A highway hazard marker is housed within a disc shaped high impact plastic housing, an upper portion of which is transparent. A plurality of LEDs are circularly disposed proximal to the side of the upper portion. A ring counter provides signals to transistors that sequentially drive the LEDs. Excitation provided to the ring counter is controlled to cause a desired current through the LEDs.

1. Field of Invention
This invention is in the general field of highway warning devices and, more particularly, is a hazard marker that provides an aimed illumination.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A hazard marker is typically placed near a problem area created by a mishap that occurs on either a street or a highway. Reasons for placing the marker include protection of people against injury, discouraging people from either walking or driving in the problem area, discouraging intrusion into emergency medical treatment of injuries resulting from the mishap and discouraging intrusion into clean up activity. The hazard marker may, for example, be a flare, a sequentially illuminated arrow, a message sign, a wooden barricade that carries a blinking warning light or an orange cone.
The flare has an advantage of being easily visible at night. However, a motorist who drives past one or more flares may be temporarily blinded by their brightness, thereby endangering the motorist and people in the vicinity of the motorist. The flare is particularly dangerous to use where an automobile collision causes a spillage of gasoline on a roadway. Among other undesirable aspects of the flare is that a person charged with igniting the flare risks being burned and having their clothing burned. The flare additionally releases noxious fumes when it burns.
The orange cone is one of the most commonly used hazard markers. The cone frequently has a light and a battery mounted near its apex. The light cannot readily be seen outside of an immediate area where the cone is placed, particularly in poor weather conditions. The light and the battery make the cone top heavy, thereby destabilizing the cone. Even in the absence of the destabilizing, the cone is frequently destroyed or badly damaged when inadvertently struck by a motor vehicle.
Practically all hazard markers are either badly damaged or destroyed when struck by the motor vehicle; additionally, the motor vehicle is frequently damaged. Thus there is a need for a new type of hazard marker that is neither damaged nor causes damage when struck by the automobile, provides light that can be seen outside of an immediate area where the new type of marker is placed and does not temporarily blind a passing motorist with its brightness.
According to one aspect of the present invention, a turbo flare hazard marker in the general shape of a disc includes a transparent upper housing and a lower housing that are made from a high impact plastic. Each of three or more similar legs of the marker are made from a plastic plate that is connected to an outer edge of the lower housing and extends radially therefrom. A foot of each of the legs extends below a bottom surface of the lower housing.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, the turbo flare hazard marker includes a plurality of light emitting diodes (LEDs) that have a circular disposition within the housing. The LEDs are oriented either to provide light that can be seen by a motorist at a substantial distance from the turbo hazard flare marker or provide light that can be seen by an aircraft flying above the turbo hazard marker.
According to a third aspect of the invention, an oscillator drives an input of a ring counter. Outputs of the ring counter sequentially drive the LEDs. Current through the LEDs passes through a sampling resistor, thereby providing a sampling voltage. A reference voltage is compared to the sampling voltage. An excitation voltage applied to the ring counter is changed in response to a difference between the reference voltage and the sampling voltage. The change in the excitation causes a corresponding change in the drive at the output of the ring counter that results in the reference and sampling voltages being substantially equal.
The turbo flare hazard marker is of a construction that is neither damaged by a motor vehicle nor causes damage to the motor vehicle, provides light that can be seen outside of its immediate area and does not blind a passing motorist with its brightness.
Other objects, features, and advantages of the invention should be apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiment thereof as illustrated in the accompanying drawing.


The invention is a cable connector with a switchover structure, comprising a plug connector having a plug rubber core, a housing, a pin terminal, a protruding rib and a wire; a plug holder harnessed on an outer edge of the plug rubber core movably; and a switching unit combined with the plug holder movably, furthermore, the said switching unit mentioned above is harnessed on the outer edge of the plug rubber core and is positioned between the housing and the plug holder. Therefore, by rotational switching of the switching unit may be utilized for the plug holder to be joined to different kinds of socket connectors, such that the effects and advantages of tight locking, detachment prevention, easy of assembly, easy of retreating, convenient replacement and maintenance, ease of operation and applicability to at least two different kinds of socket connectors are achieved as the cable connector and a socket connector are butted together.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention is a cable connector with a switchover structure, and is particularly related to a cable connector with a switchover structure used for power lines or signal lines.
2. Description of Prior Art
Conventional cable connectors may connect one cable to various devices. With the development of the technical industry, many connectors are developed continuously for users to perform rapid connection. More and more attention is rendered to the protection of cable connecting joints. However, in the process of cable connection, not only a connector should have basic good electrical connection properties, but also the body of the connector should have a certain bonding stress. Various external factors would cause the connector, after long term use, to have detachment, which results in separation from the cable, and in turn, results in ineffective electrical connection and safety issues. As the adapters of cables are connected with each other, one plug may only fit with a single kind of socket due to, usually, specification constraint for locking the adapters of cables firmly. Therefore, various kinds of socket and plug connectors have been developed. As shown in FIG. 7 showing a conventional socket connector, which does not comply with the purposes of high efficiency and multiple functions in the modern industrial society, and might result in material fatigue and structure wear because of long term use such that the original tight fitting function becomes worse. Thus, it is important to design a high efficiency cable connector adapter with multiple functions and capable of easy to operation and easy to maintenance.
The U.S. Pat. No. 7,727,021B2, "Connector having a plug, a socket, and a tubular shield member with an elastic arm" is a conventional technology. As shown in FIG. 8, the connector contains a plug 10, which comprises a plug main body 11, multiple pin terminals 20, a plug holder 40, a coil spring 49 and a slip-out preventing member 45, and a socket 60, which comprises a socket main body 61, multiple socket terminals 70, a socket holder 90. The plug 10 may be inserted to a socket without caulking portion, and may also be joined with the socket 60. As the plug 10 of the conventional technology is to be joined with the socket without caulking portion, an outer thread of the plug 10 is utilized to screw with an inner thread of the socket without caulking portion. Further, as the plug 10 is to be connected with the socket 60, an engagement nail 47 of a slip-out preventing member 45 for the plug holder 40 of the plug 10 is utilized to enter a recessed portion 83 and a caulking portion 84 in an inner chamber of the socket holder 90, and simultaneously, the coil spring 49 is contracted such that the coil spring 49 is utilized to apply an elastic thrust for the plug holder 40 and the socket holder 90 to be snapped firmly, while the pin terminals of the plug main body and the socket terminals of the socket main body 61 form electrical connection. Thereby, a connector applicable to two kinds of sockets is available. However, such cable connector utilizes springs as switching and caulking structures, which would result in reduced bonding stress due to ineffective elasticity or displacement of springs after long term use, and lose the functions of switching and caulking. Moreover, once the adapter of such connector is detached, issues with respect to power transmission interrupt would occur easily in combination with safety issues. Furthermore, springs are located in the inner chamber of the plug such that assembly & mounting, retreat and maintenance are inconvenient for the cable connector, and the requirement of convenience and high efficiency is not met.
In view of the fact, the applicant of the invention has made efforts to study and develop an improved cable connector with a switchover structure in order to fix various conventional shortages mentioned above.


The invention relates to a composition which makes it possible, in particular, to combat photo-induced ageing of the skin and/or to combat skin blemishes, this composition containing, in a cosmetically and/or dermatologically acceptable medium, at least one saccharide ester of ascorbic acid and at least one saccharide ester of rutin, the phase of this medium having a pH of from 4 to 6.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a composition containing rutin and ascorbic acid derivatives as well as methods for depigmenting skin, preventing or combating skin blemishes and preventing or combating ageing of skin. This composition may be applied to the face, body, neck, hands or legs.
2. Description of the Background
Over the course of time, various signs appear on the skin which are very characteristic of ageing. In particular, the structure and functions of the skin are modified. This ageing is physiological in nature but may also be photoinduced due to repeated exposure of the skin to sunlight, in particular ultraviolet light.
The action of this light on the constituents of the skin and on the sebum secreted by the skin leads to the formation of oxygen-containing free radicals. These radicals cause considerable damage in cell membranes (permeability of the membranes), cell nuclei (mutation by action on RNA or DNA) and tissues (necroses, degeneration). Thus, the skin should be protected against these free radicals.
The main clinical signs of ageing of the skin are the appearance of fine lines and deep wrinkles which increase with age, as well as a disorganization of the "grain" of the skin (i.e., the skin microrelief is less uniform and is anisotropic in nature). Moreover, the skin complexion is generally modified and appears yellowed, which essentially is due to a disorganization of the microcirculation (less haemoglobin in the papillary dermis). Furthermore, many colored and/or darker marks appear at the skin surface and, in particular, on the hands, imparting non-uniformity to the skin. In general, these marks are due to an appreciable production of melanin in the skin epidermis and dermis. In certain cases of intense exposure to solar rays, these marks may become cancerous. Moreover, diffuse irritations and occasionally telangiectasias may exist on certain areas of the skin.
Another clinical sign of ageing is the dry and rough appearance of the skin, which is due essentially to pronounced desquamation caused by diffracting light rays. These squama also contribute towards the somewhat grayish appearance of the complexion. Thus, the clinical signs of skin ageing result essentially from dysfunction of the main biological mechanisms involved in the skin.
Also, certain people with colored skin seek to reduce their color by using depigmenting and/or anti-pigmenting agents.
Thus, a composition which is capable of preventing and/or combating the onset of ageing and the existing signs of ageing, more especially photoinduced ageing, such as wrinkles and fine lines, which is capable of depigmenting the skin and of preventing and/or combating skin pigmentation marks irrespective of their origin, and which is capable of protecting the skin in particular by suppression of the formation of oxygen-containing free radicals is desirable.
One of the effective known means for combating premature ageing of the skin consists in supplying the skin with molecules capable of helping the cells defend themselves against the excess of photoinduced free radicals. Molecules having a hydrophilic, strong reductive power which react with free radicals such as peroxide, superoxide and hydroxyl radicals are especially useful.
One of these molecules capable of effectively combating these free radicals and thus of strengthening the defenses of skin tissue against external attack (ultraviolet radiation, pollution) is ascorbic acid, or vitamin C, on account of its antioxidant properties. This compound also compensates for the deficiency of vitamin E, by stimulating the synthesis of connective tissue and, in particular, skin collagen, and depigmenting the skin.
Unfortunately, on account of its chemical structure and its reductive properties, ascorbic acid is very sensitive to certain environmental parameters such as light, oxygen and water (owing to its pH and the presence of traces of metals). As the rapid degradation of ascorbic acid ensues, it loses its properties, counteracting the desired effect. This degradation results in a yellow/brown color in the composition containing it.
In order to reduce and delay the degradation of ascorbic acid, researchers have attempted to block the reactive site of ascorbic acid, namely the hydroxyl site, by esterification with a saccharide. For example, ascorbyl-2-glucoside is described in document EP-A-487,404 and has the advantages of being more stable than vitamin C, having good water solubility and being bioconvertible into vitamin C on the skin by means of certain skin enzymes, thereby allowing all the properties of vitamin C to be regained.
On account of its good water solubility, this compound may be incorporated into a large number of excipients. However, its stability in an aqueous medium, and in particular in an oil-in-water emulsion, is good (longer than 14 days) only if the pH was above 6. However, the stability of cosmetic compositions at room temperature must be longer than several months, in particular since no expiration date for the products is indicated on the packaging.
The following table shows the stability of 2-ascorbyl glucoside over time and as a function of the pH.
TABLE ______________________________________ 14 days without 14 days 30 days 60 days Storage Stability Day 0 light in light in light in light ______________________________________ pH of the aqueous solu- 2.2 2.18 2.27 2.1 2.48 tion % residual ascorbyl-2- 12.3% 11.8% 11.6% 10.4% 9.3% glucoside Stability (residual %/ 100% 95.9% 94.3% 84.5% 75.6% initial %) pH of the aqueous solu- 2.7 2.7 2.8 2.59 2.59 tion % residual ascorbyl-2- 0.58% 0.57% 0.57% 0.51% 0.47% glucoside Stability (residual %/ 100% 98.3% 98.3% 87.9% 81% initial %) pH (citrate/phosphate 4 3.98 3.78 3.74 3.86 buffer) % residual ascorbyl-2- 0.6% 0.6% 0.58% 0.54% 0.49% glucaside Stability (residual %/ 100% 100% 96.7% 90% 81.7% initial %) pH (citrate/phosphate 6 6.04 5.96 5.91 6.21 buffer) % residual ascorbyl-2- 0.59% 0.61% 0.6% 0.61% 0.59% glucoside Stability (residual %/ 100% 103.4% 101.7% 103.4% 100% initial %) pH (borate buffer) 8 7.9 7.53 7.54 7.79 % residual ascorbyl-2- 0.61% 0.62% 0.62% 0.61% 0.59% glucoside Stability (residual %/ 100% 101.6% 101.6% 100% 96.7% initial %) ______________________________________
From this table, it is clear that the stability of 2-ascorbyl glucoside is enhanced when the pH is above 6. This stability at pH>6 holds true for other saccharide esters of ascorbic acid.
Other molecules with antioxidant properties which are known are flavonoids. These compounds have the advantage of being anti-inflammatory agents as well as anti-superoxide anion agents. More generally, they are effective in deactivating radical species of oxygen. These properties are described in documents U.S. Pat. No. 5,043,323, U.S. Pat. No. 5,443,839, U.S. Pat. No. 4,814,346, JP-A-01096125, JP-A-01096126 and in the articles "Flavonoids as antioxidants evaluated by in vitro and in situ liver chemiluminescence" by C. G. Fraga et al., Biochemical Pharmacology, vol. 36, No. 5, 1987, pp. 717-720; "Flavonoids as anti-inflammatory agents" by M. J. Alcaraz and M. J. Jimenez, Fitoterapia, vol. LIX, No. 1, 1988, pp. 25-38; and "Flavonoids are scavengers of superoxide anions" by J. Robak and R. J. Gryglewski, Biochemical Pharmacology, vol. 37, No. 5, 1988, pp. 837-841; all incorporated herein by reference.
Unfortunately, most of these flavonoids are sensitizing compounds which can cause allergic reactions when they are applied to the skin. In contrast, rutin is a flavonoid which has a zero score in the FCA method (maximized test with Freud adjuvant, as described in the article "Aspects of the relationships between chemical structure and sensitizing potency of flavonoids and related compounds" by H. W. Schmalle et al., Prog. Clin. Biol. Res., vol. 213, 1986, pp. 387-390). Unfortunately, rutin is very sparingly water-soluble (about 0.01%).
In contrast, saccharide esters of rutin such as alpha-glycosyl rutin are water soluble and, in addition, are bioconvertible on contact with skin enzymes and have better light stability than rutin. However, alpha-glycosyl rutin gives a yellow solution in water; the intensity of the color depends on the pH. If the pH is below or equal to 5, the yellow color is of weak intensity, from virtually colorless to pale yellow, and is stable over time. If the pH is above 5, the color becomes increasingly intense and ranges from dark yellow to brown depending on the percentage of alpha-glucosyl rutin. In this case, the composition becomes cosmetically unacceptable, not only due to its color but also because the color changes over time.
In other words, ascorbyl-2-glucoside and, more generally, saccharide esters of ascorbic acid are unstable at pH values below 5. Alpha-glycosyl rutin and, more generally, saccharide esters of rutin color excipients containing them at pH values above 5 in such a manner as to make them unacceptable.

Composition for combatting skin blemishes and/or ageing of the skin, and uses thereof


Processes for feeding catalyst systems to a melt phase process for the manufacture of polyester polymers, and more particularly, to split catalyst solution feeds to the melt phase process to provide the target amount and ratio of catalyst metals.

Conventional designs for feeding catalysts to the melt phase process for making polyester polymers call for using a catalyst mix tank and one feed tank system to the desired point on the melt phase process. The point of addition to the melt phase process depends upon the type of esterification, whether direct or ester exchange, and the type of catalyst employed, along with the desired characteristics of the polymer and the desired residence time. We have recently discovered that certain catalyst systems of alkaline earth metal or alkali ("M") and aluminum can be retained in solution at ambient conditions using certain solvents, such as mono-ol ethers or polyhydroxylether solvents as further described below. These catalyst systems are difficult to dissolve in ethylene glycol and readily precipitate on standing at ambient conditions, especially when the molar ratio of M:Al approaches 1:1 and/or when the amount of Al in the solution exceeds 3000 ppm.
We have discovered that catalyst solutions which contain molar ratios of M:Al approaching 1:1 are desirable in order to minimize the formation of yellow color in the polyester polymer, and to provide a catalyst solution that is less hazy and more clear. A catalyst mix tank and single feed system to the melt phase process works well to produce polyester polymers containing the same ratio of M:Al, whether 1:1 or otherwise. However, it is may the case that one desires to produce a variety of polymers on a single manufacturing line. Depending on the nature of the change desired in the polymer, the change may call for adjusting the molar ratio of M:Al from one type of polyester polymer to another type of polyester polymer. In this case, it would be impractical to design a process which supplies only one fixed catalyst ratio to the melt phase process. Changing out the catalyst ratio in a single mix tank/feed system is impractical because an inventory of the previously used catalyst remains in the mix tank, and renders the process rather inflexible.
Multiple manufacturing lines are often present in a plant. One line may be set to produce one polyester polymer with a certain set of characteristics, while another line in simultaneous operation may be set to produce a polyester polymer with a different set of characteristics, each line requiring a different catalyst ratio of M:Al. Providing a different catalyst mixing tank for each line increases the capital cost of a plant.
It would be desirable to provide a catalyst feed system which does not require depleting the inventory in a catalyst mix tank, which allows rapid adjustments to the catalyst ratio so as to provide quicker change overs to produce different polyester polymers on the same line, or to make necessary catalyst adjustments in the event that a polymer for one reason or another starts to fall off specification on the same line, and/or to provide a less costly system to provide for one mix tank which will feed multiple lines at different catalyst ratios depending on the requirements of each line.

Multiple feeds of catalyst metals to a polyester production process


The present invention relates in general to the use of amides of the following general formula (I) wherein R1 is a linear or branched hydrocarbyl group containing 9 to 14 carbon atoms; R2 is selected from the group consisting of methyl, ethyl and benzyl; and R3 is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, methyl and ethyl, as solvents for organic agriculturally active ingredients, compositions comprising organic agriculturally active ingredients and such amides, methods for treating a plant utilizing such compositions, as well as some of the amides as such and methods for their production.

Organic solvents are commonly used for dissolving organic compounds being water insoluble or having low water solubility. Many agriculturally active ingredients, such as pesticide and plant growth regulators, are organic compounds that commonly are water insoluble, or have low water solubility. Hence, solvents have typically been used in the preparation of agricultural formulations, in order to prepare aqueous agricultural formulations with a concentration of agricultural actives exceeding the solubility thereof in water.
Agricultural formulations are conventionally provided in the form of concentrated compositions, which are diluted with water by the end-user to obtain the work-composition that is eventually used, e.g. sprayed on a crop field. In the case of e.g. water-insoluble agricultural actives, the concentrated composition may be a so-called emulsifiable concentrate which, when mixed with water, results in an emulsion of the agricultural active in water. However, upon dilution of the concentrate with an aqueous medium, the agricultural actives in the emulsion are prone to crystallisation. This is highly undesired, e.g. as such crystals may clog spraying nozzles and/or may result in an uneven distribution of the agricultural active on a field. To meet this problem, recent development has resulted in the use of long-chain dialkyl amides as solvents for agricultural actives.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,206,225 relates to inhibition of crystallisation of specific pesticidally active triazole compounds in sprayable compositions by the addition thereto of alkyl carboxylic acid dimethyl amides based on C6-C20 alkyl carboxylic acids. WO 2008/145063 discloses an agrochemical composition that comprises an azole active ingredient and an N,N-dialkyl long chain alkyl amide present in sufficient amount to prevent or inhibit the crystallization of the azole derivative during the application of the composition to a locus. WO 95/15685 relates to the use of carboxylic acid amides as crystallization inhibitors in the application of aqueous sprays that contain certain azole derivatives liable to crystallization.
However, and especially at low temperatures, the crystallisation problem remains to a certain degree with the use of the solvents presented in the above mentioned prior art. Hence, improved organic solvents would be desirable.

Amides, use of amides as solvents for organic compounds, compositions and emulsions containing amides, and method for treating a plant


Disclosed is a media transport system utilizing a chambered honeycomb core platen for transporting and maintaining the flatness of a sheet of media in an associated printing system. According to one exemplary embodiment, the chambered honeycomb platen includes a plurality of rows of cross-drilled hollow columnar cells configured to independently communicate vacuum through the platen.

The present disclosure is directed to a printing press substrate transport system used to transport and secure substrates while forming images on an imaging surface. More particularly, the present disclosure is directed to chambered vacuum platens with a honeycomb core that transport, secure, and maintain a large substrate flat under a printhead.
Conventional ink-jet printing systems use various methods to cause ink droplets to be directed towards a recording media. Well-known ink-jet printing devices include thermal, piezoelectric, and acoustic inkjet printhead technologies. All of these inkjet technologies produce roughly spherical ink droplets having a 15-100 μm diameter directed toward recording media at approximately 4 meters per second. Located within these printheads are ejecting transducers or actuators, which produce the ink droplets. These transducers are typically controlled by a printer controller or conventional minicomputer, such as a microprocessor.
A typical printer controller will activate a plurality of transducers or actuators in relation to movement of a recording media relative to an associated plurality of printheads. By controlling the activation of transducers or actuators and the recording media movement, a printer controller should theoretically cause the ink droplets produced to impact the recording media in a predetermined way, for the purpose of forming a desired or preselected image on the recording media. An ideal droplet-on-demand type printhead will produce ink droplets precisely directed toward the recording media, generally in a direction perpendicular thereto.
Further, for inkjet systems, the distance the ink droplet travels (i.e., drop flight distance) is influenced by many factors, including but not limited to: the printhead gap to the recording media; the jetting velocity; the printhead flight path; the variation in inkjet velocities across an array; nozzle straightness, flatness of the vacuum platen; transport motion of the recording media; air turbulence; printhead perpendicularity and alignment; timing errors; and nozzle pitch variation.
In certain inkjet systems, recording media sheets are usually transported under the printheads by a conveyor belt system. The conveyor belt system moves the media sheet and maintains the media flat under a printhead gap of less than 1 mm. The transport system may be a vacuum system including a perforated belt that is driven over a vacuum platen. A vacuum is pulled through the perforated belt and platen by a vacuum system. The platen controls the flatness of the belt and therefore, the media, as it moves along a printing zone.
It is very challenging to maintain the flatness of a recording media cross a large print area. For example, larger recording media, such as B series paper sizes B1 (30 inches by 40 inches) and B2 (23.55 inches by 30 inches) require print-bars with multiple printheads to form a larger printing zone (i.e., marking zone). The platen must have a low coefficient of friction to reduce drag from the belt of the conveyor system and must be durable enough to meet the life-expectancy of typical printing systems. The replacement of a worn-out platen is costly and undesirable.
Furthermore, due to the small gap between the printhead and media substrate, the flatness of the conveyor transport is critical. Variation in the gap will lead to image quality disturbances due to the variation in the ink drop flight time, dispersion, and trajectory. A reduced gap may also lead to recording media sheets striking the print bar, resulting in printhead damage and paper jams.
Another critical factor in the advancement of vacuum conveyor transports of inkjet systems is air turbulence within the airflow between the printhead and the recording media that is created by the vacuum system. As the recording media moves along the transport conveyor, the airflow around the leading and trailing edges of the media alternates from being restricted to unrestricted, or vice versa. As a result of the air turbulence, the droplet trajectory is affected, which can cause print quality defects such as image blurring, particularly around the leading and trialing edges of the recording media.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/506,134 titled "Honeycomb Core Platen for Media Transport", incorporated by reference herein, describes a printing press substrate transport system to transport and secure substrates while forming images on an imaging surface incorporating a honeycomb platen system.
This disclosure provides a printing transport system which solves or avoids most if not all of the problems experienced in the prior art, many of those problems having been briefly discussed above, but also to design an inkjet printing system which solves or avoids most problems arising from present advances in inkjet printing technology.

Chambered vacuum transport platen enabled by honeycomb core


A switching mode power converter may include a modulation circuit to dynamically control a variable switching frequency of the power converter based on an error voltage of the power converter. The power converter may also include a control circuit connected to the modulation circuit and arranged to dynamically limit an inductor current in the power converter while the switching frequency of the power converter changes. A variable limit on the inductor current may be based on the error voltage of the power converter, a load current of the power converter, or information from a power manager of a system in which the power converter resides. In some implementations, the power converter may also include a disabling circuit to control the modulation circuit to disable the variable switching frequency when a sufficiently large load transient is detected.

Implementations of the claimed invention generally may relate to the field of power supplies, and in particular to a mode transition scheme for a load-adaptive power converter.
The power loss of a DC/DC voltage regulator (VR) or a switching mode power converter/inverter (e.g. a pulse width modulated power converter) may include three components including, for example, switching loss, conduction loss and gate driver loss. In general, in order to reduce the total power loss, the switching loss and gate driver loss are lower at a lower switching frequency. However, the ripple voltage/current may increase as the switching frequency decreases. For a particular application, tradeoffs may be made based on load demands and component parasitics. In a light load, for example during a discontinuous conduction mode (DCM), a lower switching frequency (fixed or variable) may be utilized since the switching loss may be dominant and the conduction loss may be relatively small. In a medium or heavy load, for example during a continuous conduction mode (CCM), a fixed and higher switching frequency may be applied due to increasing conduction loss, including the ripple voltage/current, with a load current.
Various techniques may utilize both DCM and CCM to improve overall efficiency. In a Mode-Hopping technique, the DC-DC Buck VR for example operates in synchronous mode at CCM (Continuous Conduction Mode) at high load demand while the inductor current does not go below zero and operates in asynchronous mode at DCM (Discontinuous Conduction Mode) when the inductor current starts approaching the zero amperes point to reduce mainly conduction losses. In a Pulse-Skipping or variable switching frequency technique the VR switching frequency is lowered as the load becomes smaller to reduce mainly switching losses and can be implemented by using hysteretic control or variable frequency PWM control.
Both of these techniques result in efficiency improvement especially at light load. An issue with both the Mode-Hopping and Pulse-Skipping technique is that the output voltage ripple may increase during a transition between the CCM and DCM operation, which in some applications may exceed a maximum supply voltage deviation required by the load and increase the equivalent series resistance (ESR) power loss.

Enhancement of power conversion efficiency using dynamic load detecting and tracking


A tanning system (14) is disclosed which allows a single centrally located control unit (10) to control a number of remote tanning beds. Each tanning bed is provided with a remote unit (12) associated with the tanning bed. Communication occurs between the control unit (10) and the remote unit (12) through a common AC power wiring structure (22) extending therebetween. The system can use CEBus, X10 or another suitable system for communicating through the AC wiring structure. The operator has control of the operating time of each tanning bed while the customer has control of when the tanning operation begins.

Tanning beds are widely known in the industry and are used by people to tan themselves in a rapid manner without the need to be outside or to be exposed to direct sunlight. Tanning beds are usually located in a commercial location with multiple beds in one building. The plurality of beds are usually spaced throughout the building, each in a separate room, to offer the customer a private, relaxing and peaceful atmosphere.
Conventional tanning bed systems such as the "RMD 2" by *Asterisk, Inc. allow the remote control of a plurality of tanning beds from a central location. A central control unit is capable of activating or deactivating any one of a plurality of tanning beds from one central remote location. The central control unit can also put any one tanning bed into a delay mode. The "delay period" is a preset amount of time that a customer has before the actual tanning time starts. This delay period is used to allow a customer to disrobe and prepare for tanning. The central control unit is also capable of pausing any individual tanning bed, which deactivates the tanning bed, but permits reactivation without any loss of tanning time.
A display unit is capable of indicating whether a tanning session is in progress (i.e., a tanning bed is activated), whether a tanning bed is in a "delay period", or whether a tanning bed is not activated. The display unit is also located at the central location to allow the tanning system operator to monitor the events occurring in the tanning system and control the system accordingly.
Conventional tanning systems, however, have many shortcomings with regard to the ease and cost of installation and expansion of the system, the efficiency of operating the tanning system, and the safety of the customer(s).
Tanning systems known in the art require the existence of dedicated wiring. This dedicated wiring is required from the central control unit to each of the plurality of tanning beds. This dedicated wiring is expensive and must be added to facilities or buildings before a remote tanning system can be implemented. Furthermore, once the dedicated wiring is installed, the tanning system cannot be changed or enlarged without the need to re-wire the dedicated wiring. For example, if a tanning system provider decided to add a tanning bed in another room, that provider must run dedicated wiring from the central control unit to the new room. Moreover, if the tanning system provider was to move one tanning bed from one room to another, the new room would require new wiring. The need for dedicated wiring can severely limit the ability of a tanning system provider to grow or modify his current tanning system.
Another shortcoming of conventional tanning systems is their inability to efficiently manage and control the occupancy of the tanning system. One of the desires of tanning system providers is to maximize the amount of time that the tanning beds are occupied, which means the amount of time that a tanning bed is not in use (i.e., for cleaning or operator's failure to recognize a tanning bed's availability) must be minimized. Conventional systems have no way to alert an operator as to the availability of a tanning bed or the cleanliness status of a bed.
Furthermore, conventional tanning systems do not have the ability to determine if a tanning bed within the tanning system is not functioning properly. This presents a problem to customers who may be placed in a tanning bed that, for example, has a lamp that is not working properly.

Wireless remote controlled tanning system


An input circuit provided in a semiconductor integrated circuit, comprises an nMOS transistor having a source connected to an input node receiving a transmission signal, a drain connected to a first node and a gate connected to a reference potential, and a pMOS transistor having a source connected to a power supply voltage, a drain connected to the first node, a first inverter having an input connected to the first node and an output connected to an output terminal, and a second inverter having an input connected to the first node and an output connected to a gate of the pMOS transistor, so that when the nMOS transistor is turned on, the pMOS transistor is rendered off, whereby no steady input current flows.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor integrated circuit, and more specifically to an input circuit provided in a semiconductor integrated circuit, used in a high-speed small-amplitude signal transmission system for transmitting a high-speed small-amplitude signal through a signal transmission line on a printed circuit board.
2. Description of Related Art
A digital computer includes a plurality of VLSI circuits, which are bi-directionally coupled with a binary communication network through a transmission line of a single segment or a multi-segment. Generally, the transmission line is constituted of a track which is formed on a printed circuit board and which has an input/output interface provided at each of opposite ends thereof. On the other hand, conventional VLSI circuits are formed by a CMOS technology. However, in an input/output interface of a conventional TTL level, if the frequency of the transfer data exceeds 50 MHz. the influence of signal reflections and crosstalk becomes large, with the result that waveform distortion occurs because of ringing and other factors and normal data transfer becomes difficult.
Under this circumstance, other input/output interfaces such as a small amplitude CTT (Center Tapped Termination) and GTL (Gunning Transceiver Logic) in which a signal level on the transmission line is suppressed to 1 V or less have been proposed. In these CTT and GTL, a wiring conductor is terminated at a voltage lower than a power supply voltage, and a driving current of an output circuit is caused to flow through a terminating resistor, so that a signal amplitude of not greater than 1 V is generated across the terminating resistor. With this arrangement, signal reflection is prevented by matching the value of the terminating resistor with a characteristic impedance of the wiring conductor, so that high speed data transmission can be realized. For example, in the GTL rule, an output circuit is formed in the form of an open drain type driver and is matching-terminated, and a terminating voltage V.sub.TT =1.2 V.+-.5%, V.sub.REF =0.8 V, an output high level V.sub.OH =0.8 V+400 mV, an output low level V.sub.OL =0.8 V-400 mV, an input high level V.sub.IH =0.8 V+50 mV, an input low level V.sub.IL =0.8 V-50 mV.
One example of an input circuit included in a semiconductor integrated circuit and used for a high-speed small-signal transmission system is proposed by Japanese Patent Application Pre-examination Publication No. JP-A-07-153908 and European Patent Publication EP-A-0 655 839 (the content of which is incorporated by reference in its entirety into this application) claiming the Convention Priorities based on Japanese patent application for JP-A-07-153908 and two other Japanese patent applications.
Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a circuit diagram of the prior art input circuit shown in JP-A-07-153908. This prior art input circuit includes an nMOS transistor 101 having a source connected to a transmission signal input terminal 103, a gate connected to an internal reference potential terminal 104 and a drain connected to a node 5, a pMOS transistor 100 having a source connected to a power supply voltage V.sub.CC. a gate connected to ground V.sub.SS, and a drain connected to the node 5, and a waveform shaping inverter 102 having an input connected to the node 5 and an output connected to an output terminal 105. The pMOS transistor 100 is provided as a resistor element. This input circuit is characterized in that it can amplify a small-voltage, small-amplitude signal up to high frequencies.
The internal reference potential is generated by an internal reference potential generating circuit 60 as shown in FIG. 2. This internal reference potential generating circuit 60 includes an nMOS transistor 31 having a source connected to a reference voltage input terminal 34, and a gate connected to a drain thereof, a pMOS transistor 30 having a gate connected to the ground V.sub.SS, a source connected to the power supply voltage V.sub.CC, and a drain connected to the drain of the transistor 31 and an internal reference potential terminal 35, and a capacitor 33 connected between the drain of the transistor 31 and the reference voltage input terminal 34. Thus, a drain voltage of the transistor 31 is outputted as an internal reference potential V.sub.RT from the internal reference potential terminal 35.
Now, an operation of this prior art example will be described with reference to FIGS. 3A, 3B and 3C. FIG. 3A illustrates the input voltage V.sub.IN on the transmission signal input terminal 103, and FIG. 3B illustrates the voltage V.sub.5 on the node 5. FIG. 3C illustrates the input current I.sub.IN flowing through the transmission signal input terminal 103. Here, assume that the power supply voltage V.sub.CC =3.3 V, the ground voltage V.sub.SS =0 V, the reference voltage V.sub.REF =0.8 V, the input high level V.sub.IH /the input low level V.sub.IL =1.2 V/0.4 V, the threshold of pMOS transistor=-0.8 V, and the threshold of nMOS transistor=0.8 V.
In this condition, when the transmission signal V.sub.IN is equal to the reference voltage V.sub.REF, the potential V.sub.5 on the node 5 becomes equal to the internal reference voltage V.sub.RT, as will be understood from a symmetrical circuit construction between the circuits shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. If the transmission signal V.sub.IN becomes higher than the reference voltage V.sub.REF, a gate-source voltage of the nMOS transistor 101 becomes small, and an internal resistance of the nMOS transistor 101 becomes large. Therefore, a drain current of the nMOS transistor 101 becomes small, with the result that a drain voltage of the nMOS transistor 101 elevates, so that the potential V.sub.5 of the node 5 finally becomes equal to the power supply voltage V.sub.CC. To the contrary, if the transmission signal V.sub.IN becomes lower than the reference voltage V.sub.REF, the potential V.sub.5 of the node 5 finally becomes about 0.6 V which is near to the voltage V.sub.IN of the transmission signal. The inverter 102 receives the potential V.sub.5 of the node 5, to shape the transmission signal varying between 0.6 V and 3.3 V to an output signal fully swinging between 3.3 V and 0 V.
As seen from FIGS. 3A, 3B and 3C, when the transmission signal V.sub.IN is at a low level, the input current I.sub.IN constantly flows through the input terminal 103 (here, for convention of explanation, a direction of a current flowing outward from the input terminal is assumed to be a positive direction in FIG. 3C). The reason for this is that since the pMOS transistor 100 is provided as the resistor element in this prior art input circuit, the pMOS transistor is constantly in an ON condition. Therefore, the prior art input circuit disadvantageously consumed a large amount of electric power. This steady current can be reduced by narrowing a gate width of the pMOS transistor or by elongating a gate length of the pMOS transistor. Simultaneously, however, a delay time inevitably increases.
Furthermore, when the transmission signal V.sub.IN is at a low level, since the pMOS transistor is in the ON condition, the potential V.sub.5 of the node 5 becomes higher than the input low level V.sub.IL (0.4 V). According to simulation, the node 5 potential V.sub.5 =0.6 V, which is higher than the transmission signal V.sub.IN =0.4 V, by 0.2 V. Therefore, an operation margin of the inverter 102 is reduced, with the result that an erroneous operation is easy to occur due to noise. If the inverter 102 is improved to prevent this problem, a complicated circuit construction is required, which causes various problems including an increased circuit area, an increased delay time and an increased consumed electric power.
Alternatively, in order to prevent the above mentioned potential elevation, it may be considered to make a driving capacity of the nMOS transistor 101 larger than that of the pMOS transistor 100, for example by increasing the gate width of the nMOS transistor 101 or by narrowing the gate width of the pMOS transistor 100 or elongating the gate length of the pMOS transistor 100. However, this causes various inconvenient problems including an increased circuit area, an increased delay time and an increased consumed electric power.

Input circuit provided in a semiconductor integrated circuit, used in high-speed small-amplitude signal transmission system


Mold assemblies for compression molding of footwear components include molds, heating elements, conductor plates, insulating layers and carrier trays. An upper mold assembly is placed into a fixture attached to an upper press platen. A lower mold assembly slides into and out of a fixture attached to a lower press platen. Heating elements within the mold assemblies connect to electrical contacts in the fixtures when the mold assemblies are installed in the fixtures, thereby providing electrical power to the heating elements and heating the molds. A conveyor is positioned to receive a mold assembly from (or transfer a mold assembly to) the lower press platen fixture when the lower platen is in a lowered position.

Compression molding is a manufacturing process used to fabricate a large variety of articles. In compression molding, raw material is typically placed into an open cavity in a first portion of a mold. The raw material, which may be rubber or some other type of thermosetting material, is typically in solid form. The raw material may be a single piece, may be in multiple pieces, or may even be a powder. A second portion of the mold is then attached to (or otherwise placed into contact with) the first portion. As heat and pressure are applied, the raw material in the mold cavity is formed into the desired shape.
Compression molding is often used when manufacturing footwear. In particular, midsoles, outsoles, and various other footwear components are frequently formed from rubber, plastic and/or other materials which are heated and pressed into desired shapes. FIGS. 1A-1C are partially schematic drawings of a typical procedure for compression molding footwear components according to the prior art. FIG. 1A shows a first mold 2 and a second mold 3 for a pair of shoe outsoles. Cavities 4 and 5 are formed in first mold 2. The bottom of cavity 4 corresponds to a bottom surface of a left shoe outsole, and the bottom of cavity 5 corresponds to a bottom of a right shoe outsole. Second mold 3 includes a pair of protrusions 6 and 7 which respectively correspond to the top surfaces of the left and right shoe outsoles.
One or more pieces of the raw material(s) for the outsoles are placed into each of cavities 4 and 5. As shown in FIG. 1B, second mold 3 is then placed on first mold 2 so that protrusions 6 and 7 extend into cavities 4 and 5, with spaces between the protrusions and the cavity walls forming mold volumes corresponding to the outsoles being produced. As seen in FIG. 1C, the joined molds are then placed between two platens 8 and 9 of a press. Platens 8 and 9 are then heated by source(s) internal to the platens. Heat from platens 8 and 9 is transferred to molds 2 and 3 as platens 8 and 9 are pressed together. The pressure and heat is maintained for a time sufficient for the raw material to fill the mold volumes and to set. Depending upon the material(s) being used, this may be several minutes or more.
Conventional compression molding equipment and methods (such as those described above) can present challenges. So as to withstand the pressing forces, platens are often substantial structures which contain large masses of metal. In order to transfer sufficient heat to the molds, a significant amount of heat must be applied to the platens. The platens may also be wider and/or longer than the molds (as seen in FIG. 1C). In such a case, the platens may be heated in areas which are not in contact with (and thus do not transfer significant heat to) the molds. These configurations can thus be thermally inefficient. Moreover, a relatively long amount of time may be needed to transfer sufficient heat from the platens to the molds. In addition to being inconvenient, extended heating times can slow production.
Conventional arrangements may also limit the precision with which mold heating can be controlled. Different types of materials must be heated to different temperatures. Because the heat source is relatively far from the molds in the arrangement of FIG. 1C, heating the molds within a specific temperature range may be difficult. Moreover, different molds may have different internal geometries. For example, some molds may be thicker in certain regions, and therefore require more heat in those regions to reach a desired temperature. Heating sources within the platens are usually in a fixed (and sometimes unknown) configuration. It may therefore be impractical to rearrange those heating sources based on the geometry of a particular mold.
Conventional platen-mold systems can also require excessive time to cool. Some materials (e.g., Phylon) require that the mold cool before the platens are released from the mold. Excessive cooling times can thus slow production when using such materials.
Yet another challenge presented by conventional compression molding techniques relates to handling of a mold before (and/or after) the mold is pressed. For many types of footwear, significant time is needed to prepare a mold for production. For example, certain shoe outsoles are formed from multiple types of material. This may be for aesthetic reasons (e.g., color "pops" for forming multicolored outsoles), for structural reasons (e.g., to place a harder or softer material in certain outsole regions), or for other reasons. When preparing to mold such an outsole, separate pieces of different raw materials must be carefully placed at the proper locations in the mold. Trimming of raw materials may also be needed. Arrangements which enhance an operator's ability to prepare one mold while another is being heated and pressed can increase productivity.


Disclosed are various embodiments for establishing a connection between a client device and a third-party entity device and providing services associated with a third-party entity to the client device according to user-defined access permissions. A context environment can be determined according to user data and third-party entity data. Services available to the user device can be selected according to the context environment, the user-defined access permissions and third-party defined instructions. Upon selecting the services, the services are provided to the client device and a connection between the client device and a third-party entity device can be established.

Consumers shop across a variety of platforms having varied experiences. For example, a consumer may cross shop multiple merchants including a variety of online merchants and physical stores. The consumer experience shopping related to the merchant locations and various merchant store types is typically dependent on the merchant. The consumer has little to no input in the content provided online or the in-store experience with the merchant.
Furthermore, there is little to no continuity between the varied consumer experiences. A consumer may visit a shopping mall location for their favorite merchant only to return home and visit the merchant website later. The consumer typically has no way to apply any context from the on-site merchant visit to the subsequent on-line visit. Similarly, the consumer usually has no way to apply context from a first merchant website to a second merchant web site. The lack of contextual experiences may leave a consumer to sift through irrelevant and/or unwanted information such as product promotions and search results.
Some web sites rely on cookies to promote products from websites previously visited by consumers. However, those cookies and websites typically have no integration with in-store experiences. Those websites also lack consumer control and transparency. Additionally, the cookie information is typically used to provide an advertisement such as a banner that is separate from the experience of the merchant website. That is, the cookie information may influence the advertisements presented to a consumer on the periphery of a website, but the cookie information may not influence the actual content of a merchant web site such as products presented, search results, recommendations, etc.

Providing services according to a context environment and user-defined access permissions

American Express Travel Related Services Company, INC.


A centrifugal separator includes a separation barrel with an upper end, a lower end, a central axis, and a cylindrical wall defining a separation chamber. A spin plate extends substantially across the separation chamber adjacent to the lower end thereof. A post including a central passage extends from the spin plate along the central axis of the separation barrel. The post includes at least one opening for fluid to flow from the central passage of the post to the separation chamber. An inlet in fluid communication with the separation chamber allows solids-laden fluid to flow into the separation chamber. An outlet in fluid communication with the separation chamber allows substantially-clean fluid to flow out of the separation chamber and out of the device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a centrifugal separator and more specifically to a centrifugal separator having a spin post extending beyond the spin plate thereof.
2. Background
Centrifugal separators are well known for separating solids from flowing streams of water in which they are entrained. The classical arrangement is to inject the stream from a nozzle tangentially into a cylindrical separation barrel. As the stream whirls around the wall of the separation barrel, the high g forces within the stream cause the solid particles to migrate toward the wall as the whirling stream flows from an upper elevation to a lower elevation in the separation barrel. At or near the lower end of the separation barrel there is a spin plate that reflects the central portion of the tubular-shaped whirling stream upwardly toward a central exit port. This central portion of the stream is substantially free from solids in a properly designed and properly operated centrifugal separator.
Solids nearer the wall of the separator barrel pass through a slot near the spin plate, either through or at the lower end of the separation barrel. These solids form part of the out portion of the stream, which is contiguous to the wall.
Separation devices of this type are frequently used to separate solid particles over a large range of sizes. Devices using these principles range in size from as small as parts cleaners for use in automobile service bays, to large factory installations for separating crop washings and floor sweepings from wash water, to removal of grit from very large water distribution and irrigation systems.
Such systems are generally passive, and the function and efficiency of the system derives in large part from the velocity and smoothness of the flow of the stream in the separator. Turbulence anywhere in the system, or inefficiency in the introduction of the stream into the separation barrel, will result in the need for more power (higher injection pressure), or a reduction in the efficiency of separation.
Existing centrifugal separators may include a spin plate for aiding rotation within the separation chamber. In some cases, however, the vortex created within the separation chamber moves away from the center of the spin plate. This is particularly true at lower flow rates. Further, particles may enter the central region of the vortex within the separation chambers, and once particles enter that region it is difficult to remove them before they leave the top of the separation chamber.

Centrifugal separator with extended post


A process for printing conductive metal markings directly on a substrate under an ambient condition, including the steps of synthesizing or providing conductive the ink on a substrate to form conductive metallic nanoparticles into an ink; and printing the ink on a substrate to form conductive metallic markings on the substrate. The printed conductive metallic markings may form wires that behave as resonant RFID antenna applications.

Recently, radio frequency identification (RFID) technology has gained tremendous popularity as a device for storing and transmitting information. RFID technology utilizes a tag transponder, which is placed on an object, and a reader, also referred to herein as an interrogator, to read and identify the tag. RFID technologies are broadly categorized as using either "active" tags or "passive" tags. Active tags have a local power source (such as a battery) so that the active tag sends a signal to be read by the interrogator. Active tags have a longer signal range. Passive tags, in contrast, have no internal power source. Instead, passive tags derive power from the reader, and the passive tag re-transmits or transponds information upon receiving the signal from the reader. Passive tags have a much shorter signal range (typically less than 20 feet).
Both categories of tags have an electronic circuit that is typically in the form of an integrated circuit or silicon chip. The circuit stores and communicates identification data to the reader. In addition to the chip, the tag includes some form of antenna that is electrically connected to the chip. Active tags incorporate an antenna that communicates with the reader from the tag's own power source. For passive tags, the antenna acts as a transducer to convert radio frequency (RF) energy originating from the reader to electrical power. The chip then becomes energized and performs the communication function with the reader.
On the other hand, a chipless RFID tag has neither an integrated circuit nor discrete electronic components, such as the transistor or coil. This feature allows chipless RFID tags to be printed directly onto a substrate at lower costs than traditional RFID tags.
As a practical matter, RFID technology uses radio frequencies that have much better penetration characteristics to material than do optical signals, and will work under more hostile environmental conditions than bar code labels. Therefore, the RFID tags may be read through paint, water, dirt, dust, human bodies, concrete, or through the tagged item itself. RFID tags may be used in managing inventory, automatic identification of cars on toll roads, security systems, electronic access cards, keyless entry and the like.
Antennas are an element of RFID tags that are typically prepared via stamping/etching techniques, wherein a foil master is carved away to create the final structure. Additionally, the antenna may be formed via a lithographic press. See Travis et al., U.S. Patent Publication No. 2006/0260493.
The RFID antenna may also be printed directly on the substrate using a conductive metal ink, The ink is printed on a substrate, followed by high temperature sintering in order to anneal the particles and to create a conductive line on the substrate. Precisia, L.L.C., for example, produces both solvent- and water- based conductive inks that are formulated specifically for lithographic, gravure, rotary screen and flexographic printing.
DuPont's 5033 Conductive Ink is a conductive thick film paste, that allows for the screenprinting of an antenna onto a substrate.
Dow Coming's Highly Conductive Ink is also suitable for screenprinting. However, the inks require an additional curing step.
Paralec offers inks, pastes and toners under the trademark PARMODO®, that is printed onto a substrate, using conventional printing processes. After printing, the substrate must be cured to provide pure metallic conductors. However, the PARMOD® pastes are very viscous materials that are not suitable for digital printing applications such as inkjet printing. Similarly, a low-cost metal antenna comes from the collaboration between the England-based QinetiQ and Coates Screen. With the QinetiQ method of "growing" antennas, specially formulated ink is printed on a substrate material, such as cardboard or polystyrene. The substrate is then passed through an electroless solution, which uses chemicals, to deposit metal onto a surface. The metal in the solution reacts with chemicals in the ink, and forms deposits on the substrate where there is ink.
CARCLO® also offers conductive inkjet technology. However, the ink requires a UV curable component, a catalyst, and a wet eletroless plating step with corrosive metal baths
HANITA COATINGS® develops and manufactures pure copper antennas and print substrates optimized for printing by conductive inks. Hanita's RFID antennas consist of heat stabilized PET films with a conductive ink receptive coating specifically to improve the adhesion of the conductive ink to the substrate. However this approach requires a multi-step process that involves vapor deposition of a base metal layer, followed by an insulation layer, and a wet electroplating step. This process is not amenable for direct printing on paper substrates in a single pass.
Alternatively, metal fibers may be incorporated directly into the substrate. For example, one chipless RFID technology from INKODE® uses embedded aluminum fibers that are embedded into paper and act as radar antenna. When subjected to radar waves (24 GHz super high frequency (SHF)), the fibers act as resonators, and backscattering of the waves occurs. A detector receives each of these backscattered waves, with the intensity being dependent on the volume, length and orientation of the fibers. Given a collection of such fibers in a random array, a "signature" pattern of backscatter is produced. This signature pattern can be converted with the appropriate algorithm to create a unique binary code that makes each tag unique. The INKODE® concept has several limitations. One drawback is that the fibers are embedded into the paper, and thus must be incorporated during the papermaking process as a furnish additive. Another drawback is that because aluminum fibers that are cut to the appropriate ¼ wavelength is required, the process is costly and tedious.
As a suitable metal material to be used in the ink, although particulate metal materials may be used in the ink preparation, the superior characteristics of metallic nanoparticle materials in ink applications yields a better product. Metallic nanoparticles are particles having a diameter in the submicron size range. Metallic nanoparticles have unique properties, which differ from those of bulk and atomic species. Metallic nanoparticles are characterized by enhanced reactivity of the surface atoms, high electric conductivity and unique optical properties. For example, metallic nanoparticles have both a lower melting point and a lower sintering temperature than that of bulk metal. In particular, this sharply reduced melting temperature of metallic nanoparticles make them especially suited for conductive ink applications.
Metallic nanoparticles are either crystalline or amorphous materials. They can be composed of pure metal, such as silver, gold, copper, aluminum, etc., or a mixture of metals, such as alloys, or core of one or more metals, such as copper covered by a shell of one or more other metals such as gold or silver. The nozzles in an inkjet printing head are approximately 1 μm in diameter. In order to jet a stream of particles through a nozzle, the size of a particle should be less than approximately one-tenth of the nozzle diameter. This means that in order to inkjet a particle, its diameter must be less than about 100 nm.
Nickel has been used for conductive inks for a very limited extent because of its relatively low conductivity (approximately 4 times less than that of copper or silver). Gold and silver can provide good conductivity, but are relatively expensive. Moreover, gold and silver require high temperatures for annealing, which can pose a challenge for printing on paper and plastic substrates. Copper provides good conductivity at a low price (about one percent of that of silver). Unfortunately, copper is easily oxidized and the oxide is non-conductive. Conventional copper-based nanoparticle inks are unstable and require an inert/reducing atmosphere during preparation and annealing in order to prevent spontaneous oxidation to non-conductive CuO or Cu2O. Copper polymer thick film (PFT) inks have been available for many years and can be used for special purposes, for example, where solderability is required. Another interesting strategy is to combine the advantages of both silver and copper. Silver plated copper particles are commercially available, and are used in some commercially available inks. Silver plating provides the advantages of silver for inter-particle contacts, while using the cheaper conductive metal (copper) for the bulk of the particle material. Thus, the only reliable means of preparing copper antennas is via electroplating on an existing metal surface.
There exists a need for a more simplified and cost-effective method of printing conductive metal markings, in the form of an inkjet ink, directly onto a substrate under ambient conditions.

Synthesis of conductive metal markings for chipless RFID applications


A method of assaying to determine the identity and/or concentration or relative concentration in a sample solution of a particular one of a number of different target molecule types, comprise the steps of: i) adding to the sample a probe substance which binds to the or each target molecule type and which when so bound fluoresces under appropriate excitation; ii) performing a time-resolved fluorescence measurement on the sample; and iii) making said determination from analysis of the time decay data obtained from said time-resolved fluorescence measurement.

Lipoproteins, which are carriers of lipids, cholesterol and triglycerides, are amongst the major components of blood plasma or serum (for brevity hereinafter the term "plasma" will be used but references to "plasma" should be interpreted as references to plasma or serum). The lipoproteins found in blood plasma fall into three main classifications: high density lipoproteins (HDL), low density lipoproteins (LDL) and very low density lipoproteins (VLDL). It is well known that there is a strong relationship between the concentration of lipoproteins in blood plasma and the risk of atherosclerosis (i.e. cardio-vascular desease development). It is also known that the different classes of lipoproteins each play a different role in atherosclerosis. For instance, HDL is regarded as antiatherogenic whereas LDL is known to be highly atherogenic (the cholesterol it carries correlating closely with atheroscleroses development). VLDL is considered to be slightly atherogenic and of more significance in females.
Blood plasma is a complex mixture of a variety of proteins and although methods for separating and directly measuring the concentration of different classes of lipoproteins are known, such methods are complex and expensive. Accordingly, the conventional method of lipoprotein assay widely used in clinical laboratories is an indirect method in which the important LDL concentration is calculated from the measurement of total cholesterol concentration, triglyceride concentration and HDL concentration using the Fridedewald equation:(CH-LDL)=CH−(CH-HDL)−TG/5where CH is the total cholesterol concentration, (CH-LDL) is the cholesterol LDL concentration, (CH-HDL) is the RDL concentration and TG is the triglyceride concession (including free glycerol).
The HDL, CH and TG concentrations must be determined before the LDL concentration can be calculated and it will be appreciated that any errors in the measurement of the HDL, CH and TG concentrations will be compounded in the calculation of the LDL concentration. In addition, the conventional measurement of TG concentration does not discriminate between triglycerides and free glycerol, concentrations which can vary introducing a further error into the calculation of the LDL concentration. Thus, the calculation of LDL concentration inherently includes errors which can be extremely significant, particularly at high triglyceride levels. Such errors are a particular problem in, for instance, monitoring the progress of widely used LDL decreasing treatments (such as diets, medicine etc) in which it is necessary to accurately monitor relatively small decreases in LDL concentration (typically of the order of several percent) whilst triglyceride levels may be changing dramatically.
A further disadvantage of the conventional assay procedure described above is that whilst total CH and TG assays involve straightforward techniques performed on the whole plasma sample, the measurement of he HDL concentration requires a preliminary separation process in which the LDL and VLDL components are removed (by coagulating the LDL plus VDL and removing them by centrifuge).
A yet further disadvantage of the above method is that it provides no measurement of VLDL concentration which must therefore be determined from some different method or process, for instance by calculating the VLDL concentration on the basis of plasma triglyceride and free glycerol content estimated enzymatically.
An alternative method for assaying the total lipoprotein concentration of blood plasma, which is mainly the sum of LDL plus VLDL, is disclosed in two Russian patents, numbers SU1457386 and SU1476384. These relate to the use of a particular organic luminophore, 4-dimethylamino-4′-difluoromethyl-sulphonyl-benzylidene-acetophenone (DMSBA), as a florescent probe. The formula of the probe, identified as K-37, is given below:

The probe K-37 is not luminous in water but is highly luminous in aqueous protein solutions such as blood plasma. In particular, the intensity of the florescence is highly dependent upon the lipoprotein content of the blood plasma and thus K-37 can be used as a probe to discriminate between lipoprotein concentration and the concentration of other proteins that may be present.
Russian patent number SU1457386 describes a method for synthesising K-37 and Russian patent number SU1476384 describes a method of calculating the total CH and TG content of blood plasma from a measurement of the steady state fluorescence of a mixture of a sample of blood plasma and K-37 (with reference to the measured florescence and known concentration of a standard sample). A blood sample to be assayed is diluted using a buffer solution (pH7.4, containing 10 mN Tris-HCL and 2 mN EDTA) and then centrifuged to remove red blood cells and other formed elements. A small amount (10 μl) of a 1 mN standard solution of K-37 is then added to 1 ml of the supernatant solution and the intensity of the resultant florescence is measured using a florescent spectrophotometer, at excitation and observation wavelengths of 440 nm and 550 nm respectively. A formula is disclosed for calculating the overall concentration of CH and TG from the measured florescence of the sample to be assayed and the measured florescence of K-37 in a standard sample of plasma with a known CH and TG concentration at a known dilution. Results for the repetition of the process for a number of different dilutions of the sample to be assayed from 50 fold to 500 fold dilution establishes that the determination of the total concentration of CH and TG is largely independent of the blood dilution.
Thus, use of K-37 as a florescent probe provides a very sensitive assay procedure, so that only very small plasma samples are required, which is relatively simple to perform requiring no separation of protein components. The concentration of CH and TG determined in this way can then be used as a direct indication of hyperlipidemia by comparing the calculated results with normal values.
One shortcoming of the above method is that it does not discriminate between the different classifications of lipoprotein and thus cannot, for instance, be used to monitor small changes in LDL concentration.
It is an object of the present invention to obviate or mitigate the above disadvantages.

Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils


Units of forward error correction (FEC) encoded bits each represent a one-bit data value and include correctness bits that together reflect a probability that the one-bit data value represented by the unit is correct. The units of FEC encoded bits are decoded by using the correctness bits to perform soft-decision convolution decoding on the units of FEC bits. Subsequences of units that are prone to erroneous soft-decision convolution decoding are detected by determining, whether the distribution of quality bits indicate the units are below a threshold level of correctness, and by comparing characteristics of that distribution to a given set of characteristics predetermined to be prone to result in incorrect decoding. Among the symbols produced for block decoding, symbols that correspond to units that were in detected subsequences are flagged or tagged for erasure during subsequent soft-decision block decoding.

The present invention is directed to a method and apparatus for decoding data that has been encoded by conventional concatenated block and convolutional encoding. The method and apparatus provide improved system performance in the presence of pulsed and continuous interference. Error correction of conventionally encoded data is improved, and the overhead rate (number of code/parity bits) is not increased.
Forward Error Correction (FEC) is a common method of achieving data transmission with low error rates. FEC coding techniques transmit data in encoded form by encoding the data with added redundancy or parity data, which is used by a decoding device to detect and correct errors introduced during transmission or passage of the data between a source and a destination. Generally, data does not have to be retransmitted to correct errors.
The ability of FEC systems to correct errors without retransmission makes them suitable for use in satellite communications systems. Many satellite communications systems use a conventional form of FEC coding; concatenated Viterbi and Reed Solomon coding. Convolutional encoding with Viterbi decoding is capable of correcting disperse, scattered errors, as caused, for example, by white noise. Reed Solomon (block) coding is capable of correcting limited-size burst errors, as caused, for example, by pulsed noise. In combination, concatenated convolutional and Reed Solomon coding improve system performance in the presence of pulse and scattered interference. Nevertheless, communications systems using such coding that are near multiple or high duty cycle radars often suffer from performance degradation. There is a need for a mitigation technique that allows FEC coding systems to compensate for pulse error patterns, as for example, are typically introduced by multiple interfering and/or high duty cycle radars.


The invention relates to methods of improving efficacy and enhancing silencing of target genes using Ago2 protein-dsRNA complex (RNP) of the invention.

The discovery of RNA interference (RNAi) has emerged as a potent tool for antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) therapeutics for gene silencing. Transfection of short double-stranded RNAs—namely, small interference RNAs (siRNAs), which are 21-23 nucleotides in length and contain an mRNA sequence (passenger strand) and its complement (guide strand)—harnesses this ubiquitous pathway to degrade target gene mRNA and suppress its expression with high specificity. In particular, siRNAs have been extensively explored as gene silencing drugs, but their instability, low valence, and high stiffness have made efficient delivery difficult. In the past decades, numerous siRNA carriers and chemical methods have been reported to improve the efficacy of siRNA-mediated gene silencing in vitro and in vivo. Yet the efficient gene silencing remains challenging. The rate-limiting factor is the Argonaute 2 (Ago2) protein, which carries the single stranded antisense siRNA (guide RNA) to recognize targeted mRNA substrate and leads to mRNA degradation inside cells.
Thus, to fully exploit siRNA's gene silencing capabilities insides cells for higher therapeutic potency, novel therapeutic methods are needed to improve silencing efficiency.

Argonaute protein-double stranded RNA complexes and uses related thereto


A shredded tobacco supplying apparatus for a cigarette manufacturing machine has a supply passage extending toward a conveyor belt, the supply passage is provided with a plurality of air blowing openings arranged at intervals in the direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the conveyor, and a straightening plate having a plurality of straightening fins is mounted at the air blowing opening. The straightening fin extends at a predetermined angle toward the front side of the conveyor with respect-to the axis perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the conveyor. The air injected from the air blowing opening is blown into the supply passage at a predetermined angle with respect to the aforementioned axis. The shredded tobacco reaching the supply passage is discharged toward the belt surface of conveyor belt by using an air flow produced by the air blown from the air blowing openings. As a result, a velocity component in the belt running direction is given to the shredded tobacco, so that the attracting property of shredded tobacco to the belt surface is enhanced. Thereupon, the reduction in attracting property caused by the increase in belt running speed, and in turn, the degradation in cigarette quality are prevented.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cigarette manufacturing machine and, more particularly, to an apparatus for supplying shredded tobacco to a conveyor belt used for conveying shredded tobacco onto a paper.
2. Description of Related Arts
A cigarette manufacturing machine consists mainly of a shredded tobacco supplying apparatus and a wrapping apparatus. The supplying apparatus comprises a belt conveyor for conveying shredded tobacco to the wrapping apparatus and a supply passage for introducing shredded tobacco with air flow to the belt conveyor. The belt (tobacco band) of the belt conveyor has a mesh structure having a plurality of tiny holes. This supplying apparatus applies an attracting force to shredded tobacco via the tiny holes to attract shredded tobacco to the belt surface.
The shredded tobacco coming out of the supply passage is attracted in layers to the running tobacco band and conveyed in the band running direction. The shredded tobacco reaching the terminal end of the belt conveyor is supplied onto a paper running in the wrapping apparatus and formed into a cigarette rod by being enveloped in the paper. Afterward, the cigarette rod is cut into individual cigarettes.
The cigarette manufacturing machine is required to produce large quantities of cigarettes. In order to increase the amount of shredded tobacco conveyed to the wrapping apparatus by the belt conveyor to meet this requirement, the amount of shredded tobacco supplied from the supply passage to the belt conveyor must be increased. If the supply amount of shredded tobacco is small, the amount per unit time of shredded tobacco conveyed from the supply passage to the wrapping apparatus via the belt conveyor decreases. As a result, the shredded tobacco put in a cigarette rod formed by the wrapping apparatus runs short, so that a good quality of cigarette rod cannot be achieved.
In order to increase the supply amount of shredded tobacco, firstly, the flow velocity of air and shredded tobacco in the supply passage is required to be increased, and secondly, the attracting property of shredded tobacco to the tobacco band is required to be enhanced.
For example, Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. 62-65673 discloses a cigarette manufacturing machine having a means for meeting the above second requirement. This known means of the cigarette manufacturing machine is provided with louvers (straightening vanes) arranged near the outlet of supply passage. The louvers serve to deflect the flow of shredded tobacco at the outlet of supply passage and to give the shredded tobacco a velocity component in the belt running direction while the shredded tobacco moves toward the tobacco band. If the velocity component in the belt running direction given to the shredded tobacco is approximately equal to the belt running speed, the attracting property of shredded tobacco to the belt (tobacco band) is enhanced.
If the belt running speed (the transfer speed of shredded tobacco conveyed by the conveyor) is increased and the flow velocity of shredded tobacco in the supply passage is increased extremely to further increase the production capacity of the cigarette manufacturing machine, the flow of shredded tobacco cannot be deflected suddenly even if louvers are arranged at the outlet of supply passage. That is to say, in the cigarette manufacturing machine having a supply passage extending from the side of belt conveyor toward the start end of belt conveyor, it is difficult in some case to give the shredded tobacco a velocity component in the belt running direction approximately equal to the belt running speed by means of the louvers arranged at the outlet of supply passage. In this case, when the shredded tobacco reaches the belt conveyor from the supply passage, part of the shredded tobacco collides with the tobacco band and is repelled. As a result, the amount of shredded tobacco attracted to the tobacco band, and in turn, the amount of shredded tobacco conveyed by the belt conveyor run short, so that the filling density of shredded tobacco in a cigarette rod decreases, by which the quality of cigarettes may be degraded.
Also, if the velocity component of shredded tobacco in the belt running direction differs greatly from the belt running speed, most shredded tobacco is attracted to the belt surface after rolling and moving on the belt surface. In this case, the position where the shredded tobacco is attracted to the tobacco band shifts from the initially intended position, so that the shredded tobacco is not attracted to the tobacco band in uniform layers. As a result, the filling density of shredded tobacco in a cigarette rod varies.

Shredded tobacco supplying apparatus for a cigarette manufacturing machine


A hypothetical query in a database system is transformed using algebraic equivalences involving explicit substitutions so as to produce one or more equivalent queries which can be evaluated more efficiently than the original hypothetical query. The hypothetical query may be of the form Q when {U} where Q is a relational algebra query and U is an update expression. The value assigned to the hypothetical query in a database state DB is the value that Q would return in the database state reached from DB by executing update U. One or more explicit substitutions are used to represent hypothetical database state changes, and algebraic equivalences involving the explicit substitutions are applied to the hypothetical query in order to generate at least one additional query which is equivalent to the hypothetical query. Several equivalent queries may be generated, and their estimated computation times compared, in order to select a particular equivalent query for direct evaluation. The use of explicit substitutions to represent hypothetical database state changes allows when constructs or other similar hypothetical programming constructs to be eliminated from the equivalent query. The evaluation process may be facilitated by configuring the original hypothetical query into an evaluable normal form, such that one or more hypothetical state expressions of the query correspond to explicit substitutions, and the hypothetical query does not utilize a composition operator. The selected equivalent query can be evaluated using a purely lazy evaluation strategy, or a hybrid lazy-eager evaluation strategy.

Many database systems are configured to support specialized types of hypothetical queries which are useful in application areas such as, for example, version management, decision support, active databases and integrity maintenance. Most existing approaches provide support for hypothetical queries only in specialized forms. Frameworks for expressing hypothetical queries for general-purpose usage have been discussed in S. Ghandeharizadeh, R. Hull and D. Jacobs, "Elevating Deltas to be First-Class Citizens in a Database Programming Language," ACM Trans. on Database Systems, 21(3): 370-426, 1996, and J. Woodfill and M. Stonebraker, "An Implementation of Hypothetical Relations," Proc. of Intl. Conf. on Very Large Databases, pp. 157-165, September 1983, both of which are incorporated by reference herein. For example, a simple hypothetical query as described in the above-cited S. Ghandeharizadeh et al. reference may be of the form Q when .eta., where Q is a conventional database query and .eta. denotes a hypothetical database state expression that may be a hypothetical update expression {U}, an explicit substitution of the form {Q.sub.1 /R.sub.1, . . . , Q.sub.n /R.sub.n }, or any other suitable hypothetical-state expression. Consider a department store database which maintains the following two relations in the form of stored tables: Depts[dept.sub.-- name, mgr.sub.-- name], and Products[ prod.sub.-- name, price, color, dept.sub.-- name]. The relation Depts stores identifiers of departments (dept.sub.-- name) and their managers (mgr.sub.-- name), while the relation Products stores the name (prod.sub.-- name), price, color and selling department (dept.sub.-- name) of each product. An example of a simple hypothetical query to this database may be expressed informally as follows: [What managers sell at least one product with price.gtoreq.100] when [Move all green products to Garden department]. More complex hypothetical queries may include multiple when constructs or multiple nested when constructs.
Well-known direct evaluation techniques are often used to process the non-hypothetical conventional query Q. A direct evaluation of Q is an evaluation in which the actual operators mentioned in Q are performed directly. It is known that given a query Q, there may be some other query Q' which is equivalent to Q in that Q' will give the same answer as Q, but where the direct evaluation of Q' is much faster than the direct evaluation of Q. Using this fact, conventional direct evaluation of a query Q may be more efficiently implemented using an optimization step and an evaluation step. The optimization step includes generating a set of queries Q' that are equivalent to Q using "rewriting rules" based on algebraic equivalences, estimating the amount of time it would take to directly evaluate the various queries Q', and selecting a particular query Q' that appears to be fastest to directly evaluate. The evaluation step involves directly evaluating the selected equivalent query Q'. These techniques for evaluation of non-hypothetical queries are generally referred to as "lazy" evaluation techniques.
Although the efficient evaluation of non-hypothetical queries by the above-described lazy evaluation and other techniques is well developed, little work has been done in the area of efficient evaluation of hypothetical queries. More particularly, lazy evaluation techniques have generally not been applied to evaluation of hypothetical queries. Instead, existing techniques for evaluating hypothetical queries are generally "eager" with regard to the evaluation of the hypothetical states. An eager evaluation approach, when given a query of the form Q when .eta., generally computes and materializes in the database a representation of the hypothetical database state .eta., or a representation of the net change, or delta, called for by .eta.. The conventional query Q is then evaluated using a standard technique such as the above-described direct evaluation, and the result is "filtered" against the materialized representation of .eta.. Exemplary eager evaluation techniques are used in the Heraclitus language described in the above-cited S. Ghandeharizadeh et al. reference, and M. Doherty, R. Hull and M. Rupawalla, "Structures for Manipulating Proposed Updates in Object-Oriented Databases," Proc. ACM SIGMOD Symp. on the Management of Data, pp. 306-317, 1996, which is also incorporated by reference herein. Eager evaluation techniques are also used in conventional version management systems, and in implementations of hypothetical relations as described in the above-cited J. Woodfill and M. Stonebraker reference.
A conventional optimizer may be used in conjunction with eager evaluation to optimize a hypothetical query Q when .eta. in the manner previously described, that is, to find a Q' equivalent to Q such that direct evaluation of Q' filtered by .eta. is faster than direct evaluation of Q filtered by .eta.. Other techniques have been developed for computing and representing a hypothetical state .eta. quickly, and in manner which attempts to ensure that the filtering operation is relatively fast. Existing eager evaluation techniques thus attempt separate optimizations of the conventional query Q and the hypothetical database state .eta., but generally assume that the when construct will be evaluated directly through the above-noted filtering mechanism. The existing eager techniques thereby fail to provide sufficiently fast evaluation of hypothetical queries in many important applications.
As noted above, lazy evaluation strategies, although utilized in other database management applications such as in evaluating weakest preconditions, have generally not been applied to evaluation of hypothetical queries. Evaluation of weakest preconditions is described in greater detail in, for example, E. W. Dijkstra, "Guarded Commands, Nondeterminacy and Formal Derivations of Programs," Comm. ACM, 18:453-457, 1975, E. W. Dijkstra, "A Discipline of Programming," Prentice-Hall, 1976, D. Gries, "The Science of Programming," Springer-Verlag, 1981, X. Qian, "An Axiom System of Database Transactions," Information Processing Letters, 36:183-189, 1990 and X. Qian, "The Expressive Power of the Bounded-Iteration Construct," Acta Informatica, 28(7):631-656, October 1991, all of which are incorporated by reference herein. Other lazy evaluation techniques have been developed in logic programming and datalog applications, as described in, for example, D. M. Gabbay and U. Reyle, "N-Prolog: An Extension of Prolog with Hypothetical Implications," Journal of Logic Programming, 1(4):319-355, 1984 and 2(4):251-283, 1985, A. J. Bonner, "Hypothetical Datalog: Complexity and Expressibility," Theoretical Computer Science, 76:3-51, 1990, A. J. Bonner, "The Logical Semantics of Hypothetical Rulebases with Deletion," Journal of Logic Programming, 1995, all of which are incorporated by reference herein. However, these and other lazy or hybrid lazy-eager evaluation techniques, although not requiring materialization of hypothetical states, fail to provide a sufficiently general framework for optimizing hypothetical query evaluation in a variety of applications.
It is therefore apparent that a need exists for improved techniques for evaluating hypothetical database queries, such that the hypothetical queries can be processed more efficiently than is possible using the existing techniques described above.

Efficient hypothetical query evaluation in a database system


A light emitting device includes a base substrate, a light emitting element, and a sealing member. The light emitting element is provided on the base substrate. The sealing member seals the light emitting element. The sealing member contains a parent material and filler particles unevenly distributed in a surface side of the sealing member and has a surface which has an irregular geometry formed associated with the filler particles.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a light emitting device.
2. Discussion of the Background
In recent years, a display apparatus such as a large size outdoor display has been put to practical use, in which a plurality of light emitting devices, each having one or more light emitting diodes (LED), are arranged in a matrix. In such display apparatuses, due to the surface gloss of the sealing member which seals the surrounding of the light emitting devices, incident outside light such as sunlight and illumination undergoes total internal reflection at the surface of the sealing member, and hence involve problems such as occurrence of indirect glare and poor display contrast.
In an attempt to solve the problems described above, for example, JP 2000-114605A describes an LED indicator which includes a frame-shaped case, an LED substrate disposed in the case, an LED lamp electrically fixed to the LED substrate, and a sealing resin made of a waterproof synthetic resin which is injected in the case to seal the LED substrate and the bottom edge portion of the resin head of the LED lamp. On the surface of the sealing resin, a microscopic irregularity is formed by exposing glass beads so as to reflect incident outside light as scattering light.
JP 2007-234767A describes a frosted protective member which is formed of a resin layer having fillers dispersed therein and has a surface provided with an irregular geometry including depressions and protrusions which enables to reduce surface gloss, and more fillers are distributed below the depressions than below the protrusions. JP 2003-086846A describes a light emitting element which includes a light emitting chip, a first layer covering the light emitting chip, and a second layer having light diffusing members and provided at least on the first layer. The surface of the second layer has a plurality of protrusions in conformity with the shapes of the light diffusing members. JP 2001-077433A describes a light emitting device which includes a semiconductor light emitting element capable of emitting visible light, a light-transmissive mold member covering the semiconductor light emitting element, fluorescent materials contained in the light-transmissive mold member and capable of absorbing visible light from the semiconductor light emitting element and emitting visible light having a longer wavelength than the absorbed visible light, and a light diffusing agent contained in the light-transmissive mold member. The fluorescent materials have a specific gravity larger than that of the light-transmissive mold member and light diffusing agents. JP H10-284759A describes a light emitting device which includes a light emitting element arranged in a package recess, and a mold member arranged over the light emitting element, and diffusing agents for reducing the rate of decrease in the LED luminance than the rate of decrease in the dark luminance are contained in the mold member.

Light emitting device with sealing member containing filler particles