A recording sheet for ink jet printing is described, which consists of a support having coated onto said support at least two ink-receiving layers, wherein the ink-receiving layer situated next to the support contains nanoporous silicon dioxide with a positively charged surface and at least one binder and the ink-receiving layer situated further away from the support contains nanocrystalline, nanoporous aluminium oxide or aluminium oxide/hydroxide and at least one binder and, optionally, nanoporous silicon dioxide with a positively charged surface.

Ink jet printing processes are mainly of two types: continuous stream and drop-on-demand.
In continuous stream ink jet printing, a continuous ink stream is emitted under pressure through a nozzle. The stream breaks up into droplets at a certain distance from the nozzle. If a specific location on the recording sheet has to be printed the individual droplets are deposited on the recording sheet, otherwise they are directed to a collecting vessel. This is done for example by charging unnecessary droplets in accordance with digital data signals and passing them through a static electric field which adjusts the trajectory of these droplets in order to direct them to the collecting vessel. The inverse procedure may also be used wherein uncharged droplets are collected in the vessel.
In the non-continuous process, or the so-called "drop-on-demand" process, a droplet is generated and expelled from the nozzle in accordance with digital data signals only if a specific location on the recording sheet has to be printed.
The printing speed of modern ink jet printers is ever increasing for economical reasons. Recording sheets suitable for these printers therefore need to absorb the inks very quickly. Especially suitable are recording sheets containing nanoporous inorganic compounds, preferably oxides such as aluminum oxides or silicon dioxide, or oxide/hydroxides such as aluminum oxide/hydroxides. Such recording sheets are known as "nanoporous" recording sheets.
Nanoporous recording sheets for ink jet printing containing nanocrystalline, nanoporous aluminum oxide or aluminum oxide/hydroxide are described for example in patent application EP 0,298,424.
Image quality is improved in the case where the nanocrystalline, nanoporous aluminum oxide or aluminum oxide/hydroxide contains one or more elements of the rare earth metal series of the periodic system of the elements, as described for example in patent application EP 0,875,394.
It is an advantage if the positive charge of the surface of nanocrystalline, nanoporous aluminum oxide or aluminum oxide/hydroxide is increased by a treatment with aluminum chlorohydrate, as described for example in patent application EP 1,437,228.
Recording sheets containing nanocrystalline, nanoporous aluminum oxide or aluminum oxide/hydroxide show excellent image quality, very high gloss and excellent transparency due to the small particle size of the aluminum oxide or aluminum oxide/hydroxide. Ink absorption capacity is only sufficiently high with a sufficiently high quantity of aluminum oxide or aluminum oxide/hydroxide because its pore volume is relatively low. Because high quantities of aluminum oxide or aluminum oxide/hydroxide are needed in such recording sheets and the price of aluminum oxide or aluminum oxide/hydroxide is high, manufacturing costs of such recording sheets are high. Manufacturing speed is relatively low because high quantities of coating solutions need to be coated and dried for the ink-receiving layers.
Patent application DE 10,020,346 describes a recording sheet which contains silicon dioxide prepared in the gas phase with a size of the primary particles of at most 20 nm, wherein the surface of the silicon dioxide has been modified by a treatment with aluminum chlorohydrate.
Patent application WO 00/20,221 describes the reaction of silicon dioxide prepared in the gas phase with aluminum chlorohydrate. The modified silicon dioxide is incorporated afterwards into an ink-receiving layer of nanoporous recording sheets for ink jet printing.
Patent application WO 02/094,573 describes the use of silicon dioxide prepared in the gas phase in recording sheets for ink jet printing, wherein the surface of the silicon dioxide has been modified by a treatment with aminoorganosilanes.
Patent application WO 01/05,599 describes the use of silicon dioxide pigments in recording sheets for ink jet printing, wherein the surface of the silicon dioxide has been modified by a treatment with cationic aminoorganosiloxanes.
Patent application EP 0,983,867 describes the use of colloidal silicon dioxide in recording sheets for ink jet printing, wherein the surface of the silicon dioxide has been modified by a treatment with silanes of general formula (R1)nSi(OR2)4-n, wherein at least one of the substituents R1 contains an amino group.
Patent application EP 1,655,348 describes a method of surface modification of nanoporous silicon dioxide, wherein the silicon dioxide is modified by a treatment with the reaction products of at least one aminoorganosilane with a compound of trivalent aluminum, for example aluminum chlorohydrate. The modified nanoporous silicon dioxide is incorporated afterwards into an ink-receiving layer of a nanoporous recording sheet for ink jet printing.
Nanoporous recording sheets for ink jet printing, having coated onto an ink-receiving layer containing nanoporous silicon dioxide with a pore radius between 4 nm and 25 nm, an ink-receiving layer containing nanocrystalline, nanoporous aluminum oxide/hydroxide, for example pseudo-boehmite, are described for example in patent application EP 0,631,013.
Recording sheets containing nanoporous silicon dioxide have an excellent ink absorption capacity even with a low quantity of nanoporous silicon dioxide because of its high pore volume. Because relatively low quantities of silicon dioxide are needed in such recording sheets and the price of silicon dioxide is relatively low, manufacturing costs of such recording sheets are quite low. Manufacturing speed is high because relatively low quantities of coating solutions need to be coated and dried for the ink-receiving layers. However, image quality as well as transparency of such recording sheets, are not very good.
Nanocrystalline, nanoporous aluminum oxide or aluminum oxide/hydroxide has a pore volume, which is lower by a factor of 1.4 to 2.0 than the pore volume of nanoporous silicon dioxide. Therefore, the quantity of nanocrystalline, nanoporous aluminum oxide or aluminum oxide/hydroxide needed for the absorption of a fixed amount of aqueous inks is higher by a factor of 1.4 to 2.0 than in the case of nanoporous silicon dioxide.
There is therefore a need to improve, in recording sheets for ink jet printing containing nanoporous inorganic compounds, in addition to ink absorption capacity, speed of ink absorption, water fastness, light stability and the like, in particular the image quality and the gloss with dye based inks and with pigment based inks. There is also a need to reduce manufacturing costs.


A device for blocking wheels of a vehicle, including elongate guide means, a wheel block carrier guided slidably in a lengthwise direction of the guide means and including a wheel block guided for movement transverse relative to the lengthwise direction, and control and drive means for moving the wheel block carrier relative to the guide means and for moving the wheel block relative to the wheel block carrier.

Such a device is used particularly at loading stations for trucks, wherein a truck for loading is reversed against an opening in the wall of a distribution centre or the like and the truck is loaded by means of a fork-lift truck which drives from the building into the inside of the truck over a loading ramp. It is herein of the very greatest importance that the truck stands correctly positioned and immobile. If the truck were able to move away, for instance because the brake had not been applied, serious accidents could occur.
The invention now has for its object to provide a device with which a truck can be placed precisely in front of a loading door in a building and can be blocked in reliable manner and in the correct manner.


Disclosed are a complex payment system using a portable terminal, and a complex payment method. According to the present invention, a portable terminal such as a smartphone or a vendor server may analyze and display an optimum payment condition containing a minimum payment amount using bonus information such as card information, discount information, membership point information, or coupon information when a user pays, thus preventing personal information leakage and enabling the user to pay a minimum amount by means of his/her credit card using the bonus information.

Conventional card payment uses a method of obtaining the card number of a purchaser through a connection to the POS of an affiliated shop or via a separate card (a variety of card payment means, such as a credit card, a prepaid card, a debit card, etc.) terminal and then requesting approval from a card company server through a VAN provider by transmitting the card number, together with affiliated shop information and a payment amount.
A conventional card payment system is illustrated in FIG. 1.
When a customer makes a credit-based purchase at a designated affiliated shop, the card reader of the affiliated shop accesses a card issuer server over the network of a VAN provider, obtains approval of card payment, and then completes a transaction.
A card user 10 possesses a card issued by a card company, and an affiliated shop is provided with a common card terminal 20 that accesses a specific VAN provider and transmits payment information. The card terminal 20 and the relay system 30 of the VAN provider are generally connected over a predetermined network (e.g., the telephony Internet), and the relay system 30 of the VAN provider and the transaction approval system 40 of a corresponding card company are generally connected over a dedicated network.
In the case of using an online payment method via an Internet shopping mall instead of an affiliated shop, a payment gateway (PG) 30 performs the role of the VAN provider.
The VAN provider functions to relay purchase information whose approval (or cancellation) has been requested via the card terminal between the affiliated shop and the corresponding card company, and the PG 30 functions to request a payment amount from a payment and settlement company, such as a card company, a bank, or an electronic payment company, under the entrustment of an Internet commerce company, to receive the amount, and to pay the amount to the entrusting company.
When a card holder requests a purchase while presenting his or her card to an affiliated shop in order to pay the price for a commodity, the affiliated shop uses a credit card terminal in order to request approval from a card company. In this case, the card terminal transmits card user information stored in the card of the user, commodity order information generated by the card terminal, a payment amount and affiliated shop information to the VAN provider. The VAN provider receives the information through the relay system 30 of the VAN provider.
The relay system 30 of the VAN provider that has received payment approval request data reads card company information recorded in the user information of the payment approval request data and then transmits transaction approval request-related data to the transaction approval system 40 of the corresponding card company in order to request approval.
The transaction approval system 40 of the card company that has received the transaction approval request-related data checks if the transaction made between the card user and the affiliated shop is valid by comparing the user information, the commodity order information, the payment amount, the affiliated shop information included in the transaction approval request-related data with its membership data or affiliated shop data.
The transaction approval system 40 of the card company transmits the results of the approval of the transaction for the transaction approval request to the relay system 30 of the VAN provider that has relayed the payment approval request, and the relay system 30 of the VAN provider stores approval number data and transmits the approval number data to the corresponding card reader of the corresponding affiliated shop.
Based on the transmitted approval data, the card terminal prints the results of payment on a card receipt and reports the results to the card user.
In this payment method using a card, when a card user provides information, such as a card number, a valid period, and a card issuer, required for card payment approval to a terminal installed at an affiliated shop, the affiliated shop requests transaction approval from a corresponding card company through the VAN provider and then payment is made based on the results of the approval.
However, this conventional method is problematic in that a card user suffers from the inconvenience of having to possess a card to be used, a customer's financial information including a unique payment card number may be exposed to an affiliated shop, a financial accident using a customer's card information may occur, the risk of the illegal reproduction of payment card information by a third party is increasing, and the possibility of the divulgence of personal information may not be avoided.
Furthermore, although a customer always desires to select an optimum payment method that enables payment to be made at a minimum amount and to make payment using the optimum payment method, it is difficult to easily become aware of a variety of benefit information, that is, discount information, membership point information, coupon information, etc., required for payment, and thus a case where the customer is not satisfied with the results of payment occurs.

Complex payment system using a portable terminal, and complex payment method


The present invention relates to a process for treatment of high concentrated waste water from animal husbandry, human excretion and other high organic waste. This process includes warming, anaerobic digestion, separation with ultra filtration (UF)/reversed osmosis (RO) membranes. The residual solution after RO separation is the raw material of liquid fertilizer for water culture and foliar spray.

This process is performed by warming, anaerobic digestion(fermentation), ultrafiltration, and finally reversed osmotic separation steps also, the concentrated solution rejected by RO separation being possibly used as liquid fertilizer.
Generally, many known methods for waste water treatment have some problems in economical and technical point of view, so few of them have been used in industrial fields. Although the self-purification limit is known to be 10 mg/l of BOD, the effluents from domestic waste water range from tens to thousands mg/l of BOD and tens to ten thousands in animal waste water.

Process for high concentrated waste water treatment using membrane separation


An OCD circuit with stacked transistor that is gated to switch on prior to the switching on of the transistors which the stacked transistor protects. The gating of the stacked transistor results in the reduction of the total OCD output capacitance.

In the design of integrated circuits (ICs), such as memory chips, off chip drivers (OCDs) are employed to transfer data information from the memory chip to the external environment. The OCD generally comprises a plurality of transistors, including n-type field effect transistors (n-FETs) and p-type FETs (p-FETs) configured to drive a chip's internal data signal as fast as possible to the outside system environment, which represents a heavy load (.apprxeq.100 pF).
To improve noise characteristics, such as reducing ringing caused by leadframe inductance, the OCD is usually provided with multiple stages. For example, in a two stage OCD, the output of the second stage can be delayed by a predetermined delay with respect to the output at the first stage.
Continuous demand for the miniaturization of devices has resulted in smaller and smaller feature sizes. For example, the gate lengths of current n-FETs are about 0.25 microns (.mu.m). Such lengths are, however, susceptible to hot carrier degradation. This occurs in the presence of high drain-source voltages during switching of the gate (worst case condition: gate voltage=1/2 drain-source voltage).
To reduce or prevent hot carrier degradation as a result of high source-drain voltages, a first n-FET transistor is stacked or placed in series with a second n-FET. The gate of the first or stacked n-FET is coupled to V.sub.DD, thus providing a voltage drop of V.sub.t (where V.sub.t is the gate threshold of the stack n-FET). Due to the body effect, this voltage drop is actually even greater. The voltage drop provided by the stack n-FET lowers the source-drain voltage of the second n-FET sufficiently during switching to reduce or prevent hot carrier degradation.
Although the stacking configuration effectively reduces hot carrier degradation, it however results in relatively high output capacitance. This is because stacking of the transistors doubles effective gate length, which for performance reasons requires a widening of the transistors. Such increase in output capacitance can exceed specified limits. For example, a conventional OCD without the stacked configuration has a typical output capacitance of about 4.5-5 pF. When incorporating a stacked configuration, the total capacitance approaches or exceeds the maximum allowed specified value, which is about 7 pF. This is because stacking effectively doubles the transistor length, which requires doubling of width to achieve the same performance.
Thus, it is desirable to provide an OCD with low output capacitance without the need to sacrifice performance.


A plug including first, second, third, and fourth pairs of contacts connected to first, second, third, and fourth wire pairs, respectively. The first pair of contacts is positioned between first and second contacts of the third pair of contacts, the second pair of contacts is positioned alongside the first contact, and the fourth pair of contacts is positioned alongside the second contact. A first and second capacitive coupling member each including a sleeve and contact member are spaced from the plug contacts. The second wire pair extends through the sleeve of the first coupling member and the contact member of the first coupling member is electrically connected to the wire connected to the second contact. The fourth wire pair extends through the sleeve of the second coupling member and the contact member of the first coupling member is electrically connected to the wire connected to the first contact.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is generally related to communication plugs and more particularly to communication plugs configured to exhibit reduced levels of modal signal conversion.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conductors that are not physically connected to one another may nonetheless be coupled together electrically and/or magnetically. This creates an undesirable signal in the adjacent conductor referred to as crosstalk.
By placing two elongated conductors (e.g., wires) alongside each other in close proximity (referred to as a "compact pair arrangement"), a common axis can be approximated. If the opposing currents in the conductors are equal, magnetic field "leakage" from the conductors will decrease rapidly as the longitudinal distance along the conductors is increased. If the voltages are also opposite and equal, an electric field primarily concentrated between the conductors will also decrease as the longitudinal distance along the conductors is increased. The compact pair arrangement is often sufficient to avoid crosstalk if other similar pairs of conductors are in close proximity to the first pair of conductors. Twisting the pairs of conductors will tend to negate the residual field couplings and allow closer spacing of adjacent pairs. However, if for some reason the conductors within a pair are spaced far enough apart, undesired coupling and crosstalk may occur.
The structure of many conventional communication connectors (including the RJ-45 type connector) is governed by standards such as FCC part 68 and the TIA/EIA 568 standards. Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional telecommunications connector 10 typically includes a communication plug 20 and a communication jack or outlet 30 configured to receive the plug. The outlet 30 typically provides an access point to a network (not shown), a communications device (not shown), and the like.
As is appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art, there are two standardized conventions for assigning the wires of the twisted wire pairs to the contacts within the plug and the outlet: T568A and T568B. For all practical purposes, these conventions are identical except that twisted pairs 3 and 2 are interchanged. For illustrative purposes, the T568B convention has been described and illustrated herein.
Each of the plug 20 and the outlet 30 includes a plurality of conductors or contacts. Turning to FIGS. 2 and 3, the plug 20 includes a plurality of conductors or contacts P-T1 to P-T8. Returning to FIG. 1, the outlet 30 includes a plurality of conductors or contacts 32. Within the communication outlet 30, the outlet contacts 32 are positioned in an arrangement corresponding to the arrangement of the plug contacts P-T1 to P-T8 (see FIGS. 2 and 3) in the plug 20. When the plug 20 is received inside the outlet 30, the contacts P-T1 to P-T8 (see FIGS. 2 and 3) of the plug engage correspondingly positioned contacts 32 of the outlet. The plug 20 has a housing 34 with a rearward facing open portion 36 opposite the contacts P-T1 to P-T8 (illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3).
The communication plug 20 is typically physically connected to one end portion 42 of a communication cable 40, which is inserted inside the plug 20 through the rearward facing open portion 36. Turning to FIG. 3, the cable 40 may be a 4-pair flexible cord, and the plug 20 may be coupled thereto to create a patch cord 50. The cable 40 allows a communications device (not shown) connected thereto to communicate with a network (not shown), a device (not shown), and the like connected to the outlet 30 (see FIG. 1).
A conventional communication cable, such as the cable 40, includes four twisted-wire pairs (also known as "twisted pairs"), which are each physically connected to the plug 20. Following this convention, the contacts P-T1 to P-T8 of the plug 20 are each connected to a different wire (W-1 to W-8) of the four twisted pairs (referred to as "twisted pair 1," "twisted pair 2," "twisted pair 3," and "twisted pair 4" herein). The twisted pair 1 includes wires W-4 and W-5. The twisted pair 2 includes wires W-1 and W-2. The twisted pair 3 includes wires W-3 and W-6. The twisted pair 4 includes wires W-7 and W-8. The twisted pairs 1-4 are housed inside an outer cable sheath 44 typically constructed from an electrically insulating material.
Each of the wires W-1 to W-8 is substantially identical to one another. For the sake of brevity, only the structure of the wire W-1 will be described. Turning to FIG. 4, as is appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art, the wire W-1 as well as the wires W-2 to W-8 all include an electrical conductor 60 (e.g., a conventional copper wire) surrounded by an outer layer of insulation 70 (e.g., a conventional insulating flexible plastic jacket).
Each of the twisted pairs 1-4 serves as a differential signaling pair wherein signals are transmitted thereupon and expressed as voltage and current differences between the wires of the twisted pair. A twisted pair can be susceptible to electromagnetic sources including another nearby cable of similar construction. Signals received by the twisted pair from such electromagnetic sources external to the cable's jacket are referred to as "alien crosstalk." The twisted pair can also receive signals from one or more wires of the three other twisted pairs within the cable's jacket, which is referred to as "local crosstalk" or "internal crosstalk."
The wires W-1 to W-8 of the twisted pairs 1-4 are connected to the plug contacts P-T1 to P-T8, respectively, to form four differential signaling pairs: a first plug pair 1, a second plug pair 2, a third plug pair 3, and a fourth plug pair 4. The twisted pair 2 (i.e., the wires W-1 and W-2) is connected to the adjacent plug contacts P-T1 and P-T2 to form the second plug pair 2. The twisted pair 4 (i.e., wires W-7 and W-8) is connected to the adjacent plug contacts P-T7 and P-T8 to form the plug pair 4. The twisted pair 1 (i.e., wires W-4 and W-5) is connected to the adjacent plug contacts P-T4 and P-T5 to form the plug pair 1. The twisted pair 3 (i.e., wires W-3 and W-6) is connected to the troublesome "split" plug contacts P-T3 and P-T6 to form the "split" plug pair 3. The plug contacts P-T3 and P-T6 flank the plug contacts P-T4 and P-T5 of the plug pair 1. The plug pairs 2 and 4 are located furthest apart from one another and the plug pairs 1 and 3 are positioned between the plug pairs 2 and 4.
A challenge of the structural requisites of conventional communication cabling standards relates to the fact that the two wires W-3 and W-6 of twisted pair 3 are connected to widely spaced plug contacts P-T3 and P-T6, respectively, which straddle the plug contacts P-T4 and P-T5 to which the two wires W-4 and W-5 of the twisted pair 1 are connected. This places the twisted pair 2 and the twisted pair 4 on either side of the twisted pair 3. This arrangement of the plug contacts P-T1 and P-T8 and their associated wiring can cause the signal transmitted on twisted pair 3 to impart different voltages and/or currents onto the twisted pair 2 and the twisted pair 4 effectively causing differential voltages between the composite of both wires W-1 and W-2 of the twisted pair 2 and the composite of both wires W-7 and W-8 of the twisted pair 4 as an undesired cable mode conversion coupling that unfortunately may enhance alien crosstalk elsewhere, which is referred to hereafter as a "modal launch" or "mode conversion."
In the conventional communication connector 10, the mode of coupling of present concern occurs where the wires W-3 and W-6 of twisted pair 3 are split apart within the plug 20 (i.e., as the wires W-3 and W-6 approach the plug contact P-T3 and P-T6). A significant amount of this type of undesirable coupling also occurs between the plug contacts themselves. This splitting of wires W-3 and W-6 of twisted pair 3, and their associated plug contacts, creates selective capacitive and inductive coupling from the two opposing signals on twisted pair 3, and the increased distance between the wires W-3 and W-6 causes an increase in magnetic coupling between the twisted pair 3 and a first "composite" conductor including the wires W-1 and W-2 (of the twisted pair 2) and a second "composite" conductor including the wires W-7 and W-8 (of the twisted pair 4). In other words, the wires W-1 and W-2 of the twisted pair 2 are treated as a first two-stranded or "composite" wire and the wires W-7 and W-8 of the twisted pair 4 are treated as a second two-stranded or "composite" wire. As a result, a small "coupled" portion of the differential signal originating on twisted pair 3 appears as two opposite common, or "even," mode signals on the first and second "composite" wires.
Thus, where the first and second "composite" wires are treated equally, the signal transmitted on twisted pair 3 may impart opposite voltages and/or currents onto the twisted pair 2 (i.e., the first "composite" wire) and the twisted pair 4 (i.e., the second "composite" wire), which causes differential voltages between the first and second "composite" wires. Thus there is a "launch," of an undesired common mode signal that may increase undesired alien crosstalk elsewhere in the transmission system comprising the plug 20, the outlet 30, and their respective cables (e.g., the cable 40).
The transmission path of the plug 20, the outlet 30, and their respective cables (e.g., the cable 40) can be viewed as including the plug 20 in which some of the conductors are located in close proximity to one another and others are spaced farther apart, the interface between a portion of the plug 20 and a portion of the outlet 30, and the outlet 30 wherein conductors are located in close proximity to one another. This conventional arrangement of the transmission path may cause a "modal launch" that extends from the communication connector 10 into the cable 40 connected to the plug 20 and/or other components connected to the outlet 30.
As discussed above, within the plug 20, the modal launch effectively treats the twisted pair 2 as a single two-stranded "paired" conductor (i.e., the first "composite" wire) that is distantly juxtaposed with the twisted pair 4 as its opposite single two-stranded "paired" conductor (i.e., the second "composite" wire). As a result, a "composite" differential pair is created in a communication cable 40 by the wider spaced apart first and second "composite" wires. The wider spacing of the first and second "composite" wires unfortunately enhances vulnerability and sourcing of unwanted crosstalk among other cables situated in the vicinity, such as in a same cable tray, conduit, etc.
The plug-outlet interface is typically the origin of undesired mode conversion coupling in the communication connector 10. At this location, the wires of the twisted pair 3, the plug contacts P-T3 and P-T6, and the outlet contacts corresponding to the plug contacts P-T3 and P-T6 are spaced apart from one another, and may couple (capacitively and/or inductively) with the other conductors of the communication connector 10. One approach to addressing this capacitive and inductive coupling is to cross the split conductors at the plug-outlet interface, ideally at a location near a midpoint of the plug-outlet interface from which mode conversion coupling occurs. For example, the split conductors may be crossed within the communication outlet 30, the communication plug 20, or both. This approach positions a portion of the wire W-3 adjacent to the twisted pair 4 (i.e., the second "composite" wire) and both capacitively and inductively couples the wire W-3 with the second "composite" wire. At the same time, a portion of the wire W-6 is positioned adjacent to the twisted pair 2 (i.e., the first "composite" wire) to thereby capacitively and inductively couple the wire W-6 with the first "composite" wire.
Unfortunately, this approach can present some drawbacks. In the plug 20, the positioning of the wires W-1 to W-8 as described above may cause certain aspects of the transmission performance of the plug to be noncompliant with the TIA/EIA 568 standards. And, in the outlet 30, crossing the conductors can be physically difficult to implement and may compromise mechanical performance.
Thus, a need exists for communication plugs configured to reduce crosstalk. A plug configured to reduce crosstalk that is compliant with applicable communication plug standards is desirable. A further need exists for a communication connector configured to reduce crosstalk caused by unwanted inter-modal coupling between the conducting elements of the connector. The present application provides these and other advantages as will be apparent from the following detailed description and accompanying figures.

High speed data communications connector with reduced modal conversion


A retinal disease analyzer processes data obtained by processing a color retinal image and measured visual field data provided by a perimeter to detect the condition of the optic disc and defects in the nerve fiber bundles for the clinical analysis of the condition of the optic disc and the defects in the nerve fiber bundles, and combines detected information on a fundus coordinate system taking into consideration the arrangement of the nerve fiber bundles for the comprehensive analysis of the condition and the degree of progress of glaucoma. The detected information is analyzed on the basis of the distribution pattern of the nerve fiber bundles or the corresponding fundus coordinate system to integrate all the data for analysis. The condition and the degree of progress of glaucoma can be determined on the basis of the integrated data.

The number of patients suffering from glaucoma has increased sharply in recent years. Most patients who become aware of glaucomatous symptoms and see an ophthalmologist are found to be in the final stage of glaucoma and, in most cases, 80% or more of the optic nerve fibers of those patients have exfoliated.
The eyeball is filled with vitreous body and aqueous humor, and the shape of the eyeball is maintained by the pressure of the aqueous humor, i.e., by intraocular tension. The intraocular tension must be in a physiologically appropriate range. If the intraocular tension is excessively high, the circulation of the aqueous humor is obstructed or the optic nerves are under pressure and are caused to atrophy. Glaucoma is a functional illness resulting from excessively high pressure within the eyeball which entails a considerably high probability of loss of sight.
The prevention of optic nerve impairment and the suppression of progress of optic nerve impairment are important therapeutic objectives in the treatment of glaucoma. The diagnosis of the symptoms of glaucoma in the earliest possible stage of functional impairment and appropriate management and therapy are essential to achieve such objectives.
An abnormal intraocular tension and abnormalities in the retina and in the visual field and the like are typical symptoms of glaucoma. Symptoms are diagnosed on the basis of information obtained by integrating measurements of intraocular tension, examination of the retina, and tests of visual functions including the visual field to identify glaucoma in the early stages of progress.
To improve the accuracy of examination, a known glaucoma analyzer determines parameters including the C/D ratio, i.e., the ratio of optic cup diameter to optic disc diameter, indicating the size of the optic disc recess, the average recess in the optic cup, and the vertical, transverse and diagonal widths of the rim on the basis of the results of three-dimensional measurement of the optic disc on the retina. The parameters are applied to a neural network to estimate defects in the visual field and the degree of progress of glaucoma.
To accurately know the defects of nerve fiber bundles, it is necessary to conduct full mydriasis, irradiate the retina brightly, accurately focus on the nerve fiber bundles, strengthen the reflected information from the nerve fiber bundles, and make a contrast with the information.
Conventionally, glaucoma patients are distinguished from healthy people by taking a red-free retina photograph, calculating the gradation density of the nerve fiber bundles on the vertical line near the center of the macula lutea-optic disc line or around the optic disc by using computer processing or the like, and comparing these data with data from healthy people.
Since the simple C/D ratio is not a sufficiently effective parameter, another glaucoma analyzer relies on the fact that the nerve fiber bundles occupy specific areas on the optic disc. This type of analyzer sets a fixed optic disc quantity pattern, compares the image of the optic disc on the retina obtained by direct observation or by photograph with the fixed optic disc quantity pattern, and diagnoses the degree of progress of glaucoma on the basis of the comparison and information about defects in the nerve fiber bundles.
The optic disc is divided into twelve sectors according to the arrangement of the optic nerve fibers. A red-free retinal photograph is read by a digitizer. The area of the optic disc and that of the optic disc recess are determined. The C/D.multidot.A ratio (the ratio of the area of optic disc cupping) is calculated. The obtained information is examined to estimate the degree of progress of glaucoma.
Since these known glaucoma analyzers analyze the optic disc or the nerve fiber bundles individually or locally, they are incapable of achieving comprehensive analysis and diagnosis of glaucoma in comparison to doctors, who analyze and diagnose glaucoma on the basis of integrated information about the optic disc, the retina and the visual field.
Since these known glaucoma analyzers are not provided with any computing system for automatically processing all the data including those of the optic disc, the retina and the visual field, these known glaucoma analyzers must carry out a troublesome operation to read the red-free retinal photograph by the digitizer. Such an analyzing procedure is quite inefficient, and the reproduceability of data acquired by this analyzing procedure is not satisfactory.
The nerve fiber bundle defect on the retina is one of the conditions symptomatic of glaucoma. Since the reflectance of the defective portion of the retina in which defects are found in the nerve fiber bundles is lower than that of the normal portion of the retina, the defective portion appears in a wedge-shaped dark streak on a retinal photograph. Nerve fiber bundle defects extend outward from the optic disc in curves along the arrangement of optic nerves. Thus, the optic nerve fiber bundle defects extend radially from the optic disc and curve sharply near the macula lutea.
A first known method of detecting defects in optic nerve fibers involves scanning a red-free retinal photograph to determine the density level along a fixed straight line or along radial lines extending from the optic disc. When the density of a specific area within the scanned area is lower than an expected density, a portion of the retina corresponding to this specific area is regarded as a defective portion.
More specifically, a picture is scanned linearly to detect defects in the optic nerve fibers through the measurement of the density of the picture along a straight scanning line which is the perpendicular bisector of a line segment between the optic disc and the fovea centralis. A density distribution in an angular range of 30.degree. corresponding to a visual field about the intersection of the line segment and the perpendicular bisector is analyzed, and the results of the analysis are compared with corresponding data for an age bracket in which the subject is included.
A second known method of detecting defects in nerve fiber bundles involves scanning an area around the optic disc in a retinal image along radial scanning lines extending in different directions from the optic disc. A direction in which defects in the nerve fiber bundles exist is determined on the basis of cumulative densities respectively on the radial scanning lines. The cumulative density data obtained by scanning is plotted in a linear graph in which directions from the optic disc are measured on the abscissa axis and the cumulative densities are measured on the ordinate axis. Then, the linear graph is searched for a minimal point, and it is decided that lesions exist in the direction corresponding to the minimal point. Since it is possible that blood vessels are mistaken for lesions, the prior discrimination of the directions in which blood vessels are expected to exist from other directions are made beforehand to prevent the misidentification of hollows in the graph corresponding to the blood vessels and lesions.
Since the first known method, which involves scanning the retinal image along a linear scanning line to detect defects in the optic nerve fibers, analyzes the retinal image locally for defects in the nerve fiber bundles, lesions existing in areas other than the scanned area cannot be found thereby. Since the second known method, which involves scanning the retinal image along radial lines radiating from the optic disc, scans only an area around the optic disc, the divergence between the shapes of defects in the nerve fiber bundles and the scanned area increases if the scanning area is expanded, resulting in reduced measuring accuracy.
When measuring the visual field, importance is attached to the Bjerrum area and the nasal step rather than to an area around the optic disc. Data representing direction and distance from the optic disc is effective in specifying a portion corresponding to the Bjerrum area and the nasal step on the retina. Therefore, there has been a strong demand for a retinal disease analyzer capable of acquiring such data and of accurately specifying an area on the retina in which loss of visual field is likely to occur, taking the shapes of optic nerves into consideration. It has also been desired to make a comprehensive determination of the direction of expansion of the pallor, the curvature of the blood vessel around the edge of the optic disc and defects in the nerve fiber bundles, which appear along the optic nerve fiber distribution pattern.
Typically, ophthalmologists have determined the positions and sizes of defects in the retina quantitatively by rough estimation.
A further known method of detecting defects in nerve fiber bundles involves measuring the optic disc by a manual measuring operation and determining the position of the optic disc by an automatic measuring operation. A point having maximum values for r(.lambda.), g(.lambda.) and b(.lambda.) is within a portion of a retinal image corresponding to the optic disc. Therefore, in the automatic measurement of the optic disc, a specific point having maximum values for r(.lambda.), g(.lambda.) and b(.lambda.) is detected. Values of points above, below, on the right side and on the left side of the specific point for r(.lambda.), g(.lambda.) and b(.lambda.) are compared with the maximum values of the specific point, and a point at which the difference between the maximum values of the specific point and the values of the point exceeds a threshold is regarded as a point corresponding to the optic disc.
This known retinal disease analyzing method is incapable of automatically detecting the optic disc and the macula lutea in the retinal image and of automatically determining coordinates. Manual determination of coordinates is quite inefficient and unreliable.
Accordingly, there has been a strong demand for a retinal disease analyzer capable of precise determination of the arrangement of the optic nerve fibers and of using frequencies of diseases to determine regions in the eye.


Lead-free solder alloys and solder joints thereof with improved drop impact resistance are disclosed. In one particular exemplary embodiment, the lead-free solder alloys preferably contain 0.0-4.0 wt. % of Ag, 0.01-1.5 wt. % of Cu, at least one of the following additives: Mn in an amount of 0.001-1.0 wt. %, Ce in an amount of 0.001-0.8 wt. %, Y in an amount of 0.001-1.0 wt. %, Ti in an amount of 0.001-0.8 wt. %, and Bi in an amount of 0.01-1.0 wt. %, and the remainder of Sn.

Among the various lead-free solder alloy choices as replacements of conventional tin-lead solders, Tin (Sn)-Silver (Ag)-Copper (Cu) alloys are currently the most popular because of their relatively good soldering performance, excellent creep resistance, and thermal fatigue reliability, as well as their compatibility with the current components. A variety of Sn—Ag—Cu solder alloys have been proposed and recommended for use by industrial organizations in different countries. For example, Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu (wt. %) by the Japan Electronic Industry Development Association (JEIDA) in Japan, Sn-3.8Ag-0.7Cu (wt. %) by the European Consortium BRITE-EURAM in the European Union, and Sn-3.9Ag-0.6Cu (wt. %) by the National Electronics Manufacturing Initiative (NEMI) in the United States of America. However, recent investigations on the lead-free solder alloys have shown that solder joints made from these recommended Sn—Ag—Cu alloys may be fragile and prone to premature interfacial failure under drop impact loading. Although reduction of Ag content in Sn—Ag—Cu alloys has been found to be helpful, drop test performance for these alloys is still inferior to that of eutectic tin-lead. Traditionally, solder joint reliability has been evaluated mainly by thermal fatigue performance since thermal fatigue fracture has been the critical failure mode in electronics interconnects. As the industry is pushing for device miniaturization and increased use of portable electronic products, impact reliability of solder joints in electronic packages becomes critical, in addition to conventional thermal fatigue reliability.
In view of the forgoing, it would be desirable to provide Sn—Ag—Cu based solder alloys and solder joints thereof with improved drop impact reliability.


This invention relates to a vaccine for the immunization of a vertebrate, comprising:. an avirulent derivative of a pathogenic microbe that expresses a recombinant gene derived from a pathogen of said vertebrate it being provided that said avirulent microbe does not normally exchange genetic material with said pathogen, to produce an antigen capable of inducing an immune response in said vertebrate against said pathogen.

The invention described herein was made in the course of work supported by a grant from the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, Public Health Service.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to vaccines and more particularly to antigenic gene products produced by microbes containing one or more recombinant genes from a pathogenic organism as a vaccine against the pathogenic organism.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Microbial infectious diseases are ubiquitous, although improved public health and the availability of antibiotics have decreased the incidence and minimized the consequences of infectious microbial diseases in the world. In many underdeveloped countries, however, microbial diseases are still rampant. Even in medically advanced countries, bacterial transposons that carry drug-resistance genes and numerous methods for dissemination of drug-resistance plasmids have resulted in drug resistance that has compromised the effectiveness of conventional methods of infectious disease control designed to counteract the effects of infection after infection has occurred. Thus, in the last several years, there has been increased emphasis on the development of vaccines that might prevent, if not eliminate, some infectious diseases.
Since the intact surface of a healthy epidermis is rarely, if ever, penetrated by microbes, the point of initial infection is most often one of the mucous membranes. These include the conjunctiva and the oral, respiratory, gastrointestinal and genitourinary surfaces. The mucous secretions of these membranes as well as the secretions from tear, salivary and mammary glands can contain antibodies against invading pathogens and thus act as a first line of defense against invasive microbes. Enhancing the immune response of the secretory system is thus a desirable goal in inducing immunity against microbial pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites, etc.
Previously used vaccines against bacterial diseases have generally comprised (I) specific components purified from the etiologic agents, (II) the whole killed etiologic agent, or (III) an avirulent derivative of the etiologic agent as a live vaccine. Numerous vaccines of these three types exist, of which the following are selected examples:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,250,262, discloses methods for recovering the enzyme glucosyltransferase from Streptococcus mutans and the use of this purified enzyme in local immunization against dental caries, a Type I vaccine. Details for culturing the bacteria, purifying the enzyme, and using the enzyme to stimulate IgA antibody in saliva are presented for serotype a, c or g of S. mutans. Other examples of vaccines from purified specific components of bacteria are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,203,971 and 3,239,749, which disclose a vaccine useful against infection by Neisseria gonorrhoeae which consists of a glycoprotein from the outer coat material of gonococci. Injection of the glycoprotein stimulates a bactericidal antibody.
The use of dead S. mutans cells to immunize against tooth decay via administering in the mouth, which is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,931,398, is an example of a Type II vaccine. The inventors recognized that immunoglobulin A (IgA) antibodies were the antibodies being produced and that they resulted in a decrease in plaque formation.
A live bacterial vaccine (Type III) which contains selected strains of Escherichia coli bacteria is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,975,517. The bacteria were treated with dilute formalin to attenuate or partially inactivate them before injection into the mammary gland of a sow. Antibody thereby produced was later found in the milk and protected newborn swine against E. coli infections. The formalin treatment that caused the E. coli inactivation was only a temporary attenuation of the bacteria and care had to be taken to prevent bacterial recovery before injection. Such recovery would have resulted in serious infection rather than protection.
Another example of a Type III vaccine is described by Germanier et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 3,856,935 wherein a live S. typhi Ty21a derivative is employed as an oral vaccine against typhoid infection.
Several problems exist in producing vaccines directly from pathogenic organisms, as indicated in the E. coli (Type III) example above. In addition, a principle obstacle to using whole bacteria (living or killed) or impure preparations obtained from the pathogenic bacteria is the presence of antigenic substances in such preparations that may cause undesirable cross reaction. For example, protein antigens produced by S. mutans have been reported to cross-react with antigens present in human heart muscle and thus, like other pathogenic bacterial proteins, may pose a problem of safety when used in a vaccine for humans.
Other problems arise in developing a vaccine capable of oral administration, certainly the most desirable form of administration when considered in terms of either widespread use by unskilled administrators in underdeveloped countries or in terms of patient comfort and acceptability. When oral administration is used to stimulate a secretory IgA (sIgA) response, the amount of material that is actually absorbed and capable of stimulating an effective immune response is usually low. The dose of antigen required for oral immunization generally far exceeds that required for systemic induction of humoral immunity (IgG). It is assumed that a large portion of the antigen is degraded by enzymes of the gastrointestinal tract and may be eliminated or absorbed in a nonimmunogenic form.

Recombinant avirulent bacterial antigen delivery system


A differential comparator having a low-offset comparator and two processing paths, each of which receives one of the two primary inputs to the differential comparator and generates one of the two inputs to the low-offset comparator. The output of the low-offset comparator is the output of the differential comparator. Each processing path is capable of (1) generating an offset voltage and (2) turning on and off the generation of that offset voltage. In a preferred embodiment, each processing path has a passive resistor that generates the offset voltage and a pair of shunt transistors that selectively shorts out the passive resistor. The output of the low-offset comparator is connected (either directly or indirectly through an inverter) to the gates of the shunt transistors. The shunt transistors are therefore controlled by the output of the low-offset comparator. In each of two modes of operation, a different one of the passive resistors is "on" while the other passive resistor is "off." The result is a differential comparator that operates with hysteresis. The currents passing through the passive resistors to generate the offset voltages are mirrored from a current source that is controlled by a reference voltage. As such, the offset voltages can be controlled by adjusting the reference voltage. The differential comparator is capable therefore of operating with fixed and controllable hysteresis.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electrical circuitry, and, in particular, to differential comparators.
2. Description of the Related Art
A differential comparator is an electrical circuit that compares two input voltages and generates an output voltage that indicates the relationship between the two inputs. For example, for a particular differential comparator, when the first input voltage is greater than the second input voltage, the output voltage from the differential comparator will be high. Similarly, when the first input voltage is less than the second input voltage, the output voltage will be low. Thus, the output voltage may be used to indicate which input voltage is greater.
In some applications, it is desirable to compare the two input voltages relative to an offset voltage. For example, an application may need to determine whether or not the first input voltage is greater than the sum of the second input voltage and an offset voltage. An offset voltage is said to be fixed, if its value can be maintained as a constant for one or more comparison operations. Similarly, an offset voltage is said to be controllable, if its value can be selectively changed for different comparison operations.
FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a conventional differential comparator 100 having a fixed and controllable offset voltage. Comparator 100 has a current source X1 whose current ICS1 is mirrored by transistor MCS1 through transistors MCS2 and MCS3 to produce currents ICS2 and ICS3, respectively.
FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of current source X1 of FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 2, a controllable reference voltage VREF is applied to the positive input of an operational amplifier (op-amp) OPCS1. The negative input comes from node FB, which is connected between a reference resistor RCS and the source of an N-channel transistors MFB. The output of the op-amp OPCS1 goes to the gate of transistor MFB. In this manner, the voltage at node FB is forced to be equal to VREF, so that the current through transistor MFB is equal to VREF/RCS (i.e., ICS1 of FIG. 1).
Referring again to FIG. 1, the inputs to differential comparator 100 are applied at nodes P and N, which are in turn applied to the gates of P-channel transistors M1 and M2, respectively. If the current densities through transistors M1 and M2 are kept equal, then the gate-to-source voltages VGS will be equal in M1 and M2. Node P1 will then be at voltage P+VGS1, while node N1 will be at voltage P+VGS2.
Current ICS2 is forced through both resistor RP and transistor M1. The voltage drop De1V across resistor RP is therefore equal to ICS2.times.RP. Since the current ICS2 is equal to the current ICS1 times the transistor-size ratio MCS2/MCS1, the following relation of Equation (1) applies: EQU De1V=ICS1.times.(MCS2/MCS1).times.RP=VREF.times.(MCS2/MCS1).times.(RP/RCS)( 1)
If resistors RIP and RCS are made on a single integrated circuit from the same material (e.g., N-tub, P+ source-drain), then the ratio of RP/RCS is a constant fixed by the geometric layout. Similarly, the ratio MCS2/MCS1 is also fixed by geometry (i.e., the transistor channel widths). Thus, the voltage drop De1V across resistor RP is directly proportional to the reference voltage VREF.
Node N1 is connected to the negative input of comparator X2 and node P2 (which is equal to P1+De1V) is connected to the positive input of comparator X2. Comparator X2 is a low-offset comparator in that it has low or negligible offset (e.g., typically less than 10 mvolts). Such comparators are often referred to in the art as zero-offset comparators. As configured, the difference between the voltage levels at nodes N1 and P2 (i.e., the inputs to comparator X2) is offset by De1V from the difference between the voltage levels at primary inputs N and P. As such, comparator 100 can be described as a differential comparator with a fixed and controllable offset voltage. The offset voltage can be controlled by changing the reference voltage VREF.
Comparator 100 operates adequately for many applications. There are, however, certain applications for which it is desirable to use a differential comparator having fixed and controllable Hysteresis. Comparator 100 is not appropriate for such applications.
Further aspects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the detailed description which follows.

Differential comparator with fixed and controllable hysteresis


A service provider's system components such as but not limited to a billing system and facilities maintenance system are sent a message that identifies contaminated telephone numbers contained within a block of numbers released to a service provider from a number pooling authority. The message also identifies the (location routing number) LRN associated with the switch of the uncontaminated numbers.

The North American Numbering Plan (NANP) was established in the early 1940's, when American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T) realized that the expansion of long distance calling should be consistent with the ultimate incorporation of all public switched telephone networks into an integrated nation-wide network. Under the NANP, the United States and Canada were divided into eighty-three "zones," called Numbering Plan Areas (NPAs), where each area is identified by three digits referred to as "Numbering Plan Area codes" or "area codes."
Within each zone or area code, a central office is represented by another three-digit code called the central office code (NXX). The central office code is used for routing calls and for rating and billing calls. Finally, a 4-digit number identifies the particular telephone line on the central office switch. Thus, in the United States, a telephone number is composed of a 3-digit numbering plan area code (NPA), a 3-digit central office code (NXX), and a 4-digit line number (XXXX).
The rapid growth of new telecommunication services over the past several years, exacerbated by the former practice of distributing numbers to service providers in blocks of 10,000 numbers, resulted in the rapid depletion of available telephone numbers. To appreciate the rapid growth of use of telephone numbers, consider that in the ten-year period between 1984 and 1994, only nine new area codes were activated while in 1997 alone, 32 new area codes were activated.
Even in the area codes that are experiencing depletion, however, it is estimated that a relatively low percentage of individual telephone numbers are actually assigned to customers. Furthermore, typically the same service provider will have pockets within the service provider's service area where there are more customers than available numbers and other pockets where there are more telephone numbers than are needed. Hence, a need existed to make more efficient use of numbering resources.
To address this problem, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), in order number FCC 99-122 issued under the Telecommunications Act of 1996, mandated Number Pooling, a system for reporting and allocating numbers in blocks of 1,000 telephone numbers instead of blocks of 10,000 telephone numbers. The FCC requires the donation of all blocks held by service providers if the blocks have a "contamination" level of less than 10%. A contaminated number is a number that is not available for assignment (e.g., the number is already in use). Blocks are donated to the pool for the rate area from which the numbering resources are assigned. All Local Number Portability (LNP)-capable service providers must participate. Number portability refers to the ability of users of telecommunications services to retain, at the same location, existing telecommunications numbers without impairment of quality, reliability, or convenience when switching from one telecommunications carrier to another.
An Industry Inventory Pool is maintained in thousands-block (i.e., a block of a thousand numbers) number pooling. The pool contains groups of unassigned blocks of a thousand numbers in a given rate area and is administered by a Pooling Administration (PA) for purposes of assignment to certified carriers participating in thousands-block number pooling.
The Pooling Administration is an independent third-party entity. The FCC mandates the accounting for and reporting of all numbering resources in six primary categories. Service providers must maintain records on number usage and report semi-annually to the Pooling Administration. The Pooling Administrator tracks numbering resources and manages the donation and assignment of numbering blocks within the pool based on the information obtained within the records.
At the time a service provider donates a block of numbers to the pool, the service provider must inform the Number Portability Administration Center (NPAC) of the contaminated telephone numbers contained within the donated block. Contaminated telephone numbers, as stated above, are those telephone numbers that are not available for assignment, for example: numbers that are already in use. Upon receiving a block of numbers from a service provider, NPAC broadcasts a message to all providers, listing the contaminated (active) numbers.
A service provider can also request a block of numbers from the Pooling Administration, based on the needs of the service provider. The Pooling Administrator coordinates the allocation of numbers to a particular service provider with the Number Portability Administration Center (NPAC) service management systems (SMSs). The NPAC SMSs are regional databases that contain all necessary routing information on ported telephone numbers and facilitate the updating of the routing databases of all subtending service providers in the portability area.
If the Pooling Administration approves the request, the Pooling Administration requests NPAC to release a block of numbers to the requesting service provider. When NPAC releases the block to the service provider, NPAC broadcasts a message to all the service providers so that the service providers can update their switches so that calls can be routed correctly. Contained within the message is: the area code, central office code and the leading digit of the released thousand-block, the local routing number (LRN) of the donating service provider's switch, global title translation (GTT) which identifies the features available on the switch, and an identifier for the receiving service provider. The message broadcast by NPAC is not directed to components of the service provider such as the billing system and facilities systems mentioned above. Furthermore, the message broadcast by NPAC does not contain a list of contaminated numbers in the block and likewise does not contain the LRN of the receiving service provider's switch, but instead contains the LRN of the donating service provider's switch. As a result, components (such as facilities management and billing components) of the receiving service provider and other service providers may not know the LRN of the switch to which the uncontaminated numbers will be attached, and will not know what numbers in the block are already in use.
Hence a need exists to overcome the drawbacks of the prior art. In particular, a need exists for a system and method for providing components of a service provider with a list of contaminated numbers and for informing components of a service provider with the LRN of the switch to which the uncontaminated numbers will be attached.

System and method for identifying contaminated telephone numbers and correct LRN under number pooling

BellSouth Intellectual Property Corporation


Heat transfer from the inside of a fan duct to the air is very good because the air in this region has a high velocity and is turbulent due to the rotation of the fan blades. Devices mounted on the outside of the fan duct can thus be cooled effectively. The inside surface of the duct can be modified to enhance the heat transfer as by grooving it deeply. The fan blade also can be modified to increase the air velocity and the turbulence. External fins can be added to the fan duct, and it can be shrouded so that a portion of the exit air passes through the fins back to the inlet. This decreases the mass of the exit air, for quieter operation. In a multi-stage fan, inlet, outlet and interstage fins can be used to further enhance the heat flow to the air.

This invention relates to fan and heat sink assemblies as might be used for heat sinking semiconductor devices. Usually a fan is mounted so that it blows air over a heat sink assembly. The rate at which heat can be removed from the heat sink is a function of the heat sink surface area, the temperature difference from the heat sink to the air, and the velocity of the air. If the air has high velocity and is turbulent, the heat sink can be relatively smaller, but there are limitations to the extent that this is practical. It takes a large, powerful fan to move air with a high velocity. Such a fan would be expensive, would take substantial power to operate, and would be large and noisy.
This invention teaches that there is a region within a ducted fan where the air naturally has a very high velocity and is turbulent the inside surface of the fan duct in the area swept by the fan blades. The fan blades move the air very rapidly, and also generate blade tip vortices and wake turbulence, so heat flow into the air stream is greatly enhanced. By mounting semiconductors or other devices needing heat sinking on the outside of the fan duct and in good thermal contact with it, a superior heat sink is achieved.
This invention further teaches several modifications to the inside surface of the fan duct and/or the fan blades to further enhance heat flow through the fan duct as a trade-off with fan performance as an axial flow device. In some embodiments, axial air flow from the fan assembly is entirely eliminated in favor of maximally enhancing heat transfer within the fan assembly.
Often the amount of air needed to transport the waste heat away from a heat sink is small compared to the amount of air that is needed to sustain sufficient air velocity for good heat transfer. Several embodiments of the invention teach that much of the air flow can be recirculated within the fan assembly with heat sink to provide high air flow internally across the heat transfer surfaces. The inlet and exit air flow is then quite low, which will make operation much quieter, and greatly reduce the design requirements of accessories such as filters and finger guards which may be required on the inlet and/or outlet.
In a vane axial fan, the inlet and/or outlet vanes can also serve as heat transfer surfaces. In a multi-stage fan, the baffles or flow straighteners between the fan stages can also serve as heat transfer surfaces. These features can be optimized for heat transfer as a trade off with maximum fan performance in the usual sense.


A method for producing dental restoration components includes filling a retort cylinder of a retort system with a forming mass, the retort cylinder being at least partially encircled by a charging body, and hardening the forming mass. After the hardening of the forming mass, the retort cylinder and the charging body are removed from the forming mass, thereby leaving behind a retort. Thereafter, with the assistance of a press blank apparatus, a press blank having an outer contour substantially corresponding to the outer contour of the charging body is pressed into the retort.

Retort ovens have been known for a long time such as, for example, as is disclosed in DE-0S 198 44 136. In retort ovens of this type, a wax model of a dental restoration is embedded in a cast bed in order to produce a negative form. The retort is then heated and warmed so that the model composed of wax melts and there remains the temperature resistant negative form or mold in readiness for the introduction thereinto of a to-be-pressed ceramic mass.
Dental restoration can demand decidedly different forms and volumes. Correspondingly, at the same time several wax models are frequently made ready in a single batch—that is, several wax models are poured within a single retort—and, correspondingly, several ceramic restoration pieces are produced via pressing. The pressing is performed with ceramic mass which is introduced via a feed-in channel and formed into the form mass by a press stamp during simultaneous heating of the negative form.
The mass can be introduced in a pre-pressed condition, in a powder-type condition, or even in a fluid condition, whereby the pre-pressed form body is typically designated as a blank.
Instead of blanks, powder-formed ceramic masses can also be deployed. The use of blanks has, on the one hand, the advantage that an exact or precisely measured amount of ceramic material is deployed so that the operation of the stamp for exerting pressure in the press oven can be exactly specified and can be corrected with a corresponding material offset.
The dental restoration component to be produced can require significantly different amounts of ceramic—either in the form of ceramic powder or in the form of ceramic blanks.
In order to competently handle these requirements, the length of the ceramic blank can be adapted to the requirements, within certain limits. The ceramic blank is introduced into the channel which remains as the negative form of the retort cylinder. In order to achieve a press result of high quality, the ceramic blank must practically be comprised of the same diameter as that of the retort cylinder.
One can, indeed, increase the length of the retort cylinder and, consequently, increase the possible length of the ceramic blank. However, in connection with an overly long length, there arises a comparatively large friction during the press process. This is unfavorable from, for example, the perspective of the adhesion/sliding friction conditions during the press process, which have only been studied to a limited degree and in connection with which there occur pressure oscillations in the hollow space in which the dental restoration is configured.
In order to competently handle various sizes of dental restorations, it has heretofore typically been the practice to maintain a plurality of different retort cylinders in readiness so that, in connection with larger dental restorations of large diameter, larger diameter versions of the retort cylinder can be deployed.
However, maintaining in readiness an inventory of several retort systems of various sizes is a relatively large effort, simply from the point of view of requiring a correspondingly large inventory.
In order to avoid this, it has frequently been the case that an average-sized configuration of a retort system or a retort arrangement is deployed and then several restoration components are stuck outwardly from wax on the growth surface via corresponding support arms, so that the mass is, in total, somewhat enlarged and the blank can be better exploited.
However, imperfect accommodation to the required dental restoration configurations leads to considerable material loss, since, in the case of an only partially pressed blank, the blank must, for all practical purposes, be thrown away.
If, on the other hand, in connection with a desired large material mass, a blank of an overly long length is deployed such that it extends out of the channel of the corresponding retort cylinder, the danger exists that the blank will tip, leading to an unstable press process.


Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) is capable of inducing apoptosis by interacting with specific TNF receptors on the surface of cancer cells. Because multiple members of TNF ligand and receptor are present within each superfamily, over 300 different ligand-receptor combinations exist. Activated blood leukocytes produce TNF as part of the immune response to cancer, as well as producing chemokines to attract other leukocytes to the site. A method is disclosed of detecting significant induction of a variety of TNF superfamily subtype and chemokine mRNAs in blood leukocytes when whole blood is exposed to heat-aggregated IgG or anti-T cell receptor antibodies as a model of immune system interactions. Substantial individual-to-individual variation is observed in TNF subtypes and chemokines induced. Since peripheral blood leukocytes are the supply of anti-cancer immune cells, the quantitation of ex vivo inducibility of appropriate TNF ligands and chemokines in blood will be useful in individualized cancer immunotherapy. If the tumor mass is small, such as with early invisible metastatic lesions, appropriate TNF assaults may be sufficient to prevent relapse.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for predicting the immune response in a mammal to neoplastic disease based on the expression profile of tumor necrosis factor receptor (TNF-R) superfamily mRNA in neoplastic tissue, and of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) superfamily mRNA in circulating leukocytes. In the method, samples of neoplastic tissue are obtained and the TNF-R superfamily subtype mRNAs expressed in those tissues are assessed. Furthermore, whole blood of the mammal is subjected to a stimulus that activates T-cells in the blood and the TNF superfamily subtype mRNAs that exhibit a significant change in expression level in response to the stimulus are identified. Individuals that exhibit a change in expression level in TNF superfamily subtypes that correlate with the TNF-R superfamily subtypes expressed in their tumor tissue are determined to have a likely lesser severity of prognosis for their disease.
2. Description of the Related Art
Different modalities of cancer therapies may be compared to varying types of uses of force in society. Chemotherapy is like the widespread use of military force in a city; the overwhelming power of the weapons involved may cause collateral damage to civilians. In contrast, leukocytes in circulating peripheral blood, which are the primary killers of cancer cells in the human body, are like police officers patrolling city streets who deal with street crime. Likewise, when leukocytes encounter cancer cells in the body, these cells are the initial responders to the cancer targets. Leukocytes are classified into many classes and subclasses based on morphological analysis and characterization of cell surface markers using flow cytometry or immunohistochemical staining techniques. These classes and subclasses are like identifying police officers by their uniforms and identification budges. The number of leukocytes per mm3 of peripheral blood corresponds to the number of officers in the city.
When a police officer encounters street criminals, he must deal with them with the weapons he has at hand. But police officers are not always carrying appropriate weaponry. Similarly, cytotoxic T-cells are not always provided with the proper anti-tumor factors to combat specific cancer cells. Cytotoxic T-cells recognize cancer cells via IgG Fc receptors (FcγR), when the cancer cells are coated with IgG. This process is termed antibody-dependent cell-medicated cytotoxicity (ADCC). In fact, IgG is frequently recognized around cancer margins by staining with anti-human IgG (see, for example, Richman A V, Immunofluorescence studies of benign and malignant human mammary tissue, J. Natl. Cancer Inst. 1976; 57:263-7, and Koneval T, et al., Demonstration of immunoglobulin in tumor and marginal tissues of squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck, J. Natl. Cancer Inst. 1977; 59:1089-97). Infiltration of mononuclear leukocytes into cancer lesions is also found in many cases. The FcγR on the surface of cytotoxic T-cells are like a bag containing an assortment of weapons that a police officer carries. Different types of FcγR, such as CD16, CD32, and CD64 correspond to different types of bags. Cudgels are an initial weapon, and are held ready to attack at any time. In cytotoxic T-cells, the cudgel corresponds to perforin (see Nakanishi et al., Perforin expression in lymphocytes infiltrated to human colorectal cancer, Br. J. Cancer 1991; 64:239-42), which is pre-synthesized and stored in the cytosol of cytotoxic T-cells, and immediately released upon FcγR activation. Other presynthesized "cudgels" ready for use include granzymes, proteases related to the digestive enzymes trypsin and chymotrypsin, which may act to trigger apoptosis in the target cell.
Officers also carry more powerful guns, which may correspond to tumor necrosis factors (TNF) in cytotoxic T-cells. Usually, the "bullets" in the cellular context (TNF subtypes) are not loaded in the gun, and are synthesized and released from cytotoxic T-cells only upon Fc receptor activation. TNF is capable of inducing apoptosis by interacting with specific TNF receptors present on the surface of target cells. In order to maintain killing activities against a broad spectrum of target cells, different types of TNF ligands exist (as part of a TNF superfamily, abbreviated to TNFSF). According to GenBank and UniGene information (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov), the human TNF superfamily encompasses up to TNF superfamily 18, with some missing numbers (16 and 17) and multiple sequences within the same number (13A and 13B), for a total of 17 human members. For the corresponding TNF receptors (the TNF-R superfamily: abbreviated to TNFRSF), the human TNF-R superfamily encompasses up to TNF-R superfamily subtype 21. Although TNF/TNF-R superfamily subtype interactions are not strictly specific, each ligand generally reacts with a specific receptor, as shown in Table 1, and over 300 different TNF superfamily subtype TNF-R superfamily combinations exist.
TABLE IList of GenBank UniGene entry of TNFRSF and TNFSF mRNA.TNFRSF (UniGene #)Corresponding TNFSF (UniGene #)1A(Hs.279594)2(Hs.241570)1B(Hs.256278)2(Hs.241570)3(Hs.1116)1(Hs.36)3(Hs.376208)4(Hs.129780)4(Hs.181097)5(Hs.472860)5(Hs.652)6(Hs.244139)6(Hs.2007)7(Hs.355307)7(Hs.501497)8(Hs.1314)8(Hs.494901)9(Hs.193418)9(Hs.1524)10A(Hs.401745)10(Hs.478275)10B(Hs.521456)10(Hs.478275)10C(Hs.119684)10(Hs.478275)10C(Hs.119684)10(Hs.478275)10D(Hs.213467)10(Hs.478275)11A(Hs.204044)11(Hs.333791)11B(Hs.81791)11(Hs.333791)12A(Hs.355899)12(NM003809)*14(Hs.512898)14(Hs.129708)17(Hs.2556)13(Hs.54673)13B(Hs.525157)18(Hs.212680)18(Hs.248197)25(Hs.462529)15(Hs.241382)*GeneBank accession number (no UniGene entry was found).
The complete eradication of cancers may happen when the appropriate TNF superfamily subtype is released from infiltrating cytotoxic T-cells. The rare cases of miracle survivors of cancers may be those in which the TNF superfamily subtype TNF-R superfamily subtype combination is perfect.
Antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) is another mechanism involved in the cytolytic function of leukocytes in conjunction with antibodies (see Perussia et al., Assays for antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) and reverse ADCC (redirected cytotoxicity) in human natural killer cells, Methods Mol. Biol. 2000; 121:179-92). Once the Fab portion of IgG binds to the target cells, the Fc portion of IgG activates Fc receptors on the leukocytes, followed by activation of these leukocytes to attack target cells. Although ADCC has been studied for many years, the conditions in in vitro experiments involving ADCC is dependent on the ratio between effector cytotoxic T-cells and target cells in a pure cell system suspended in an artificial solution. Moreover, because cytolysis was generally quantitated by the release of isotope (chromium-51) from the target cells, it was not known whether the observed cytolysis happens via perforin or TNF. It is also not known which TNF superfamily subtypes are involved in ADCC.
Finally, a further important mechanism by which leukocytes combat cancer is the release of chemokines to recruit more leukocytes to the disease site. Many such cytokines have been discovered. Although correlations have not been established between specific chemokines and specific populations of recruited leukocytes, the phenomenon of chemokine release and leukocyte recruitment is important in combating cancer. An analogy might be made here to policemen confronted with a gang of criminals, who radio back to headquarters for more reinforcements.
In sum, although complicated cellular mechanisms are required to educate appropriate subsets of leukocytes to be able to recognize specific cancer markers, and appropriate chemotactic factors should be released to attract these mature leukocytes to the lesion, actual cancer killing happens in two distinct ways. Immediate cancer killing takes place by the release of perforin from these leukocytes, followed by slow and sustained induction of apoptosis via the synthesis and release of TNF (see Vujanovic, Role of TNF family ligands in antitumor activity of natural killer cells, Int. Rev. Immunol. 2001 June; 20(3-4):415-37). TNF induces apoptosis via binding to the specific receptors on the target cell surface. This means that leukocytes must release specific TNF ligand(s) corresponding to the receptors present on the cancer cells. Although the usefulness of TNF/TNF receptor ratios as predictors of disease outcome has been considered (see McDermott, TNF and TNFR biology in health and disease, Cell. Mol. Biol. (Noisy-le-grand). 2001 June; 47(4):619-35), little is known about the profile of TNF receptors in cancer cells and induction of ligands in leukocytes, nor is it known how appropriate populations of leukocytes are recruited.

Method for predicting immune response to neoplastic disease based on mRNA expression profile in neoplastic cells and stimulated leukocytes


One embodiment of the present invention sets forth a technique for improving antialiasing quality, while minimizing performance degradation, by adaptively selecting between multisampling and supersampling on a per pixel basis. The resulting performance may be generally comparable to multisampling. At the same time, however, the resulting quality may be generally comparable to supersampling. The antialiasing technique disclosed herein determines whether to use multisampling or supersampling on a particular pixel being rendered, based on the specific coverage of the associated geometry primitive. Because many pixel centers are covered by a geometry primitive, a statistical performance advantage is gained when pixels in a rendered image can be generating using multisampling rather than supersampling. The cases where pixel centers are not covered tend to be less frequent, but are very significant to image quality. High image quality is maintained by rendering these cases using supersampling.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to computer graphics systems and more specifically to coverage adaptive multisampling.
2. Description of the Related Art
Computer graphics systems render images on a two-dimensional grid of pixels that is characterized by a discrete horizontal and vertical quantization resolution. The images may be displayed on a display device or stored for later use. The finite resolution of a rendered image often results in visual artifacts, known generally as "aliasing" artifacts, when the ability of a viewer to resolve spatial resolution exceeds the finite spatial resolution of the rendered image. The visual artifacts associated with aliasing typically appear as jagged edges on object silhouettes or along the intersection of two or more objects. Very small or thin objects may tend to flicker. Another type of aliasing artifact results when the coloration (shading) of pixels varies greatly over a pixel region but the pixel's shading is computed without sufficient sampling over the pixel, typically because the shading is computed at a single location within the pixel. This type of shading aliasing produces noisy or flickering shading results, particularly when animation is involved.
Techniques for reducing the artifacts associated with aliasing are referred to as "antialiasing" techniques. Supersampling and multisampling are two well-known antialiasing techniques. Supersampling increases the spatial rendering resolution of an image by using multiple samples that are fully rendered for every pixel within the final image. For example, a supersampling system may generate a pixel by combining four samples, each typically including independently textured and shaded color, depth and coverage information. The four samples are combined using well-known techniques to produce one pixel in the final image, which benefits in general from the increased inherent spatial rendering resolution provided by the additional samples. Supersampling also reduces both edge and shading artifacts due to aliasing because both coverage and shading are performed at more than one sample per pixel.
When the supersampling system performs texture mapping, each of the four samples within a pixel is usually texture mapped separately according to a specified texture mapping technique. For example, trilinear texture mapping may be used to independently texture each of the four samples, where the center of each sample is used to select a sample location within the associated texture map. The four color values, each generated from eight texels (thirty-two total texels), are combined to generate the color value for the pixel. While supersampling produces very high-quality results, the associated bandwidth and processing load increases in proportion to the number of samples within a pixel, making this technique prohibitively expensive in many scenarios.
Multisampling substantially reduces memory bandwidth and processing load relative to supersampling by eliminating the independent color computation for each sample within a pixel (while preserving the independent computation of depth and coverage for each sample). Instead of texturing and shading each sample color independently, one representative sample point is selected for color shading. The resulting color is applied to all samples within the pixel. The underlying assumption of multisampling is that the color of a given shaded object will not change rapidly within the boundaries of a single pixel and therefore using a single representative color sample for the pixel on the object is adequate. However, since intersecting objects may have very different colors within the area of a single pixel, preserving depth and coverage information is important to accurately represent an intersection of two or more objects within the boundaries of the pixel.
When a multisampling system performs texture mapping, a representative sample point is selected for the purpose of texture mapping the pixel and the resulting texture map color is attributed to all of the samples within the pixel. Well-known techniques exist for selecting the representative sample point, however the process is fundamentally an approximation. For example, basic multisampling selects the pixel center as the representative sample point for shading the entire pixel. When the texture mapped object is relatively large and parallel with the current view plane of a rendered image, the resulting image quality is generally acceptable because variations in the position of the representative sample point have little effect on the location of the sample point within the texture map. However, as the angle of incidence from the view plane to the surface of the texture mapped object increases, small variations in the position of the representative sample point result is large excursions through the texture map image. For example, if the pixel center is used to define the sample point, but the geometric primitive does not actually intersect the pixel center, then the pixel may be shaded with erroneous texture data. In certain scenarios, such as when "atlas" textures (unrelated image panels consolidated into one flat texture map image) are used, striking visual errors may result when an extrapolated sample point from one texture mapped object strays off the atlas panel and into a panel that has no relationship to the texture mapped object.
One well-known technique used to improve image quality of texture mapping in multisampling systems is called "centroid sampling." Centroid sampling, which is a well-known multisampling technique, attempts to guarantee that the representative sample point is located on a covered portion of the texture mapped object by placing the representative sample at the centroid of covered samples. While centroid sampling improves overall image quality in certain basic instances, this technique is still an approximation and does not completely eliminate artifacts in all common scenarios. For example, objects that occupy one or a small number of screen space pixels may not be properly shaded.
In addition, centroid sampling causes texture map address computation resources to generate non-uniformly spaced texture map addresses, rather than evenly spaced texture map addresses that can also be used to compute the partial derivatives needed in level-of-detail (LOD) computations. As a consequence, additional resources are needed to perform LOD computations in a centroid sampling system to avoid artifacts related to erroneous LOD computation.
Another approach to improving the image quality in the presence of multisampling is transparency adaptive multisampling. In essence, this approach resorts to supersampling when semi-transparent (non-fully opaque) objects are rendered. The rationale is that transparent objects are often alpha tested. The alpha color component reflects the degree of opacity. When the opacity is below some threshold, such fragments are discarded. However, if the alpha color component, computed as part of a shading operation, is computed once per pixel and shared with all the samples used for multisampling, then all samples for a given pixel are either discarded or kept as a single group. This leads to jagged edges when semi-transparent objects are rendered. To avoid this problem, transparency adaptive multisampling simply resorts to supersampling instead of multisampling when rendering semi-transparent objects. The overall benefit of transparency adaptive multisampling is therefore limited to improving the rendered quality of transparent objects. However, transparency adaptive multisampling introduces a potential performance inefficiency by unnecessarily supersampling pixels for certain rendered objects that have non-opaque and fully opaque regions, as is often the case for objects like trees and vegetation. Additionally, transparency adaptive multisampling does not improve image quality for non-transparent objects subject to aliasing artifacts due to under-sampled shading. Thus, the applicability of transparency adaptive multisampling is limited because this technique adapts the use of supersampling or multisampling on a coarse basis that is specialized for the specific case of transparent objects.
As the foregoing illustrates, what is needed in the art is an antialiasing technique that provides the high performance and low resource utilization similar to multisampling, while also providing the high image quality that is comparable with supersampling.


An analog filter is placed at a stage previous to an analog-digital converter (ADC), and a waveform equalizer is placed at a stage subsequent to the ADC. The sampling frequency of the ADC is determined by a clock generation section according to the relationship between the bit rate of an input reproduction signal and the characteristic of the analog filter. The number of taps is changed according to the relationship between the bit rate of the input reproduction signal and the characteristic of the analog filter. Further, the tap coefficients of a waveform equalizer are changed according to the height of the frequency band of the input reproduction signal. A waveform evaluation section generates a signal that evaluates a waveform equalization signal transmitted from the waveform equalizer to a Viterbi decoder, whereby adaptive waveform equalization is realized.

The present invention relates to a reproduction signal processing apparatus which equalizes the waveform of an input reproduction signal that is reproduced from a recording medium and outputs a binary signal based on the equalized waveform.
Conventionally, a waveform equalization technique for equalizing the waveform of a signal reproduced from a recording medium, such as a magnetic tape, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, etc., has been known (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Publications Nos. 5-135313, 10-255214, and 2000-182330).
In a reproduction signal processing apparatus for an optical disk, such as a CD (compact disk), a DVD (digital versatile disk), etc., the characteristics of an input reproduction signal differ according to the type of a recording medium, a recording method, a reproduction speed, etc. Thus, the reproduction signal processing apparatus must have a plurality of waveform equalization characteristics and adapt itself to a wide frequency band.
However, the conventional reproduction signal processing apparatus does not consider such variations in the characteristics of the input reproduction signal in a waveform equalization process.

Reproduction signal processing apparatus

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A beverage brewing apparatus which includes a tank for containing heated water. Partitions are positioned in the heated water tank to define holding sections and a brewing section. Water is introduced into the holding sections of the tank and heated therein to a temperature of 180.degree.. Water retained in the heated water tank may pass from the holding sections around the partitions to the brewing section. A beverage holding reservoir is disposed in each of the holding sections of the tank so that heat from the water in the holding sections maintains a beverage disposed in the holding reservoirs at a desired temperature. A brewing assembly is associated with the holding reservoir and a dispensing head on a swing arm communicates with the brewing section and is positionable in relation to each of the brewing assemblies. A sensor and heater in the brewing section maintain the water retained therein at a temperature of 200.degree.. Water is pumped from the brewing section through the swing arm and into a selected brewing assembly to produce a brewed beverage therefrom. The swing arm includes two activating fingers which controllably activate a switch on the brewing apparatus to control flow of water through the swing arm and prevent flow therethrough when the swing arm.

This invention pertains to beverage brewers and more particularly to urn-type brewers which have a beverage holding reservoir disposed in a heated water tank.
Urn-type coffee brewers are commonly used to produce large quantities of brewed beverage on demand and to maintain the brewed beverage at a predetermined desired temperature. Examples of the urn-type beverage brewer are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,593,650 to Martin, issued Jul. 20, 1971 and U.S Pat. No. 3,608,471 to Martin, issued Sep. 28, 1971. As shown in the Martin patents, the urn-type brewer employs a large heated water tank in which is disposed at least two coffee brewing assemblies. Each coffee brewing assembly includes a holding reservoir, a filter assembly, and a spigot in communication with the holding reservoir. Water is heated in the tank portion and dispensed through a swing arm type dispensing head which can be moved into position over either one of the brewing assemblies. Heated water from the tank is pumped through the swing arm into a funnel assembly to infuse beverage brewing substance retained in the funnel and dispense the brewed beverage extract into the holding reservoir. The brewed beverage retained in the reservoir is maintained at a desired temperature by the heated brewing water surrounding the reservoir.
Several problems arise with regard to the urn-type brewer arrangement as shown in the Martin patents. One problem that arises with urn-type brewing devices is that a single water temperature is used for both brewing water and for maintaining the brewed beverage in a heated state prior to serving. This is a problem because generally accepted brewing practices require that the brewed beverage be maintained at a temperature of 180.degree. whereas the preferred optimum brewing water temperature is 200.degree.. As noted above, the urn-type brewing apparatus employs a single tank which retains heated water used for both brewing and for maintaining the brewed beverage in a heated state prior to serving. Because the urn-type brewing apparatus has a single chamber, the temperature of the water in the chamber is generally constant. Since prior art beverage brewing devices use a single chamber, either the temperature must be maintained at a temperature which is much higher than desired for a brewed beverage or at a temperature which is much lower than the temperature required for optimum beverage brewing.
Another problem arises when an operator fails to properly position the swing arm over one of the brewing baskets before starting the brew cycle. This situation is problematic in that the heated water may be sprayed on the operator or over the brewing apparatus which could potentially cause problems for the operator or the brewing apparatus.
The Martin '471 patent attempts to overcome this problem by requiring an operator to depress two switches in order to start the brewing cycle. The operation of two switches is intended to induce the operator to observe the position of the swing spout with regard to one of the brewing assemblies. While the device as shown in Martin '471 does help promote the safe operation of an urn-type brewing apparatus, it still requires operation of switches which are independent from the position of the swing spout. For example, if an operator fails to check the position of the swing spout before activating the switches, the brew cycle may be initiated with the swing spout in the wrong position.
As such, it would be desirable to have an urn-type brewing apparatus which provides for control of the flow through the swing spout independent of the switches which activate the brewing cycle.
As such, it would be desirable to provide a beverage brewing apparatus which would maintain the brewed beverage at approximately 180.degree. and provide instantaneous hot water for brewing at a temperature of 200.degree.. No known urn-type beverage brewing apparatus overcomes the problems discussed hereinabove.