A catadioptric lens system includes: a first lens group including a concave mirror and a convex mirror and having positive refractive power; a second lens group having positive refractive power; and a third lens group having negative refractive power, the first to third lens groups being provided, in order, on a light path of incident light and in a direction of travel of the incident light.

The present disclosure relates to a catadioptric lens system that has a long focal length and is suitable for still image shooting and video shooting, and an image pickup unit using such a catadioptric lens system.
It is generally known that catadioptric lens systems configured of a reflective system and a refractive system are highly advantageous in reducing an entire lens length and reducing chromatic aberration, and have a configuration suitable for a long-focus lens. While typical focusing modes of the catadioptric lens systems include modes of varying the entire lens length, such as a unit focusing mode and a mode of changing a space between two reflection surfaces, there are inner focusing mode catadioptric lens systems in which an entire optical length is invariable. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. S58-205124 discloses a catadioptric lens system including a first lens group that includes a reflecting member and has positive refractive power, a second lens group that is movable along an optical axis and has negative refractive power, and a third lens group that has positive refractive power, the first to third lens groups being provided, in order, on a light path of incident light and in a direction of travel of the incident light. In the catadioptric lens system disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. S58-205124, an afocal system is formed with use of the first lens group and the second lens group in an infinity focusing state, and traveling of the second lens group toward an image-plane side brings the catadioptric lens system into focus on an object at a short distance.
On the other hand, in recent years, there have been provided so-called single-lens mirrorless cameras that are single-lens reflex cameras without quick return mirrors. Since the quick return mirrors are removed, camera bodies are downsized, and convenience of portability is remarkably improved. Since, unlike the single-lens reflex cameras, in the single-lens mirrorless cameras, light constantly reaches an image pickup device for image pickup, the single-lens mirrorless cameras are suitable for high-quality video shooting. Moreover, a so-called wobbling technique has been generally known. In the wobbling technique, to keep focusing on an object moving back and forth with respect to a camera during video shooting, a lens is minutely vibrated, and is moved in a direction where high contrast is obtainable. To allow a focus group to perform a wobbling operation, it is preferable that the focus group have the inner focusing mode as a focusing mode, and be configured to be as small in size and weight as possible. When the size and weight of the focus group are reduced, a reduction in the size of an entire lens including a focus driving mechanism is achievable, and a reduction in power consumption caused by focus driving is also achievable.

Catadioptric lens system and image pickup unit


For mounting on the beam of a mobile stand to hold a machine, a bracket assembly includes a bracket body supportable on the beam of the mobile stand, a front clamp mounted in the bracket body for clamping on the beam of the stand, a rear clamp pivoted to the bracket body, and a locking control device pivotally mounted in the bracket body for operation by the user to impart a biasing force to the rear clamp for enabling the rear clamp to be firmly clamped on the beam of the stand so as to further hold down the machine on the beam.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a stand for supporting a machine and more particularly, to a bracket assembly for a mobile stand for supporting a machine.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 shows a conventional mobile stand 1. The stand 1 comprises a beam 2, four legs 3, and two brackets 4. The legs 3 support the beam 2 in horizontal above a flat surface. The two brackets 4 are mounted on the beam 2 at the top to hold a machine such as a circular sawing machine (not shown). Referring to FIG. 2, the beam 2 has two protruding portions 2a and 2b longitudinally arranged in parallel at two sides. The bracket 4 comprises a rectangular body 4a, a front clamping plate 4b, a rear clamping plate 4c, and a spring member 4d. The bracket body 4a has a bottom opening 4e for receiving the beam 2. The front clamping plate 4b is pivoted to the bracket body 4a and attached to one protruding portion 2a of the beam 2. The rear clamping plate 4c is pivoted to the bracket body 4a and attached to the other protruding portion 2b of the beam 2. The spring member 4d is fastened to the bracket body 4a and stopped against the rear clamping plate 4c to force the rear clamping plate 4c downwards.
FIG. 2 shows the front clamping plate 4b and the rear clamping plate 4c clamped on the two protruding portions 2a and 2b of the beam 2. At this time, the circular sawing machine for example is mounted on each bracket 4. When wishing to remove the circular sawing machine from the stand 1, the rear clamping plate 4c of each bracket 4 is turned upwards from the protruding portion 2b of the beam 2, and then the circular sawing machine with the two brackets 4 are removed from the beam 2.
In the aforesaid design, the spring member 4d imparts a downward pressure to the rear clamping plate 4c, holding the rear clamping plate 4c in engagement with the protruding portion 2b of the beam 2. However, the limited spring force of the spring member 4d is insufficient to hold down the bracket 4 on the beam 2 against an unexpected external biasing force, and the circular sawing machine may be forced out of place accidentally during working.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a bracket assembly for mobile stand that eliminates the aforesaid drawbacks.


An agricultural vehicle has an implement connection hitch which is moveable relative to a rear axle of the vehicle. A system for controlling movement of the connection hitch is coupled with position sensors such as a GPS receiver. During turning maneuvers, the control system moves the hitch relative to the rear axle of the vehicle until it reaches an offset position such as to reduce the turning circle of the vehicle and a connected implement. The extent of offset may be determined automatically by the control system on identification of a connected implement.

Field of Invention
The present invention relates to the attachment of working implements to agricultural vehicles, and in particular to methods for the attachment which may be implemented where the vehicle is equipped with a mounting hitch or similar connector which hitch is movable relative to the vehicle, and further to an agricultural vehicle having such a hitch and a control system for at least partially automated control of the hitch.
Description of Related Art
An example of such a movable hitch is described in International Patent application WO 90/06240 and comprises a towing hook attached at one end of a towing bar, with the other end of the towing bar slideably mounted in a frame. The hitch frame is pivotably mounted to the chassis of a tractor and enables the towing hook to be raised or lowered by rotating the frame up or down about the pivoting mount. The towing hook is further movable towards and away from the vehicle chassis by operation of a hydraulic cylinder which controls the sliding movement of the towing bar within the frame. Further examples of such movable hitches are described in German Patent application DE 100 65 161 A1 and European Patent application EP 1 428 696 A1.
It will be understood that the form of connecting means will be determined by the configuration of implement that is to be coupled. For example, a rigid transverse beam with spaced connectors may be used for semi-mounted implements, such as certain configurations of plough, whereas a quick release hook or a ball hitch coupling may be used for towed implements such as sprayers or balers. The term "connection hitch" as used herein is intended to encompass all such arrangements.
One particular benefit of having a movable connection hitch arises in the connection or mounting of implements, whereby small adjustments in the relative position of tractor and implement to align for connection may be made by moving the hitch rather than the whole tractor.
A downside of having a movable connection hitch is in terms of managing axle loading. If an implement is mounted on the hitch at the furthest extent of its movement away from the vehicle rear axle, the extra leverage about the axis of the rear axle will lead to the front axle raising and hence require additional front-mounted weights to counterbalance the implement. If, on the other hand, the hitch is brought in to its closest position to the rear axle, there is a risk of the implement fouling the rear wheels, especially during turning.


A folding knife includes an elongated blade, an elongated handle, a disc-shaped cam, and a cam mechanism. The blade defines a cam-receiving aperture having a generally circular profile and a blade notch which is disposed adjacent to and which opens into the cam-receiving aperture. The handle includes a locking formation for releasable engagement with the blade notch. The configuration of the cam and the relative positions of the blade notch and the locking formation are such that when the blade is in the extended position, the locking formation is releasably captured in the blade notch.

The invention relates to a folding knife. In this specification the term "folding knife" must be interpreted sufficiently broadly to mean any type of a folding tool having an elongate workpiece, such as, for example, a blade, a shank or a stem. Furthermore, any reference in this specification to an "elongate blade" must be interpreted to mean any elongate workpiece such as, for example, a blade, a shank or a stem.


A support structure for a HVDC disconnector is disclosed. The support structure comprises a support insulator having a body enclosing a chamber; an insulating gas provided in the chamber; and a first flange and a second flange positioned at opposite ends of the support insulator. A rotating insulator may be positioned in the chamber.

A HVDC electric power distribution system uses direct current for the transmission of electrical power. HVDC transmission systems may be less expensive and may suffer lower electrical power losses over long-distance transmission. Generally, a HVDC transmission system comprises an overhead or cable transmission line and a terminal station. HVDC disconnectors may be used to connect and disconnect a transmission line from a terminal station.
In general, HVDC disconnectors have an insulating support structure. The support insulators generally have a circular cross-section, however, other cross-sections may be used. The support insulators may have a uniform cross-section or may also have a varying cross-section.
The support structure may comprise two or more support insulators, in series and in parallel. The support insulators may be porcelain insulators. Other support insulators may generally comprise a tube of insulating stiff material such as a polymeric material, which is filled by a core of insulating material, such as polyurethane. These support structures generally have a large number of components that affect the amount of time required for assembly.
The present disclosure is directed, at least in part, to improving or overcoming one or more aspects of the prior art system.

Support structure and layout for a HVDC disconnector


An apparatus for controlling an automotive vehicle having a primary drive power source and an auxiliary drive power source. The apparatus includes a controller adapted to control the auxiliary drive power source such that an assisting drive torque which is generated by the auxiliary drive power source and applied to the vehicle in addition to a primary drive torque generated by the primary drive power source increases with an increase of a required output of the vehicle desired by the vehicle operator, and such that the auxiliary drive power source is operated for a length of time which decreases with the increase of the required output of the vehicle.

This application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 11-241874 filed Aug. 27, 2000, the content of which is incorporated hereinto by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for controlling an automotive vehicle equipped with a primary drive power source and a secondary or auxiliary drive power source, and more particularly to a drive control apparatus for an all-wheel-drive vehicle wherein one of a front-wheel drive system and a rear-wheel drive system is driven by the primary drive power source while the other drive system is driven by the auxiliary drive power source.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
An automotive vehicle equipped with a primary and a secondary or auxiliary drive power source is known. One example of this type of automotive vehicle is an all-wheel-drive vehicle wherein one of a front-wheel and a rear-wheel drive system is driven by the primary drive power source in the form of an engine (internal combustion engine) while the other drive system is driven by the auxiliary drive power source in the form of an electric or hydraulic motor. For improving the drivability of this type of all-wheel-drive automotive vehicle while maximizing the fuel economy or maintaining desired running characteristics of the vehicle, there is provided a motor drive mode which is selected to apply an output torque of the electric motor to the above-indicated other drive system as an assisting drive torque when it is desired to accelerate the vehicle.
The all-wheel-drive automotive vehicle indicated above can be accelerated even on a frozen, snow-covered or other roadway surface having a low friction coefficient, by driving the auxiliary drive wheels by the auxiliary drive power source (electric motor), when it is desired to accelerate the vehicle in an intermediate degree, during running of the vehicle at a relatively low speed. In this respect, there is known a control apparatus adapted to control the auxiliary drive power source so as to prevent a speed difference of the auxiliary drive wheels, when the vehicle is running straight without deceleration thereof on a roadway surface having a low friction coefficient. An example of this control apparatus is disclosed in JP-A-7-125556.
The known control apparatus for the automotive vehicle having a plurality of drive power sources as described above is not satisfactory in its capability of controlling the auxiliary drive power source, and tends to suffer from drawbacks in terms of the fuel economy and the driving characteristics of the vehicle.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for controlling an automotive vehicle equipped with a plurality of drive power source, which apparatus assures satisfactory fuel economy and driving characteristics of the vehicle.
The above object may be achieved according to a first aspect of this invention, which provides an apparatus for controlling an automotive vehicle having a primary drive power source and an auxiliary drive power source, comprising; (a) required output determining means for determining a required output of the vehicle which is desired by an operator of the vehicle; and (b) first control means for controlling the auxiliary drive power source such that an assisting drive torque which is generated by the auxiliary drive power source and applied to the vehicle in addition to a primary drive torque generated by the primary drive power source increases with an increase of the required output of the vehicle and such that the auxiliary drive power source is operated for a length of time which decreases with the increase of the required output.
In the apparatus constructed according to the first aspect of the invention described above, the first control means controls the auxiliary drive power source such that the assisting drive torque generated by the auxiliary drive power source increases with an increase of the operator""s desired output of the vehicle and such that the length of time during which the auxiliary drive power source is operated decreases with the increase of the operator""s desired vehicle output. Thus, the auxiliary drive power source is suitably controlled. For example, the required vehicle output desired by the vehicle operator is represented by the operating angle or amount of an accelerator pedal. The first control means permits an increase of the total drive force of the vehicle corresponding to to the operating amount of the accelerator pedal, with the assisting drive torque generated by the auxiliary drive power source, so that a further increase in the operating amount of the accelerator pedal is prevented, and the required amount of fuel consumption by the vehicle is reduced.
The control apparatus is preferably applicable to an automotive vehicle wherein the primary drive power source, which may be an internal combustion engine, is used to drive one of a front-wheel drive system and a rear-wheel drive system, while the auxiliary drive power source, which may be an electric motor, is used to drive the other of the front- and rear-wheel drive systems. In this case, both of the front- and rear-wheel drive systems are driven while the auxiliary drive power source is operated, so that the vehicle can be suitably driven or accelerated with a suitable total drive force, even on a frozen or snow-covered surface or any other roadway surface having a comparatively low friction coefficient.
The control apparatus constructed according to a first preferred form of the above-indicated first aspect of the present invention further comprises assisting drive torque compensating means for compensating the assisting drive torque as determined by the first control means, so as to determine a ratio of the assisting drive torque as compensated by the assisting drive torque compensating means to the primary drive torque, so that fuel economy of the internal combustion engine is maximized.
The control apparatus constructed according to a second preferred form of the first aspect of this invention further comprises: roadway surface friction coefficient determining means for determining whether a friction coefficient of a roadway surface on which the vehicle lies is lower than a predetermined threshold; and second control means operable when the roadway surface friction coefficient determining means has determined that the friction coefficient of the roadway surface is lower than the predetermined threshold, the second control means reducing an output of the primary drive power source and operating the auxiliary drive power source, and wherein the first control means operates the auxiliary drive power source such that the assisting drive torque increases with the increase of the required output of the vehicle and such that the length of time of the auxiliary drive power source decreases with the increase of the required output, when the roadway surface friction coefficient determining means has determined that the friction coefficient is not lower than the predetermined threshold.
In the control apparatus constructed according to the second preferred form of the invention, the first control means is operated when the friction coefficient of the roadway surface is comparatively high, to operate the auxiliary drive power source such that the assisting drive torque generated by the auxiliary drive power source increases as the vehicle operator""s desired vehicle output is increased, and such that the length of operation of the auxiliary drive power source decreases as the desired vehicle output is increased. Accordingly, the drivability of the vehicle is further improved, making it possible to prevent a further increase of the operating amount of the accelerator pedal and reduce the required amount of fuel consumption by the vehicle.
The control apparatus constructed according to a third preferred form of the first aspect of the invention further comprises third control means operable when the roadway surface friction coefficient determining means has determined that the friction coefficient is not lower than the predetermined threshold, the third control means reducing an output of the primary drive power source with an increase in the assisting drive torque generated by the auxiliary drive power source.
In the control apparatus constructed according to the third preferred form of the first aspect of the invention, the third control means is adapted to reduce the output of the primary drive power source with an increase in the assisting drive torque generated by the auxiliary drive power source, when the roadway surface friction coefficient determining means has determined that the friction coefficient of the roadway surface is comparatively high. Accordingly, the output of the primary drive power source is reduced or limited according to the assisting drive torque generated by the auxiliary drive power source, even when the roadway surface is a dry surface having a comparatively high friction coefficient, so that the fuel consumption of the vehicle can be further reduced.
The above indicated above may also be achieved according to a second aspect of the present invention, which provides an apparatus for controlling an automotive vehicle having a primary drive power source and an auxiliary drive power source, comprising: assisting drive torque control means for operating the primary drive power source to generate a primary drive torque on the basis of a required output of the vehicle which is desired by an operator of the vehicle, and simultaneously operating the auxiliary drive power source such that an assisting drive torque which is generated by the auxiliary drive power source and applied to the vehicle in addition to said primary drive torque is a predetermined percentage of the primary drive torque; and fourth control means operable after initiation of an operation of the auxiliary drive power source, for controlling the auxiliary drive power source so as to optimize a percentage of the assisting drive torque with respect to the primary drive torque, on the basis of an energy consuming state of the primary drive power source.
In the control apparatus constructed according to the above second aspect of the invention, the assisting drive torque control means operates the primary drive power source on the basis of the operator""s desired vehicle output and simultaneously operates the auxiliary drive power source such that the assisting drive torque generated by the auxiliary drive power source is a predetermined percentage or ratio of the primary drive torque, and the fourth control means controls the operation of the auxiliary drive power source so as to optimize the percentage of the assisting drive torque with respect to the primary drive torque, on the basis of the state of energy consumption of the primary drive power source after initiation of the operation of the auxiliary drive power source. Accordingly, the energy consumption by the primary drive power source is reduced.
The object indicated above may also be achieved according to a third aspect of the present invention, which provides an apparatus for controlling an automotive vehicle having a primary drive power source and an auxiliary drive power source, comprising; fifth control means for operating the auxiliary drive power source while limiting an output of the primary drive power source when a required output of the vehicle which is desired by an operator of the vehicle is smaller than a predetermined threshold and when a power mode in which the vehicle is driven with high drivability is not selected by the operator, the fifth control means reducing an amount of limitation of the output of the primary drive power source while controlling the auxiliary drive power source, when the required output of the vehicle is not smaller than the predetermined threshold and when the power mode is selected by the operator, such that an assisting drive torque which is generated by the auxiliary drive power source and applied to the vehicle in addition to a primary drive power source generated by the primary drive power source is made larger than that when the required output is smaller than the predetermined threshold and when the power mode is not selected, and such that the auxiliary drive power source is operated for a shorter length of time than when the required output is smaller than the predetermined threshold and when the power mode is not selected.
In the control apparatus constructed according to the third aspect of this invention, the fifth control means operates the auxiliary drive power source while limiting the output of the primary drive power source when the operator""s desired vehicle output is relatively small and when the power mode is not selected by the operator, and reduces the amount of limitation of the output of the primary drive power source while controlling the auxiliary drive power source, when the desired vehicle output is relatively large and when the power mode is selected, such that the assisting drive torque generated by the auxiliary drive power source is made larger than in the above-indicated vehicle condition, and such that the auxiliary drive power source is operated for a shorter length of time than in the above-indicated vehicle condition. Thus, the manner of operation of the auxiliary drive power source is changed depending upon when the power mode is selected by the vehicle operator or not, so that the assisting drive torque generated by the auxiliary drive power source is optimized, and the fuel consumption by the primary drive power source is reduced. Further, the amount of limitation of the output of the primary drive power source is reduced when the power mode is selected by the operator, so that the drivability of the vehicle is improved.
The object indicated above may also be achieved according to a fourth aspect of the present invention, which provides an apparatus for controlling an automotive vehicle having a primary drive power source, an energy storing means for storing an energy, an auxiliary drive power source operated with the energy stored in the energy storing means, and energy generating means operated by the primary drive power source, for generating an energy, comprising: required output determining means for determining whether a required output of the vehicle which is desired by an operator of the vehicle is larger than a predetermined threshold; and sixth control means for supplying the energy from the energy storing means to the auxiliary drive power source such that an assisting drive torque which is generated by the auxiliary drive power source and applied to the vehicle in addition to a primary drive torque generated by the primary drive power source is relatively small, while the required output of the vehicle determined by the required output determining means is not larger than the predetermined threshold, and wherein while the required output of the vehicle determined by the required output determining means is larger than the predetermined threshold, the sixth control means supplies not only the energy stored in the energy storing means but also the energy generated by the energy generating means to the auxiliary drive power source, such that the assisting drive torque generated by the auxiliary drive power source is larger than while the required output is not larger than the predetermined threshold and such that the auxiliary drive power source is operated for a length of time shorter than while the required output is not larger than the predetermined threshold.
In the control apparatus constructed according to the above fourth aspect of the invention, the sixth control means operates in two different manners depending upon whether the vehicle output desired by the operator is larger than the predetermined threshold or not. While the operator""s desired vehicle output is not larger than the threshold, the sixth control means supplies the energy from the energy storing means to the auxiliary drive power source such that the assisting drive torque generated by the auxiliary drive power source is relatively small. While the operator""s desired vehicle output is larger than the threshold, the sixth control means supplies not only the energy stored in the energy storing means but also the energy generated by the energy generating means operated by the primary drive power source, to the auxiliary drive power source, such that the assisting drive torque is larger than while the desired vehicle output is not larger than the threshold and such that the length of time of operation of the auxiliary drive power source is shorter than while the desired vehicle output is not larger than the threshold. Accordingly, the operation of the auxiliary drive power source is maximized, and the drivability of the vehicle is improved when the vehicle load is large or the desired vehicle drive power is comparatively large.
The object indicated above may also be achieved according to a fifth aspect of the present invention, which provides an apparatus for controlling an automotive vehicle having a primary drive power source, an energy storing means for storing an energy, an auxiliary drive power source operated with the energy stored in the energy storing means, energy generating means operated by the primary drive power source, for generating an energy, and a transmission operatively connected to the primary drive power source, comprising: stored energy amount determining means for determining whether an amount of energy stored in the energy storing means is smaller than a predetermined threshold; and seventh control means operable when the stored energy amount determining means has determined that the amount of energy stored in the energy storing means is smaller than the predetermined threshold, for supplying the energy from the energy generating means to the auxiliary drive power source, and increasing a speed ratio of the transmission so as to increase a drive force of the vehicle.
In the control apparatus constructed according to the above fifth aspect of the invention, the seventh control means is operated when the amount of energy stored in the energy storing means is insufficient or smaller than the predetermined threshold. The seventh control means supplies the energy from the energy generating means operated by the primary drive power source, to the auxiliary drive power source, and increases the speed ratio of the transmission so as to increase the vehicle drive force. As a result of an increase in the speed ratio of the transmission, the output of the auxiliary drive power source is optimized even while the energy amount stored in the energy storing means is reduced.
The object indicated above may also be achieved according to a sixth aspect of this invention, which provides an apparatus for controlling an automotive vehicle having a primary drive power source, an energy storing means for storing an energy, an auxiliary drive power source operated with the energy stored in the energy storing means, and energy generating means operated by the primary drive power source, for generating an energy, comprising:
eighth control means for operating said auxiliary drive power source with an energy suppled from the energy generating means, in a selected one of a first mode and a second mode, the eighth control means operating the auxiliary drive power source in the first mode such that a moment of initiation of an operation of the auxiliary drive power source with the energy supplied from the energy storing means is retarded by a predetermined time after a moment at which an operation performed by an operator of the vehicle to increase an output of the vehicle is initiated, the eighth control means operating the auxiliary drive power source in the second mode such that the operation of the auxiliary drive power source with the energy supplied from the energy storing means is initiated at the moment at which the operation performed by the operator is initiated.
In the control apparatus constructed according to the sixth aspect of the invention, the eighth control means is operated, upon supplying of the energy from the energy generating means to the auxiliary drive power source, in a selected one of the first and second modes. In the first mode, the moment of initiation of the operation of the auxiliary drive power source with the energy supplied from the energy generating means is retarded by the predetermined time after the moment of an operation performed by the vehicle operator (e.g., an operation of an accelerator pedal) to increase the vehicle output is initiated. In the second mode, the operation of the auxiliary drive power source is initiated at the same time when the operation to increase the vehicle output is initiated. For instance, the first mode is selected when the power mode for driving the vehicle with high drivability is selected, while the second mode is selected when the power mode is not selected.
The object indicated above may also be achieved according to a seventh aspect of the present invention, which provides an apparatus for controlling an automotive vehicle having a primary drive power source, an energy storing means for storing an energy, an auxiliary drive power source operated with the energy stored in the energy storing means, and energy generating means operated by the primary drive power source, for generating an energy, comprising: ninth control means operable when an operation to accelerate the vehicle is performed by an operator of the vehicle, for first initiating a supply of an energy from the energy generating means to the auxiliary drive power source, and then initiating a supply of an energy from the energy storing means to the auxiliary drive power source when a predetermined time has passed after a moment of initiation of the supply of the energy from the energy generating means to the auxiliary drive power source.
In the control apparatus constructed to the above seventh aspect of the invention, the ninth control means is operated when the operator""s operation to accelerate the vehicle is performed. The ninth control means first initiates the supply of the energy from the energy generating means operated by the primary drive power source, to the auxiliary drive power source, and then initiates the supply of the energy from the energy storing means to the auxiliary drive power source when the predetermined time has passed after the moment of initiation of the supply of the energy from the energy generating means to the auxiliary drive power source. Accordingly, the acceleration of the vehicle can be increased when the vehicle operator performs an operation to accelerate the vehicle. Further, the vehicle can be accelerated for a sufficiently long time.

Apparatus for controlling automotive vehicle having a plurality of drive power sources


A seat mounting apparatus for supporting a seat allows the seat to be positioned in three possible positions allowing for improved ingress/egress and cargo carrying. The seat mounting apparatus includes a seat back frame (28), a seat bottom frame (36), a front leg (50), and a rear leg (44). A guide mechanism (59) is disposed between the seat bottom frame and the front leg for guiding the front leg. A reclining mechanism (91) is interposed between the seat back frame and the seat bottom frame for allowing the seat back frame to move between first and second reclined positions and into a first folded position. A front release mechanism (61) is interposed between the seat bottom frame and the front leg for controlling relative motion between the front leg and the seat bottom upon actuation of the front release mechanism. A coupler mechanism (79) is disposed between the seat back frame and the rear leg and is connected to the front leg for positioning the seat back frame into a second folded position over a lowered seat bottom frame. A rear release mechanism (108) is interposed between a bottom end (46) of the rear leg and a floor (20) for releasing the bottom end of the rear leg from being rigidly connected to the floor such that with the seat back frame in the first folded position, the seat can be displaced from a seated position to a tumbled position for improved ingress and egress.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to seat assemblies for use within motor vehicles and, more particularly, to foldable seat assemblies.
2. Disclosure Information
Multipurpose vehicles are very popular due to their ability to conveniently carry several passengers or alternatively haul large quantities of cargo. To facilitate these attributes, rear seating areas have been the subject of considerable improvement of late. In particular, seats were previously removed to provide convenient cargo carrying with a flat load floor. Customers have generally found removal of the seats unacceptable due to their bulk and heavy weight. For those customers who prefer to haul several passengers, third row seats have become popular. Unfortunately, some customers have been dissatisfied with the difficulty associated with getting into and out of a third row seat, primarily due to the difficulty of getting past the second row seat. Traditionally, this problem has been solved by providing a tip forward seat to increase access to the third row seat, making it more difficult to remove the third row seat when the customer wishes to haul cargo.
It would therefore be desirable to provide a seat mounting mechanism which is capable of allowing movement of a seat from a seated position into a tumbled forward position for improved access to a third row passenger seat in addition to a dropped and folded position for convenient cargo carrying, eliminating the need to remove otherwise heavy and bulky seats.

Multi-positional seat mounting apparatus


An integrated, modular system for delivering fuel to an engine component in an engine having a fuel tank, as well as engine employing such a system, and methods of implementing such a system, are disclosed herein. In at least one embodiment, the system includes a housing defining a chamber, an in inlet, and a passage leading to an outlet, the inlet receiving fuel from the tank and directing the fuel into the chamber, the outlet capable of providing fuel from the passage toward the engine component. The system also includes both a pump and a pressure regulator supported within the housing, with the pump having a pump input and output, and the pressure regulator having a regulator input and output. The pump input and regulator output are in communication with the chamber and the pump output and regulator input are in communication with the passage.

In recent years, many engine manufacturers have developed and used turbine style fuel pumps to provide fuel to internal combustion engines. Turbine pumps have been preferred over more traditional fuel pumps employing gerotors or rolling vane components since turbine pumps generally are more efficient and less expensive to manufacture. However, since their inception turbine pumps have suffered from the limitation that, despite pushing fuel effectively out of the pump, they do not pull fuel into the pump very well. To overcome this weakness, turbine pumps are often placed within the fuel tanks from which they are drawing fuel, so as to reduce the force needed to pull fuel into the pumps. Placement of the pumps in the fuel tanks also reduces manufacturing costs since there is less concern over leakage from the pumps.
The use of in-tank turbine fuel pumps is an industry standard for automotive and power sports Electronic Fuel Injection (EFI) systems in particular. In-tank turbine fuel pumps are suitable for these industries because the engine manufacturers in these industries typically provide their own fuel tanks and fuel pumps that are specifically designed for use in conjunction with particular engines or vehicles. However, in-tank turbine fuel pumps are not particularly suitable in the area of small utility engines. Unlike manufacturers in the automotive and power sports industries, small utility engine manufacturers often try to utilize fuel systems that can be implemented universally on a wide variety of different types of engines and vehicles, and/or fuel systems that are applicable both to carbureted engines and to engines employing EFI systems. Indeed, it is typically desired that small utility engines be capable of universal (or largely universal) implementation in conjunction with a variety of vehicles and/or other applications. Yet the use of in-tank turbine fuel pumps in fuel tanks tends to limit the universality of application of those fuel systems with respect to different types of engines and vehicles.
Because of the restrictiveness of in-tank turbine fuel pumps in this regard, small utility engine manufacturers typically rely upon inline fuel pumps located outside of the fuel tanks instead of in-tank turbine fuel pumps. Yet although the use of in-line fuel pumps in conjunction with fuel tanks on small utility engines and associated vehicles enhances the universality of those fuel tanks/pumps with respect a variety of engines/vehicles, there are nevertheless certain other disadvantages associated with the use of in-line pumps in these applications. One disadvantage of using an in-line fuel pump is that it typically is only available with oversized flow capacity to produce the high-pressure necessary to pressurize an EFI system. This over-sizing typically results in a fuel flow that is three to eight times the flow capacity required. Also, the pressure of the fuel exiting the in-line fuel pump often may have a tendency to exceed the pressure required by the EFI system, and so there usually is a need to regulate the pressure of the fuel output by the fuel pump through the use of a pressure regulator.
The use of a pressure regulator in conjunction with the fuel tank and in-line fuel pump in turn complicates the design of the fuel delivery system. Not only must the fuel pressure regulator itself be mounted upon the engine/vehicle upon which the fuel delivery system is being implemented, but also a return fuel line must be provided to link the pressure regulator back to the fuel tank to allow for fuel exiting the regulator (as occurs when the pressure regulator determines that the output pressure of the fuel pump is excessive) to be returned to the fuel tank. Further, the implementation of the extra return fuel line necessitates the formation of an additional return hole in the OEM fuel tank wall. Modification of the fuel tank to in this manner can undermine any warranty provided by the OEM in relation to the fuel tank, and also can potentially decrease the useful life and reliability of the fuel tank.
The conventional arrangements of in-line fuel pumps in relation to small utility engines and associated vehicles are disadvantageous for additional reasons as well. For example, because such conventional arrangements tend to employ oversized in-line fuel pumps, operation of the pumps tends to consume relatively large amounts of power from the vehicle's electrical system. This is disadvantageous particularly in relation to small utility engines, which have limited battery recharging capabilities due to their size and power output. Further, conventional arrangements also are relatively incompatible with the process of upgrading a carbureted engine into an EFI engine. To upgrade an engine in this manner, the party performing the modification must perform multiple modifications to the engine so as to accommodate each of the electronic fuel pump, the pressure regulator and the return line back to the fuel tank.
For at least these reasons, therefore, it would be advantageous if an improved engine mounted fuel delivery system could be developed. More particularly, it would be advantageous if in at least some embodiments the improved engine mounted fuel delivery system could be more easily implemented in conjunction with a variety of types of engines and/or associated vehicles (or in conjunction with other applications), including engines/vehicles employing EFI systems. Additionally, it would be advantageous if in at least some embodiments the improved engine mounted fuel delivery system was particularly suitable for use in conjunction with small utility engines in that the fuel delivery system enhanced, or at least did not detract from, the universality of those engines with respect to different vehicle or other applications. Further, it would be advantageous if in at least some embodiments the improved engine mounted fuel delivery system could be easily implemented upon an engine that was previously a carbureted engine but was being modified to employ an EFI system. Additionally, in at least some embodiments, it would be advantageous if the demand imposed by such an improved engine mounted fuel delivery system upon an associated engine or vehicle's electrical system was reduced by comparison with conventional arrangements.


An apparatus and method for molding plastic materials is provided comprising a mold having a first mold section (12) and a second mold section (14) with a mold cavity (16) disposed in between. A first gate design is provided by at least one first gate design mold member (40), and a second gate design is provided by at least one second gate design mold member. The first and second gate design mold members are removably attachable to, and interchangeable on, at least one of the first or the second mold sections (12, 14) to change from the first gate design to the second gate design.

As used in this specification, a colorant is any material that can impart color to the medium in which it is used. The colorant may be insoluble or soluble in the medium. Generally, colorants may be divided into two broad categories; pigments and dyes. As used in this specification, a pigment may be organic or inorganic, natural or synthetic, and is generally insoluble in the medium in which it is used, while a dye is generally soluble in the medium in which it is used.
As used in this specification, a subcategory inclusive of pigments are pigments used to modify the optical characteristics of the medium in which they are used, such as light reflectivity, light refractivity, light absorbance, or light transmittance. A subcategory of pigments used to modify the optical characteristics of the medium in which they are used are light-reflective pigments. Light-reflective pigments include, but are not limited to, metallic pigments (also known as metallic-flake pigments) and glitter (also known as flitter or spangles). A metallic pigment is a particle or flake, generally of metal or alloy, used to modify the optical characteristics of the medium, such as reflectivity, or to achieve a metallic appearance. The metals most commonly used include, but are not limited to, gold, silver, aluminum, copper, bronze, and zinc. Materials other than metals which may be used to achieve a metallic appearance include minerals (e.g. mica) or glass. These materials generally are all used in flake form.
Typically, products molded from plastic materials include, but are not limited to, automotive body panels, fascias and claddings. In the automotive industry, a preferred method of forming such products is injection molding of a plastic material, preferably that of a thermoplastic composition. Injection molding is preferred over other plastic forming techniques given its combination of high volume production with relatively low cost materials.
After molding, or post-molding, often a metallic appearance is applied to such automotive products in the form of a coating. Typically, this metallic appearance is achieved via a painting operation via the use of a metallic paint. A metallic paint is a paint which incorporates the use of a metallic pigment defined above.
Recently, there has been a desire to eliminate the post-molding application of a metallic appearance, such as via metallic paint, to such automotive products. There has been a desire to incorporate the metallic appearance for such automotive products during the forming, or molding, of the product itself. The incorporation of the metallic appearance for such automotive products during the forming of the product is desired to reduce cost, and the emission of potentially harmful volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the atmosphere common to the painting process.
More particularly, there is a desire to incorporate the metallic appearance for such automotive products into the composition used for forming, or molding, the automotive product itself. There has also been a desire that the composition of the automotive product comprise a plastic material, preferably a thermoplastic material. Furthermore, there also has been a desire to form the above preferred thermoplastic material by a molding process, and, more particularly, an injection molding process.
More recently, attempts have been made to incorporate a metallic appearance into automotive products via thermoplastic injection molding. It has been found, through experimentation, that an acceptable level of quality of the molded automotive product can be achieved with an injection molding process and thermoplastic compositional alterations. Such is demonstrated by the 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo front fascia, rear fascia and claddings, manufactured using an injection molding process with Solvay Engineered Polymers' Sequel 1440 grade of thermoplastic olefin (TPO) composition.
However, it has also been found that injection molding process and compositional-alterations required to produce an acceptable level of quality may vary significantly with each particular thermoplastic composition employed. More specifically, it has been found that, when different metallic pigments are used to achieve various metallic appearances and/or colors, the injection molding process and compositional alterations required to produce an acceptable level of quality between compositions may vary significantly. It has also been found that, in some cases, that even altering the injection molding process and thermoplastic composition, within acceptable limits, still may not produce an acceptable level of quality. Typically, such products did not produce an acceptable level of quality due to the presence of a differing metallic appearance on different locations on the surface of the product. This differing metallic appearance most noticeably appears in areas of the surface occupied by weld lines versus those areas of the surface without weld lines. Weld lines (also known as knit lines, flow lines, or weld marks) in a molded plastic product mark the meeting of different plastic flow fronts within a mold. According to Whittington's Dictionary of Plastics, 3rd Edition, the flow fronts may have cooled and skinned over before meeting, or had too little time in the molten state for interdiffusion of molecular segments across the interface.
As a result of the above difficulties, apparatus alterations, in addition to injection molding process and thermoplastic composition alterations, were the subject of experimentation. Specifically, apparatus alterations focused on alterations to the injection mold used for the injection molding process. More specifically, injection mold alterations focused on gate design, such as size, configuration, and location. In injection molding, the gate is the channel through which molten plastic flows from the runner into the mold cavity.

Method and apparatus for molding plastic materials with a metallic appearance


A folding knife that is self opening when removed from a container such as a holster or pocket. The knife includes a handle and a knife blade with the blade hinged to the handle for folding from an extended, use, position to a stored position in a slot in the handle. A pin is formed on the knife blade adjacent to the hinged end, extending away from the blade when the blade is folded. When the knife is pulled from a container, the pin will snag the container just before the knife is fully removed, causing the blade to unfold to the use position. Preferably, the pin is hook-shaped with an end extending along the blade towards the blade tip. A releasable locking arrangement to lock the blade against folding while in use and for releasing the blade when desired for folding is preferably included.

A very great many types of folding pocket knives have been developed in which a blade is hinged so as to fold into a handle to cover the sharp blade edge when the knife is being carried and so as to be unfolded into an extended position for use. The edge of the blade opposite the sharp edge is generally slightly exposed and includes a notch or recess for engagement by a fingernail to pull the blade from the stored to the open position.
Such knives may have one or more blades and may have other folding tools such as files, saw blades, scissors, etc. A locking device is often provided to hold the knife in the fully open, use, position and prevent the blade from accidentally folding the sharp blade edge against the user's fingers during use. A button, lever, or similar device is provided to unlock the blade and allow it to be folded.
Opening such a conventional pocket knife is slow and requires two hands, one holding the knife and the other engaging the blade during opening. This can be a significant problem where one hand holds an object to be cut, such as a rope under tension, while the other removes the folded knife from a holster, pocket or the like.
A number of different knives have been developed to open a folding pocket knife more rapidly. The best known is the so-called "switchblade" knife, having a blade spring loaded toward the extended position and a push button latch holding the knife in the folded position. Pressing the button releases the blade, which springs to the open position. While effective, carrying such knives is unlawful in all, or most, states.
Knives exist in which the blade is slidably held in the handle and is extended by sliding a button secured to the blade along the side of the handle to extend the blade. These knives generally have relatively short blades and are prone to jamming of the slide mechanism. Handles on such knives are not well configured to the hand, generally being straight rectangles when a reasonably long blade is to be extended. Further, the mechanisms for locking the blade in housed and extended positions are often not reliable and may release in use.
Thus, there is a continuing need for an improved folding knife that will automatically open during removal of the knife from a holster or pocket, that requires only one hand to open and that does not require any manipulation of the knife during removal other than the simple withdrawal of the knife from a holster, pocket or similar container.


A braking control device performs a steering and/or avoidance possibility determination based on the state of the vehicle to execute automatic vehicle braking when an obstacle in front of the vehicle cannot be avoided by steering and/or braking. The device determines that the obstacle can be avoided by steering when the correlation value between steering avoidance time and relative velocity is smaller than the distance from the vehicle to the obstacle. The steering avoidance time is set to a shorter value when the suspension characteristic is stiffer and the sideways force generated by the front wheels is larger. The steering avoidance time is set successively shorter for low, high, and medium speed travel regions, respectively, to reflect the behavior response characteristic of the vehicle with respect to steering input. The vehicle deceleration that would occur if the driver released the accelerator pedal is considered in the braking avoidance possibility determination.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a braking control device that executes automatic braking when it is not possible for the vehicle in which the braking control device is installed to avoid an object located in front of the vehicle by steering or braking.
2. Background Information
There are many existing braking control devices (e.g., Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 6-298022) that react to, for example, an obstacle located in front of the vehicle by calculating the distance required to avoid the obstacle by braking and the distance required to avoid the obstacle by steering and executing automatic braking when the actual distance between the vehicle and the obstacle is smaller than either of the calculated distances. Thus, unnecessary execution of automatic braking is prevented when the driver intends to avoid the obstacle by steering.
In view of the above, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure that there exists a need for an improved braking control device. This invention addresses this need in the art as well as other needs, which will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure.


Compounds represented by Formula (I):

The present invention is directed to N-substituted benzimidazolyl compounds. In particular, the present invention is directed to N-substituted benzimidazolyl compounds that are inhibitors of the c-Kit proto-oncogene (also known as KIT, CD-117, stem cell factor receptor, mast cell growth factor receptor). The present invention is also directed to (N1-substituted) benzimidazolyl compounds that are inhibitors of c-Kit.
The c-Kit proto-oncogene is believed to be important in embryogenesis, melanogenesis, hematopoiesis, and the pathogenesis of mastocytosis, gastrointestinal tumors, and other solid tumors, as well as certain leukemias, including AML. Accordingly, it would be desirable to develop novel compounds that are inhibitors of the c-Kit receptor.
Many of the current treatment regimes for hyperproliferative disorders (cancer) utilize compounds that inhibit DNA synthesis. Such compounds' mechanism of operation is to be toxic to cells, particularly to rapidly dividing tumor cells. Thus, their broad toxicity can be a problem to the subject patient. However, other approaches to anti-cancer agents that act other than by the inhibition of DNA synthesis have been explored to try to enhance the selectivity of the anti-cancer action and thereby reduce adverse side-effects.
It is known that a cell may become cancerous by virtue of the transformation of a portion of its DNA into an oncogene (i.e. a gene which, on activation, leads to the formation of malignant tumor cells). Many oncogenes encode proteins that are aberrant protein-tyrosine kinases capable of causing cell transformation. By a different route, the overexpression of a normal proto-oncogenic tyrosine kinase can also result in proliferative disorders, sometimes resulting in a malignant phenotype. Alternatively, co-expression of a receptor tyrosine kinase and its cognate ligand within the same cell type may also lead to malignant transformation.
Receptor tyrosine kinases are large enzymes which span the cell membrane and possess i) an extracellular binding domain for growth factors such as KIT ligand (also known as stem cell factor (SCF), Steel factor (SLF) or mast cell growth factor (MGF)), ii) a transmembrane domain, and iii) an intracellular portion which functions as a kinase to phosphorylate specific tyrosine residues in proteins. Binding of KIT ligand to KIT tyrosine kinase results in receptor homodimerization, the activation of KIT tyrosine kinase activity, and the subsequent phosphorylation of a variety of protein substrates, many of which are effectors of intracellular signal transduction, These events can lead to enhanced cell proliferation or promote enhanced cell survival. With some receptor kinases, receptor heterodimerization can also occur.
It is known that such kinases are frequently aberrantly expressed in common human cancers such as breast cancer, head and neck cancers, gastrointestinal cancer such as colon, rectal or stomach cancer, leukemia, and ovarian, bronchial, lung or pancreatic cancer. KIT kinase expression has been documented in a wide variety of human malignancies such as mastocytosis/mast cell leukemia, gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST), small cell lung carcinoma (SCLC), sinonasal natural killer/T-cell lymphoma, testicular cancer (seminoma), thyroid carcinoma, malignant melanoma, ovarian carcinoma, adenoid cystic carcinoma, acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), breast carcinoma, pediatric T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, angiosarcoma, anaplastic large cell lymphoma, endometrial carcinoma, and prostate carcinoma. The kinase activity of KIT has been implicated in the pathophysiology of several of these—and additional tumors—including breast carcinoma, SCLC, GIST, germ cell tumors, mast cell leukemia, neuroblastoma, AML, melanoma and ovarian carcinoma.
Several mechanisms of KIT activation in tumor cells have been reported, including activating mutations, autocrine and paracrine activation of the receptor kinase by its ligand, loss of protein-tyrosine phosphatase activity, and cross activation by other kinases. The transforming mechanisms initiated by the activating mutations are thought to include dimer formation and increased intrinsic activity of the kinase domain, both of which result in constitutive ligand-independent kinase activation, and possibly altered substrate specificity. More than thirty activating mutations of the Kit protein have been associated with highly malignant tumors in humans.
Accordingly, it has been recognized that inhibitors of receptor tyrosine kinases are useful as selective inhibitors of the growth of mammalian cancer cells. For example, Gleevec™ (also known as imatinib mesylate, or STI571), a 2-phenylpyrimidine tyrosine kinase inhibitor that inhibits the kinase activity of the BCR-ABL fusion gene product, was recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of CML. Gleevec™, in addition to inhibiting BCR-ABL kinase, also inhibits the KIT kinase and PDGF receptor kinase, although it is not effective against all mutant isoforms of the KIT kinase. Kit ligand-stimulated growth of MO7e human leukemia cells is inhibited by Gleevec™, which also induces apoptosis under these conditions. By contrast, GM-CSF stimulated growth of MO7e human leukemia cells is not affected by Gleevec™. Further, in recent clinical studies using Gleevec™ to treat patients with GIST, a disease in which KIT kinase is involved in transformation of the cells, many of the patients showed marked improvement.
These studies demonstrate how KIT kinase inhibitors can treat tumors whose growth is dependent on KIT kinase activity. Other kinase inhibitors show even greater kinase selectivity. For example, the 4-anilinoquinazoline compound Tarceva™ inhibits only EGF receptor kinase with high potency, although it can inhibit the signal transduction of other receptor kinases, probably by virtue of the fact that these receptors heterodimerize with EGF receptor.
Although anti-cancer compounds such as those described above make a significant contribution to the art, there is a continuing need for improved anti-cancer pharmaceuticals, and it would be desirable to develop new compounds with better selectivity or potency, or with reduced toxicity or side effects.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,990,146 and 6,218,388 describe benzimidazoles for inhibiting protein tyrosine kinase mediated cellular proliferation. U.S. Pat. No. 6,348,032 describes method of inhibiting neoplastic cells with benzimidazole derivatives. International Patent Publication No. WO 01/21634 describes benzimidazole derivatives and combinatorial libraries thereof. International Patent Publication No. WO 01/57020 describes indole and benzimidazole inhibitors of factor Xa. International Patent Publication No. WO 00/15222 describes fused pyridine inhibitors of cGMP phosphodiesterase. International Patent Publication No. WO 01/12600 describes inhibitors of Factor Xa. International Patent Publication No. WO 97/12613 describes method for treating and preventing inflammation and atherosclerosis.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,316,474 describes 2-benzyl and 2-heteroaryl benzimidazole NMDA/NR2b antagonists. U.S. Pat. No. 6,479,508 describes viral polymerase inhibitors. U.S. Pat. No. 6,444,617 describes fused-heterocycle dicarboxylic acid diamide derivatives or salts thereof, herbicide and usage thereof. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,087,380, 6,414,008, and 6,469,039 describe disubstituted bicyclic heterocycles. U.S. Pat. No. 5,118,688 describes tetrahydropyridonquinolone derivatives. U.S. Pat. No. 4,975,435 describes certain 1H-pyrrolo[3,4-b]quinolin-1-one-9-amino-2,3-dihydro derivatives useful for treating anxiety. U.S. Pat. No. 6,548,524 describes ortho-sulfonamido bicyclic heteroaryl hydroxamic acids. U.S. Pat. No. 6,348,474 describes sulfonamide compounds.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,972,980 and 6,001,866 describe method for treating and preventing inflammation and atherosclerosis. U.S. Pat. No. 5,814,651 describes catechol diethers as selective PDEIV inhibitors. U.S. Pat. No. 6,329,383 describes 2-amino-5-pyrimidine acetic acid compounds. U.S. Pat. No. 5,688,809 describes 5-heteroarylindole derivatives. European Patent Application No. EP 0 846 689 describes benzimidazole compounds. International Patent Publication No. WO 00/59888 describes N-benzimidazolylmethyl- and N-indolylmethyl-benzamides and their use as CRF modulators. International Patent Publication No. WO 02/069965 describes benzimidazole derivatives as therapeutic agents. International Patent Publication No. WO 02/30886 describes heterocyclic angiogenesis inhibitors. U.S. Pat. No. 6,162,804 describes tyrosine kinase inhibitors. U.S. Pat. No. 6,465,484 describes angiogenesis inhibitors. International Patent Publication No. WO 00/12089 describes novel angiogenesis inhibitors.
German Patent Publication No. DE 2244908 describes selectively permeable polymeric membranes. European Patent Application No. EP 0 706 795 describes catechol diether compounds as inhibitors of TNF release. International Patent Publication No. WO 02/076960 describes transition metal mediated process. International Patent Publication No. WO 02/059118 describes process for N-(oxyalkylation) of carboxamides. International Patent Publication No. WO 02/04425 describes viral polymerase inhibitors. International Patent Publication No. WO 02/083143 describes CXCR3 antagonists. International Patent Publication No. WO 01/57019 describes indolone and benzimidazolone inhibitors of factor Xa. European Patent Application No. EP 1 085 372 describes photographic material having improved color reproduction. International Patent Publication No. WO 01/14342 describes aminocarbonyl-substituted benzimidazole derivatives. International Patent Publication No. WO 00/76501 describes IL-8 receptor antagonists.
Thus, it is desirable to develop compounds that exhibit Kit inhibition in order to treat oncology. Further, such compounds may be active in other kinases such as, for example, GIST, FLT3, Hematopoietic R-PTKs, PDGFR-beta or KDR to add efficacy in mast cell leukemias, small cell lung cancer (SCLC), mastocytosis, leukemias, myelodysplastic disorders, or angiogenic dependent diseases.

N-substituted benzimidazoyl c-Kit inhibitors and combinatorial benzimidazole library

Abstract: Compounds represented by Formula (I):

Abstract: or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or N-oxide thereof, are useful in the treatment of tumors. Combinatorial libraries composed of compounds represented by Formula (I) or benzimidazole compounds represented by Formula (II):

Abstract: are useful in providing compounds to assay for such therapeutically useful compounds.


Adapter, comprising a housing preferably made of plastic, which housing contains at least one flexible printed circuit carrier provided with at least electrical conductive pathways, which carrier is made of a flexible material, for example Kapton, and which conductive pathways on the carrier are electrically connected to at least two terminals of the adapter, wherein the flexible carrier is provided with electronic components on at least one side thereof, the carrier having a metallized side and being folded around the components to shield them from electromagnetic interference, and further having a flap-like portion disposed between the components and an electrical connector mated with the adapter to provide electrostatic protection for the components.

The invention relates to an adapter comprising a housing preferably made of plastic, which housing contains at least one carrier formed from a flexible material and provided with at least electrical conductive pathways, which conductive pathways are electrically connected to at least one terminal of the adapter.
Such an adapter is known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,595,839. In general, such adapters are used in communication connections by means of cables. These adapters can serve various purposes. In general, they are used for adapting an electrical connection designed to a particular specification and/or having certain characteristics to the specification and/or characteristics of another connection. One particular connector specification can thus be converted to another. It is also possible for the adapter to be provided with electronic devices for matching impedance levels to each other.
In practice, at least one side of the adapter is provided with a connector which is designed to be able to interact with a mating connector. In most applications for (tele)communications, this connector is provided with at least two parallel rows of conducting terminal connections which have either a "female" or a "male" structure and are designed to interact with the terminal connections which are provided in the mating connector, but are of complementary type. Such a connector connection can comply with, for example, the RS232 standard.
In the adapter known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,595,839 the electrical conductive pathways on the carrier make electrical contact with the terminal connections in the connector. In the known adapter the flexible carrier is only used as a substitute for separate cable connections as to reduce the space within the adapter needed by the electrical wiring. Electronic components within the adapter are arranged on separate printed circuit boards being electrically connected to the flexible carrier. Moreover, separate electrical wiring is applied within the adapter to connect the printed circuit boards to a cable being connected to the adapter. Therefore, the adapter as known is rather complex, whereas during assembling many manufacturing steps need to be done by hand.
It is also known per se to form the terminal connections of the connector on the adapter from two rows of resilient conducting connections placed opposite each other, between which a carrier, provided on both sides with contact faces, can be pushed. If the carrier is pushed between such terminal connections, these contact faces make electrically conductive contact with the respective terminal connections on both sides of the carrier. Sometimes, however, one conductive pathway on one side of the carrier has to make electrically conductive contact with a terminal connection situated directly opposite the other side. This is then achieved in practice by using a loose wire, one end of which is connected to the conductive pathway in question, while the other end is connected to the terminal connection concerned. The application of such loose wires in the adapter produces non-reproducible parasitic capacitances and self-inductances, which become more and more of an obstacle as the standards for the transmission speed of information become more stringent. Furthermore, these loose wires complicate the production process because they have to be fitted and soldered by hand. This means that only a semi-automatic production method is possible.


In a unit apparatus in which units each equipped with a device are disposed in multiple stages and are attached to a housing, the unit apparatus includes: a device-protecting cover which is disposed on the front surface side of the unit and is formed by bending an upper part or a lower part thereof to protect the device; and a unit frame body having a unit base which is disposed in lapped relation on one of the bent upper part surface or the bent lower part surface of the device-protecting cover. The device-protecting cover and the unit frame body constitute a unit chamber; and the units are disposed in multiple stages in said housing, whereby the other of the bent upper part surface or the bent lower part surface of said bent device-protecting cover is shielded.

A conventional unit apparatus like a distribution board has no partition between units and thus becomes in a communicated state; and accordingly, an arc gas discharged from a device such as a breaker during a short-circuit fault stretches to the upper and lower units and the fault is likely to be enlarged.
As shown in FIG. 10 and FIG. 11, a conventional unit apparatus like a control center is structured such that there is not a partition structure which is for shielding between units 1 on the unit 1 side, a partition plate 4 which is for partitioning between the units 1 is previously provided on the housing 3 side at a position matched with the height of each unit 1, a unit chamber 5 is constituted on the housing 3 side separately from constituent components of the unit 1 on the unit 1 side, and an arc gas discharged from a device 2 such as a breaker is shielded.
Thus, the partition plate 4 needs to be separately provided on the housing 3 side in addition to the constituent components of the unit 1; and accordingly, it causes increases in the number of components and an assembly work time. Further, when a change in stacking and a change in size of the unit 1 occur, the partition plate 4 provided on the housing 3 side also needs a repartition work in accordance with the change in stacking of the unit 1 and it causes an increase in cost.


A method for fabricating a polycide self aligned contact for MOSFET devices in which the electrical isolation between the source/drain contact and gate structure is improved. In the method a gate insulator layer, a polysilicon layer, a metal silicide layer and an insulating layer are deposited on a semiconductor substrate. The insulator layer is patterned and anisotropically etched to expose the underlying metal silicide layer. The metal silicide layer is then dip etched to form an undercut beneath the insulating layer. The metal silicide and polysilicon layers are patterned with an anisotropic etch, dopants introduced into the opening to form lightly doped source/drain regions, and sidewall spacers formed on the sidewalls of the etched layers. After a dopant is introduced to form heavily doped source/drain regions, a contact structure is formed in the opening defined by the sidewall spacers.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to processes used to fabricate semiconductor devices, and more specifically to a process used to fabricate a self-aligned contact structure, where one of the components of the self-aligned contact structure is a metal silicide layer.
(2) Description of the Prior art
In semiconductor integrated circuit manufacturing, metals are formed into patterned layers to make electrical connections to and between individual devices on a silicon substrate, such as sources, drains, and gates of field effect transistors (FET""s). Metal layers, dielectric layers, and other structures, such as gate structures may be deposited over the substrate. In the simplest method, a surface is blanketed with metal and the deposited metal is then patterned to form the desired interconnection configuration. In the current semiconductor processes, aluminum is the most widely used material, but other refractory materials are being used, tungsten in particular. Blanket layers of metal can be deposited by low pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) and the patterning of metal layers can be accomplished by conventional lithographic and etching techniques.
To form more accurate contacts between buried devices in the substrate, such as source and drain impurity regions, a method of forming self aligned contacts (SAC) is often used. A self aligned contact is formed by patterning layers of structures around a contact area so that when a metal layer is formed over the structures and the contact region, the metal forms an electrical connection with the impurity regions in the substrate, e.g. a source or drain region. However, self aligned contacts often suffer from several problems., such as poor metal contact with the substrate and also because of poor electrical isolation between the contact and the gate electrode.
A conventional process for forming a self aligned contact with a metal layer is shown in FIGS. 1 through 4. As shown in FIG. 1, gate structures 28, and 30 are formed on a semiconductor substrate 10 using conventional processes which are commonly known to those skilled in the art. Therefore only the elements will be described, not the processes. The gate structures 28, 30 are comprised of gate oxide layer 16, gate 18, top oxide layer 19 (also referred to as self aligned contact oxide layer), and oxide sidewall spacers 24. The substrate 10 has two silicon substrate diffusions, a Nxe2x88x92 diffusion (referred to as a lightly doped source or drain) 12 and a N+ diffusion (referred to as a heavily doped source or drain) 14.
Referring to FIG. 2, an inter-poly oxide layer 32 is formed on the device surface. The term xe2x80x9cdevice surfacexe2x80x9d is used herein to include all layers and structures formed on the substrate. Next, portions of the inter-poly oxide 32 between the gate structures 28, 30 are etched (called a self-aligned contact etch) to expose the oxide sidewalls 24 and the contact area 26, as illustrated in FIG. 3.
Subsequently, a polysilicon layer 34 is formed with a thickness in the range of 500 to 600 angstroms on the device surface, as illustrated in FIG. 4. The polysilicon layer 34 is then implanted with impurity ions to increase its conductivity. Polysilicon layer 34 is deposited between the metal layer 36 and the oxide layers 24, 32 to prevent the pealing of the metal layer 34 from the device surface. A metal layer 36, preferably tungsten silicide, is formed over the polysilicon layer 34. The tungsten silicide layer 36 forms an electrical connection with the substrate and the underlying source/drain region 12, 14 in the contact area 26. This process is self aligning since the tungsten silicide connections contacts 26 to the source/drain diffusion 12, 14 are defined using the oxide sidewall spacers 24 as the mask. This self aligning contact process eliminates less precise and more costly lithography process steps.
There are numerous patents that describe self aligned contact structure and suggest various improvements thereto. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,480,814 and 5,795,827 describe processes for reducing the contact resistance to the source/drain regions. U.S. Pat. No. 5,923,988 describes and claims a process for forming an improved self aligned contact which employs various reactants for forming tungsten silicide layers combined with a dual anneal to improve the contact. U.S. Pat. No. 5,899,722 describes a process for forming a SAC which used a dual spacer structure.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an method to for forming a self aligned contact with an improved electrical isolation between the self aligned contact and the gate electrode.
Another object of the invention is to provide a more electrically stable SAC contact.
An object of the invention is to provide an improved integrated circuit device which includes a self aligned contact between two gate structures on a semiconductor
In accordance with the above objectives, there is provided an improved method of fabricating a polycide self aligned contact structure for MOSFET devices on a semiconductor substrate in which the electrical isolation between the contact and the gate structure is greatly improved. In the process a first polysilicon layer is formed on the substrate, followed by a first metal silicide layer, and a first insulator layer. The top first insulator layer is patterned anisotropically to form openings that define gate structures. The exposed metal silicide layer is dip etched in an etchant for metal silicide to form an undercut beneath the overlying peripheral edge of the first insulator layer. The anisotropic patterning is continued through metal silicide layer and the underlying first polysilicon layer. A first conductivity imparting dopant is implanted to form lightly doped source and drain regions. A second insulator layer is deposited on the surface and into the openings, including into the undercuts formed during the dip etch. The second insulator layer is anisotropically etched to form sidewall spacers in the openings. A second implant is made forming heavily doped source and drain regions. The conventional metal silicide contacts, and an interconnect metallization structure are thereafter formed.

Method for improving the electrical isolation between the contact and gate in a self-aligned contact MOSFET device structure

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company


The present invention is a reformation process using a compact, plate-fin heat exchanger with multi-stream, multi-passage capability to provide parallel juxtaposed heat exchange of the various process streams of a reformation process.

The production of hydrogen and carbon monoxide has traditionally been performed by reforming hydrocarbons such as methane in the presence of steam and a catalyst. Reforming of hydrocarbons typically results in a synthesis gas which may contain hydrogen, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, steam and methane. Hydrocarbon reforming is an endothermic process which requires significant heat input to affect reaction. Typically in providing sufficient heat to drive the endothermical hydrocarbon reformation reaction, significant heat losses are accommodated by the production of excess steam. In many instances, excess steam is not usable or desired. In addition, an array of heat exchange equipment is necessary to recover all of the high temperature useable heat created to drive the endothermic hydrocarbon reformation reaction. Conventional reformers in general have two separate heat exchange trains which are composed of a series of two-stream discrete heat exchange units. The first train cools the reformer furnace flue gas to a low temperature against reformer steam/hydrocarbon feed, vaporizing and possibly super-heating steam, condensate heating and hydrocarbon heating. This heat exchange is generally carried out in adducted heat exchange unit, in which the heating streams exchange heat with the flue gas in discrete tube banks of plain or finned tubes. The second train cools the high pressure reformed gases from the reformer furnace in a waste heat boiler followed by a series of separate shell and tube, two-fluid heat exchangers against preheating feed gas streams, process condensate, etc. A large part of the cost of a reformer lies in these two heat exchange systems with their associated piping. Attempts have been made to produce simpler, more cost effective heat transfer systems. The reformer can be designed to include convection heat transfer so that the hot reformed gas is used to preheat feed or provide part of the heat for the reforming reaction. Some heat exchange units use a separate hot gas heat exchanger and some have concentric tubes in the reformer furnace with catalyst in the annulus and product gas flowing through the inner tube, thus the reacting gas mixture is heated from the furnace side and from the inside simultaneously. Reformers of this type have lower product gas exit temperatures than conventional reformers, giving reduced size waste heat boilers and are capable of operating efficiently with little or no export steam production. Attempts have been made to provide more effective heat integration in reforming reactions, but such attempts have not succeeded in combining the identified two separate heat exchange trains into a single heat exchange function.
Heat exchangers which used an annular space to heat exchange flue gas and reformate against steam and hydrocarbon to be reformed are typified by U.S. Pat. No. 4,071,330 which shows such an apparatus. This patent does not show additional heat exchange function to preheat feed, cool reformate or extract additional heat from flue gas.
Shell and tube heat exchange function as described above is exemplified by U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,971,847 and 3,982,910. These patents utilize shell and tube heat exchange apparatus to preheat hydrocarbons and air prior to partial oxidation reformation to produce hydrogen rich product. These processes are limited in the number of streams which can be heat exchanged one against the other due to the shell and tube construction wherein one gas stream must occupy the entire shell region while another gas stream occupies the tube region.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,992,168 discloses a plate-type heat exchanger that is used to rectify the components of a mixed gas stream, such as the recovery of hydrogen from a mixture such as "purse" gas in an ammonia synthesis gas, off-gas purification of petroleum or coke oven gas. Such a rectifying plate heat exchanger operates in the context of a dephlegmator.
Other plate type heat exchangers and plate-fin type heat exchangers are disclosed generically in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,858,685; 4,890,670 and 5,035,284. These plate type heat exchangers are not identified for any particular service or process duty.
U K. Patent Application GP2066841 discloses a saturation system for saturating a reformer feed with water prior to heating the saturated reformer feed in the flue gas of a traditional reformer which reforms the reforming feed as a feed gas to a methanol reactor.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,681,603 discloses a process for direct injection of water into a reformer feed in a coil-wound heat exchanger heated by reformer flue gas or shift reactor effluent. The saturated reformer feed is then passed through a separator to remove excess condensate and sent to a reformer to reform the feed to appropriate product slate.
The present invention overcomes the drawbacks of the prior art of using a plurality of separate heat exchangers and, with regard to some prior art, of the production of excess steam for energy efficiency, by the utilization of a unique multistream compact heat exchange function, as will be more clearly described below.

Integrated plate-fin heat exchange reformation


A method for operating an internal combustion engine having a camshaft phase adjuster, including: providing a nonlinear final control element model, which indicates via a functional relationship an angular velocity of a relative adjustment of the camshaft phase adjuster as a function of an actuator correcting variable for the control of the camshaft phase adjuster; carrying out a control based on a deviation between a predefined camshaft angle adjustment setpoint value, and a camshaft angle adjustment actual value, to obtain as a control output a setpoint positioning rate of the camshaft phase adjuster; calculating the actuator correcting variable as a function of the setpoint positioning rate using an inverted final control element model; applying a predefined correction variable to the actuator correcting variable; controlling the camshaft phase adjuster using the actuator correcting variable to which the correction variable has been applied, to operate the internal combustion engine.

In reciprocating-piston combustion engines, the valve operation of the intake and exhaust valves is normally mechanically controlled with the aid of an intake camshaft and/or an exhaust camshaft. Cams of the respective camshaft act on tappets of the intake valves or exhaust valves and specify the phases in which the intake and exhaust valves are opened, synchronously with a rotation of a crankshaft of the internal combustion engine.
In order to obtain a further degree of freedom in the operation of the internal combustion engine, a camshaft may be provided with a camshaft phase adjuster, which varies the relative relationship of the camshaft to the phase position of the crankshaft. This makes it possible to fundamentally change the engine characteristics because the opening and closing instants of the controlled intake or exhaust valves define the cylinder charge and/or the residual gas rate as well as flow processes in the internal combustion engine, and thus the torque characteristic over the rotational speed, to a significant extent.
The camshaft phase adjuster may be provided as a hydraulic final control element, for example, which is able to rotate the camshaft relative to the crankshaft. The hydraulic phase adjuster is designed in such a way that it adjusts itself when a corresponding controlling torque is generated in the phase adjuster. This controlling torque depends directly on an oil pressure difference in hydraulic chambers working against one another. The oil pressure difference is able to be influenced via an electromagnetic valve during an operation of the internal combustion engine by specifying a correcting variable.
The electromagnetic valve is controllable by supplying an electric power which is able to be effectively adjusted by specifying the correcting variable indicating a pulse duty factor. To adjust the pulse duty factor, and thus to control the adjustment degree of the camshaft phase adjuster, a position control is provided which is usually implemented as a PID controller.
Because of the production spread in the manufacture and aging effects during the vehicle operation, considerable deviations in the controlled system and, as a consequence, in the control quality may occur, which may lead to overshooting, stationary control deviations and the like. These deviations in the control quality of the position control for the camshaft phase adjuster have a considerable effect on the engine characteristic in terms of performance and emission behavior.
In addition, a portion of the stationary holding pulse duty factor is calculated from the integral portion of the position control, which is taken into account together with an applied holding pulse duty factor. This makes it possible to compensate for quasi-stationary disturbances such as changes over time in a spring moment or a moment of friction, the occurrence of leakages or interference moments from external consumers and the like.
To compensate for the controller response, it was necessary until now to adapt the controller parameters in a usually complex manner to the respective production spread and for the different working points of the respective type of internal combustion engine, in order to thereby ensure a uniform control quality for each individual internal combustion engine across the entire operating range of the internal combustion engine.

Method and device for controlling a camshaft phase adjuster in an internal combustion engine


An apparatus includes a controller storing information on dense/sparse state of the tracking error signal in connection with characteristic of the signal generated by a phase encoder while tracking servo of a servo unit is inactivated, and, in data reproduction mode, identifying a current disk phase based on characteristic of the signal generated by the phase encoder, and adjusting tracking characteristic of the servo unit based on the stored information in connection with the signal characteristic in order to compensate an effect rate of eccentricity on the identified disk phase. Through minute adjustment of servo characteristic for each disk phase, error range of TE signal to track in real time is reduced. Therefore, tracking for an eccentric disk becomes easier and more reliable.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tracking control apparatus for a disk recording medium, more particularly, to an apparatus of measuring how much an eccentricity affects each phase of a disk and controlling disk tracking based on the measured each effect rate.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, most of the disks become eccentric during rotation because of variation in disk manufacturing or disk clamping condition. If an eccentricity of a disk is too high to conduct an exact tracking, it is difficult to reproduce data from the disk normally.
To overcome such a bad situation, a disk device measures an eccentricity of a disk and adjusts characteristic of a tracking servo to compensate the measured eccentricity at a start-up operation.
A conventional eccentricity measuring method rotates a placed disk with a tracking servo off, counts pulse train produced every track cross of an optical pickup and disk revolutions, and divides the pulse count by the number of disk revolutions. Because the value resulted from the division represents how much a disk is eccentric, gains of a tracking servo are adjusted based on the eccentricity measured as above to compensate eccentricity of the disk overall.
However, even though eccentricity of a disk is high, the high eccentricity has different effects on respective disk phases. Namely, a certain disk phase is affected less by the high eccentricity than other phases.
Nevertheless, if gains of a tracking servo are increased to make more sensitive to compensate an eccentricity overall irrespective of different effect of eccentricity on respective disk phases, a tracking servo may diverge unexpectedly, namely, an objective lens of an optical pickup may be biased to the utmost side when a scratch is encountered on a disk phase an eccentricity has small effect on.

Apparatus of controlling tracking for a disk


The present invention is directed to silk-based drug delivery compositions for controlled, sustained delivery of therapeutic agent(s) as well as methods of making and using the same.

The effectiveness of therapeutic agents in general, is limited by patient compliance. At times, patient compliance is hindered by treatments that are inconvenient or cause patient discomfort. Importantly, certain therapeutic agents have deleterious effects if the plasma concentration thereof falls below a minimum concentration. Although some sustained release formulations are available which increase patient compliance, the majority employ poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) which requires hazardous organic solvents and high temperature for processing thereof. Not only are such organic solvents environmentally undesirable but residual amounts thereof may be present in the end-product. Furthermore, hydrolytic degradation byproducts of PLGA polymers are acids, which may cause inflammation and degradation of the active ingredient. Thus, there is a need for improved pharmaceutical compositions lacking potentially inflammatory degradation byproducts that provide sustained delivery of therapeutic agent(s) which are manufactured in a manner that minimizes the use of hazardous organic solvents.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


The present invention discloses an architecture of an embedded internet robot system controlled by brain waves, wherein the brain-computer interface and the internet robot system cooperate with the alertness level detection technology and the instruction translation technology, and thereby, the user can control a distal-end robot purely via consciousness activities and can interact with the environment as if there were an entity representing the user's consciousness appearing in the distal end. The seriously disabled person can regain his expressive ability via the present invention. Further, the present invention can also be applied to a multi-player interactive game system.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an architecture of an embedded internet robot system, particularly to an architecture of an embedded internet robot system controlled by brain waves.
2. Description of the Related Art
BCI (Brain-Computer Interface) is a technology translating brain waves into instructions. The instructions translated from the brain waves can be used to control a computer and its peripheral devices, such a wheelchair. In many current researches, BCI is looked on as a control-instruction generator used to help the limb-disabled person generate instructions to control an artificial limb, a wheelchair, a computer, etc. However, so far, BCI can only be used in an undisturbed laboratory, and no BCI is used to control a distal-end system yet. Therefore, the application thereof is still limited.
As to the robot researches, the current control method of a robot still needs conventional input interfaces, such as a joystick, a keyboard, etc., and the top target of "act as you think" has not been achieved yet. At present, the studies on the robot performed by the academics focus on the applications in industrial control, family entertainment. As to the application in medicine, a medical robot usually plays the role of a nursing assistant.
Reviewing the current researches on brain science and robotics, we can find the applications thereof have the following drawbacks or bottlenecks:    1. The conventional BCI can only be used in an undisturbed laboratory and cannot provide movement freedom and medical care for the seriously disabled person.    2. The conventional BCI can only analyze action instructions and cannot detect the alertness level of the user.    3. The concept of reproducing one's consciousness in a distal end has not appeared yet in the current robotics and the conventional disabled equipments.    4. In the current consumer electronics, the 3G system has been matured, and T-backbone networks are extensively available, and various high efficiency protocols, such as IEEE 802.11 a/b/g, Bluetooth, UWB (Ultra Wideband), etc., have been proposed. However, the technology of the disabled equipments still lacks important progresses or breakthroughs because the market thereof is not so large, and even though the current disabled equipments are not so sophisticated, the price thereof is so high—the advanced science and technology does not take care of the disabled groups.
Accordingly, the present invention proposes an architecture of an embedded internet robot system controlled by brain waves, which combines BCI technology and robotics, in order to solve the abovementioned problems.

Architecture of an embedded internet robot system controlled by brain waves