A method of drawing a straight or curved line of predetermined thickness on a raster device having a display or printed page consisting of a rectangular array of pels. Initially, a spine list is generated which comprises a digitization of a spine that can be swept by a preselected pen of thickness 2t centered on the spine to draw the line or "stroke." The next step is to generate penleft and penright lists representing the X and Y coordinate values of the left and right sides of the pen. Thereafter, left and right lists representing a pair of boundaries of the stroke are generated by starting at a first end of the spine list and sequentially moving toward a second end of the spine list. For each position in the spine list, the X, Y coordinate values thereof are added to the X and Y coordinate values in the penleft list. The left list is updated when any of the resulting sums yield an X value less than the current X value for the corresponding Y value in the left list. The right list is similarly updated for each position in the spine list when any of the resulting sums yield an X value more than the current X value for the corresponding Y value in the right list. Finally, the stroke is drawn by filling in between the left and right lists.

The present invention relates to computerized methods of generating graphic images, and more particularly, to a method of displaying or printing lines and curves of arbitrary user specified thicknesses on raster devices.
A display or printer is called a raster device if its image or printed page is made up of a grid of individual picture elements called "pels". When a conventional black and white raster device displays or prints graphic images, such as lines, circles, ellipses and other curves, it does so by blackening those pels in the raster grid that lie closest to the grid location of the line or curve. Until recently, most raster devices have drawn lines or curves that were at most a couple of pels thick. Currently, higher resolution raster devices must be capable of generating lines and curves of arbitrary user specified thickness.
The traditional method of generating a line or curve having a multi-pel thickness is to make a first trace of the line with the thickness of a pel and then to make a succession of retraces of the line or curve, each slightly displaced from the preceding trace. However, this approach rapidly becomes inefficient when the thickness is more than a couple of pels wide. Another conventional method of generating multi-pel thick lines and curves requires the determination of two curves that represent the boundaries and filling black between them. Efficient methods for filling between two curves are well known in the art. The major problem encountered with the boundary and fill method is that the two boundaries are often so mathematically complex that they are not easily determined.
One prior art approach for curve drawing approximates the curve with straight line and/or circular arc segments and determines the boundaries of those segments. The principal drawback of this method is that processing time is significant. Another prior art approach which is discussed in the publication entitled "Curvature Continuity and Offsets for Piecewise Conics" by Gerald Farin approximates the boundaries with curves that are mathematically simpler than the true curves. However, this approach, while fast, results in noticeable errors in many situations. Another prior art approach is discussed by John Hobby in his article entitled "Rasterizing Curves of Constaint Width" published in the the Journal of the Association for Computing Machinery, April 1989, Vol 36, No.2. In Hobby's method, the line or curve to be drawn is defined in terms of a polygon that can be swept to create it. The vertices of the polygon are located on the pel boundaries. This method is also computationally slow.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,601,002 of Rosenthal, granted Jul. 15, 1986, discloses a method of generating lines of variable width on a raster display utilizing an algorithm for generating symbolized lines with so-called "multiply-stroked centerline data."
U.S Pat. No. 4,849,910 of Jacobs et al, granted Jul. 18, 1989, discloses another method of generating a line segment of specific thickness on a raster device. A disk is generated having a diameter which corresponds to the thickness of the line segment. A bit representation of the disk is placed at the start point of the line segment in a bit map memory. A front section of the bit representation of the disk is stored in an intermediate memory. Thereafter, this section of the bit representation of the disk is repeatedly read out of the intermediate memory and placed in the bit memory so that the locations of these sections are related to the line center points of the line segment in consecutive raster lines.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,905,166 of Schuerman, granted Feb. 27, 1990, discloses another method of generating a line part having a given thickness with a raster device, such as a laser printer. Boundaries are determined and a line is drawn based upon generation of a circle and the use of the Bresenham algorithm.

Method of generating lines and curves of user specified thicknesses on a raster device

International Business Machines Corporation


A device for measuring torque on an electric motor, which has a first motor portion and a second motor portion, which are rotatable in relation to each other, is proposed, the device comprising a rotatable holding plate for receiving the first motor portion, by means of which plate a rotational movement of the first motor portion in relation to the second motor portion can be driven, and a holding device for the second motor portion for holding the second motor portion in a rotationally fixed manner, the holding plate being disposed and formed in such a way that, when external forces are exerted on the electric motor via the holding device, the electric motor can position itself in relation to the holding device in such a way that external forces influencing the torque measurement are minimized.

The invention relates to a device and a method for measuring torque on an electric motor, the electric motor having a first motor portion and a second motor portion, which are rotatable in relation to each other.
The first motor portion and the second motor portion in this case are comprised by a stator-rotor combination.
Bearing friction and cogging are typical characteristics of an electric motor that can be determined by means of measuring the torque. Low-power motors, such as for example hard disk motors, have small geometrical dimensions and low masses. The forces acting are therefore very small.

Device and method for measuring torque on an electric motor


A semiconductor light emitting element includes a semiconductor layer which has an electrode on at least one principal surface and a supporting substrate which is bonded with the electrode by a conductive adhesive. One of the semiconductor layer and the supporting substrate includes a protruded surface protruding in one portion on the principal surface, the other includes a junction surface which opposes the protruded surface, the junction surface is bonded with the protruded surface with the electrode and the conductive adhesive interposed between the protruded surface and the junction surface, and the junction surface is larger in area than a region to be bonded with the protruded surface.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor light emitting element and a semiconductor light emitting device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently in the semiconductor industry, a semiconductor light emitting element such as a light emitting diode element including a semiconductor layer has been actively developed. It is strongly demanded that, for the semiconductor light emitting element, improvement of light output and improvement of generating a large current should be addressed with a view to future substituting lighting.
To improve the light output of a semiconductor light emitting element, a method for replacing a growth substrate on which a semiconductor layer is grown with a supporting substrate capable of reflecting light emitting wavelength of the semiconductor layer is proposed (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. H9-8403).
In such a method, after a semiconductor layer is grown on an insulative growth substrate, a conductive supporting substrate having a characteristic of being capable of reflecting light emitted from the semiconductor layer can be reflected is adhered to a substantially entire surface of a semiconductor layer on the opposite side of the insulative growth substrate with use of a conductive adhesive. After that, a portion from the insulative growth substrate side to the semiconductor layer is removed so that the semiconductor layer is exposed. With this, a semiconductor light emitting element can be obtained. According to this, in the semiconductor light emitting element, the light emitting efficiency of the semiconductor light emitting element can be improved by causing the light emitted from the semiconductor layer to be reflected by the conductive supporting substrate, and to be returned to the semiconductor layer side.
However, the above-described method involves extrusion of the conductive adhesive from a junction surface at the time of carrying out full-surface junction between the semiconductor layer and the conductive supporting substrate by the conductive adhesive. For example, the conductive adhesive extruding from a space between the conductive supporting substrate surface and a p-side electrode formed on a principal surface of the semiconductor layer extends through a side of the semiconductor layer to reach an n-type semiconductor layer. In a further extreme case, the extruded conductive adhesive reaches an n-side electrode formed on a principal surface of the semiconductor layer on the opposite side to connect between the p-side electrode and the n-side electrode. With this, there is a problem that a leak current is generated.
Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above-described problem, and it is an object to provide a semiconductor light emitting element and a semiconductor light emitting device, which are capable of reducing the generation of the leak current.

Semiconductor light emitting element and semiconductor light emitting device


A media grinding mill having a grinding chamber in the shape of a donut or torus within which at least one plow travels along a circular path typically creating one or more pressure regions between the plow and the grinding chamber walls that facilitates the grinding operation. Optional guide vanes positioned on the plows can further control the grinding process.

Many types of media mills exist that use grinding media of various sizes in a generally round grinding pot or chamber. Such mills have a rotating shaft that extends down into the grinding chamber to which horizontal bars or paddles are fixed to stir, or agitate, the media and material to be ground. Existing media mills rely solely on the weight of the media and agitation action from the rotating center shaft with bars or paddles for agitation of the media to grind a given feed.


An electric cooker having a composite heat source includes an external case having an air inlet and an air outlet, a cooking plate mounted on an upper surface of the external case to be a top plate thereof, a heat generating unit mounted between the external case and the cooking plate, the heat generating unit including a work coil and an electric heater and arranged coaxially with the air inlet with respect to a center of the air inlet, a cooling unit coaxially arranged with respect to the center of the air inlet between the air inlet and the heat generating unit, the cooling unit cooling the heat generating unit, an air duct provided below the heat generating unit, and a reflector forming an outer cover of the electric heater.

This invention relates to an electric cooker, and more particularly to an electric cooker having a composite heat source composed of an induction heating work coil and an electric heater, and still more particularly to an electric cooker improved in cooling efficiency by improvement of radiation structure.
The typical electric cooker is known as an environment-friendly product that can provide a clean and pleasant cooking environment because of being free from hazardous gas, soot, discharge of carbon monoxide and deficiency of oxygen.
The cooker is also widely used as an energy-efficient product because it takes a short time to reach a maximum thermal power by way of using a new material as heat source, and maintains a constant temperature using a temperature sensor.
An induction heating cooker which is one of the electric cookers is operated in such a manner that a magnetic field is generated by causing high-frequency current to flow through a work coil, and inducing the magnetic field into a cooking vessel, thereby generating eddy current to heat the cooking vessel. Conventionally, this type of induction heating cooker does not generate an air-polluting flame and have a high thermal efficiency, unlike a gas oven stove that heats a cooking vessel by way of oxidizing fuel. Therefore, the demand for this type of induction heating cooker is increasing.
In other words, the induction heating cooker conducts the cooking by using the heat generated by magnetic force applied to the cooking vessel. Therefore, the induction heating cooker is widely accepted as one of the excellent cookers as it generates heat for cooking by using the magnetic field, causing no air pollution and has a high energy usability of 80% or more thermal efficiency.
Meanwhile, the conventional electric cooker includes a cooking plate mounted on an external case, and a heat generating unit as a heat source provided at a bottom surface of the cooking plate. The heat generating unit may be an electric heater, or a typical flat pancake-like radially and spirally wound work coil, or may be a composite heat source using different types of heat sources including the electric heater and the work coil.
In the electric cooker disposed with a composite heat source, an internal temperature of the external case may suddenly increase due to driving heat generated by the electric heater. The rise of internal temperature can affect ambience of the work coil such that there is a need to install heat radiation means for appropriately maintaining the ambient temperature of the work coil having a limit in heat-resistance.
An external case of a typical electric cooker is disposed at an inner space thereof with an inverter (not shown) for driving a heat generating unit, a controller mounted with a driving circuit (not shown) and a cooling unit for cooling the heat generated from the heat generating unit and the controller.
The typical cooling unit of an electric cooker is disposed at one end of the external case thereof with a blowing fan for sucking outside air and blowing the air to the heat generating unit, where the introduced air is horizontally circulated in an inner space of the external case and discharged.
In the ventilation structure of the electric cooker thus explained, the outside air infused by the blowing fan disposed at one end of the external case is horizontally circulated for cooling the heat generating unit and the work coil and sequentially cools the ambient temperature of the work coil and the controller. In other words, the outside air introduced from outside by the blowing fan passes the electric heater to cool the work coil, and again passes the electric heater to cool the controller.
However, there is a disadvantage in the conventional ventilation structure thus explained in that it has a limit of cooling efficiency because the air that has passed the electric heater is used for cooling the work coil and the controller.
There is another disadvantage in that the introduced air is so configured as to horizontally go through a linear passage, making it difficult to effect a uniform cooling operation covering an entire area of the work coil and thereby decreasing the cooling efficiency.
There is still further disadvantage in that a fan of large capacity should be used to enhance the cooling efficiency of an electric cooker having a composite heat source, causing an enlarged size of the cooker and increased manufacturing cost.

Electric cooker having a composite heat source


This index tab for a divider sheet or a file folder includes first and second panels and folded against each other attached to the sheet so that the tab includes a first pocket portion extending a relatively short distance outwardly from the sheet margin and a second pocket portion extending inwardly a substantially greater distance from the sheet margin. The index tab includes a closed end defined by the fold line and an open end, disposed opposite the closed end, the open end receiving an insert which may extend substantially the full length of the index tab.

This invention relates generally to index tabs attachable to divider sheets, file folders, and the like, and particularly to an index tab which provides an insert that is easily installed, securely retained and, in addition, provides an extended indicia bearing area.
Divider sheets of the type used to separate the contents of a loose leaf binder into sections are commonly provided with index tabs to indicate the section contents. File folders, or the hanging hooked-end carriers which hold the folders, are similarly commonly provided with index tabs to identify the contents of the file folders.
Typically, the index tabs may include a double strip of material which include an inner portion overlapping the margin of the divider sheet or one of the panels of the file folder, and an elongate outer portion disposed parallel to the sheet margin and having open ends receiving an elongate and relatively narrow insert.
While the above index tabs work reasonably well for their intended purpose they have the disadvantage that the inserts are rather difficult to install and provide a relatively small area for identifying indicia. In addition, the inserts can slip out of the index tab at the bottom end of the tab and are often difficult to emplace.
Other less expensive index tabs are also common. These are unitarily formed with the divider sheet or file folder but suffer the disadvantage that the indicia bearing portion lacks the capability of removal and replacement.
This invention overcomes these and other problems in a manner not revealed in the known prior art.

American Trading and Production Corporation


An editing apparatus for use with a tape-form recording medium is provided in which, according to a positioning signal and a tracking pilot signal multiplex-recorded into the first recording area of each track of the recording medium which consists of a plurality of recording areas separated from each other by gaps, a pilot sampling signal for determining the timing of sampling and an editing timing signal for determining the recording location in a desired recording area following the first recording area are produced. After the tracking control is executed through sampling the tracking pilot signals from adjacent tracks at the timing of the pilot sampling signal, a data signal is recorded into the desired recording area after the first recording area according to the editing timing signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recording/reproducing apparatus for recording and reproducing signals of e.g. video, audio, or other information data on a tape-like recording medium such as a magnetic recording tape and, more particularly to, a recording/reproducing apparatus capable of editing the recorded data. The editing function alters the recorded data by replacing or erasing given recording area and adds continuous data to succeeding recording areas after the given recording area.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A variety of magnetic recording/reproducing apparatuses, such as video taperecorders (referred, to as VTRs, hereinafter have been developed and practically used which utilize magnetic recording tapes. Manufacturer efforts have results in size reductions, improved for high density recording, and digital recording. In such devices it is essential for increasing the recording density and maintaining compatibility to allow a magnetic head to perform accurate tracking actions. For this purpose, a tracking control method termed ATF has been introduced for use with a VTR in which a pilot signal is multiplexed onto a data signal during recording and utilized for correct tracking action during retrieval of the data signal. A conventional magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus using such a tracking control method will now be described.
In a recording mode, a row of oblique recording tracks are formed on a magnetic recording tape by a magnetic head mounted on a rotary cylinder. A recording signal fed to the magnetic head contains a data signal frequency multiplexed with pilot signals for tracking control. More particularly, two different pilot signals having frequencies of f1 and f2 respectively are recorded alternately onto every two recording tracks. Commonly, the frequency of each pilot signal is selected from four typical low frequencies which will minimize interference with the data signal.
The action of tracking the such recording tracks in a reproducing mode will be explained. As the magnetic head traces a target track, it reads a segment of the data signal and simultaneously, detects two pilot signal components f1 and f2 of the adjacent recording tracks. The relative position of the magnetic head to the target recording track can hence be examined through comparing the two pilot components f1,f2. In more detail, the two pilot components f1,f2 are extracted through a bandpass filter and converted by an AM detection circuit to their respective DC components depending on their amplitudes. The two DC components are then compared by a subtraction circuit. A resultant output of the subtraction circuit is a tracking error signal denoting a positional difference between the magnetic head and the target track to be traced. Upon receiving the tracking error signal, a capstan motor control circuit for controlling the feeding of a tape actuates a capstan motor to control the tape running so that the magnetic head traces along the center of the target track.
For replacement of the recorded data signal on a magnetic recording tape with another data signal (which will be termed as insert editing), the reproducing mode is shifted to the recording mode at a point of rewriting and the new data signal is recorded while the existing data signal is being erased. More specifically, the new data signal is recorded onto the recording tape, track, by track at the timing determined by a signal from a rotating position detecting sensor mounted to the rotary cylinder.
According to the conventional magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus, the start point of recording on each track for the insert editing action is determined by the signal of the rotating position detecting sensor of the rotary cylinder and thus, the existing data signal in the track will hardly be erased in its entirety due to mechanical non-uniformity and setting error. The remaining data which has not been erased may result in malfunction of the entire apparatus. Also, excessive erasing in the same track will likely be caused during partial rewriting. Particularly, editing with another recording/reproducing apparatus may create more error data thus degrading the performance of the apparatus. Also, the tracking is conducted using pilot signals multiplexed with the data signal according to the conventional apparatus and thus, no tracking control data will be given during the insert editing action. This may result in failure in the time matching between a current track and a preceding track at the end of editing, sequence error of the tracking data carried on the data signal, and development of imperfect track widths.

Editing device which selectively edits a section of a helical track

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A sampling device (10) characterised by a male portion comprising a male base portion (12) and a sample removal means (30), and a female portion comprising a first female base portion (14) and a sample container (16), the sample removal means (30) being removably located on the male base portion (12) and the sample container (16) being removably located at least in part within the first female base portion (14), wherein as the male and female portions are brought together the sample removal means (30) collects a biological sample (47) from an animal being tagged, is received through the first female base portion (14), and lodges in the sample container (16), this action in turn introducing the sample to a sample receiving space (74) within the sample container (16), pushing the sample container (16) from the first female base portion, and sealing the sample receiving space (74), the sample removal means (30) being provided with an amount of sample preparative or preservative (45) that is available to the sample (47) within the sample receiving space (74).

There has long been the need for those in animal related industries (including the breeding of livestock, show animals, racing animals and other thoroughbreds) to be able to accurately identify individual animals, either for the purpose of authenticating the animal itself or for identifying the source of animal products and samples. Some of the more commonly used techniques include branding, tattooing, ear tags, ankle straps, chains and transponders, either injectable or on tags or straps. All of these techniques have different costs and success rates associated with them.
The identification of animals is important in many fields of endeavour, including medicine, research, breeding, quality control and environmental technologies. DNA analysis is one technique available for the identification of animals. Identification by way of DNA analysis generally requires removal of a biological sample from the animal and "off-site" laboratory analysis of the sample. Recent cases of infected or contaminated meat products has increased the need to be able to sample large numbers of animals and accurately associate each sample with its source. Furthermore, there is also the need to make this association difficult to break or to be interfered with, so that the source of samples can be correctly and confidently identified.
Modem DNA analysis techniques can be performed on very small samples and can be conducted very quickly. Presently, quality control of biological material and the preparation of genetic genealogy of animals are conducted to an increasing degree with huge numbers of samples. DNA analysis is very sensitive and impurities must be excluded. Furthermore, there is an on-going need to protect samples from DNA-degrading enzymes.
There are many ways of obtaining a sample of DNA from animals. For example, taking biological samples for DNA analysis can involve blood sampling. A skilled practitioner, for example, a vet, is needed for this method of sampling which can become very expensive, especially for large populations.
In cattle breeding, it is known to remove hairs and hair roots and place them into a sample container which is then labelled manually to identify the source of the biological material. This process can be time consuming and there are a number of potential problems that are particularly related to the degree of training of the sampler. These include the potential for falsification of samples, either intentionally or accidentally. Intentional falsification may include the deliberate mislabelling of a sample or placing a sample from one source into a sample container that identifies the sample as having been sourced from a different animal. The above examples of falsification can also occur accidentally.
There is a need for a sampling device that is able to simultaneously register an animal (e.g. provide an identification means such as an ear tag) and take a sample of tissue for analysis, whilst providing a sample container that minimizes the potential for intentional or accidental falsification of samples.
The sampling device of the present invention has one object thereof to overcome substantially the above-mentioned problems associated with the prior art, or at least provide a useful alternative thereto.
The preceding discussion of the background art is intended to facilitate an understanding of the present invention only. It should be appreciated that the discussion is not an acknowledgement or admission that any of the material referred to was part of the common general knowledge in Australia as at the priority date of the application.
Throughout the specification, unless the context requires otherwise, the word "comprise" or variations such as "comprises" or "comprising", will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated integer or group of integers but not the exclusion of any other integer or group of integers.

Sampling device including transponder for electronic tracking and identification


An aluminum production electrolytic cell (14) comprises a bath (20) with bath contents (18), at least one cathode electrode (22) in contact with said contents (18), at least one anode electrode (16) in contact with said contents (18), and a hood (36), defining interior area (36a), covering at least a portion of said bath (20). The electrolytic cell (14) is equipped for effluent gases to be drawn from said interior area (36a). The electrolytic cell (14) also comprises at least one heat exchanger (74) for cooling at least a portion of the gases drawn from interior area (36a), prior to circulation thereof to interior area (36a) through at least one distribution device (90).

Aluminium is often produced by means of an electrolysis process using one or more aluminium production electrolytic cells. One such process is disclosed in US 2009/0159434. Such electrolytic cells typically comprise a bath for containing bath contents comprising fluoride-containing minerals on top of molten aluminium. The bath contents are in contact with cathode electrode blocks and anode electrode blocks. Aluminium oxide is supplied on regular intervals to the bath via openings at several positions along the center of the cell and between rows of anodes.
Aluminium so produced generates effluent gases, including hydrogen fluoride, sulphur dioxide, carbon dioxide and the like. These effluent gases must be removed and disposed of in an environmentally conscientious manner. Furthermore, heat generated by such an electrolysis process requires some manner of control to avoid problems associated with overheating of cell equipment located near the bath. As described in US 2009/0159434, one or more gas ducts may be used to draw effluent gases and dust particles away from a number of parallel electrolytic cells, and to remove generated heat away from the cells to cool cell equipment. To accomplish the same, a suction is generated in the gas ducts by means of a pressurized air supply device. This suction creates a flow of ambient ventilation air through the electrolytic cells. The flow of ambient ventilation air through the electrolytic cells cools the electrolytic cell equipment and draws the generated effluent gases and dust particles therefrom. Such a flow of pressurized air likewise creates a suitable gas flow through the electrolytic cells and the gas ducts to carry the generated effluent gases and dust particles to a gas treatment plant.


The invention relates to an improved process for the production of a secondary metabolite comprising (i) fermentation of a microorganism capable of producing said secondary metabolite, and (ii) recovering said metabolite in substantially pure form. Said microorganism has been modified in a manner whereby the expression of one or more of the DNA sequences coding for (a) peptide(s), (a) protein(s) or (an) enzyme(s), involved in or interfering with the biosynthetic pathway of said secondary metabolite, is regulated differently from the regulation of said DNA sequence(s) in the original microorganism. Further contemplated is a process for production of said microorganism, a DNA construct, a vector or transformation vehicle, a microorganism capable of producing secondary metabolite and finally a secondary metabolite product.

The biochemical pathways of microorganisms can be classified as being part of either primary or secondary metabolism. The pathways of primary metabolism are involved in the catabolism of molecules for energy production or in the synthesis of the building blocks of the cells. Most of these processes are common for all microorganisms. The secondary metabolism is usually anabolic and leads to compounds with no obvious function for the cell.
Among secondary metabolites .beta.-lactam antibiotics are a large family produced in nature by microorganisms. The most important class of .beta.-lactam antibiotics both clinically and economically are the penicillins and the cephalosporins. Their biosynthesis occur via a complex pathway of enzymatic steps.
The unravelling of this pathway has been the subject of many studies during the last few decades. The first two steps in the biosynthetic pathways of the penicillin and the cephalosporin classes of .beta.-lactam antibiotics are identical. Thereafter the biosynthetic pathways to the penicillins and cephalosporins diverge.
The .beta.-lactam biosynthetic pathway
The pathway to the important penicillin species penicillin V is sketched below.
Aminoadipic acid+cysteine+valine.fwdarw.ACV-tripeptide.fwdarw.isopenicillin N.fwdarw.penicillin V
The first step is a condensation of L-.alpha.-aminoadipic acid (an intermediate in the lysine biosynthetic pathway in fungi or a degradation product of lysine in bacteria), L-cysteine and L-valine. In cephamycin-producing Actinomycetes, lysine (an amino acid belonging to the so-called aspartate family) is synthesized by the dihydrodipicolinate pathway, which does not include .alpha.-aminoadipic acid as an intermediate. In these organisms the precursor is formed by catabolism of lysine by the action of lysine-6-aminotransferase.
In the second step, ACV is oxidatively cyclized by removal of four hydrogen atoms to form the bicyclic penam nucleus (a .beta.-lactam fused to a thiazolidine ring) of isopenicillin N which is present in all penicillins. From here the pathway diverges to penicillins in Penicillium chrysogenum and Aspergillus nidulans and to cephalosporins and cephamycins in various molds and Actinomycetes. Cephalosporins and cephamycins (7-.alpha.-methoxycephalosporins) contain the cephem bicyclic ring system (a .beta.-lactam fused to a dihydrothiazine ring).
The enzymes catalyzing the .beta.-lactam pathway
Formation of the ACV-tripeptide is carried out by the enzyme .delta.-(L-.alpha.-aminoadipyl)-L-cysteinyl-D-valine synthetase (ACVS).
The enzyme catalyzing the second step in the penicillin, cephalosporin and cephamycin biosynthesis is isopencillin N synthase (IPNS or cyclase). IPNS is stimulated by ferrous ions and ascorbate, and requires a reduced environment. As the .beta.-lactam ring is formed during cyclization, isopenicillin N (IPN) is the first compound produced in the pathway with antibiotic activity.
IPNS has been purified from a wide variety of .beta.-lactam producing organisms including Streptomyces clavuligerus, Streptomyces lactamdurans, Penicillium chrysogenum and Cephalosporium acremonium.
The final step in the penicillin biosynthesis is catalyzed by acyl-CoA:6-aminopenicillanic acid transferase (AT), which has been purified from organisms as e.g. Penicillium chrysogenum and Aspergillus nidulans.
Most of the enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of .beta.-lactams have been characterized. The genes coding for ACVS, IPNS (cyclase) and AT have been cloned and modified in different ways to increase expression (Martin, J. F., J. Indust. Microorg., 9, p. 73-90, 1992).
The genes encoding the Penicillin biosynthesis
The genes of penicillin biosynthesis in P. chrysogenum and A. nidulans are named respectively pcbAB, pcbC and penDE and are tightly clustered.
The pcbAB gene, encoding the ACV synthetase (ACVS) in P. chrysogenum, is an unusually large gene of about 12 kb without any introns (Smith et al., EMBO J., 9, p. 2743-2750, 1990, Diez et al., J. Biol. Chem., 265, p. 16358-16365, 1990). Transcriptional mapping showed the presence of a long transcript of about 11.5 kb that hybridized with several probes internally in the pcbAB gene. Further two small transcripts of 1.15 kb hybridized with the pcbC or the penDE gene (Martin, J. F., J. Indu. Micr., 9, p. 73-90, 1992).
The transcriptional initiation and termination region of the pcbAB gene has been completely sequenced. The pcbAB gene is linked to the pcbC and penDE genes and is transcribed in the opposite orientation to them.
Also the pcbC gene, encoding isopenicillin N synthase or cyclase of P. chrysogenum has been sequenced. The sequence does not contain any introns and the genes of P. chrysogenum (Barredo et al., Mol. Gen. Genet, 216, p. 91-98, 1989) are very similar to those of Streptomyces griseus, N. lactamdurans, and other Actinomycetes and filamentous fungi.
The penDE gene encodes AT which is the last step of the penicillin biosynthesis (Barredo et al., Gene, 83, p. 291-300, 1989). The penDE gene of A. nidulans is very similar to the penDE gene of P. chrysogenum and contains three introns in similar positions.
Transcription of the genes of the Penicillin biosynthesis
Several groups have reported transcription analysis of the upstream regions of the pcbC and pcbAB genes. In the fungi, the divergently transcribed genes are separated by about 1 kb. Smith et al. (Bio/Technology, 8, p. 237-240, 1990) used S1 mapping and primer extension to identify transcription initiation sites in the 5' region of the C. acremonium pcbC gene. Major and minor pairs of mRNA start sites were found on either side of a pyrimidine-rich block in the promoter region at positions -64 and -72, relative to the first base of the ATG initiation codon. A consensus TATA box was observed 68 bp upstream of the first major transcription start site. A similar motif was found at position -147 in the 5' region of the A. nidulans pcbC gene.
The sequence flanking the translation initiation codon matches the consensus fungal sequence. Barredo et al. (Mol. Gen. Genet., 216, p. 91-98, 1989) mapped the start site of P. chrysogenum pcbC mRNA by primer extension and showed that a single transcript was made that originated close to the structural gene, starting at position -11.
Similar studies by Kolar et al. (J. Biotechnol., 17, p. 67-80, 1991) with a penicillin production strain of P. chrysogenum revealed two major transcription initiation sites, at -131 and -132 as well as at -397.
Primer extension studies of the A. nidulans pcbAB gene demonstrated a major mRNA start point at -230 bp. There was found no recognizable core promoter sequences, a situation frequently encountered in fungal genes. As the pcbC and pcbAB genes may be regulated in a coordinate fashion, a search was made for potential regulatory elements, such as receptor sites for transacting proteins, within the intergenic region separating the pcbAB and pcbC genes. A 53-bp region of dyad symmetry is located equidistant from the two genes, but no other extensive sequence identities were detected (McCabe et al., J. Biol. Chem., 266, p. 12646-54, 1991).
Analysis of pcbC mRNA during a C. acremonium seven-day fermentation showed a large accumulation of a 1.5-kb transcript between the second and the fourth day. This correlated with the appearance of products of the pathway after isopenicillin N (Smith et al., Bio/Technology, 8, p. 237-40, 1990). The fact that mRNA levels decreased after the fifth day when antibiotics peaked was attributed to stability of the IPNS enzyme.
Regulation of the genes of the penicillin biosynthetic pathway
Little is known about the molecular mechanisms that modify the expression of the genes that regulate the penicillin biosynthesis, despite the fact that many studies show the biosynthetic pathway is subject to numerous metabolic controls.
Recent efforts in this direction have focused on characterizing the DNA regions controlling gene expression and analysing transcription events in terms of critical cell growth parameters that affect antibiotic formation.
ACV synthesis may be the rate-limiting step in biosynthesis of penicillins and cephalosporins and is known to be regulated by glucose in Penicillium chrysogenum and Nocardia lactamdurans, by phosphate in Streptomyces clavuligerus and by ammonium in Streptomyces clavuligerus and Cephalosporium acremonium. It is also strongly affected by the oxygen transfer rate of the cultures. Regulation of pcbC expression in C. acremonium occurs primarily at the transcriptional level. Similar studies of the S. clavuligerus pcbC gene show its expression to be under transcriptional control. When cultures of S. clavuligerus were grown in rich or defined media, the amounts of pcbC mRNA correlated well with the IPNS enzyme activity and antibiotic production; in defined media, peak values of both occurred much earlier than in rich media (Y. Aharonowitz et al., Annu. Rev. Microbiol., 46, p. 461-95, 1992).
Analysis of mRNA levels of penicillin biosynthetic genes in A. nidulans, under conditions where the penicillin synthesis was repressed, showed no transcripts, suggesting common regulation of these genes at the transcriptional level (McCabe et al., EMBO J., 9, p. 279-87, 1990).
Penalva et al. (Genetics and Molecular Biology of industrial Microorganisms, Washington, D.C., Am. Soc. Microbiol., p. 256-61, 1989; Gene, 89, p. 109-15, 1990) showed that in A. nidulans the pcbC gene was transcribed only after arrest of cell growth and only then penicillin was detected in the fermentation broth.
A rather different picture was found in P. chrysogenum. Levels of pcbC mRNA and IPNS stayed about the same throughout the fermentation, both in a wild-type strain and in a highly mutated overproducer strain (Kuck et al. Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol., 31, p. 358-65, 1989). The latter exhibited 32- to 64-fold more mRNA than the wild-type strain.
Beatriz Perez-Esterban et al. (Molecular Microbiology 9:4, p. 881-895, 1993) found that the IPNS promoter of the A. nidulans IPNS gene is mostly regulated by upstream negative control elements that act upon a high basal activity. Sequential deletion analysis of three negative cis-acting elements result in a mutated promoter that is 40 times (sucrose broth) or 12 times (lactose broth) more active than the wild type. One of these cis-acting elements is involved in sucrose repression. Strikingly, it is located outside the non-transcribed 525 bp intergenic region and maps to the coding region of the divergently transcribed pcbAB gene. A 5'-deletion up to -56 (relative to the major transcription starting point (tsp)) showed that this region contain information to provide almost half of the maximal promoter activity and allows initiation of the transcription at the correct site. By using total-protein extract from mycelia grown under penicillin producing conditions a DNA-binding activity was detected which specifically binds to a promoter fragment located between -654 and -455 (relative to IPNS tsp). Deletions covering this region partially abolish IPNS promoter activity.
The interpretation of regulatory mechanisms in mutated, high-.beta.-lactam-producing strains is complicated by possible chromosomal aberrations in the cluster of biosynthetic genes. For example, one P. chrysogenum overproducer strain had 8-10 copies of the pcbC gene (Smith et al., Mol. Gen. Genet., 216, p. 492-97, 1989) and another contained the pcbC and penDE genes in a DNA segment of at least 35 kb amplified 14-fold (Barredo et al., Curr. Genet., 16, p. 453-59, 1989). The significance of such findings is relevant for attempts to genetically manipulate high producer strains, either through introducing additional copies of .beta.-lactam biosynthetic genes to overcome pathway blocks or by altering regulatory elements.
Amplification of the pcbC-penDE gene cluster of P. chrysogenum Wis 54-1255 led to as much as a 40% improvement in production yields (Veenstra et al. J. Biotechnol., 17, p. 81-90, 1991). Increased antibiotic yields were also reported in A. nidulans transformants containing multiple copies of pcbAB and pcbC genes (McCabe et al., J. Biotechnol., 17, p. 91-97, 1991).
Attempts to increase cephalosporin C yields in C. acremonium and penicillin in P. chrysogenum by inserting multiple copies of the pcbC gene were unsuccessful (Skatrud et al. Bio/Technology, 7, p. 477-86, 1989).
A similar result was obtained in terms of penicillin production in a wild-type strain of A. nidulans (Penalva et al., Genetics and Molecular Biology of industrial Microorganisms, Washington, D.C., Am. Soc. Microbiol. p. 256-61, 1989).
Relevant patent documents
U.S. Pat. No. 4,885,251 (Eli Lilly) describes a DNA sequence from C. acremonium encoding isopenicillin N synthase (IPNS). The IPNS encoding gene sequence was isolated from C. acremonium. The intact IPNS gene (pcbC) and associated promoter has been used to construct a vector that drives the expression of IPNS in C. acremonium. Further the IPNS promoter has been fused to a hygromycin phosphotransferase-encoding DNA sequence and placed onto C. acremonium expression vector.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,892,819 (Eli Lilly) describes a DNA sequence, encoding isopenicillin N synthase (IPNS), comprising the IPNS encoding gene (pcbC) and its promoter from Penicillium chrysogenum. The DNA sequence can be placed in an expression vector that function in P. chrysogenum and C. acremonium. This can be used to increase ultimate expression of a product encoded on a recombinant DNA vector.
EP 200,425 (Eli Lilly) discloses vectors encoding isopenicillin N synthase (IPNS). The vectors permit high level expression of IPNS in C. acremonium and E. coli. The Cephalosporium vectors are useful for strain improvement, to increase efficiency and yield in fermentations for the production of penicillin and cephalosporin antibiotics. The vectors may also be modified to give vectors for increasing the production yields and efficiency of P. chrysogenum, Streptomyces clavuligerus etc. in fermentations.
EP 260,762 (Gist-Brocades) provides a transformation method for preparing Penicillium transformants. The DNA is preferably integrated into a host with stable expression of the structural gene(s) which is introduced. Particularly, complementation of auxotrophy is employed for selection.
EP 354,624 (Gist Brocades) describes a subtraction isolation method for identifying genes associated with the production of secondary metabolites in microorganisms. The method is exemplified with production of penicillin in P. chrysogenum.
EP 357,119 (Gist Brocades) discloses the clustered antibiotic biosynthetic genes encoding IPNS, AT and ACVS and are advantageously employed for improvement of production of the antibiotic in microorganisms and for the isolation of other genes involved in the biosynthesis of the antibiotic. The invention is exemplified with improved production of penicillin in P. chrysogenum, with the isolation of another clustered biosynthetic gene(s) and with the expression of clustered penicillin biosynthetic genes in Acremonium chrysogenum.
EP 448,180 (Gist Brocades) describes a method for modulating production of secondary metabolites which includes modulating the number and/or the size of the organelles, preferably microbodies, in host organism. This is done by altering the expression of a protein present in said organelles; and/or interfering with the cellular control mechanisms for maturation or fission of said organelles; and/or contacting the microorganism with agents capable of regulating the number and/or size of organelles; or modulating the cellular localization of at least one protein, optionally derived from another microorganism, directly or indirectly involved in the production of said secondary metabolites by adding, deleting or altering one or more DNA sequences encoding one or more targeting signals in the gene(s) of one or more of said proteins.

Process for the production of secondary metabolites


A paddle fitting tool for drilling a hole through a wing spar inserted into a paddle fitting where the paddle fitting has a top fork with a hole and a bottom fork also having a hole approximately aligned with the hole in the top fork. The paddle fitting tool couples a drill to a nut runner using a saddle. The nut runner is operable to clamp the paddle fitting to securably hold the paddle fitting and wing spar stationary during drilling. The drill is operable to hold a drill bit and to drill a hole in the wing spar. The saddle couples the nut runner to the drill such that the hole drilled through the wing spar is approximately concentric with the hole in the top fork and the hole in the bottom fork of the paddle fitting.

The wings of an aircraft are subject to numerous forces during takeoff, flight, and landing. Aircraft use wing spars to evenly distribute those forces. Each wing will have multiple wing spars radiating out from the fuselage (on both the bottom and top side of the wing) toward the tip of the wing. The wing spars carry these forces to ensure that each part of the wing surface carries a proportionate share of the load.
Each wing spar has two fuselage ends (one on the top of the wing and one on the bottom of the wing) that can insert into paddle fittings attached to the fuselage. A paddle fitting has a fork-shaped receptacle end for receiving the end of a wing spar. One method of holding the wing spar stationary within the paddle fitting involves drilling a hole through both forks of the paddle fitting and the wing spar, inserting a fastener through the hole, and tightening the paddle fitting/wing spar assembly to a specified torque.
Due to the exact tolerances required in building aircraft, the drilled hole must be both the appropriate diameter and concentric through both forks of the paddle fitting and the wing spar. A hole that is drilled too large or is non-concentric will degrade too rapidly under the operational forces of an aircraft. A manually operated drill cannot drill a hole through this material stack up that will meet these exact tolerance requirements on a consistent basis. These precise tolerances necessitate a device, such as a paddle fitting tool, that clamps to the paddle fitting/wing spar assembly to hold the drill stationary as the drill bit drills the hole through the paddle fitting and the wing spar.
To ensure the drilled hole has the appropriate dimensions and concentricity, conventional paddle fitting tools use a guide or fixture coupled to the drill. One example of such a conventional paddle fitting tool is manufactured by Boeing under drawing number ST7220C-1 that describes a Quackenbush 15QDR-RAB-SU-RS drill attached to a fixture having an air pressure cylinder to clamp the paddle fitting tool to the paddle fitting in order to hold the paddle fitting, and consequently the wing spar inserted within the forks of the paddle fitting, stationary.
However, these conventional paddle fitting tools have several limitations, including safety, cost of manufacture, and speed of operation. The air pressure cylinders typically clamp relatively rapidly and can therefore injure an operator. Another potentially dangerous situation can arise if the paddle fitting tool disengages from the paddle fitting while the drill is still operating. This can occur if the air pressure cylinder malfunctions (for example, due to air line deterioration or the air pressure being cut off). This can also occur because the air pressure cylinders typically cannot achieve a clamp force of six hundred pounds per square inch (psi) or greater.
Conventional paddle fitting tools can also be relatively slow because of the difficulty in locating and clamping the tool at the correct position on the paddle fitting.


An apparatus for cleaning the surface of teeth in a human mouth having a flexible, resilient central flossing filament and a plurality of flexible side flossing filaments fixedly attached to a central filament intermediate portion. The central filament intermediate and free end portions, with the side flossing filaments attached thereto, are sized to be received between adjacent teeth without traversing any contact areas between the adjacent teeth from at least the front of the mouth. The central filament has sufficient flexibility and resiliency to effect a first flossing action between the adjacent teeth by imparting a first flossing motion to the central filament, and the side filaments have sufficient flexibility to effect a second flossing action between the adjacent teeth and at the forward and rearward surfaces thereof to impart a second flossing motion to the side filaments. An electric motor is coupled to the central filament base portion to provide a rotational or an oscillatory drive to the central filament base portion to impart the first and second flossing motions. The central filament has greater resiliency than the side filaments. The side filaments have greater flexibility than the central filament, and are sufficiently flexible to bend back adjacent the central filament upon insertion between the adjacent teeth. Upon a drive force being applied thereto through the central filament the side filaments whip or flail about, and in one embodiment are rotated to spin about the longitudinal driven axis of the central filament.

Various types of dental devices and methods exist for the cleaning of teeth as well as for the massaging of the gum tissue. U.S. Pat. No. Re. 30,536, "Ultrasonic Device and Method," issued on Mar. 3, 1981, shows an apparatus which utilizes an ultrasonically driven head in conjunction with a spray of liquid or slurry containing abrasive material to operate as a cutting or cleaning tool in dental operations. U.S. Pat. No. 4,913,133, "Hand Held Periodontic Tool," issued on Apr. 3, 1990, discloses a hand held periodontic tool which vibrates a flexible tip for use in massaging gum tissue, but which cannot be used for dental flossing. Such prior art devices, however, are typically unable to reach the area between the portion of the tooth located beneath the gum tissue surface and the gum tissue itself (inter-dental papilla). This area was generally cleaned with dental floss.
However, the use of dental floss can be somewhat cumbersome. In many instances there are contact areas between the teeth (i.e., portions of the crowns of the teeth are closely adjacent or touching), typically at the top of the crown. In order for floss to be received between the teeth, it is generally necessary for the floss to be forced between the teeth from above, and must pass through any contact area. However, such contact areas often do not provide adequate space to permit passage of the floss. This tends to result in the floss shredding or breaking rather than passing between the teeth. In such instances, some manner of threading device must be employed.
Devices which dispose a strand of floss between rigid arms of a forked or "U" shaped tip to facilitate flossing are available. Electrical flossing devices which reciprocate such a tip are also known, such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,235,253, "Electric Dental Flosser" issued Nov. 25, 1980, to D. A. Moore.
A hand held, electrically powered flossing device which solves many of the above-noted problems is shown in applicant's own recently issued U.S. Pat. No. 5,573,020, "Dental Flossing Device and Method Therefor," issued Nov. 12, 1996. The device utilizes a flexible, resilient non-abrasive filament which is supplied with at least one of a translational or a rotational drive force to impart a flossing motion to an intermediate portion of the flossing filament.
While the device effectively and efficiently cleans or flosses the area between the teeth, and also the area between the inter-dental papilla and the interproximal surface of the tooth, it is desirable to provide an alternative dental flossing device using a flossing filament with increased effectiveness and efficiency.


A loudspeaker is provided that satisfies requirements for both a small size and a high sound pressure. In addition, the heat capacity of the magnetic circuit and the heat dissipation of the voice coil are improved in this loudspeaker. Using at least two pieces of bar magnets (21), an outer magnet type magnetic circuit is structured in which the magnetic gap comprising an upper plate (22) and a lower plate (23) has a straight section. Also, the configuration of the voice coil (28) is that of a track.

In recent years, slim type loudspeakers are drawing attention in order to cope with requirements for miniaturization and higher sound pressure of mobile telephones.
Because of these requirements, much effort is being made to configure magnetic circuits into a rectangular shape in order to improve the space factor. Also, these magnetic circuits generally employ an internal magnet structure. Furthermore, many loudspeakers use magnets such as rare earth magnets having a large magnetic energy in order to cope with requirement for higher sound pressures.
Now, a description of a conventional internal magnet type loudspeaker will be given referring to FIG. 13.
FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional internal magnet type loudspeaker.
Magnetic circuit 4 is formed by sandwiching rectangular magnet 1 with yoke 3 and upper plate 2. Magnetic circuit 4 is press-fit into and joined with frame 6 while maintaining yoke 3 of magnetic circuit 4 in contact with frame 6.
When performing this process, an adhesive is coated on the surfaces of contact.
Subsequently, diaphragm 7 is bonded to the rim of frame 6 followed by coupling voice coil 8 to diaphragm 7 for driving it.
Voice coil 8 is held inside magnetic gap 5 in this way. Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. Sho 59-193699 discloses a planar driving type loudspeaker having a high magnetic conversion efficiency. This loudspeaker employs a magnet having a large magnetic energy and the magnetic circuit employs an internal magnet structure.
However, recent market requires increasingly higher sound pressures. The conventional loudspeakers as mentioned above already use magnets having a high magnetic energy and also employ an internal magnet type magnetic circuit structure. For this reason, improvement in the magnetic energy by improvement of magnet materials has already reached the limit. As a result, the only means left of attaining a higher sound pressure is improvement of the magnetic energy by increasing the volume of the magnet. In an internal magnet type magnetic circuit structure, in order to increase the volume of the magnet, it is necessary to increase the size of the voice coil or the height of the loudspeaker. This is against the market requirement for miniaturization. Accordingly, the conventional loudspeakers suffer problems of not being able to satisfy incompatible requirements of higher sound pressure and miniaturization.
The present invention addresses these problems and provides a loudspeaker that can cope with higher sound pressure requirement while maintaining a small size.

Loudspeaker, and module and electronic apparatus using the loudspeaker

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


The present invention provides a sound reproducing system capable of accurately analyzing a reverberation characteristic of amplified sound including an arrival direction of a reverberation component, which is more natural, and has higher realistic sensation. A surround system 100 has a speaker system 130, a signal processing apparatus 120 for recognizing a reverberation characteristic of a listening room 10 and adjusting a reverberation component of sound source to be amplified on the basis of the recognized reverberation characteristic, and a microphone array 140 constructed by a plurality of microphones M disposed in the listening room 10 and having the same characteristics, and in which distances among the microphones M are determined in advance. In the case where sound source is amplified and output from the speaker system 130 to the listening room 10, the microphone array 140 collects amplified sound in a specific listening position in the listening room 10.

In recent years, at the time of reproducing sound source such as music, a reproducing apparatus such as an AV amplifier that performs correction of a sound field in a sound field space in which the sound source is reproduced is practically used. Recently, attention is being paid to a technique of correcting a reverberation characteristic of sound source on the basis of the characteristics of a sound field space in which sound source is reproduced and performing a reverberation control on the sound field space. In this case, it is important to accurately analyze a reverberation characteristic in a sound field space in which the sound source is reproduced, that is, a reverberation characteristic related to the intensity of sound in a listening position of amplified sound. In particular, as a technique for analyzing such a reverberation characteristic, a method of analyzing a reverberation characteristic of a sound field space by collecting a test signal amplified in the sound field space into the sound field space is known.
Hitherto, a sound reproducing system for conducting such an analysis of a sound field space has a plurality of speakers disposed in the sound field space and a microphone disposed in a listening position in the sound field space and, when a predetermined test signal is amplified, for collecting amplified sound of the test signal. On the basis of the test signal collected by the microphone, a characteristic of the amplified sound in the listening position is analyzed. On the basis of the analysis result, a signal process of sound source to be reproduced is performed (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2003-255955).

Reverberation adjusting apparatus, reverberation correcting method, and sound reproducing system


A chair primarily for a fishing boat has a chair seat having a seat base plate for attachment to a swivel support with a seat pad and a seat back having a back plate and a back pad. The back plate is connected to the seat base plate by two hinges which allow folding of the seat back onto the base. In order to accommodate the high forces from an occupant leaning against the seat back while riding over rough water at high speed the hinge includes a spring steel strap fastened to the seat base plate and extending up behind the seat base plate to a top edge above the seat pad which can flex to take up the forces. A hinge plate is attached to the back plate and extends therefrom downwardly into contact with the spring strap connected together by a hinge pin defining a horizontal hinge axis. The hinge plate includes a rear tab extending along a rear of the spring strap for communicating forces from the person leaning backward through the hinge to the flexing of the strap. The pin is held in place within loops at the strap and the hinge plate by a central circlip between two loops of the strap which are aligned with the tab of the hinge plate.

This invention relates to a chair with a folding back and to a hinge which can be used to pivotally mount the folding back on the chair seat for folding of the chair back onto the chair seat and for resilient spring movement of the chair back relative to the chair seat.
Chairs primarily for fishing boats often include a chair seat which is attached to a swivel mount by a base plate so that the occupant can swivel to different directions for travel from one fishing spot to another and for movement in fishing. The chairs generally also includes a seat back against which the occupant can rest during riding from one spot to another and during fishing. High speed travel across the water often includes some vertical vibrations which cause significant loads to be transferred from the occupant to the chair. In a situation where the occupant is leaning backwards, the weight from the occupant is heavily pressed against the back rest often damaging the structure.
In addition it is desirable in a fishing boat of this type to provide a chair back which can fold downwardly onto the seat so that the seat back of unused seats does not detract from or interfere with the vision of the occupants of the boat.
Hinges to date have little resilience so that all of the loading from the occupant due to leaning or vibration is applied to the hinge so that damage regularly occurs.
It is one object of the present invention therefore to provide a chair which allows folding of a seat back onto the seat base and also accommodates the forces from the occupant leaning backward onto the seatback.
According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a chair comprising:
a chair seat having a seat base plate for attachment to a support for holding the seat base plate generally horizontal;
a seat pad mounted on the base plate on which a person can sit;
a seat back having a back plate and a back pad against which a back of the person can rest;
and at least one hinge member connecting the back plate to the seat base plate, the hinge member comprising:
a spring strap fastened to the seat base plate and extending up behind the seat base plate to a top edge above the seat pad;
a hinge plate attached to the back plate and extending therefrom downwardly into contact with the spring strap;
a hinge pin defining a horizontal hinge axis;
the hinge plate and the spring strap being shaped to define a hinge around the hinge pin;
the hinge plate and the spring strap being shaped to allow the seat back to fold down into a folded position onto the seat pad and being shaped to prevent movement of the seat back rearwardly beyond a raised position such that forces from the person leaning backward on the seat back are communicated through the hinge into spring movement of the spring strap.
Preferably one of the strap and the hinge plate includes a rear tab extending along a rear of the other for communicating forces from the person leaning backward.
According to a second aspect the invention provides a hinge which can be used to attach the back to the seat of an existing chair, the hinge being as defined above.

Chair with a folding backrest and a hinge therefor


The present invention provides a wavelength-convertible LED which has first and second surfaces, including first and second conductivity-type cladding layers and an active layer formed between the first and second conductivity-type cladding layers to emit a specific wavelength light. The invention also includes at least a piezoelectric layer on at least one of the first and second surfaces of the semiconductor LED with its thickness variable according to the applied voltage, and a rigid frame made of substantially non-resilient rigid material surrounding the semiconductor LED and the at least one piezoelectric layer such that the increase of the thickness of the piezoelectric layer is applied to the semiconductor LED as pressure. The invention further includes a plurality of terminals on the rigid frame, connected to the first and second conductivity-type cladding layers, and the piezoelectric layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wavelength-convertible light emitting device, and more particularly, to a wavelength-convertible light emitting device which allows adjustment of energy band gap of semiconductor Light Emitting Diode (LED) to vary the wavelength of emitted light in a single complete semiconductor LED.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, semiconductor Light Emitting Diode (LED) has merits including superior monochromatic peak wavelength and light efficiency, and feasibility of miniaturization, which makes it popular as diverse light sources for display devices.
Display devices require light sources of variety of colors. However, a peculiar wavelength of light is determined in a semiconductor LED mainly by the energy band gap of the constituting material (especially, active area). Thus, in order to obtain light having a wavelength different from the peculiar one, the constituting material of the semiconductor LED needs to be changed. For example, Al and/or In can be changed to increase or decrease the energy band gap in a GaN-based semiconductor.
Alternatively, the peculiar wavelength of the LED determined by the constituting material may be converted into a desired wavelength of light with use of fluorescent material. This type of LED is manufactured by applying and hardening specific fluorescent paste on the light emission region of the LED. The wavelength of this type of LED is determined by a constant factor such as fluorescent film, which is used mainly for obtaining white light.
As described above, a single LED emits a fixed, specific wavelength light only. Therefore, in order to achieve variety of colors, a compound of different colors of LEDs, i.e., a plurality of semiconductor LEDs emitting red (R), green (G), and blue (B) have been combined and used. However, this technique not only requires a complicated driving circuit, but also is subject to inevitable loss due to mixing of colors.
Therefore, a more desirable alternative would be techniques capable of changing the wavelength of light of a single, complete product of LED, in accordance with specific conditions. But, as described above, since the wavelength of the LED is inherently determined by the energy band gap (and the characteristics of fluorescent film) of the constituting material, there has not been a disclosure of techniques for adjusting the wavelength light in a single, complete product of LED, to date.

Wavelength-convertible light emitting device


An alkaline storage battery using positive electrodes comprising an active material containing nickel hydroxide particles and a rare earth element or a compound thereof containing or mixed with 0.1-100 ppm of Fe or an Fe compound based on the rare earth element or the compound thereof is provided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an alkaline storage battery, and particularly to an improvement of positive electrode used for the battery.
2. Description of Related Art
With the recent spread of portable devices, alkaline storage batteries are demanded to have higher capacity. Particularly, nickel metal hydride storage batteries are secondary batteries which comprise positive electrodes mainly composed of nickel hydroxide and negative electrodes mainly composed of a hydrogen-absorbing alloy, and they have spread as secondary batteries of high capacity and high reliability.
The positive electrodes for the alkaline storage batteries will be explained below.
The positive electrodes for alkaline storage batteries are roughly classified into two types of sintered type and unsintered type. The former are prepared by sintering a core material such as a punching metal and a nickel powder to obtain a nickel sintered substrate having a porosity of about 80%, impregnating the resulting substrate with an aqueous solution of a nickel salt such as aqueous nickel nitrate solution and then dipping the substrate in an aqueous alkali solution, thereby to produce nickel hydroxide in the porous nickel sintered substrate. Since the porosity of the substrate in the positive electrodes cannot be increased to more than the above porosity, amount of the nickel hydroxide cannot be increased and there is the limit in increase of capacity.
The latter unsintered type positive electrodes are prepared by holding nickel hydroxide particles as an active material in a three-dimensionally continuing foamed porous substrate having a porosity of not less than 95% as disclosed in JP-A-50-36935, and, at present, they are widely used as positive electrodes of secondary batteries of high capacity. In these unsintered type positive electrodes, the porous substrate is filled with spherical nickel hydroxide from the point of attainment of high capacity.
Moreover, it is generally conducted to use a metal ion such as cobalt, cadmium, zinc or the like which is dissolved in the nickel hydroxide particles to partially form a solid solution for the improvement of discharge characteristics, receptivity for charging and life characteristics.
The pore size of the foamed porous substrate is about 200-500 xcexcm, and the pores are filled with spherical nickel hydroxide having a particle diameter of several xcexcm to several ten xcexcm. In nickel hydroxide in the vicinity of the nickel metal skeleton, collection of electricity is maintained and the charge and discharge reaction smoothly proceeds. However, the reaction of nickel hydroxide apart from the skeleton does not proceed sufficiently. Therefore, in order to improve utilization ratio of the nickel hydroxide, a conductive agent is used to perform satisfactory electrical connection of the nickel hydroxide particles which are apart from the skeleton.
Cobalt compounds such as cobalt hydroxide and cobalt monoxide, metallic cobalt, metallic nickel and the like are used as the conductive agent. Thus, it becomes possible to fill the active material at a high density in unsintered type positive electrodes and improve utilization ratio, and capacity can be increased as compared with the sintered type positive electrodes.
Furthermore, JP-A-8-148145 discloses a method for producing an active material of a positive electrode for high capacity nickel-hydrogen storage batteries which are excellent in overdischarge characteristics and meet the market demand for improvement of cycle characteristics, which comprises coating a cobalt compound on an active material nickel hydroxide and subjecting the cobalt compound to an alkali oxidation treatment to convert the compound to a higher order cobalt compound, and JP-A-9-73900 discloses an improvement of the above method.
According to these methods, the nickel hydroxide powder coated with the cobalt compound is sprayed with an aqueous alkali solution under fluidization or dispersion in the heated air. As a result, it has become possible to make alkaline storage batteries of high energy density which are improved in utilization ratio of active material and battery characteristics such as high rate discharge characteristics as compared with the conventional methods in which the cobalt compound is added as an external additive.
Moreover, in alkaline storage batteries, a phenomenon of reduction of charging efficiency occurs when temperature of the batteries is high. For solving this problem, the electrolyte used in nickel-hydrogen storage batteries is optimized or calcium compounds or rare earth oxides such as yttrium oxide and ytterbium oxide which improve high-temperature charging efficiency are added to positive electrode active materials. This is disclosed, for example, in JP-A-9-92279.
The above construction can provide high capacity and can improve charging efficiency at high temperatures, but there has still been a problem of reduction of discharge characteristics.
The main object of the present invention is to provide an alkaline storage battery improved in discharge characteristics with maintaining the discharging efficiency at high temperatures. These and other objects of the present invention will be readily apparent from the description of the invention.
For attaining the above object, the present invention provides an alkaline storage battery which uses a positive electrode comprising an active material containing nickel hydroxide particles and a rare earth element or a compound thereof containing a trace amount of Fe or a Fe compound.
According to the above construction, it becomes possible to provide an alkaline storage battery improved in discharge characteristics with maintaining the charging efficiency at high temperatures.

Alkaline storage battery and positive electrode used for the alkaline storage battery

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A portable music player apparatus that outputs visual content to a head-worn transmissive display, the visual content being modulated in time with playing musical content and overlaid upon the user's direct view of his or her physical surroundings. In this way, the user is provided with an enhanced visual view of his or her physical surroundings, the enhanced visual view including transmissive visual content that is generally synchronized in time with the playing music content. This provides the user with an improved music listening experience in which he or she feels present within a visually enhanced version of the physical world that has changing visual qualities that are perceptually synchronized in time with one or more features of the playing music. The displayed visual content may include time-varying translucency and/or color-tinting such that the user's direct view of the physical world changes in brightness and/or color tinting in a manner choreographed with the playing music.

A number of relevant art mechanisms have been developed for automatically generating visual display content in response to audio signals. Such mechanisms are operative to modulate the control of lights, computer graphics, and/or other visually perceivable content in response to the time varying form of an audio signal.
As examples, U.S. Pat. No. 5,191,319 to Kiltz, issued Mar. 2, 1993, U.S. Pat. No. 5,513,129 to Bolas et al., issued Apr. 30, 1996, U.S. Pat. No. 6,137,042 Kurtzberg et al., issued Oct. 24, 2000, U.S. Pat. No. 4,713,658 to Swinton, issued Dec. 15, 1987, U.S. Pat. No. 4,394,656 to Goettsche, issued Jul. 19, 1983, U.S. Pat. No. 4,376,404 to Haddad, issued Mar. 15, 1983, U.S. Pat. No. 4,790,629 to Rand, issued Dec. 13, 1988, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,898,759 to Terada et al., issued May 24, 2005, all of which are herein incorporated by reference, provide a variety of techniques for analyzing the time-varying content of an audio signal and in response controlling the output of a visual display.
For example, a musical signal may be electrically processed with respect to frequency, rhythm, tempo, and/or structural content, and a display of visual content may be electronically varied in response to the detected time varying characteristics of the music. Such mechanisms may provide an enhanced music listening experience for a user who looking upon a computer screen, or looking upon a bank of lights, or otherwise engaging a computer simulation.
However, the relevant art mechanisms do not enable a user to traverse the real world while wearing a portable music player and provide the user with a visual view of the real world which is visually modified with visual content that is time synchronized to the music. An additional limitation of the relevant art does not enable a music-listening user to walk down the street, or walk down the aisle in a store, or stroll on the beach in the real world, directly viewing the landscape, while having the physical world artificially enhanced with visual content that is time synchronized to the music being listened to.
Such features are highly desirable because they enable a user to walk anywhere in the real world using, for example, a portable music player to, listen to music while simultaneously visually experiencing time-synchronized images that visually change in apparent synchronicity with the music.
Unless otherwise indicated herein, the approaches described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.

Portable music player with synchronized transmissive visual overlays


Embodiments of the present invention are directed to a method for determining absorption costs for transfers between a plurality of cost groups. In one embodiment, a transferable item is identified. A plurality of cost group sets among which the transferable item is transferred is then defined. Then, a processing sequence of the plurality of cost group sets is determined. An iterative process for determining the cost of transfers between the plurality of cost groups is performed based upon the processing sequence.

The appropriate valuation and analysis of manufacturing costs have been for years a key factor in a successful business management. Manufacturing costs are commonly calculated on the basis of average cost, standard cost, periodic cost, last-in-first-out (LIFO) cost, or first-in-first-out (FIFO) cost. These costing methods are implemented on computer systems. Companies choose the costing method that is best suited for their business requirements, or that is required by law. It is not unusual to find companies using one method for fiscal or legal purposes and another for internal management analysis.
Transfers of goods (e.g., raw materials and/or manufactured sub-assemblies) across organizations are common in the business world. The cost of the goods being transferred, as well as freight and/or special charges involved in the transfer process, often impacts the average cost of the item. This is particularly true when inventory valuation is determined by the absorption costing method. In absorption costing, variable costs and some of the fixed costs are assigned to each item in the inventory.
Some scenarios for transferring materials can be defined very simply, thus simplifying the calculation of absorption costs. For example, FIG. 1A shows a simple transfer of an item between two cost groups. In FIG. 1A, cost group 1 (e.g., 101) ships an item to cost group 2 (e.g., 102). In the scenario of FIG. 1A, cost group 1 bills cost group 2 for the unit cost already known for the item being transferred. The price for this item to cost group 2 includes the price of the item charged by cost group 1, as well as any freight or other special charges associated with the transfer of the item.
Other scenarios are more complex depending on the volume of the organizations and the relationships between them, thus complicating the calculation of absorption costs. For example, inter-organization transfer of goods between cost groups (e.g., warehouses, manufacturing plants, etc.) makes absorption costing difficult. In scenarios where transfers of the same item occur back and forth between two facilities make the process of costing the transfer even more difficult, since the correct sequence for processing transfers is not always obvious. Additionally, if the two cost groups are located in, for example, warehouses in two different locations, different costing methods may complicate accurately costing the transfer of goods.
As shown in FIG. 1B, there are transfers from cost group 1 to cost group 2 as well as transfers from cost group 2 to cost group 1. Thus, cost group 1 bills cost group 2 for the unit cost already known for the item being transferred. The price for this item to cost group 2 includes the price of the item charged by cost group 1, as well as any freight or other special charges associated with the transfer of the item. The receiving cost for cost group 2, as many other cost owned transactions, is considered for the calculation of the average cost of cost group 2. In return, cost group 2 bills cost group 1 for the unit cost already known for the item being transferred. The price for this item to cost group 1 includes the price of the item charged by cost group 2, as well as any freight or other special charges associated with the transfer of the item. Thus, the cost of receiving the item should be considered when calculating the average cost of the item for cost group 1.
In more complex scenarios, as shown in FIG. 1C, the proper sequence for processing the transfer of items is not readily apparent. In FIG. 1C, the costing of transferring the item is complicated by the multiple transfers as described above with reference to FIG. 1B, as well as the plurality of cost groups (e.g., cost groups 101 through 106) between which the item is transferred. For example, with reference to FIG. 1C, it may be difficult to determine which cost group should be first in the costing sequence and which should be last. Additionally, determining that the cost of the transfers between the cost groups is accurate is difficult. Finally, if the sequencing of the cost groups when determining absorption costs is not correct, one cost group may actually show a negative inventory.

Method and system for determining absorption costs for transfers between a plurality of cost groups


An annular blade retention plate for axially retaining rotor blades within slots of a rotor disk. The plate includes an annular plate web extending radially outwardly from a radially inner plate hub to a plate rim and an annular radially outwardly open outer channel in a radially outwardly facing outer surface of the rim. A sealing ring is received within the outer channel and the sealing ring has axial rectangularly shaped cross-sections. An annular axially forwardly open inner channel in an annular ridge on a forward plate face of the plate web has an annular seal wire received therein. In a rotor assembly having a rotor disk supporting a plurality of circumferentially spaced apart rotor blades mounted in corresponding axially extending slots and the plate mounted to the rotor disk the sealing ring is in sealing engagement with radially inwardly facing surfaces of blade platforms of the blades.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to gas turbine engine turbine disk assemblies and, more particularly, to blade retainers or side plates used to axially retain blades mounted in slots in the disk and their seals to reduce cooling air from leaking into the hot turbine flowpath gas stream.
2. Description of Related Art
Gas turbine engines have a compressor and turbine which each include one or more annular rows of axially spaced fixed stator vanes which are positioned between rows of rotatable rotor blades. Each turbine blade has an airfoil portion, a platform portion and a root or dovetail portion which is mounted into a corresponding, axial slot formed in the rim of a turbine disk. The connection between the dovetail or root of the rotor blade and the axial slot in the disk rim prevents radial and tangential movement of each rotor blade relative to the disk.
Blade retainers, also referred to as side plates, are used to axially secure the turbine blades in the corresponding slots of the disk rim. The blade retainer also seals cooling air directed radially through disk and into the slots and through the blade shanks for cooling the turbine blades. Typically, the cooling air is compressor discharge pressure (CDP) air which has been routed around the combustor in order to internally cool high pressure turbine blades and vanes. The purpose of CDP air is to provide film cooling for airfoil surfaces directly in the path of these hot flowpath gases with maximum efficiency and minimum wastage of the cooling air potential since the turbine hardware is unable to withstand the hot gas temperature exiting the combustor without such protection. Lack of or improperly designed seals increase the cooling air requirements and allows the cooling air to enter the flowpath of the combustor gases.
Axial sealing between the blade retainer and the disk rim and blade roots to prevent blade cooling air from escaping the disk assembly is well known. Axial sealing, with or without wire annular seals for close clearances between the blade retainer, the blades and the disk rim have been found to allow cooling air losses because the sealing wire has imperfect contact with the blade and blade retainer. Other types of blade retainers such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,890,981 issued to Corsmeier, et al., allowed the radial outer portion of the retainer to rest against the shank of the blade at an axial position without benefit of an additional sealing means at this point. Contact between the two materials existed during engine assembly; however, a small gap would form during engine operation due to different thermal gradients which would allow shank blade cooling air to escape into the aft blade cavity.


Disclosed is a playback device capable of audio playback with little or no interruption. Yet, there is no need of increasing the memory capacity of the playback device and sacrificing the usability of the playback device. The playback device stores, to its internal memory, identification information of audio data stored on a recording medium such as an optical disc, and specifying information specifying the storage location of the identification information. The playback device sequentially stores the audio data to a remaining area of the memory. The audio data stored in the memory is supplied for playback.

With the recent advancement of compression techniques of audio data such as music data, removable media including optical discs (hereinafter, simply "recording media") can now store audio data corresponding to a lot of songs. Examples of the audio data compression techniques include MP3 (MPEG-1 Audiolayer-III) and WMA (Windows Media Audio). With the increase in the number of songs a recording medium can hold, some functions are becoming increasingly common. One example is a function of displaying information about the songs stored on the recording medium.
More specifically, with such a function, a list of the titles of songs stored on the recording medium is displayed, so that a user is allowed to select a song from the list for playback.
At the time when a recording medium is loaded in a playback device, the playback device reads and stores necessary data from a recording medium to its internal memory in advance, in order to display a list of songs stored on the recording medium or to play back of a song immediately upon a user request (For details, see the "Comparative Study with Conventional Playback Technology" section provided below). Also, there is disclosed a technique of checking such a playback device for memory corruption (JP patent application publication No. 2003-15963).
In addition, with the prevalence of portable devices capable of storing and playing audio data such as music, it is common to load a recording medium storing numerous songs in a portable device and plays back music, while carrying the device around.
During playback of music with a playback device being carried around, the playback device may momentary fail to read audio data from a recording medium because of shock or vibration given to the playback device. In view of such possibilities, audio data is read ahead into a memory of the playback device and the audio data is supplied from the memory for playback. This arrangement helps to play back audio data without skip or interruption (For details, see the "Comparative Study with Conventional Playback Technology" section provided below).
However, with increase in the amount of audio data such as music stored on a recording medium, the memory of the playback device is required to store a larger amount of data in order to display a list of stored music. Since the capacity of the memory is limited, a less area is allocated for storing read-ahead music data. This increases the possibility that audio playback gets interrupted.
Yet, by allocating a larger memory area to store audio data for the purpose of ensuring seamless audio playback, the playback device display may fail to display a list of songs or take relatively a long time before playback of a requested song starts. Such a playback device is poor in usability and practicability.
Yet, increasing the memory capacity will lead to increase the cost of playback device.


A wellbore tool includes a body having a longitudinal axis and an outer circumferential surface. The wellbore tool includes moveable arms, housings, actuators, a temperature sensor, a pressure sensor, and a heat source, such as a microwave source. Each moveable arm is coupled to a respective actuator and a respective housing. Each actuator is configured to move the respective moveable arm. The temperature sensor is configured to measure a temperature of the subterranean formation. The pressure sensor is configured to measure a pressure of the subterranean formation. The microwave source is configured to generate microwave radiation. Methods of analyzing acquired transient temperature and transient pressure data for formation evaluation are also described.

Commercial-scale hydrocarbon production from conventional reservoirs and source rocks requires significant capital. It is therefore beneficial to obtain as much accurate data as possible about a formation in order to assess its commercial viability and subsequently, to optimize cost and design of development. Data can be collected before production, such as during drilling and logging applications, and during production. Hydrocarbon assessment can be used to predict production, estimate reserves, and evaluate quality of conventional reservoirs and source rocks. Reservoir characterization and monitoring can aid in preventive action, so that potential or impending problems can be mitigated or prevented proactively in contrast to dealing with problems reactively, after process disruptions have already occurred. Exploration and reservoir management are a few of the many areas that can benefit from comprehensive formation evaluation and reservoir performance monitoring.

Formation evaluation with targeted heating


An extendable sunshade for attachment to a garage door comprising a plurality of canopy units and a support frame mounted to the inside face of the garage door for supporting the canopy units. A pair of support rails are disposed on the support frame for slidably engaging with a first canopy unit. Each of the canopy units includes a rectangular body structure having large openings, about which coverings are securely attached and telescopic legs pivotally connected to the corners of the body structure for maintaining the canopy unit in the extended position. Each of the canopy units further includes two external sides on which a plurality of rollers are disposed about for slidably engaging with support rails and two internal sides provided with support rails for slidably engaging with the rollers of an inner canopy unit. The canopy units can be slidably extended from the support frame while the garage door is opened to provide shade over the driveway.

This invention relates to an extendable sunshade for driveways. More particularly, the invention relates to an extendable sunshade which is adapted to be mounted to the inside face of a garage door and can be extended, while the garage door is opened, to provide shade over the driveway.
Repairing and servicing an automobile in the driveway may require a person to spend a long period of time exposed to direct sunlight. In hot and sunny weather, over-exposure to the sunshine can cause major discomfort and eventually discourage one from performing these necessary tasks. Moreover, the driveway pavement tends to collect heat when exposed to direct hot summer sunshine for a long period and may cause the overall temperature of the driveway to rise to an unpleasant and unbearable level. Thus, it is desirable to have a sunshade that is adapted to provide a shaded covering over the driveway so as to allow people to conveniently work on their vehicles and the like in the cool shade, sheltered from the unpleasant hot summer sun.
Various references uncovered in the prior art provide an extendible and retractable shelter for protecting motor vehicles against the weather. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,150,682 to Ryce discloses an extendible and retractable portable shelter that is adapted to be opened and extended over an automobile. U.S. Pat. No. 4,844,109 to Navaro discloses another extendible and retractable shelter for automobiles. Likewise, U.S. Pat. No. 5,331,777 to Chi-Yuan discloses a frame assembly for a collapsible folding vehicle barn. However, most of these prior art motor vehicle shelters are designed to protect an automobile from the elements without requiring additional parking area and consequently, do not provide a sufficient amount of space required for repairing and servicing an automobile.
While these units mentioned above may be suitable for the particular purpose employed, or for general use, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention as disclosed hereafter.


A shingle removing apparatus 10 including an elongated handle member 20 connected on one end 21 to source of compressed gas 100 and provided with a trigger mechanism 22, wherein the other end 23 of the handle member 20 is provided with a framework element 24 which is further provided with a roller 30 and operatively associated with a lifter unit 13 and wherein the operation of the lifter unit 13 is governed both by the trigger mechanism 22 and a trip switch 50 operatively associated with the framework element 24.

Description of Related Art
As can be seen by reference to the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,663,995; 4,763,547; 4,858,503; and 5,001,946, the prior art is replete with myriad and diverse shingle removing devices.
While all of the aforementioned prior art constructions are more than adequate for the basic purpose and function for which they have been specifically designed, they are uniformly deficient with respect to their failure to provide a simple, efficient, and fail safe trigger safety arrangement that will insure that the shingle lifting blade is not activated until such time that the blade is positioned at the desired location to effect the removal of the shingles.
As any roofer is all too well aware, while mechanical shingle removing devices substantially reduce the amount of physical exertion that is required to strip shingles from a roof, they are also cumbersome to maneuver on a roof surface and do not have any built in safety devices to insure that the lifting blade will only be actuated at the precise moment that the blade is positioned to produce positive results.
As a consequence of the foregoing situation, there has existed a longstanding need for a new and improved shingle removing apparatus that has a trip switch coupled to the conventional compressed air trigger mechanism to prevent the inadvertent actuation of the shingle lifting blade, and the provision of such a construction is a stated objective of the present invention.