A method for controlling power consumed by a plurality of subsystems on a multi-car train having a plurality of power supplies connected in parallel for supplying power to the subsystems. The train has a train wide communication network which includes a vehicle bus in each car of the train communicating with the power supplies and subsystems on the car, a train bus extending through the entire train, and communication nodes in each car interconnecting the train bus with each one of the vehicle buses. One of the communication nodes in one of the cars constitutes a master node and the other communication nodes in the other cars constitutes slave nodes, each slave node communicating status information about power supplies and subsystems on its vehicle bus to the master node and communicating control information to the power supplies and subsystems on its vehicle bus. The method includes using the communications network to periodically determine the number of functional power supplies connected in parallel, determining from the number of functional power supplies available for supplying power at any given time a variable corresponding to the total power available for power consuming subsystems on the train and selectively reducing subsystems on the train by way of the communications network in accordance with the variable determined by the determining step.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to an apparatus and a method for controlling power consumed by a passenger train, in particular to an apparatus and method of load shedding using a trainwide communication system whereby at least one train car in the passenger train receives power from a high voltage source and has an intermediate voltage power supply which outputs intermediate voltage to other cars on the train.
2. Background of the Related Art
Trains are typically powered from a high voltage (e.g., 600 V) DC power supplied by a high voltage line on a third rail. It is common that some cars on such trains carry intermediate voltage power supplies which convert the high level DC voltage to an intermediate level (e.g., 350 V) from which heating, air conditioning and braking units are driven. A single line running the length of the train can be connected to these power supplies and consequently, every car does not have to carry such a power supply.
Each car carrying such an intermediate voltage power supply is coupled to the high voltage 600 V line. However, since the high voltage power is supplied by separate high voltage sources, there are often gaps along the third rail at which no high voltage power is available. Consequently, if the train happens to stop so that a car carrying one of the intermediate voltage power supplies is at one of these gaps, or if one or more of the intermediate voltage power supplies breaks down, a fewer number of intermediate voltage power supplies must supply power to the same number of heating, air conditioning and braking units. This can result in overloading the intermediate voltage power supplies and/or damaging the heating, air conditioning and braking units (the latter possibly resulting in brake failure).
In addition, other equipment on the cars such as lighting circuitry or door control circuitry require even lower (e.g., 37 V) operating voltages. Such operating voltages can typically be obtained by using a converter which can be placed on each car of the train connected to the high voltage (600 V) line and a storage battery. The converter unit charges the storage battery which is coupled to a low voltage (37 V) line that also runs along the entire train. Again, if the train stops at gaps along the high voltage line, the converter cannot receive the high voltage it needs to charge the battery. Consequently, fewer converters and batteries must drive the same number of lighting and door units.
With the advent of trainwide communication systems, a solution to the above problems has become possible. For example, a train communication system is being developed by the assignee of the present application which, based on the proposed European specification DIN 43322 for "Serial Interfaces to Programmable Electronic Equipment for Rail Vehicles," incorporated herein by reference, enables a master node located typically in a head car of a train to communicate via a serial bus to slave nodes on middle cars of the train and on a tail car of the train. See also, "International Standard-Information processing systems-Data communication-High-level data link control elements of procedures, ISO 4335", Third edition, Global Engineering Documents, Irvine, CA, 1987, the subject matter of which is also incorporated herein by reference.

Method and apparatus for load shedding using a trainline monitor system


The invention relates to a method for recognizing the respiratory phases of a patient for controlling a ventilating apparatus. The time-dependent trace of a signal, which represents the respiratory flow curve and is emitted by a signal device, is determined and from this trace, a trigger criterium is obtained for the switchover of the ventilating apparatus from the expiration phase into the inspiration phase and/or from the inspiration phase into the expiration phase. The method is improved in that even for chronically obstructive patients, a reliable and early recognition of the inspiration and expiration attempts is possible. A significant increase of the slope of the respiratory flow curve between each two zero crossovers of this curve is used as a trigger criterium.

For patients with healthy lungs, no significant phase shift exists between the force response of the respiratory muscles and the resulting respiratory flow. For this reason, a good respiratory phase identification can be derived from the zero crossovers of the mouth pressure or respiratory flow as they are required as a trigger criterium for the phase reversal during assisted ventilating forms.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,834,382 discloses a ventilating apparatus wherein the zero crossover of the respiratory flow curve is used as a trigger criterium. This method however is deficient when the time constant of the lung with reference to the duration of the respiratory phases increases as is the case for chronically obstructive patients (COPD) at increased breathing frequency. A phase shift occurs between the force response of the respiratory muscles and the resulting respiratory flow. A discoordination between the activity of the respiratory muscles and the flow direction in the respiratory tract is observed and thereby the externally recognizable respiratory phases.
An assisted ventilating method which undertakes the reversal of inspiration to expiration or from expiration to inspiration pursuant to methods of respiratory phase identification used today can, in such patients, contribute to an unwanted increase of the isometric respiratory work. The patient senses the initiation of the inspiration assistance as being too late; on the other hand, the patient already initiates an expiration even though the ventilating apparatus still continues to supply volume to the lung.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,050,458 discloses a ventilating apparatus wherein the time trace of the mouth pressure of the patient is measured and, by forming the second time differential, a kink point in the end phase of the expiratory pressure trace is determined. This kink point acts as a trigger criterium for the inspiration phase which follows. It is a disadvantage of this apparatus that a reliably evaluatable pressure signal is only obtained when the ventilating apparatus has an unwanted high flow resistance. For conventional flow resistances, the pressure signal is so small that it merges with noise. Furthermore, it is a disadvantage that no trigger criterium can be obtained for the reversal from inspiration to expiration.

Method for detecting the respiratory phases of a patient during an assisted ventilating process


An equipment trailer particularly designed to transport as many as two forklifts at one time, having a trap door in the bed so that a forklift may be positioned on the trailer for maintenance to the lower portions of the forklift. The bed of the trailer is mounted within a U-shaped frame which has lifting mechanisms at the front and rear of the trailer to tilt the trailer bed as desired by the operator. The bed may be locked in a travel position to the arms of the U-shaped frame in such a way that excessive torque or longitudinal twisting couplings are not exerted upon the arms.

(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a trailer particularly adapted to move heavy equipment such as forklifts.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Forklifts present a particular problem for transport, particularly those forklifts which are used for heavy warehouse work.
It is not unusual for these forklifts to weigh 20,000 lbs. Typically these forklifts will have extremely low clearance and will be extremely heavy.
Special trailers have been developed or adapted to move these particular vehicles. For example, the trailer built according to VERSCHAGE, U.S. Pat. No. 4,372,572, is used for this purpose. It is noted that the bed can be lowered so that it is very close to the ground in order that the fork lift may be driven onto the bed. The bed can then be elevated above the ground for transportation over the road. These forklifts are frequently used in warehouses which have loading docks elevated up to four or five feet above the roadway. Therefore it is desirable to have a vehicle where the bed may be elevated to such a height.
There is also the problem of performing repairs and maintenance upon forklifts unless a lift rack is available. Because of their extreme low clearance it is difficult, if not impossible to perform even simple maintenance procedures such as changing a fan belt or draining used motor oil without placing them on a rack. As stated before, they are not mobile except on a level warehouse floor and therefore it is necessary to transport these vehicles to a shop with a rack or other location with special equipment before even such maintenance as discussed above can be performed.
SHIELS, U.S. Pat. No. 4,673,328, and RAVEN, U.S. Pat. No. 2,230,014, have disclosed trailers which can be lowered to ground level and elevated above ground level using a U-shaped frame. With a U-shaped frame there exists a problem of locking the bed for a proper height while transporting the load long distances. Also there is a problem of the U-shaped beams or arms spreading apart. A further problem is that the weight on the bed, suspended by the arms of the U-shaped frame, tends to twist the arms because the bed is usually attached at the inside of the frame and the wheels are attached to the outside of the frame. Since the arms extend from the bight of the U at the front of the trailer, this tends to twist the arms so that the wheels move outward.
SHIELS provides for the connection between the bed and the arms by the U-shaped frame which will hold the bed in a desired position and also prevent the arms of the frame from moving apart. However, SHIELS does not provide any solution for the twisting of the arms as the result of the torsion within the arms described above.
Before filing this application the applicant was aware of the following U.S. Patents and also Japanese Patent 244,731 issued in Japan in 1987.
______________________________________ INVENTOR PATENT NO. ISSUE DATE ______________________________________ JARMIN 2,173,277 1939 BIGDEN 3,288,315 1966 MARLETT 4,702,662 1987 LANDOLL 5,013,056 1991 ______________________________________
The above listed are mentioned here only because the applicant believes that an Examiner would be interested in anything reported by an experienced searcher.


An expansion joint and flexible seal for refractory lined flues includes a flexible insulating body having a pair of end faces, a pair of lateral faces and a longitudinal dimension. The flexible seal further includes a filter element positioned adjacent to one of the end faces and extending in the longitudinal dimension. The filter element is attached to the insulating body and the assembly may be placed with other seal assemblies in endwise fashion around the periphery of a pair of opposing flue members. A further external pressure seal is provided, mounted to each end of the flue elements.

The field of the present invention is expansion joints for ducting and flue systems, and more particularly, nonmetallic flexible expansion joints to provide stress relief in refactory lined flue systems used in high temperature applications such as power generation and related activities.
In power generating or cogeneration plants, including facilities for obtaining usable electrical power or processing steam/hot water from the burning of solid, liquid or gaseous fuel products, hot flue gases generated by the combustion process are typically directed through a series of processing areas to remove particulates and environmentally hazardous components before finally being exhausted from the facility. FIG. 1 illustrates a power generation plant of unique design that includes a furnace having a circulating fluidized bed (CFB) wherein various fuel materials are combusted. The hot flue gases containing combustion by-products are transferred from the furnace through a flue/expansion joint to a cyclone separator. The cyclone separator diverts heavier combustion particulate matter back to the CFB and the fine particulate matter and hot flue gases are directed through a heat exchanger. The fine particulate matter is then diverted to a particulate filter for disposal. Gases emitted from the facility will have most of the combustion by-product emissions, including NO.sub.x, SO.sub.2, CO, particulates, etc., removed therefrom, resulting in an environmentally safe means of power generation.
Nonmetallic flue expansion joints are flexible connectors designed to provide stress relief in flue systems by absorbing movement caused by thermal changes. They also act as vibration isolators, and in some instances, make up for minor misalignment of adjoining flues or equipment. They may be fabricated from a wide variety of nonmetallic materials, including synthetic elastomers, fabrics, insulation materials and other suitable materials depending upon the designs thereof. Since their introduction in the early 1960's, the use of nonmetallic expansion joints has continuously grown. The advent of more rigid emission standards has caused the use of more complex flue work systems. Nonmetallic expansion joints have been used in place of the traditional all metal expansion joints to solve problems caused by the thermal and mechanical stresses generated in these complex systems. Although the major user of the nonmetallic joint continues to be the power generation industry, the use of this product has expanded into many other industries wherein gases are conveyed including pulp and paper plants, refineries, steel mills, foundries, smelters, cement plants, kilns, refuse incineration, marine applications, vapor-heat-dust recovery, food processing, and HVAC (Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning).
A typical prior art nonmetallic expansion joint is shown in FIG. 2. The joint includes a pair of angle brackets mounted to the respective ends of a pair of adjoining ducts or flues. A pair of frame members are in turn attached to the angle brackets. The frame members have mounted thereto a flexible pressure seal that extends around the periphery of the expansion joint. The pressure seal may be of the elastomeric type for operation below 400 degrees F or may be of the composite type for operation at temperatures continuously above 400 degrees F. It will be appreciated that the flexible pressure seal allows relative axial, transverse, angular and rotational movement between the respective ducts while preventing the escape of pressurized flue gasses and particulates carried therein. Other nonmetallic expansion joint constructions may be seen in the "Technical Handbook" published by the Ducting Systems Nonmetallic Expansion Joint Division of the Fluid Sealing Association, 2017 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, Pa. 19103 (2nd Edition), the contents of which are fully incorporated herein by this reference.
It is known that nonmetallic expansion joints are prone to failure from the build-up of abrasive particulates carried by the flue gas stream, which can accumulate in the expansion joint in such quantities that they eventually rupture the pressure seal. Moreover, fly ash and other particulates can cause damage to the expansion joint by solidifying to a cementatious state. Also, certain non-cementatious particulates (fly ash) can create a severe, corrosive (acidic) environment when subjected to cooling (below the H.sub.2 SO.sub.4 dew point) during a maintenance outage.
To prevent premature expansion joint failure from the build up of particulate matter therein, baffles have been proposed to help direct particulate matter beyond the expansion joint, as shown in FIG. 2. Other proposals include mounting the flexible pressure seal substantially flush with the interior surface of the duct or flue, as shown in FIG. 3, or mounting an insulation barrier behind a baffle arrangement as shown in FIG. 4. Although these proposals may exhibit varying degrees of effectiveness in minimizing expansion joint failure, the arrangement of FIG. 3 may result in thermal transfer on the inner face of the expansion joint and abrasion from particulates in the gas stream. A greater setback would be desirable. The arrangement of FIG. 4 may result in the insulation barrier rubbing on the baffle under negative pressures. Moreover, the insulation barrier must be fixedly attached to both sides of the joint, which may complicate joint construction and also impart adverse loads on the barrier.
Accordingly, there is an evident need for an expansion joint flexible seal which not only prevents particulate build up, but which is durable, easy to install and will perform satisfactorily despite joint movement. It would be further desirable to provide an expansion joint flexible seal that also performs a sealing function to provide an additional gas sealing barrier.
The present invention accomplishes the foregoing objects and advantages. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved expansion joint and flexible seal therefor.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an expansion joint having a flexible seal that is not adversely affected by relative joint movement.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an expansion joint having a modular construction for easier installation.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an expansion joint and flexible seal therefor providing an additional gas sealing barrier.


A system includes a gasifier injector configured to inject a heat control fuel and a mixed air into a gasifier for combustion during a heat control mode. The heat control fuel is the same or different from the gasification fuel, and the system is configured to create the mixed air from independent supplies of oxygen and nitrogen.

The subject matter disclosed herein relates generally to gasifiers. More particularly, the disclosed subject matter relates to a system and method for heating a gasifier.
Gasification systems generally include a process injector used to supply a gasification fuel, such as an organic feedstock, into a gasifier along with oxygen and steam to generate a syngas. As a preliminary step, a mixture of a preheat fuel and air is combusted to preheat the gasifier to an elevated temperature before initiating gasification of the feedstock in the gasifier. Unfortunately, the elevated temperature achievable during preheat may be substantially limited by the use of air and low pressures (e.g., atmospheric pressure). As a result of this temperature limit, if the process injector cannot be installed quickly enough after preheat, then the gasifier temperature may drop below a temperature threshold suitable to start gasification of the feedstock. In the event of such excessive cooling, the preheat process would need to be repeated to raise the gasifier temperature to the elevated temperature. As a result of this delay, valuable time may be lost for gasifying the feedstock, which in turn may result in lost production of chemicals, lost generation of electricity, and so forth. The use of air and low pressures (e.g., atmospheric pressure) also may substantially limit the rate of temperature increase and the overall time required to complete the final stages of preheat. Again, this delay can result in significant losses in gasification production.

System and method for heating a gasifier


A method of creating images in stone substrate such as granite monuments using digital laser etching into a painted area. Alternatively, two layers of color contrasting coatings may be applied and the laser etching penetrates into the innermost layer to produce a contrast with the top coat. Pigmented material of a chemical content which is related to the mineral content of the substrate. Various enhancement techniques are also described.

It is known to create lettering, numbering and simple carvings in stone surfaces, most particularly in burial headstones and monuments, by sandblasting or cutting into a stone surface to form lines and curves of removed material. A sandblasting process is typically carried out with the use of a rubber stencil, limiting the process to relatively thick lines and large letters or numbers.
Some years ago, the use of lasers appeared in the monument industry but was typically limited to performing on dark granites. More recently, U.S. Pat. No. 7,919,191 was issued to George M. Arnold describing a method of creating pigmented images on stone such as granite. The Arnold method includes the steps of masking the stone substrate in an image area burning through the mask to pit the stone substrate, applying pigmented paint over the image area and thereafter removing the remains of the mask. Lithochrome paint is applied as base paint and also pigmented paint. Lithochrome paint is acrylic-based surface bonding paint. During freeze and thaw weathering cycles, it blisters easily and therefore, can separate from the granite surface.

Method of creating an image on a stone substrate surface and resulting product


A liquid ejecting head including a head main unit having L (L is an integer of 2 or more) nozzle rows parallel to one another in a first direction in which, for each nozzle row, in a case in which one side in a second direction that intersects the first direction at a predetermined angle in a range of 0 degrees to 90 degrees is the first side, the nozzle row furthest to the first side among the L nozzle rows does not have a nozzle positioned at a distance M or more further to the first side in the second direction than the nozzle furthest to the first side of a nozzle row neighboring in the second direction.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a liquid ejecting head that ejects a liquid from nozzle openings, a liquid ejecting head unit, a liquid ejecting line head, and a liquid ejecting apparatus, and, in particular, relates to an ink jet recording head, an ink jet recording head unit, an ink jet line recording head and an ink jet recording apparatus equipped with an ink jet recording head that ejects ink as a liquid.
2. Related Art
An ink jet recording head that is an example of a liquid ejecting head in which a plurality of linear recording head modules having one nozzle row are obliquely lined up has been proposed (refer to JP-A-2001-58422). The technology realizes a long recording head for multi-color recording in which lateral spreading of the arrangement of the nozzle heights in the scanning direction is suppressed.
However, since a plurality of head modules having one nozzle row is arranged in the technology in JP-A-2001-58422, it is necessary that many head modules be aligned, and there is a problem of shifts of nozzle position easily arising between nozzle rows, along with the assembly steps being complicated.
Such a problem is similarly present not only in an ink jet recording head, but also in liquid ejecting head units that eject liquids other than ink.

Liquid ejecting head, liquid ejecting head unit, liquid ejecting line head and liquid ejecting apparatus


An ink jet printer has a printhead with ink droplet ejecting nozzles that moves in a two dimensional direction across a movable recording medium or intermediate surface. The recording medium or intermediate surface is moved in a first direction with a constant velocity. The printhead is spaced from and is parallel to the recording medium or intermediate surface during the two dimensional movement of the printhead. During the printing process, the printhead is moved concurrently in the first direction at a velocity equal to the velocity of the recording medium or intermediate surface and in a second direction that is perpendicular to the first direction. This two dimensional movement of the printhead causes the ink droplets ejected therefrom to print swaths of information across the recording medium or intermediate surface that are perpendicular to the first direction.

An exemplary embodiment of this application relates to an ink jet printer having a shuttling printhead that ejects droplets of either melted solid ink or liquid ink onto a moving recording medium or intermediate surface to print swaths of information that are perpendicular to the direction of movement thereof. More particularly, the exemplary embodiment relates to an ink jet printer having a two-dimensionally movable printhead that prints swaths of information on a recording medium or intermediate surface that moves at a constant velocity. The printed swaths of information are perpendicular to the moving direction of the recording medium or intermediate surface. A transfixing station may be located downstream from the printhead whereat the printed information on the intermediate surface may be transferred and fixed to a recording medium.
Droplet-on-demand ink jet printing systems eject ink droplets from printhead nozzles in response to pressure pulses generated within the printhead by either piezoelectric devices or thermal transducers, such as resistors. The ejected ink droplets are propelled to specific locations on a recording medium, commonly referred to as pixels, where each ink droplet forms a spot on the recording medium. The printheads contain ink in a plurality of channels, usually one channel for each nozzle, which interconnect an ink reservoir in the printhead with the nozzles.
In a thermal ink jet printing system, the pressure pulse is produced by applying an electrical current pulse to a resistor typically associated with each one of the channels. Each resistor is individually addressable to heat and momentarily vaporize the aqueous based ink in contact therewith. As a voltage pulse is applied across a selected resistor, a temporary vapor bubble grows and collapses in the associated channel, thereby displacing a quantity of ink from the channel, so that it bulges through the channel nozzle. The ink bulging through the nozzle is ejected from the nozzle as a droplet, during the bubble collapse on the resistor. The ejected droplet is then propelled to a recording medium. When the ink droplet hits the targeted pixel on the recording medium, the ink droplet forms a spot thereon. The channel from which the ink droplet was ejected is then refilled by capillary action, which, in turn, draws ink from an ink supply container.
In a typical piezoelectric ink jet printing system, the pressure pulses that eject liquid ink droplets are produced by applying an electric pulse to the piezoelectric devices, one of which is typically located within each one of the ink channels. Each piezoelectric device is individually addressable to cause it to bend or deform and pressurize the volume of liquid ink in contact therewith. As a voltage pulse is applied to a selected piezoelectric device, a quantity of ink is displaced from the ink channel and a droplet of ink is mechanically ejected from the nozzle associated with each piezoelectric device. Just as in thermal ink jet printing, the ejected droplet is propelled to a pixel target on a recording medium. The channel from which the ink droplet was ejected is refilled by capillary action from an ink supply. For an example of a piezoelectric ink jet printer, refer to U.S. Pat. No. 3,946,398.
The majority of color printers today use an aqueous ink in a thermal ink jet printer. If a shuttling printhead is used, the printhead is transported across a stationary recording medium, such as a sheet of paper, from one edge thereof to the opposite edge. This is usually referred to as the "X" or scan direction. Once the printhead has been transported in the X direction across the recording medium, either the recording medium or the printhead is advanced a distance of the height of a printed swath or a portion thereof in the direction perpendicular to the X direction usually referred to as the "Y" direction. The printhead is then scanned in the X direction back across the recording medium to the original edge thereof, so that another swath of information is printed. The subsequently printed swaths may be contiguous with the previously printed swaths or interlaced therewith. When the complete image is printed on the recording medium, it is removed and replaced with a clean recording medium and the process is repeated for a subsequent image.
An ink jet printhead can include one or more printhead die assemblies, each having a droplet ejecting portion and a channel portion. The channel portion includes an array of ink channels that bring ink into contact with the droplet ejectors, which are correspondingly arranged on the droplet ejecting portion. In addition, the droplet ejecting portion may also have integrated addressing electronics and driver transistors. The array of channels in a single die assembly is not sufficient to cover the full width of a page of recording medium, such as, for example, a standard sheet of paper. Therefore, a printhead having only one die assembly is scanned across the page of recording medium while the recording medium is held stationary and then the recording medium is advanced between scans. Alternatively, multiple die assemblies may be butted together to produce a full width printhead, such as, for example, the printhead disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,829,324 and 5,221,397.
Because thermal ink jet printhead nozzles typically eject ink droplets that produce spots of a single size on the recording medium, high quality printing requires the ink channels and associated nozzles and corresponding printhead droplet ejectors to be fabricated at a high resolution, such as, for example, 600 per inch.
The ink jet printhead may be incorporated into a carriage type printer or a full width array type printer. The carriage type printer may have a printhead having a single die assembly or several die assemblies abutted together for a partial width size printhead. Since both single die and multiple-die, partial width printheads function substantially the same way in a carriage type printer, only the printer with a single die printhead will be discussed. The only difference, of course, is that the partial width size printhead will print a larger swath of information. The single die printhead, containing the ink channels and nozzles, can be connected to an ink supply attached thereto or located separately therefrom. The printhead is reciprocated to print one swath of information at a time, while the recording medium is held stationary. Each swath of information is equal to the height of the column of nozzles in the printhead. After a swath is printed, the recording medium is stepped a distance at most equal to the height of the printed swath, so that the next printed swath is contiguous or overlaps with the previously printed swath. When the subsequently printed swath is overlapped or partially overlapped with the previously printed swath, the printed spots or pixels may be interlaced to increase image resolution. This procedure is repeated until the entire image is printed. If the printhead is shuttled across the recording medium, the recording medium is held stationary until the complete image is printed. The printhead is scanned first in the X direction during which time it prints a swath of information and then is stepped in the Y direction without ejecting ink droplets prior to the next scan in the X direction.
In contrast, the page width printer includes a stationary printhead having a length sufficient to print across the width of sheet of recording medium. The recording medium is continually moved past the full width printhead in a direction substantially normal to the printhead length and at a constant or varying speed during the printing process. Another example of a full width array printer is described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,192,959.
Ink jet printing systems typically eject ink droplets based on information received from an information output device, such as, a personal computer. Typically, this received information is in the form of a raster, such as, for example, a full page bitmap or in the form of an image written in a page description language. The raster includes a series of scan lines comprising bits representing individual information elements or pixels. Each scan line contains information sufficient to eject a single line of ink droplets across the recording medium in a linear fashion from one nozzle. For example, ink jet printers can print bitmap information as received or can print an image written in the page description language once it is converted to a bitmap of pixel information.
The problem of ink drying time and paper cockling are widely recognized issues when printing high coverage areas with aqueous based inks, particularly when printing color images. The problem of drying time and paper cockling is substantially reduced when solid ink is used and the printhead ejects droplets of melted ink onto the recording medium, where the melted ink droplets solidify immediately. Further improvement in the drying time and cockling problem is obtained when the printhead ejects droplets of melted ink onto an intermediate surface, such as, for example, a drum, that has a release agent coating thereon. Once the image is fully formed on the intermediate surface, the image is then transferred to a recording medium, such as paper. The transfer is generally conducted in a nip formed by the rotating intermediate belt or drum surface and a rotatable heated pressure roll. As a sheet of paper is transported through the nip, the fully formed image is transferred from the intermediate belt or drum surface to the sheet of paper and concurrently fixed thereon. This transfer technique of using the combination of heat and pressure at a nip to transfer and fix the image to a recording medium passing through the nip is usually referred to as "transfixing," a well known technology.
In all of the above mentioned current ink jet printers, there is a loss of efficiency induced by time spent during which the printhead does not eject ink droplets. In a shuttle printhead architecture, this time is spent while decelerating and accelerating the printhead as it turns around between scans. In the intermediate drum configuration, this time is spent as the printhead passes over inter image spaces or dead bands, and also during the time that transfixing occurs. To minimize this unused time, reduction in the time spent transfixing has been the goal, but transfixing speeds of 25 inches per second or higher has been found not to produce prints with an appropriate level of print quality and durability. One solution is to use a separate off line transfixing step, but this results in added costs, complexity and reliability issues for the printer system. In addition to the transfixing time, the intermediate drum surface must be re-coated with a release agent between prints, resulting in further time being spent while the printhead is not printing. In current ink jet printers using intermediate transfer members, the transfixing process must be performed serially after the imaging process. As printer speeds increase, the time required for the transfixing process must get shorter, forcing the transfixing process to higher speeds, causing degraded image quality.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,099,256 discloses a thermal ink jet printer having a translatable multicolor printhead and a rotatable intermediate drum with a film forming silicone polymer layer on the outer surface thereof. The drum surface is heated to dehydrate the aqueous based ink droplets deposited thereon from the printhead at a first location. The drum is rotated and the dehydrated droplets are transferred from the drum to a recording medium at a transfer station positioned adjacent the drum at a second location.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,033,053 discloses an ink jet printing cartridge in the form of a cylindrical drum having a plurality of individual printheads helically formed on and covering the outer surface of the drum. The drum is rotated about its axis, and as the drum is rotated, the printheads confronting a sheet of paper are actuated to eject ink droplets, while the sheet of paper is moved past the rotating drum shaped cartridge.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,394,577 discloses an ink jet printing apparatus for forming an ink image on a receiver or recording medium that is attached to the surface of a rotatable drum. The drum is rotated about its axis, and the printing apparatus has an ink jet printhead that is movable in a direction parallel to the drum axis and ejects ink droplets onto the receiver while the drum is rotated at a predetermined velocity. The printing apparatus moves the printhead at a velocity less than that of the drum, so that the printhead scans an area of the drum surface that is skewed relative to the drum surface. Control circuitry simultaneously controls the movement of the drum and printhead and actuates the printhead to form an ink image within the skewed scans, but only within the boundaries of the receiver.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,511,172 discloses an ink jet printing apparatus having a flat transport belt for transporting a printing sheet to a region opposite the ejection openings of the printheads. An electrostatic generating means provides an electrostatic suction or attraction force on the surface of the transport belt. A control means generates the attraction force only in a region opposite the printheads.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,588,877 discloses a bi-directional envelope printing system having a reciprocating carriage that moves from a maintenance station in a first direction across a printing location to an end position. The carriage then returns across the printing location to the maintenance station. The carriage includes multiple ink jet printheads, each printing a swath of information that has a specific swath height. The printheads print on a first envelope while traveling in the first direction, and the printheads print on a second envelope on the return trip to the maintenance station. An envelope transport delivers each envelope to the printing location and removes the printed envelope prior to delivery of the subsequent envelope to be printed.

Ink jet printhead having two dimensional shuttle architecture


A tool 10 for suspending in a well retrieves various metal debris from the well, and includes an elongate tool body 12 within a plurality of circumferentially shaped slots 14. Each slot having a radially outward portion with a circumferential width less than a circumferential width of a radially inward portion. The plurality of magnets 16 are provided in each slot, and one or more stop rings 18 retain the plurality of magnets in the slots while allowing for removal of the magnets from the slots. Each of the plurality of magnets 16 may be substantially enclosed within a non-ferrous carrier 26 having an outer configuration for fitting within a respective of one of the plurality of slots. According to the method of invention, the magnets are postioned within the slots and are retained within the slots by the one or more stop rings, and the elongate tool body and the plurality of the magnets are suspended in a well.

When drilling an oil or gas well, or when refurbishing an existing well, normal operations may result in various types of metal debris in a well. Downhole milling produces cuttings which often are not completely removed by circulation. Other metallic objects may drop into and collect near the bottom of the well, or on intermediate plugs placed within the well.
Methods have been used to circulate fluids up the annulus at a rapid rate and thereby carry debris upward, with expectations that the debris will then settle into the basket for retrieval when circulation is reduced. Some basket tools utilize a venturi action to drawn debris into the tool.
Other tools utilize magnets mounted within a housing for being lowered into the well. Some tools practically may be limited to retrieving cutting since magnetization is only at the bottom of the tool. Other tools utilize a plurality of magnets aligned in cavities near the outer surface of the tool. Each magnet may be recessed in the tool body. Exposed magnets are subject to physical damage during the process of cleaning debris from the well. Conventional metal debris retrieving tools are relatively expensive, and it is difficult or impossible to effectively clean and change out the magnets of most tools in the field.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,655,462 discloses magnets within an interior of a rotatable protective sleeve. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,216,787, 6,308,781, and 6,491,117 disclose magnetic tools and magnet protectors for deflecting a striking force on the magnets. U.S. Pat. No. 6,439,303 discloses the retainer caps for mounting each of a plurality of magnets within a recess in the tool body. Publication 2001/4013413 discloses in one embodiment a magnet which covers substantially the entire surface of the tool body. Other patents of interest include U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,089,724, 2,709,104, 2,729,494 and 2,918,323, 3,905,631, 4,226,285, 5,178,757, 5,453,188, 5,944,100, 6,269,877, and 6,629,562.
The disadvantages of the prior art are overcome by the present invention, and an improved magnetic retrieval tool and method are hereinafter disclosed for retrieving debris from a well.


Support plates, and footwear soles and articles of footwear containing the same. The support plate generally may provide one or more of heel cushioning, arch support in a midfoot region of the support plate, and integral medial and lateral legs extending from the midfoot region of the support plate towards an anterior end of the support plate. An article of footwear may include a support plate at least partially embedded within a sole assembly, such as a midsole thereof. The support plate may be configured to provide energy return and arch support to a wearer of the article of footwear. The support plate may include a domed structure with radially extending arms extending from a central heel portion, where the domed structure provides heel cushioning to the wearer when a force is transmitted through the midsole to the domed structure.

An article of footwear may include a sole and an upper that form a cavity, or foot compartment, in which a wearer places his or her foot when the article of footwear is donned and worn. The sole of the footwear engages the bottom of the wearer's foot and separates the foot from the ground. The sole often consists of one or more layers of materials, including leather, rubber, foam, and/or plastics that provide shock absorption and support to the wearer's foot. The upper extends outwardly from an outer periphery of the sole and covers at least a portion of the foot.
Footwear such as dress shoes, athletic footwear, work boots, hiking boots, and others are worn for a variety of applications which require a significant workload in terms of duration of wear or impact. Such footwear, particularly heeled footwear, includes a rigid shank that extends from a heel region of the sole assembly to the forefoot region of the sole assembly. Such a conventional shank is typically secured to an outsole portion of the footwear and sole, above which a midsole portion and/or footbed are positioned. The sole assembly and shank may provide for limited padding or shock absorption in the course of a wearer's gait.
During walking or running, the human foot transfers energy (e.g., in the form of force from the shock impact of the wearer's foot striking the ground with the sole between the foot and the ground) into the sole and further to the ground through the sole. A substantial portion of this energy is lost to the wearer, such as by being disbursed into the material of the sole at the area of contact. A portion of the energy that is not lost is returned into the foot of the wearer, but generally not in an advantageous manner. For example, some of the energy may be reflected back into the foot at the point of impact, which may cause discomfort, and potentially injury.

Energy return, cushioning, and arch support plates, and footwear and footwear soles including the same


The cleaning system includes a plurality of generally dovetail-shaped slot blocks having a slot along a radial inner side, an abrasive media or belt and a backing tube. Upon insertion of the blocks into the dovetail slots of a rotor wheel and aligning the block slots with the cooling slot, the abrasive media and backing tube are inserted in the cooling slot tunnel. The abrasive media may extend through end feeder blocks. With the backing tube applying pressure radially outwardly against the abrasive media, back and forth motion applied manually from outboard of the rim of the rotor cleans the surfaces of the cooling slot without disassembly of the rotor.

The present invention relates to a cleaning system for removing foreign material from a cooling slot surface of a gas turbine rotor wheel, and particularly to a cleaning system which is applied from the exterior of the rotor wheel for cleaning the cooling surfaces along the cooling slot along the underside of the dovetails.
Rotor wheels, e.g., for gas turbines, typically include a plurality of circumferentially spaced dovetails about the outer periphery of the rotor wheel defining dovetail slots therebetween. The dovetail slots receive corresponding dovetail shaped bases of buckets which carry the plurality of airfoils about the rotor wheel. The buckets or airfoils are often cooled by air entering through a cooling slot in the rotor wheel and through grooves or slots formed in the bases of the buckets. Typically, the cooling slot extends circumferentially 360° through the dovetails and the dovetail slots.
Gas turbine cooling slots are typically inspected via an eddy current testing methods. For acceptable eddy current test results, the areas of inspection must be clean and free of foreign materials, such as dust, rust, scale deposits, oil, grit and the like. There is therefore a need to clean one or more surfaces of the cooling slot without disassembly of the rotor and consequent turbine downtime.

Apparatus and methods for cleaning cooling slot surfaces on a rotor wheel of a gas turbine


A cell permeabilization and stabilization reagent and method of use are disclosed. The reagent contains a N-acyl sarcosine or a salt thereof, a pH adjusting agent to adjust pH of the reagent in a range from about 4 to about 6; and an aqueous medium; the reagent having a low ionic strength defined by a conductivity of less than 9.0 mS/cm. The reagent further contains bovine serum albumin and glycerol. The reagent may further include an alkyl sulfate surfactant. Upon incubating the cells with the reagent, the reagent permeates the cellular membrane to allow penetration of an intracellular marker, causes intracellular protein aggregation within the cellular membrane, while preserves a cellular constituent for binding with a cellular marker for subsequent analysis by flow cytometry.

Analysis of the cell interior at molecular level is the subject of growing interest. Several probes and antibodies have recently appeared which are used in research as well as routinely and are directed against intracellular structures. These probes and antibodies, because of their macromolecular character, cannot penetrate into the cell through the cellular membrane by themselves. Treatment of the cells is therefore necessary to render the cellular membrane permeable (permeabilization stage). This treatment causes an important modification of the exterior lipid membrane and can, depending on the method used, lead to a loss of the cell morphology, or even a loss of the entire cell.
A standard permeabilization method consists of a treatment of the cells on a microscope slide or in suspension, with dilutions of alcohols at low temperature (−20° C.). This method has the advantage that the molecular structures and the intracellular target antigens are well preserved. But in addition to the complicated procedure, and the low temperature used, the cell morphology is substantially modified at the end of treatment.
Several permeabilization methods use a fixation of the cells by chemical modification of the proteins using aliphatic aldehydes leading to cross-linking and aggregation of the proteins. The permeabilization is obtained by a treatment with an alcohol or a surfactant. The fixation by aliphatic aldehydes is especially known for its good preservation of the cell morphology after permeabilization. However, at protein molecular level, many antigen sites are destroyed by the fixation methods.
Reagents for permeabilizing the cells are more commonly found in the groups of organic solvents, alcohols, weak bases and weak acids. These reagents permeabilize the cellular membrane, however they do not generally stabilize the cell morphology.
It is therefore desirable to have a reagent for permeabilization of cells, which protects the cell morphology after permeabilization and does not modify the antigen sites inside and outside the cell.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Cell permeabilization and stabilization reagent and method of use


An edge holder for an inflatable body such as a balloon is disclosed which is adapted for use with an optional straw as a holder by which the balloon may be both inflated with an suitable inflation medium and thereafter held. The inflatable body may be provided with an inflation conduit through which, for example, a straw can be inserted for communicating the inflation medium to the interior of the body. The handle is gripped by a plurality of pressure chambers spaced around the holder which, after inflation of the balloon, define a reinforced edge holder assembly.

Balloons are popular novelty items. At present, balloons are sold in two widely available forms, namely, those made of latex and those typically made of a polymer metallized film generally known as "Mylar". "Mylar" is a registered trademark of DuPont. Latex balloons are stretchable and may be sold either collapsed or inflated. "Mylar" balloons are not stretchable and may have a relatively long neck or stem. "Mylar" balloons are usually sold in inflated form, but may not be. Whether sold in inflated or uninflated form, "Mylar" balloons are usually filled to the desired pressure with air or helium and then sealed by: (a) tying the neck off with a string or the like, (b) using a clip or a cup and stick support assembly which crimps the neck and (c) heat sealing or (d) using a self-sealing valve. Regardless of the techniques for sealing that are used such balloons when filled with air may thereafter be adapted to be supported or held by means of a holder which is typically a funnel-shaped plastic cup formed at one end of a stick or a plastic shaft or the like and having means such as apertures or slots for use in securing the balloon to the cup and stick. Such holders are normally used with balloons having a diameter under about 18 inches when filled with air and which are usually sealed with heat.
Balloon holders heretofore have come in various forms. Balloon holders for "Mylar" balloons have heretofore been virtually identical to holders designed for or used with latex balloons prior to the advent of "Mylar" balloons. "Mylar" balloons of nine (9) inch and four (4) inch diameters with a self-sealing valve (recently manufactured by Convertidosa Industrial of Mexico) also use a separate cup for support of the body of the balloon. The most popular type of balloon holder consists of a funnel-shaped cup for receiving and crimping the neck of a balloon to seal and/or secure the same. The cup is sometimes integrally attached to a stick by which the balloon is held. The cup is typically provided with a plurality of holes or slots for engaging the neck of the balloon to crimp the neck both to seal the same and/or to secure the balloon to the cup. By way of example, the neck of the balloon is threaded through and wound around the slotted cup and secured to the holder near its end. The body of the balloon is thereby intended to nest into and be supported by the funnel-shaped cup of the balloon holder. Still another type of balloon holder known heretofore, referred to as the "clip'n stick", consists of a stick with an integral loop and clip to seal and/or secure the balloon and its inlet portion.
Such prior types of balloon holders are difficult to manipulate, particularly when the balloon has been inflated (and not sealed) and one is attempting to tie off the neck by threading it through and securing it to the cup end of the holder. In addition, no matter how it is secured to the slotted cup, the balloon is not thereby firmly secured and a tendency for the balloon to disassociate itself from the cup and stick with time has heretofore been apparent. As the balloon gets loose, it is no longer centered on the holder, it tends to flop around more and more with time and may even begin to deflate if not otherwise sealed. Refilling of the balloon is cumbersome with such prior types of holders. In contrast, the present invention, when combining an inflating straw with a self-sealing valve, may be easily deflated and reinflated, when desirable or necessary. The cup and the tied-off neck of the balloon are, moreover, unsightly. Finally, no matter how they are manufactured, the cup or non-stick portion of such balloon holders have been known heretofore to add undesirable cost to both the overall manufacturing and commercializing processes.
There are other disadvantages to the prior type of plastic cup balloon holder. These include the fact that such prior types of holders use "precious" petroleum-based plastic and constitute non-degradable waste when disposed. In addition, the difficulty of attaching the holders to the balloons has heretofore frequently placed the burden of doing so on manufacturers or distributors in advance of sale to the retailer, thereby necessitating inflation of the balloons and attachment of the cup and stick to the inflated balloon before transporting the product and increasing the cost and the storage space required to handle the product prior to sale. This difficulty has also discouraged or prevented virtually any meaningful sales of uninflated "Mylar" balloons to consumers.


In one embodiment, a remote controller for a vehicle includes at least one control element for controlling operation of at least one aspect of the vehicle when the vehicle is in a remote-control mode; an actuator connected the at least one control element for controlling a position of the at least one control element when the vehicle is in an autonomous operations mode; and a processing system for receiving a first control signal from the vehicle indicative of a state of operation of the vehicle. In operation, the processing system generates a second control signal to the actuator to cause the actuator to control a position of the control element such that it corresponds to and indicates the state of operation of the vehicle.

Unlike fixed-wing aircraft, vertical takeoff and landing ("VTOL") aircraft do not require runways. Instead, VTOL aircraft are capable of taking off, hovering, and landing vertically. One example of VTOL aircraft is a helicopter, which is a rotorcraft having one or more rotors that provide vertical lift and forward thrust to the aircraft. Helicopter rotors not only enable hovering and vertical takeoff and vertical landing, but also enable forward, aftward, and lateral flight. These attributes make helicopters highly versatile for use in congested, isolated or remote areas where fixed-wing aircraft may be unable to take off and land. Helicopters, however, typically lack the forward airspeed of fixed-wing aircraft.
A tiltrotor is another example of a VTOL aircraft. Tiltrotor aircraft utilize tiltable rotor systems that may be transitioned between a forward thrust orientation and a vertical lift orientation. The rotor systems are tiltable relative to one or more fixed wings such that the associated proprotors have a generally horizontal plane of rotation for vertical takeoff, hovering, and vertical landing and a generally vertical plane of rotation for forward flight, or airplane mode, in which the fixed wing or wings provide lift. In this manner, tiltrotor aircraft combine the vertical lift capability of a helicopter with the speed and range of fixed-wing aircraft.
VTOL aircraft may be manned or unmanned. An unmanned aerial vehicle ("UAV"), also commonly referred to as a "drone," is an aircraft without a human pilot aboard. UAVs may be used to perform a variety of tasks, including filming, package delivery, surveillance, and other applications. A UAV typically forms a part of an unmanned aircraft system ("UAS") that includes the UAV, a ground-based, or remote, controller, and a system of communication between the vehicle and controller.

Remote control unit having active feedback


A system and method for receiving a call in a wireless terminal having a single Radio Frequency (RF) unit and at least two Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards, wherein the system includes: the wireless terminal for informing a user of occurrence of an incoming call through a second SIM card for which an incoming call forwarding is pre-registered while performing a call through a first SIM card; a Base Station (BS) related to the first SIM card for informing the wireless terminal of the occurrence of the incoming call through the second SIM card, in response to a paging request for the second SIM card that is received from a BS related to the second SIM card; and the BS related to the second SIM card for requesting the BS related to the first SIM card for paging to the second SIM card if a call request to the second SIM card for which the incoming call forwarding is registered is received.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a system and method for receiving a call in a wireless terminal, and more particularly, to a system and method for receiving a call in a wireless terminal having a single Radio Frequency (RF) unit and at least two Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards
2. Description of the Related Art
Although wireless terminals equipped with a single SIM card are popularly used, wireless terminals equipped with two SIM cards have also been recently introduced to enable the user to use two telephone numbers with a single wireless terminal. When two RF units are included in a wireless terminal for two SIM cards, the wireless terminal may receive a call through one SIM card while performing another call through the other SIM card.
However, the wireless terminal equipped with two RF units may inevitably cause the cost and power consumption problems. To solve these problems, an alternative wireless terminal includes a single RF unit and offers a communication service to two SIM cards, via time sharing scheme, has been proposed.
However, there have been technical difficulties in such a terminal to successfully receive a call through one SIM card while performing another call through the other SIM card with a single RF unit. That is, when two SIM cards performs a communication using one RF unit, one SIM card cannot use the RF unit when the other SIM card currently uses the RF unit.

System and method for receiving call in wireless terminal


A crystal oscillation circuit is provided with a crystal oscillator, an inverter unit coupled in parallel with the crystal oscillator and including a plurality of inverters, a current supply unit that supplies current to at least a first inverter of the plurality of inverters, a signal converter that supplies current to at least a last inverter of the plurality of inverters and outputs a voltage to an external circuit, and a current controller that makes the current supply unit provide current corresponding to a voltage level of the output voltage of the signal converter. The crystal oscillation circuit is capable of reducing power consumption.

According to an embodiment, a crystal oscillation circuit comprises two capacitors connected between input and output terminals of a crystal oscillator and the ground, and a CMOS inverter coupled in parallel with the crystal oscillator. In such a crystal oscillation circuit, a sine wave is generated by the resonance of the crystal oscillator and the two capacitors. The CMOS inverter amplifies the sine wave and the crystal oscillation circuit outputs a current following the amplified sine wave. A large through current, however, flows through the CMOS inverter.
There are known methods for reducing power consumption due to the through current of such an inverter, such as providing a step-down circuit and a level shifter, as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent No. 3259528.
However, such methods are only capable of obtaining a current reducing effect from the voltage drop caused by the step-down circuit. These methods are not capable of controlling the through current of the inverter.


Stop of print operation in the middle of printing is prevented from causing a stripe or unevenness on a print medium. A print control apparatus for creating print data for printing with a printing apparatus, and transmitting the created print data to the printing apparatus, includes: judging means for judging whether to transmit print data by page to the printing apparatus; and transmission controlling means for transmitting the print data by page when the judging means judges to transmit the print data by page, and transmitting each print data, into which the print data for a page is divided, when the judging means judges not to transmit the print data by page.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a print control apparatus and a print controlling method.
2. Description of the Related Art
A printer driver is generally installed on a print control apparatus for print-processing data of characters, tables, images and the like. When printing is performed with a printing apparatus such as an inkjet printing apparatus, graphics image data of characters, drawings, etc., and image data of natural images, etc., are created by use of various pieces of application software installed on the print control apparatus. The printer driver receives a drawing instruction based on image data supplied from the application software via an operating system (OS). Multiple gradation image data of RGB data is created (rasterized) on a memory based on the drawing data to be converted into multivalued information of cyan (C), magenta (M), yellow (Y), black (B) and the like. Thereafter, the printer driver subjects the data to pseudo gradation processing such as dithering, error diffusion (ED) or the like, lowers the number of gradations per one pixel, for example, from 8 bit to 2 bit, and then converts the data into print command data, which can be analyzed by the printing apparatus, to transmit the print command data to the printing apparatus. Such series of processings by the printer driver is called print command generation processing.
A general printer driver divides one page into a plurality of regions, the region being called a band, rasterizes the regions into a bit map, and then subjects each line of the band bit map to print command data conversion processing to transmit print commands to the printing apparatus. That is, after rasterization of the band of the top of the page is completed, the print command generation processing is performed and the print commands are transmitted every line to the printing apparatus. As a result, printing can be started by this method earlier compared with a method for performing the print command generation processing after completion of rasterization of the whole of one page, and a processing speed of whole printing is improved. Additionally, memory area used for rasterization by this method is smaller than that by the method for rasterization of the whole of one page at a time.
That is, no sufficient memory capacity can be secured in a low-priced printing apparatus such as an inkjet printing apparatus. Accordingly, there are many cases where the whole print data for one page cannot be receive data time before printing. In such a printing apparatus, a memory is provided for storing print commands for one scanning or several scannings in accordance with the number of nozzles to be used for a printing head, and print operation starts when the memory is full of print commands or receives a fixed number of print commands.
On the other hand, in the case where an arithmetic processing speed of a host computer used by a user is low, or data requiring a complicated image processing is printed, it takes a long time to generate print commands, and a print command generation speed is sometimes lower than a printing speed of the printing apparatus. That is, the printing apparatus cannot start the print operation, that is, scanning of the printing head, until receiving a fixed number of print commands, and thus the operation stops until sufficient print commands are transmitted. Accordingly, depending on the kind of ink or a print medium to be used for printing, when the printing head stops in the middle of printing, unevenness or a stripe (hereinafter, also referred to as print unevenness) sometimes appears at a connection part between an already printed part and a part where printing is restarted.
A technology (Japanese Patent No. 3397350) is conventionally known that, in order to avoid the above problem, reduces the number of nozzles to be used by the printing head and performs print scanning in the case where the printing apparatus cannot receive a fixed number of print commands even if a certain time passes. In the case where the memory is not full of print commands even if a predetermined time passes, or cannot receive a fixed number of print commands, the number of nozzles to be used is reduced and print scanning is performed, and thus interruption of printing can be prevented from causing the print unevenness.
However, depending on the kind of application software or image data, the printing apparatus sometimes cannot receive a print command at all for a long time in the case where the data requires an extremely complicated image processing or the like. In such a case, even if a predetermined time passes, printing cannot be performed even though the number of used nozzles is reduced, and the print unevenness cannot be prevented when printing is restarted after receiving a print command.
Additionally, there exists a technology that generates all print commands once to transmit them to the printing apparatus. However, in the case where there is print data for a plurality of pages, printing is started after the end of the print command generation processing for the print data for the plurality of pages, and thus the waiting time until the start of printing is lengthened, and consequently the processing speed of the whole printing is lowered.

Print control apparatus and print controlling method


A system and method for cleaning, disinfecting, storing and wetting rigid gas permeable contact lenses is provided. The system includes a cleaning, disinfecting and storing solution and a separate wetting solution. Both solutions contain hydrophilic disinfectants or preservatives which do not inhibit proper wetting of rigid gas permeable contact lenses. The lenses are stored in the cleaning, disinfecting and storing solution during nonwearing periods. This storage also acts as a secondary or backup cleaning treatment to help remove any residual contaminants after the primary cleaning with this solution.

Rigid gas permeable (RGP) lenses are manufactured from materials that exhibit a high degree of polarity, resulting in a strong interaction with proteins and other tear constituents that ultimately produce tenacious surface deposits. Current state of the art care systems combat this problem through the use of unpreserved abrasive cleaners that produce microscopic scratches which, in time, shorten the useful life of the lens. Some attempts have been made to competitively block surface deposition by so-called "conditioning" solutions, but this approach involves the use of cytotoxic preservatives and does not eliminate the need for the abrasive cleaner.
Proteolytic enzymes have been of marginal value in controlling surface deposition because their action is limited to proteinaceous material. Multifunctional esterases capable of lysing both proteins and lipids failed to significantly improve on the results obtained with their proteolytic counterparts and the consequences of their usage was a delayed, but persistent, surface deposition and premature loss of the lens.
Aside from the problem of ultimate surface contamination, the RGP lens wearer is also faced with an initial discomfort problem until the lens completely hydrates, at which time it displays its best wetting and consequently its greatest comfort. In order to ensure that this maximal comfort is maintained, it is essential that the wettability of the surface be maintained. Moreover, the capability of the lens to resist surface deposition is also directly related to the maintenance of its wettability. The current state of the art lens care systems do not maintain optimal wettability over long periods of time because they are passive systems formulated to deal with the result of the polymer's surface interactions rather than to eliminate its cause.
RGP lenses have the potential of providing an unsurpassed level of comfort for a rigid lens. Unfortunately, the wearer realizes this benefit for only a short period of time because the current passive RGP care systems are unable to maintain this property.
Initial treatment of new RGP lenses usually includes cleaning with an abrasive cleaner, after which the lens may be soaked in a viscous, polar solution, to purportedly interact with active sites on the lens surface and thereby block their interaction with contaminants. The failure of this system to achieve this result is evident in the fact that the abrasive cleaner must be used on a daily basis and even then, adjunctive products are frequently needed. "Conditioning" then must require abrading the surface as part of the process. Aside from the lack of efficacy of this system, it shortens the functional life of the lens thereby producing a financial loss for the wearer.
The sequence of a separate cleaner (generally abrasive), a separate rinse solution, a separate soak solution, re-rinsing again after soaking and a separate wetting solution and a separate "in-eye" re-wetting solution or a system of a separate abrasive cleaner and a combined soaking, conditioning solution and a separate "in-eye" re-wetting solution is the basis for all known contact lens systems of hygiene other than the present invention. There are several serious objections to this sequence of operations.
Cleansing is a manual procedure that requires rubbing the lens between the fingers or in the palm of the hand. Only a small volume of cleaner is used and the procedure ideally (but rarely) requires at least 1 minute. Regardless of the chemical composition of the cleaning solution, this is primarily a physical procedure that involves the interaction of friction induced by the rubbing and the surfactant properties of the solution. In some cases, the friction is enhanced by the suspension of abrasive particles in the cleaner.
Abrasives added to improve on the cleansing action of manual procedures may damage the lens either by producing microscopic scratches and/or changing the lens parameters. Incomplete rinsing of cleaners that contain suspended abrasives may result in harmful residues that induce corneal damage.
Physical cleansing is also ineffective against bacteria that form biofilms. The common species of bacteria that have been linked to ocular infections, namely, pseudomonas aeruginosa and serratia marcescens, are known to secrete a slime-like covering of their cell walls to protect against a hostile environment. These organisms grow in contact lens cases despite the presence of a preserved soaking solution and may even contaminate bottles containing the solutions.
The use of a second solution for soaking and disinfecting usually results in the utilization of preservatives that are limited in their biocidal activity as a result of the requirement that they be non-irritating to ocular tissues. This situation came about because the manufacturers wanted to limit the number of steps required for lens care, hoping to encourage compliance. It was common practice for patients to remove their lenses from the soaking solution and place them directly on their eye therefore necessitating that they not irritate the ocular tissues. When rinsing was prescribed, the wearers were encouraged to use a rewetting drop so as to "cushion" the eye from the initial impact of a solution that might tend to irritate it.
In order to achieve some measure of effective hygiene, the manual system usually evolved into the use of 3 or 4 separate products, a cleaner, a viscous soaking/disinfecting solution, an enzymatic cleaner and sometimes a rewetting or cushioning drop. This resulted in a complicated, time-consuming regimen that discouraged compliance and added to the cost of lens care.
Known and/or FDA approved cleaning and wetting solutions for RGP contact lenses utilize hydrophobic preservatives or disinfecting agents such as benzalkonium chloride, chlorhexidine or polyamino-propyl biguanide. These hydrophobic materials tend to reduce the wettability of RGP lenses, especially fluorinated RGP lenses, thereby making cleaning and wetting more difficult. A surfactant polymer may be added to such formulations specifically to attempt to overcome the effect of the hydrophobic preservative.
A need exists for an active RGP lens care system that deals with the causes of surface deposition and poor wetting without resorting to the use of abrasives, cytotoxic chemicals or enzymes, and without the use of preservatives that reduce the wettability of the lenses.
A need also exists for a new preservative system for contact lens solutions and over-the-counter and prescription drug ophthalmic solutions.

Preservative system for ophthalmic and contact lens solutions and method for cleaning disinfecting and storing contact lenses


The method provides wide-range delay value adjustment without making changes in cell size and metal wiring, even when a process variation occurs. Threshold values of some or all of the transistors which form the delay gate inserted into the signal path are varied to control the delay value of the delay gate, so that the delay value of the signal path is adjusted.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for adjusting a delay value of a signal path by inserting a delay gate, which is a standard cell of a semiconductor integrated circuit, into a signal path formed in the semiconductor integrated circuit. The invention also relates to the semiconductor integrated circuit, in which the delay value of the signal path is adjusted with the same method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally speaking, when change in a manufacturing process of a semiconductor integrated circuit causes transistor performance variation (hereinafter will be called the "process variation"), the delay value of each signal path is required to be adjusted to satisfy a predetermined value. Thus, when designing semiconductor integrated circuits, delay gates are commonly inserted into signal paths with small delay values, as a measurement against racing among latches.
The individual delay gates, which are standard cells of semiconductor integrated circuits, include two or more transistors in combination. More precisely, as shown in FIG. 8A through FIG. 8C, one or more inverters 10, each of which is a combination of a P-channel MOS (Metal Oxided Semiconductor) transistor 10p and an N-channel MOS transistor 10n, are connected, thereby forming a delay gate (see, for example, the following patent application 1 through 3).
The delay gate 1 of FIG. 8A is formed by five inverters 10 connected; the delay gate 2 of FIG. 8B is formed by four inverters 10 connected; the delay gate 3 of FIG. 8C is formed by three inverters 10 connected. Since the delay gates 1 and 3 of FIG. 8A and FIG. 8C, respectively, are formed by an odd number of inverters 10, they function as inverters. On the other hand, since the delay gate 2 of FIG. 8B is formed by an even number of inverters 10, it functions as a buffer.
In such common delay value adjusting methods using delay gates, the number of inverters connected, which form delay gates, is varied, or the gate lengths L of the transistors forming the delay gates are varied. In the former method, the greater the number of inverters connected, the greater the delay value realized. In the latter method, the greater the gate length L, the greater the delay value realized.
As a common procedure, the gate widths W of the transistors are changed, before the number of inverters connected is increased or before the gate lengths L of the transistors are changed, so as to adjust the delay value (see, for example, the following patent application 1). Generally speaking, the smaller the gate width W, the greater the delay value, whereas the greater the gate width W, the smaller the delay value. Therefore, first of all, the gate width W is firstly changed to adjust the delay value, and then, if it is still impossible to control the delay value of the delay gate to a desired value (that is, if the delay value exceeds a delay value adjustable range in which the delay value can be adjusted by changing the gate widths W of the transistors), the number of inverters connected and the lengths L of the transistors are changed, to adjust the delay value.
[Patent application 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. HEI 5-226619
[Patent application 2] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. HEI 5-226988
[Patent application 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. HEI 5-268015
However, the method in which the number of inverters is changed to adjust the delay value faces the following problem. If the delay value exceeds the range that can be adjusted by gate width W variation, the number of inverters connected is changed, so that the area (cell size, that is, the size of the delay gate) and metal wiring require changing.
Further, the method in which the gate lengths L of transistors are changed to adjust the delay value faces the following problem. If the delay value exceeds the range that can be adjusted by gate width W variation, some packaging rules necessitate change in cell size and in metal wiring. Furthermore, since the gate lengths L of the transistors are influenced by manufacturing variations, all the transistors preferably have the same gate length L, and it is thus undesirable that the delay value adjustment is performed by changing the gate length L.
In both of the previous delay value adjusting methods, if the delay value exceeds the range that can be adjusted by gate width W variation, the cell size and metal wiring must be changed, so that cell rearrangement and rewiring in high-order design (for example, layout design of standard cells including delay gates) are necessitated.

Delay value adjusting method and semiconductor integrated circuit


Support for fixing an accessory (3) to a flexible arm (1), characterized in that this support (2) comprises at least one leg (11) fixed with one far end (13) to one of the far ends (6–7) of adjoining hinge-mounted parts (4–5) of the flexible arm (1) which are connected to each other in a hinged manner.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a support for fixing an accessory to a flexible arm.
More particularly, the invention concerns a support for fixing an accessory such as a lighting armature, a fan or the like to a flexible arm of an awning, sunshade or the like.

Support for fixing an accessory to a flexible arm


A computer system that provides for transparent plugging and unplugging of a keyboard independent of system operation. A virtual keyboard device communicates with the system keyboard controller when no keyboard is plugged. The virtual keyboard device provides appropriate responses to inquiries from the operating system during startup, allowing the system to boot without an actual keyboard being present. When a keyboard is plugged, its presence is detected and it is configured by a virtual keyboard controller. The newly configured keyboard is then coupled to the system keyboard controller. On unplug, the lack of a keyboard is detected by monitoring the power supply to the keyboard, whereupon the virtual keyboard is again coupled to the system keyboard controller.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention is related to computer system serial devices, and more specifically to a system allowing a computer keyboard to be hot plugged and unplugged without system interruption.
2. Description of the Related Art
Personal computer systems have historically shared a number of common elements. These included a display, a storage device, and a keyboard. These provided for the viewing, storing, and entry of data. So common were these elements, including a keyboard, that the personal computer ultimately developed by International Business Machines initially incorporated a power-on test to determine whether a keyboard was present. If the keyboard was not present or it otherwise indicated a self-test failure, the IBM PC would halt its boot process. After all, one had to have a working keyboard to input data.
The IBM PC has become a model that the vast majority of present-day personal computers emulate in terms of software. There is a great deal of system software, as well as basic input/output software (BIOS), that is written for the IBM PC and compatible machines. Therefore, a basic goal of most computer makers is to be compatible with an IBM PC, not requiring any changes to that software in order to incorporate new features.
But further, the hardware configuration of the IBM PC has similarly been mimicked. For example, virtually every IBM PC AT class machine incorporates an Intel Corporation 8042 keyboard controller or its equivalents, such as the 8741 or 8742. Although these keyboard controllers may be implemented in a variety of forms, they respond and interact with the system software similarly. It is through this 8042 keyboard controller that the power-on software determines whether a keyboard is present. Typically, the power-on software sends scan codes to the keyboard through the 8042 keyboard controller, expecting an appropriate response from the keyboard. If that response is not reported by the 8042 keyboard controller, then the system halts in its booting process.
But with the proliferation of configurations of personal computers, as well as the increasing power of the processors that run them, PC's have evolved to where a keyboard is not necessarily always a desirable feature. One example would be a "notepad" computer; another example would be a system server mounted in a rack. For the notepad computer, one may desire a keyboard, but one may simply instead use the stylus. For a rack-mounted server, it may be desirable only to have a keyboard when necessary to do server-level configuration, and to otherwise operate without the keyboard.
Therefore, it is desirable to allow the booting of computer systems without a keyboard attached. It is also desirable, however, to allow the plugging and unplugging of a keyboard dynamically--that is, while the system is in operation. Therefore, a system which seamlessly allows booting without a keyboard and plugging and unplugging of one or more keyboards is desirable.
It is further desirable to allow multiple keyboards to be installed in a system. An example would be the rack-mounted server. It could have a keyboard attachment in back for a permanent keyboard. Alternatively, it could have a front keyboard attachment for a technician to plug and unplug a keyboard as needed. But the ability to use both of these attachments is desirable.
A number of keyboard hot-plug and unplug systems have been attempted, but typically have not been seamlessly integrated such that a system could boot without a keyboard, a keyboard could be plugged in, and then data could be immediately entered. Referring to commonly assigned co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 08/359,014, entitled "Personal Computer with Keyboard and Auxiliary Device Emulation," a keyboard plug and unplug system is shown for a notepad computer, but the computer must be first placed in a special mode before a newly installed keyboard can be used. It would be greatly desirable to have true transparent plug and unplug capability, yet simultaneously allow the booting of a keyboardless system.


Viral and bacterial contaminants present in biological solutions are inactivated by mixing one of a novel class of photosensitizer with said solution and irradiating the mixture.

A major concern in the transfusion of donated, stored whole human blood or the various blood cells or protein fractions isolated from whole blood is the possibility of viral contamination. Of particular concern are the blood-borne viruses that cause hepatitis (especially hepatitis A, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C) and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). While any number of cell washing protocols may reduce the viral contamination load for samples of blood cells, by physical elution of the much smaller virus particles, such washing alone is insufficient to reduce viral contamination to safe levels. In fact, some viruses are believed to be cell-associated, and unlikely to be removed by extensive washing and centrifugal pelleting of the cells. Current theory suggests that safe levels will ultimately require at least a 6 log (6 orders of magnitude) demonstrated reduction in infectious viral titer for cellular blood components. This 6 log threshold may be greater for plasma protein components, especially the clotting factors (Factor VIII, Factor IX) that are administered throughout the life of some hemophilia patients.
All blood collected in the United States is now screened for six infectious agents: HIV-1, HIV-2, HTLV-1, hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus and syphilis. Additionally, donors are screened for risk factors, and potential donors are eliminated that are considered at risk for the HIV virus. Despite these measures, the risk of becoming infected by a potentially deadly virus or bacteria via the transfusion of blood or blood products remains serious. Screens for contaminants are by nature not foolproof. There is also the quite likely occurrence of new infectious agents that enter the blood supply before the significance of the event is known. For example, by the end of June 1992, the Center for Disease Control reports that 4,959 AIDS cases could be traced to the receipt of blood transfusions, blood components or tissue.
Viral inactivation by stringent sterilization is not acceptable since this could also destroy the functional components of the blood, particularly the erythrocytes (red blood cells) and thrombocytes (platelets) and the labile plasma proteins, such as clotting factor VIII. Viable RBC's can be characterized by one or more of the following: capability of synthesizing ATP; cell morphology; P.sub.50 values; filterability or deformability; oxyhemoglobin, methemoglobin and hemochrome values; MCV, MCH, and MCHC values; cell enzyme activity; and in vivo survival. Thus, if virally inactivated cells are damaged to the extent that the cells are not capable of metabolizing or synthesizing ATP, or the cell circulation is compromised, then their utility in transfusion medicine is compromised.
Viral inactivation by stringent steam sterilization is not acceptable since this also destroys the functional components of the blood, particularly the blood cells and plasma proteins. Dry heat sterilization, like wet steam, is harmful to blood cells and blood proteins at the levels needed to reduce viral infectivity. Use of stabilizing agents such as carbohydrates does not provide sufficient protection to the delicate blood cells and proteins from the general effects of exposure to high temperature and pressure.
Methods that are currently employed with purified plasma protein fractions, often followed by lyophilization of the protein preparation, include treatment with organic solvents and heat or extraction with detergents to disrupt the lipid coat of membrane enveloped viruses. Lyophilization (freeze-drying) alone has not proven sufficient to inactivate viruses, or to render blood proteins sufficiently stable to the effects of heat sterilization. The organic solvent or detergent method employed with purified blood proteins cannot be used with blood cells as these chemicals destroy the lipid membrane that surrounds the cells.
Another viral inactivation approach for plasma proteins first demonstrated in 1958 has involved the use of a chemical compound, beta-propiolactone, with ultraviolet (U.V.) irradiation. This method has not found acceptance in the United States due to concern over the toxicity of beta-propiolactone in the amounts used to achieve some demonstrable viral inactivation and also due to unacceptable levels of damage to the proteins caused by the chemical agents. Concern has also been raised over the explosive potential for beta-propiolactone as well.
There is significant interest in an effective viral inactivation treatment for human blood components, which will not damage the valuable blood cells or proteins. The treatment must be nontoxic and selective for viruses, while allowing the intermingled blood cells or proteins to survive unharmed.
There is an immediate need to develop protocols for the inactivation of viruses that can be present in the human red blood cell supply. For example, only recently has a test been developed for Non A, Non B hepatitis, but such screening methods, while reducing the incidence of viral transmission, do not make the blood supply completely safe or virus free. Current statistics indicate that the transfusion risk per unit of transfused blood is as high as 1:3,000 for Non A, Non B hepatitis (hepatitis C), and ranges from 1:60,000 to 1:225,000 for HIV, depending on geographic location. Clearly, it is desirable to develop a method which inactivates or removes virus indiscriminately from the blood.
Contamination problems also exist for blood plasma protein fractions, such as plasma fractions containing immune globulins and clotting factors. For example, new cases of non A, non B hepatitis and hepatitis A have occurred in hemophilia patients receiving protein fractions containing Factor VIII which have been treated for viral inactivation according to approved methods. Therefore, there is a need for improved viral inactivation treatment of blood protein fractions.
The ability to inactivate bacterial contaminants from blood and blood products may be as critical as reducing viral contaminants. Between 1986 and 1991, the Food and Drug Administration reported that 15.9% of all transfusion related fatalities were associated with the transfusion of bacterially contaminated blood components. Most of these fatalities were due to the transfusion of bacterially contaminated platelets.
Psoralens are naturally occurring compounds which have been used therapeutically for millenia in Asia and Africa. The action of psoralens and light has been used to treat vitiligo and psoriasis (PUVA therapy; Psoralen Ultra Violet A) and more recently various forms of lymphoma.
Psoralen will bind to nucleic acid double helices by intercalation between base pairs; adenine, guanine, cytosine and thymine (DNA) or uracil (RNA). Upon absorption of UVA photons the psoralen excited state has been shown to react with a thymine or uracil double bond and covalently attach to both strands of a nucleic acid helix.
The crosslinking reaction is specific for a thymine (DNA) or uracil (RNA) base and will proceed only if the psoralen is intercalated in a site containing thymine or uracil. The initial photoadduct can absorb a second UVA photon and react with a second thymine or uracil on the opposing strand of the double helix to crosslink the two strands of the double helix. ##STR1##
Lethal damage to a cell or virus occurs when a psoralen intercalated into a nucleic acid duplex in sites containing two thymines (or uracils) on opposing strands sequentially absorb 2 UVA photons. This is an inefficient process because two low probability events are required, the localization of the psoralen into sites with two thymines (or uracils) present and its sequential absorption of 2 UVA photons.
U. S. Pat. No. 4,748,120 of Wiesehan is an example of the use of certain substituted psoralens by a photochemical decontamination process for the treatment of blood or blood products. The psoralens described for use in the process do not include halogenated psoralens, or psoralens with non-hydrogen binding ionic substituents. Using traditional psoralens such as 8-MOP, AMT and HMT, it is imperative that additives be added into the blood product solution in conjunction with U.V. irradiation in order to scavenge singlet oxygen and other highly reactive oxygen species formed by irradiation of the psoralen. Without the addition of reactive oxygen species scavengers, cellular components and protein components in the blood product are seriously damaged upon irradiation. (See also, U. S. Pat. No. 5,176,921.) It is clear, therefore, that irradiation of psoralens such as 8-MOP and AMT in aqueous solution creates a competition between the inefficient photocrosslinking reaction and the generation of highly reactive oxygen species. It is also possible that much of the viral deactivation seen using these photosensitizers actually results from the action of the reactive oxygen species against the viral contaminants rather than the inefficient photocrosslinking mechanism.
Attempts to inactivate viral decontaminants using photosensitizers and light have also been developed using some non-psoralen photosensitizers. The photosensitizers that have been employed are typically dyes. Examples include dihematoporphyrin ether (DHE), Merocyanine 540 (MC540) and methylene blue.
In any event, an effective radiation photosensitizer must bind specifically to nucleic acids and must not accumulate in significant amounts in lipid bilayers, which are common to viruses, erythrocytes, and platelets. Although there is evidence that psoralens bind to nucleic acids by intercalation, neutral psoralens such as 8-MOP (8-methoxypsoralen) are uncharged and thus also have a high affinity for the interior of lipid bilayers and cell membranes. ##STR2##
The binding of 8-MOP to cell membranes, shown above, would be acceptable if the psoralen bound to the lipid was photochemically inert. However, Midden (W. R. Midden, Psoralen DNA photobiology, Vol II (ed. F. P. Gasparro) CRC press, pp. 1. (1988)) has presented evidence that psoralens photoreact with unsaturated lipids and photoreact with molecular oxygen to produce active oxygen species such as superoxide and singlet oxygen that cause lethal damage to membranes. Thus, it is believed that 8-MOP is an unacceptable photosensitizer because it sensitizes indiscriminate damage to both cells and viruses.
Positively charged psoralens such as AMT (4'-aminomethyl-4,5', 8-trimethylpsoralen) will not bind to the interior of phospholipid bilayers (membranes) because of the presence of the charge. However, AMT contains an acidic hydrogen which can bind to the phospholipid head group by hydrogen bonding, shown below. ##STR3##
Thus AMT is believed to be an unacceptable photosensitizer because it will indiscriminately sensitize damage to viral membranes and to the membranes of erythrocytes and platelets.
Studies of the affects of cationic sidechains on furocoumarins as photosensitizers are reviewed in Psoralen DNA Photobiology, Vol. I, ed. F. Gasparro, CRC Press, Inc., Boca Raton, Fla., Chapter 2. The following points can be gleaned from this review:
1) The intent of this line of research was to improve the poor water solubility of the basic psoralen nucleus. PA1 2) None of the psoralens described were halogenated as are the photosensitizers of the present invention. PA1 4) Later conducted studies showed that a cationic group on a large linker, when added to the 5 or 8 position on the psoralen ring, gave the psoralen nucleus improved binding with native DNA relative to corresponding 5-MOP and 8-MOP analogues. PA1 5) Sidechain substitution at the 5 position was found to be less desirable then substitution at the 8 position. PA1 6) A study of 5-aminomethyl derivatives of 8-MOP showed that most of the amino compounds had a much lower ability to both photobind and form crosslinks to DNA compared to 8-MOP. These reports actually suggest that the primary amino functionality is the preferred ionic species for both photobinding and crosslinking.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,216,176 of Heindel describes a large number of psoralens and coumarins that have some effectiveness as photoactivated inhibitors of epidermal growth factor. Included among the vast functionalities that could be included in the psoralen or coumarin backbone were halogens and amines. The inventors did not recognize the significance of either functionality or the benefits of a photosensitizer including both functionalities.
U. S. patent application Ser. Nos. 08/165,305 and 08/091,674 are commonly assigned with the present application, and are parent applications to this application. These applications disclose the use of a novel class of psoralen photosensitizers that are superior for use with irradiation to inactivate viral and bacterial contaminants in blood and blood products. The psoralens are characterized by the presence of a halogen substituent and a non-hydrogen binding ionic substituent to the basic psoralen side chain. See also, Goodrich et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 91:5552-56 (1994).

Method of inactivation of viral and bacterial blood contaminants