
As such, when a pressure difference is generated between the external auditory meatus and the outside, an eardrum 3 inside the external auditory meatus 2 is pressurized. For this reason, a user may not properly listen to sound emitted from the speaker unit 10, and a user's eardrum is also damaged in severe cases.
To solve these problems, the conventional canal type earphone has a vent groove g formed on an inside surface of the earpiece 23 coupled to the tube 25 or a vent hole h formed on the tube coupled with the earpiece, as shown in FIG. 1. Consequently, it may be possible to prevent generation of a differential pressure by discharging air within the external auditory meatus to the outside through the vent groove g or the vent hole h.
However, when the vent groove g is formed between the earpiece and the housing or the vent hole h is formed on the tube wrapped by the earpiece as in the related art, there is a problem in that the vent groove g or the vent hole h may be closed by the earpiece or the external auditory meatus when the earpiece is inserted into the external auditory meatus.
In addition, since the conventional vent groove g or the conventional vent hole h has a very short length for air passage and air within the tube is immediately discharged to the outside, there is a problem in that it is difficult to minutely adjust a discharge amount of air.    [Patent Document] Korean Patent Publication No. 10-0633050 (canal type earphone)

Canal type earphone with pressure equilibrium means


A battery terminal post connector in one embodiment includes a spring that urges a lower body towards an upper body when a battery terminal post is disposed therebetween. The urging of the spring causes an electrical connection between the connector and the post. A protective housing protects the connector and the battery terminal post. In another embodiment, a pair of springs are used to create a spring biased connection between lower and upper bodies and a battery terminal post. Thus, in both embodiments, a quick connect/quick disconnect function is achieved for each of the two connectors with respect to each associated battery terminal.

1. Field of Invention:
This invention is in the general field of connectors for electrical equipment and methods therefor and, more particularly, is an improved method and apparatus for providing a quick connect/quick disconnect between a connector and a terminal of a battery and also a protective case for protecting the terminals and the quick connect/quick disconnect connector to the terminal.
2. Description of the Prior Art:
A storage battery is, for example, used in a motor vehicle for providing electrical power to operate a starter, operate electric door locks, open and close electrically operated windows, operate a cigar lighter, operate stereo equipment and operate other types of electrical equipment. The battery is typically mounted near the engine of the vehicle. The electric power is provided via battery cables that are connected to terminal posts of the battery.
Usually, a flexible metal terminal post connector is bolted onto a terminal post. A bare electrical end of an insulation coated battery cable is connected to the connector. Since the connector is metal, an electrically conductive path is provided from the post to the cable through the connector. The use of the bolt is essential to maintaining a reliable electrical connection between the cable and the post. Because of the use of the bolt, the connector does not have a quick connect/quick disconnect feature whereby the connector can be easily and reliably connected to or removed from the post.
Another problem associated with connectors for a battery terminal or post is that corrosion between the battery terminal or post could and would create, in effect, an electrical open between the battery terminal or post and the connector mechanically connected thereto. In order to remove this corrosion which often resulted in the creation of a non-conductive layer between the battery terminal or post and the connector, it was necessary to separate the two items, namely, the battery terminal or post and the connector and to clean or scrape off the non-conductive corrosion layer that usually formed on both the contacting regions of the battery terminal or post and the connector. This cleaning or scraping process was not only time consuming, but it was also a somewhat difficult process which often resulted in only a temporary fix of the problem which problem often came back quickly because of the failure to remove all of the corrosive material.
As a result, various battery caps were developed such as the type shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,432,026 to Cox, U.S. Pat. No. 5,403,678 to Fields, U.S. Pat. No. 5,346,782 to Julian, U.S. Pat. No. 5,021,306 to Turner and U.S. Pat. No. 5,016,643 to English. U.S. Pat. No. 4,698,469 to Drake is directed to a case to protect the electrical connection between the battery terminal post and the end of a battery cable (connector) that was attached to the post.
None of these prior art patents disclosed the combination of a quick attach or connect/quick detach or disconnect battery terminal post connector that is enclosed within protective housing that protects both the connector and the battery terminal or post connector and that can be, if desired, operated (the connector can be connected to or disconnected from the battery terminal post) even by a person using one hand, if necessary.
Accordingly, there is a need for a combined battery terminal post connector with the quick connect/quick disconnect feature that maintains the reliable electrical connection between the cable and the post and a protective housing to protect both the battery terminal post and the connector thereto.

Combination spring loaded battery terminal post connector and protective housing and method therefor


An improved offset saw blade mounting assembly for use on a reciprocating power saw tool includes a shim member that is used to fill a central slot of the tool drive shaft. The shim member fills the slot and serves to reinforce the drive shaft and thereby reduce the likelihood of the drive shaft failing. The shim member may be a separate piece, or formed as part of a separate tubular insert, or integrally formed with the mounting block of the offset mounting assembly. A finger guard is also provided that substantially closes off any opening which may occur between the mounting assembly and the power tool.

The present disclosure relates generally to reciprocating saw tools and more particularly, to an improved reciprocating saw with a reinforced saw blade holder that is mounted to a slotted drive shaft.
In the insulating foam industry, installers spray an insulating, expanding foam into selected building wall areas, such as those areas between adjacent studs of the building framing. The sprayed foam expands and sets and extends past the faces of the wall studs. This excess foam must be trimmed by the installer in order for interior and exterior sheathing and SHEETROCK® drywall or wall board to be applied to the framing. The foam is commonly trimmed by a hot wire that is pulled along the stud faces by an installer, or with a thin-bladed saw, such as a coping saw. Both of these methods are difficult to employ and both require substantial labor, reducing the potential profit for the installer. Installers now use reciprocating saws in order to trim the sprayed foam more quickly and more efficiently.
In order to make the process of using a reciprocating saw to remove excess foam more efficient, I developed a modification for an existing reciprocating saw that converts an ordinary reciprocating saw into one with an offset blade holder and a second, exterior handle. In this modification, I provided an offset mounting head that includes a mounting block with a hollow bore that receives therein, the free end of the saw tool drive shaft. The offset mounting head permits the installer to place the saw blade into closer contact with the faces of the framing studs to achieve a better trim of the insulating foam.
However, the free end of the drive shaft of the saw tool has a central slot that receives the attachment end of the saw blade, and the saw blade is secured to the shaft by means of a set screw or the like that extends through one of the drive shaft halves flanking the slot, into the drive shaft slot and into contact with an opposing surface of the saw blade. Although in my prior offset saw, the saw blade was no longer held in the drive shaft slot but mounted instead to a mounting block of the offset assembly, the drive shaft slot remained slotted as the replacement of it would make the resulting saw commercially unfeasible. The slotted drive shaft was used and the mounting block was slipped over the drive and a set screw was used to secure the mounting block to the drive shaft. The set screw extended through one of the drive shaft halves and into the slot.
This drive shaft slot creates a natural area in the drive shaft for stress risers to occur, i.e., areas of concentrated stress and this may result in one or both of the drive shaft halves deflecting under impact loading, or worse, breaking. Impact forces that occur when the end of the saw blade contacts a stud or sheathing during operation are transferred through the saw blade directly to the drive shaft to cause this stress. A need therefore exists for an offset saw blade mounting assembly used with a reciprocating saw in which the manner of mounting the saw blade is stronger and more resistant to stresses which may induce drive shaft failures.
The present disclosure is therefore directed to an improved offset saw blade mounting assembly for a reciprocating saw with a means for reinforcing the slotted drive shaft.

Reciprocating saw with reinforced offset saw blade holder


A sun-following solar panel stand that includes a frame, a hollow box, rotating and pivoting apparatus, first, second, and third light apparatus, comparing apparatus, and combination determining and comparing apparatus. The frame is horizontally rotatively mountable to a surface and the hollow box is vertically pivotally mounted to the frame. The rotating apparatus rotates the frame as the sun traverses horizontally and the pivoting apparatus pivots the hollow box as the sun traverses vertically. The first light apparatus provide a first light apparatus output responsive to the horizontal position of the sun. The second light apparatus provide a second light apparatus output responsive to the vertical position of the sun. The third light apparatus provide a third light apparatus output responsive to the general position of the sun. The comparing apparatus compares the first light apparatus output to the third light apparatus output and causes the rotating apparatus to seek a position where the first light apparatus output and the third light apparatus output are equal. And, the combination determining and comparing apparatus determines when the second light apparatus output is a maximum and compares the maximum second light apparatus output to the third light apparatus output and causes the pivoting apparatus to seek a position where the maximum second light apparatus output and the third light apparatus output are equal.

The present invention relates to a sun-following solar panel stand. More particularly, the present invention relates to a sun-following solar panel stand that includes a frame horizontally rotatively mountable to a surface, a hollow box vertically pivotally mounted to the frame that contains a horizontally oriented rising slot with a vertical rising light sensor disposed therebehind, a horizontally oriented falling slot with a vertical falling light sensor disposed therebehind, a vertically oriented slot with a horizontal light sensor disposed therebehind, a main light sensor disposed on the front surface of the hollow box, and apparatus for comparing the outputs of the main light sensor, the vertical rising light sensor, the vertical falling light sensor, and the horizontal light sensor.
The sun has always been a source of energy. Science has discovered ways of harnessing solar energy and converting it into electrical power by the use of solar cells.
In order to maximize the electrical power output from such cells, however, the available solar energy must be maximized. The maximum available solar energy would come from those solar rays that strike the solar cells normally.
Since the sun rises and sets vertically as it traverses horizontally, the effects of its solar rays would constantly change at different locations in the world. Thus, the impact of the solar rays on the solar cells would constantly change.
Numerous innovations for sun following devices have been provided in the prior art that will be described. However, even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific individual purposes to which they address, they differ from the present invention in that they do not teach a sun-following solar panel stand that includes a frame horizontally rotatively mountable to a surface, a hollow box vertically pivotally mounted to the frame and that contains a horizontally oriented rising slot with a vertical rising light sensor disposed therebehind, a horizontally oriented falling slot with a vertical falling light sensor disposed therebehind, a vertically oriented slot with a horizontal light sensor disposed therebehind, a main light sensor disposed on the front surface of the hollow box, and apparatus for comparing the outputs of the main light sensor, the vertical rising light sensor, the vertical falling light sensor, and the horizontal light sensor.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,656,844 to Botskor teaches a sun following device that includes a heliostat that has an axle parallel to the earth's axis which is driven once every 48 hours. The axle has two oppositely disposed mirrors mounted thereon to each reflect the sun's light on alternate days. The mirrors are automatically adjusted to compensate for the declination of the sun by means of gears and a cam driven by the rotation of the axle.
Another example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,332,239 to Hotine teaches a sun powered automatic sun following reflector that includes a combined heat sensor and thrust motor in the form of a sealed expandable metal bellows. The sealed expandable metal bellows is disposed in the focal plane of a spherical reflector to one side of a fixed heat exchanger. The fixed heat exchanger is placed at the axial focal point of the reflector and supports the heat sensor and thrust motor to rotate with the reflector.
Still another example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,649,900 to Trihey teaches a solar energy conversion apparatus that includes a reflective parabolic trough which tracks the sun. The control means causes the trough to rotate about a north-south axis alternately to east and west extreme positions until the driving motor is disabled by equal irradiation by a pair of photo-transistors.
Finally, yet another example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,950,063 to Pohle et al. teaches an optical phased array system that uses three methods of phased array re-targeting. The first being optical re-targeting, the second being element slew, and the third being rigid body array slew. The three methods work together in hierarchical fashion to reduce the re-targeting disturbances and enhance system performance by shortening re-targeting time-lines.
It is apparent that numerous innovations for sun following devices have been provided in the prior art that are adapted to be used. Furthermore, even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific individual purposes to which they address, they would not be suitable for the purposes of the present invention as heretofore described.


An integrated capacitive-type humidity sensor formed in a semiconductor chip integrating a sensing capacitor and a reference capacitor. Each of the sensing and reference capacitors have at least a first electrode and at least a second electrode, the first and second electrodes of each of the sensing and reference capacitors being arranged at distance and mutually insulated. A hygroscopic layer extends on the sensing and reference capacitors and a conductive shielding region extends on the reference capacitor but not on the sensing capacitor.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to an integrated device of a capacitive type for detecting humidity, in particular manufactured using a CMOS technology
2. Description of the Related Art
Presently, devices for detecting humidity or hygrometers are widely used for a variety of applications, including controlling humidity of industrial, agricultural, and living environments. In particular, in view of the current trend to miniaturization and the preference for arranging small dimension hygrometers in portable apparatuses, a desire is increasingly felt of having integrated hygrometers of very small dimensions.
To this end, integrated hygrometers manufactured using a semiconductor technology have already been proposed, since they have good accuracy, based on exploiting the ability of a hygroscopic material to change an electric property of the device as a function of absorbed water particles. In particular, polyimide layers have been proposed, since they undergo a linear variation of their dielectric constant ∈ps as a function of relative humidity, according to the behavior shown in FIG. 1.
Electronic chips forming capacitive-type humidity sensors have been already disclosed (see, e.g., U.S. 2005/0218465 and H. Shimizu, H. Matsumotu et al: "A Digital Hygrometer" IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, Vol. 37, No. 2, June 1988). The known devices include a sensing capacitor formed in a sensing layer on top of a silicon substrate and having metal fingered electrodes. A hygroscopic layer of, e.g., polyimide, covers or overlies the metal fingered electrodes of the sensing capacitor. The top hygroscopic layer is thus able to capture water particles of the external environment and to change its dielectric constant as a function of environmental humidity. Thus, also the capacity of the sensing capacitor varies, and the variation can be read by a suitable circuit, including, e.g., an input capacitive bridge.
Humidity sensors may be formed of the single and differential type.
Both types are however susceptible to improvements. In fact, the single-type humidity sensors typically utilize a small area, but are affected by matching inaccuracies and ageing. On the other hand, the differential-type humidity sensors are less affected by matching and ageing but utilize a much bigger area and are subject to leakage.
In particular, the differential solution may be based on forming a reference capacitor near the sensing capacitor and having the same structure as the sensing capacitor, but for the hygroscopic layer. In one solution, the reference capacitor may have no hygroscopic layer at all; in another solution, the reference capacitor may be shielded from the external environment.
In both cases, the reference capacitor is intended to be insensitive to humidity changes but follow the behavior of the sensing capacitor in all other aspects, so that the variations in the electric characteristics due to ageing, temperature, manufacturing spread and so on are the same, so that a reading circuit is able to detect property changes in the sensing capacitor caused by changes in humidity of the external environment and to distinguish them from other effects.
However, with the increasing miniaturization of the integrated devices, both solutions are not sufficient to ensure the desired insensitivity to humidity.
In fact, in the first case (where the reference capacitor has no hygroscopic layer), the latter has to be removed from the reference capacitor after being deposited on the entire surface of the wafer. However, the absence of the hygroscopic layer on the reference capacitor weakens the structure, because it involves forming an aperture in the layer, thus impairing its function as a mechanical protection and as humidity barrier. In addition, removal is costly and critical, since removal of the hygroscopic material from adjacent, sensing areas is to be avoided and limits the desired miniaturization.
On the other hand, the shielding solution has proven insufficient. Shielding may be obtained by depositing a humidity blocking layer of a different non-hygroscopic dielectric material over or under the hygroscopic layer. However, with this solution, the reference capacitor cannot be made insensitive to external humidity, as also recognized in U.S. 2005/0218465. Similar problem are encountered if the shielding layer is arranged between the electrodes and the hygroscopic material. In fact, with horizontal miniaturization of sensors, electric field lines exiting from an electrode finger and closing in an adjacent, oppositely biased electrode finger have a considerably vertical extension and may reach the hygroscopic layer, so that the reference capacitor is not insensitive to humidity. To avoid this, a very thick shielding layer may be used, with thicknesses of more than ten microns. Such thicknesses cannot be reached with standard machines and deposition techniques, which currently allow deposition of dielectric layers having standard maximum thicknesses of about one micron. Thus, no efficient shielding can be reached with either solution.

Integrated device of a capacitive type for detecting humidity, in particular manufactured using a CMOS technology


An apparatus and method for controlling the use of carbon dioxide in drying cleaning clothes, garments and other fabrics is disclosed and claimed. The components of the invention include a distillation vessel, a compressor, a warm-up vessel, a cleaning chamber, a condenser, and a carbon dioxide storage tank. A programmable logic controller is utilized to control the apparatus. Several modes of use are disclosed. One mode, the reclaim mode, enables the efficient operation of the apparatus. As the name implies the reclaim mode recovers most of the carbon dioxide gas remaining in the cleaning chamber is removed therefrom. There are three steps of the reclaim mode: in the first steps the compressor pumps the gaseous carbon dioxide in two parallel stages from the cleaning chamber to the condenser where heat is removed therefrom and it is liquified; in the second step the compressor pumps the gaseous carbon dioxide through the warm-up vessel and back to the cleaning chamber thus preventing the formation of solid carbon dioxide (dry ice) on the clothes, garments or fabrics in the cleaning chamber; and, in the third step two stages of compression are utilized to remove as much of the gaseous carbon dioxide as possible from the cleaning chamber and pump it to the condenser. The carbon dioxide used in the apparatus is cleaned, in part, by a distillation vessel. Heated thermocouples are used to detect the level of liquid carbon dioxide in the storage tank and the distillation vessel.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,467,492 to Chao et al. discloses and claims an apparatus and method for DRY CLEANING OF GARMENTS USING LIQUID CARBON DIOXIDE UNDER AGITATION AS CLEANING MEDIUM. The '492 patent does not illustrate a compressor which is used in a reclaim mode.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,456,759 to Stanford, Jr. et al. discloses sonication cleaning using megasonic energy. The '759 patent does not include equipment to reclaim gaseous carbon dioxide left over in the cleaning chamber after the wash cycle. In column 7, lines 12 et seq. it is disclosed that contamination, be it organic or particulate, can be removed through decompression, filtration, or a combination of both.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,683,473 to Jureller, et al. at column 19, lines 60 et seq. also discloses the separation of dirt and spent cleaning agents through decompression. The '473 does not show or claim reclamation of the carbon dioxide
U.S. Pat. No. 5,267,455 to Dewees, et al. illustrates and claims a vaporizer 11 in combination with other equipment. No reclamation apparatus is disclosed or claimed in the '455 patent.
None of the related art discloses or claims an apparatus for reclaiming gaseous carbon dioxide from the cleaning chamber, nor does any of the related art disclose the reclaiming apparatus and process in combination with a distilling and purging process for removing contaminants from the liquid or from the carbon dioxide.

Apparatus and method for controlling the use of carbon dioxide in dry cleaning clothes


A control apparatus, comprising a reception unit configured to receive image data, a setting unit configured to set an operation mode, an image processing unit configured to generate print data based on the image data, a print control unit configured to cause a printing unit to perform printing on a printing medium based on the print data, a determination unit configured to determine whether reception of all the image data is complete before the printing unit completes predetermined printing, and a change unit configured to change the set operation mode to another operation mode in a case where the set operation mode is an operation mode in which printing based on the print data starts if the image processing unit generates the print data.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a control apparatus, a control method, and a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
A printing apparatus includes a reception unit configured to receive data for printing, and a printing unit configured to perform printing on a printing medium based on the data received by the reception unit. When performing printing, if a data amount (a receiving rate) received by the reception unit per unit time is equal to a data amount (a printing rate) printed by the printing unit per unit time, it is possible to continue a printing operation until a series of printing processes ends. Even if the receiving rate is higher than the printing rate, it is possible to continue a printing operation.
On the other hand, if the receiving rate is lower than the printing rate, data processible by the printing unit runs out (so-called "data-exhaust" occurs), and the printing operation may need to be interrupted even though printing is not complete yet. When the printing operation is interrupted due to data-exhaust, it is necessary to perform predetermined recovery processing (for example, a preliminary discharge operation) to resume printing, thereby wastefully consuming consumables such as a printing agent and printing medium.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-193480 discloses a printing apparatus which, if the receiving rate is lower than the printing rate, starts a printing operation after an amount of data being received reaches a predetermined amount, and makes preparations to start the printing operation before the amount of data being received reaches the predetermined amount. The printing apparatus according to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-193480 can perform efficient printing while suppressing an increase in memory capacity for storing received data.
According to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-193480, however, the printing operation starts after the amount of data being received reaches the predetermined amount regardless of the total data amount to be received. Therefore, for example, if the receiving rate is lower than the printing rate and the total data amount is much larger than the predetermined amount, data-exhaust may occur after the amount of data being received reaches the predetermined amount to start the printing operation.

Control apparatus, control method, and non-transitory computer-readable storage medium