Disclosed are low solids and high viscosity fabric softener compositions and processes for preparing them. The composition contains from about 0.05% to about 10% by weight of a rheology modifying fabric softening active comprising at least one long chain amine of the present technology, a derivative thereof, or a mixture thereof, and from about 1% to 10% by weight of an additional fabric softening active dispersed in water.

The present invention relates generally to fabric softener compositions with improved stability and softening. The present invention further relates to processes for preparing the same.
Fabric softener (i.e., conditioning) compositions are commonly used to deposit a fabric softening compound onto fabric. Typically, such compositions contain a cationic fabric softening agent dispersed in water. Fabric softener compositions used in the rinse cycle are generally separated into two basic product categories based on solids (active softening agent/fabric softening active) concentration. Compositions containing more than 10% by weight (e.g., 10-50% or 15-25% by weight) solids are often referred to as "concentrated" compositions, and compositions containing less than 10% by weight (e.g., 3-5% by weight) solids are often referred to as "diluted" compositions. Compositions containing softening agent below 5% by weight are sometimes called "ultra dilute," while softening agent levels in the range of 5-10% by weight are sometimes called "semi-dilute." Dilute, ultra dilute and semi-dilute fabric softener compositions, each of which are all considered low solids (or low active) compositions, usually have very low viscosity (with minimal or no thickening agents (viscosity control agents)) due to the low active concentration.
In most cases, however, the viscosity of a fabric softener commercial product has a significant influence on consumer perception, especially in regional markets like Europe, Central America, Latin America and the Far East. In a broad sense, consumers associate a high viscosity with good performance and product quality. For example, fabric softeners for the Mexican market typically have an active concentration of about 5-7% by weight, but require a viscosity of about 300-400 cps; fabric softeners for the Brazilian market typically have an active concentration of about 5% by weight, but require a viscosity of about 1500-2000 cps; fabric softeners for the European market typically have an active concentration of about 4-5% by weight, but require a viscosity of about 100-400 cps; fabric softeners for the Philippines market typically have an active concentration of about 3-7% by weight, but require a viscosity of 500-700 cps; while fabric softeners for the China market typically have an active concentration of about 3-5% by weight, but require a viscosity of about 800-1500 cps. Unless otherwise indicated, the viscosity numbers in the present application can be obtained by a Brookfield RV model viscometer at 25° C. A person familiar with the field of the present application will understand that other equipment achieving the same outcomes for measurement purposes are within the spirit and scope of the present application.
Various additives have been used in fabric softener compositions in order to achieve the desired high viscosity. For example, polymeric thickening agents, such as starches and cellulose ethers, have been commonly used to increase the viscosity of low solids fabric softener compositions. However, these conventional viscosity control agents are expensive. Further, such agents are typically included at levels in the range of from about 0.05% to about 1% by weight, which in turn increases the cost of the resultant fabric softener compositions. Moreover, conventional polymeric thickening agents tend to generate a drop in viscosity in the fabric softener product during storage. Typically, such end products containing polymeric thickening agents require a separate gelatinization stage, in which they are mixed with water. This can increase the complexity and expense of the manufacturing process. Finally, conventional polymeric thickening agents typically do not add significant benefits to the overall softening performance of the end product. There is therefore a strong demand for a low solids, high viscosity fabric softener composition that has minimal or no polymeric additives.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,878,684 (Unilever Home & Personal Care USA, Greenwich, Conn.) discloses a fatty acid partial ester of a polyhydric alcohol that may act as a viscosity modifier, if the fabric conditioning composition containing a quaternary ammonium compound ("quat") is manufactured under certain conditions. The reference appears to describe that it is necessary to expose the fabric conditioning composition to shear at a temperature below the phase transition temperature of the quaternary ammonium compound.
In the present application, a quaternary ammonium compound or salt, or a derivative thereof may be generally referred to as a quat. An ester-containing quaternary ammonium compound or salt is sometime referred to as an ester quat. A quaternized amine may be referred to as an amine quat or quat of the amine, which can be, for example, a quaternized alkyl amine, a quaternized alkyl amido amine, or a quaternized ammonium polyamine. More information about quats, ester quats, and amine quats, especially about those that can be used for the present technology, is provided in the detailed description below.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,525,016 (Goldschmidt Chemical Corporation, Hopewell, Va.) discloses a high viscosity, low solids rinse cycle fabric softener formulation that includes a homogenous blend of (a) 50-90% by weight of at least one imidazolinium quaternary ammonium compound; and (b) 10-50% by weight of at least one amido amine quaternary ammonium compound. The reference appears to require that the at least one imidazolinium quaternary ammonium compound and the at least one amido amine quaternary ammonium compound be free of any unsaturated alkyl groups.
U.S. Pub. Pat. App. No. 2002/0187911 (Goldschmidt Chemical Company, Hopewell, Va.) discloses a high viscosity, low solids fabric softener formulation that uses at least one amine ethoxylate having the formula (R(nEO))sNHt, wherein R is a saturated or unsaturated, linear or branched alkyl group containing from 10 to 22, preferably from 12 to 18, carbon atoms; EO is ethoxylate; n is the number of moles of EO and is from 1 to 10, preferably from 2 to 5; s=1, 2, or 3; t=1, 1, or 2; and s+t=3, to enhance the viscosity of the composition without the use of polymeric thickening agents. The addition of the amine ethoxylate to the low solids fabric softener composition is alleged to not only enhance the viscosity, but also the softening performance, of the composition.
EP1254203B1 (Unilever PLC, United Kingdom) discloses a fabric conditioning composition that uses a stabilizing system containing at least one salt of a multivalent inorganic anion or non-sequestering multivalent organic anion to allegedly improve the viscosity of the conditioning composition. A mixture comprising sodium chloride and sodium sulfate is described as being preferably used. Additionally, there is at least one salt of a univalent anion in the mixture.
WO 97/08285 (Colgate/Palmolive Company, New York, N.Y.) discloses the use of fatty acid esters of mono or polyhydric alcohols as emulsion or dispersion stabilizers in fabric softening compositions containing 3-40% by weight of a fabric softener combination comprising an amido tertiary amine and an ester quat material. The weight ratio of the fabric softener combination to the fatty acid ester(s) of mono or polyhydric alcohol is in the range of from about 40:1 to about 5:1, while the level of the fatty acid ester(s) of mono- or polyhydric alcohol in the composition is in the range of from about 0.2% to about 2% by weight.
GB 2204608 (Kao Corporation, Japan) discloses liquid softener compositions containing a quaternary ammonium salt, a polyamide and an ester derived from a fatty acid having 10-24 carbon atoms and glycerol. The weight ratio of quaternary ammonium salt to ester is described as being in the range of from about 0.1:1 to 3:1.
JP 63-295764 (Kao Corporation, Japan) discloses soft finishing agents containing (a) a cationic textile softening substance, (b) a straight chain fatty acid and (c) an esterified product of fatty acid and glycerol. The molar ratio of (b):(a) is 0.001 to 0.2, the weight ratio of (b):(a) is 0.01 to 3, and the total amount of (a), (b) and (c) is 3 to 20 weight percent.
DE-A1-4400927 (Henkel, Germany) discloses aqueous solutions of quaternized fatty acid triethanolamine ester salts thickened by adding 0.01 to 0.1 wt % of esters of fatty acids with commercial oligoglycerol mixtures.
GB 1599171 (Procter & Gamble, Cincinnati, Ohio) discloses an aqueous textile treatment composition comprising a water insoluble cationic fabric softener, a water insoluble nonionic fabric softener, and from 0.1 to 10 wt % of an aromatic carboxylic acid. The nonionic fabric softener is present in an amount from 0.5 to 12 weight percent.
However, in light of the references noted above, there still remains a strong demand and unresolved need for a low solids, high viscosity fabric softener composition that contains minimal or no polymeric additives, exhibits improved softening, stability and viscosity performance properties as desired in different regions of the world, and is cost-effective to manufacture.

Low solids, high viscosity fabric softener compositions and process for making the same


A projector includes a plurality of light modulation elements adapted to modulate a plurality of colored light beams based on image data, a combining optical system adapted to combine the modulated colored light beams to emit image light, and a projection optical system adapted to project the image light emitted from the combining optical system on a projection screen. The light modulation elements are disposed with respect to the combining optical system so that long sides of the respective light modulation elements are adjacent to each other. Signal line cable boards adapted to provide the respective light modulation elements with signals, and coupled to short sides of the respective light modulation elements. A scanning direction of writing the image data to the light modulation elements is set to be parallel to a direction of the short side of an image display area in each of the light modulation elements.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a projector.
2. Related Art
Projectors are capable of displaying large screen images, and therefore, draw attention not only as display devices for presentation, but also as image display devices for displaying images required to have high quality, such as movies. Therefore, in the projectors, growth of resolution of light modulation elements is in progress, and there is a tendency of ever-growing sizes of the light modulation elements. The growth of the light modulation element sizes causes growth of sizes of overall optical systems, which incurs growth of the sizes of the projectors, and at the same time, increase in cost.
The lower limit of the pitches of the pixels constituting the light modulation elements is generally believed to be in a range of 8 through 9 μm. Therefore, in order for obtaining the resolution of, for example, 4K2K (assumed to be 4096 pixels in the lateral direction×2160 pixels in the vertical direction), the size (the diagonal length) of the area (referred to as an image display area) available for image display in the light modulation elements needs to be equal to or greater than 1.6 inch.
FIGS. 6A and 6B are diagrams showing a configuration of the light modulation element and the optical system in the periphery thereof in a typical projector in the related art. It should be noted that FIG. 6A is a perspective view, and FIG. 6B is a plan view corresponding to FIG. 6A, namely a diagram of the configuration shown in FIG. 6A viewed from a direction along the arrow a.
As shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, in the typical projector, the light modulation elements 100R, 100G, and 100B corresponding respectively to red (R), green (G), and blue (B) are each disposed so as to have the long side in the horizontal direction (the direction of the x-axis or the y-axis among the x, y, and z-axes shown in FIG. 6A) and the short side in the vertical direction (the vertical direction in FIG. 6A, namely the direction of the z-axis among the x, y, and z axes). In other words, the light modulation elements 100R, 100G, and 100B are arranged so that one of the short sides of the light modulation element 100R and one of the short sides of the light modulation element 100G are adjacent to each other, and further the other of the short sides of the light modulation element 100G and one of the short sides of the light modulation element 100B are adjacent to each other, in a similar manner. Further, in this case, in the positional relationship between the light modulation elements 100R, 100G, and 100B, and a cross dichroic prism 110 as a combining optical system, each of the short sides of each of the light modulation elements 100R, 100G, and 100B is disposed along a height direction (the z-axis direction) of four triangular prisms forming the cross dichroic prism 110.
It should be noted that the light modulation elements 100R, 100G, and 100B are arranged to modulate the R, G, and B colored light beams, respectively, based on image data, and the colored light beams modulated by the respective light modulation elements 100R, 100G, and 100B are combined by the cross dichroic prism 110 to be output as image light. The image light emitted from the cross dichroic prism 110 is then projected by a projection optical system 120 on a projection screen, not shown, as a landscape image.
Further, to the light modulation elements 100R, 100G, and 100B, there are respectively connected signal line cable substrates 130R, 130G, and 130B each having various signal lines such as a data line for supplying the image data and a control line for supplying a control signal, printed thereon. It is general that these signal line cable substrates 130R, 130G, and 130B are each formed of a flexible printed circuit board, and connected respectively to the long sides of the light modulation elements 100R, 100G, and 100B. It should be noted that the signal line cable substrates 130R, 130G, and 130B are hereinafter referred to as FPC boards 130R, 130G, and 130B, respectively.
In the typical projector of the related art, the light modulation elements 100R, 100G, and 100B, and the cross dichroic prism 110 have the configuration shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B. Therefore, assuming that each of the light modulation elements 100R, 100G, and 100B has a resolution of, for example, 4K2K, the diagonal size of the image display area in each of the light modulation elements 100R, 100G, and 100B is about 1.6 inch as described above. The size of the cross dichroic prism 110 in the case of using such light modulation elements needs to be about 60 mm (one side L1 of the square composed of end surfaces of the respective four triangular prisms)×60 mm (the other side L2 of the square composed of end surfaces of the respective four triangular prisms)×35 mm (the height H of the triangular prisms), and further, the lens diameter of the projection optical system 120 needs to be equal to or greater than 70 mm. It should be noted that, assuming that the lens diameter of the projection optical system is 70 mm, the F-value of 2.5 can be achieved in the design giving priority to the brightness of the lens of the projection optical system.
As described above, in the typical projector of the related art, the higher the resolution of the light modulation element is, the further the growth of the sizes of the cross dichroicprism 110 and the projection optical system 120 proceeds, which forms a factor causing decrease in the productivity of these optical elements and increase in the cost thereof.
To cope with the above, it is possible to arrange the light modulation elements 100R, 100G, and 100B so that the long sides of the respective light modulation elements 100R, 100G, and 100B are adjacent to each other while keeping the direction of the long sides of the respective light modulation elements 100R, 100G, and 100B to be the horizontal direction (the lateral direction in FIG. 7A) as shown in FIG. 7A. In this case, the light modulation elements 100R, 100G, and 100B have the arrangement in which each of the long sides of each of the light modulation is disposed along the height direction (the x-axis direction) of the four triangular prisms constituting the cross dichroic prism 110. It should be noted that FIG. 7A is a perspective view of the light modulation elements 100R, 100G, and 100B arranged so that the long sides thereof are adjacent to each other, and FIG. 7B is a side view corresponding to FIG. 7A, namely the diagram of the light modulation elements viewed in a direction along the arrow b.
By arranging the light modulation elements 100R, 100G, and 100B so that the long sides thereof are adjacent to each other as shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B, the size of the cross dichroic prism 110 becomes about 35 mm (one side L1 of the square composed of end surfaces of the respective four triangular prisms)×35 mm (the other side L2 of the square composed of end surfaces of the respective four triangular prisms)×60 mm (the height H of the triangular prisms) even in the case with the light modulation elements having the same resolution as that of the light modulation elements 100R, 100G, and 100B shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B. Further, the lens diameter of the projection optical system becomes about 45 mm. Therefore, the volume of the cross dichroic prism 110 can be reduced to about 60% of that in the case shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B. Further, in this case, it is possible to achieve the F-value of 2.0 by designing the lens diameter of the projection optical system to be 50 mm, and therefore, downsizing is thought to be possible while keeping the same performance as in the case shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B.
However, if the light modulation elements 100R, 100G, and 100B are arranged so that the long sides thereof are adjacent to each other, there arises a problem that at least one of the FPC boards 130R, 130G, and 130B connected respectively to the light modulation elements 100R, 100G, and 100B shields the light input from a light source to the respective light modulation elements 100R, 100G, and 100B, thus the light from the light source is prevented from appropriately entering the light modulation elements 100R, 100G, and 100B, respectively.
FIG. 8 is a diagram schematically showing a general configuration of the optical system of the projector in the case in which the light modulation elements 100R, 100G, and 100B are arranged as shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B. As shown in FIG. 8, the light from the light source 140 is separated by a first dichroic mirror 151 into the red light (R), the green light (G), and the blue light (B), and the blue light (B) thus separated is input by a mirror 161 to the light modulation element 100B while the red light (R) and the green light (G) thus separated from the blue light (B) is separated by a second dichroic mirror 152 into the red light (R) and the green light (G). Further, the green light (G) separated by the second dichroic mirror 152 is input to the light modulation element 100G while the red light (R) is input by mirrors 162, 163 to the light modulation element 100R.
In the optical system shown in FIG. 8, when considering, for example, the light modulation element 100G corresponding to the green light (G), the FPC board 130G is coupled to the lower long side of the light modulation element 100G as shown in the drawing in the light modulation element 100G of the green light (G), and consequently, shields the blue light (B) separated by the dichroic mirror 151.
It should be noted that although the FPC board can be curved or bent within an appropriate angle, if the FPC board is bent at an excessively acute angle or an excessive twist or the like is applied to the FPC board, a broken line or the like might be caused. Therefore, the FPC board needs to be connected to other devices in a manner not providing the FPC board with folding with an excessively acute angle or an excessive twist. Therefore, if the light modulation elements 100R, 100G, and 100B are arranged so that the long sides thereof are adjacent to each other, at least one of the FPC boards 130R, 130G, and 130B should exist on the light path as shown in FIG. 8.
As a method for coping with this problem, it is possible to connect the FPC boards 130R, 130G, and 130B to the short sides of the respective light modulation elements 100R, 100G, and 100B. For example, JP-A-11-249070 (Document 1) shows a technology (hereinafter referred to as a related art technology) of arranging the light modulation elements so as to have the long sides adjacent to each other, and at the same time connecting the FPC boards to the short sides of the respective light modulation elements. By thus arranging the light modulation elements so as to have the long sides of the respective light modulation elements adjacent to each other, downsizing of the cross dichroic prism becomes possible, and further, by connecting the FPC boards to the short sides of the respective light modulation elements, it becomes possible to remove the FPC boards connected to the respective light modulation elements from the light paths of the respective colored light beams, thus an advantage of preventing the FPC boards from shielding the colored light beams can be obtained.
However, if it is arranged to connect the FPC boards simply to the short sides, there arises the following problem. The scanning direction for image data writing in the typical projector is set to be parallel to a direction (referred to as a long side direction) along the long side. Therefore, in the case of the light modulation element having a resolution of 4K2K, 4096 signal lines disposed along the long side are necessary for providing each of the pixels of the light modulation element. Therefore, if the FPC board is connected simply to the short side thereof while keeping the scanning direction for image data writing to the long side direction, a wiring space for leading the 4096 signal lines to the FPC board provided on the short side is required. This causes growth in overall size of the light modulation element.
FIGS. 9A and 9B are diagrams schematically showing the arrangement of the signal lines of the light modulation element. Although the light modulation element 100G for the green light (G) is shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B, the light modulation elements 100R and 100B for the red light (R) and the blue light (B) have substantially the same configurations. It should be noted that FIG. 9A shows the typical light modulation element having the FPC board 130 coupled to the long side thereof, and in this case, there is adopted a configuration in which the 4096 signal lines from the FPC board 130G are connected to a data line driver 102 disposed along the long side (the long side of the image display area 101) of the light modulation element 100G. It should be noted that in the configuration, a gate line driver 103 is disposed on the short side (the short side of the image display area 101) of the light modulation element 100G, and a few signal lines for control from the FPC board 130G are connected to the gate line driver 103.
FIG. 9B shows the case in which the FPC board 130G is coupled to the short side of the light modulation element 100G shown in FIG. 9A. In the case in which the FPC board 130G is coupled to the short side of the light modulation element 100G, the wiring space (the area A surrounded by the dotted frame in the drawing) for leading the 4096 signal lines connected to the data line driver 102 disposed on the long side to the FPC board 130G coupled to the short side is required as shown in FIG. 9B. Since an area of at least 10 mm in size in the z-axis direction shown in the drawing is required as the wiring space, which causes the growth in the overall size of the light modulation element.
Therefore, if the FPC boards are simply coupled to the short side while keeping the long side direction of the light modulation elements 100R, 100G, and 100B to the scanning direction for the image data writing, it is hardly possible to make the most use of the advantage obtained by disposing the light modulation elements 100R, 100G, and 100B so as to have the long sides adjacent to each other, namely the advantage of making it possible to downsize the cross dichroic prism and the projection optical system.


A low insertion pressure connector including a female connector housing, a male connector housing, a slider provided so as to be slidable in the female connector housing, a temporary lock mechanism for locking the slider in a temporary lock position, cam grooves for moving the slider from the temporary lock position to a normal lock position to thereby move the male connector housing from an initial fitting position to a normal fitting position, in which a lock claw acting as the temporary lock mechanism and a releasing protrusion are provided on a flexible arm so that the male connector housing is moved into the initial fitting position, an engagement convex portion to be fitted into the cam groove pushes down the releasing protrusion project into the cam groove to bend the flexible arm to thereby release the temporary lock.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a slider type low insertion pressure connector.
2. Background
A connector disclosed in Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. Sho. 61-203581 is known as such a connector as mentioned above. FIG. 5 shows an example of the connector.
This connector includes a female connector housing 1, a male connector housing 2 fitted into a fitting hole 4 of the female connector housing 1, and a slider 3 which is inserted into insertion holes 5 of the female connector housing 1 so as to be slidable in a direction perpendicular to a connector fitting direction F.
The slider 3 is U-shaped and has upper and lower slide plates 13 and 14 slidable along upper and lower outer wall surfaces 2a of the male connector housing 2, and an operation portion 12 for connecting the upper and lower slide plates 13 and 14 in one side. Flexible arms 7 are provided in the female connector housing 1. The flexible arms 7 have temporary lock claws 8 and normal lock claws 9. The slider 3 has temporary lock portions 16 which engage with the temporary lock claws 8 in the female connector housing 1 side when the slider 3 is in a temporary lock position in which the slider 3 is inserted shallowly, and normal lock portions 17 which engage with the normal lock claws 9 in the female connector housing 1 side when the slider 3 is in a normal lock position in which the slider 3 is inserted deeply.
Further, engagement convex portions 10, 10 are provided on the upper and lower outer wall surfaces 2a of the male connector housing 2 whereas cam grooves 15, 15 are formed in the inner surfaces of the upper and lower slide plates 13 and 14 of the slider 3 so as to engage with the engagement convex portions 10, 10. The cam grooves 15, 15 which cooperate with the engagement convex portions 10, 10 to form a cam mechanism, have inlets 15a parallel with the connector fitting direction F, and inclination portions 15b provided in the rear side so as to be inclined with respect to the connector fitting direction F.
In use of this connector, the upper and lower slide plates 13 and 14 of the slider 3 are first inserted into the female connector housing 1 through insertion holes 5 of the female connector housing 1 as shown in FIG. 6a so that the slider 3 reaches a temporary lock position as shown in FIG. 6b. As a result, the temporary lock claws 8 engage with the temporary lock portions 16, so that the position of the slider 3 is retained. In this state, the male connector housing 2 is fitted so as to reach an initial lock position. As a result, the engagement convex portions 10 of the male connector housing 2 enter to the start points of the inclination portions 15b from the inlets 15a of the cam grooves 15 in the slider 3.
When the slider 3 in this state is inserted deeply so as to reach the normal lock position as shown in FIG. 6c, the engagement convex portions 10 are guided to the depth by the action of the inclination portions 15b of the cam grooves 15 so that the male connector housing 2 reaches the normal fitting position in the inside of the female connector housing 1 and the two connector housings 1 and 2 are fitted to each other. Further, the normal lock claws 9 engage with the normal lock portions 17 so that the slider 3 is normally locked and the two connector housings 1 and 2 are locked in the normal fitting state.
Incidentally, in the aforementioned conventional connector, predetermined lock strengths are given to the lock claws 8 and the flexible arms 7 respectively in order to retain the temporary lock state of the slider 3. There may still occur, however, such a situation that the slider 3 is moved from the temporary lock position to the normal lock position due to a shock, or the like, at the time of carrying the connector so that the slider 3 must be returned to the temporary lock position at the time of connector fitting operation. That is, workability is poor. If the strength for the temporary lock is selected to be larger in order to prevent the workability from becoming poor, a wasteful force is required for operating the slider 3 to the normal lock position to thereby bring about a problem that the original function of the low insertion pressure connector is spoiled.


One sensor constituted of a light emission element and a light-receiving element is provided in a path through which a wafer is transferred. The sensor is positioned so that the wafer passes through an area between the light emission element and the light-receiving element. Coordinates of the center of the wafer are calculated based on encoder values obtained when the wafer starts passing through the sensor and when the wafer completes passing through the sensor, position data of wafer transfer arm corresponding to the encoder value, and the diameter of the wafer; and thereby the amount of positional deviation of the center of the wafer from a reference position is calculated.

When a wafer is processed in a semiconductor manufacturing system, the orientation of the wafer is typically aligned by an alignment mechanism in advance on the basis of a notch (V-shaped slit indicating a reference direction corresponding to the direction of a crystal array of the wafer). The alignment mechanism mounts the wafer on its rotatable stage, and rotates the wafer by 360° or more, and then detects the direction of the wafer on the basis of obtained data of the peripheral edge of the wafer. In this case, the alignment mechanism usually adopts a method that pushes the wafer at, for example, three points on the periphery of the wafer to center the wafer; or a method that calculates the positional deviation of the center of the wafer on the basis of the profile data of the wafer periphery and causes a transfer arm to receive the wafer such that the positional deviation is corrected.
A so-called multi-chamber system in which a plurality of process chambers are connected to a transfer chamber is also equipped with an alignment mechanism. When a wafer is transferred from the alignment mechanism to the process chamber, there is a possibility that, for example, a malfunction of a transfer arm will cause a positional deviation of the wafer. In addition, when a processed wafer is removed from an electrostatic chuck, there is also a possibility that a residual electric charge may cause excessive force to act on the wafer to displace the wafer. If the wafer displaces from its proper position on the transfer arm, when the wafer passes through a transfer port of a process chamber and that of a load lock chamber, there is a possibility that the wafer will collide with the chamber wall. Moreover, in the case of a wafer before processed, even if the wafer is carried into the process chamber, the wafer is not correctly mounted on a mounting table. Therefore, it is not possible to ensure the in-plane uniformity of the process. For this reason, in the multi-chamber system, the position of a wafer mounted on the transfer arm is detected by use of wafer detection sensors.
With the use of such detection sensors, in one example, the detection of the wafer position is performed by stopping a transfer arm, and then detecting the peripheral edge of the wafer by three sensors and calculating the center position of the wafer on the basis of the result of the detection. In another example, the detection of the wafer position is performed by moving a transfer arm so that the wafer crosses detection areas of two sensors, and calculating the center position of the wafer on the basis of each encoder value obtained when the wafer crosses the detection areas of the two sensors.
Incidentally, in order to quickly detect the positional deviation of a wafer mounted on a transfer arm, it is desirable to provide a system with a plurality of monitoring (position-detecting) areas. However, since the foregoing sensors configured to detect the wafer position when the transfer arm is stopped is expensive, the provision of plural monitoring areas leads to increase in the total cost of the system. In addition, in a case where plural sensors are provided in one monitoring area and plural monitoring areas are provided in a system, the layout of the sensors becomes difficult. Moreover, if the number of sensors is large, it is possible that the positional relationship between the sensors is not accurate. Inaccurate positional relationship between the sensors will result in an error in calculating the center position of the wafer. JP01-48443A (page 18, upper part; FIG. 2 to 5) discloses a technique for detecting a deviation in the position of a wafer while a transfer arm is moved. However, this technique cannot solve the foregoing problems.

Wafer transfer apparatus, wafer transfer method and storage medium


A hard bias (HB) structure for producing longitudinal bias to stabilize a free layer in an adjacent spin valve is disclosed and includes a composite seed layer made of at least Ta and a metal layer having a fcc(111) or hcp(001) texture to enhance perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) in an overlying (Co/Ni)x laminated layer. The (Co/Ni)x HB layer deposition involves low power and high Ar pressure to avoid damaging Co/Ni interfaces and thereby preserves PMA. A capping layer is formed on the HB layer to protect against etchants in subsequent process steps. After initialization, magnetization direction in the HB layer is perpendicular to the sidewalls of the spin valve and generates an Mrt value that is greater than from an equivalent thickness of CoPt. A non-magnetic metal separation layer may be formed on the capping layer and spin valve to provide an electrical connection between top and bottom shields.

In a magnetic recording device in which a read head is based on a spin valve magnetoresistance (SVMR) or a giant magnetoresistance (GMR) effect, there is a constant drive to increase recording density. One method of accomplishing this objective is to decrease the size of the sensor element in the read head that is suspended over a magnetic disk on an air bearing surface (ABS). The sensor is a critical component in which different magnetic states are detected by passing a sense current through the sensor and monitoring a resistance change. A popular GMR configuration includes two ferromagnetic layers which are separated by a non-magnetic conductive layer in the sensor stack. One of the ferromagnetic layers is a pinned layer wherein the magnetization direction is fixed by exchange coupling with an adjacent anti-ferromagnetic (AFM) pinning layer. The second ferromagnetic layer is a free layer wherein the magnetization vector can rotate in response to external magnetic fields. In the absence of an external magnetic field, the magnetization direction of the free layer is aligned perpendicular to that of the pinned layer by the influence of hard bias layers on opposite sides of the sensor stack. When an external magnetic field is applied by passing the sensor over a recording medium on the ABS, the free layer magnetic moment may rotate to a direction which is parallel to that of the pinned layer. Alternatively, in a tunneling magnetoresistive (TMR) sensor, the two ferromagnetic layers are separated by a thin non-magnetic dielectric layer.
A sense current is used to detect a resistance value which is lower when the magnetic moments of the free layer and pinned layer are in a parallel state. In a CPP configuration, a sense current is passed through the sensor in a direction perpendicular to the layers in the sensor stack. Alternatively, there is a current-in-plane (CIP) configuration where the sense current passes through the sensor in a direction parallel to the planes of the layers in the sensor stack.
Ultra-high density (over 100 Gb/in2) recording requires a highly sensitive read head in which the cross-sectional area of the sensor is typically smaller than 0.1×0.1 microns at the ABS plane. Current recording head applications are typically based on an abutting junction configuration in which a hard bias layer is formed adjacent to each side of a free layer in a GMR spin valve structure. As the recording density further increases and track width decreases, the junction edge stability becomes more important so that edge demagnification in the free layer needs to be reduced. In other words, horizontal (longitudinal) biasing is necessary so that a single domain magnetization state in the free layer will be stable against all reasonable perturbations while the sensor maintains relatively high signal sensitivity.
In longitudinal biasing read head design, films of high coercivity material are abutted against the edges of the sensor and particularly against the sides of the free layer. In other designs, there is a thin seed layer between the hard bias layer and free layer. By arranging for the flux flow in the free layer to be equal to the flux flow in the adjoining hard bias layer, the demagnetizing field at the junction edges of the aforementioned layers vanishes because of the absence of magnetic poles at the junction. As the critical dimensions for sensor elements become smaller with higher recording density requirements but sensor layer thickness decreases at a slower rate, the minimum longitudinal bias field necessary for free layer domain stabilization increases.
Imperfect alignment with a hard magnetic thin film such as a free layer can give rise to hysteresis or non-linear response of the sensor and thus noise. In general, it is desirable to enhance the coercivity of the hard bias film so that the stray field created by the recording medium will not destroy the magnetic alignment of the free layer. A high coercivity in the in-plane direction is needed in the hard bias layer to provide a stable longitudinal bias that maintains a single domain state in the free layer and thereby avoids undesirable Barkhausen noise. This condition is realized when there is a sufficient in-plane remnant magnetization (Mr) from the hard bias layer which may also be expressed as Mrt since hard bias field is also dependent on the thickness (t) of the hard bias layer. Mrt is the component that provides the longitudinal bias flux to the free layer and must be high enough to assure a single magnetic domain in the free layer but not so high as to prevent the magnetic field in the free layer from rotating under the influence of a reasonably sized external magnetic field. Moreover, a high squareness (S) hard bias material is desired. In other words, S=Mr/MS should approach 1 where MS represents the magnetic saturation value of the hard bias material.
Longitudinal hard bias structures based on CoPt or CoPtX (X=Cr, B, Ta, etc.) have been commonly used in read head sensor stabilization. However, as the track-width of the sensor becomes smaller and smaller toward higher density recording, the biasing efficiency from the longitudinal hard bias structure tends to abate. One reason for the decreased efficiency is because the easy axes of the CoPt magnetic grains tend to distribute randomly in the vicinity of the narrow junction. In a previous Headway application (U.S. Patent Appl. 2008/0117552), we disclosed PMA materials such as CoCrPt or CoCrPtX where X may be B, O or other elements that can assist a perpendicular growth of the hard bias easy axis to achieve better longitudinal biasing in TMR or CPP-GMR sensors.
Materials exhibiting PMA such as CoPt, CoPt—SiO2, Tb(Fe)Co, and FePt have been reported multiple times in publications. However, all of the literature examples suffer from at least one drawback. It is preferred that establishing a PMA property in a spin valve structure does not require strenuous heating. Unfortunately, FePt or Tb(Fe)Co need high temperature annealing to achieve high enough PMA which is unacceptable for device integration since certain components are damaged by high temperatures. CoPt and its alloys such as CoCrPt and CoPt—SiO2 are not desirable since a thick seed layer is required to establish a large enough PMA to stabilize a free layer in an adjacent spin valve element. That leaves the novel magnetic multilayer systems such as Co/X where X=Pt, Pd, Au, Ni, Ir, and the like for consideration. As stated above, Co/Pt, Co/Pd, and Co/Ir will not be good PMA materials since they require a thick and expensive seed layer made of Pt, Pd, and Ir. Furthermore, Co/Pt, Co/Pd, and Co/Ir configurations typically have small magnetic moments due to the inclusion of Pt, Pd, or Ir which are non-magnetic elements. Au is associated with high cost and easy interdiffusion to adjacent layers which makes a Co/Au multilayer for PMA purposes less practical. On the other hand, a Co/Ni multilayer configuration as a PMA material candidate has several advantages including (a) much higher spin polarization from Co, Ni, and Co/Ni interfaces, (b) better stability from the robustness of Ni layer insertion, (c) much higher saturation magnetization of 1 Tesla or about 2× higher than other Co/M combinations (M=metal), and (d) low cost.
Several attempts disclosed in the literature have been made in order to achieve high PMA from Co/Ni multilayer configurations. However, all of the examples typically involve a very thick underlayer to establish PMA. For instance, G. Daalderop et al. in "Prediction and Confirmation of Perpendicular Magnetic Anisotropy in Co/Ni Multilayers", Phys. Rev. Lett. 68, 682 (1992) and F. den Broeder et al. in "Co/Ni multilayers with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy: Kerr effect and thermomagnetic writing", Appl. Phys. Lett. 61, 1648 (1992), use a 2000 Angstrom thick Au seed layer. In V. Naik et al., "Effect of (111) texture on the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy of Co/Ni multilayers", J. Appl. Phys. 84, 3273 (1998), and in Y. Zhang et al., "Magnetic and magneto-optic properties of sputtered Co/Ni multilayers", J. Appl. Phys. 75, 6495 (1994), a 500 Angstrom Au/500 Angstrom Ag composite seed layer is employed. Jaeyong Lee et al. in "Perpendicular magnetic anisotropy of the epitaxial fcc Co/60-Angstrom-Ni/Cu(001) system", Phys. Rev. B 57, R5728 (1997) describe a 1000 Angstrom thick Cu seed layer. A 500 Angstrom Ti or 500 Angstrom Cu seed layer with heating to 150° C. is used by P. Bloemen et al. in "Magnetic anisotropies in Co/Ni (111) multilayers", J. Appl. Phys. 72, 4840 (1992). W. Chen et al. in "Spin-torque driven ferromagnetic resonance of Co/Ni synthetic layers in spin valves", Appl. Phys. Lett. 92, 012507 (2008) describe a 1000 Angstrom Cu/200 Angstrom Pt/100 Angstrom Cu composite seed layer.
The aforementioned thick seed layers are not practical with Co/Ni multilayer PMA configurations in spintronic devices. Typically, there is a space restriction in a direction perpendicular to the planes of the spin valve layers in advanced devices in order to optimize performance. The distance between the substrate and top surface of the spin valve tends to shrink in devices with higher areal density. Likewise, the thickness of the hard bias structure adjacent to the spin valve must decrease since it is under similar space restrictions. Seed layers thicker than about 100 Angstroms will require thinning the hard bias layer to maintain a certain thickness for the hard bias structure which can easily lead to lower PMA and less effective biasing because of the Mrt relationship. In other words, it is preferable to thin the seed layer and maintain a maximum thickness in the hard bias layer for optimum longitudinal biasing efficiency. Therefore, an improved seed layer is needed that is thin enough to be compatible with high areal density devices and yet can induce high PMA in an overlying Co/Ni multilayer in a hard bias structure.
In other prior art references, U.S. Patent Application 2007/0026538 describes a hard bias layer made of CoNi but does not include a seed layer. U.S. Pat. No. 7,134,185 discloses a CoNi hard bias layer which is formed on a Cr or NiAl seed layer. There is no mention in either of the aforementioned references of laminated Co and Ni layers with PMA.
In U.S. Pat. No. 7,433,161, a hard bias structure including a Cr, Ti, Mo, or WMo underlayer, a CoPt or CoCrPt alloy as a hard bias layer, and a Ta interlayer on the hard bias layer is described.

Thin seeded Co/Ni multilayer film with perpendicular anisotropy for read head sensor stabilization


A tampon comprising an absorbent core and a partially impermeable layer, where said absorbent core have a mantle area, an insertion end area, and a withdrawal end area is disclosed. The tampon further comprises an active layer, and said partially impermeable layer is arranged on at least a part of said mantle area, and said active layer is arranged on at least a part of said partially impermeable layer. The tampon will sustain a moistured surface layer, while at the same time excess fluid is distributed to the core of the tampon for storage.

A wide variety of sanitary articles are known in the art for taking up menstrual fluid, e.g. sanitary towels (pads) and tampons. Sanitary towels have the drawback of being visible, since they are carried outside the body and also change position with body movements. Further, they may entail transfer of intestinal bacteria to the vagina. Many women therefore prefer tampons as protection against menstrual fluid, especially women who lead an active life.
During low production of menstrual fluid, the conventional tampon provides great friction which results in uneasiness to insert and withdraw as well as dryness of the vaginal mucosa. Women would prefer to use tampons exclusively if there are no side effects e.g. leakage, discomfort with insertion and withdrawal and no medical risks.
During the menstrual period women bleed on average 40 ml (1600 drops/5 days), and eighty percent of the total bleeding occurs during the first two days (106 drops/4 hours); thus during the three remaining days, women only bleed 8 ml (16 drops/4 hours). (Hallberg L, et al: Menstrual blood loss—A population study. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand 45:320, 1966; Hallberg L, Nilsson L: Determination of menstrual blood loss volume. Scand J Clin Lab Invest 16:244, 1964; and Rybo, G, 1966, Menstrual blood loss in relation to parity and menstrual pattern, Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand 45 (Suppl7), 25-45).
Conventional tampons have an approximate maximal absorption capacity of 320 drops during the first second.
Hence, in view of the amount of menstrual fluid produced, conventional tampons have a significant overcapacity. The moisture balance in the vagina also supplies a moistured film to the vaginal mucosa. This moistured film is disturbed by use of a conventional tampon.
Moreover, the use of certain contraceptive agents, such as contraceptive pills, further reduces the amount of menstrual fluid during the menstrual period.
As a result of this major overcapacity, there is a great risk that the vaginal tissue will be dried out by the use of a tampon, especially during the later stage of the menstruation period. As a consequence, the risk for disturbances of the vaginal microbiota and the risk for infections is significantly increased.
A severe disease, which has appeared among tampon users, is called the toxic shock syndrome (TSS). TSS is caused by the uptake of bacterial toxins in the vaginal tissue. The risk for contracting TSS increases when the vaginal tissue is dried out, since then micro-wounds will easily result, which cause invasion of bacteria.
Accordingly, the overcapacity of conventional tampons is a great disadvantage which could impose severe medical risks to the users. Additionally, many women experience the friction of the tampon against the vaginal tissue as very discomforting, especially during insertion, withdrawal and use of the tampon.
In order to better adapt the absorption capacity of tampons to the actual need, tampons of different sizes have been produced, which shall be used during different stages of the menstrual period. However, the absorption capacity, even of the smallest available tampons, still widely exceeds what is required.
One example of a prior art tampon is disclosed in WO 03/043557, which describes a catamenial tampon comprising a generally absorbent member and a fluid wicking overwrap covering the absorbent member, said overwrap having an agar shear force of less than 90 grams. Since the agar shear force is less than 90 grams, this overwrap causes less discomfort for women by insertion, withdrawal and use of the tampon.
Until now, the problem with the overcapacity absorption of tampons has not been solved. There is therefore a great need for an improved tampon which does not adhere to the vaginal tissue or dry out the vagina, while leakage at the same time is avoided.


The present invention relates to moisture-curable compounds which. a) have a content of (cyclo)aliphatically-bound isocyanate groups (calculated as NCO, MW 42) of 0.2 to 30% by weight and a content of alkoxysilane groups (calculated as Si, MW 28) of 0.2 to 4.5% by weight, PA0 b) optionally contain repeating ethylene oxide units and PA0 c) have an equivalent ratio of (cyclo)aliphatically-bound isocyanate groups to alkoxy groups, which are bound to Si, of 1.0:0.05 to 1.0:1.4,. wherein the preceding percentages are based on the weight of the moisture-curable compounds and wherein the alkoxysilane groups are incorporated as the reaction products of polyisocyanates with amino compounds corresponding to formula I ##STR1## The present invention also relates to coating, adhesive or sealing compositions containing these moisture-curable compounds as the binder.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to moisture-curable compounds containing (cyclo)aliphatically-bound isocyanate groups and alkoxysilane groups incorporated through aspartate groups, which can be cured in the presence of moisture to form coatings, adhesives and sealants.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is known that polyisocyanate resins are curable in the presence of atmospheric moisture to form polyurea coatings. During the curing mechanism an isocyanate group reacts with moisture to form an amino group, which then reacts with another isocyanate group to form a urea group. One of the disadvantages of these moisture-curable resins is that the curing mechanism is relatively slow.
It has been suggested in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,420,800 and 3,567,692 that the curing rate of moisture-curable polyisocyanates can be increased by incorporating either aldimines or ketimines. It is stated that the reaction of moisture with an aldimine or ketimine to form the corresponding amine is faster than the reaction of moisture with an isocyanate group to form an amine. A disadvantage of the use of aldimines and ketimines to accelerate the cure of polyisocyanates is that it requires the preparation of an additional component and requires some type of metering equipment to ensure that the two components are blended in the proper proportions.
It is an object of the present invention to increase the curing rate of moisture-curable polyisocyanates without the need for a co-reactant.
This object may be achieved with the polyisocyanates according to the present invention, which have been modified to contain alkoxysilane silane groups incorporated through aspartate groups. The faster curing rates obtained according to the present invention are surprising because alkoxysilane groups, which are also curable in the presence of moisture, cure more slowly than polyisocyanates. However, when both isocyanate groups and alkoxysilane groups are present, a faster curing rate is obtained.
Copending application, U.S. Ser. No. 09/058,072, discloses water dispersible compounds containing isocyanate and alkoxysilane groups. The water dispersible compounds must be prepared from a polyisocyanate component having a minimum average functionality of 2.4 and be rendered water dispersible by the use of either ionic or nonionic hydrophilic groups.
Copending application, U.S. Ser. No. 08/992,163, discloses the preparation of polyurethane-urea dispersions containing alkoxysilane groups incorporated through aspartate groups. However, because the resulting polyurethane dispersions are dispersed in water, they do not contain any unreacted isocyanate groups.

Moisture-curable compounds containing isocyanate and alkoxysilane groups


Wafer carriers and methods for moving wafers in a reactor. The wafer carrier may include a platen with a plurality of compartments and a plurality of wafer platforms. The platen is configured to rotate about a first axis. Each of the wafer platforms is associated with one of the compartments and is configured to rotate about a respective second axis relative to the respective compartment. The platen and the wafer platforms rotate with different angular velocities to create planetary motion therebetween. The method may include rotating a platen about a first axis of rotation. The method further includes rotating each of a plurality of wafer platforms carried on the platen and carrying the wafers about a respective second axis of rotation and with a different angular velocity than the platen to create planetary motion therebetween.

The invention generally relates to vacuum processing systems and methods and, in particular, to mechanisms and methods for improving material uniformity in the chemical vapor and physical vapor deposition systems.
Due to the current growth in the LED and OLED markets, there is an ever increasing demand for efficient and high throughput manufacturing methods and systems. Current high throughput manufacturing systems use chemical vapor deposition (CVD) to deposit material on several substrate wafers simultaneously and thus to maximize their throughput. Yield per wafer is typically related to the uniformity of the deposition on it, with a more uniform deposition resulting in a higher yield.
In the past and current CVD systems, the means for achieving improved uniformity included heating of a wafer carrier, varying shape of a reaction chamber, modifying shower head characteristic as well as rotating the wafer carrier. All of these methods were used with varying degree of success with much improvement still needed. In particular, when rotating a wafer carrier containing multiple substrate wafers it is desirable to rotate it at a rate different from that of the wafers, thereby creating planetary motion. This allows a greater control over a deposition profile as well real time correction of various defects in the deposition's uniformity.
Currently available methods for creating planetary motion of the wafers on a wafer carrier include continuously driven planetary gearing system, application of circulating gasses under the substrate and vibration of the wafer carrier to induce rotation of the wafers. Each of these systems has its own drawbacks. A typical continuously driven planetary gearing system consists of a set of gears which continuously drive both a plurality of wafer platforms and the wafer carrier. The gears of the mechanism are continuously loaded by both the mass of the wafer carrier and the mass of plurality of wafer platforms. Addition of the thermal stress due to high operational temperatures adds to the mechanical stress in the mechanism and results in lower reliability and higher particle generation. Planetary motion through application of circulating gases limits operation of the wafers carrier to the low rpm range in order to maintain planetary motion as well as degrades CVD process performance by interfering with the reaction gases and increasing the total gas load on the system's pump. The use of vibration to create planetary motion does not guarantee equal magnitude of rotation for all of the wafers on the wafer carrier as well as limits possible wafer carrier rotation rates.
Thus, there is a need for a mechanism which improves deposition uniformity without negative impacts on maintenance and operational rpm of the wafer carrier. The mechanism must also ensure equal magnitude of rotation among all of the wafers on the wafer carrier.

Multi-wafer rotating disc reactor with inertial planetary drive


There is provided a three-dimensional laser beam machining apparatus for a long workpiece, which includes an automatic loading device for a large variety of materials that feeds materials to a three-dimensional laser beam machine. The automatic loading device 100 for a large variety of materials has a bundle type material loading device 120. A bundle type material W1 is a round pipe or a polygonal pipe, and the posture thereof around the axis line is aligned automatically when the material is conveyed by a roller conveyor 140. The front material stopped by a stopper 150 is sent out to an inclined conveyor 180 over the stopper 150 by means of a swing arm 170. The bundle type material as well as a versatile type material, the posture of which around the axis line is not aligned automatically, are set on a receiving member 210 of a common conveyor 200 and sent to the three-dimensional laser beam machine by the operator.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a three-dimensional laser beam machining apparatus capable of linearly cutting a so-called long material, such as a pipe and an angle bar, into a free curved shape with laser beams.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, a linear machining apparatus capable of cutting a long workpiece has been proposed. Japanese Patent No. 3769663, Japanese Patent No. 3710116, and Japanese Patent No. 3796079 relate to three-dimensional laser beam machining apparatuses for a long material, the patents of which are held by the applicant of the present invention.
Also, DE19838863A1, DE19721330C2, DE19721331A1, and EP0481462B1 disclose similar machining apparatuses.
These three-dimensional laser beam machining apparatuses require a device for automatically feeding long materials.
The three-dimensional laser beam machining apparatus, which machines long materials having various cross-sectional shapes, requires a loading device capable of loading materials having various cross-sectional shapes.
For the materials having various cross-sectional shapes, such as round pipes and polygonal pipes, the postures thereof around the axis lines are made coincide automatically during the conveyance of materials.
Of these materials, small-size long materials, which are called bundle type materials, are supplied in a bundled state in large quantities.
On the other hand, large, long materials, for example, each having an L-shaped cross section or an H-shaped cross section, which are called versatile type materials, must be set on the loading device one by one with the postures thereof around the axis line aligned.

Three-dimensional laser beam machining apparatus for long workpiece


A method and system for allowing a user to access a peer from a remote system are described. The method and system include authenticating the user for the peer using an authentication server and providing a token for the peer and the user based on the authenticating. The user is authenticated from the remote system. The method and system also include allowing the user to access the peer from the remote system through a proxy server and using the token, if the user is authenticated.

One mechanism for sharing information, such as images, between users is a peer-to-peer (P2P) network. In conventional P2P networks, each conventional computer system, or peer, in the network can act as a server for other peers in the network. For example, photosharing applications allow each peer in the P2P network to act as a server to share pictures with others in the network without the users having to upload their pictures to a Web site. One example of such a P2P application is Photo Vibe 1.2 by XFonnx, Inc. of Needham, Mass.
In order to facilitate sharing of information, a conventional peer is separated into two portions: a public portion and a protected portion. The public portion includes materials that guests can view copy or otherwise manipulate. Thus, a user of a first peer can be a guest on a second peer. As a guest, the user can view, copy, or similarly manipulate material accessible to the guest on the second peer. For example, photos which a user of the peer wishes to share with others are accessible through the public portion of the peer. The protected portion is accessible only by authorized users, not to guests. For example, a username and/or password may be required to authenticate a user and allow the user access to the protected portion. The authorized user is typically the owner or user of the peer. Using the protected portion, the authorized user of the peer can perform operations that are unavailable to guests. For example, using the protected portion, the authorized user can alter images, including images that are publicly accessible or otherwise configure the guest portion of the peer, as well as altering the images that are available to guests.
Although the conventional P2P function, one of ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize that it is desirable for an authorized user to securely access the peer. Stated differently, it would be desirable for users, particularly peer owners, to be able to access protected portions of the peer from a remote computer system, for example through the Internet. One conventional method for doing so utilizes secure certificates. In such a conventional method, the authorized user would obtain a secure certificate from a trusted certificate authority. Using the secure certificate, the authorized user can remotely access the peer, including protected portions of the peer. However, one of ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize that secure certificates are expensive. Typically, each certificate costs at least one hundred dollars. Such a high cost is undesirable. Furthermore, if each peer owner in the P2P network is given secure remote access to their peer, secure certificates for each peer may need to be managed. Managing such a large number of certificates may also require a significant overhead, which is also undesirable.
Another conventional method for allowing for remote, secure access to peers includes using Kerberos based systems. A Kerberos system is designed to allow a user to be authenticated once, then have access to multiple systems having different types. However, one of ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize that Kerberos systems are notoriously complicated. Furthermore, Kerberos systems are designed to address a different issue. Consequently, Kerberos systems are not tailored to allow many individual users to each be able to securely and remotely access particular peer(s).
Accordingly, what is needed is an improved method for remotely and securely accessing a peer. The present invention addresses such a need.

Method and system for providing remote secure access to a peer computer


A rotary driving device for rotating an object to be rotated, is manufactured by a process of rotating a turntable, for loading the object to be rotated thereon, mounted to a driving part and thereby generating a surface vibration because of rotation of the turntable, and a process of forming a surface vibration absorber part on the turntable corresponding to an amount of the surface vibration.

The present invention relates to a rotary driving device such as a spindle motor or the like for objects to-be-rotated including recording media, e.g., CD-ROMs and MO (magneto-optic) discs, and manufacturing method and device for the rotary driving device.
A spindle motor (an example of the rotary driving device referred to above) is used was a driving device for circular recording media like CD-ROMs, MO discs, etc. The spindle motor is generally a DC type brushless motor and is driven for rotation at a high velocity of several hundreds to several thousands rpm. The spindle motor of this kind includes a turntable for loading a recording medium (an example of the object to be rotated) thereon, and a driving part for rotating the turntable. The driving part comprises a motor frame, a rotor supported to the motor frame in a rotatable fashion, and a stator disposed in the periphery of a rotary shaft of the rotor within the motor frame. The turntable is set integrally with the rotor and a central portion of which has fixed thereon the rotary shaft of the rotor, for example, by way of press-fitting.
The spindle motor is controlled to be driven for rotation at a constant linear velocity (CLV) when driving the CDs or CD-ROMs. Additionally, it is controlled to be rotated with a constant number of revolution (CAV) when driving MO discs.
In manufacturing the above spindle motor, it is important to restrict the vibration of waving of a surface of the turntable within a tolerance zone. The surface vibration in the spindle motor during the rotation leads to a surface vibration of the recording medium, causing a change in distance from a writing and reading head located adjacently to the recording medium, thereby hindering the head from correctly writing and reading to the recording medium. The surface vibration is often due to the press-fitting when the rotary shaft is press-fitted to the turntable or to the assembling of individual components in the spindle motor. More specifically, the surface vibration results, for instance, from a slight difference of the pressing force at the time of press-fitting or a small burr left in a to-be-pressed hole, etc. Therefore, the surface vibration generated during the rotation differs for every spindle motor. The prior art has intended to maintain a high processing accuracy and a high assembling accuracy of each component so as to reduce the above-described surface vibration as much as possible. However, as the processing accuracy and assembling accuracy are enhanced, manufacturing costs are increased thus making the spindle motor expensive.

Rotary driving device having a surface vibration absorber part with a varying thickness

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A contact lens case including a container main body provided with a housing recess for storing a contact lens and a liquid agent, and a lid that is connected to the container main body via a hinge in a freely openable and closable manner. A lens holding body is displaceably housed in the housing recess, and by connecting the lid and the lens holding body via a connecting member, the lens holding body can undergo rising and falling displacement following open and close action of the lid around the hinge. A displacement restricting member is provided that restricts a direction of the rising and falling displacement of the lens holding body to the vertical direction that coincides with a depth direction of the housing recess.

As has been well known, hydrogel soft contact lenses of permanent-wear or periodic replacement type need to be stored in a condition of being soaked in a preserving solution such as physiological saline containing a disinfecting component etc. and protected from drying out or contamination during a period from the removal of the lens from the wearer's eye to the next application thereof. When more certain disinfecting effect is expected, the contact lenses are soaked in hydrogen peroxide solution for more than several hours for disinfection.
By the way, as a structural body that can easily contain and store a liquid agent such as the preserving solution mentioned above or hydrogen peroxide solution as well as contact lenses, a contact lens case has conventionally been used widely. For example, as described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. JP-A-2002-006274 (Patent Document 1), the structure of the contact lens case comprises a container main body provided with a housing recess for storing preserving solution and contact lenses and a lid installed at the upper opening of the housing recess to cover the upper opening. Also, as a contact lens case capable of providing disinfection using hydrogen peroxide solution, Japanese Domestic Publication of International Patent Application No. JP-A-2002-526203 (Patent Document 2) proposes a case having a structure where a platinum layer is applied to the bottom surface and inner peripheral surface of a shallow housing recess. That is, although hydrogen peroxide solution is decomposed into nontoxic water and oxygen, any undecomposed residue would serve as stimulus against the eyes, and therefore, hydrogen peroxide should be completely neutralized by dissolution before the completion of the disinfection treatment of the contact lenses by means of accelerating and adjusting the dissolution reaction using a catalyst such as platinum.
However, various problems have been pointed out in terms of hygiene, safety and operability of the conventionally structured contact lens case described above. For example, in storing contact lenses that have been worn all day, there is a case where a liquid agent such as a preserving solution or hydrogen peroxide solution is filled in the housing recess of the contact lens case, and then the contact lenses are removed by being picked with the user's fingers from the user's eyes to be stored in the housing recess. In this case, there is a good possibility that the user's fingers get in touch with the preserving solution, and if the liquid agent is indeed a preserving solution, there is a concern about the preserving solution being contaminated by the contact with the user's fingers. If the liquid agent is hydrogen peroxide solution, there is a risk that the user's fingers would touch the solution before neutralizing reactions, which is an irritant substance, when one of the contact lenses is stored in the housing recess, and when the other contact lens is removed from the eye with the fingers, hydrogen peroxide solution would get into the eye.
Also, in case of reusing contact lenses stored in a contact lens case, the user has to insert his/her fingers into the housing recess filled with a liquid agent to pick up each contact lens. Therefore, it is inevitable to spill the liquid agent over the housing recess where the fingers are inserted, thus causing a problem of being unable to wear on the contact lenses except in the place where spilling of the liquid agent causes no problem. Also, when the contact lenses are picked up from the liquid agent, there could be a risk that the contact lenses may float within the liquid agent and turn upside down, thereby preventing them from being easily picked up from the housing recess.


An apparatus may include a memory to store a first radio signal strength indicator (RSSI) data set comprising first data entries for RSSI detected from a multiplicity of transmission sources by a first wireless device of a first device type, and to store a second RSSI data set comprising second data entries for RSSI detected from the multiplicity of transmission sources by a second wireless device of a second device type; and a cross-device radio calibration engine to receive the first RSSI data set and second RSSI data set and generate a cross-calibrated RSSI function comprising a function that reduces differences between the first RSSI data set and the second RSSI data set. Other embodiments are disclosed and claimed.

WiFi based indoor location technologies have attracted a lot of attention in the past decade given the wide deployment of WLAN infrastructure. At present there are several industry efforts underway to develop technology to determine mobile device locations basing on WiFi signal strength (e.g., RSSI). In one example WiFi RSSI may be used to estimate mobile device distance from the known locations of Access Points, which can then be used to pinpoint device location using trilateration techniques. In another example WiFi RSSI is employed as a "fingerprint" measurement, in which the mobile device location is estimated through WiFi signal measurements from multiple access points, which signal measurements are matched against a pre-calibrated fingerprint data set for a given location. Thus, if the set of RSSI WiFi signals reported by a mobile device matches a given fingerprint data set, the mobile device can be pinpointed at the location associated with the fingerprint data set.
However, each of these techniques is subject to error due to a phenomenon that is termed herein "device diversity." The term device diversity refers to the general situation in which different mobile devices and in particular different device models can report different RSSI readings given the same received reference signal. In other words, two different devices positioned at the exact same location at the same time that are receiving the same radio signal(s) may report different RSSI information. In general, the RSSI reading is affected by transceiver design, radio calibration, antenna placement, etc. Thus, the accuracy of determination of location based upon RSSI information may vary among different devices, such that any locationing system that uses RSSI information to determine location generates a less robust determination of device location as a whole.
It is with respect to these and other considerations that the present improvements have been needed.

Techniques for cross-device radio signal strength calibration


The present invention provides a selectively-activatible sheet material for dispensing and dispersing a substance onto a target surface. The sheet material comprises a three-dimensional sheet of material having a first side and a second side. The said first side has a plurality of hollow protrusions extending outwardly therefrom and separated from one another by valleys, while the second side has a plurality of depressions corresponding with the hollow protrusions. A substance adheres to and partially fills a location protected from external contact comprising the valleys and/or the depressions. The sheet material may be selectively activated by deforming the hollow protrusions to deliver the substance to a target surface, the substance having an effective viscosity upon activation which permits the substance to be liberated from its protected location and dispensed onto the target surface. Suitable substances include cleansing agents, medicinal agents, emollients, lubricants, colorants, preservatives, protectants, condiments, adhesives, fragrances, anti-perspirants, deodorants, and combinations thereof. The present invention also includes such materials having two or more substances of diverse composition, and substances which undergo a decrease in effective viscosity upon activation (such as shear-thinning substances) are particularly preferred. Additional layers of porous material may also be employed on the opposite side of the substance from the sheet material such that the substance may be dispensed through the porous material. Porous materials may provide additional beneficial interaction with the substance, including enhanced distribution and dispersal.

In the art of dispensing, articles have been developed which are coated or impregnated with useful substances intended to be utilized when the article is contacted with a target surface. While there are advantages with having the substance present on or near the surface of such articles, there is often the drawback that the useful substance is unprotected and is subject to inadvertent contact before intended use. Inadvertent contact may lead to contamination of the substance, loss of the onto surfaces other than the desired target surface, and/or contamination of such other surfaces with the substance.
One approach to addressing such issues involves the use of protective packaging for the article, such as a sleeve, envelope, or other wrapping. While such protective packaging has proven effective in preserving the integrity and condition of the substance, depending upon the nature of the substance it is frequently the case that varying amounts of the substance remain on the article-facing surfaces of the packaging after it is removed from the article, thereby causing inefficient use of the substance. Moreover, such packaging adds additional non-value-added cost to the total price of the article. This approach also does not provide a method of control of uniformity of thickness of the substance since the product (substance) may be unevenly smeared on the carrier surface while in transit, storage, or upon opening of the sleeve, envelope, or other wrapping.
In the art of tapes, labels, and other articles using pressure sensitive adhesive to adhere an adhesive coated surface to a target surface, there has been recognized the problem of premature sticking to the target surface. That is, before the adhesive coated surface can be properly positioned over a target surface, inadvertent contact of the adhesive with the target surface causes premature sticking at one or more locations, thereby inhibiting proper positioning. Premature sticking may also cause contamination or degradation of the adhesive prior to final positioning upon the target surface.
One approach to addressing this problem involves the use of standoffs on a material surface, between which adhesive or adhesive elements are located. Standoffs include any means extending outwardly from an adhesive surface which is contacted first before the adhesive surface is exposed to contact by another surface. Such standoffs may be either deformable or may rely upon deformation of the target surface to provide contact between the adhesive and the target surface. Although approaches of this type have proven successful with adhesives, such materials are typically designed so that the adhesive remains attached to the material surface rather than transferring at least partially onto the target surface. Moreover, the adhesive typically remains substantially in its original placement relative to the target surface, such that a discontinuous or interrupted layer of adhesive fails to uniformly contact or coat the target surface.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a sheet-like material which is capable of delivering and dispensing a substance onto a target surface for treating the target surface while the material is in contact with the target surface and/or leaving the substance on the target surface even after removal of the sheet material.
It would also be desirable to provide such a material which protects the substance from inadvertent contact prior to placement upon the desired target surface.
It would further be desirable to provide such a material which facilitates the dispersal of the substance on the target surface beyond the area of initial placement.
It would further be desirable to provide such a material which facilitates the dispersal of the substance on the target surface without user contact with the substance.
It would still further be desirable to provide such a material which may be readily and economically produced utilizing a continuous process.

Selectively-activatible sheet material for dispensing and dispersing a substance onto a target surface


Two and three dimensional color image displays. The displays include a display medium having a substantially uniform dispersion of red, green and blue visible light emitting particles sized between approximately 0.5 to approximately 50 microns therethrough. The particles can be dye doped polymethylmethacrylate(pmma) plastic, and the display medium can be pmma, acrylic plastic or glass. Other particles can be used such as rare earth doped crystals. The two dimensional display uses three laser sources each having different wavelengths that direct light beams to each of three different types of particle in the display medium. Light is absorbed by the particles which then become excited and emit visible fluorescence. Modulators, scanners and lens can be used to move and focus the laser beams to different pixels in order to form the two dimensional images having different visible colors.

Two dimensional and three dimensional displays are well known to be made monochromatic displays. However, monochromatic does not offer the detail such as shown using red, green and blue colors.
Displays using liquid crystals have been proposed of generating color displays. See for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,359,345 and 5,724,062 to Hunter. However, these patents require arranging individual pixels in rows and corresponding columns, column 4, lines 36-39. The devices described can be expensive and complicated to manufacture, can have a narrow angular view ranges with low brightness.
Additional display systems have been proposed with similar problems to those described above. See for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,791,415 to Takahashi; U.S. Pat. No. 4,871,231 to Garcia, Jr.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,184,114 to Brown; U.S. Pat. No. 5,192,946 to Thompson et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,317,348 to Knize.
Several patents have been proposed for panel displays using two-frequency upconversion fluorescence. See for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,684,621; 5,764,403; 5,914,807; 5,943,160; and 5,956,172 all to Downing. The Downing ""403 patent appears to be the most relevant to the subject invention. Downing ""403 is primarily concerned with embodiments where the use different layers for red, green and blue emitters, abstract, FIG. 6, and briefly describes some mixing of only crystal type materials in a single display media. However, for the single display media, Downing ""403 uses nanometer sized particles, column 4, lines 33+, column 9, lines 42-45, which would inherently be difficult to form, handle and disperse in a display medium.
The first objective of the present invention is to provide an inexpensive system for forming two dimensional and three dimensional displays.
The second object of this invention is to provide a system for uniformly dispersing micron sized particles in a transparent host media for two and three dimensional displays.
The third object of this invention is to provide a two and three dimensional display media using dye doped plastics uniformly dispersed in a plastic transparent host media.
The invention covers uniformly dispersing particles of approximately 0.5 microns to approximately 50 microns in a transparent host display medium. The particles can be dye doped plastics, rare earth doped crystals, and the like, in display mediums such as plastic, acrylic plastic, and glass. The first preferred embodiment includes up to three lasers each emitting a laser beam at a different wavelength elected to excite specific groups of particles in the laser beam illuminated areas of the display medium. There are three different particulate types, with selected amounts of each uniformly dispersed in the display medium. One particle type when excited by a first laser beam emits a red visible fluorescence, a second particle type when excited by the second laser beam emits a green visible fluorescence, and a third particle type when excited by the third laser beam emits a blue visible fluorescence. The two dimensional display does not require a matched index of refraction between the particles and the display medium.
A second embodiment is for a three dimensional display having up to six laser beams, each being emitted at a different wavelength. Similar to the first embodiment, the display medium has a substantially uniform dispersement of red, green and blue particles therethrough. A pair of laser beams is directed so that the beams intersect at a specific location in the display medium. One pair of intersecting beams that excites a first particle type that then emits red fluorescence, another intersecting pair emits green fluorescence, and a third pair of intersecting beams with a third particulate type emits blue fluorescence. The three dimensional display requires a matched index of refraction between the particles and the display medium.
Further objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of a presently preferred embodiment which is illustrated schematically in the accompanying drawings.

Display medium using emitting particles dispersed in a transparent host


The positive type photosensitive composition of the present invention comprises a polymer compound (A) having, in a side chain thereof, a polymerizable group or a cross-linkable group, and an infrared absorbent (B). Preferably, the polymerizable group or cross-linkable group is incorporated into molecules of the polymer compound (A) through a structural unit having this group in a side chain thereof. Specifically, the structural unit is preferably a structural unit having any one of structures represented by the following general formulae (1) to (4):

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a positive type photosensitive composition, the solubility of which, in an aqueous alkaline solution, is enhanced by being exposed to infrared rays. More specifically, the invention relates to a positive type photosensitive composition useful as a recording layer of a planographic printing plate precursor that can be subjected to the so-called direct plate-making method, according to which a printing plate can be directly made up by scanning of an infrared laser on the basis of digital signals received from a computer or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hitherto, various photosensitive compositions have been used for the formation of visible images, or as a material for planographic printing plate precursors. Recently, remarkable developments have taken place in the area of lasers for planographic printing. With particular, regard to both solid lasers and semiconductor lasers having an emission wavelength within a near infrared or infrared wavelength range, it has become easy to obtain lasers which have a high level of output and which are at the same time compact. These lasers are extremely useful as light sources for exposure when printing plates are made up directly on the basis of digital data received from a computer or the like.
Materials which can be used for positive type planographic printing plate precursors applicable for infrared lasers include, as essential components, a binder resin soluble in an aqueous alkaline solution (hereinafter referred to where appropriate as an "alkali-soluble resin"), and an infra red dye which absorbs light to generate heat. When an image is formed in a positive type planographic printing plate precursor, the infra red dye interacts with the binder resin in its unexposed portions (image portions) so as to function as a dissolution inhibitor which can substantially reduce the solubility of the binder resin. On the other hand, in its exposed portions (non-image portions), interaction of the infra red dye with the binder resin is weakened by the heat generated. Consequently, an exposed portion can turn into a state in which it can be dissolved in an alkaline developer, so that an image is formed thereon.
However, insofar as infrared-laser-applicable positive planographic printing plate precursor materials are concerned, differences in the degree of resistance against dissolution in a developer between unexposed portions (image portions) and exposed portions (non-image portions) therein, that is, differences in development latitude have not yet been sufficient under various conditions of use. Thus, problems have occurred insofar that, with changes in conditions of use of materials, materials have tended to be either excessively developed or inadequately developed.
Such problems stem from fundamental differences in plate-making mechanisms between infrared-laser-applicable positive type planographic printing plate precursor materials and positive type planographic printing plate precursor materials from which printing plates are made up by exposure to ultra violet rays.
In other words, positive type planographic printing plate precursor materials from which printing plates are made up by exposure to ultra violer rays each include, as essential components, a binder resin soluble in an aqueous alkaline solution and an onium salt, or a quinonediazide compound. This onium salt or quinonediazide compound not only interacts with the binder resin in unexposed portions (image portions) to function as a dissolution inhibitor, but in exposed portions (non-image portions) it is also decomposed by light and generates an acid to function as a dissolution promoter. In this way, the onium salt, or the quinonediazide compound, performs dual functions.
On the other hand, in infrared-laser-applicable positive type planographic printing plate precursor materials, the infra red dye functions only as a dissolution inhibitor of unexposed portions (image portions), and does not promote the dissolution of exposed portions (non-image portions). Furthermore, heat generated in exposed portions near the interface between the photosensitive layer and the support diffuses to the support. Thus, in some cases heat may not be effectively used for forming images. As a result, the materials of this type have a drawback insofar that a film residue is easily generated. Accordingly, demands have been made for infrared-laser-applicable positive type planographic printing plate precursor materials which have both a high sensitivity and a wide development latitude.
As solutions to these problems, in order to maintain the rate of the residual film in image portions low and to increase the degree of contrast between image portions and non-image portions, the following examples have been disclosed: an example wherein an organic acid such as polyacrylic acid is also used in a positive type photosensitive composition including a photothermal conversion material and an alkali-soluble resin (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 10-282643); an example wherein a methyl methacrylate-(meth)acrylic acid copolymer is also used in the same composition (see, for example, JP-A No. 2001-324808); and other examples. However, these examples are have proved inadequate in the terms of compatibility between the image-formability of the compositions (in particular, alkali resistance of image portions, which should not be too high) and the storage stability thereof.
A technique wherein a recording layer is made into a multilayered structure, thereby improving the stability of the layer has also been suggested. A positive type image forming material has been disclosed which has a lower layer including a sulfonamide-containing polymer, and an upper layer containing a resin having a phenolic hydroxyl group and an infrared absorbent (see, for example, JP-A No. 11-218914). However from the viewpoint of the printing resistance of image portions, there is still scope for improvement.
A technique has also been suggested in which a lower layer includes an alkali-soluble binder and an upper layer includes an epoxy compound and a curing agent, the upper layer being cross-linked by being heated up to a temperature of about 100° C. at the time when it is applied and dried, thereby improving the alkali resistance of the layers (see, for example, EP patent No. 960728). Since under this system the epoxy compound and the curing agent are made to coexist in the upper layer, a cross-linking reaction is generated only in the upper layer, at the time that it is being dried after application. Thus, the depths of the recording layer which has been cured are insufficient and the printing resistance can accordingly not be improved. Moreover, in this case, improvements in printing resistance by the burning treatment cannot be obtained.

Abstract: wherein A, B, X each independently represents a single bond, an oxygen atom, a sulfur atom or the like; L and M each independently represent a bivalent organic group; R1 to R12 represents a hydrogen atom or a monovalent organic group; R13 to R24 each independently represents a monovalent organic group; and Y represents an oxygen atom, a sulfur atom, or a phenylene group which may have a substituent.


Provided is a transmission device including a transmission unit that includes an antenna coil and performs communication with an external device by electromagnetic coupling, a signal output unit that generates a signal of a predetermined frequency and outputs the generated signal to the transmission unit, a communication monitor unit that monitors information about a current flowing through the antenna coil and determines a communication state based on the monitored information, and a communication correction unit that corrects a communication characteristic based on a determination result of the communication state in the communication monitor unit.

The present disclosure relates to a transmission device, a transmission/reception device, and an integrated circuit, each of which has a function of performing non-contact communication (transmission) of information or energy by electromagnetic induction (electromagnetic coupling), and communication state monitoring methods of these devices.
Nowadays a non-contact communication system in which non-contact IC (Integrated Circuit) cards, such as a traffic ticket and electronic money, are used becomes significantly widespread. In such a non-contact communication system, a transmission signal (electromagnetic wave) emitted from a transmission antenna (a resonant circuit) of a reader/writer (hereinafter abbreviated to as R/W) device dedicated to the system is received by the electromagnetic induction using a reception antenna provided in the non-contact IC card.
In such a non-contact communication system, it is important to mutually match a frequency of a signal source of the R/W device, a resonance frequency of the transmission antenna of the R/W device, and a resonance frequency of the reception antenna (resonant circuit) of the non-contact IC card, so as to obtain good communication characteristic. However, the resonance frequency of the reception antenna of the non-contact IC card or the transmission antenna of the R/W device is varied by various factors. In this case, it is difficult to stably transmit and receive information between the non-contact IC card and the R/W device.
Thus, in the past, in the technical field of non-contact communication systems, there have been proposed various technologies for maintaining a good communication state under all conditions (see, for example, Patent Literature 1). Patent Literature 1 describes a non-contact IC card device for an electronic settlement system that performs electronic settlement by wireless communication. In the non-contact IC card device for the electronic settlement system of Patent Literature 1, there is proposed a technology for optimally controlling transmission power of a wireless transmission/reception circuit according to a distance or a position relationship between a wireless transmission/reception circuit and a non-contact R/W and a surrounding radio wave condition.

Transmission device, transmission/reception device, integrated circuit, and communication state monitoring method


A process for the preparation of phenyltetrazole derivatives of formula (II) wherein R and Y are as defined in the disclosure, by direct ortho-metallation of (tetrazol-5-γl)benzene. The compounds of formula (II) are useful intermediates for the preparation of angiotensin II antagonists.

Angiotensin II antagonists are used, for example, in the treatment of hypertension, anxiety, glaucoma and heart failure. A number of these compounds are characterized by a biphenyltetrazole moiety and can be represented by the following formula (I)

wherein Z is an optionally substituted heterocycle containing at least one nitrogen atom; or an amido residue.
Preferably, the residue Z has the following meanings, which identify specific angiotensin II antagonists:
2-butyl-4-chloro-5-hydroxymethyl-imidazol-1-yl (losartan);
2-ethoxy-7-carboxy-1H-benzimidazol-1-yl (candesartan);
2-butyl-1,3-diaza-spiro[4,4]non-1-en-4-on-3-yl (irbesartan); and
(S)—N-(1-carboxy-2-methylprop-1-yl)-N-pentanoylamino (valsartan).
Key intermediates for the preparation of compounds of formula (I) are 2-substituted phenyltetrazoles of formula (II)

in which R is hydrogen, a protecting group or a salifying group and Y is a —B(OR4)2 group, wherein each R4 is independently hydrogen or C1-C6 alkyl; or a ZnX group, wherein X is a halogen atom selected from chlorine, bromine and iodine.
A number of processes for the preparation of the compounds of formula (II) are known. For example, the process disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,039,814 or in WO 93/10106 comprises the ortho-litiation of the phenyltetrazole and the subsequent transmetallation reaction. The main drawbacks of said process resides in the need to use an organo-lithium compound, i.e. a compound which requires specific safety precautions when used on an industrial scale, due to its high flammability and reactivity.
WO 99/01459 partly solves the problems deriving from the use of organo-lithium compounds by reacting a compound of formula (III)

in which R is as defined above,
with a Grignard reagent of formulaR1—MgX
in which R1 is C1-C6 alkyl or benzyl and X is as defined above;
in the presence of catalytic amounts of a secondary amine, which acts as a disaggregant of the Grignard reagent;
thereby obtaining a compound of formula (IV)

wherein R and X are as defined above. This compound is however hardly reactive and cannot be used as such in "cross-coupling" reactions for the preparation of compounds of formula (I). Therefore, this compound is subjected to a transmetallation reaction, according to known procedures, to obtain a compound of formula (II) as defined above, which is much more reactive. The use of a Grignard reagent, compared with an organo-lithium compound, is undoubtedly safer, but still potentially dangerous on an industrial scale and still requires specific procedures.
It is therefore evident that there is still need for an alternative process for the preparation of compounds of formula (II), in particular a process which does not require the use of Grignard reagents.

Process for the preparation of phenyltetrazole derivatives