A vehicle having a rim and a wheel disk center or convex wheel disk which is connected thereto and is secured by a hub or brake drum with a plurality of connection bosses for the wheel bolt holes arranged along the circumference of the bolt pitch circle. The connection bosses have a spherical or conical countersink, and the region surrounding the countersink is cambered outward. The wheel disk center or convex wheel disk has contact surfaces for the hub or brake drum which are distributed along the circumference. The region of the connection boss which surrounds the countersink, is significantly thicker in all cross-sectional planes than the more remote region which forms the wheel disk center or convex wheel disk. The region surrounding the countersink forms an integral unit with the more remote region. The region directly adjoining the countersink has the greatest thickness which continuously decreases radially outward as viewed from the axis of the countersink, and then merges in a rounded or tangential manner into the region which has a virtually constant thickness which corresponds substantially to the initial thickness of the round blank for the integral forming of the wheel disk center or convex wheel disk.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention is directed to a vehicle wheel.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
When a vehicle wheel, comprising a rim and a wheel disk center and convex wheel disk which are connected therewith, is mounted on a vehicle, the wheel disk center or convex wheel disk is connected in a frictional engagement with the hub or brake drum by wheel bolts. The wheel bolts are tightened by a torque wrench in order to generate a defined, sufficiently large longitudinal force along the bolt. The magnitude of the required bolt longitudinal force is determined, among others factors, by the quantity of bolts, the friction diameter of the contact surfaces, the friction coefficients between the connection elements, and the driving torque or braking torque to be transmitted. An added safety factor is imposed on the required bolt longitudinal force which takes into account the forces acting on the bolt when the wheels are rolling.
The connection boss and countersink of the wheel are clamped with the hub or brake drum via the longitudinal force of the bolt. The countersink has the function of opposing an elastic resilience to the bolt longitudinal force to the extent of elevated values such as occur as a result of misuse, e.g., oiled bolts or excessive tightening torques, since a plastic flow would lead to a decrease in the bolt longitudinal force and accordingly ultimately to a loosening of the wheel bolts.
Known constructions of connection bosses derive their spring rigidity in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the bolt from a bending of the material arranged annularly around the countersink. Constructional stiffening is known for the purpose of increasing spring rigidity over that of normal plate thickness. One possibility consists in an inward reverse drawing or camber of the region of the connection boss located inside radially. Moreover, this shape has the advantage of an outward enlargement of the contact surface relative to the wheel bolts compared with a simple camber. For example, reference is had to the wheel catalog of Mannesmann Kronprinz AG, 1990/1991 Issue, bottom of page 28. A disadvantage in prior constructions of the connection boss is the clear dependency of the stiffness of the connection boss on the plate thickness and on the material strength of the starting material.
A wheel comprising a profiled rim and a convex wheel disk connected therewith in the drop base region by means of welding is known from U.S. Pat. No. 3,664,708. To prevent cracking in the connection boss as the result of excessive tightening of the wheel bolts, it is suggested to arrange a flange-like bushing in the connection boss. The region of the bushing constructed in the manner of a flange lies on the side facing the hub or brake drum and must be inserted through the connection boss before the wheel is mounted. After placement on the wheel, a cone of the front region of the bushing is formed by of tightening the wheel nut. This cone comes to rest on the edge region of the connection boss, but only when the end face of the flange-like region of the bushing rests on the hub or brake drum. A disadvantage in this design is that special bushings must be produced which can easily fall out of the connection boss during the mounting of the wheel until the cone fixing the bushing is formed. Further, this arrangement is suitable only for wheels with stud pins arranged at the hub or brake drum, since the bushings can fall out easily during mounting in the otherwise conventional wheel bolt fastening. Another disadvantage consists in that the bushing always fits only one type of wheel, so that for a hundred different wheel types, a hundred different bushings will have to be produced and stocked. Further, confusion can lead to the wrong bushing being used. Another disadvantage is that at least two setting gaps remain as a result of the two-part arrangement. This is very prejudicial to the stability of the bolt longitudinal force. Moreover, the bending spring is already highly loaded in the course of mounting, since the cone of the bushing is formed by means of the wheel nut.
French reference FR-A-25 39 079 discloses a special wheel hub construction. The sole figure shows a section of the vehicle wheel, including a region of the convex wheel disk. The convex wheel disk is provided with a plurality of connection bosses for the wheel bolt holes arranged along the circumference of the bolt pitch circle. The connection boss has a conical countersink, and the region surrounding the countersink is cambered outward. The region of the connection boss surrounding the countersink is significantly thicker and all cross-sectional planes than the more remote region of the convex wheel disk. The region directly adjoining the countersink has the greatest thickness which then decreases in a continuous manner radially outward as viewed from the axis of the countersink and then merges in a rounded manner into the adjoining region. This adjoining region has a virtually constant thickness which corresponds substantially to the initial thickness of the round blank for the integral forming of the convex wheel disk.

Vehicle wheel having a large contact surface area


A compound is represented by the following Chemical Formula 1, wherein in Chemical Formula 1, each substituent is the same as defined in the detailed description:

A color filter manufactured by using a pigment-type photosensitive resin composition has a limit in terms of luminance and a contrast ratio caused by a pigment particle size. In addition, an imaging sensor device requires a smaller dispersion particle size to form a fine pattern. In order to satisfy the requirement, there have been attempts to manufacture a color filter having improved color characteristics such as luminance, a contrast ratio and the like using a dye forming no particle instead of a pigment in the photosensitive resin composition.
Accordingly, there is a need for an appropriate compound as the dye used to manufacture the photosensitive resin composition.

Compound, novel mixture, photosensitive resin composition, and color filter


A near-to-eye display device, includes: a display screen configured to display different images in a first time division mode, a polarization converter at a light-emitting side of the display screen and configured to convert emitted light of the different images displayed by the display screen into first circularly polarized light rays and second circularly polarized light rays in a second time division mode. Here the first circularly polarized light rays and the second circularly polarized light rays are opposite in rotation direction. The device further includes a polarization lens at a side facing away from the display screen of the polarization converter, and a focusing lens at a side facing away from the display screen of the polarization converter. The polarization lens and the focusing lens are configured to focus the first circularly polarized light rays and the second circularly polarized light rays at positions of different focal lengths.

With the development of Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) technologies, near-to-eye display products, initially applied to the military field, are gradually widely used in civil fields such as film and television, education, and medical treatment. Since a source image of the near-to-eye display products is very small, it needs to be set close to human eyes so that images can be clearly formed within the observable range of the human eye. This makes design of near-to-eye display devices very difficult.
In order to meet the above design requirements, a current near-to-eye display device generally has a relatively large number of limiting members, and is large in size and weight. Thus, such device is always cumbersome to lead uncomfortable wearing experience for the users. In addition, the focal length of such display device is fixed. When the human eyes observe a display picture, both close-range images and long-range images are located at the same image plane, which is inconsistent with the situation of the human eye viewing an actual scene, which is prone to causing visual fatigue.

Beijing BOE OptoelectronicsTechnology Co., Ltd.


Adhesive tape having at least two layers A and B laminated directly on one another, with at least one or both layers A or B being an adhesive, and the interfaces of the layers A and B laminated on one another being subjected to a physical method, the physical method being selected from the group consisting of corona discharge, dielectric barrier discharge, flame pretreatment and plasma treatment, before the layers are laminated to one another, with the two methods differing from one another.

In the sector of industrial manufacture, the demand exists for simple pretreatment techniques in order to improve the adhesive bonding properties of the adherend.                Costly and inconvenient processes such as wet-chemical cleaning and priming of the adherend surface are typically used in order to obtain high-strength bonds with a self-adhesive tape.        More particularly the simple physical pretreatment techniques under atmospheric pressure (corona, plasma, flame) are nowadays used with advantage for the surface treatment of the adherend, for the purpose of achieving a higher anchoring force with a self-adhesive tape.
Where two or more than two layers are to be laminated to one another, one or both interfaces are typically pretreated physically prior to the lamination.
It is known that treatment by corona and plasma has limited durability in respect of the activation of the boundary layer, and so treatment takes place at a time near to or predominantly directly before the laminating operation.
Plasma and corona pretreatments are described or referred to for example in DE 2005 027 391 A1 and DE 103 47 025 A1.
In DE 10 2007 063 021 A1 it is claimed that the prior plasma/corona pretreatment is beneficial for the holding power and the flow-on behavior of the adhesive bond. There was no recognition that the process may produce an increase in the bond strength.
DE 10 2006 057 800 A1 claims a multi-ply adhesive tape comprising at least with two pressure-sensitive adhesives A and B which lie directly on one another and which are each pretreated chemically and/or physically prior to lamination. The improved integral adhesion of the layers of pressure-sensitive adhesive that is achieved by this means is obtained by both-sided equal-sided nature of the pretreatment.
In relation to corona treatments under process gas atmosphere, DE 44 38 533 A1 describes a process for corona treatment that includes process gas such as, for example, carbon dioxide or carbon monoxide and also other gases, which are referred to therein as inert gases, such as nitrogen or argon, for example.
Further known prior art is published via DE 10 2007 011 235 A1 to Plasmatreat GmbH, Steinhagen, which describes an improved pretreatment, more particularly cleaning of a surface of a workpiece. For example, adhesive bonding to another workpiece may be considerably improved.
In EP 0 740 681 B1, moreover, the treatment is disclosed at the surface of a polymer or polymer matrix composite material by means of plasma/corona and a coupling agent, and the application of an adhesive or a self-adhesive tape.
Plasma treatment, in particular with a suitable process gas, of heat-activatable tackifying resin layers and hotmelt layers are also known for a high strength of bonding to a pressure-sensitive adhesive layer.
Examples of the latter are found in EP 1 262 532 B1, which is directed to a dual-functional adhesive tape, comprising a heat-activatable tackifying resin layer based on polyolefin and a pressure-sensitive adhesive layer based on acrylate, the polyolefin layer being N2 corona treated, in order in this way to achieve effective anchoring to the pressure-sensitive adhesive layer.
A feature of the prior art is that the pretreatments relate predominantly to the carrier material or to the adherend, in order to build up a higher anchoring force to the adhesive or self-adhesive tape.
It is an object of the invention to find further positive effects in the case of physical surface modification of pressure-sensitive adhesives and carrier materials, in order to achieve high-strength bonds. The nub of the object is the achievement of a high anchoring between the pressure-sensitively adhesive layer and carrier material; as a secondary aspect, the aim is also to fulfill the object when a relatively long time period lies between the physical treatment and lamination.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Adhesive tape, preferably self-adhesive tape, comprising of at least two layers A and B laminated directly on one another, with at least one or both layers A or B being an adhesive


A method and system for playing a poker matrix game is described. The game is configured for playing via a casino-type gaming machine in which a player selects at least one betting line, such as, for example horizontal, vertical, and/or diagonal betting lines, to place a wager on. The player activates the spinners causing a random matrix of cards to be displayed. The random cards are evaluated for determining if the at least one selected betting line includes a winning poker hand.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates generally to games. In particular, the present disclosure relates to a method and system for playing a poker matrix game.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The gaming industry has come to recognize that to sustain long term success it must be constantly innovative in introducing new games and new gambling concepts to the gaming public. One example of this innovating drive can be appreciated with the embrace of the Internet and online gambling by the gaming industry. Presently, most games found in casinos, both brick-and-mortar and online, have centered on the traditional games associated with the gaming industry, i.e. Poker, Black Jack, etc.
The game of poker has for many years been a popular game to play for recreation and for gambling. The new market for the gaming industry in general is the group of individuals who find the traditional game of poker to be complex and exciting. In the drive to attract greater numbers of players, casinos strive to include games that are familiar, simple to understand, engaging, and entertaining.

Method and system for playing a poker matrix game


Methods and apparatus for reducing or eliminating rotational skew between images formed on opposing sides of a media sheet during duplex printing. An image forming device is configured to print out a test page having a skewing scale formed thereon. A rotational skew correction factor can be determined from the skewing scale and provided to the image forming device, which is configured to alter placement of images on a media sheet in response to the rotational skew correction factor to compensate for rotational skew.

The present invention relates generally to image forming devices capable of forming text, graphics and/or other symbols on both sides of a media sheet. Specifically, the present invention relates to a method for adjusting the rotational skewing of text, graphics and/or other symbols to be formed on opposing sides of a media sheet relative to one another, as well as relative to the edges of the media sheet.
Image forming devices, such as laser printers, inkjet printers, copiers, facsimile devices, and the like, adapted for forming text, graphics and/or other symbolsxe2x80x94which will be referred to herein collectively as simply xe2x80x9cimagesxe2x80x9dxe2x80x94on a media sheet are well known in the art. These image forming devices typically apply ink or toner to the media sheetxe2x80x94for example, a pre-cut paper sheetxe2x80x94in a specified pattern to form the images thereon. Such devices may also be adapted to form images on both of the opposing sides of a media sheet, the process of forming images on opposing sides of a media sheet commonly being referred to as duplex printing. The advantages of duplex printing include reducing the quantity of paper required for a print set as compared to one-sided (simplex) printing, and generating print sets with layouts resembling that of professionally printed books.
Conventional image forming devices adapted for duplex printing, such as duplex printers, typically include a source device, such as a paper tray, and a feed mechanism or pick roller to draw an individual media sheet from the source device and to feed the media sheet to a print engine. The print engine is configured to receive the media sheet and to form images on one side thereof To form images on the media sheet, the print engine includes a printing apparatus, wherein the printing apparatus may be of the ink jet type or the electrophotographic type (i.e., a laser printer), or any other suitable printing apparatus known in the art. Subsequently, the media sheetxe2x80x94having images formed on one side thereofxe2x80x94is transferred to a path selection gate. If simplex printing is desired, the path selection gate directs the media sheet to an output device, such as an output tray, where the media sheet is retained for pick-up by an operator. If duplex printing is desired, the path selection gate routes the media sheet to a duplexer. The duplexer is an apparatus configured to enable printing of a second, opposing side of the media sheet by the print engine.
In one type of duplexer known in the art, the path selection gate directs the media sheet to a secondary tray where the media sheet is temporarily held. Once all of the media sheets in a print set have received the appropriate images on a first side thereof, respectively, the media sheets are drawn out of the secondary tray and are fed back to the print engine for application of images to a second, opposing side thereof, respectively. In an alternative approach, the duplexer comprises a duplexing paper path configured to directly reverse and return a media sheet (having images applied to one side thereof) to the print engine for application of images to a second side thereof. Operation of the pick roller, print engine, path selection gate, and duplexer is typically controlled by a controller. The controller typically includes firmware, which stores data and routines that enable operation of the image forming device. Also, an image forming device usually includes a control panel for inputting data and/or commands into the controller.
As a media sheet travels through an image forming device, it may become misaligned relative to the print engine, resulting in application of images to the media sheet that are skewed relative to the media sheet, as well as resulting in images on one side of a media sheet that are skewed relative to images on a second, opposing side of the media sheet. Generally, there are two types of skewing, including translational skew and rotational skew. Translational skew occurs when images are offset horizontally and/or vertically from a desired location on a media sheet, and/or when images on one side of a media sheet are horizontally and/or vertically offset from images on a second, opposing side thereof. Rotational skew occurs when images are rotationally offset through an angle from a desired rotational orientation on a media sheet, and/or when images on one side of a media sheet are rotationally offset through an angle relative to the rotational orientation of images on a second, opposing side thereof.
Skew, whether translational or rotational, can result from any one of a number of circumstances, or a combination thereof For example, a media sheet may be misaligned in the source device and this misalignment may not be corrected as the media sheet is drawn out of the source device. Misalignment in the source device may result from wear and tear of the source device and/or from a source device or component thereof that fails to meet design tolerance specifications. Misalignment may also be imparted to a media sheet as it travels from the source tray to the print engine and/or as it travels through a duplexer and back to the print engine. Typically, an image forming device includes a plurality of rollers and guides, as well as one or more actuators, configured to move media sheets through the image forming device and between the pick roller, print engine, path selection gate, and duplexer. Due to extended use, these mechanical parts may become worn or damaged and fail to operate effectively. Also, a roller, guide, actuator, or other mechanical part, may not function properly due to manufacturing defects and/or a failure to meet design tolerance specifications.
The condition of a media sheet itself may affect the manner in which an image forming device is able to manipulate that media sheet. For example, variation in media sheet dimensions may result in skewing, especially in duplex printing wherein both opposing edges of a media sheet may be used for alignment or registration. Variation in media sheet dimensions may be the inherent result of manufacturing processes or such variation may be introduced by a printing process. For instance, electrophotographic printing generally involves passing a media sheet through a heated fuser in order to create a permanent image. Passing the media sheet through a heated fuser may reduce the moisture content of the media sheet and thereby alter one or more of the dimensions of the media sheet during printing. Moreover, the moisture content of a media sheet before printing may affect manipulation of the media sheet by an image forming device. For example, a very high moisture content (i.e., as may be found in a humid climate) or a very low moisture content (i.e., as may be found in a dry climate) of a media sheet may impact the ability of that media sheet to be manipulated by an image forming device, thereby resulting in skew.
It is known in the art to perform duplex registration to compensate for translational skew. Duplex registration generally comprises adjusting the horizontal and/or vertical positions of images on one or both sides of a media sheet to align these images relative to one another in the horizontal and vertical directions. One method for performing duplex registration of an image forming devicexe2x80x94such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,118,950 to Wibbels et al.xe2x80x94includes printing a test page having, on one side, a first set of horizontal and vertical demarcation elements (i.e., a first portion of a vernier scale) and, on an opposing side, a second set of horizontal and vertical demarcation elements (i.e., a second portion of a vernier scale). The test page can be held up to a light, enabling an operator to compare the second set of demarcation elements against the first set of demarcation elements and, thus, providing the operator with a means for determining horizontal and vertical correction values for images on one or both sides of a media sheet. These horizontal and vertical correction values are then input via a control panel to the image forming device""s controller, which then directs the print engine to reposition the images on one or both sides of the media sheet in accordance with the respective correction values, such that the images on the opposing sides of a media sheet line up with one another, as well as with the edges of the media sheet, in the horizontal and vertical directions. However, the above-described duplex registration procedure ignores rotational skewing problems.
As printers are being designed to operate at ever-increasing speeds and greater duty cycles, problems such as misalignment and skew resulting from extended use and wear become even more significant. Thus, especially for duplex printing, the failure to compensate for rotational skewing may result in poor quality duplex images. Further, even though an image forming device may be outputting duplex images that meet performance specifications, it may still be desirable to compensate for rotational skewing, as well as for translational skewing, in order to meet user demands in certain high performance markets, such as book printing. Accordingly, a need exists in the art for methods and apparatus for compensating for rotational skew in duplex printing operations.
The present invention encompasses methods and apparatus for reducing or eliminating rotational skew between images formed on opposing sides of a media sheet. Image forming devices capable of duplex printingxe2x80x94i.e., capable of applying text, graphics, and/or other symbols on both of the opposing sides of a media sheetxe2x80x94are well known in the art. Such imaging devices typically comprise a print engine adapted to form images on a media sheet received from a source device, which may include one or more source trays or any other suitable media source. Conventional image forming devices further include a path selection gate configured, for simplex printing, to direct a media sheet having images on one side thereof to an output device and, for duplex printing, to direct a media sheet to a duplexer configured to enable printing of a second, opposing side of the media sheet by the print engine. Due to extended use and wear of the various mechanical and electromechanical components comprising such an image forming device, as well as a failure to adhere to design tolerances and the presence of manufacturing defects in these components, misalignment often occurs between a media sheet moving through an image forming device and the print engine, resulting in rotational skew between images formed on opposing sides of the media sheet.
Rotational skew, as noted above, is reduced or eliminated using a duplex test page having a skewing scale according to the invention. The skewing scale comprises a first portion formed on one side of the duplex test page and a second portion formed on a second, opposing side of the duplex test page. The first portion includes mutually orthogonal coordinate axes intersecting at an origin and a skew axis intersecting one of the coordinate axes and oriented perpendicular thereto. The skew axis includes a plurality of tick marks spaced along its length, each tick mark corresponding to a rotational skew correction factor, which may be printed next to its corresponding tick mark. The second portion of the skewing scale comprises a substantially straight line, or skew line, that intersects the origin of the first portion. This skew line is hypothetically parallel to one of the coordinate axes of the first portion (and perpendicular to the other of the coordinate axes).
The first portion of the skewing scale in cooperation with the second portion of the skewing scale provide a tool for compensating for rotational skew. If misalignment exists between the duplex test page and the print engine of an image forming device, the skew line will be rotationally skewed relative to the first portion of the skewing scale formed on the first side of the duplex test page. To compensate for this rotational skew, the first portion of the skewing scale is compared against the second portion, and a rotational skew correction factor is determined from this comparison. In particular, the skew line of the second portion is compared to the coordinate axes and skew axis of the first portion, and the tick mark most closely spaced to the point of intersection between the skew line and the skew axis corresponds to the required rotational skew correction factor, which may be directly read from the duplex test page. Comparison between the first and second portions of the skewing scale may be facilitated by holding the duplex test page up to a light source.
The rotational skew correction factor can then be provided to the image forming device, and a controller of the image forming device directs the print engine to alter placement of images on the first and/or second side of the media sheet based upon the rotational skew correction factor, thereby rotationally aligning images on opposing sides of a media sheet relative to one another. Altering placement of images on one or both sides of a media sheet may be achieved using coordinate transformation matrices. Rotational skew correction factors may also be provided to the image forming device to orient images formed on the opposing sides of a media sheet relative to the edges of the media sheet itself. In an alternative embodiment, a unique rotational skew correction factor is selected according to the invention for each source tray of an image forming device having two or more source trays.
The selection of a set of rotational skew correction factors is arbitrary, and the only requirement is that the image forming device be capable of interpreting a rotational skew correction factor and performing the necessary adjustments. Also, although the tick marks on the skew axis may be equidistantly spaced, in an alternative embodiment the distances between adjacent tick marks are not all the same. Further, the distance between two adjacent tick marks does not necessarily have to correspond to a physical parameter, such as a measured angle. In another alternative embodiment, however, the distances between adjacent tick marks correspond to a standard unit angle as measured about the origin of the coordinate axes.
Another embodiment of the invention comprises an image forming device, such as an ink jet printer, laser printer, photo copier, or facsimile, configured to generate and print a duplex test page, as described above. The image forming device is further configured to receive a rotational skew correction factor and to perform the appropriate corrective action in response to the rotational skew correction factor. The data, routines, and/or executable instructions enabling the printing of a duplex test page and enabling the image forming device to receive and respond to a rotational skew correction factor may be included in the firmware of a controller. Also, an image forming device may be configured to receive and store a unique rotational skew correction factor for each source tray of an image forming device having a source device including multiple source trays.

Methods and apparatus for correcting rotational skew in duplex images


A multi-station female blade receptacle stamping has female blade receptacles. Each receptacle is three sided, having a longitudinal opening. There is a flat side and curved side. The metal is resilient so that the curved side releases from the plastic when molded into a multi-outlet receptacle. In the multi-outlet receptacle, each female blade receptacle is supported against unwanted flexure and biased against a received blade, providing full surface contact on one side of the receptacle. The sides of the female blade receptacle do not fatigue in use. The multi-station female blade receptacle is economical of metal and adapted for automated crimping. The structure of the receptacle enables one size receptacle to serve blades of various widths and thicknesses. Molding multi-station female blade receptacle stampings into a multi-outlet receptacle saves crimping of multiple parts and can be effected in prior art molds. With a multi-station female ground pin receptacle stamping in the molded multi-outlet receptacle plugs with ground pins can be accepted by the outlets.

The present invention is a new multi-station female blade receptacle stamping electrical conductor, particularly useful in multiple outlet receptacles for the plugging in of electricity for machinery in a factory and for a wall outlet for the plugging in of power tools generally having heavy duty electrical cable. Such multiple outlet receptacles generally have a flat array of polarized outlets for the male plugs in a single head. The connector plugs usually have a round or "U" shaped ground pin and blades. Each outlet usually has an opening to accept a round or "U" shaped ground pin and polarized openings for the blades. There are usually three outlets on each receptacle.
The multi-station female blade receptacle stampings are preferably progressively stamped on a stamping strip. The multi-station female blade receptacle stamping can be machine crimped to conductor wires.
Prior art multiple outlet flat receptacles with three sets of outlets generally included nine female contacts and nine wire connections, three each, to each outlet.
Assembly of outlet receptacles required the connecting of nine wires to the nine female contacts, as well as the complexity of maintaining all parts together with load bars, during the molding process. The molding of the multi-station female blade receptacle stampings of the present invention can be done without changing prior art molds and load bars.
The manufacture of the prior art outlet receptacles also required substantial labor, to get, usually, nine wires and pieces together for the molding of an outlet receptacle, even if the wires were automatically machine crimped to the contacts.
Each station of the present invention has a stamped metal female blade receptacle having three sides and a longitudinal opening. There is a flat side and curved side. The metal is resilient so that the curved side releases from the plastic when molded into an outlet. In an outlet, each female blade receptacle is supported against unwanted flexure and biased against a received blade providing, full surface contact on one side of a female blade receptacle. The sides of each female blade receptacles do not fatigue in use. The multi-station stamping is economical of metal and adapted for automated crimping. The structure of the blade receptacle enables one size female blade receptacle to serve blades of various widths and thicknesses.
The multi-station female blade receptacle stamping may be used in automated procedures in conjunction with premolds, cores or spacers. Premolds, cores or spacers better enable machine crimping and enable easier and better positioning of the female blade receptacle stampings for final molding.
Multi-station female blade receptacle stampings can be provided, integral on a stamping strip for automated procedures.

Multi-station female blade receptacle stamping and multi-outlet receptacle


A method for treating and maintaining floors cleans the floor and restores an optimum coefficient of friction. The method involves a restoring phase and a cleaning phase, in which the cleaning phase is performed using the same solution as in the restoring phase, but in a diluted form. The method is applicable to cleaning solid hard floors such as those made of unglazed quarry tiles, glazed ceramic tiles and cement.

Hard floor surfaces in commercial and institutional establishments including restaurants, commercial kitchens, hospitals, laboratories and retail stores often become relatively slippery after use and repeated cleanings, leading to slip and fall injuries. Both employees and customers can be injured in slips and falls resulting in significant expense for medical attention, Workers' Compensation costs, lost time and liability-associated costs, such as insurance premiums, compensatory awards and/or settlement costs. In the food industry, slip and fall injuries to employees can also include indirect injuries such as when the employee touches a hot surface while attempting to arrest a fall and is burned.
Hard floor surfaces, when clean and new, have an inherent coefficient of friction (COF) characteristic of the surface material. The COF is generally defined as the amount of force parallel to a surface that is required to move or make slip a force or weight that is normal to the surface, divided by the weight. Rougher surfaces generally have a higher COF whereas smoother surfaces have a lower COF.
COF can be measured using the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) Test C 1028-89. This test is the U.S. ceramic tile industry's standard test for assessing the slip resistance of ceramic tile and other like surfaces. The test is used to measure the frictional force between a flooring surface and a slider made of laboratory grade Neolite, a synthetic rubber. The test result can be expressed as a static COF. The term static is used because the two surfaces are at rest with respect to each other when the test is made.
The slider used in ASTM C 1028-89 is three inches square. The slider is first calibrated using a standard reference tile. The slider is then placed on the sample flooring surface and a 50 pound weight is placed on the slider. A dynamometer which measures force in pounds is used to pull the weighted slider to initiate a small movement across the flooring. This pulling force is then divided by the weight on the slider and the result, after correction using the slider calibration data, is equal to the static coefficient of friction.
The flooring can be tested both dry and wet with water. In each case, the COF is measured twelve times and the results are averaged. The ASTM test method specifies that each flooring sample should consist of three pieces of the tile. For each of the three pieces, a pull is made in each of four directions, e.g. north-east-south-west.
According to the Ceramic Tile Institute, a COF of greater than 0.6 is considered safe; a COF of between 0.5 to 0.6 is conditionally acceptable; and a COF less than 0.5 is considered unsafe.
The COF can be increased by the presence of macroscopic and microscopic variations in the surface. Macroscopically, a floor may include a pattern visible to the naked eye such as on tiles or in a terrazzo floor surface. Microscopically (e.g., when viewed at about a 450X magnification), a new clean floor material typically has a non-smooth surface made up of peaks and valleys and a pore structure which present a shoe-gripping surface. Some hard surfaces, such as those on polished marble and granite, terrazzo and smooth ceramic tiles have a relatively low COF and therefore are generally more slippery. Other surfaces typically used in commercial flooring including grouted quarry tile or cementitious concrete have a rougher surface texture resulting in a higher COF and a less slippery surface.
The COF of a hard surface can be altered over time by accumulation of fats and oils (collectively known as grease), accumulation of spilled food materials or other dirt, accumulation of cleaning residues especially from alkaline cleaning solutions, deposition of minerals from the water supply (water hardness), grout joint saponification or any combination of these factors. These accumulations generally fill the peaks and valleys and the pore structure of the surface making it smoother and lowering the COF. In commercial kitchens and restaurants, polymerization of fats and oils producing a hard, dense, greasy film is particularly responsible for increased slipperiness. Polymerized grease can reduce the COF of a floor surface about 50% in less than 30 days leading to an increased probability of slipping and falling by employees and patrons. Also, abrasion resulting from normal pedestrian traffic can lower the COF by polishing the surface over time. Abrasion polishing occurs especially on unglazed quarry tile surfaces.
Research in pedestrian safety has shown that the surface total mean peak-to-valley roughness (Rtm) is a good indicator of traction on surfaces wetted by water. The instrument used in this research is the Taylor Hobson Surtronic 10. The instrument has a sylus of radius of approximately 7 .mu.m. The stylus traverses a path of 0.8 mm and measures the height difference between the lowest valley and the highest peak. Five such paths are evaluated and the results electronically averaged for each reading on the instrument. Roughness can then be expressed as the average maximum peak-to-valley height difference in .mu.m. For reference, the approximate Rtm of some common materials is shown below in Table 1.
TABLE 1 ______________________________________ Material Rtm (.mu.m) ______________________________________ Clear glass 0.1 Picture frame non-glare glass 3 Silicon carbide sandpaper: 1500 grit (extremely fine) 13 400 grit (super fine) 30 320 grit (extra fine) 46 ______________________________________
Cleaning of hard surface floors to remove accumulated deposits and restore the COF to that of the clean new surface can be accomplished in a number ways. Scrubbing or mopping with a cleaning solution that contains an alkaline emulsifier can temporarily restore a floor surface but often leaves a residue of soap scum which can itself build up and eventually fill the peaks and valleys and a pore structure of the surface. Alkaline cleaning solutions can also precipitate silicon and calcium in the water supply resulting in accumulation of mineral deposits, thus reducing the COF despite the removal of grease film. Scrubbing with a deck brush and hot water (67.degree. C./160.degree. F.) followed by vacuuming of the wet surface ("wet vac") or squeegee removal of the solution containing the suspended dirt particles before thorough rinsing is effective at cleaning off grease film but requires expensive equipment and significant training of personnel in the use of the equipment.
Some of the types of the currently available cleaners include slip resistance packet cleaners (e.g., SAFETY-TRAC.RTM. by Kay Chemicals); powder alkaline cleaners (e.g., TIDE.RTM. by Colgate Palmolive); degreasers (e.g., RECOVER.RTM. by Dubois); sodium hypochlorite solutions (e.g., CLOROX.RTM.); alkaline-based steam cleaners (e.g., STEAM CLEANERS.RTM. by Union Carbide); and acid-based cleaners (e.g., DRACKET SURE-TRAC.RTM. by Bristol Meyers, SAFETY STEP.RTM. by Dynamic Research, and the cleaner disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,223,168 issued to Holt). A number of additional liquid alkaline cleaners are available, such as REGAIN and MAXICLEAN by Ecolabs, POWERFOAM by SSDC Corporation and TITAN by Kay Chemical. However, all of the foregoing products suffer from a variety of drawbacks. Many of these products contain hazardous concentrations of chemicals, and therefore, require special care in use. Additionally, some of these products require multiple steps during their use (e.g., separate cleaning, restoring and neutralizing steps) or specialized equipment (e.g., steamer equipment). Moreover, most of these products are limited to a single use, and multiple products are required in order to adequately maintain a floor.
In addition to cleaning of the floor surface of accumulated grease, soil, mineral deposits and soap scum, restoration of the surface pore structure and peaks and valleys is important in improving floor texture, especially in areas of pedestrian traffic. Areas of pedestrian traffic include those in which employees and/or customers regularly walk during normal hours of operation of the commercial establishment. Restoration of surface irregularities has been accomplished by acid or mechanical etching (e.g., grit blasting) of floor surfaces. However, both processes have been found unsatisfactory because of exposure of personnel to highly acidic compounds, invasiveness of the cleaning procedure to normal commercial operations, and costs, particularly if a specialty contractor performs the procedure. Also, such etching procedures eventually weaken the floor tile surface. In addition, highly acidic solutions are subject to significant governmental regulation relating to health and safety during their use and transportation (i.e., those under OSHA and the Department of Transportation).
Surfaces that contain silicone dioxide components such as quarry tile have been treated with acidic solutions to etch the surface and thus restore a roughness to the floor. Treatments containing ammonium fluoride and hydrofluoric acid have long been known as agents for etching silicon substrates such as in the etching and frosting of glass or the treatment of silicone "chips" for computer components as disclosed by Scardera et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 4,761,245 and Ohmi et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 4,795,582.
Commercially available hydrofluoric acid treatment solutions have a pH in the range from about 0.1 to about 2.4. Treatment of quarry tile with these highly acidic solutions requires multiple steps. After the surface is treated with the acidic solution, it must be neutralized (usually with extensive rinsing) and dried. The highly acidic treatment increases the COF but also results in deep pitting and undercutting to produce sharp platelets in the tile surface. The deep pits can collect fats, oils, and dirt, thus decreasing the COF over time. The sharp undercut platelets can cut mop strings thus damaging cleaning equipment and leading to accumulation of lint. The platelets rapidly wear down in areas of pedestrian traffic and thus result in repolishing of those surfaces where maintaining a relatively high COF is most important.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires that areas accessible to disabled persons be slip-resistant. The U.S. Department of Justice's Access Board, which administers parts of ADA, in its Bulletin No. 4 recommends a minimum average static COF of 0.60 for level floors and 0.80 for ramps. This standard is also recommended by various other governmental and nongovernmental authorities, including the Ceramic Tile Institute and the City of Los Angeles. Not only must the initial flooring material meet these requirements, but, the requirements for COF must also be met on an ongoing basis.
Hence, there is a need for a method of restoring floor surfaces in commercial and/or institutional establishments that both cleans and restores the uneven surface of the floor in a manner that can be performed easily and safely by employees of the establishment with a minimum of training and equipment. There is a need for a method that restores a floor's COF without causing deep pitting or undercut platelet formation. Furthermore, there is a need for a method that employs chemical solutions that can be easily transported and safely used with standard levels of care (e.g., protective gloves and eye protection) without exposing personnel to highly acidic or alkaline solutions or toxic fumes.


A mouthpiece structure for a pressure vessel includes a liner constituting a vessel body and a cylindrical part, a cylindrical mouthpiece mounted closely to an inner periphery of the cylindrical part, a housing part having a housing recess formed by recessing at least one of the inner periphery of cylindrical part and an outer periphery of mouthpiece, a sealing member housed in the housing recess while adhering closely to the inner periphery of cylindrical part and the outer periphery of mouthpiece, the sealing member defining a sealed space facing an interface between the inner periphery of the cylindrical part and the outer periphery of the mouthpiece in the housing recess, and a retainer located opposite the sealed space with the sealing member being interposed between them and preventing the sealing member from being displaced in a direction such that the sealing member increases a capacity of the sealed space.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a mouthpiece structure for a pressure vessel.
2. Related Art
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP-A-H11-13995 discloses a mouthpiece structure for a pressure vessel, which includes a liner made of a synthetic resin and constructing a vessel body and a cylindrical part communicating between an interior and an exterior of the vessel body, a cylindrical mouthpiece mounted to an inner periphery of the cylindrical part and a sealing member preventing a fluid in the vessel body from leaking through a gap between the inner periphery of the cylindrical part and an outer periphery of the mouthpiece. As shown in FIG. 13, the cylindrical part 101 of the liner 100 has a distal end surface 102. The mouthpiece 103 also has a distal end surface 104 which is adjacent to the distal end surface 102 so that both distal end surfaces 102 and 104 are coplanar. A gap between the adjacent distal end surfaces 102 and 104 serves as a leak outlet 106 through which the fluid leaking through an interface 105 between the inner periphery of the cylindrical part 101 and the outer periphery of the mouthpiece 103 flows outside the vessel. The sealing member 107 is disposed so as to close the leak outlet 106.
When the pressure of the fluid leaking through the gap between the inner periphery of the cylindrical part 101 and the outer periphery of the mouthpiece 103 is excessively large, there is a possibility that the sealing member 107 subjected to the fluid pressure would be irregularly deformed in a direction away from the leak outlet 106 while being axially pressed, as shown in FIG. 14. This irregular deformation of the sealing member 107 renders the leak outlet 106 open to the outside, resulting in loss of the sealing function.

Mouthpiece structure for pressure vessel


In order to suppress a film from being formed in a gap between a mask and a substrate, a technology of improving adhesion between the mask and the substrate is provided. A film-forming method includes the step of suspending a mask MK by a suspension portion HU in a state in which the suspension portion HU is supported by a supporting portion SU and the step of bringing the mask MK suspended by the suspension portion HU into contact with a glass substrate GS in the state in which the suspension portion HU is supported by the supporting portion SU.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2005-339861 (Patent Document 1) describes a technology relating to a mask structure fixed to a support frame in a state of applying a tensile force to a metal mask.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2013-187019 (Patent Document 2) describes a technology relating to a protection film that covers a surface of an organic EL element.

Film-forming method, manufacturing method of electronic device, and mask holder


An adaptive towelette dispensing device is provided. The device is operable in conjunction with a container storing a plurality of dried, compressed, individually wrapped, preferably sealed towelettes. The adaptive towelette dispensing device is contemplated to include one or more reservoirs adapted to receive additives, one or more pumps configured to transfer additives through a conduit to be incorporated into a dispensed solution. The adaptive towelette dispensing device is further contemplated to include a towelette releasing mechanism, a towelette chute, a towelette dispensing mechanism, and a controller.

The background description includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention. It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art or relevant to the presently claimed invention, or that any publication specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.
Disposable wet tissues or towelettes are commonly used for many personal hygiene purposes, including baby towelettes, and disposable wet hand towels distributed in the restaurants or other public places (e.g., in the airplane, hospital, etc.). Virtually all commercially available wet tissues or towelettes are pre-soaked with liquid (e.g., water, water with isopropyl alcohol, etc.), and may also be treated with softeners, lotions, or scent materials, depending on the purpose. While convenient in use, wet tissues or towelettes are susceptible to contaminations by microorganisms (e.g., fungus, bacteria, etc.) due to the wet environment. Thus, in many cases, in order to prevent such fungal or bacterial contaminations, wet tissues or towelettes are further treated with some preservatives (e.g., methylisothiazolinone, etc.), which can sometimes provoke allergic reaction in users.
There have been efforts to solve these problems using a compact, dry towelette, which can be expanded and wetted through addition of a little amount of water. While compact, dry towelettes solve the contamination issues, they inconveniently require a user need to supply water to wet the towelettes. Also, while it only requires several milliliters of water to fully expand and wet the tissue, it is often hard for a user to pour that small amount of water over the towelettes, resulting in overspilling the water.
The prior art includes dispensing apparatus that add a small, predetermined amount of water to expand and wet for compact, dry towelettes. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,601,730 to Chen discloses a wet towel dispensing apparatus. In this apparatus, individually strapped dry, compressed towels are serially drawn out, and then be soaked with either cold or hot water. In another example, International Patent Application No. WO 2007/066865 to Kim discloses a coin tissue (compressed tissue) dispenser accompanied with water sprayer that can expand the dry tissue into an expanded wet towel. In Kim's device, multiple coin tissues are loaded in a coin case in the dispenser. Similarly, U.S. Patent Application No. US 2013/0126549A1 to Ader discloses a coin tissue dispenser that is coupled with water compartment. The chamber receives the dry compressed towels and the liquid. A trigger mechanism provides for selectively introducing both (a) at least one dry compressed towels and (b) wetting liquid into the chamber. Actuation of the trigger mechanism causes the dry compressed towel to enter the chamber and to be exposed the liquid.
However, all of above dispensers cannot utilize individually wrapped, compressed towelettes, and end up storing unwrapped towelettes in the device, which of course are not sterile.
Thus, there is still a market need for a device that automatically dispenses wetted towelettes, which had been stored in the device in a sterile fashion.


A CMOS image sensor that reduces kTC noise in a wide band. A pixel circuit corresponding to one pixel includes a photoelectric conversion element for carrying out the photoelectric conversion of incident light, a reset transistor for resetting a cathode of the photoelectric conversion element to initial voltage, an amplifying transistor for converting electric charges accumulated in the photoelectric conversion element to voltage, and a row selection transistor for selecting signals output from pixel areas arranged in a row direction. A voltage control circuit controls the potential of a gate of the reset transistor during a period when the photoelectric conversion element is reset to change ON-state resistance of the reset transistor. By doing so, a cutoff frequency for a low-pass filter formed in the pixel circuit by ON-state resistance of the reset transistor and parasitic capacitance produced at the cathode on the photoelectric conversion element will be controlled.

(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a CMOS image sensor for getting images by outputting in order image signals sensed in each of pixel areas arranged like a matrix on the basis of X-Y addressing and, more particularly, to a CMOS image sensor which can reduce kTC noise.
(2) Description of the Related Art
With the spread of digital still-image cameras and digital video cameras, the addition of a camera function to cellular telephones, and the like, a demand for solid imaging devices has risen in recent years. At present charge coupled devices (CCDs) have spread most widely as solid imaging devices. However, these CCDs have the drawbacks of the need for a plurality of power supply circuits, a high driving voltage, and high power consumption. Therefore, attention has recently been riveted to CMOS image sensors that can be produced by the process for producing complementary metal-oxide semiconductors (CMOSes), which can operate at a low voltage, which consume only a small amount of power, and the unit cost of the production of which is low.
In CMOS image sensors, pixel circuits each of which gets an image corresponding to one pixel are arranged like a matrix. They output image signals corresponding to an entire image by selecting in order output from each pixel circuit with a vertical scanning shift register and horizontal scanning shift register.
FIG. 9 is a view showing an example of the structure of a pixel circuit and a circuit around it in a conventional CMOS image sensor.
A pixel circuit 50 shown in FIG. 9 includes a photoelectric conversion element D51, being a photodiode, a photogate, or the like, and has an active pixel sensor (APS) structure in which a reset transistor M51, amplifying transistor M52, and row selection transistor M53 each formed by, for example, an n-channel MOS field-effect transistor (MOSFET) are located. Moreover, an inverter circuit 60 including a p-channel MOS transistor (pMOS transistor) M61 and n-channel MOS transistor (nMOS transistor) M62 is connected to a gate of the reset transistor M51.
The anode side of the photoelectric conversion element D51 is grounded and the cathode side is connected to a source of the reset transistor M51 and a gate of the amplifying transistor M52. A drain of the reset transistor M51 and a drain of the amplifying transistor M52 are connected to a power supply line L53 where reset voltage VR is supplied. A gate of the reset transistor M51 is connected via a reset signal line L51 to an output electrode on the inverter circuit 60 and is supplied with a reset signal RST.
A source of the amplifying transistor M52 is connected to a drain of the row selection transistor M53. A gate of the row selection transistor M53 is connected to a row selection signal line L52 where a row selection signal SLCT for selecting the pixel circuits 50 in a row direction is supplied. A source of the row selection transistor M53 is connected to a column selection signal line L54 for selecting the pixel circuits 50 in a column direction.
In the inverter circuit 60, power supply voltage VDD is supplied to a source of the pMOS transistor M61 and a source of the nMOS transistor M62 is grounded. A reset control signal Vrst is input to gate of the pMOS transistor M61 and nMOS transistor M62. Drain of the pMOS transistor M61 and nMOS transistor M62 are connected to the reset signal line L51 and output a reset signal RST.
Now, operation in the conventional pixel circuit 50 will be described in brief.
When a low-level reset control signal Vrst is input to the inverter circuit 60, the pMOS transistor M61 goes into an ON state, the nMOS transistor M62 goes into an OFF state, and a high-level reset signal RST is input to the gate of the reset transistor M51. As a result, the reset transistor M51 goes into an ON state and the photoelectric conversion element D51 is charged by reset voltage VR.
Next, when the reset control signal Vrst goes into a high-level state, the reset signal RST goes into a low-level state. When light strikes it in this state of things, the photoelectric conversion element D51 begins to discharge and its potential drops from the reset voltage VR. The amplifying transistor M52 functions as a source follower amplifier and amplifies the voltage of the cathode of the photoelectric conversion element D51. After a predetermined period of time elapsed, a row selection signal SLCT is input to the gate of the row selection transistor M53. When the row selection transistor M53 goes into an ON state, the voltage of the source of the amplifying transistor M52 is gotten via the column selection signal line L54 as signal voltage.
The column selection signal line L54 is connected via an amplifier/noise cancel circuit (not shown) to, for example, a drain of a column selection transistor (not shown) . In a CMOS image sensor, each of the pixel circuits 50 arranged in a horizontal direction is selected by a row selection signal SLCT, the column selection transistors each connected to the column selection signal line L54 are put in order into an ON state, and image signals corresponding to one pixel are output in order.
With the pixel circuits 50 having the above structure, however, kTC noise produced at the time of the photoelectric conversion element D51 being reset will degrade the S/N ratio of an output image signal. When the reset transistor M51 is in the ON state and the photoelectric conversion element D51 has been reset to the initial potential, kTC noise will be produced. This kTC noise is random thermal noise and is expressed by vkTC=(kT/C)1/2 where k is the Boltzmann's constant, T is absolute temperature, and C is the total capacitance of the photoelectric conversion element D51.
This kTC noise is produced at random, so it is comparatively difficult to remove the kTC noise from image signals. There are many cases where high-frequency kTC noise cannot be removed.
For example, it has been suggested that kTC noise should be reduced by keeping the voltage of the cathode of the photoelectric conversion element D51 at reset time constant by the use of a differential amplifier. This method can reduce kTC noise components in a frequency band where this differential amplifier operates, but it cannot reduce kTC noise components at frequencies higher than that frequency band.
Moreover, there are many cases where a circuit for reducing kTC noise is comparatively large-scale. If such a circuit is used and component elements and wirings are formed in pixel areas, a fill factor for a light receiving section will lower.

CMOS image sensor with voltage control circuit


A fastening mechanism is mounted on a suction cup including a pivotal ball in a receptacle and having surface recesses, a leg secured to the ball, and a channel open to both the external and the receptacle, the channel having an intermediate enlargement. The mechanism includes a shank in the channel and having an exposed end, a rod extended from the other end of the shank and inserted in the recess, a shoulder proximate the rod, and a resilient member compressed between the shoulder and an internal wall of the channel. Pulling the shank to clear the recess and compress the resilient member, pivoting the ball by rotating the leg until a predetermined angle thereof relative to the suction cup is obtained, and releasing the shank to cause the compressed resilient member to expand to push the shoulder will insert the rod in the adjusted recess and fasten the ball.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to fastening mechanism incorporating suction devices and more particularly to a spring-biased mechanism for fastening a pivotal support formed on a member (e.g., suction cup) in any direction.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, a portable electronic device (e.g., mobile phone, PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), smartphone, DVD, VCD, LCD, or the like) is fixedly mounted on a place (e.g., instrument board of an automobile) by securing to a fixed cradle. This has the drawback of being impossible of adjusting an angle of the device.
As disclosed in the art, a pivotal support secured to cradle is for holding a mobile phone in a desired using position. However, there is no optionally fastening mechanism for the support provided. Thus, the support may pivot after being positioned. Such undesired pivoting is especially significant after a period of time of use. Thus, a need for improvement exists.

Mechanism for fastening a pivotal support in any direction


An occupant restraint system includes a rollover prediction unit, a rollover detection unit, primary and secondary pre-tensioner units, and a control unit. The rollover prediction unit is configured to predict a rollover of the vehicle based on a state of the vehicle. The rollover detection unit is configured to detect a rollover of the vehicle based on the state of the vehicle. The primary and secondary pre-tensioner units are configured to apply a tension to a seat belt so as to restrain an occupant in a seat. An operation force of the secondary pre-tensioner unit is stronger than that of the primary pre-tensioner unit. The control unit is configured to activate the primary pre-tensioner unit based on a prediction by the rollover prediction unit that a rollover occurs and activate the secondary pre-tensioner unit based on a detection by the rollover detection unit that the rollover occurs.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an occupant restraint system and a method for restraining an occupant in a seat of a vehicle.
2. Discussion of the Background
In the related art, there is a regulation which requires the provision on a vehicle such as a motor vehicle of an occupant restraint system such as a seat belt which prevents a forward movement of an occupant seated in a seat of the vehicle by virtue of inertial force when the vehicle is involved in a head-on collision. In general, while the safety of the occupant at the time of head-on collision is increased due to the occupant restraint system applying tension to the seat belt at all times, since the occupant is restrained in the seat at all times by the seat belt, the degree of comfortableness felt by the occupant gets deteriorated. To cope with this, there has been known an occupant restraint system including a head-on collision prediction unit for predicting a head-on collision of the vehicle and detecting a head-on collision of the vehicle (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. Hei. 6-286581). The contents of this publication are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
As shown in FIG. 7, such an occupant restraint system 100 includes a seat belt 91 which can be worn by an occupant P seated in a seat 26 of a vehicle, a reversible pre-tensioner unit PT1 and a non-reversible pre-tensioner unit PT2 which are both adapted to apply a tension to the seat belt 91, an inter-vehicle distance sensor 120 and an acceleration sensor 110 which are both adapted to detect states of the vehicle, and a control unit 170 for predicting and detecting a head-on collision of the vehicle based on signals outputted from those sensors 120, 110 and activating the reversible pre-tensioner unit based on the prediction of a head-on collision-while activating the non-reversible pre-tensioner unit based on the detection of a head-on collision.
As shown in FIG. 8, prediction and detection of a head-on collision of a vehicle M2 on to a vehicle M1 are carried out based on an inter-vehicle distance Lc detected by the inter-vehicle distance sensor 120 and the acceleration of the vehicle M2. In the occupant restraint system 100 configured as such, when a head-on collision is predicted and detected, the occupant is restrained in the seat for preparation for a head-on collision, and the restraint of the occupant in the seat is not carried out on other occasions. Due to this, since the tension of the seat belt has already been increased so as to restrain the occupant in the seat when the vehicle is about to be involved in a head-on collision, the safety of the occupant is increased, and when there is no risk of the vehicle being involved in a head-on collision, the tension on the seat is mitigated so as to reduce the restraining force with which the occupant is restrained in the seat to thereby enhance the degree of comfortableness felt by the occupant.
However, the related-art occupant restraint system 100 includes the sensor which predicts and detects a head-on collision of the vehicle but does not include a sensor which direct predicts and detects a rollover of the vehicle. Due to this, the occupant restraint system 100 activates the non-reversible pre-tensioner unit in order to restrain the occupant in the seat in an early state of a rollover. Even in the event that the occupant restraint system 100 activates the non-reversible pre-tensioner unit, however, there may result a case where the vehicle does not roll over eventually. This causes a problem that the occupant has to be restrained in the seat to thereby be made to feel uncomfortable every time the false rollover warning is raised.

Occupant restraint system and method for restraining occupant in seat of vehicle


The present invention provides a drug-holding microneedle array in which a drug is applied and held only on a tip portion of microneedles for quantitatively holding the drug and for preventing the drug from falling away during insertion of the microneedles.

As a method of administering a drug to a human body, oral, administration and transdermal administration are often used. Injection is a typical transdermal administration method. However, injection is a procedure which takes time and labor of specialists such as physicians and nurses, is painful, and is likely to cause an infection of AIDS, hepatitis B, or the like, so that many people do not welcome the procedure. In contrast, a transdermal administration method without pain using a microneedle array has been recently attracting attention (Non-patent Document 1).
In the transdermal administration of a drug, stratum corneum works as a barrier to drug permeation, so that enough permeability is not always provided by only applying the drug on a skin surface. In contrast, perforation of corneum by using a minute needle, i.e. a microneedle can remarkably improve drug permeation efficiency compared to the application method. An article in which a large number of the microneedles are integrated on a substrate is a microneedle array. In addition, a product in which an adhesive sheet for adhering the microneedle array to a skin, a release sheet for protecting an adhesive surface, and the like are added to the microneedle array to facilitate its use is called a microneedle patch.
Although metals and silicon had been initially used as base materials for the microneedle, various polymer materials have been recently attracting attention in view of their workability. Particularly, when the microneedle is made by using a substance which disappears in a body by metabolism, such as saccharide, as the base material, no accident occurs even if the needle is broken and remains in a skin.
When the base material for microneedle is saccharide, if the microneedle is made by adding a drug into the saccharide, the drug can be easily administered into and under a skin through dissolving the inserted microneedle in a body (Patent Document 1). Particularly, when a microneedle made of a biosoluble polymer substance such as hyaluronic acid or collagen is applied to a skin, moisture in the skin diffuses in a needle portion, so the needle portion inserted into the skin swells and then is dissolved. By the diffusion of hyaluronic acid or collagen into the skin due to the dissolution of the needle portion, an antiwrinkle action is expressed, or otherwise the drug and a valuable substance previously dissolved in the needle portion are diffused in the skin (Patent Documents 2 and 3).
However, some drugs to be contained in the microneedle array are extremely expensive, or can be obtained only in minute amounts. When such an expensive and valuable drug is contained in the base material to make the microneedle array, the drug would be contained not only in its microneedle portion but also in its substrate portion. When this microneedle array is inserted into a skin, the drug contained in the microneedle portion is incorporated and diffused in a body, but the drug remaining in the substrate portion is discarded without utilization, resulting in low usage efficiency of the expensive drug.
Some trials for efficient utilization of the expensive drug are already known. A method in which surfaces of the microneedles are coated with a drug by using a drug solution (Patent Documents 4 to 7) and a method in which a granulated drug is converged to tips of microneedles by centrifugation while the microneedles maintain softness (Patent Document 8) have been reported. The method of coating the surfaces of microneedles with a drug and the method of adhering a drug to the tips of microneedles from a drug solution have a problem that the drug must be heated or that the adhered drug falls away during insertion of the microneedles. In contrast, a method in which an adhered drug and a microneedle body were integrated by dissolving the drug in a solvent of the microneedle material to prevent the adhered drug from falling away was proposed (Patent Document 9).
The method of soaking the tips of microneedles into a drug solution to adhere the drug to the tips of microneedles is easily put into practical use due to its convenience (Patent Documents 4 to 7, 9). However, it is very difficult to quantitatively apply the drug to the tips of microneedles with little unevenness.
In case of a microneedle made of a hydrophobic material, it is difficult to apply a drug from an aqueous solution itself, so quantitative loading with the drug is impossible. When a microneedle made of as hydrophilic material is only soaked into a drug aqueous solution, it is impossible to quantitatively load the tip portion of microneedles with the drug since the drug aqueous solution is moved up from a bottom of the needle to a substrate portion by capillary phenomenon to widely distribute the drug. Several hundred microneedles stand closely With intervals of 20 μm to 1,000 μm in one microneedle array, so the drug aqueous solution is extremely easily moved up by capillary phenomenon. Thus, although several trials have been repeated, it is extremely difficult that the microneedle array is soaked into the drug aqueous solution to a fixed depth to quantitatively hold the drug.
In order to prevent the capillary phenomenon, a method of masking any place other than the tip portion of microneedles before applying a drug has been proposed (Patent Document 5). A method of feeding a drug into a large number of holes with a spatula and then inserting the microneedles into the holes to enhance the quantitativity of a drug adhesion amount (Patent Document 7) has been also proposed. However, since execution of these methods is very complicated and furthermore technique for preventing the drug from falling away during insertion of the microneedles into a skin is not shown, the methods are considered to be insufficient for the quantitative administration of the drug.
The microneedle array made of the biosoluble polymer substance is often manufactured by using a mold (Patent Document 2). A microneedle pattern is formed by lithography using a photosensitive resin, and then transferred to make a mold with concave portions for forming the microneedles. A microneedle material may be casted onto this mold, subsequently heated to vaporize moisture, and then the solidified material may be removed from the mold to obtain the microneedle array.
For making the microneedles with a polymer suitable for injection molding, cuts corresponding to a shape of the microneedles are made onto a metal mold by fine metalworking, and then the microneedles can be made with a commercially available injection molding machine. A method of manufacturing the microneedles with unevenness and a plurality of steps in this manner has been already proposed (Patent Documents 10, 11).

Drug-holding microneedle array and manufacturing method thereof

Abstract: The drug-holding microneedle array comprises: a microneedle array having a microneedle substrate 4 and microneedles, the microneedles being positioned in plural on the microneedle substrate 4 and a tip portion 1 of the microneedles projecting via steps 2 and a drug held on the tip portion of the microneedles and the steps 2.


A fluid temperature control apparatus includes a housing with first and second housing portions, and a partition for isolating the first and second housing portions. The first housing portion has a first fluid inlet connected to a hot fluid source, and a first fluid outlet. The second housing portion has a second fluid inlet connected to a cold fluid source, and a second fluid outlet connected to the first fluid inlet. A valve assembly includes a tubular valve seat disposed in the second housing portion to define a piston receiving space with an open end that is spaced from the partition and that is communicated with the second fluid outlet. A piston has a head portion extending slidably into the piston receiving space, and a restricted actuated portion extending out of the open end of the valve seat. The valve seat has a radial valve opening communicated with the second fluid inlet. The piston is movable between a first position, where the head portion blocks the valve opening, and a second position, where the head portion ceases to block the valve opening. A temperature responsive member is mounted on the partition, and has a fluid contacting portion disposed in the first housing portion, and a volume-variable piston actuating portion connected to the actuated portion of the piston and disposed in the second housing portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an apparatus for controlling fluid temperature, more particularly to an apparatus which is capable of controlling hot and cold fluid flow so that the mixed fluid discharge therefrom can be kept at an appropriate temperature.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional apparatus for controlling fluid temperature includes a manually operable fluid flow adjustment mechanism on a housing. The housing includes a first inlet portion adapted to be connected to a hot fluid source, a second inlet portion adapted to be connected to a cold fluid source and an outlet portion for discharging a mixture of the hot and cold fluid from the first and second inlet portions. After testing the temperature of the mixed fluid flowing through the outlet portion, the fluid flow adjustment mechanism can be operated to control the flow of hot and cold fluid to the outlet portion, thereby adjusting the temperature of the mixed fluid through the outlet portion.
It is noted that the conventional apparatus does not permit pre-setting of the temperature of the fluid discharged from the outlet portion, thereby resulting in inconvenience to the user. Even if the ratio of the hot fluid flow to cold fluid flow can be preset, the temperature of the mixed fluid is not presettable due to unstable hot and cold fluid temperatures, which are easily affected by ambient temperature.

Apparatus for controlling fluid temperature

No. 4, Lane 30, Wu-Chuan St., Pan-Chiao City


A saddle has a saddle tree, a laterally aligned, generally arcuate, downwardly concave spanning brace mounted to, and beneath, the saddle tree, a seat member rigidly mountable to the spanning brace and extending rearwardly of the spanning brace to a cantle, the cantle extending laterally and generally parallel to the spanning brace, the spanning brace and the cantle extending laterally between, and pivotally mounted to, opposed facing mirror image longitudinally extending first and second elongate bearing members, the spanning brace and the cantle pivotally mounted to the elongate bearing members of releasably securable pivotable hinges.

From the first domestication of the horse in the evolution from draft animal to the thoroughbred riding horses of today, there have been in the past continuing advances in an attempt to make both the horse and its rider more comfortable. Early cloth saddles have progressed to the now more conventional rigid saddles. However, in the construction of even the earliest saddles there was apparently an awareness that the rider preferably not contact the backbone of the horse. Thus evolved varying means of suspending the rider above the backbone of the horse.
Because of the varying sizes and shapes of horses, emphasis has been placed on designing a saddle that will comfortably fit the varying shapes and sizes of many horses without either causing abrasive wear on the horse or elaborate adjustment of the saddle. It is well known that horses have greatly varying shapes so that one saddle which comfortably fits one particular horse, may not be comfortably placed onto and ridden on another horse.
Attempts have been made in the prior art to introduce into saddle design, designs which are flexible, such as those made of flexible materials, in an attempt to provide a single saddle which may comfortably fit a variety of horse shapes. For example, applicant is aware of U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,343,674 and 5,435,116 which issued to Brown on Sep. 6, 1994, and Jul. 25, 1995, respectively. Both patents disclose a flexible saddle tree having a pair of laterally spaced apart flexible synthetic elongate members (bars) connected by a spanning member and a seat element. The Brown design teaches pivotally mounting the elongate members to the seat element at forward pivot mountings and to the spanning member at rearward pivot mountings. The elongate members are members variably flexible by means of an elongate waisted shape, and by means of forwardly extending fingers, and by various stiffening members mounted to the elongate members. The elongate members are padded on their interior surfaces so as to cover the otherwise exposed heads of the bolts which secure the elongate members onto corresponding pivot fulcrums mounted to the saddle tree. Flexing motion of the elongate members is accommodated by pivotal motion having two degrees of freedom, that is, the members are free to rock on the pivot fulcrums.
What is neither contemplated, taught, nor suggested, is an acknowledgement that a single set of bars cannot be properly employed to fit a wide variety of horse shapes and thus that it may be required to quickly and, preferably, easily interchange one set of elongate members with a differently shaped second set of elongate members. Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide a much less complicated structure than that of Brown, where each pair of elongate members may be tailored to the shape of a particular horse, rather than attempting to provide a single saddle for all horse shapes. In the present invention, a simplified design of pivotable elongate members may be quickly and easily interchanged with elongate members having a different shape, adapted to comfortably fit the saddle onto a differently shaped horse.


A slide coupling fitting for connecting a tubular conduit and the method of use are provided. The fitting includes a tubular body, two opposing open ends, and an external threaded section on an exterior of the tubular body adjacent to each open end; and two tubular sliding couplers, each having an internal diameter slightly larger than an external diameter of the tubular body, and each being connected to one of the open ends of the tubular body, respectively, and coaxial with the tubular body. Each tubular sliding coupler has an internal threaded section adjacent to an inner end which is closer to a longitudinal center of the tubular body, and a smooth interior at an opposing outer end for slidably engaging a tubular conduit. The internal threaded section is complementary to the external threaded section of the tubular body for mutual engagement.

Prior art connectors and fittings have been utilized for joining to tubular conduits for connecting the tubular conduits together or to other members. The tubular conduits have included piping, ducting, electrical conduits and the like, which have been used for both fluid flow conduits and to provide protective enclosures for electrical power and telecommunication cables. For fluid flow conduits, they are frequently buried underground, and have limited access and mobility during repairing. In the prior art, fittings have been typically joined to the terminal ends of tubular conduits by either adhesive bonding, swedging or securing two mating threads together. A swedged fitting requires two swedging members between which a terminal end section of a tubular conduit is squeezed. One of the swedging members is placed on the interior of the tubular conduit which results in a restriction which is smaller than the interior diameter of the tubular conduit, rather than providing a full bore opening. A threaded connection requires the threading of either an interior surface or an exterior surface of the tubular conduit, which is time consuming and labor intensive. For the buried conduits, threading the conduits becomes very difficult, sometimes, is not feasible at all.
Because of the poor accessibility and mobility of already installed conduits, a flexible fitting structure and operating mechanism are highly desirable for conduit repairing. Slidable fitting mechanism has been used in some commercial products, which has one tubular coupling member that can be slidably extended from the fitting to joint the conduit. However, these structures completely depend on adhesive bonding, therefore, have poor resistance to environmental temperature variations.
Therefore, there exists a need for an improved fitting structure, and a convenient method for connecting the conduits.

Slide coupling fitting for connecting conduits


The components of a firmware that are to be executed are identified, such as firmware device drivers and SMI interrupt handlers. Performance data is also obtained for the components. An inventory identifying the components and the performance data are provided to a BMC. The BMC provides the inventory and the performance data to a remote management client through an out-of-band (“OOB”) network connection. The BMC might also receive a blacklist instruction from the management client. The blacklist instruction provides an indication to the BMC that one or more of the components of the firmware are not to be executed by the computing system. The BMC provides the blacklist instruction to the firmware. The firmware adds the component, or components, identified in the blacklist instruction to a blacklist. The next time the computing system is booted, the firmware will not execute the components identified in the blacklist.

Scalability in today's data center is increasingly achieved with horizontal, scale-out solutions. As a result, many data centers include hundreds of thousands or even millions of server computers. Management of such a large number of server computers can be very difficult. For example, it can be extremely difficult to keep such a large number of server computers secure and running efficiently.
It is with respect to these and other considerations that the disclosure made herein is presented.

Remotely disabling execution of firmware components


The present invention discloses a method for treating cancer by using hCRMP1 and/or active fragments thereof, as well as the active fragments of hCRMP1 that are capable of inhibiting cell proliferation, invasive activity, and metastasis of cancer. The method can also be used prior to, or in combination with, the administration a chemotherapy agent. A vector capable of expressing an hCRMP1, a variant of hCRMP1, a fragment of hCRMP1 or a variant of a fragment of hCRMP1 is also disclosed.

The present invention relates to active fragments of collapsin response mediator protein-1 (CRMP-1), methods for treating cancer with active fragments of hCRMP-1, and methods for inhibiting the proliferation of cancer using CRMP-1 and active fragments of CRMP-1.
Collapsin response mediator protein-1 (CRMP-1), also named as dihydropyrimidinase related protein-1 (DRP-1), is a 62 kDa phosphoprotein. CRMP-1 was originally discovered in the brain tissue and thought to be a brain specific protein involved in the collapsin-induced growth cone collapse during neural development. Torres et al., DNA Res., 5(6): 393-395 (1998).
Collapsin response mediator proteins (CRMPs) belong to a family of phosphoproteins, which mediate semaphorin/collapsin-induced growth cone collapse and are believed to be involved in both axonal guidance and neuronal differentiation. CRMPs are expressed mainly in the nervous system, especially during embryogenesis. Immunocytochemical studies have shown that CRMPs are distributed in the lamellipodia and filopodia of the growth cone, the shaft of axons, and the neuronal cell body. Their expression and phosphorylation are spatially and temporally regulated during development although their molecular mechanisms of action are yet to be clearly.
The members of CRMPs bear the sequence homology to UNC-33, a nematode protein, whose absence produces aberrant elongation of axons and uncoordinated movement in the worm Caenorhabditis elegans. Li et al., Genetics, 132(3): 675-689 (1992). CRMP family members have a 50%-70% amino acid sequence homology. Five members of the CRMP gene family (crmp-1, crmp-2, crmp-3, crmp-4, and crmp-5), encoding closely related 60-66 kDa proteins, have been independently cloned by various laboratories. Each CRMP is believed to have a unique function. The members of the CRMP family have been referred to as CRMP (collapsin response mediator protein), TOAD-64 (turned on after division of a 64 kD protein), Ulip (UNC-33 like phosphoprotein), DRP (dihydropyrimidinase related protein) and TUC (TOAD/Ulip/CRMP). Nonetheless, the most frequently used name in medical literature is CRMP.
Transcription of the ORMP gene is differentially regulated. Inaaaki et al., Histochem. Cell Biol., 113: 37-41 (2000); Matsuo et al., J. Biol. Chem., 275(22): 16560-16568 (2000); Quach et al., Gene, 242(1-2): 175-182 (2000). Mouse CRMP-1, CRMP-4 and CRMP-5 are mainly expressed in the fetal brain and not in the brain of the adult mice. On the other hand, CRMP-2 and CRMP-3 are expressed in the brain of both the fetal and the adult mice. However, in the adult mice, CRMP-3 is localized in the cerebellum. In PC-12 cells, after induction of neuronal differentiation by nerve growth factor (NGF), CRMP-4 was strongly up-regulated, whereas CRMP-1 and CRMP-2 only increased slightly and CRMP-3 was down-regulated. Byk et al., Eur. J. Biochem. 254:14-24(1998). At this time, only the promoter of human CRMP-4 has been isolated and analyzed. Matsuo et al., J. Biol. Chem., 275(22): 16560-16568 (2000). No studies of the regulatory elements of other members of the CRMP family have been conducted.
Recent works reported that the level of expression of the gene encoding human CRMP-1 (hereinafter "hCRMP-1 gene") inversely affects cancer invasion and metastasis, (i.e., the higher the level of expression, the lower the incidence of cancer invasion and metastasis) and thus characterized the human CRMP-1 gene as an invasion-suppression gene. The following studies found that low-expression patients of hCRMP-1 had more advanced diseases and lymph node metastases, while high-expression patients of hCRMP-1 had a significantly longer disease-free and overall survival period. Shih et al., J. Natl. Cancer Inst., 93(18): 1392-1400 (2001); Chu et al., Am. J. Respir. Cell Mol. Biol., 17: 353-360 (1997); and Shih et al., Clinical & Exper. Metastasis, 20: 69-76 (2003).
However, the reports cited above only examined the biological activities of full-length hCRMP-1 protein; the effect of fragments of hCRMP-1 was unknown and the active portions of the full-length protein had not been identified. Further, the prior art only reported the effect of CRMP-1 on metastasis and invasion; any effect on cell proliferation had not been identified.
In accordance with the present invention, certain active fragments have now been discovered and are advantageous in that they can be produced much more easily than the full-length CRMP-1 and in larger quantities, yet still retain all or most of the original biological activities against tumor cells. This would make commercial production more economically and technically feasible.
In addition, it is surprising that certain active fragments achieve better and broader antiproliferative effect on cancer cells than the full-length CRMP-1. For example, CN3, as discussed herein, shows certain improved results over full-length hCRMP-1. Other fragments also exhibit better selectivity in antiproliferative effect on cancer cells than the full-length CRMP-1. For example, the CN5 and CN7 fragments showed good selectivity in inhibiting growth of lung cancer cells while not affecting the growth of normal cells. Such selectivity was not observed when using the full-length CRMP-1. In addition, where the full-length CRMP-1 protein showed suppression of growth of normal cells, certain fragments such as CN5 showed no such side effect, further illustrating that these fragments have advantages over the prior art. There has thus been a long-felt and unfulfilled need in the art to identify active fragments of CRMP-1 so as to allow the large-scale production of protein fragments having the same or better activity as the full-length protein.
Additionally, there has been a need to identify additional agents that act on cell proliferation. As discussed above, it was previously believed that full-length CRMP-1 did not inhibit cell proliferation based on studies in lung cancer cells; however, it has now been determined that full-length CRMP-1 inhibits proliferation in prostate cancer, colon cancer, and breast cancer. It has also been determined that, despite prior studies, full-length CRMP-1 inhibits lung cancer cells to a lesser extent. For example, using poorly differenciated human lung adenocarcinoma cells established from a patient, Shih et al. observed no antiproliferative activity of full-length CRMP-1, see J. Natl. Cancer Inst., 93(18): 1392-1400 (2001). In contrast, our experiments showed full-length CRMP-1 has antiproliferative activity towards the human lung large-cell carcinoma cells H460.

Compositions and methods of using CRMP-1 and its fragments for treating cancer


A semiconductor wafer inspection method includes: an imaging step in which a first image being an image of the chamfered surface seen from the main surface side and a second image being an image of the chamfered surface seen from the back surface side are taken; a calculation step in which a first width is obtained based on the first image, the first width being a width of the chamfered surface seen from the main surface side, a second width is obtained based on the second image, the second width being a width of the chamfered surface seen from the back surface side, and a ratio of the first width to the second width thus obtained is calculated; and a shape determination step in which a form of the chamfered surface is determined to be abnormal in a case where the ratio is out of a predetermined range.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor wafer inspection method.
2. Related Art
A semiconductor wafer often includes a principal surface that is a planar surface and a chamfered surface that is formed in a peripheral portion. The chamfered portion is chamfered and thus can prevent damage of the semiconductor wafer in a case where an external force is applied to the peripheral portion.
A defect such as a crack, a projection, an attached particle and the like that is present on the chamfered surface increases the likelihood of cracking, breakage and the like of the semiconductor wafer during processing of the semiconductor wafer.
In order to detect such a defect of a chamfered surface, a technique for taking images of a chamfered surface from a plurality of positions and detecting a defect of the chamfered surface based on a plurality of images thus taken is proposed (for example, see Japanese Unexamined Patent Applications Publication Nos. 2003-139523 and 2003-243465).
Here, in an inspection of a chamfered surface, in addition to detection of a defect, determination of whether or not a chamfered surface shape is abnormal is required. However, in the technique disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Applications Publication Nos. 2003-139523 and 2003-243465, though a defect of the chamfered surface can be detected, it cannot be determined whether or not the shape of the chamfered surface is abnormal. As a result, a separate step of determination of whether or not the shape of the chamfered portion is abnormal is required, and thus there has been a problem in throughput of inspection processing being decreased.


A centrifuge tube having an indexing tab or indentation on a flange surrounding the tube to establish rotational orientation of the tube with respect to the cavity of a centrifuge.

Centrifugal separation of suspensions of solid particles in liquids is essential in many procedures. For example, centrifugal separation is used to purify protein conjugates and to desalt and purify peptides prior to electrophoresis. There are many other centrifugal separations that are used in industry and in laboratories.
Usually a centrifugal separation is effected by placing the suspension to be separated in a small plastic tube, called a centrifuge tube, which is placed in a cavity in a centrifugal separating apparatus, and then the tube and its contents are subjected to a spinning action so that centrifugal force causes many multiples of gravity within the tube. As a result, the solids in the suspension accumulate at the bottom of the tube in what is know as a pellet. The pellet is recovered by decanting the liquid. The tube must be removed from the centrifuge for it to be examined to determine if the extent of the separation is adequate. If the initial centrifugal separation is not complete, a second separation is necessary for a longer period of time or at a higher rotational speed.
In some centrifugal separations the pellet must be dried which is frequently accomplished by decanting the liquid from the centrifuge tube and then filling the tube with a drying medium such as alcohol, which dissolves the water in the pellet that was not removed by decanting. The drying process may dislodge some of the particles from the pellet so that after drying it is necessary to subject the tube containing the drying medium to further centrifugal separation to force all of the solid particles back into the pellet. Any time the centrifuge tube is removed from the centrifuge cavity and replaced in a different orientation with respect to a centrifuge cavity, the pellet is disturbed and the time for centrifugal separation must be repeated. Reforming the pellet is time consuming and it is particularly wasteful if the objective of removing the centrifuge tube was only for the purpose of observing whether the separation was complete.

Centrifuge tube with rotational position index