A method of designing, for a magneto-resistive (MR) sensor, a protection circuit having a first and a second N-channel field-effect transistor (NFET) and at least one positive-negative (PN) diode is disclosed. The method may include determining a safe operating voltage range for the MR sensor and determining, within the safe operating voltage range, a normal operating voltage range for the MR sensor. The method may also include determining a protection threshold voltage range outside of the normal operating voltage range and within the safe operating voltage range of the MR sensor. The method may also include selecting device parameters to configure the first and second NFETs and the at least one PN diode to, in response to a voltage applied to the MR sensor being within a protection threshold voltage range, limit, by shunting current, the voltage applied to the MR sensor.

Magnetoresistive (MR) sensors may be used to read data recorded at high densities on magnetic media such as magnetic tape or hard disk drive platters. The trend of decreasing feature sizes of magnetoresistive sensors can make them increasingly vulnerable to voltages and currents outside of a sensor's specified safe operating voltage range. One type of voltage excursion outside of the specified safe operating voltage range may be electrostatic discharge (ESD). ESD events can cause permanent damage to thin film layers of MR sensors such as insulating barriers (dielectric layers) and resistor metallization.
In order to function properly and avoid being damaged by ESD, MR sensors may need to be protected from voltages outside their specified safe ranges of operation. A protection circuit closely coupled to the sensor may be used to shield sensitive electrical regions and structures within the sensor from damage due to ESD events, and may ensure continued reliable functioning of the sensor.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Electrostatic discharge protection for a magnetoresistive sensor

International Business Machines Corporation


There has been a demand for an aspiration catheter which has a sufficient amount of aspiration, which is sufficiently flexible to satisfactorily track tortuous blood vessels, in which the possibility of kinking of a catheter shaft is decreased when the aspiration catheter is inserted into a guiding catheter from outside of the body, and in which good operationality is achieved. An aspiration catheter of the present invention includes an aspiration lumen for removing a substance by aspiration, the aspiration lumen extending to a hub provided at the proximal end of the catheter; and a detachable core wire disposed in the aspiration lumen.

Conventionally, when stenosis or occlusion occurs in vessels, such as blood vessels, and when blood vessels are blocked by thrombi, angioplasties (e.g., PTA: Percutaneous Transluminal Angioplasty and PTCA: Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary Angioplasty) are commonly performed in order to dilate narrowed areas or reopen occluded areas of blood vessels so that blood flow in the peripheries of blood vessels is improved. Many angioplasties have been performed in many medical institutions. Furthermore, in recent years, stents have been used to maintain the dilated state of narrowed areas in many cases.
A balloon catheter for PTA or PTCA is used together with a guiding catheter and a guidewire mainly for the purpose of dilating a narrowed area or occluded area of a blood vessel. In an angioplasty for the coronary artery using the balloon catheter, first, the guiding catheter is inserted into the femoral artery and advanced through the aorta, and the guiding catheter is positioned in the opening of the coronary artery. Then, the guidewire passing through the balloon catheter is advanced beyond the narrowed area or occluded area of the blood vessel. The balloon is inflated while being positioned at the narrowed area or occluded area so that the narrowed area or occluded area is dilated. The balloon is then deflated and removed from the body. The application of the balloon catheter is not limited to treatment of narrowed areas or occluded areas of blood vessels, and the balloon catheter is also useful for many other medical applications, such as insertion into blood vessels and insertion into various body cavities and tubular tissue structures.
However, when occlusion is caused by thrombi in the blood vessel, if the occluded area is dilated by the balloon catheter, there may be a possibility that the thrombi are detached from the inner wall of the blood vessel to occlude peripheral vessels downstream. In the case of the narrowed area of the blood vessel in which the lesion contains many athero-plaques, there may be a possibility that dilation by the balloon catheter leads to scattering of the athero-plaques (atheromas) to occlude peripheral vessels. When peripheral vessels are blocked as described above, even if the occluded area or narrowed area is dilated, blood is prevented from flowing into the peripheries, resulting in slow-flow or no-reflow.
When such a situation arises, in the coronary artery or the like, it is general practice to wait and see if the blood flow is recovered, but a long recovery time is required. According to circumstances, a vasodilator, such as nitroglycerin, may be administered to recover the blood flow, or a thrombolytic agent, such as urokinase, may be locally administered to dissolve the obstruction. In either case, a long recovery time is still required. When peripheral vessels are heavily occluded to produce poor hemodynamics, an auxiliary procedure, such as intra-aortic balloon pumping (IABP), may be used.
Besides the thrombolytic therapy, a method has been attempted in which thrombi are mechanically fragmented and a negative pressure is simultaneously applied from the proximal end of the catheter to remove the thrombi from the body.
However, in order to fragment a thrombus at the catheter tip, it is of course necessary to efficiently transmit the mechanical power applied from the proximal end of the catheter to the distal end of the catheter. Consequently, in order to enhance the transmission of power in the catheter shaft, the entire catheter shaft must be composed of a relatively hard material, often resulting in difficulty in advancing the catheter to the target site in the blood vessel. Furthermore, since a negative pressure must be applied from the proximal end of the catheter simultaneously with the application of mechanical power, a large-scale device is required, and thus this method has not become widely used.
On the other hand, the effect of a catheter having a simple structure in which thrombi are removed by aspiration from the body by the application of a negative pressure from the proximal end has been being clinically confirmed. However, the cross-sectional area of the aspiration lumen for aspiration is not sufficiently secured, and only catheters having low aspiration capability are available. The reason for this is that the catheter is advanced over the guidewire to the target site in the blood vessel. Namely, since a guidewire lumen tracking the guidewire is provided in the aspiration lumen, it is not possible to secure a sufficient aspiration lumen.
On the other hand, in a structure in which a guidewire lumen is provided outside an aspiration lumen, the outer diameter of the aspiration catheter inevitably increases. Consequently, the outer diameter of the guiding catheter used together increases so that a sufficient inner diameter is secured, resulting in an enormous burden to the patient.
In addition, since any of the guidewire lumens described above usually has a length of about 30 cm from the tip of the aspiration catheter, the entire catheter shaft lacks flexibility, resulting in poor insertability into tortuous blood vessels.
Patent Document 1 discloses a catheter that is insertable into a blood vessel without a guidewire. The catheter includes a passage for injecting a drug solution, an imaging agent, or the like, disposed therein; a hub disposed at the proximal end thereof; and a superelastic wire provided with a detachable hub. In order to increase the rate of injection of a drug solution, an imaging agent, or the like, from the hub, the superelastic wire is designed to be withdrawn from the catheter so that the effective lumen of the internal injection passage is increased. However, when a catheter having such a structure is used as an aspiration catheter in a conventional PTCA procedure, it is not possible to advance the catheter to an affected site over a guidewire, and low operationality has been pointed out as a problem.
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Examined Patent Application Publication No. 3-74590


An efficient and cost-effective method of designing and manufacturing a molded container having highly artistic sculptural relief. Computer software is utilized to design a skin shape, create artwork designs, add relief to the artwork designs, and apply the artwork designs to the container skin to develop a desired container. For example, design data is utilized to make molds, such as blow molds, which, in turn are utilized to make containers.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to creating a sculpture on a container, and more specifically to a method and apparatus for generating and displaying an image, for example, the image of an artistic sculpture, for producing an electrode to be applied to a mold cavity used in making containers.
2. Related Art
Blow-molded plastic containers have become commonplace in packaging beverages, such as juice, and other hot and cold liquid products. Such a container normally has a dome, an annular sidewall extending from a base, and a waist connecting the dome to the sidewall. Typically, the containers have a horizontal cross section which is circular, rectangular or multi-faceted. Blow-molded plastic containers can provide a package with sufficient flexure to compensate for pressure and temperature, while maintaining structural integrity and aesthetic appearance. In addition, the plastic used in the containers is recyclable. However, in order to increase the sales of beverages or other products, there is a need to produce more aesthetically appealing containers.
According to conventional practices, individuals designed sculptures to appear on containers. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 1, a design is placed on an electrode attached to a rod. The electrode 1 is heated with an electric current and applied to a mold 2 to leave a negative relief impression of the design on mold 2 as shown in FIG. 2. Thereafter, mold 2 is assembled to form a mold cavity. A preform made of plastic is inserted into the mold and the preform is blown in the mold cavity. Subsequently, the container with the impressed design is removed from the mold cavity. However, using this technique, a defective sculpture is often found on the container, and the container is rejected. The defective sculpture appears on the container, because the application of the prior art electrode 1 to the mold is often imprecise. The electrode 1 is pressed too far against the mold leaving unwanted marks on the mold, which appear for example, as unintended frame-like impression marks on the container 3 as shown in FIG. 3. Alternatively, the electrode 1 is not pressed far enough against the mold leaving a poor impression of the design on the container 4 as shown in FIG. 4. As the number of desired sculptures on a container increases, the potential number of sculptural defects increases. Since both of the above-mentioned defects occur due to variances in machine tolerances during the process of impressing the conventional electrode onto the mold, there is a need for a new method for creating sculptures on containers efficiently, quickly, repeatedly, at a low cost, and with minimal defects.

Method and apparatus for creating a sculpture on a container


A heat-storage composition includes a resin and a heat storage material. The composition has a viscosity of 100 to 1,000 dPa·s, as measured with a cylinder-type rotational viscometer. The composition also has a storage elastic modulus (G′) of 3 Pa or more at an angular frequency of 1 rad/s, as measured by a dynamic viscoelasticity measurement method at a temperature of 25° C. and at a strain of 0.1%.

Recently, strong demands are being made on housing spaces of houses, offices, and the like wherein energy should be saved, and, in the building materials used in houses and the like, materials that contribute to energy savings are demanded. Generally, heat insulating materials are used in floors, ceilings, walls and the like in an attempt to improve the air-conditioning or heating efficiency, and, for further saving energy, studies are made on various types of materials. Similarly, with respect to closed spaces of automobiles, aircraft and the like, and the inside of refrigerators of refrigerator trucks and the like, demands for saving energy are increasing.
With respect to the above-mentioned material, for example, a material having an encapsulated phase change material mixed into plasterboard is disclosed (see PTL 1). Further, as a material using a flexible material, a heat-storage thermoplastic resin sheet containing a heat storage material in a thermoplastic resin (see PTL 2) and the like are disclosed.
PTL 1: JP-A-2003-284939
PTL 2: JP-A-2009-51016
The above-mentioned material having a phase change material mixed into plasterboard is used in walls or the like so as to increase the heat capacity of the walls or the like, achieving energy savings. However, this material is poor in flexibility or handling properties, and hence the mode of the use of the material is limited.
On the other hand, the above-mentioned sheet using a thermoplastic resin has flexibility due to the use of the thermoplastic resin, but has a thickness as small as about 100 μm. For realizing heat storage performance useful for housing spaces and the like, the heat storage sheet is required to have an increased thickness, but thick film application is difficult using the resin composition used for the above sheet.


A feed system for an antenna has a set of inner and outer coaxial waveguides which apply, respectively, both higher and lower frequency radiations to a common radiating aperture provided by a horn and shroud which envelops radiating apertures of the individual feed waveguides. Each of the feed waveguides carries signals having a bandwidth of an octave. Lower frequency radiation to be transmitted by the outer coaxial feed waveguide is applied thereto by a set of four waveguides of a launcher which launches a wave with a desired propagation mode into the outer feed waveguide. Each of the launch waveguides is initially a rectangular double-ridged waveguide for increase bandwidth. The ridging is reduced to a condition of no ridging in the outer feed waveguide by a transition to a single inner ridge which terminates in a tapered star-shaped combination ridge within the outer feed waveguide. Impedance matching rings are slidable within the space between the inner and outer surfaces of the coaxial waveguide for development of a desired standing wave ratio for accurate generation of a desired beam pattern. A dielectric rod is disposed in a forward end of the tube of the inner feed waveguide and protrudes therefrom into the horn for shaping a beam of the higher frequency radiation. A single common phase center is provided for all bands with radiation simultaneously at plural bands.

This invention relates to a feed system for an antenna and, more particularly, to a composite feed covering two octaves of bandwidth and providing a common phase center for radiations in each of a plurality of signal bands radiated by the feed.
Various communication systems employ more than one frequency band for electromagnetic signals radiated from a transmitting station to receiving station. An important example of such a communication system is a satellite communication system wherein various bands of signals are transmitted between a satellite above the earth (synchronous orbit) and ground stations on the earth. Three such bands of interest herein, including C band, X band, and Ku band, extend in total two octaves of the communication frequency spectrum. Within each of the bands, there is frequency space allocated for reception of signals at the satellite and for transmission of signals from the satellite. The C band itself extends over approximately an octave, operates at both linear and circular polarizations, and includes a receive sub-band in the range of 3.625-4.200 GHz and a transmit sub-band in the range of 5.850-6.425 GHz. The X band includes a receive sub-band in the range of 7.250-7.750 GHz (gigahertz), and a transmit sub-band for transmission from the satellite in the range of 7.900-8.400 GHz. The Ku band operates at both linear and circular polarizations, and includes a receive sub-band from 10.950 to 12.750 GHz, and a transmit sub-band of 14.000-14.500 GHz. Collectively, these frequency bands extend over approximately two octaves of the communications spectrum.
Historically, it has been the practice to provide separate antennas for transmission or reception on each of the bands because there is insufficient bandwidth on any one of the antenna systems or terminals to transmit more than one of the bands. In some cases, where bands are close together and, collectively, do not occupy an excessive amount of spectral space, it has been possible to share a plurality of bands on one antenna. However, basically, separate antennas have been employed for different portions of the spectrum. In particular, there is no adequate single-point antenna feed system which can cover plural octave bandwidths which includes C, X and Ku bands.
A problem arises in the case of satellite communication transportable earth stations in that there is a need for minimization of transportable payload weight. The use of numerous antennas for communication at various frequency bands defeats the purpose of minimization of payload weight. In addition, it is advantageous to employ a common phase center for all radiations transmitted from the earth station and received at the earth station. There is no common phase center in the situation wherein several antenna feeds are mounted at different times upon an earth terminal. It has been necessary to change the feed system for each frequency band and to refocus the feed, this requiring time and trained personnel. The same problem exists for an earth terminal at a fixed location because it is still necessary to perform the difficult and tedious process of exchanging feeds and refocusing.
The foregoing problem is compounded by the foregoing spectral utilization. The C band and the Ku band are commercial satellite bands which are spaced apart in the spectrum and, therefore, facilitate the filtering of signals in the two bands so as to permit transmission on one band without significant interference with signals on the other band. However, in the present situation, there is also need to employ the X band which is a military band in conjunction with the C band. In the present situation, it is contemplated that either one of the Ku and the X bands may be employed with the C band or, possibly, that both the Ku and the X bands may be employed concurrently with the C band. However, due to the fact that the X band is contiguous to the C band, it is difficult to separate the two bands in a common antenna system and, furthermore, presently available antenna and feed structures are unable to accomplish this task adequately.


4,4-Dinitroadamantane-2,6-dione,6, and a method of making the same.

Polynitropolycyclic cage molecules are central to the current efforts aimed at energetic material to meed modern requirements for fuels, propellants and explosives. (Alster, J; Iyer, S; Sandus, O. in "The Chemistry and Physics of Energetic Materials", Bulusu S. ed., Kluwer, "The Netherlands", 1990; p. 641.) These systems are particularly attractive because strain energy incorporated in the cage combined with the accumulation of nitro groups tend to bolster energy output, while the molecular compactness produces high density materials favorably increasing the detonation velocity. For a recent review of the chemistry of polynitropolycyclic cage molecules, see Marchand, A. P. "Tetrahedron" 1988, 44,2347. Simultaneously, high crystal density materials are advantageous in volume-limited applications.
As a class of compounds, polynitroadamantanes have been of interest for more than a decade since Sollott and Gilbert first synthesized and demonstrated that the bridgehead-substituted 1,3,5,7-tetranitroadamantane exhibited very low impact sensitivity. Please see Sollott, G. P.; Gilbert, E. E. "J. Org Chem" 1980, 45,5405. Subsequently, several members of this class of compounds have been reported including 2,2-dinitro- and 2,2,6,6- tetranitroadamantane. (Archibald, T. G.; Baum, K. "J. Org Chem", 1988, 53,4645)

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army


An input terminal (240) for assigning at least one information to be requested and a control circuit (100) for controlling a recording operation, a tape stopping operation and a detecting operation of a head of recorded information of a recording and reproducing apparatus (80) are provided on the side of a subscriber terminal (FIG. 1) having the recording and reproducing apparatus and, after all of information (A, B, C) assigned by the input terminal and received from an information transmitting station (FIG. 2) are recorded, a head of the first recorded information is detected.

The present invention relates to a subscriber terminal of an interactive communication system, which includes a recording and reproducing apparatus for recording and reproducing a video signal transmitted, according to a request of the subscriber terminal, from a video software supplier, and, particularly, to a control method and apparatus for controlling a recording and reproducing operation of the recording and reproducing apparatus for a video signal transmitted from the software supplier through a suitable interactive transmission line such as coaxial cable, optical cable, telephone line or satellite broadcasting to a subscriber terminal.
A device for receiving and storing a transmitted compressed video signal is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H4-79588.
In the conventional technique disclosed in this article, a video signal is time-compressed and transmitted. In a receiver, the compressed video signal is recorded on a suitable recording medium by a video signal recording and reproducing apparatus such as video tape recorder (VTR) and the compressed video signal read out from the recording medium is time-axis decompressed and displayed. The recording may be performed automatically.
Although, in a conventional digital magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus such as VTR of D2 format, it is possible to increase or decrease a reproducing time by means of a variable reproduction speed system without degradation of image quality, it has been usual that a dubbing of a software of a certain time length takes the same time length as recording time of the software. According to the disclosed technique, the dubbing can be done within a shorter time due to employment of the time axis compression of the video signal. That is, in the disclosed technique, a video signal and audio signal are time-axis compressed to 1/m to reduce a transmitting time to 1/m and bit-compressed to 1/n to reduce a signal frequency band to m/n, where m and n are positive integers. Then, the compressed video and audio signals are attached with parity signals, modulated to a code suitable for a transmission line to be used and transmitted. The transmitted signals are received, demodulated and recorded at high speed by a recording and reproducing apparatus. The high speed recorded signals are reproduced at a normal speed and demodulated while correcting any error in the reproduced signals by using the parity signal. Then, the error corrected signals are bit-expanded and displayed. Therefore, the software can be recorded at higher speed using the same format as that used in the standard speed recording. However, the disclosed technique requires a relatively complicated circuit construction and relatively complicated operation.

Subscriber terminal of an interactive communication system and control device thereof


A feature selection method for selecting a predetermined number of features, the method may comprise for each category, ranking features according to feature ranking for two-category problems; and while the predetermined number of features has not yet been selected: picking a category c; selecting a feature based on the ranking for category c; and adding the selecting feature to an output list if not already present in the output list and removing the selected feature from further consideration for the category c. An apparatus and computer program code are also provided.

Text classification techniques are known in the art. Attention is directed, for example, to U.S. Pat. No. 6,182,058 to Kohavi; U.S. Pat. No. 6,278,464 to Kohavi et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,212,532 to Johnson et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,192,360 to Dumais et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,038,527 to Renz, all of which are incorporated herein by reference. These patents discuss classification systems and methods.
Many data mining or electronic commerce tasks involve classification of data (e.g. text or other data) into classes. For example, e-mail could be classified as spam (junk e-mail) or non-spam. Mortgage applications could be classified as approved or denied. An item to be auctioned could be classified in one of multiple possible classifications in on-line auction web sites such as eBay™. Text classification may be used by an information service to route textual news items covering business, sports teams, stocks, or companies to people having specific interests.
There are multiple different types of classification methods. Some classification methods are rule-based methods. A rule of the form IF {condition} THEN {classification} could be used. However, rule-based systems can become unwieldy when the number of input features becomes large or the logic for the rules becomes complex.
Some classification methods involve use of classifiers that have learning abilities. A classifier is typically constructed using an inducer. An inducer is an algorithm that builds the classifer using a training set comprising records with labels. After the classifier is built, it can be used to classify unlabeled records. A record is also known as a "feature vector," "example," or "case."
The term "feature selection" refers to deciding which features are most predictive indicators to use for training a classifier. In some embodiments, "feature selection" refers to which words or features score the highest Information Gain, Odds Ratio, Chi-Squared, or other statistic. Well chosen features can substantially improve classification accuracy or reduce the amount of training data needed to obtain a desired level of performance. Avoiding insignificant features improves scalability and conserves computation and storage resources for the training phase and post-training use of the classifier. Conversely, poor feature selection limits performance since no degree of clever induction can make up for a lack of prediction signal in the input features sent to the classifier.
Known methods for feature selection include Information Gain (IG), Odds Ratio, Chi Squared, and others. Known classifiers include Support Vector Machines and Naïve Bayes.
The problem of selecting which features to use in a text classification problem where there are multiple categories can be more difficult than in two-category classification systems. For example, given a machine learning problem of classifying each new item to be auctioned into the most appropriate category in the large set of an auction web site's categories, it is desirable to decide which word features are the most predictive indicators to use for training a classifier.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


Discloses is a method of selective activation of server applications in a computer network system. The computer network system includes a server computer, a plurality of client computers, a set of server applications loaded on the server computer, and a given protocol stack for managing activation of the server applications. The method comprises the steps of a system administrator defining a plurality of states for the network system and specifying conditions to determine whether or not each of the server applications can be activated in each of said states. The given protocol stack then manages activation of the server applications in accordance with said specified conditions.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to computer networks, and more specifically, to computer networks having one or more server applications. Even more specifically, the invention relates to procedures for determining when such server applications can be activated.
2. Background Art
Computer networks have become very widespread and increasingly important to many types of enterprises including businesses, universities and government. In general, a computer network is two or more computers (or associated devices) that are connected by communication facilities. One type of computer network is a client/server network. A client/server network includes a server, which is a computer or a process that provides shared resources to users of the network, and a client, which is a computer or a process that accesses the shared network resources provided by the server using the communication facilities.
In general, a client in a client/server network obtains information from a server by sending a request to the server. When the server receives the request, a server application on the server fills the request by obtaining the requested information and sending the information through the network to the client. The Internet (via the World Wide Web (WWW)) is an example of a client/server network. The Internet is a public wide-area network (WAN) environment that enables a client to request and receive data located on a remote server.
The server computer includes a network adapter card that physically transmits and receives packets of data between the server computer and a client computer over the network. The server computer also includes server applications that are software for manipulating data. For example, server applications may include database serving, file serving, and transaction processing. Each server application can access the network through the network adapter card. More specifically, an application process, which is made up of one or more threads, is connected to the network adapter card via a socket, which is a software object that allows a thread of a server application to communicate with a virtual port of the network adapter card.
In many servers, some aspects of these server applications are managed by a mechanism referred to as a stack, which is a prescribed hierarchy of protocols. These protocols may set forth conditions that must be met before a particular application can be started, and may determine priority among applications competing for resources. On servers that are connected to the internet, these protocol stacks are referred to as TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) stacks.
For example, during system initialization, system resources and services are limited. This limitation prevents TCP/IP socket applications from being started until system initialization is completed. On most platforms, all socket applications can only be started when the system is initialized and the network is started. Some applications will not start correctly if configuration data needed by the application is not first uploaded from the remote systems. Examples of such configuration data are airline fare rules and current inventory/pricing data. Procedures of operators uploading data manually before starting the applications have proven to be error prone. The customer requirement is to be able to start certain system services during the system initialization process that interact with remote platforms. Besides uploading configuration data, another example is the need for remote operators to be able to access the server during the initialization process.

Selective activation of TCP/IP link and traffic


Provided in the present invention are a 2-arylbenzofuran-7-formamide compound as shown in general formula I or a pharmacologically or physiologically acceptable salt thereof, a preparation method thereof and use thereof in preparing anti-tumour drugs, wherein R1 and R2 are each independently hydrogen, straight or branched chained C1-C4 alkyl, C3-C4 cycloalkyl or saturated 5- or 6-membered heterocyclyl containing oxygen or nitrogen; or R1 and R2 together with N form an unsubstituted or substituted saturated 5- or 6-membered heterocyclyl containing at least one heteroatom, wherein the heteroatom is O, N and S, the substituent is a methyl on N; R3 is a hydrogen atom or a chlorine atom; R4 is a hydrogen atom or a fluorine atom; X is CH, CF or N; and Y is CH, CF or N.

Poly(adenosine diphosphate[ADP]-ribose) polymerase (PARP) is a nuclear enzyme in most eukaryocytes and the main function thereof is to synthesize poly(ADP-ribose) (PAR) using nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) as its substrate and transfer the synthesized poly(ADP-ribose) to receptor protein, thereby regulating the function of protein (see: Schreiber, V.; Dantzer, F.; Ame, J. C.; de Murcia, G. Poly(ADPribose): novel functions for an old molecule. Nat. Rev. Mol. Cell Biol. 2006, 7, 517-528). At least 16 homologs in PARP family have been found and only six members (PARP1, PARP2, PARP3, PARP4 (VPARP), Tankyrase1 and Tankyrase2, respectively) have poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase function according to stringent structural and functional criteria, while other members in the family may function as mono-ADP-ribosyltransferases (see: Rouleau, M.; Patel, A.; Hendzel, M. J.; Kaufmann, S. H.; Poirier, G. G. PARP inhibition: PARP1 and beyond. Nat. Rev. Cancer 2010, 10, 293-301). Only PARP1 and PARP2 in PARP family can be activated by the breaks of DNA strands, mediate polyADP-ribosylation, and participate in the repair of DNA single-strand breaks through the base-excision repair (BER) pathway. PolyADP-ribosylation causes chromatin depolymerization in the injured site, initiates repair mechanism and accelerates the repair of DNA damage. In that respect, PARP1 and PARP2 play dual roles including detection of DNA damage and signaling transduction during the repairing process. Human PARP1 is a polypeptide with molecular weight of 113 kDa and contains three functional domains. The DNA binding domain (DBD) located at the N-terminal end contains two Zinc fingers recognizing DNA single-strand breaks and double-strand breaks. The automodification domain is located in the middle region, by which PARP1 binds to ADP ribosyl thereby polyADP-ribosylating PARP itself. And the catalytic domain located in the C-terminal end acts as the basis for transferring NAD+ to ADP ribose and is the active structure for the function of PARP1. In contrast, human PARP2 is a polypeptide with molecular weight of 62 kDa. Its DNA binding domain is different from that of PARP1, and accordingly the main function thereof is to recognize the gap due to the deletion of nucleotide in the damaged DNA strand. The catalytic domain located at the C-terminal end of PARP2 is similar to that of PARP1, however, the fine difference in their structures still reflects the difference in their target proteins to be catalyzed. PARP1 and PARP2 play an important role in the repair of DNA damage, genome stability and regulation of cell apoptosis through base excision repair. Therefore, they become one of the most interesting targets in anti-tumour drug research in recent years (see: Yelamos, J.; Farres, Jordi.; Llacuna, L.; Ampurdanes, C.; targeCaballero, J. M. PARP-1 and PARP-2: New players in tumour development. Am. J. Cancer Res. 2011, 1(3), 328-346). Moreover, the important role of PARP in the process such as inflammation, ischemia reperfusion, etc., indicates that PARP also has potential application value in the diseases (such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, etc.) except for malignant tumours (see: Peralta-Leal, A.; Rodriguez-Vargas, J. M.; Aguilar-Quesada, R.; Rodriguez, M. I.; Linares, J. L.; de Almodovar, M. R.; Oliver, F. J. PARP inhibitors: new partners in the therapy of cancer and inflammatory diseases. Free Radical Biol. Med. 2009, 47, 13-26).
In 2005, it was reported in Nature that PARP1/2 inhibitors used alone have a significantly intibiting effect on breast cancer cells with defective BRCA1/2 (see: Bryant, H. E.; Schultz, N.; Thomas, H. D.; Parker, K. M.; Flower, D.; Lopez, E.; Kyle, S.; Meuth, M.; Curtin, N. J.; Helleday, T. Specific killing of BRCA2-deficient tumours with inhibitors of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase. Nature 2005, 434, 913-917. And Farmer, H.; McCabe, N.; Lord, C. J.; Tutt, A. N.; Johnson, D. A.; Richardson, T. B.; Santarosa, M.; Dillon, K. J.; Hickson, I.; Knights, C.; Martin, N. M.; Jackson, S. P.; Smith, G. C.; Ashworth, A. Targeting the DNA repair defect in BRCA mutant cells as a therapeutic strategy. Nature 2005, 434, 917-921.), which represented a breakthrough in the research of using PARP1/2 inhibitors alone for anti-tumour treatment. DNA is unstable and can be damaged due to the exposure to harsh environment (such as ultraviolet radiation, ionizing radiation, etc.), byproducts from normal cell metabolism, and breaks in some DNA chemical bonds. For keeping the genome intact and stable, normal human cells need to repair DNA damages caused by various factors for tens of thousands of times every day. Major DNA repair pathways include base excision repair (BER), nucleotide-excision repair (NER), homologous recombination (FIR) and nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ); wherein, BER in which PARP1/2 participates is the uppermost repair pathway for DNA single-strand breaks, while FIR is the uppermost repair pathway for DNA double-strand breaks (see: Hoeijmakers, J. H. Genome maintenance mechanisms for preventing cancer. Nature 2001, 411, 366-74). BRCA1/2 are famous tumour-suppressor genes and key repair factors in HR. Defects in BRCA1/2 will increase the unstability of genome and cause the occurrence of malignant tumour. For such cells, DNA double-strand breaks can not be repaired by HR and breaks will finally lead to the death of cells. Inhibiting PARP1/2 in BRCA1/2-deficient tumor cells leads to increase the accumulation of DNA single-strand breaks; when colliding with the replication forks in progression, DNA single-strand breaks are converted to lethal double-strand breaks which ultimately results in cell killing. The phenomenon that inhibition of PARP1/2 together with defects of BRCA1/2 kills cells is so called as synthetic lethality. The use of the synthetic lethality phenomenon provides a new strategy for treating malignant tumours, thereby opening a new era of PARP1/2 inhibitors for research and development of high selectivity anti-tumour drugs (see: Kaelin, W. G., Jr. The concept of synthetic lethality in the context of anticancer therapy. Nat. Rev. Cancer 2005, 5, 689-698; He J X, Yang C H, Miao Z H. PARP inhibitors as promising cancer therapeutics. Acta Pharmacol. Sin. 2010, 31, 1172-1180).
The first generation of PARP1/2 inhibitors was emerged thirty years ago, and most of them are nicotinamide analogues, but such inhibitors lack selectivity and effectiveness. The second generation of PARP1/2 inhibitors was developed in 1990s and clear structure-activity relationships were established; therefore, PARP1/2 inhibitors have more clear structure features. The structure features include an electron-rich aromatic ring; a carboxamide group at least containing one free hydrogen for forming hydrogen bonding; and one non-cleavable chemical bond at the position corresponding to the 3-position pharmacophore of the carboxamide, etc. (see: Zaremba, T.; Curtin, N. J. PARP inhibitor development for systemic cancer targeting. Anti-Cancer Agents Med. Chem. 2007, 7, 515-523). At present at least seven PARP1/2 inhibitors as new anti-tumour drugs have entered clinical trials (see: C. Toulmondel, U. M.; Bonnefoi, H. A review of PARP inhibitors: from bench to bedside. Annals of Oncology 2011, 22(2), 268-79; Ferraris, D. V. Evolution of Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerase-1 (PARP-1) Inhibitors. From Concept to Clinic. J. Med. Chem. 2010, 53, 4561-4584; He J X, Yang C H, Miao Z H. PARP inhibitors as promising cancer therapeutics. Acta Pharmacol. Sin. 2010, 31, 1172-1180). However, these inhibitors still have many disadvantages, such as relatively low oral bioavailability, lack of selectivity for PARP subtypes except PARP1/2 and so on.
As well known, 2-arylbenzofuran compounds widely exist in natural products. Due to their good bioactivities and potential pharmaceutical values, the researchers always pay a close attention to them. On the one hand, the scientists studying natural products continuously extract and isolate novel 2-arylbenzofuran compounds from natural products, and investigate and develop biological activities thereof (see: Halabalaki, M.; Aligiannis, N.; Papoutsi, Z.; Mitakou, S.; Moutsatsou, P.; Sekeris, C.; Skaltsounis, A.-L. Three New Arylobenzofurans from Onobrychis ebenoides and Evaluation of Their Binding Affinity for the Estrogen Receptor. J. Nat. Prod. 2000, 63, 1672-1674; and Tsai, I. L.; Hsieh, C.-F.; Duh, C.-Y. Additional Cytotoxic Neoligants From Perseaobovatifolia. Phytochemistry 1998, 48, 1371-1375); on the other hand, great efforts have been made by the chemists to develop and optimize a series of methods for constructing 2-arylbenzofuran compounds (see: Ziegert, R. E.; Torang, J. Knepper, K.; Brase, S. The Recent Impact of Solid-Phase Synthesis on Medicinally Relevant Benzoannelated Oxygen Heterocycles. J. Comb. Chem. 2005, 7, 147-169. Chen, C. Y.; Dormer, P. G. Synthesis of Benzo[b]furans via CuI-Catalyzed Ring Closure. J. Org. Chem. 2005, 70, 6964-6967. And Liang, Z. D.; Hou, W. Z.; Du, Y. F.; Zhang, Y. L.; Pan, Y.; Mao, D.; Zhao, K. Oxidative Aromatic C—O Bond Formation: Synthesis of 3-Functionalized Benzo[b]furans by FeCl3-Mediated Ring Closure of α-Aryl Ketones. Org. Lett. 2009, 21, 4978-4981, etc.). Various activities have been exhibited by reported 2-arylbenzofuran compounds, such as retinoic acid receptor (RAP) agonists (see: Santin, E. P.; Khanwalkar H.; Voegel, J.; Collette, P.; Mauvais, P.; Gronemeyer, H.; A. R. de Lera. Highly Potent Naphthofuran-Based Retinoic Acid Receptor Agonists. ChemMedChem. 2009, 4, 780-791), tubulin polymerization inhibitors (see: Flynn, B. L.; Hamel E.; Jung, M. K. One-Pot Synthesis of Benzo[b]furan and Indole Inhibitors of Tubulin Polymerization. J. Med. Chem. 2002, 45, 2670-2673), metalloproteinase inhibitors (see: Nakatani, S.; Ikura, M.; Yamamoto, S.; Nishita, Y.; Itadani, S.; Habashita, H.; Sugiura, T.; Ogawa, K.; Ohno, H.; Takahashi, K.; Nakai, H.; Toda, M. Design and synthesis of novel metalloproteinase inhibitors. Bioorg. Med. Chem. 2006, 14, 5402-5422), and antimicrobial agents (see: Emirdag-Ozturk, S.; Karayildirim, T.; Anil, H. Synthesis of egonol derivatives and their antimicrobial activities. Bioorg. Med. Chem. 2011, 18, 1179-1188). Due to the good biological activities and potentially huge medical values, some compounds have been patented, for example, a use for treating diseases relating to prostaglandin E2 receptor (WO 2008/098978), a use for treating diseases relating to cannabinoid receptor (WO 2011/022679), a use for treating diseases relating to estrogen receptor (WO 2009/124968), a use for preventing bacterial and fungal infection (WO 2005/047275), and a use for treating bladder muscle reflex contraction disease (EP 0306226A2). The above reported 2-arylbenzofuran compounds were not covered for the use as PARP1/2 inhibitors thereof according to the present invention.
Based on above reasons, the inventors designed and synthesized novel 2-arylbenzofuran-7-carboxamide compounds as PARP1/2 inhititors with high selectivity. The compounds according to the present invention have clear structure-activity relationships, and some compounds such as compound 5b have high selectivity to PARP1/2 and excellent bioavailability (After 10 mg/kg of 5b was administrated to rats by gavage, the absolute bioavailability was 58.9%, while the oral bioavailability of rats for the compound AZD2281 during phase II clinical trials was only 11.1%). Such a novel PARP1/2 inhibitor is of promise to become a novel anti-tumour medicament.

2-arylbenzofuran-7-formamide compounds, preparation method and use thereof

SHANGHAI INSTITUTE OF MATERIA MEDICA, CHINESE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES


The invention relates to an apparatus for applying foliar spray. The apparatus (1) includes supply means (2) in the form of a water tank (4) with pipe (5) extending from the tank, through a reverse osmosis water filtration unit (12), pump (6), and valve (7). A solute container (8) for holding solute (9) in the form an electrolyte solution of sodium ions (Na+) and bicarbonate ions (HCO3-) formed by mixing sodium bicarbonate and water (3) from the supply means (2) is also included. A combinatory part (10) is connected to an ion exchange part (15) through valve (19), pipe (17) and pump (18). The prepared solution is the product of passing the diluted electrolyte solution (11) through the ion exchange column (15) and may be applied to the foliage of plants (26) through pump (27), pipes (28), and finally micro sprayers (29).

It is widely known that the concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere is sub-optimal for plant growth and photosynthesis. Farmers growing plants in enclosed greenhouses often increase the concentration of CO2 therein to provide closer to optimal concentrations for plant growth. Gaseous CO2 has high costs associated with preparation and, due to global carbon dioxide taxation and restriction, farmers may be restricted from using CO2 in greenhouses.
World Intellectual Property Organization ("WIPO") publication number WO2004/040981 describes a method for enriching CO2 concentration in a plant environment and a solution for use in treating plants so as to increase CO2 concentrations therein. The method comprises the step of applying a bicarbonate or carbonate solution—to the plant environment, and more specifically applying the bicarbonate or carbonate solution to roots and/or foliage of plants. The method may include the step of pre-activating the bicarbonate or carbonate solution before application to enhance ready availability of CO2 to the plants in the form of bicarbonate ions, by pre-treating the solution in a flow through electrolytic module. The bicarbonate or carbonate solution is prepared from a dilute bicarbonic and/or carbonic acid and/or from their various corresponding bicarbonate and/or carbonate salts, and may also contain small amounts of various organic acids, such as methanoic, ethanoic (acetic), propionic or similar acids and/or their corresponding salts.
WIPO publication number WO2008/038165 discloses a method for providing nutrients to a plant, a nutrient feed solution containing such nutrients, and a process and composition for obtaining the nutrient feed solution. In particular, the invention provides a nutrient feed solution, particularly a dilute inorganic acid solution, for application to the aerial parts of a plant, wherein the nutrient feed solution comprises nutrients having molecules that are sufficiently small to pass rapidly through a plant cuticle.
(the aforementioned applications referred to hereinafter collectively as "the prior art")
A problem with the prior art is that the method includes the step of electrochemically activating the carbonic solution and such electrochemical process leaves undesirable byproducts which may be harmful to the environment. A further problem with the prior art is that it does not disclose an apparatus for preparing and applying such a carbonic solution.

Apparatus for preparing and applying a foliar spray


A robotic surface treatment system includes an omnidirectional base vehicle; a mast extending from the base vehicle; an arm extending from the mast and moveable in relation to the mast; a wrist connected to a distal end of the arm; and a surface treatment system extending from the base to the wrist through an inside of the mast, arm and wrist.

Surface treatment of aircrafts is an important task not only during manufacture but also for the maintenance of aircrafts. Various surface treatments can include depainting/stripping of organic/inorganic materials layered on a base material or substrate, inspection of the materials and substrates to be able to conclude on the actual specifications of the materials or substrate, repairing and/or correcting the materials or substrate to specifications, and painting, printing or adhesive covering the materials or substrate in one or more layers to conform to certain specifications. Outer paint of an aircraft must be in sufficiently good condition for the aircraft to be able to perform optimally and safely during operations. Small scratches or lifted parts of paint can affect the aircraft performance. It this thus required to remove outer paint completely and to apply new paint regularly. However, the paint used on the outer surface of aircrafts, due to the conditions it has to withstand, is not easily removable. Such paint is typically removed by manually applying a chemical solution which is able to dissolve the paint. The complicated architecture of plane bodies also makes manual application the safest option to ensure that the aircraft is not damaged during the process of removal or repainting.

Robotic system for surface treatment of vehicles


In general, techniques are described for managing, with a network controller for a computer network, the configuration of network devices within the computer network using one or more message buses. In some examples, a controller includes processing circuitry coupled to memory. The processing circuitry is configured to generate data for implementing a configuration change for a network device and store, to a configuration database, the data for implementing the configuration change for the network device. The processing circuitry is further configured to add, to a message queue of a message bus executed by one or more or more computing devices separate from the controller, an indication of the configuration change for the network device to cause the network device to obtain, from the configuration database, the data for implementing the configuration change for the network device.

A computer network is a collection of interconnected computing devices that exchange data and share resources. In a packet-based network, the computing devices communicate data by dividing the data into small blocks called packets, which are individually routed across the network from a source device to a destination device. The destination device extracts the data from the packets and assembles the data into its original form. A computer network may include a plurality of network devices, where each network device of the plurality of network devices is configured to exchange information (e.g., packets, pods, containers, services, or other data) with other devices within the network. Communications within the network may, in some cases, occur in accordance with a network configuration.
An intent-based network system (IBNS) is an approach for managing a computer network configuration. Within an IBNS, a user may specify an intended configuration to a controller, and the controller may determine respective network configurations for network devices and "push" the respective configurations to the network devices using protocols such as Network Configuration Protocol (NETCONF), Secure Shell (SSH), and Remote Procedure Calls (RPCs).

Network device configuration using a message bus


A method and devices for the solidification of aqueous substances by the direct evaporation of water from the substance and the sorption of the water vapor in a sorption agent in a vacuum system, wherein the aqueous substance and the sorption agent are evacuated from the surrounding pressure level to a system pressure of below 5 mbar (absolute) by means of a vacuum pump and the nonsorbable gases thereby suctioned by the vacuum pump are suctioned through the sorption agent. The mass of the used sorption agent is at least half the mass of the water fraction in the substance. The solidification process is realized in less than 2 min, particularly less than 20 sec. The aqueous substance is solidified in a solidification container that can be removed from the vacuum system, the vacuum system is subsequently vented, and the solidified substance removed from the vacuum system together with the solidification container.

Methods and devices for the cooling of aqueous liquids according to the evaporation principle are known. By the suctioning off of water vapor, an aqueous liquid is brought to evaporation and thereby cooled. In order to cool aqueous liquids to temperatures close to the solidification point, considerable water vapor volumes must be suctioned off.
Although direct evaporation makes possible a very rapid and gentle cooling, it has been possible up to now to implement it economically only in a few application cases.
Adsorption devices are devices in which a solid sorption agent sorbs a second agent, the working agent, which boils at lower temperatures, as a vapor, with the release of heat (sorption phase). The working agent thereby evaporates in an evaporator with heat absorption. After the sorption agent is saturated, it can once again be desorbed by the supply of heat at a higher temperature (desorption phase). The working agent thereby evaporates from the adsorption agent. The working agent vapor can be reliquefied and then re-evaporated.
Adsorption devices for cooling with solid sorption agents are known from EP 0 368 111 and DE-OS 34 25 419. Sorption agent containers filled with sorption agents suction off the working agent vapor that is generated in an evaporator and sorb it with the release of heat. This sorption heat must be removed from the used sorption agent. The cooling devices can be used to cool food and to keep it warm in thermally insulated boxes.
In German Patent DE 4003107, a method for making ice under vacuum with a simultaneous sorption of the outflowing water vapor in a sorption agent is described. An aqueous liquid is thereby solidified in a flanged vacuum-tight icing container.

Method and device for the rapid solidification of aqueous substances


A luminaire controller includes a controller housing, a user interface panel, a power interface, a load interface, a power control module and an illumination control module. The user interface panel, power interface and load interface extend from the controller housing. The power interface and load interface are disposed within the controller housing, and are electrically coupled to the user interface panel. The power control module is configured to electrically connect the load interface to the power interface upon receipt of a connect signal from the user interface panel, and electrically isolate the load interface from the power interface upon receipt of a disconnect signal from the user interface panel. In accordance with a light characteristic signal that is received from the user interface panel, the illumination control module is configured to wirelessly control a characteristic of light emitted by a luminaire that is electrically coupled to the load interface.

Luminaires may communicate with a wireless controller via a local-area WiFi network. The wireless controller may transmit luminance commands to the luminaires via the WiFi network, and the luminaires may alter their luminance output based on the transmitted luminance commands. For example, the wireless controller may transmit a colour command that instructs the luminaires on the WiFi network to adjust the colour of the light produced by the luminaires. The wireless controller may also transmit an intensity command that instructs the luminaires to adjust the intensity of the light produced by the luminaires.
In the latter situation, the intensity command may instruct the luminaires to reduce the intensity of the light produced to a minimum intensity level. However, the luminaires must receive power from their power source in order to process any subsequent luminance commands. Therefore, luminaires still consume power even when the intensity of the light produced by the luminaires is at the luminaires' minimum intensity level (i.e. the luminaires appear to be "off").

Luminaire controller and method of controlling a luminaire


The specification discloses a modular transportation seating assembly that includes a support frame and seats mounted on the frame. The frame includes a seat beam and a cantilever beam. The cantilever beam includes a body and a connector inserted into the body and held together by compressive force. The body has an end defining a plurality of receivers, and the connector includes a plurality of lugs each received within one of said receivers. The seat beam includes a body, a tee nut slidably received within the body, a second connector outside the body, and a fastener intersecuring the two connectors to retain them in position along the length of the body. A single fastener intersecures the connectors on the seat beam and the cantilever beam. The seat includes a flange hooked about the back edge of the seat beam and one or more fasteners connecting the seat to the forward edge of the seat beam. The backs of adjacent seats define a vee, and a seat tie fills the lower portion of the vee to prevent objects from accidentally catching in the vee. The seats are molded and can include an integrally molded grab rail.

The present invention relates to seating systems, and more particularly to transportation seating systems.
A wide variety of transportation seating systems have been developed for use in public transportation vehicles. Such vehicles include busses, subways, and streetcars. While the systems developed to date have gained widespread acceptance, there is a continuing need for improved systems which are simpler, less expensive, more functional, and safer.


A spherical annular seal member (58) includes: a spherical annular base member (56) defined by a cylindrical inner surface (52), a partially convex spherical surface (56), and end faces (54, 55); and an outer layer (57) formed integrally with the partially convex spherical surface (53) of the spherical annular base member (56). The spherical annular base member (56) includes a reinforcing member (5) made from a compressed metal wire net (4) and a heat-resistant material filling meshes of the metal wire net (4) of the reinforcing member (5), integrated with the reinforcing member (5) in mixed form, and containing expanded graphite and an organic phosphorus compound. The outer layer (56) includes a heat-resistant material constituted by a heat-resistant sheet member (6) containing expanded graphite and an organic phosphorus compound, and a reinforcing member constituted by a metal wire net (4) integrated with the heat-resistant material in mixed formed.

A conventional spherical annular seal member used in a spherical pipe joint for an automobile exhaust pipe is heat resistant, excels in affinity with a mating member, and has remarkably improved impact strength, but has a drawback in that the seal member often generates abnormal noise when it undergoes friction under dry frictional conditions (published in JP-A-54-76759). The drawback of this seal member is conceivably attributable to, among others, the fact that there is a large difference between the coefficient of static friction and the coefficient of dynamic friction of a heat-resistant material (such as expanded graphite) for forming the seal member, and to the fact that the seal member constituted by this heat-resistant material exhibits negative resistance with respect to the sliding velocity or speed.
Therefore, to overcome the above-described drawback, the present applicant proposed a seal member which excels in the sealing characteristic without generating abnormal frictional noise in the sliding on a mating member, and satisfies the performance required of a seal member (Japanese Patent No. 3,139,179).
However, with respect to this proposed seal member as well, a new problem has been presented which is attributable to, among others, the improvement in recent years of the performance of automobile engines. That is, the conventional seal members are unable to satisfy the conditions of use in the light of heat resistance, owing to an increase in the exhaust-gas temperature due to the improved performance of the automobile engines, or owing to an increase in the exhaust-gas temperature attributable to the fact that the spherical pipe joint is located closer to the engine side in a case where the spherical pipe joint is disposed in the vicinity of an outlet (manifold) of the exhaust gases, for the purpose of improving the noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) characteristics of an automobile. Thus, there has been a compelling need for improvement of the heat resistance of the seal member itself.
With respect to the above-described newly presented problem, the present applicant proposed spherical annular seal members and methods of manufacturing the same in which heat resistance is improved (JP-A-10-9396 and JP-A-10-9397).
The above-described spherical annular seal members are capable of suppressing the oxidative wear to low levels, do not generate abnormal frictional noise, excel in sealing characteristics, and are capable of satisfying their functions as seal members even under high temperatures of 600° C. to 700° C. However, in the case of these spherical annular seal members, since a heat-resistant sheet member, e.g., a heat-resistant sheet member having on the surfaces of an expanded graphite sheet a heat-resistant coating formed of heat-resistant materials, is used in the manufacturing methods, the flexibility inherent in the expanded graphite sheet is sacrificed. In consequence, there are possibilities that the cracking, breakage, and the like of the heat-resistant coating and, hence, the breakage and the like of the heat-resistant sheet member can often occur in the bending operation and the like involved in the process of manufacturing the spherical annular seal member. Thus, it was found that there is room for improvement in terms of the material yield, and that the elimination of the drawback of the material yield has the advantage of shortening the process of manufacturing the spherical annular seal member, leading to the reduction of the manufacturing cost.


In a semiconductor assembly with a solder material layer and a method for soldering the semiconductor assembly, a silicon semiconductor body with a diffusion barrier layer is provided with a solder material layer, preferably a tin layer. The semiconductor body is then applied to a metal carrier plate and is directly soldered to the carrier plate by heating to temperatures to above 250.degree. C., i.e. without further additions.

Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a semiconductor assembly with a solder material layer and a method for soldering the semiconductor assembly, in which a semiconductor body formed of silicon is soldered to a metal carrier plate through a sequence of metal layers which, as seen from the silicon toward the carrier plate, includes an aluminum layer and a diffusion barrier layer before soldering.
Such semiconductor bodies are installed in semiconductor components, especially in power semiconductor components, which are on the market in large amounts. The sequence of metal layers as a rule includes an aluminum layer which is disposed on a silicon semiconductor body. The aluminum layer adheres well to silicon and forms a perfect ohmic contact, especially with p-doped silicon. According to the prior art, disposed on the aluminum layer is a diffusion barrier layer formed mostly of titanium or chromium which acts as an adhesion promoter and rearside barrier between a nickel layer disposed on the diffusion barrier layer and the aluminum layer. In the prior art, a noble metal layer is applied to the nickel layer directly or on a thin titanium layer that follows and serves for adhesion improvement. The noble metal layer is mostly formed of silver, gold or palladium and serves as an oxidation protection for the nickel layer.
In the actual soldering process a solder disk is conventionally placed between the thus metallized rearside of the semiconductor body and the metal carrier plate which usually is formed of tin or flux. In the soldering process, the solder layer placed between the carrier plate and the silver layer of the semiconductor body then melts, whereby the silver layer is then dissolved and the nickel layer that follows begins to be dissolve from the solder material and the solder connection is produced.
However, that generally known soldering process has great disadvantages. On one hand, the different coefficients of thermal expansion of nickel and the silicon semiconductor body cause mechanical tension which lead to high wafer bending (bending >1000 .mu.m) especially in the case of thin semiconductor bodies (thickness .ltoreq.250 .mu.m).
This leads to difficult handling of the wafer which leads to increased errors in cassette positioning and which leads to increased danger of breakage during treatment of the wafer. That problem was heretofore solved by trying to minimize the thickness of the nickel layer to such a degree that the soldering still exhibited a sufficient adhesive strength. Regardless of reduced thickness of the nickel layer (.apprxeq.1 .mu.m), disc deformations of between 700 and 2000 .mu.m still occur during production, which lead to the above-mentioned problems.

Semiconductor assembly with solder material layer and method for soldering the semiconductor assemly


An apparatus and method for polishing combustion engine valves. The machine includes a rotating deburring wheel for on contact with the valve stem and a regulating surface which provides support and applies a rotational force to the valve stem. A pair of guide blades and a guide plate cooperate with the regulating surface to contain the valve stem when contacted by the deburring wheel. The guide blades are positioned at an angle with respect to the axis of rotation of the regulating surface to bias the valve in an inward direction against the guide plate during valve rotation. The machine further includes the use of a unique pivot point for the deburring wheel support so the deburring wheel contacts the valve stem approximately above the valve stem centerline regardless of valve stem diameter or variations in the diameter of the deburring wheel.

This invention relates generally to the polishing of metallic surfaces, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for polishing the stem of an internal combustion engine valve.
Internal combustion engine valves have a tendency to become fouled in use. When such fouling sufficiently reduces the performance, the valves are removed and refurbished. The refurbishment includes removal of carbon deposits by batch cleaning of the valves. Such cleaning process tends to impart minute deformities in the valve surface. The valve surface must be restored to a predetermined finish prior to installing in an engine. One known technique is to grind the valve stems. This involves the removal of material from the valve stem surface which requires that a valve guide insert be positioned in the valve guide to accommodate the reduced valve stem diameter. Such method requires the additional material and labor expense of installing the valve guide inserts.
A long felt need has existed for a technique for polishing valve stems. In contrast to grinding, polishing is not intended to alter the dimensions of the article. Rather, the surface is restored close to its original finish without a substantial removal of material. A successful technique for polishing valve stems, however, has proved to be elusive. While polishing is not intended to remove surface material, prior attempts at polishing valve stems have either produced an out-of-round condition of the stem or a non-uniform stem diameter.


A remotely controlled concealed attack toy vehicle has a relatively normal appearance when the hood is closed; and arrangements are provided for raising the hood, and an armed attack figure is also raised, to present a threatening posture. The vehicle may have two rear drive wheels, which are independently operable by separate motors in the forward or reverse directions to permit rapid swiveling. A third idler wheel may be provided toward the front of the vehicle. A third motor may be provided to raise and lower the hood and the action figure, with an optional lost motion mechanism for delayed raising of the attack figure.

It has previously been proposed to provide toy vehicles having exploding characteristics, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,816,888 show one such toy. Attention is also directed to U.S. Pat. No. 5,334,078 which shows a vehicle with crocodile teeth and using a wing structure which is raised as the exposed jaws of the vehicle are opened. Also, U.S. Pat. No. 5,474,486 shows a vehicle in which the inside of the hood of a toy vehicle is in the form of a creature which squirts water when the hood is raised.


A phase locked loop (PLL) which includes a phase frequency detector coupled with a time to digital converter capable of comparing a reference signal with an oscillator signal and generating a digital value representing the phase difference between the reference signal and the oscillator signal. The PLL further includes a state machine for phase acquisition that is capable of generating a control value depending on the digital value, and a controllable oscillator that is capable of generating the oscillator signal depending on the control value.

The present invention relates to a phase locked loop and a method for adjusting the frequency and/or the phase in the phase locked loop.
A purpose of a phase locked loop (PLL) is to measure the phase difference between a reference signal and a variable signal from a controllable oscillator implemented in the PLL and to use that phase difference to make a frequency adjustment to the variable signal. A PLL which fulfills this purpose is described in the prior art EP 1 443 653 A1. The PLL shown in the prior art is a type-II all-digital phase locked loop. It comprises a proportional loop gain block, a linear loop gain block and a time-to-digital converter. The time-to-digital converter is implemented in such a way that the phase difference between the digitally controlled oscillator frequency and reference frequency is multiplied with an inverse period to carry out a normalization of the measured phase difference. This normalized phase difference is then used to adjust the loop gain.
The application of the PLL for clock and data recovery in a serial data link receiver requires the capability to adjust the output phase of the PLL in discrete phase steps. The embodiment of the PLL described in EP 1 443 653 does not show this feature. A further helpful feature is to monitor the jitter of the PLL, which however is also not disclosed in EP 1 443 653.

Phase locked loop and method for adjusting the frequency and phase in the phase locked loop


An ultrasonic probe having a first ultrasonic transmitter-receiver head having a plurality of first ultrasonic transducers carrying transmission and reception of ultrasounds, the plurality of first ultrasonic transducers being arranged in a predetermined first direction. The ultrasonic probe also has a second ultrasonic transmitter-receiver head, detachably loaded onto the first ultrasonic transmitter-receiver head, having a plurality of second ultrasonic transducers carrying transmission and reception of ultrasounds, the plurality of second ultrasonic transducers being arranged in a second direction intersecting the first direction when loaded. The second ultrasonic transmitter-receiver head monitors a state that a puncture needle to be punctured inside a subject is inserted into the inside of the subject. According to the present invention it is possible to implement an ultrasonic probe suitable for both use of a normal diagnosis and a puncture and is capable of contributing to a reduction of the cost. An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus having such an ultrasonic probe is also described.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ultrasonic probe which is adapted to be put to a subject, and which transmits ultrasounds to the inside of the subject and which receives ultrasounds reflected inside of the subject. The present invention also relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus in which the ultrasonic probe is used to transmit and receive ultrasounds and images within the subject are produced and displayed in accordance with received signals derived through receiving ultrasounds with the ultrasonic probe.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hitherto, there has been used for diagnoses of diseases within the subject an ultrasonic diagnostic system in which ultrasonic beams are transmitted inside of the subject, particularly, the human body, and ultrasounds reflected at the inside of tissues in the human body and the boundary between tissue-to-tissue are received in the form of received signals, so that images in the human body involved in the received signals are formed.
Such an ultrasonic diagnostic system comprises, usually, a main frame of the ultrasonic diagnostic system and an ultrasonic probe connected through a cable to the main frame. On the tip of the ultrasonic probe, there are arranged a lot of ultrasonic transducers (e.g. 128 pieces) in which when drive signals are input, ultrasounds are transmitted in accordance with the drive signals, and the ultrasounds reflected inside the subject are picked up to generate received signals. To derive ultrasonic images within the subject, the tip of the ultrasonic probe is put to a surface of the subject. Drive signals generated in the main frame of the ultrasonic diagnostic system are fed to the ultrasonic transducers so that ultrasound is transmitted in a direction along one scan line extending within the subject and the ultrasound reflected inside the subject is picked up to generate a received signal carrying information as to the inside of the subject along the one scan line. This performance is repeated (scanned) while the scan line is shifted in a direction along which the ultrasonic transducers are arranged. In this manner, there is formed an ultrasonic image (tomographic image) within a section of the inside of the subject as to the direction along which the ultrasonic transducers are arranged. The tomographic image thus formed is displayed on an image display apparatus of the main frame of the ultrasonic diagnostic system, or may be recorded on a video tape and the like.
An ultrasonic diagnostic system is usually provided with a function of obtaining tomographic images within the subject, and in addition has a function of obtaining images representative of a blood flow distribution. However, these functions are well known in technology. Hence, there will be omitted a redundant explanation as to the image producing itself.
It happens that for the purpose of picking of a part of tissues of the affected part for a diagnosis, while an image of the affected part within the subject is formed, which is obtained with the use of the ultrasonic diagnostic system, is observed, or for the purpose of injecting medical liquid into the affected part, a puncture needle is inserted into the affected part within the subject.
There is known an ultrasonic probe for a puncture to facilitate the above-mentioned puncture operation (cf. Japanese Patent Application Laid Open Gazette Hei. 5-317309 and Japanese Utility Model Application Laid Open Gazette Hei. 5-33708). In these publication, there is proposed an ultrasonic probe for a puncture in which ultrasonic transducers, which are arranged in two directions perpendicularly intersecting each other, are provided in a unitary body, and a puncture needle guide aperture is formed so that a puncture needle may be introduced to a position at which the puncture needle appears on both two images respectively obtained through the ultrasonic transducers arranged in said two directions.
In the observation of the entire ultrasonic diagnostic works using an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, the puncture operation is used few times and the usual operation, such as an observation of images of the inside of the subject through moving an ultrasonic probe, is used rather much. Under such circumstances, according to the above-proposed ultrasonic probe for a puncture, the contact area to the subject is large since the ultrasonic transducers are arranged on a two-dimensional basis. This structure is suitable for operation such that the puncture needle is inserted while the ultrasonic probe for a puncture is not moved in a state that the probe is urged to a predetermined position of the subject, but is not suitable for the usual working which needs to move the ultrasonic probe. Thus, there is a need to prepare an ultrasonic probe for a usual operation in addition to preparing the ultrasonic probe for a puncture. The preparation of a plurality of types of ultrasonic probes, which are expensive, according to the presence of a puncture, causes a problem such that the cost of the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is increased in its entirety.

Ultrasonic probe and ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus


A method of forming a monitor mark includes forming an insulating film on a semiconductor substrate, and forming a first repetitive line pattern group and a second repetitive line pattern group by patterning the insulating film on the semiconductor substrate, such that the first repetitive line pattern group and the second repetitive line pattern group face each other with a predetermined space therebetween.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of forming a monitor mark suitable for a micropattern and a monitoring method using the monitor mark.
2. Description of the Related Art
The miniaturization of semiconductor devices is greatly dependent on lithographic technology. Therefore, it is generally difficult to form a line-and-space pattern having a micro width exceeding a lithographic resolution limit. In view of such a problem, a method known as a double patterning technology using a spacer process has been proposed as a method of forming a micropattern exceeding the resolution limit (e.g., refer to Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2002-280338, and Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2006-303022). This technology features to firstly forms a double pitched pattern compared to the final product pattern, and to secondly reduce the pitch to half using means other than exposure.
In this technology, a dummy pattern is formed by lithography using, for example, a resist on an interconnect layer, and after the formation of an insulating film covering this dummy pattern, anisotropic etching such as RIE is carried out. Thus, a sidewall insulator remains on the sidewall of the dummy pattern, and then the dummy pattern is removed. The interconnect layer is etched using the remaining sidewall insulator as a mask, such that a micro interconnect pattern is formed.
In the pattern forming process using sidewall spacers, the pitch of interconnect lines is shifted due to a dimensional error after exposure or processing or due to an error in the thickness of a sidewall, and this results in a misalignment error. Therefore, in the pattern forming process using sidewall spacers, it is necessary to highly precisely measure and manage not only misalignment caused by an alignment error in an exposure device but also a pattern transfer displacement (pitch shift) error caused by the dimensional error, and control the process on the basis of the result of the measurement.
Although the micropattern can be formed by the above-mentioned method, a phenomenon occurs where the dimensions of the formed line-and-space patterns alternately vary due to, for example, a dimensional error in the resist patterns or variations in the etching rate of an underlying interconnect layer dependent on the shape of the sidewall insulator as a mask.
There is a need to readily measure the effect of such an error in a short time, and feed back the result of the measurement to a process in order to improve the quality of the pattern forming process using sidewall spacers. To this end, a scanning electron microscope (SEM) can be used to inspect the patterns, but measurement with the SEM generally takes much time and is therefore not suitable for the collection of information on a large number of points in a substrate.
Thus, there is a desire for the provision of a method of more easily measuring and evaluating a dimensional error attributed to a problem in the pattern forming process using sidewall spacers than in the case of using the SEM, and the provision of a monitor mark therefor and a semiconductor device manufacturing method using the monitor mark.

Pattern monitor mark and monitoring method suitable for micropattern


An optical device including: a laser light emitting portion that emits laser light; a polygon mirror having a reflective surface that reflects the laser light, the polygon mirror being driven to rotate and deflecting the laser light emitted from the laser light emitting portion; a first lens through which the laser light reflected by the polygon mirror is transmitted, the first lens refracting the laser light; a second lens through which the laser light having passed through the first lens is transmitted, the second lens refracting the laser light; and an adjustment unit that adjusts at least one of a length of a first optical path between the polygon mirror and the first lens, and a length of a second optical path between the first lens and the second lens.

There has hitherto been conceived an optical device having a laser light emitting portion which emits laser light, a polygon mirror which includes a reflective surface for reflecting the laser light and which is driven to rotate, thereby to deflect the laser light emitted from the laser light emitting portion and to scan a scanned surface, a first lens through which the laser light reflected by the polygon mirror is transmitted and which refracts the laser light along the scanned surface, and a second lens through which the laser light having passed through the first lens is transmitted and which refracts the laser light along the scanned surface. In the optical device of this type, the laser light emitted from the laser light emitting portion can be deflected by the polygon mirror so as to scan the scanned surface, and it can be further refracted along the scanned surface through the first and second lenses.
It has also been proposed to enhance an fθ characteristic (so-called "linearity") by adopting an anamorphic aspheric surface for the first lens, and a two-dimensional polynomial aspheric surface for the second lens (refer to, for example, JP-A-2003-149573).

Optical device, adjustment method for the same and image forming apparatus


A method and system for allowing a media player to determine if it supports the capabilities of an accessory are disclosed. The method and system comprise requesting information about the capabilities of the accessory by the media player and providing information about the capabilities of the accessory by the accessory to the media player. The method and system further include utilizing the information to determine if the capabilities of the accessory are supported by the media player. Accordingly, a method and system in accordance with the present invention provides a system that allows a media player to obtain information from an accessory about the accessory's capability. A media player can then utilize this information to allow for the maximum functionality of the accessory when connected to the media player.

A media player stores media assets, such as audio tracks, videos, and photos that can be played or displayed on the media player. One example of a media player is the iPod® media player, which is available from Apple Computer, Inc. of Cupertino, Calif. Often, a media player acquires its media assets from a host computer that serves to enable a user to manage media assets. As an example, the host computer can execute a media management application to manage media assets. One example of a media management application is iTunes®, version 6.0, produced by Apple Computer, Inc.
A media player typically includes one or more connectors or ports that can be used to interface to the media player. For example, the connector or port can enable the media player to couple to a host computer, be inserted into a docking system, or receive an accessory device. There are today many different types of accessory devices that can interconnect to the media player. For example, a remote control can be connected to the connector or port to allow the user to remotely control the media player. As another example, an automobile can include a connector and the media player can be inserted onto the connector such that an automobile media system can interact with the media player, thereby allowing the media content on the media player to be played within the automobile.
Currently, the connectors or ports of a media player are open for use so long as a compatible connector or port is utilized. Consequently, numerous third-parties have developed accessory devices for use with other manufacturers' media players. One difficulty is that since a media player communicates with a variety of accessories it does not know the capabilities of the accessory and may not support the capabilities of the accessory.
Accordingly, it is desirable for the media player to know those capabilities and to know whether it supports the capabilities of an associated accessory. Therefore it is also desirable to provide a method and system for allowing a media player to efficiently and effectively determine the capabilities of an accessory and determine if the media player supports such capabilities. The present invention addresses such a need.

Method and system for allowing a media player to determine if it supports the capabilities of an accessory


Embodiments of present inventions are directed to an advanced catalyst. The advanced catalyst includes a honeycomb structure with an at least one nano-particle on the honeycomb structure. The advanced catalyst used in diesel engines is a two-way catalyst. The advanced catalyst used in gas engines is a three-way catalyst. In both the two-way catalyst and the three-way catalyst, the at least one nano-particle includes nano-active material and nano-support. The nano-support is typically alumina. In the two-way catalyst, the nano-active material is platinum. In the three-way catalyst, the nano-active material is platinum, palladium, rhodium, or an alloy. The alloy is of platinum, palladium, and rhodium.

A catalytic converter for a car uses a catalyst to convert, for example, three harmful compounds in car exhaust into less harmful compounds. The three harmful compounds include hydrocarbons in the form of unburned gasoline, carbon monoxide formed by the combustion of gasoline, and nitrogen oxide created when heat in the engine forces nitrogen in the air to combine with oxygen. There are two main structures used in catalytic converters—honeycomb and ceramic beads. Most automobiles today use the honeycomb structure. The honeycomb structure is housed in a muffler-like package that comes before the exhaust pipe. The catalyst helps to convert carbon monoxide into carbon dioxide, the hydrocarbons into carbon dioxide and water, and the nitrogen oxides back into nitrogen and oxygen.
Various methods of manufacturing the catalyst used in the catalytic converter exist in the art. FIG. 1A illustrates a first conventional method of manufacturing the catalyst. The first method is known as a one-dip process. At a step 105, micron-sized platinum (Pt) ions are impregnated into micron-sized alumina (Al2O3) ions, resulting in micro-particles. The micro-particles have platinum atoms on the alumina ions. At a step 110, a wash coat is made using micron-sized oxides that include pint size alumina and pint size silica (SiO2), a certain amount of stabilizers for the alumina, and a certain amount of promoters. At a step 115, the micro-particles are mixed together with the wash coat. At a step 120, a cylindrical-shaped ceramic monolith is obtained. A cross-section of the monolith contains 300-600 channels per square inch. The channels are linear square channels that run from the front to the back of the monolith. At a step 125, the monolith is coated with the wash coat. This can be achieved by dipping the monolith in the wash coat. As such, the channels of the monolith are coated with a layer of wash coat. At a step 130, the monolith is dried. The layer of wash coat has an irregular surface, which has a far greater surface area than a flat surface. In addition, the wash coat when dried is a porous structure. The irregular surface and the porous structure are desirable because they give a high surface area, approximately 100-250 m2/g, and thus more places for the micro-particles to bond thereto. As the monolith dries, the micro-particles settle on the surface and pores of the monolith. At a step 135, the monolith is calcined. The calcination bonds the components of the wash coat to the monolith by oxide to oxide coupling. The catalyst is formed. FIG. 1B illustrates a microscopic view 145 of a channel of the monolith 140 that is coated with the layer of wash coat 150 having platinum atoms 155.
FIG. 2A illustrates a second conventional method of manufacturing the catalyst. The second method is known as a two-dip process. At a step 205, a wash coat is made using micron-sized oxides that include pint size alumina and pint size silica, a certain amount of stabilizers for the alumina, and a certain amount of promoters. At a step 210, a cylindrical-shaped ceramic monolith is obtained. At a step 215, the monolith is coated with the wash coat such as via dipping. As such, the channels are also coated with a layer of wash coat. Typically, the layer of wash coat has an irregular surface which has a far greater surface area than a flat surface. FIG. 2B illustrates a microscopic view 250 of a channel of the monolith 245 coated with the layer of the wash coat 255. Returning to FIG. 2A, at a step 220, the monolith is dried. The wash coat when dried is a porous structure. At a step 225, the monolith is calcined. The calcination bonds the components of the wash coat to the monolith by oxide to oxide coupling. Micron-sized alumina oxides are then impregnated with micron-sized platinum ions and other promoters using a method that is well known in the art. Specifically, at a step 230, platinum is nitrated, forming salt (PtNO3). The PtNO3 is dissolved in a solvent such as water, thereby creating a dispersion. At step 235, the monolith is dipped into the solution. At a step 240, the monolith is dried. At a step 245, the monolith is calcined. The catalyst is formed. FIG. 2C illustrates another microscopic view 250′ of the channel of the monolith 245′ coated with the layer of wash coat 255′ having platinum atoms 260.
FIG. 3A illustrates a microscopic view 305 of a surface of the layer of the wash coat after calcination. Platinum atoms 310 are attached to oxygen atoms of the alumina. When exhaust gas goes through the catalytic converter, the platinum atoms 310 help reduce the harmful compounds by converting them into less harmful compounds. However, these various methods of manufacturing the catalyst used in the catalytic converter suffer from a number of shortcomings. For example, the platinum atoms 310 are not fixed to their bonded oxygen atoms of the alumina and are able to move around to other available oxygen atoms as illustrated in FIGS. 3B-3C. As the platinum atoms 310 move, the platinum atoms 310 begin to coalesce with other platinum atoms resulting in larger particles 315, as shown in FIG. 3D, and a more energetically favorable state. It is understood that as the platinum particles become larger, it detrimentally affects the catalyst since surface area of the platinum atoms decreases. In high temperature applications, such as in an aged catalytic converting testing, the movement of platinum atoms is magnified. In addition, since cost of platinum is extremely expensive, excessive use of platinum is unwanted.
The present invention addresses at least these limitations in the prior art.

Advanced catalysts for automotive applications


Sealing lacquer for application in a printing process, in particular for sealing packaging parts which can be peeled off from one another. The sealing lacquer has in particular a) 40 to 65 wt % solvent, b) 0 to 10 wt % styrene butadiene block copolymer, c) 8 to 12 wt % styrene alpha methylstyrene, d) 6 to 12 wt % linear and/or radial Tri-block (SBS) block, e) 0 to 10 wt % linear Di-Block (SB) block, f) 15 to 30 wt % polyester, and g) up to 3 wt % antioxidant. The sealing lacquer provides a seal that, whether the seal is opened by peeling, or the packaging is push-through packaging, provides a holding force exhibiting a strength until cohesion failure that is determined by the pressures and temperatures used during sealing.

Heat-sealing lacquers are widely used in the packaging industry. Their essential task is to provide a secure and tight cohesion between two parts or portions of the packaging material when closing a package. Classic examples of application are the sealing of a plate, in normal usage variously called a lid, mostly consisting of a multilayer film, onto the edge of a cup, a bowl, or other structure of a mostly different and mechanically mostly firmer material.
Another classic field of application is the closing of bag-like packages, which are formed from a single film by bending and folding, or by matching two films to form a package and in which then inside is generally sealed against inside. Occasionally, the outside may also be sealed to the inside. All this is well known in the packaging industry and needs no further explanation.
Another classic use and application is in the production of a blister pack, in which a blister bottom film, which in the classical case is cold-formed having individual cup-shaped recesses, is sealed with a blister covering film.
Generally, but without being limited, the blister bottom film has a plurality of wells which are covered and sealed with a common covering film. A second type of blister pack is similar to the aforementioned bag-like packaging and has two films which generally have the same or a similar design, into which the product to be packaged is introduced, followed by being sealed in a longitudinal and transverse direction to present the individual goods individually packaged.
An essential point of such packaging with sealing strips or sealing edges or sealing circles, etc., is that it is desired, depending on the intended use, to design the sealing strength in various manners, with sealing strength being understood to mean the holding force of the mechanical connection. The range may be from a seal of a film easily peelable from the substrate at one end of the seal strength scale to connections in which one or both of the films and/or packaging components may not be removed without being destroyed at the other end of the scale, such as press-through films in which the seal strength must desirably be greater than the tear strength of the film.
An inherent problem is that, depending on the intended use, it is necessary during the production of the individual packaging parts to use different sealing materials and different application methods or process parameters in order to arrive at the desired result. This is laborious, both from an organization and warehousing standpoint.
There is thus a need for a sealing material which adheres to the substrate in such a firm and reliable manner that even with the desired strongest sealing force it does not detach from the substrate, and that on the other hand an easily defined sealing force, which may be influenced in broad limits, is reliably achieved by simply varying the process parameters during sealing and thus closing of the packaging.
From WO2015169897 and DE102014208608 a material is known which is produced under the name Degalan VP 4311 E by Evonik Röhm. Also known is the very similar sealing lacquer Degalan VP 4322 E, also from Evonik Röhm. A disadvantage of these sealing lacquers is the fact that an adhesion break may develop, in which the break line usually does not manifest itself within the lacquer, but between lacquer and sealed surface. A non-destructive removal can not be ensured. Another disadvantage is that with the sealing lacquers mentioned above, the sealing force can no longer be set above a temperature of 150° C. This represents a disadvantage in that in sealing processes used on the market sealing takes place only above a temperature of 150° C. Therefore, there is no possibility for influencing (setting) the sealing force in the usual range of process parameters.
In the case of laminating hot melt adhesives, it is known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,096,203 A to influence the binding force later achieved by adhering to different parameters during polymerization, but in the case of a product, once it is produced, only this binding force can be achieved. In addition, the application is much more complicated than with a lacquer.