The present invention relates to a composition of matter comprising a stable polymerized hemoglobin solution, useful for forming blood-substitutes, and to a method for forming said stable polymerized hemoglobin solution. The stable polymerized hemoglobin solution, and derived blood-substitutes, of this invention comprise polymerized hemoglobin and a sulfhydryl compound, both in solution, wherein the sulfhydryl compound stabilizes the polymerized hemoglobin.. The method of this invention comprises deoxygenating hemoglobin in a hemoglobin solution and then mixing the deoxygenated hemoglobin with a sulfhydryl compound to form an oxidation-stabilized, deoxygenated hemoglobin solution. Subsequently, the oxidation-stabilized deoxygenated hemoglobin solution is mixed with a cross-linking agent to form a polymerization reaction mixture, which is then polymerized to form a stable polymerized hemoglobin solution.

There exists a need for a blood-substitute to treat or prevent hypoxia resulting from blood loss inter alia (e.g, from acute hemorrhage or during surgical operations), resulting from anemia (e.g., pernicious anemia or sickle cell anemia), or resulting from shock (e.g, volume deficiency shock, anaphylactic shock, septic shock or allergic shock).
The use of blood and blood fractions as in these capacities as a blood-substitute is fraught with disadvantages. For example, the use of whole blood often is accompanied by the risk of transmission of hepatitis-producing viruses and AIDS-producing viruses which can complicate patient recovery or result in patient fatalities. Additionally, the use of whole blood requires blood-typing and cross-matching to avoid immunohematological problems and interdonor incompatibility.
Human hemoglobin, as a blood-substitute, possesses osmotic activity and the ability to transport and transfer oxygen, but it has the disadvantage of rapid elimination from circulation by the renal route and through vascular walls, resulting in a very short, and therefore, a typically unsatisfactory half-life. Further, human hemoglobin is also frequently contaminated with toxic levels of endotoxins, bacteria and/or viruses.
Non-human hemoglobin suffers from the same deficiencies as human hemoglobin. In addition, hemoglobin from non-human sources is also typically contaminated with proteins, such as antibodies, which could cause an immune system response in the recipient.
Previously, at least four other types of blood-substitutes have been utilized, including perfluorochemicals, synthesized hemoglobin analogues, liposome-encapsulated hemoglobin, and chemically-modified hemoglobin. However, many of these blood-substitutes have typically had short intravascular retention times, being removed by the circulatory system as foreign substances or lodging in the liver, spleen, and other tissues. Also, many of these blood-substitutes have been biologically incompatible with living systems.
In spite of the recent advances in the preparation of cross-linked hemoglobin blood-substitutes, the need has continued to exist for a blood-substitute which can be stored for longer periods at ambient temperatures without significant degradation, such as through dimer formation or through methemoglobin formation. In addition, the needed blood-substitute should also have a lower oxygen affinity, an oncotic activity equivalent to that of whole blood, and a good intravascular retention time.

Stable polymerized hemoglobin and use thereof


Method of producing a core slider for a rigid magnetic disk drive, including a slider body having air bearing portions, and a core chip which has a magnetic gap for writing and reading information and which is integrally secured to the slider body. The slider body consists of a ferrite section which includes at least the air bearing portions and which is formed of Mn--Zn ferrite, and a non-magnetic ceramic section formed of a non-magnetic ceramic material. The core chip is accommodated in a groove formed in the slider body and bonded to the slider body by a glass material.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a core slider for a rigid magnetic disk drive consisting of a slider body having air bearing portions, and a core chip which has an information writing/reading magnetic gap and which is integrally bonded to the slider body. The invention also relates to a method of producing such a core slider.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
A so-called composite type core slider is known as an air-bearing or flying type core slider for a rigid disk drive. The composite type core slider consists of a slider body having air bearing portions, and a core chip having a magnetic gap for writing or reading information on or from a magnetic memory disk. The slider body and the core chip are prepared as separate members, and are integrally bonded together. As compared with a monolithic type core slider, this composite type core slider has a smaller core thickness accordingly lower inductance, and exhibits better high-frequency operating characteristics. The composite type core slider has an additional advantage that crosstalk can be reduced by forming the track portion such that the side faces of the track portion are substantially perpendicular or normal to the sliding surface on which a magnetic disk slides in operation.
On the other hand, the composite type core slider suffers from easy cracking of the bonding glass and easy distortion, if the slider body and the core chip have a difference in the coefficient of thermal expansion. In this respect, it is necessary to minimize the difference in the thermal expansion coefficient of the slider body and core chip. If the slider body and the core chip are formed of a same material, however, there is an undesirable tendency that a magnetic flux leaks from the core chip toward the slider body, causing the inferior information writing/reading efficiency.
To avoid deterioration of the magnetic properties of the known composite type core slider due to the magnetic flux leakage, the slider body is generally formed principally of a non-magnetic ceramic material such as CaTiO.sub.3, whose coefficient of thermal expansion is almost equal to that of the ferrite of the core chip.
The conventional core slider whose slider body is formed of a non-magnetic ceramic material, particularly, the widely used core slider whose major component is CaTiO.sub.3 has a high coefficient of friction with respect to the magnetic disk, and therefore has a high tendency of damaging the magnetic disk .due to the frictional contact, whereby the slider body is likely to be damaged.

Method of producing core slider for rigid magnetic disc drive


A method and powder system component of an apparatus for use in a printing process is disclosed, and for removing and recycling excess powder. The powder system results in a cutoff point of 3 microns rather than 50 microns of previous systems. The apparatus comprises a powder applicator, a powder remover, a helical cyclone, a powder collector, and two valves that alternately open and close. The two-valve system prevents air backflow. The powder is processed through the two-valve system. The method comprises: valve 1 is closed and powder accumulates; valve 2 is closed also; after valve 1 opens, powder goes through (there is no air backflow), then valve 1 closes; then valve 2 opens and allows powder onto a powder applicator; then valve 2 closes; then the cycle starts again.

Additive manufacturing, such as three-dimensional printing, can be seen as largely a materials science problem. One of the limitations of current methods is a limited materials palette and slow build speeds.
These and other limitations of the prior art are avoided by a methodology known as Composite-Based Additive Manufacturing (CBAM). CBAM is described in full in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/582,939, filed Nov. 2, 2012, Ser. No. 14/835,690, filed Aug. 25, 2015, and Ser. No. 14/835,635, filed Aug. 25, 2015, each of which is incorporated fully herein by reference.
International application no. PCT/US17/17672, filed Feb. 13, 2017 and U.S. application Ser. No. 15/611,320, filed Jun. 1, 2017, describe a particular method and apparatus for automating Composite-Based Additive Manufacturing (CBAM). International application no. PCT/US17/17672 and U.S. application Ser. No. 15/611,320 are incorporated fully herein by reference.
An original powder recycler used in the CBAM process had a cutoff point of 50 microns (that is, it would not recycle particles less than 50 microns). The powder recycler comprised a trough that would deposit powder onto substrate sheets (where the powder would stick to wetted regions on the sheets, the wetted regions corresponding to a layer image of a 3D object), a vacuum for removing excess powder and a recycler for recycling the excess powder using a dump valve to return the excess powder back into the trough. Due to the cutoff point of 50 microns, the device would recycle only those particles that were 50 microns or larger, while particles smaller than 50 microns would get discarded.
The particles used by the inventors of the present application in the CBAM process have a typical mean size in the range of 50 microns, with a distribution of larger and smaller particles, but the process is not limited to these sizes and can be used with many different particle mean sizes and distributions. Thus, using the original powder recycler, many particles (that is, those below 50 microns) were being discarded and thus wasted. In contrast, including the smaller particle sizes in the CBAM process is desirable, as it is shown to improve the amount of powder that adheres to the printed substrate sheets. Consequently, the original powder recycler not only discarded and thus wasted the smaller particles, but also diminished the performance of the CBAM process.
Applicant found use of a different type of recycler overcame this problem in part, but led to subsequent problem in need of solution. Applicants discovered that substituting the original powder recycler with a helical cyclone overcame the problem of discarding smaller particles. However, the combination of the helical cyclone with the original dump valve caused backflow into the cyclone, preventing the powder from falling from the cyclone into the trough.

Method and apparatus for powder system recycler for printing process


A method for determining oscillations of a rotating blade disc of a turbomachine is provided. The method utilizes the steps including, arranging a substance that emits a light quanta when excited by an external excitation source to emit the light quanta, exciting the light emitting substance by the external excitation source to emit the light quanta, sensing the emitted light quanta by a light sensor, and evaluating a signal from the sensor tot determine the osciallation behavior of the blade disc. A corresponding apparatus is also provided.

For many years, non-contacting oscillation measurements have been carried out successfully on blade discs of turbines, for example stationary gas turbines, by means of optical or inductive sensors, which produce considerable signals when individual blades on the blade disc pass by the sensor. Oscillation measurements such as these are required for monitoring purposes and in order to ensure safe operation of turbines.
In order to protect the individual blades on large-diameter blade discs against frequent bending loads, blades with so-called integral covering plates are now increasingly being used, and these result in an essentially closed covering strip structure on the blade disc. However, this closed covering strip structure has no target marks for optical or inductive sensors, which target marks could provide unambiguous signals for reliable analysis of the oscillation behavior of the blade disc. Suitable target marks with a defined arrangement would therefore have to be applied to the closed covering strip structure, from whose signals the oscillation behavior could be determined.
A further exacerbating factor in the case of gas turbines is that measurements must also be carried out reliably even when the locally occurring temperatures are high. For this reason, inductive measurement methods and ferromagnetic target marks that are required for them can be used only to a restricted extent, because the Curie temperature is exceeded.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,761,956 discloses an optical measurement method for determination of oscillations on a rotating blade disc of a gas turbine, in which different infrared thermal radiation from applied ceramic target marks with respect to the base body of the blade disc is detected. This measurement method cannot be used, however, until after the gas turbine has been operated for a certain time, because of the high temperatures which are required for infrared thermal radiation. While the gas turbine is being started up, the oscillation behavior cannot be monitored, however, which is disadvantageous to the operational reliability of the gas turbine.

Method and apparatus for determination of oscillations on a rotating blade disc of a turbine


The invention consists of a method for determining Total Dietary Fiber (TDF) and its sub-fractions, Insoluble Dietary Fiber (IDF) and Soluble Dietary Fiber (SDF) in food and feed samples which utilizes flexible reaction/filtration containers that can be divided into one or more sections for capturing the IDF and SDF fractions separately or for capturing TDF in its entirety. Each container is fashioned as a bag that can be temporarily sealed in multiple locations to create multiple sections and is made of non-porous and porous material. Use of these containers eliminates the need for problematic transfers of mixtures from beaker to filter, and vastly improves the filtration process.

This invention is directed to an automated Total Dietary Fiber (TDF) analysis system which exhibits improved efficiency in filtration, labor and time, and eliminates the glassware and the associated glassware cleanup.
A variety of methods have been developed for the analysis of fiber in feeds and foods. Generally accepted methods for analyzing feeds in animal nutrition are Crude Fiber (AOAC Method 962.09) and Neutral Detergent Fiber and Acid Detergent Fiber (USDA, Agricultural Handbook No. 379). They are all gravimetric procedures and rely on filtration to isolate the fiber fraction. New fiber methods (Crude Fiber Analysis, AOCS method Ba 6a-05 and the ANKOM patent U.S. Pat. No. 5,370,007) have been developed that use filter bags to improve the filtration step and enable batch processing. AOAC refers to Association of Official Analytical Chemists and AOCS refers to American Oil Chemists Society. In human nutrition Total Dietary Fiber (TDF) is the term used to classify fiber components that have certain nutritional and digestive tract benefits. Considerably different from the animal fiber methods, the TDF methods have an additional requirement to precipitate the water soluble fiber fraction using alcohol. Thus fiber components that are water soluble in the early enzymatic stages of the method are later precipitated with alcohol and recovered as a part of the fiber fraction.
AOAC Official Method 991.43 (one of the approved TDF methods) first performs an enzymatic digestion of the starch and protein in the sample by treating it in a buffer solution with alpha amylase, then with protease, and finally, after the appropriate pH adjustment, with amyloglucosidase (AMG). TDF consists of two components; an insoluble dietary fiber (IDF) fraction and a soluble dietary fiber (SDF) fraction. TDF can be determined either by filtering the IDF and SDF fractions together in one filter, or by filtering the IDF and SDF fractions separately and then adding the two values together. In order to analyze the IDF and SDF fractions separately, the IDF fraction is filtered at the end of the enzyme digestion phase. Four volumes of ethanol are added to the filtrate to precipitate the SDF fraction. The subsequent precipitant is then separated by filtration. These filtrations are commonly time consuming and difficult. The process requires a fritted glass crucible with a layer of diatomaceous earth and a vacuum system to draw the liquid through the filter. In many samples the IDF and the SDF tend to coat the filter and inhibit the liquid passage, requiring extended periods of filtration. To facilitate filtration, the surface of the diatomaceous earth filter pad often requires scraping.
Transferring the entire sample quantitatively at two different times during the analysis (once to the IDF filter and once to the SDF filter) is critical. A fine precipitation of the SDF fraction coats the beaker walls and requires physical removal. The technician must take great care to scrape and rinse the beaker walls in order to transfer all of the fiber into the filtering crucible. Both the IDF and the SDF fractions are recovered in the filtering crucible. The quantities are determined gravimetrically by drying the crucible, weighing and subtracting the weight of the crucible (along with the diatomaceous earth filter pad), and correcting the sample for ash and protein. Those skilled in the art will understand that correcting the sample for ash involves burning a duplicate sample and measuring the remaining ash. Correcting for protein involves analyzing a duplicate sample using the Kjeldahl or Dumas method to measure the amount of protein in the sample. The IDF and SDF weight values are adjusted based on the ash and protein values. Total Dietary Fiber can be calculated by adding the IDF and SDF values after they have been corrected for ash and protein.
As can be seen from the above description, the analysis of dietary fiber is a long and arduous procedure with problematic transfer and filtration steps. Accurate control of conditions and careful quantitative transfers are required by the technician to produce accurate and precise results. Every particle in the digestion flask must be transferred to the filtering crucible and the diatomaceous earth filter pad must remain intact during the transfer in order to effectively capture the fine particulate. Filtration for many samples is slow even with strong vacuum assistance. Some samples may require a scraping of the filter pad to renew some of the filter surface in order to complete the filtration process. The scraping process must be accomplished without exposing the course filtering frit of the crucible. Many of the precision problems associated with this method are related to the difficulty of the transfer and filter processes.

Automated method and system for the analysis of total dietary fiber


A process for manufacturing detergent particles comprising the steps of: a) forming a liquid surfactant blend comprising a major amount of surfactant and a minor amount of water, the surfactant part consisting of at least 51 wt % linear alkylbenzene sulfonate and at least one co-surfactant, the surfactant blend consisting of at most 20 wt % nonionic surfactant; b) drying the liquid surfactant blend of step (a) in an evaporator or drier to a moisture content of at most 2 wt % and cooling the output from the evaporator or dryer; c) feeding the cooled material, which output comprises at least 93 wt % surfactant blend with a major part of LAS, to an extruder, optionally along with less than 10 wt % of other materials such as perfume, fluorescer, and extruding the surfactant blend to form an extrudate while periodically cutting the extrudate to form hard detergent particles with a diameter across the extruder of greater than 2 mm and a thickness along the axis of the extruder of greater than 0.2 mm, provided that the diameter is greater than the thickness; d) optionally, coating the extruded hard detergent particles with up to 30 wt % coating material selected from powdered inorganic material and mixtures of such material and nonionic material with a melting point in the range 40 to 90° C.

To reduce the chemicals used in the laundry washing process it has been proposed to decrease the builder salts in laundry detergent formulations. Without other formulation changes, this reduction could adversely affect the performance of the composition in hard water. It has been proposed to ameliorate this problem by using surfactant blends that are tolerant of the presence of hardness ions in the wash water, in particular blends tolerant to calcium ions. These surfactant blends have been termed "calcium tolerant surfactant blends".
For the detergent formulator use of such calcium tolerant surfactant blends poses a new problem. Builder materials have often been included in the formulation not only to provide hard water detergency performance, but also to enable efficient manufacture of free flowing granular detergent formulations. Thus, reduction of builders in a formulation, whilst leaving it in the form of free flowing particles, is not straightforward.
Extrusion of detergent compositions is known.
WO 9932599A1 describes a method of manufacturing surfactant particles comprising an anionic surfactant, wherein the method may comprise drying an anionic surfactant and subsequently extruding through apertures, at an elevated temperature, the dried anionic surfactant, optionally blended with, builder, water, polymer and/or nonionic surfactant, and forming the extruded strands into particles, e.g. by cutting and spheronising. The apertures may comprise plain cylindrical apertures of diameter not exceeding 2 mm.
In WO 9932599A1 the material fed to the extruder is preferably an anionic surfactant paste, whose activity (i.e. anionic surfactant content) is most preferably at least 90% wt. The preferred materials of high activity may be prepared by subjecting the as-prepared surfactants to a drying step prior to the extrusion step. Examples of equipment which can achieve this include a rotary drum dryer, or a Chemithon Turbo Tube® drier, or, most preferably, a wiped film evaporator. Preferably, the dried product is a waxy or pasty solid at ambient temperature.
In one preferred method, a feed material comprises an anionic surfactant which contains 2-10% wt of water, and whose activity is 90-98% wt. It is found that the presence of this water aids the processing of the surfactant, within the extruder and/or during a downstream spheronisation step, if carried out. Alternatively, a dried surfactant may be employed in the feed material, and there may be a separate addition of water to aid processing.
WO 9932599A1 states that in some detergent formulations it is desired to have extremely low quantities of water present, or none at all. In such formulations, a non-ionic surfactant may aid the processing of the anionic surfactant within the extruder, and/or their downstream handling. Thus, in one preferred method an anionic surfactant and a non-ionic surfactant are present. The weight ratio of non-ionic surfactant to the anionic surfactant is suitably up to 1 part, preferably up to 0.5 parts, of non-ionic surfactant per part of anionic surfactant (with reference to their active contents). A non-ionic surfactant, when present, may suitably be added at any stage prior to the stage of mechanical working in the extruder; thus it may be added to the material comprising the anionic surfactant prior to the prior drying step (if carried out); prior to the feeding of the material comprising the anionic surfactant into the extruder; at the same time as the feeding of the material comprising the anionic surfactant into the extruder; or subsequent to the feeding of the material comprising the anionic surfactant into the extruder, through a separate feed point, during or, more preferably, prior to the mechanical working thereof.
One preferred class of anionic surfactants disclosed in WO 9932599A1 comprise the alkali metal (preferably sodium) alkyl sulphates (PAS). Another comprises alkali metal (preferably sodium) alkylaryl sulphonates (especially alkylbenzene sulphonates (LAS)).
It is preferred that the particles contain a builder. A builder in particulate form is suitably added to the material comprising the anionic surfactant during or, preferably, prior to the mechanical working thereof. Preferably, the builder, when present, is added to the material comprising the anionic surfactant within the extruder. A builder, when present, may suitably be present in an amount of from 0.1-10 parts per part of the anionic surfactant (active content), by weight. When the anionic surfactant is, or is predominantly, an alkali metal alkylaryl sulphonate, the builder may suitably be present in an amount of from 0.1-5 parts per part of the anionic surfactant (active content), by weight, preferably 0.1-1, most preferably 0.15-0.5 parts, by weight. The main ingredients of the extruded particles are preferably anionic surfactant and builder.
According to WO 9932599A1 following the extrusion process, it may be necessary to change the appearance and handling characteristics of the extrudate strands. This may be conveniently achieved by means of "chopping" the extrudate to the required length. A spheronising procedure may be carried out, if wished, on the chopped extrudate.
In all examples of WO 9932599A1 the particles were chopped into pieces in standard manner and then spheronised to give roughly spherical particles of approximately 1 mm diameter. Examples 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6 used alkyl sulphate anionic surfactant paste (PAS). As will be clear from examples 1 and 6, PAS is an unusual surfactant. It can be extruded without much drying or without any inorganic builder structurant present. This is due to the known fact that it has a hardness of about 2 MPa, which is relatively independent of the amount of water in the paste at below 10% moisture. Thus, it could be broken up in example 1 and it could be extruded satisfactorily, without need for any inorganic structuring in example 6. This contrasts markedly with the LAS surfactant used in example 2 of WO 9932599A1. The skilled person is well aware that LAS-rich pastes are sticky. Thus, it is conventional to add large amounts of solid structuring and liquid carrying materials, especially if further liquid-like material such as non ionic surfactant is also being added. Note that example 2 does not use any nonionic surfactant.
Example 2 declares a water content of 2-4% (based on "100-active" as on page 5 lines 25-27 of the application). At such high water levels LAS is too soft and sticky to extrude and cut. Thus, high levels of solid matter are normally added, like the 42% builder solids added to the extruder in Example 2. If nonionic had also been added, as in other examples of WO 9932599A1, using PAS, even higher levels of the solid builder addition would have been needed. The nonionic surfactant added to the extruder would not be molecularly blended with the LAS and would tend to be squeezed to the outside of the extruded strands, making them even stickier in the absence of solid builder carrier material to "soak them up".
WO 9932599A1 envisages that nonionic surfactant could be added into the anionic surfactant before it enters the extruder, rather than in the extruder. But it does not perform this variant and the additional benefits of doing it for LAS rich, rather than PAS rich, compositions are not disclosed. The surfactants are not disclosed to be dried to a moisture content of less than 2%.
GB1303479 describes the formation of a water-soluble cleaning composition by extrusion of particles of length 0.5-10 mm. and cross-sectional area 0.04-0.8 mm2 each comprising (a) a higher (C9-18) alkyl aryl sulphonate, (b) a lower (C1-3) alkyl benzene sulphonate, (c) an inorganic salt and (d) water. In one embodiment (Example 1), the dry ingredients are ground together in a mill, mixed with wet ingredients in a ribbon amalgamator and milled into ribbons, which are carried by conveyer belt to a plodder. The plodder is equipped with a wire mesh of 0.5 mm. openings and a perforated plate having holes, which taper from 12 to 16 mm, with the larger diameter at the exit. The material is extruded through the plate, cooled by an air jet and then carried on a conveyer belt through a further air flow to a granulator fitted with an 8-mesh screen, which breaks the extruded strands into the required lengths. This document proposes the addition of sodium aryl sulphonate as a hydrotrope, to get fast dissolution. Thus, in the examples, there are comparatively low levels of surfactants in order to make space for the high levels of hydrotrope and builders. The drying process appears to happen post-extrusion. The particles have small cross-sectional area and are relatively long at 3 to 4 mm.
Surfactant blends comprising linear alkylbenzene sulphonate (LAS) and at least one co-surfactant have been shown to provide excellent detergency, even in the presence of hardness ions. However, these blends tend to be soft and lead to sticky compositions that cake upon storage.
This is recognised in U.S. Pat. No. 5,152,932(A), which discloses neutralisation of PAS/LAS blends using concentrated caustic in a loop reactor. The neutralized product preferably has less than or equal to about 12% by weight of water.
It is most preferred that essentially no detergency builders or additional organic materials are fed into the continuous neutralization system. Mixtures of PAS and LAS are preferred because of improved dispersibility of detergent particles formed from a paste made with the mixture. The final ratio of PAS to LAS should be between 75:25 and 96:4, preferably between 80:20 and 95:5. Thus the compositions disclosed should have less than 51% LAS. The keeping of LAS to a lesser amount is preferred because the neutralized material is then not unacceptably sticky, yet the particles formed from the cooled paste are dispersible in 15.5° C. water. Paste made from alkyl benzene sulfonic acid alone is said to be soft, sticky, and therefore difficult to form into non-sticky, discrete surfactant particles.
When 73% active caustic is used, the molten paste ordinarily has between about 9 and 11% by weight of water. This water level is too high to render LAS rich compositions non sticky.
The process further contemplates the blending of PEG or nonionic with the anionic pastes. There are no examples using nonionic.
This document says that detergent particles can be formed in various ways from the neutralized product exiting the continuous neutralization system. The molten paste can be atomized into droplets in a prilling (cooling) tower. To avoid prilling at all, the molten paste can be simultaneously cooled and extruded, and cut or ground into desirable particle sizes. A third choice is to allow the molten paste to cool on a chill roll, or any heat exchange unit until it reaches a doughy consistency, at which point other detergent ingredients can be kneaded in. The resulting dough can then be granulated by mechanical means.
A fourth and preferred choice is to cool the molten paste into flakes on a chill roll, then grind the flakes to the desired particle size. If additional drying is required, the cooled flakes can be dried in a rotary drum with hot air or in a fluid bed prior to grinding.
There are no examples using extrusion. This disclosure teaches against the use of LAS rich systems. Example IV used LAS. Even with addition of PEG, the 9 wt % water cooled product is said to be solid in nature but much stickier than the PAS examples. Similarly the PAS rich example V (with some LAS) is said to have improved dispersibility compared to PAS alone as active, but that as the level of LAS is increased, the softness and stickiness of the particle increases. At high LAS levels, it is said that the particles are less suitable for use as detergent particles because of their stickiness. According to the data in this application, the best compromise between low stickiness and good dispersibility is an alkyl sulfate/alkyl benzene sulfonate ratio of about 88/12 i.e. a significant excess of PAS over LAS and a LAS content of well below 51%.
One solution to this stickiness/caking problem for high LAS blends that does not involve using builder in the mix is to enclose the detergent in a rigid capsule as proposed in WO2006/002755. This solution is excellent for use in washing machines but it has drawbacks when the dose needs to be fine tuned for the amount of laundry or water used, as is often the case for hand washing of laundry.
Yet a further solution is to coat the sticky granules. Such a stickiness reducing coating is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,022,660(B1), which relates to detergent particles having a coating or partial coating layer of a water-soluble material.
The particle core may comprise a detergent particle, agglomerate, flake etc. The coated particles have a number of improved properties among which is that the coated particles provide improved clumping and flowability profiles to detergent products containing the particles. The particle coating layer provides a coating, which is crisper and non-tacky. While effective at improving flowability in all detergent products, it is particularly effective at preventing clumping in products containing surfactants which are more difficult to dry to a non-tacky state including nonionic surfactants, linear alkyl benzene sulfonates ("LAS"), and ethoxylated alkyl sulfates or in detergent products containing high amounts of surfactant actives (i.e. greater than about 25 wt % surfactant active).
While such a coating modifies the properties of the finished detergent particle, it does not solve the problem of providing a non-sticky and easily cuttable output from the extruder. In a production plant, the material exiting the extruder must be hard enough to cut into repeatable sized particles that does not deform as the cutter passes through it, stick neither to the cutter nor to each other. They must also be hard and non-sticky enough to be used, or to be stored and handled in bulk until they are coated if a coating is to be applied. This might entail them being put into a big bag and even transported to another plant. Thus the solution of applying a coating is not sufficient to solve the problem of stickiness of LAS that is not structured with large, typically 30% or more, amounts of inorganic particles
Thus, the present inventors sought a solution to the problem of caking of particulate detergent compositions comprising high active surfactant blends with a major part of LAS, which did not need a special unit dose storage container for the detergent particles of the composition, or use structuring of the particles with a high (>10%) incorporation high inorganic solids loading in the particles.

Manufacture of high active detergent particles


In infrared radiators whose heater is disposed in an envelope tube of transparent or opaque fused vitreous silica, radiation losses can be reduced by a reflective coating, for example of gold, placed on the envelope tube. To improve the thermal stability of the reflective coating, a protective coating of zirconium, silicon and/or tin dioxide is proposed. The protective coating can be made by using thermally degradable organic zirconium, silicon and/or tin compounds.

The invention relates to an infrared radiator with a heater disposed in an envelope tube of clear or opaque fused vitreous silica and a metallic reflective coating applied to the back of the envelope tube, and a method for its manufacture.
Infrared radiators whose heater is surrounded by a envelope tube of clear or opaque fused vitreous silica are disclosed, for example, in German Patents 1,540,818 and 38 41 448 (to which U.S. Pat. No. 5,003,284 corresponds). To reduce lateral and back radiation losses the envelope tube can be provided on its back with a reflective coating of metal, such as aluminum or gold. Infrared radiators of this kind are described also in the prospectuses of Heraeus Quarzschmelze GmbH "Kurzwellige Infrarotstrahler aus Hanauer Quarzglas" (PIR-B 20) and "Mittelwellige Zwillingsrohr-Infrarotstrahler" (PIR-B 10).
It has been found that the metallic reflective coatings are not sufficiently stable in infrared radiators operating under very severe loads, and are gradually destroyed.
One possibility for preventing the destruction of the reflective coating of an infrared radiator is disclosed in German Patent 26 37 338. The infrared radiator has, in addition to the envelope tube of transparent or opaque fused vitreous silica surrounding the heater, a cooling tube through which a coolant flows. The reflective coating is situated on the cooling tube and is thus protected against destruction by evaporation.

Infrared radiator with protected reflective coating and method for manufacturing same


A new and distinct cultivar of Petunia plant named ‘Kirimaji Double Blue Velvet’, characterized by its double-type, dark violet-colored flowers, medium green-colored foliage, excellent branching characteristics, and vigorous, low mounded and cascading growth habit.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Petunia plant botanically known as Petunia×hybrida and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name 'Kirimaji Double Blue Velvet'.
The new cultivar originated in a controlled breeding program in Tochigi, Japan during March 2003. The objective of the breeding program was the development of new double-type Petunia cultivars have a strong, spreading growth habit and attractive flower coloration.
The female (seed) parent of the new cultivar was the unnamed proprietary Petunia×hybrida breeding selection, not patented, characterized by its single-type, dark purple-colored flowers, dark green-colored foliage, and low mounded, cascading growth habit. The male (pollen) parent of the new cultivar was 'Petudre Violet', not patented, characterized by its semi-double type, violet-colored flowers, medium green-colored foliage, and medium mounded, cascading growth habit. The new Petunia was discovered and selected as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the above stated cross-pollination during October 2003 in a controlled environment at Tochigi, Japan.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal stem cuttings since October 2003 at Tochigi, Japan and West Chicago, Ill. has demonstrated that the new cultivar reproduces true to type with all characteristics, as herein described, firmly fixed and retained through successive generations of such asexual propagation.


A mobile telephone apparatus for installation in a vehicle comprises a handset and a cradle member for releasably holding and locating the handset. The cradle member includes a loudspeaker grille which, in plan view, is disposed laterally of the handset when the handset is present of the cradle. The handset does not therefore impede the sound from the loudspeaker. The cradle member may be substantially triangular in cross section. The handset can thus be presented to the driver of the vehicle at an optimum angle for easy physical and visual access, without the need for an additional mounting means. Furthermore, the cradle is reversible for left- or right-hand mounting, also allowing horizontal or vertical handset mounting on the dashboard.

For the sake of safety, mobile telephones are now commonly adapted to operate in the so-called hands-free mode, i.e. without the need to move the handset from the cradle. The driver of the vehicle is thus able to make and receive calls safely without having to physically pick up and hold the handset. The hands-free facility does, however, require the telephone to be equipped with an external microphone located in the vicinity of the user's mouth, and a separate loudspeaker in a fixed position enabling the incoming speech to be heard clearly by the user within the vehicle.
In prior art mobile telephones the hands-free loudspeaker has been mounted integrally within the cradle member behind a grille provided in an external wall thereof.
In a known mobile telephone apparatus, the handset is generally held by the cradle in such a position as to overlie the loudspeaker grille. The cradle is therefore specifically configured to provide a gap between the grille and the handset so that the sound output is not physically blocked. More particularly the face of the cradle member in which the grille is provided may be designed to slope away from the underside of the handset. Nevertheless, the presence of the handset in close proximity above the loudspeaker grille inevitably obstructs the sound from the loudspeaker and therefore reduces efficiency.
Another design consideration in the mobile telephone art is the desirability for the top face of the handset to be inclined towards the driver to facilitate access to the buttons or keys thereon and to permit easier reading of the visual display and indicator lights etc also provided on the top face of the handset. To this end it has been common practice to employ a generally V-shaped "clam shell" bracket incorporating a click stop mechanism. The limbs of the V can be opened at several different angles between -15.degree. and 115.degree.. One limb of the V is fastened e.g. to the central console of the vehicle, and the other limb is fastened to the underside of the cradle member. By opening the clam shell bracket to an appropriate angle the mobile telephone apparatus can be tilted towards the driver. A draw-back of this arrangement however is that a separate mounting bracket is required in addition to the telephone apparatus which thus adds to the overall cost of the equipment and furthermore the bracket itself, by virtue of its functionality, tends to detract from the overall aesthetic qualities of the telephone.

Mobile telephone with lateral loudspeaker


A device for variable activation of valves for internal combustion engines, which is arranged in a cylinder head having a camshaft mounted in a fixed location with valves that close by means of spring force through a stroke transfer arrangement. This device includes a movable element mounted with a fixed pivot, and has a support cam and a control cam. An intermediate member is displaceably mounted and supported on the element, and is in engagement with a cam lever of the camshaft, as well as the stroke transfer arrangement. The intermediate member supports itself on the support cam and control cam with a non-positive lock, sliding during the stroke movement. Whereby the control cam determines the stroke movement to be transferred to the stroke transfer arrangement by the intermediate member, as a function of the pivot position of the element that can change its position.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a device for variable activation of valves for internal combustion engines.
2. The Art
Devices for variable activation of valves are known in the art as shown, for example, in the document DE 100 61 618 A1. This device is arranged in a cylinder head having a camshaft mounted in a fixed location, having valves that close by means of spring force. Each of the valves has a stroke transfer arrangement associated with it. The valves are guided in a fixed location in the cylinder head. An element that is adjustable with regard to the valve stroke setting is arranged in the cylinder head, in a fixed location, and a control cam, in each instance, in an axial plane, one running after the other.
An intermediate member is prismatically supported on the element that can change positon, both on its support cam and on its control cam, with a non-positive lock. This member is guided to pivot during the stroke movement and, in this regard, to slide on the two cams.
Furthermore, the intermediate member is engaged with one of the cam levers of the camshaft, as well as with a stroke transfer arrangement for a valve. The control cam determines the movement path of the intermediate member during the stroke of the cam lever, as a function of the pivot position of the adjustable element. The control cam thereby determines the size of the stroke created by the stroke transfer arrangement at the valve.
The design configuration of this embodiment is limited, because the support cam and the control cam are arranged to run consecutively on the element that can change its position, and thereby there must be a fixed distance between the two prismatic engagement lines at the support cam and the control cam as well as at the intermediate member.
The invention relates to a device for variable activation of one or two valves activated in parallel, wherein the valves have a compact construction, and wherein interacting parts are preferably in roller engagement.
This design is achieved by creating a structure which includes a support cam or support cams arranged parallel to one another, wherein these support cams are set back radially relative to a control cam. In this case, these cams are in engagement with one slide support of an intermediate member, or one each, such that the prismatic engagement lines on the support cam and the control cam as well as the intermediate member can have a smaller distance between them. This allows an advantageous configuration of the intermediate member. At the same time, there can be an axial guidance of the intermediate member on the element that can change its position. In this case, the support cams are arranged to be axially offset relative to the control cam.
In an embodiment of the invention, a set of slide supports of an intermediate member are arranged on both sides of a control cam and of a circumference region that follows it. These supports engage with the radially set-back support cams and also engage axially with the subsequent circumference region of the control cam. Thus, there is a stable three-point support for the intermediate member on the element that can change position.
In the case of a device for a parallel activation of two valves, the control cam of the changeable element can be arranged axially between two stroke transfer arrangements for the two valves. In this case, a pressure bridge is in engagement with one of the stroke transfer arrangements, in each instance, on the intermediate member, axially next to the slide supports of the intermediate member. This type of an arrangement is particularly compact and does not require any particular construction height.
There can be a roller engagement of the slide supports arranged on the intermediate member. In this embodiment, the support cam or cams are configured as a roller mounted to rotate or pivot about a pivot axis of the changeable element.

Device for variable activation of valves for internal combustion engines

IAV GmbH Ingenieurgesellschaft Auto und Verkeh


A magnetoresistive sensing device is provided. A first sensed magnetic-field component in parallel with the x-axis and a second sensed magnetic-field component in parallel with the y-axis of an external magnetic field forming a first inclination angle with the x-axis and a second inclination angle with the y-axis are determined. A virtual plane is defined so as to render a magnetic-field component perpendicular to the virtual plane of the external magnetic field is essentially zero. The first inclination angle and the second inclination angle are adjusted with reference to the virtual plane. An x-axis magnetic-field component in parallel with the x-axis, a y-axis magnetic-field component in parallel with the y-axis and a z-axis magnetic-field component in parallel with the z-axis of the external magnetic field are estimated according to the adjusted first inclination angle, the adjusted second inclination angle, the first sensed magnetic-field component and the second sensed magnetic-field component.

With the development of consumer electronic products such as mobile phones and electronic compasses and the use of conventional products such as motors and actuators, the need of magnetoresistive sensors has grown. More particularly, three-dimensional magnetoresistive sensors are capable of sensing the variations of the magnetic field components along the x-axis, the y-axis and the z-axis that are perpendicular to one another. An electronic compass uses a three-dimensional magnetoresistive sensor to precisely sense the terrestrial magnetic field.
Current three-dimensional magnetoresistive sensing devices have been well-developed. However, most of the conventional arts use multi-chip or three-dimensional structured magnetoresistive sensing devices to sense the variations of the magnetic field components along the x-axis and y-axis in parallel with the substrate plane and the variation of the magnetic field component along the z-axis perpendicular to the substrate plane.
Multi-chip or three-dimensional structured magnetoresistive sensing devices have more complicated configurations, higher manufacturing cost and down-scaled semiconductor elements, which result in difficulties in packing the multi-chip or three-dimensional structured magnetoresistive sensing devices hence low process yield. Furthermore, since the variations of the magnetic field components along the x-axis, the y-axis and the z-axis are sensed by using a plurality of magnetoresistive sensing units with different sensitivities, the values of the sensed results have to be normalized, which results in more significant inaccuracy and poorer sensing quality.
In view of the above, there is need in providing an advanced magnetic-field sensing method to overcome the problems of the prior arts.


An spin-injection FET includes a first ferromagnetic body whose magnetization direction is fixed, a second ferromagnetic body whose magnetization direction is changed by spin-injection current, a gate electrode which is formed on a channel between the first and second ferromagnetic bodies, a first driver/sinker which controls a direction of the spin-injection current to determine the magnetization direction of the second ferromagnetic body, the spin-injection current being passed through the channel, a wiring through which assist current is passed, the assist current generating a magnetic field in a magnetization easy axis direction of the second ferromagnetic body, and a second driver/sinker which controls the direction of the assist current passed through the conductive line.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a spin-injection FET (spin-injection transistor) in which a magnetoresistive effect is utilized.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, in addition to magnetic heads and magnetic sensors, a magnetoresistive element in which a magnetic film is utilized is used for advanced-technology devices such as a magnetic random access memory (MRAM), which is of a solid-state magnetic memory and a re-configurable logic circuit.
The spin-injection FET is one mode when the magnetoresistive element is applied to the advanced-technology devices. The spin-injection FET has the feature in that current passed through a channel is changed according to a magnetization state of the magnetoresistive element even if a gate voltage is constant. Further, magnetization reversal caused by spin-polarized electrons is utilized in the spin-injection FET.
For example, the spin-injection FET is used as a memory cell in which data is stored in the magnetic random access memory, and the spin-injection FET is used as an element for realizing one logic gate in the re-configurable logic circuit.
However, in the conventional spin-injection FET, a ferromagnetic body which is of a free layer is in direct contact with a semiconductor substrate and spin-injection current for the magnetization reversal is still as large as about 107 A/cm2, which may result in problems such as generation of thermal disturbance caused by temperature rise in writing and element breakage by the spin-injection current.


A system for providing suspension to a cab of an excavation machine such as a trencher or a surface mining machine. The system includes air cushions and elastomeric dampeners positioned between a platform and the cab. The air cushions allow for a larger displacement than the elastomeric dampeners. The air cushions have a lower natural frequency than the elastomeric dampeners. The elastomeric dampeners stabilize and support the cab in various degrees of freedom that are not supported by the air cushions.

Rock is an indefinite mixture/aggregate of naturally occurring materials that mainly include minerals. Rocks from which minerals or metals can be mined for economic purposes are called ores. Man-made materials having properties similar to rock include concrete and asphalt.
Certain machines allow rock or like materials to be excavated from the earth's surface. Examples of this type of excavation machine include surface excavation machines (e.g., surface mining machines) and trenchers.
Surface excavation machines are used to level terrain and/or remove a layer of material from a given site location. Typical applications include surface mining, demolishing a road, and prepping a site for new construction or reconstruction. Example rocks that are excavated using surface excavation machines include limestone, gypsum, bauxcite, phosphate and iodide. Materials (e.g., ores) such as copper, iron, gold, diamonds and coal can also be excavated using surface excavation machines. Surface excavation machines provide an economical alternative to blasting and hammering. Furthermore, surface excavation machines provide the advantage of generating a consistent output material after a single pass. Therefore, surface excavation machines can reduce the need for primary crushers, large loaders, large haul trucks and the associated permits to transport materials to crushers.
A typical surface excavation machine includes a main chassis supporting an operator cab. The main chassis is supported on a ground drive system such as a plurality of tracks. An engine such as a diesel engine is mounted on the main chassis. The engine provides power for driving the various components of the machine. Often, the diesel engine powers a hydraulic system which includes various hydraulic motors and hydraulic cylinders included throughout the machine. An excavating tool is typically mounted at a rear end of the main chassis. The excavation tool can include a rotational excavating drum mounted on a pivotal boom. The excavating drum carries a plurality of cutting tools (e.g., carbide tipped teeth) suitable for cutting rock. An example surface excavation machine of the type described above is disclosed at U.S. Pat. No. 7,290,360, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
Trenchers are used to excavate trenches in rock. Often, the trenches are excavated for the purpose of installing utilities/product such as electrical cable, fiber optic cable or pipe. A typical trencher can have the same basic components as a surface excavation machine, except the boom and excavating drum is replaced with a trenching attachment. The trenching attachment includes a boom on which a digging chain is rotatably mounted. Cutting tools suitable for cutting rock (e.g., carbide tipped teeth) are carried by the digging chain. An example surface excavation machine of the type described above is disclosed at U.S. Pat. No. 5,590,041, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
Surface excavation machines and trenchers excavate rock using a process characterized by relatively high tooth loadings (e.g., via high horsepower and high weight provided to the teeth) and relatively low tooth tip speed. This type of excavation technique combined with the non-uniform nature of rock causes relatively high force, high displacement shock pulses to be transferred to the main chassis and cab as relatively large pieces of material are removed (e.g., torn, ripped, etc.) from an excavation location during excavation operations.

Cab suspension system for a machine adapted to surface excavate rock or like materials


A method of manufacturing an electrically driven L.E.D. lamp assembly (10) comprising the steps of screen printing an electrically insulating coating (16) which can be of less than two hundred microns thickness over an electrically and thermally conductive heat sink, i.e., aluminum, and printing circuit traces 18 of a resin with metal dispersed therein in end to end relationship on the routes of insulating coating 16 to establish discrete and electrically conductive paths for electrically interconnecting light emitting diodes 20. The light emitting diodes 20 are adhesively secured to the ends of adjacent circuit traces 18 with an electrically conductive adhesive 26 comprising an organic polymeric material compounded with a metal.

Light emitting diodes (LEDs) have been available since the early 1960's in various forms, and are now widely applied in a variety of signs and message boards. The relatively high efficacy of LEDs (in lumens per Watt) is the primary reason for their popularity. Tremendous power savings are possible when LED signals are used to replace traditional incandescent signals of similar luminous output. One aspect of LED technology that is not satisfactorily resolved is the application of LEDs in high temperature environments. LED lamps exhibit a substantial light output sensitivity to temperature, and in fact are permanently degraded by excessive temperature. Recent developments in LED technology have extended the maximum recommended operating temperature to 85.degree. C. These devices, which incorporate the element Indium in their chemistries exhibit typical (half brightness) lives on the order of 100,000 hours at 25.degree. C. However, degradation above 90.degree. C. is very rapid as the LEDs degrade exponentially with increases in temperature. The well known Arrhenius function approximately models this behavior, and predicts elevated temperature lifetimes of less than one year at temperatures approaching 100.degree. C. While such high temperatures might seem unusual for an LED operating environment, they are actually quite common. For example, traffic signal housings exposed to full summer sun can reach interior temperatures of 80.degree. C. without any lamp generated heat load. A thermal rise of only 20.degree. C., due to LED operation will stress the LEDs well beyond their sanctioned operating range.
Permanent thermal degradation of LEDs also occurs during array fabrication, when the LEDs are soldered to the supporting and/or interconnecting circuit board. Typical soldering temperatures (250.degree. C.) can significantly degrade the LED array before it is even put into service. LED manufacturers recommend the use of lead lengths of sufficient length to prevent excessive heat transmission from the soldering operation into the LED die. Of course, the added lead length acts detrimentally during LED operation, as the longer leads increase the thermal resistance and adversely affects the rejection of self generated heat. Surface mounted LEDs are even more difficult to solder without damage, as their leads are more closely thermally coupled to the LED die than in other package styles. The obvious dilemma is the need for good thermal coupling from the LED during operation to aid in heat extraction, while there is a need to limit heat transfer to the LED during soldering operations.
The need for thermally conductive substrates in a variety of high power density electronic products has led to the development of a number of unique substrate materials. These products generally perform a mechanical component support function, also provide for electrical interconnection to and between components, and optimally allow for the extraction and dissipation of component generated heat. Some of the more successful approaches include ceramic, non conductive cermet or even coated metallic substrates which are then laminated with copper, and are processed like conventional printed circuit boards. Thermally conductive ceramics are very costly compared to metal, and are reserved for very high temperature applications. The most common insulated metal substrates employ an aluminum or copper base, and a thin (20 micron) polyamide or resinous insulating coating that bonds the nominally 1 mil copper laminate to the substrate material. The effective thermal conductance of the dielectric insulator is relatively high because it is very thin. Of course the electrical insulating quality of the dielectric coating is important as it determines the maximum operating voltage of the circuit board `sandwich`. Puncture voltage and dielectric dissipation of the insulator coating is obviously a function of film thickness, and integrity. The difficulty in fabricating these composite, laminate, circuit boards, using dielectric films makes these components expensive when compared to conventional circuit boards. For critical, high performance uses this significant added cost is justified, but for uses that demand large substrates, the economics clearly do not favor these exotic composite, thermally conductive, laminate substrate materials. Also, the prior art attaches the LEDs to a free standing film or insulating substrate that is then laminated to the support structure or enclosure. Such lamination is not cost efficient, nor does lamination impart good thermal conductivity because of the inherent difficulty in achieving intimate contact between the thin film and the underlying substrate.
There are commercial products that have combined the use of films or sheets laminated to metallic substrates. One of the materials is "Koolbase" produced by Densitronics Corp., where a thin (1 oz.) copper foil is laminated with a 20 to 40 micron polyimide insulator to an aluminum base, by using heat and pressure. The resulting composite circuit board can be processed conventionally, and has excellent thermal properties; unfortunately, the process is very costly and cannot be applied to large circuit boards. A line of compact LED arrays manufactured by Mitsubishi Cable Col, called "Albaleds" use this composite substrate material. Another source for composite metallic substrates is the Berquist Corporation, which produces a rolled copper foil composite that is laminated to an aluminum substrate with an intervening proprietary insulation layer. This material is also rather costly and is processed like conventional printed circuit board material. That is, the necessary copper traces are formed by etching away the undesired copper by the traditional subtractive processes. The hybrid "chip on board", Mitsubishi LED array, is fabricated by traditional wire bonding techniques that are common to the semiconductor industry. The precision and tolerances required for hybrid fabrication limit the size of such LED arrays to about 100 cm.sup.2. Larger assemblies would have to be built up from a series of smaller hybrid arrays, further increasing manufacturing cost.
Various patents address the problem of heat dissipation in LED lamps but, in one way or another, each combination inherently includes an element with a high thermal resistance that impedes the dissipation of heat from the LEDs. The U.S. Pat. No. 4, 729,076 to Masami et al discloses an LED lamp assembly wherein a heat absorber, in the form of an electrically insulating sheet, is disposed between the circuit board holding the LEDs and the heat sink. Clearly, much thermal efficiency is lost in the use of such a high thermal resistance heat absorber. The U.S. Pat. No. 4,774,434 to Bennion discloses an LED disposed on a cloth shirt. A conductive epoxy material attaches the LED to a copper trace on a film substrate which is, in turn, adhesively secured to the cloth shirt. Obviously, the impediment to heat dissipation is the shirt since the shirt is not thermally conductive, i.e., cannot act as a heat sink. Accordingly, the use of a thermally conductive adhesive serves no thermally useful purpose and is unimportant and incidental. The U.S. Pat. No. 5,038,255 to Nishihashi et al discloses the laminating of a polyamid film substrate along with circuit patterns during the molding of an aluminum oxide filled resin support housing; alternatively, the circuit patterns are printed on the film. However, the use of a resinous material as the heat sink implies a thermal conductivity one hundred times lower than a metal substrate and therefore acts as an impediment bottleneck to the most efficient dissipation of heat. The conventional attachment of LED leads by soldering, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,528,474 to Roney et al, is difficult to do without damaging the LEDs due to the high heat generated during the soldering operation and, even then, the long leads of the LEDs impede heat transfer during operation.

Thermal management system for L.E.D. arrays


The position of a guide rail is changed by eccentrically rotating the guide rail by turning a control lever, thereby adjusting an amount of a head gap. A supporting frame for supporting a capping mechanism is connected to the guide rail. When the position of the guide rail is changed for the head gap adjustment, the position of the capping mechanism is also changed. Consequently, even when the position of the guide rail is changed for the head gap adjustment, the positional relation between the capping mechanism and the print head can be almost fixedly maintained.

1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to a printing apparatus for recording onto a recording medium by jetting ink fluid.
2. Description of Related Art
A printing apparatus for recording onto a recording medium by jetting ink is known. The known apparatus has a print head for printing by jetting ink onto a recording medium, a carriage on which the print head is mounted and which is provided so as to be movable along a guide rail, and carriage moving means for moving the carriage. In such an apparatus, in order to assure a predetermined printing performance upon assembly and to assure a preferable printing performance irrespective of the thickness of a recording medium, gap instructing means or a gap adjusting mechanism for setting the amount of a head gap as an interval between the print head and the recording medium (the surface of a platen) is provided.
Also known is a printing apparatus for which the user sets the amount of the head gap on the basis of the gap instructing means, thereby adjusting the head gap by using the gap adjusting mechanism. In order to maintain a preferable ink discharging state of the print head, a purging device for sucking and removing ink in the print head, while covering the print head by a suction cap, and a wiping device for wiping a nozzle face of the print head by a wiping member are known.
At the time of adjustment of the head gap, when the position of the print head is changed in order to adjust the interval between the recording medium and the print head, the interval between the suction cap or wiping member and the print head is accordingly changed.
Especially, when the print head is moved so as to be away from the recording medium in order to adjust the head gap, the interval between the suction cap or wiping member and the print head is widened. As a result, in these known printing apparatuses, the air tightness of the suction cap covering the nozzle face of the print head is deteriorated and the ink in the head cannot be effectively sucked. The wiping member also cannot wipe the nozzle face of the head with a necessary force to obtain proper cleaning. As mentioned above, when the distance between the suction cap or wiping member and the print head is changed, there is a problem that the capping performance of the suction cap and the wiping performance of the wiping member vary and are degraded in at least some cases.

Ink jet printer with a fixed positional relationship between a capping mechanism and printhead


A warehousing system for palletized cargo, and an automated loading/unloading system for use with the same. The warehousing system includes a feed conveyer and a plurality of storage racks. A traveling conveyor carries the cargo from the feed conveyor to the individual racks, and from the racks to a loading/unloading conveyor which carries the cargo to the loading/unloading docks. The traveling conveyor rides on a wheeled chassis that is guided between the receiving and discharge locations on tracks. The storage racks are stackable in tiers, and the traveling conveyor has a deck that raises and lowers to be level therewith. The automated loading/unloading dock includes a rigid, extensible plate having an upper surface for supporting a load of palletized cargo, with a drive mechanism being mounted to the inner end of the plate to translate it in and out of the transport vehicle. The plate carries a load of palletized cargo into or out of the transport vehicle en masse. For loading, restraining doors hold the loaded cargo within the interior of the vehicle as the extensible dock is withdrawn. When unloading, a paddle is deployed above the upper surface of the lock member and is translated towards its inner end so as to push the cargo onto the loading/unloading conveyor.

a. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to material handling systems and, more particularly, to an automated warehousing system and an automated cargo loading system for the loading/unloading of palletized freight, bales and the like onto/from truck trailers or similar transport vehicles.
b. Background Art
It is common practice among major shipping companies, as well as large retail chains, manufacturers, and food processors, to maintain warehouse facilities that serve as national or regional distribution centers for the interim storage and distribution of goods. In general, the large quantities of goods being shipped and received at these warehouses demands that a significant portion of the facility be dedicated not only to storage but also to the transport operation which requires numerous truck docking bays and the associated floor space for loading and unloading goods to the transport vehicles. The cost of purchasing, constructing and maintaining the dedicated portions of the facility contributes significantly to the cost of the warehouse operation, and, during down-time, occupies valuable space that could be used in a more productive manner.
Another disadvantage of conventional warehouse shipping facilities is the quantity and cost of labor required to perform the shipping and receiving functions. Usually one forklift operator delivers the palletized goods from production to storage. Another is required to retrieve palletized goods from inventory and deliver it to the loading dock. Yet another forklift operator then loads the pallets into the transport vehicle while the first returns to inventory to retrieve additional palletized shipments. Considering the number of docking bays and transport vehicles which may be operating simultaneously, the direct labor costs quickly accumulate. Because many of these operations employ highly paid unionized labor, the labor costs are especially significant.
The cost of operating a conventional forklift warehouse and loading operation is further increased by the time-consuming nature of this labor-intensive process. The time demand adds to the direct labor costs and ties up the trucks or other transport vehicles, delaying shipments, increasing delivery times, and adding to the transportation costs. Still more costs are realized by the capital expenditure to purchase the forklifts, and the cost of maintaining, fueling, and insuring such equipment.
Accordingly, there exists a need for an apparatus and method which reduces the necessary dedicated floor space and loading docks required in warehouse shipping/receiving operations. Furthermore, there exists a need for such an apparatus and method which reduces the direct labor personnel and associated labor costs required for such an operation to function. Still further, there exists a need for such an apparatus and method that performs more efficiently than the conventional forklift operation, thus reducing down time, delivery delays, and transportation costs.

Automated warehousing and cargo loading system


The invention provides a light-emitting device, where the active region thereof may be escaped from being damaged by the plasma process. The device is first formed with a semiconductor layer on the semiconductor substrate, next provided with an etching mask. Using the mask, the semiconductor layer on the substrate is dry-etched to form a periodic structure with grooves and mesas. The active regions are buried within the grooves by the OMVPE method.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a light-emitting device that provides a periodic structure along a direction to which the light is emitted.
2. Relater Prior Art
A laser diode with a distributed feedback structure has been well known as a DFB laser diode. To form the distributed feedback structure, a periodic undulation is induced in an active layer by dry-etching the active layer after the planar growth thereof. A Japanese Patent Application published as JP-2004-055797A has disclosed such manufacturing process for the DFB laser diode.
However, the dry-etching for the active region may induce plasma damage in the active region, which causes dislocations and defects to degrade the efficiency for emitting light due to non-radiative recombination centers brought by such imperfections in the lattice. Thus the threshold current of the laser diode increases.

Method for manufacturing a light-emitting device with a periodic structure in an active region


Provided is a liquid silicone rubber coating agent composition, including: (A) an organopolysiloxane containing at least one alkenyl group bonded to a silicon atom within each molecule, (B) a straight-chain organohydrogenpolysiloxane containing a single silicon atom-bonded hydrogen atom only at each molecular chain terminal, with a viscosity at 25° C. within a range from 0.001 to 1.0 Pa·s, (C) an organohydrogenpolysiloxane containing at least three silicon atom-bonded hydrogen atoms within each molecule, with a viscosity at 25° C. within a range from 0.001 to 10 Pa·s, (D) an addition reaction catalyst, (E) a finely powdered silica with a BET specific surface area of at least 50 m2/g, and (F) an adhesion imparting agent. Also provided is a curtain air bag with a rubber coating layer formed by curing this composition. The coating agent composition is useful for a curtain air bag that is capable of suppressing leakage of the inflator gas and exhibits excellent sustainability of the inflation period, and is also useful in the production of such an air bag.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid silicone rubber coating agent composition that is particularly useful for the fabric for an air bag such as a curtain air bag that contains a silicone rubber coating film formed on a fibrous fabric such as 6,6-nylon, and also relates to a curtain air bag that uses such a composition.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventionally, the types of air bag silicone rubber compositions described below have been proposed for forming a rubber coating on a fibrous surface. Specifically, a liquid silicone rubber composition for an air bag with excellent adhesion to base fabrics, prepared by adding an inorganic filler, a siloxane resin, and an epoxy group-containing silicon compound to an addition curable composition (patent reference 1); a liquid silicone rubber coating agent composition that develops excellent adhesion to base fabrics upon heating for a short period at a low temperature, prepared by adding an inorganic filler, a siloxane resin, an organotitanium compound, and an alkyl silicate to an addition curable composition (patent reference 2); a silicone rubber composition for an air bag with excellent thin-film coating characteristics, in which the viscosity of a vinyl group-containing organopolysiloxane is restricted (patent reference 3); and a coating composition for a rubber-coated fabric with reduced tackiness, prepared by adding a wet silica with an average BET specific surface area within a range from 150 to 250 m2/g and an average particle size of no more than 20 μm to a rubber coating composition (patent reference 4) have been proposed.
However, when these compositions are used in the preparation of a curtain air bag, which unlike the air bags installed for the driver's seat and passenger seat, are provided along the edge of the roof from the front pillar, and must be capable of maintaining an inflated state for a certain period of time in order to protect the region around the head and prevent people being flung from the car during a collision or rollover of the vehicle, none of the compositions is able to satisfactorily suppress leakage of the inflator gas, enabling the inflation time to be sustained for a satisfactory period.
[Patent Reference 1] U.S. Pat. No 5,877,256
[Patent Reference 2] JP 2002-138249A
[Patent Reference 3] JP 2001-287610A
[Patent Reference 4] U.S. Pat. No. 6,387,520

Liquid silicone rubber coating agent composition and curtain air bag


An interior vehicle trim panel includes a substrate having a front face and an under face. The under face has a tear seam to allow an airbag to exit the substrate when the airbag is deployed. The tear seam defines an airbag door. The outer layer is bonded to the front face of the substrate. A portion of the outer layer defines a hinge member for the airbag door. The outer layer is preferably mechanically bonded to the substrate in a mold, thereby forming an overmolded interior vehicle trim panel. Preferably, the hinge member of the outer layer is thicker relative to a region of the outer layer adjacent the airbag door.

Incorporation of airbags into vehicles has created many design challenges for automotive designers. It is desirable to incorporate an airbag into an instrument panel in front of the vehicle passenger seat. When incorporating an airbag into an instrument panel it is necessary to provide an airbag cover portion in the instrument panel that will reliably and safely tear, such that the passenger is protected. To this end, a tear seam has generally been provided in the airbag cover portion of an instrument panel to insure that the airbag will safely deploy.
Vehicle designers prefer to have a continuous surface on the front face of the instrument panel whenever possible, so they would prefer to avoid having a tear seam in the instrument panel. Thus, recently there has been an effort to achieve a "seamless" design wherein there is no indication on the front face of the instrument panel that the airbag is behind the instrument panel. To achieve this design, tear seams or tear strips provided in the instrument panel are only provided on the under face, and not on the front face of the instrument panel.
The instrument panel must perform the utilitarian function of breaking apart along its tear seam to allow the air bag to exit through the airbag cover portion of the instrument panel when deployed. The airbag cover portion of the instrument panel is often complex and can include a relatively rigid hinge, such as a steel hinge.
It is, however, desirable to provide an improved airbag cover portion of an instrument panel. Preferably, such an improved cover portion would be less complex, have fewer components, and therefore be easier to assemble than known airbag cover portions of instrument panels.


Inner and outer shield parts of a breastshield are joined to form an enclosure defining a pressurizable chamber. The inner shield part has at least a portion thereof movable relative to the outer shield part when the chamber is subject to a negative or a positive pressure. A first pressure port is in communication respectively with the chamber for connection with a fluid pressure source of a first pressure. A second pressure port is in communication with the interior for connection with a pressure source of a second pressure. The breastshield is thus capable of being subjected to two different pressures, such as a positive pressure to move (expand) the chamber into the interior. The invention takes the form of a variety of different embodiments of breastshields and breastpumps for breastmilk pumping having sundry novel attributes and advantages.

Breastpumps are well known, and generally comprise a hood or shield that fits over the breast, and a vacuum pump connected to the shield for generating an intermittent vacuum (negative pressure) within the shield. In its simplest and most common form, an intermittent suction action of the vacuum pump serves to pull on the breast and massage it so as to extract milk. The extracted milk typically drains from the shield into a collection container, such as a baby bottle, which is ordinarily attached directly to the breastshield apparatus.
Inserts for use within the hood or shield of a rigid breastshield assembly are also known, and have been used for sizing the breastshield. That is, an insert would be used in a larger funnel-shaped breastshield to reduce the internal diameter of the cone portion and/or nipple tunnel, for a smaller breast. Some rigid-type breastshields have also sometimes been employed with a flexible breast-engaging portion or device mounted interior of a rigid external support or frame, not so much as a sizing mechanism but in an attempt at improved milk expression as well as comfort. In the latter application, an intermittent suction (negative pressure) is applied in the space between the flexible membrane and outboard support, causing the membrane to cyclically collapse and then return to its rest state, thereby gently massaging the breast and/or the nipple, for milk expression.
In most instances, the pressure applied at the breast is a negative pressure (suction), as noted above. That negative pressure is typically applied to the interior of the breastshield in a singular fashion, that is, without any kind of differential pressure application over the breastshield as a whole. This has ordinarily been done through a cyclic pattern (e.g., intermittent) of suction only. There have also been some efforts to provide a breastshield which has a positive pressure applied at the breast, that is, a compressive force around a portion that is capable of expanding (inflating).
The present invention has its genesis in an improved breastshield, breastpump assembly and method for operating the same, which seeks to combine various attributes of positive and/or negative pressure applications, as well as differential sequencing of how one or both are applied in operation.

Breastshield with multi-pressure and expansible chamber construction, related breastpump and method


A method of recording a voice signal in a facsimile system having a telephone handset linked to a personal computer, including the steps of: receiving the voice signal from telephone lines connected to a public switched telephone network during a voice communication mode; converting the voice signal into voice data and transmitting the voice data to the personal computer linked to the facsimile system; and filing and storing the voice data in an auxiliary memory of the personal computer.

1. Technical Field
The present invention generally relates to a facsimile system having a voice data recording and transmission function, and more particularly, relates to a voice data recording and transmitting method for a facsimile unit which is linked to a personal computer.
2. Related Art
Generally, a facsimile system having facsimile and telephone functions as disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,908,851 for Facsimile Apparatus Operable In Facsimile Or Conversation Mode issued to Kotani et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,255,311 for Data Communication Apparatus issued to Yoshida, U.S. Pat. No. 5,337,349 for Image Telecommunication Apparatus issued to Furohashi et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,337,350 for Facsimile Apparatus With Telephone System issued to Kuwahara, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,487,105 for Facsimile Apparatus Operable In Facsimile Or Telephone Mode issued to Sakai, is well known in the communication art for selectively operating either in a facsimile mode or in a telephone mode. Other facsimile systems as disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,086,455 for Facsimile Arrangement Having Automatic Answering Telephone Set And Facsimile Set And Switching Process Therefor issued to Satomi et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,131,026 for Facsimile System Having Auto-Answering Function issued to Park, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,333,179 for Facsimile Apparatus With Automatic Answering Telephone Function issued to Yamamoto et al., are constructed with an automatic telephone answering device for recording a voice message from a calling subscriber when a user is not in the vicinity of the facsimile system to answer an incoming call.
In such a facsimile system, the telephone answering device typically incorporates therein an audio recorder and related circuitry adapted for connection to local telephone lines and to the base station of the telephone. The magnetic tape recorder is programmed so that if the user does not pick up his telephone from the base station of the facsimile system during a given number of ringing bursts announcing an incoming call, a pre-recorded voice message will be sent to the caller, asking the caller to leave his/her message. After that, voice message of the caller is recorded on an audio cassette tape or semiconductor memory device depending upon whether the audio recorder is an analogue or a digital system. Voice message can also be transmitted in conjunction with image data as disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,922,524 for Facsimile System With A Voice Transmission Function issued to Baba et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,289,532 for Facsimile Apparatus With Providing Facsimile Transmission With Forwardable Voice Communication issued to Ishikawa et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,412,710 for Facsimile Machine Capable Of Transmitting Voice Messages issued to Tanaka.
Generally, the facsimile system's control unit periodically checks if a ring signal is received from standard telephone lines of a public switched telephone network (PSTN). When the ring signal is received from the telephone lines and a calling tone (CNG) indicating that a document is being sent from another facsimile system according to a predetermined protocol recommended by the International Telegraph and Telephone Consultative Committee CCITT.30, the facsimile system receives image data in a document reception mode. At this point, a communication path is not established between the facsimile system and the telephone handset connected thereto but between a modem installed in the facsimile system and the standard telephone lines of the PSTN. Thus, if the user does not pick up the telephone connected to the facsimile system during a predetermined number of ringing bursts, an automatic answering mode is established in the facsimile system, and the user's pre-recorded voice message is sent to the caller. The caller then leaves a voice message which is, in turn, recorded on the audio cassette tape or semiconductor memory device. The link access protocol for data communications between the facsimile systems as recommended by CCITT. 30 is realized through four phases. That is, the communication line is first established between the receiving and transmitting facsimile systems, and after the CNG tone is sent to the receiving facsimile system, the receiving subscriber supplies a called station identification to the transmitting subscriber in the first phase. In the second phase, the receiving subscriber transmits a capacity identification to the transmitting subscriber, the transmitting subscriber sends command information and a phase/training signal to the receiving subscriber, and the receiving subscriber sends a ready-to-receive confirmation signal CFR. The caller's message is sent to the transmitting facsimile system at a preset communications speed in the third phase. In case that the message transmission is completed, the transmitting set sends an END signal of message transmission to the receiving subscriber, and the receiving subscriber sends a confirmation signal to the transmitting subscriber in the fourth phase.
In the conventional facsimile system having an automatic telephone answering function, the capacity of a voice storage medium into which incoming voice message is recorded is relatively small, and there is a time limit relating to the automatic telephone answering function. For instance, if the user of the telephone handset as incorporated in the facsimile system is absent for a long time period, there is no way to modify the user's voice message to be sent to several different people. Moreover, in case where the callers leave many voice messages, and the voice storage medium is full with voice messages, a new voice message cannot be recorded on the storage medium and is therefore lost at the time when voice communication is established.

Voice data recording and transmitting method and apparatus for facsimile linked to personal computer


A method of manufacturing a motor case for an electric motor of an e-boosting device in which the motor case is received within an outer housing to cooperatively define a coolant jacket. The method includes forming a shell member. The method also includes overmolding a dam member to the shell member. The dam member projects from an outer surface of the shell member. The overmolding of the dam member includes forming a molded through-hole through the dam member. The dam member and the outer surface are configured to define a fluid boundary for a coolant of the coolant jacket when the motor case is received in the outer housing. The through-hole defines a passage for the coolant in the coolant jacket.

Charging devices, such as turbochargers or superchargers, are provided that boost performance by compressing a fluid that is then fed to a fuel cell stack, an engine, etc. In some cases, an e-boosting device is provided that has an electric motor configured to drive and rotate a compressor wheel for compressing an airflow, which is then fed to the fuel cell stack, the engine, etc.
These charging devices may include a cooling system. In the case of an e-boosting device, for example, a cooling system may be provided that directs flow of a coolant through the device to maintain operating temperatures within a predetermined range. The electric motor may be cooled, for example, to improve operating efficiency of the motor.
However, conventional cooling systems for e-boosting devices suffer from various deficiencies, and operating efficiency may be negatively affected as a result. It may be difficult to provide an acceptable cooling effect for some devices and/or under certain operating conditions. There may be space constraints that limit the size and/or routing of the cooling circuit, which can negatively affect cooling performance.
In addition, manufacturing these devices can be very inefficient. Parts can be expensive to make, assembly can be inconvenient and time consuming, and more.
Thus, it is desirable to provide a cooling system for an e-boosting device that improves the cooling effect and/or operating efficiency. It is also desirable to provide an e-boosting device cooling system that is compact and that is cost effective. Furthermore, it is desirable to provide improved manufacturing methods for forming and assembling the e-boosting device. Other desirable features and characteristics of the present disclosure will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background discussion.

Method of manufacturing e-boosting device


In order to emit a light from an electrode side, in semiconductor light emitting devices such as LED and the like, and liquid crystal, the electrode is formed of a transparent material so as to transmit a light through the transparent electrode and exit the light. A ZnO, which constitutes a material for the transparent electrode, is subject to erosion by acid and alkali, thus, as the case may cause loss of a reliability of the electrode under the influence of ion-containing moisture. In order to solve such a problem, this invention has as its aim a transparent electrode film provided with stability capable of preventing any degradation under the influence of any ion-containing moisture, while being kept acid-proof and alkali-proof. In order to accomplish the above-mentioned aim, this invention provides a transparent electrode made up of a ZnO as its main material, wherein its surface is covered with a Mg-doped ZnO film.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a transparent electrode provided with stability capable of preventing any degradation due to ion-containing moistures, while being kept acid-proof and alkali-proof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, in semiconductor light emitting devices such as LED, and liquid crystal, the electrode is formed, for emitting a light from an electrode side, of a transparent material to allow light to transmit through the transparent electrode and exit it (for example, refer to related art document 1 below). ZnO, which is material as the transparent electrode, is subject to erosion by acid and alkali, and thus may cause loss of a reliability of the electrode under the influence of ion-containing moistures. Moreover, when employed as a white light source utilizing an emission of LED, a semiconductor light emitting device is covered with an epoxy resin mixed with a fluorescent material.
In FIG. 4 there is shown an arrangement of a light emitting device module as a conventional white light source. In FIG. 4, a reference numeral 51 refers to a semiconductor light emitting device, 52 refers to an epoxy resin, 53 refers to a module substrate and 54 refers to moisture. As shown in FIG. 4, the entire semiconductor light emitting devices 51, which is mounted on the module substrate 53 of the light emitting device module, is covered with the epoxy resin 52. The fluorescent material mixed with the epoxy resin 52 is excited by emission from the semiconductor light emitting devices 51 and thus emits white light. However, the moisture is liable to penetrate the epoxy resin 52 so that when any moisture contained inside the epoxy resin 52 or the moisture 54 from the outside penetrates, or in particular, the moisture 54 contains ions, it exhibits acidity or alkalinity, thus, as the case may be, resulting in an erosion of a ZnO transparent electrode employed for the semiconductor light emitting device. It is probably assumed that a high ionization tendency of Zn causes said phenomenon.
[Related Art Document 1]
Japanese patent laid-open publication 11-70610, (FIG. 3, page 3-4)