Transistor cells (2) of a power transistor component are in each case provided with a gate conductor structure that forms a gate electrode (52) in sections and is connected via a gate cell terminal (43) to a gate wiring line (81) led to a gate terminal (44) of the power transistor component (1). The gate conductor structure (5) has a desired fusible section (51) with an increased resistance, which is arranged within a cavity. The resistance of the desired fusible section (51) can be set in such a way that, in the event of a current loading of the magnitude of a value that is typical of a defective gate dielectric (41), the gate conductor section (5) is interrupted in the desired fusible section (51) and the gate electrode (52) is disconnected from the gate wiring line (81). The power transistor component can be produced with high yield and has a smaller number of failures during application operation.

The invention relates to a power transistor cell with a gate cell terminal and a gate conductor structure—connected to the gate cell terminal—with an electrode section—adjoining a gate dielectric—for controlling the power transistor cell, and also to a power transistor component with fusible link.
Power semiconductor components are constructed from a multiplicity of essentially identical transistor cells that are often connected in parallel in their tens of thousands in order to increase the current-carrying capacity of the power semiconductor component. In modern vertically patterned power semiconductor components, the gate electrode of a respective transistor cell is in this case provided in a trench introduced into a semiconductor substrate, so that the gate electrode can be used to control a vertical conductive channel between two source and drain terminal regions opposite one another at the semiconductor substrate. The gate electrodes of the transistor cells of a power semiconductor component, for instance of a vertical MOSFET (metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor) or of an IGBT (insulated gate bipolar transistor), are connected in parallel.
The functionality of the power semiconductor component is generally ensured only when the gate dielectric of all the transistor cells of a power semiconductor component is functionally capable. A short circuit between the gate electrode and the source or drain region of a transistor cell leads to the failure of the entire power semiconductor component. Since a plurality of power semiconductor components are connected in parallel as so-called power modules within a module housing, the requirements made of the reliability of the design of the gate dielectric multiply.
A single defect in the gate dielectric may lead to the failure of the component either at the end of production or after a relatively long operating time of the power semiconductor component.
In order to keep down the more critical failures during application operation of the power semiconductor components, the power semiconductor components are subjected to a stress test in the course of which the quality or defectiveness of the component is tested. For this purpose, generally at the wafer level, a stress voltage that is significantly increased compared with the operating voltages is applied between the gate electrode and the source or drain terminal in order to cause transistor cells with a defective gate dielectric to fail as early as in the test bed. The magnitude of the stress voltage is limited by the intrinsic breakdown voltage of the gate dielectric since, above the intrinsic breakdown voltage, charges are impressed into the gate dielectric and in turn reduce the service life of the gate dielectric.
Furthermore, it is known that power semiconductor components from wafers or from batches of wafers for which a broad distribution band of the breakdown voltage is determined tend toward early failures during application operation with a higher probability than power semiconductor components from wafers or from batches with a narrow distribution band of the breakdown voltage. In order to preclude as far as possible early failures during application operation, such wafers or else batches of such wafers are completely rejected. The production yield is thereby significantly reduced.
Moreover, complicated examinations in respect of the actual formation of the gate dielectric in the form of spot checks within a monitoring are necessary since the density of defects (defect density) in the gate dielectric cannot necessarily be deduced from the result of the stress test.
Therefore, various approaches are known for increasing the yield of power semiconductor components produced without any defects by subsequently disconnecting defective memory cells.
For instance, it is known to group transistor cells of MOS power field effect transistors into cell blocks and to test the cells or else cell blocks individually. In a subsequent process, only those cell blocks which have proved to be free of defects in the test are connected to the source terminal or to the drain terminal of the power semiconductor component.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,021,861 discloses a cell concept for power semiconductor components in which a fusible link is provided between the gate terminal of the power semiconductor component and the gate terminal of each cell block. In this case, the fusible link is designed in such a way that a short circuit in the cell block leads to the fusing of the fusible link. Any cell block that has one or a plurality of defective cells is isolated by interrupting the connection between the gate terminal of the cell block and the gate terminal of the power semiconductor component.
What is disadvantageous about this concept is the lack of sensitivity of the fusible link since, on the one hand, even very small gate leakage currents indicate a defective transistor cell, and, on the other hand, the fusible link must be robust enough to take up the permissible gate current of all the cells that are connected in parallel in the cell block.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,446,310 therefore proposes, in a first step, determining the current consumption at the gate electrode of individual cell blocks and, in a second step, by means of an external current source, fusing corresponding fusible links assigned to the cell blocks in a manner dependent on the previous test result.
In this case, firstly the increased outlay in the test bed is disadvantageous, as is the fact that the fusible links can only be fused in the test bed, but not in the finished, housed component. Furthermore, through the uncoupling of entire cell blocks, the current-carrying capacity of the power semiconductor component is significantly reduced and the loading on the remaining cell blocks is increased. Through the assignment of a respective fusible link to a plurality of transistor cells grouped in a cell block, generally not only the defective transistor cell itself but also a series of inherently functionally capable transistor cells are uncoupled and the current-carrying capacity of the power semiconductor component is reduced to a greater extent than is necessary.
Therefore, the invention is based on the object of providing a transistor cell and a power transistor component with high reliability for which a high yield is ensured in production.

Power transistor cell and power transistor component with fusible link


A method to shape a transmit beam pattern of a transmitter array. A basel time delay/phase coefficient is set for each transmitter. A plurality of beam pattern intensities are iteratively generated using the set of baseline time delays/phase coefficients and a plurality of sets of adjusted time delays/phase coefficients. Each beam pattern intensity has a unique set of time delays/phase coefficients associated therewith. Each one of the sets of adjusted time delays/phase coefficients differs from the set of baseline time delays/phase coefficients by only one time delay/phase coefficient. Each beam pattern intensity is compared with the optimal beam pattern intensity to determine which one of the set of unique time delays/phase coefficients minimizes a difference between the optimal beam pattern intensity and a corresponding one of the plurality of beam pattern intensities. The set of baseline time delays/phase coefficients is then replaced with the one of the set of unique time delays/phase coefficients that minimizes the difference. The above steps of iterative generation, comparing and replacing are repeated until the difference can no longer be reduced.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to controlling transmitters such as sonar transmitters, and more particularly to a method and system for controlling the output of an array of transmitters in order to achieve a desired beam pattern.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
In sonar applications using an array of transmitters, it is desirable for each transmitter to be transmitting the same power at any given time in order to produce a beam pattern that maximizes the transmitted energy for a given power constraint. To provide a background to beamforming, the following briefly describes a typical situation that requires beamforming and a number of approaches that can be used.
Consider a plurality of transducers where each transducer transmits a signal that can be adjusted in amplitude and delayed in time. Together, the transmitted signals add constructively in certain directions and destructively in other directions. This variation in the gain profile provides a beam pattern. A typical beam pattern has a main lobe in the main axis and a number of side lobes in the off-axis directions. It is desirable in some applications to change the width of the main lobe and/or reduce the level of the side lobes. These types of adjustments are known as beam shaping.
One approach to beam shaping is to change the spacing between the transmitters. However, this approach involves a mechanical change to achieve a new beam pattern and is therefore not suitable for adaptive situations. Alternatively, one can electronically alter the beam pattern by changing the amplitude (i.e., amplitude shading) or the time delays (e.g., phase shading for a narrowband signal) associated with the transmitted signals.
In amplitude shading, the amplitudes of the transmitted signals are weighted to achieve a certain beam shape. For example, the amplitude can be tapered to achieve a wider main lobe and lower side lobe levels using well-known weighting functions such as the Binomial, Taylor or Dolph-Chebyshev weighting functions. However, this type of amplitude shading is generally only effective for a uniformly-spaced linear array of transmitters, and is therefore not appropriate for use with non-uniform or arbitrary array of transmitters. Also, extensions of these approaches to a two-dimensional array are not a direct process. Moreover, the tapering of the amplitudes usually causes a loss in the transmitted energy as attenuations are applied to the transmitters.
To maintain a high transmit level and to form beams at the same time, time-delay beamforming or phase shading for a narrowband signal can be used where the relative delays of the transmitted signals are used to form beams. This approach, however, lacks a direct analytic solution that relates the desired beam pattern to the time delays.

Beam pattern shaping for transmitter array

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


An apparatus for treating a substrate with a cryogenic impingement fluid includes a protective enclosure defining an internal cavity, a cryogenic fluid applicator positioned within the internal cavity and a snow generation system connected to the cryogenic fluid applicator. The snow generation system includes a condensing subsystem and a diluent or propellant gas subsystem. Each subsystem is connectable to a common gas source. The condensing subsystem includes a condenser for condensing liquid carbon dioxide into solid carbon dioxide particles, or dry ice snow. The condenser includes at least two segments of differing diameter connected to one another. Liquid carbon dioxide is introduced into the smaller diameter first segment and upon entering the larger diameter second segment, solidifies into dry ice particles. The dry ice particles, along with diluent or propellant gas produced from the diluent subsystem, are delivered to the cryogenic fluid applicator via a coaxial delivery tube.

The present invention generally relates to the field of environmental control for performing cryogenic spray cleaning processes. More specifically, the present invention is directed at cleaning or treating miniature electromechanical device surfaces with cryogenic impingement sprays.
Conventional precision cleaning processes using cryogenic particle impingement sprays, such as solid phase carbon dioxide, require control of the atmosphere containing a treated substrate to prevent the deposition of moisture, particles or other such contaminants onto surfaces during and following cleaning treatments. Environmental control is required because of localized atmospheric perturbations created by the low temperatures and high velocities which are characteristic of these impingement cleaning sprays.
For example, snow particles having a surface temperature of −100 F and traveling through the space between a spray nozzle and a substrate are continuously sublimating in transit and upon impact with the substrate. This rapidly lowers local ambient atmospheric temperature causing contaminants contained therein to condense or "rain-out" of the local atmosphere and onto treated substrate surfaces during or following spray treatments. Moreover, by way of the Bernoulli effect, the cleaning spray stream exhibits lower internal pressure than the surrounding atmosphere which creates venturi currents adjacent to the flow of the stream. These venturi currents cause the local atmosphere surrounding the stream to collapse into the spray stream above the substrate, thus entraining and delivering a mixture of cleaning spray and atmospheric constituents to the substrate. Finally, static charge build-up and accumulation are common to cryogenic sprays due to dielectric and triboelectric characteristics. This presents problems including, for example, potential device damage from electrostatic overstress or electrostatic discharge, and attraction of atmospheric contaminants to treated substrates via electrostatic attractive forces.
Micro-environmental control technology is well established and many techniques have been developed over the years to isolate either a process, a substrate or a worker. The purpose of isolation generally includes protecting workers from toxic chemicals, protecting clean rooms from particles, or protecting delicate processes and substrates from the outside environment.
There are many examples of techniques to control thermal and electrostatic effects during cryogenic impingement sprays using secondary heated or ionized jets or sprays above the substrate surface and delivered either independently or as a component of the cryogenic spray have been used commercially. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,409,418 issued to Krone-Schmidt et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,354,384 issued to Sneed et al. suggest direct heated or ionized gas impingement techniques and apparatus for heating, purging and deionizing substrate surfaces. The '384 patent suggests the use of a heated gas, such as filtered nitrogen, to provide a pre-heat cycle to a portion of a substrate prior to snow spray cleaning and a post-heat cycle to the substrate following the snow cleaning. This approach relies on "banking heat" into the substrate portion prior to cryogenic spray cleaning by delivering a heated gas stream to a portion of substrate to prevent moisture deposition and adding heat from a heated gas following cryogenic spray treatment. The '384 patent is primarily useful for removing high molecular weight materials such as waxes and adhesive residues having weakened cohesive energy from surfaces by partially melting or softening them prior to spray treatment. However, the approach of the '384 patent does not work well for most substrate treatment applications because many materials being cleaned, or at least portions thereof, have low thermal conductivity, low mass or because highly thermal conductive materials rapidly lose heat to the sublimating snow during impact. This tends to create localized cold spots on even a mostly hot bulk substrate. Examples of such substrates include ceramics, glasses, silicon and other semi-conductor materials, as well as most polymers. Additionally, many electromechanical devices being cleaned are relatively small, providing no appreciable mass for storing heat. Such examples include photodiodes, fiber optic connectors, optical fibers, end-faces, sensors, dies, and CCD's, among many others.
Most significantly, directing a heating spray, or any secondary fluid for that matter, directly at or incident to the substrate surface during and/or following cryogenic cleaning spray treatments causes the entrainment, delivery and deposition of atmospheric contaminants as discussed above. This necessitates housing the cryogenic spray applicator, substrate and secondary gas jets in large, bulky and complex environmental enclosures employing HEPA filtration and dry inert atmospheres, such as included in U.S. Pat. No. 5,315,793, issued to Peterson et al.
In the '418 patent, an apparatus is taught for surrounding the impinging cryogenic spray stream with an ionized inert gas. It is proposed that by surrounding a stream of solid-gas carbon dioxide with a circular stream of ionized gas and applying the two components to the substrate simultaneously controls or eliminates electrostatic discharge at the surface during impingement. However, as also suggested by the '384 patent, the '418 patent suggests secondary stream that entrains, delivers and deposits atmospheric contaminants upon the substrate surfaces being treated. Moreover, contact of the ionizing gas with the stream prior to contact with the surface rapidly eliminates ion concentration and is ineffective in controlling electrostatic dishcarge. Still moreover, using the ionizing spray of the '418 patent independent of the snow spray and which is directed at an angle incident to the surface will further re-contaminate the substrate unless, as taught in the '793 patent, the entire operation is performed in a controlled HEPA filtered chamber.
As devices become smaller and their complexity increases, it is clearly desirable to have a improved processing technique, including a method and apparatus, that enables the use of environmentally safe cleaning agents to remove unwanted organic films and particles. It is desirable to have a technique which prevents additional particles and residues from being deposited on critical surfaces during application of said impingement cleaning sprays. The complete environmental control technique should include all of the basic environmental controls of thermal control, ionization control, and providing a dry and particle free cleaning atmosphere, but not negatively impacting the performance of the impinging cleaning spray. Moreover it would be highly desirable to have a cleaning capability integrated with the aforementioned controlled environment which provides a compact in-line or bench-top critical cleaning solution for manufacturing operations.

Apparatus to treat and inspect a substrate


A printer controlling system which can perform printing at predetermined printing density even when the carriage is being accelerated or decelerated is disclosed. When the carriage is traveling, position pulses are generated at constant travel distance intervals. The carriage travel speed is measured on the basis of the time intervals during which the position pulses are generated. Further, the time at which the carriage reaches each predetermined printing position is estimated on the basis of the measured travel speed, and the actual printing is made when the current time matches the estimated arrival time.

In the prior-art printing control method of printers, the printing timing has been decided on the basis of the regular time intervals determined by the carriage travel speed and the printing density (the number of dots per unit distance), with the result that this printing control method is effective only when the carriage travels at a constant speed. In other words, in the prior-art printer, the printing operation is not executed during acceleration or deceleration as immediately after the carriage starts traveling or immediately before the carriage is stopped.
According to the prior-art printing method, it has been necessary to prepare marginal sections over the entire length of the printer for accelerating or decelerating the carriage, and therefore the space efficiency is reduced by that amount. Further, the throughput is decreased because no printing operation is executed during the carriage acceleration and deceleration.
Accordingly, the object of the present invention is to enable a high precise printing without being subjected to the influence of carriage speed, by precisely determining the printing timing even when the carriage travels at non-constant speed as when being accelerated and decelerated.


A golf club locking device is provided to lockingly secure two or four golf clubs within a golf bag. A central member having arms extending from opposite sides is provided with a key lock. The key lock is operatively connected to a bar which rotates upon the turning of the key. Each extending arm includes one or two slots for fitting the narrow end of the golf club shaft therein. Upon rotating the locking key bar, the slot opening is closed to prevent removal of the golf clubs.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to the field of golf club locking devices and in particular to the field of locking apparatus attached to a golf club bag to prevent theft of two or more golf clubs such as a driver and a putter.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Golf clubs like many other devices have advanced in performance and design due to the vast increases in technology over the past decade or so. However, technology is not without cost because along with the technological advances, the purchase price of golf clubs has significantly risen. Both factors, characteristically have given rise to increases in the pilferage of the technologically advanced and costly golf clubs over the same period of time.
Modern golf clubs consist of a matched set of irons and woods. The irons range in numbers from one through nine while woods generally range in numbers from one through four. Woods can, however, continue in numbers five through nine. Typically there are two golf clubs which command special attention to the golfer and to the golf club manufacturers. These are the driver and the putter. Because technology has focused in on these two clubs in particular, the desirability and the price of a driver and a putter has increased even beyond the price of modern and expensive golf clubs. A single driver can cost as much as three hundred dollars. A single putter can cost as much as one hundred or more dollars. As a result, these two clubs in particular are very subject to being stolen.
The putter and driver can be stolen from automobiles, public and private golf courses, during traveling or any other situation where the clubs or golf bag are left unattended for a brief period of time. Typically, the clubs are stolen from golf bags which contain all of the clubs of a golfer. For example, while a golf bag is on a golf cart, or at a golf rack along with dozens of other bags, or the golf club bag is being handled by a valet who takes the clubs to and from the golfer's car, or any other time where the clubs are left unattended for a brief period of time, a person can easily take the putter and the driver from a bag without being noticed. In such a situation, the inconvenience to the golfer is significant. He has lost the two clubs upon which he most depends and must endeavor to obtain replacements which will never be exactly the same as the missing clubs. He will lose the ability to use the particular clubs which are stolen when playing a round of golf. He will also be out the high cost of the stolen clubs.
While there may be golf club locking devices which have been previously invented, to the inventor's knowledge there is no device on the present market which is being used to prevent theft of the driver and the putter. In all probability the reasons for the non-use are lack of simplicity, convenience and effectiveness. The present invention provides a complete solution to the problem of stolen drivers and putters; it is very convenient to use; it is simple in construction; it is inexpensive, and can be adapted to both existing golf club bags and new golf club bags. Thus, the inventive apparatus can be sold separately or it can be manufactured as part of the golf bag.
The above-stated objects as well as other objects which, although not specifically stated, but are intended to be included within the scope the present invention, are accomplished by the present invention and will become apparent from the hereinafter set forth Detailed Description of the Invention, Drawings, and the Claims appended herewith.


A technique is disclosed for shielding rf magnetic fields in MRI systems. An rf shield is embedded in a gradient coil structure including X-, Y- and Z-axis coils. The rf shield is positioned between an inner gradient coil which is inherently decoupled from the rf field, and the remaining coils which require rf shielding. The inner gradient coil may be a Z-axis coil wound as a solenoid, the field of which is generally orthogonal with respect to the rf magnetic field. The rf shield is thereby placed at an enhanced distance from the rf coil, providing greater efficiency and permitting energy levels to be reduced to obtain the desired rf magnetic field strength.

The present invention relates generally to the field of magnetic resonance imaging systems, such as those used for medical diagnostic applications. More particularly, the invention relates to a technique for shielding gradient coils in magnetic resonance imaging systems from radiofrequency magnetic fields generated during the course of examinations.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems have become ubiquitous in the field of medical diagnostics. Over the two past decades, improved techniques for MRI examinations have been developed that now permit very high-quality images to be produced in a relatively short time. As a result, diagnostic images with varying degrees of resolution are available to the radiologist that can be adapted to particular diagnostic applications.
In general, MRI examinations are based on the interactions among a primary magnetic field, a radiofrequency (rf) magnetic field and time varying magnetic gradient fields with nuclear spins within the subject of interest. Specific nuclear components, such as hydrogen nuclei in water molecules, have characteristic behaviors in response to external magnetic fields. The precession of spins of such nuclear components can be influenced by manipulation of the fields to obtain rf signals that can be detected, processed, and used to reconstruct a useful image.
The magnetic fields used to produce images in MRI systems include a highly uniform, static magnetic field that is produced by a primary magnet. A series of gradient fields are produced by a set of three gradient coils disposed around the subject. The gradient fields encode positions of individual volume elements or voxels in three dimensions. A radiofrequency coil is employed to produce an rf magnetic field. This rf magnetic field perturbs the spin system from its equilibrium direction, causing the spins to precess around the axis of their equilibrium magnetization. During this precession, radiofrequency fields are emitted by the spins and detected by either the same transmitting rf coil, or by a separate receive-only coil. These signals are amplified, filtered, and digitized. The digitized signals are then processed using one of several possible reconstruction algorithms to reconstruct a useful image.
Many specific techniques have been developed to acquire MR images for a variety of applications. One major difference among these techniques is in the way gradient pulses and rf pulses are used to manipulate the spin systems to yield different image contrasts, signal-to-noise ratios, and resolutions. Graphically, such techniques are illustrated as xe2x80x9cpulse sequencesxe2x80x9d in which the pulses are represented along with temporal relationships among them. In recent years, pulse sequences have been developed which permit extremely rapid acquisition of a large amount of raw data. Such pulse sequences permit significant reduction in the time required to perform the examinations. Time reductions are particularly important for acquiring high resolution images, as well as for suppressing motion effects and reducing the discomfort of patients in the examination process.
While field interactions are fundamental to the encoding of data acquired in MRI systems, certain field interactions are undesirable, or may lead to degradation of the image data. For example, when the appropriate pulses are applied to an rf coil during an examination sequence, rf energy from the rf coil can penetrate the gradient coil structure where it is dissipated by lossy eddy currents induced in the gradient coil structure. To maintain a high efficiency of the rf coil, then, an rf shield is typically positioned between the rf coil and the gradient coil set so as to prevent or reduce penetration of the rf magnetic field into all of the gradient coils. The design of the rf shield is such that minimal eddy currents are generated by switching of the gradient fields, rendering the rf shield substantially transparent to the gradient fields. At the same time, the rf frequencies are much higher than characteristic eddy current decay rates in the shield, hence the shield functions like an impenetrable barrier to rf fields.
The proximity of an rf shield to the gradient coil conductors, particularly in the case of a whole body rf transmit coil, may significantly affect the overall power efficiency and the signal-to-noise ratio of the rf coil. In general, it is desirable to place the rf shield as far as possible from the rf coil. Where the power efficiency is reduced, larger amounts of power may need to be supplied to the rf coil, leading to the use of larger power amplifiers to obtain a desired magnitude of the rf magnetic field. Larger currents may also be required for the rf coil conductors, potentially leading to unacceptably high levels of energy within the patient bore. Moreover, coupling with the shield effectively increases the series resistance of the rf coil and lowers the inductance. These combined effects may result in a low quality factor (sometimes referred to at xe2x80x9cQxe2x80x9d in the art), and a consequent reduction in signal to noise ratio.
There is a need, therefore, for an improved technique for shielding rf magnetic fields in MRI systems. There is, at present, a particular need for a technique which can be employed in a straightforward manner to enhance both the power efficiency of the rf coil and the signal-to-noise ratio to address the drawbacks in hereto for known systems.
The present invention provides a radiofrequency shielding technique designed to respond to such needs. The technique may be employed in a wide range of systems, but is particularly suitable to magnetic resonance imaging systems, such as those used in medical diagnostic applications. The technique may also be employed in any suitable MRI scanner design, including full body scanners, open scanners, and scanners with a range of field ratings. Where appropriate, the technique may be used to retrofit existing scanners, or may be incorporated into new designs, particularly in the configuration of the gradient coil structure.
The technique makes use of a novel arrangement of gradient coils and an rf shield. In one embodiment, the rf shield is placed between the gradient coils, with a modified solenoid-type coil, commonly the Z-axis gradient coil, positioned within the shield, that is, between the shield and the rf transmit coil. Because the mode of the rf coil that is typically used in MRI has little or no net magnetic flux in the Z-axis direction, the coupling between the rf coil and the Z-axis gradient coil is minimal. Hence the radiofrequency field will be disturbed very little by the presence of the Z-axis gradient coil on the interior of the shield surface, enabling the rf shield to be moved significantly away from the transmit coil as compared to known designs. The technique has been demonstrated to provide a significant reduction in noise and increased efficiency, allowing for use of a smaller rf amplifier than in conventional systems, or for reduced power input to the rf transmit coil to obtain the desired rf magnetic field strength.

GE Medical Systems Global Technology Company, LLC


This invention provides cationic acrylamide polymers which are highly effective as paper strength agents, drainage agents and suspension flocculants, and which do not show much temporal deterioration; it also provides a method of manufacturing said polymers wherein the manufacturing equipment is compact and can be installed on site, and the cationicity of the polymers can be modified in a short time.. This invention comprises a method of manufacturing cationic acrylamide polymers by reaction, with a hypohalogenite, of a (meth)acrylamide homopolymer, a copolymer of (meth)acrylamide and acrylonitrile, a copolymer of (meth)acrylamide and, N,N-dimethylacrylamide, in a high temperature range of 50.degree.-110.degree. C. for a short time; the polymers manufactured by said process; and paper strength agents, drainage agents and flocculants having these polymers as their principal constituent.

(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method of manufacturing cationic acrylamide polymers mainly used as paper strength agents and flocculants, said polymers, and the applications of these polymers. More specifically, it relates to ca&ionic acrylamide polymers obtained by carrying out a Hofmann degradation reaction on acrylamide polymers at high temperature for a short time, their method of manufacture and the applications of these polymers.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
Examples of cationic acrylamide polymers (acrylamide polymers are hereafter referred to simply as polyacrylamides) known in the prior art are Hofmann decomposition polyacrylamides, Mannich polyacrylamides, and copolymers of cationic monomers and acrylamides. Some of these polymers have various uses such as paper strength agents and flocculants, while the use of others is being considered.
Hofmann decomposition polyacrylamides have excellent properties not shared by Mannich polyacrylamides and copolymers of cationic monomers, however they lose their cationicity over a period of time in aqueous solution, and their use has therefore been limited.
Various means have been considered to improve the characteristics of these polymers. One such means is to carry our the Hofmann decomposition of polyacrylamides at low temperature in order to suppress side reactions and thereby suppress temporal deterioration. It is reported for example in "Kobunshi Ronbun", Vol. 33, No. 6, pp. 309-316, 1976, that in the Hofmann decomposition of polyacrylamides, substitution of amino groups can occur easily even at low temperature due to the reaction promoting effect of neighbouring groups, and it is also disclosed that to suppress side reactions (such as hydrolysis and formation of lactam rings) and depolymerizations, it is desirable to carry out the reaction at a low temperature of the Order of 25.degree. C. or less to obtain amino-substituted PAM (polyacrylamides) with high performance. The advantage of carrying out the Hofmann reaction of polyacrylamides at low temperature is also reported in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Nos. 61-200103, 58-152004, 58-108206, 57-165404, 55-6556, 52-152493 and 51-122188.
However, according to tests performed by the inventors of the present invention, it was found that merely carrying out the Hofmann reaction at low temperature does not improve the temporal variation to such an extent as to permit commercial application of the polymers. In another approach, hydroxyl-substituted compounds into which cationic groups have been substituted such as quaternary ammonium salts, or N,N-dialkyl substituted diamines, guanidine and polyamines are also present when the Hofmann decomposition is carried out, and these substances are made to react with isocyanate intermediates of the Hofmann decomposition so as to incorporate them in the polymer, thereby preventing temporal variation from occurring, as disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Paten.+-.Application Nos. 62-59602, 61-120807, 57-192408, 56-144295, 54-145790 and 53-109594. According to the present inventors, however, these methods have still not given satisfactory results.

Catonic acrylamide polymers and the applications of these polymers


An air bearing includes: a main body part having a bearing surface facing a guide surface; a flow path part provided in the main body part; an air film forming part that supplies compressed air flowing through the flow path part to the guide surface to form an air film; a negative pressure generating part that sucks air between the bearing surface and the guide surface, the negative pressure generating part being provided in the flow path part; a discharge path in communication with the flow path part; and a flow rate adjusting part that adjusts a flow rate of air flowing from the flow path part to the discharge path in accordance with a compressed air pressure corresponding to a load applied to the main body part.

The present invention relates to an air bearing with a vacuum preloading function.
Conventionally, many air bearings are used for high-precision measuring equipment such as a coordinate measuring machine (CMM) and a guiding mechanism of a high-precision machine tool. When compressed air provided from an exterior compressor to an air bearing is supplied to a guide surface of the guiding mechanism, an air film is generated between a bearing surface and the guide surface of the air bearing. Accordingly, the bearing surface floats from the guide surface, and so a guiding mechanism with substantially zero sliding resistance can be realized.
It is known that the air film has a characteristic that its stiffness varies non-linearly in accordance with a load applied on the air bearing, and the stiffness of the air film is low and unstable in a light-load state. Accordingly, in order to secure the stiffness of the air film, an air bearing of a vacuum preloading method in which air is sucked from between the bearing surface and the guide surface to provide a preload (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2017-187060) has been proposed.
However, when the above-mentioned air bearing of the vacuum preloading system is adopted, a region in which an air film for supporting a load can be formed is narrowed since a part between the bearing surface and the guide surface is used as a region for sucking air. As a result, it may be difficult to adequately support higher loads applied to the air bearing.


A phosphor combination may include a first phosphor and a second phosphor. The second phosphor may be a red-emitting quantum dot phosphor. The phosphor combination may optionally include a third phosphor that is a red-emitting phosphor with the formula (MB) (TA)3-2x(TC)1+2xO4-4xN4x:E. A conversion element may include the phosphor combination. An optoelectronic device may include the phosphor combination and a radiation-emitting semiconductor chip.

The prior art discloses various ways of using optoelectronic devices, such as light-emitting diodes, for instance, to generate light containing proportions of different wavelength ranges of the visible spectrum. One important application is the generation of white light.
The use of two or more semiconductor chips which emit light of different wavelengths constitutes one way of using an optoelectronic device to generate light which covers different wavelength ranges of the visible spectrum. By way of example, an optoelectronic device can contain a blue-emitting semiconductor chip and a red-emitting semiconductor chip. If white light is intended to be generated, the blue semiconductor chip can additionally be combined with one or more phosphors which convert the blue radiation into radiation of the visible spectrum having a longer wavelength, for example to green light. However, the emitted radiation from known red-emitting semiconductor chips changes with regard to its dominant wavelength and intensity depending on the temperature and the applied current. The use of red-emitting semiconductor chips in addition to blue-emitting semiconductor chips thus necessitates additional driving within the optoelectronic device.
As an alternative thereto, it is also possible to generate light that covers different wavelength ranges of the visible spectrum by combining a single, e.g. blue-emitting, semiconductor chip with one or more phosphors, wherein the phosphors convert the radiation emitted by the semiconductor chip into radiation of the visible spectrum having a longer wavelength. Phosphor combinations (or phosphor mixtures) composed of conventional phosphors are usually used for this purpose. By way of example, white light can be generated by blue light emitted by a semiconductor chip being partly converted into green, yellow and red light with the aid of a phosphor mixture. White light can be obtained overall by means of the superimposition of light of different wavelengths.
The efficiency and also the color quality are of crucial importance for optoelectronic devices which generate light that covers proportions with different wavelength ranges in the visible spectrum, such as in the case of white light, for instance.
Both the efficiency and the color quality (or color rendering) are determined to a considerable extent by the phosphor mixture which converts the radiation emitted by the semiconductor chip.

Luminophore combination, conversion element, and optoelectronic device


A vehicle occupant restraint system comprises an airbag module (12) including an inflator (18) and a frontally acting airbag (16), wherein the airbag (16) includes an inflator-side inflation end (46) as well as a first free end (56) located in the inflated state of the airbag (16) within a vehicle interior. In a first period during deployment of the airbag (16), the first free end (56) is still connected via a tether (74) to the airbag module (12), wherein the tether (74) becomes detached upon reaching a predetermined tensile force. When folding the airbag (16), the non-inflated airbag (16) is spread so that a second free end (58) is maximally distant from the inflation end (46) and a first outer wall portion is stretched in the longitudinal direction of the airbag (16), and the first free end (56) is located in the vicinity of the inflation end (46) and a second outer wall portion is stretched in the longitudinal direction of the airbag (16), wherein a third outer wall portion of the airbag (16) is folded back onto itself at least in a portion. The two lateral areas of the spread airbag (16) are folded toward the center, and subsequently the airbag (16) is rolled up from the second free end (58).

The invention relates to a vehicle occupant restraint system comprising an airbag module and a method of folding an airbag of the airbag module.
For protecting the vehicle occupants, very successfully airbags have been employed. Before being used, they are accommodated behind a vehicle lining out of which they will deploy. However, especially front airbags frequently have a large filling volume and an irregular three-dimensional configuration, which impedes smooth deployment into the vehicle interior.

Vehicle occupant restraint system having an airbag module and method for assembling an airbag


Systems and methods of using augmented reality (AR) with object recognition (OR) in a physical environment to advance a narrative may be provided. For example, the system may access narrative data representing the narrative. The system may, for a first node of the one or more nodes: generate a user interface associated with the narrative for the first node and access a first decision rule specifying a first physical object to be recognized to advance past the first node in the narrative. The system may further perform image recognition on an image of the physical environment, determine that the first physical object is in the physical environment based on the image recognition, transition from the first node in the narrative based on the first decision rule and the determination, and update the user interface to a second node in the narrative based on the transition from the first node.

Augment Reality (AR) displays may provide graphical information overlaid onto a physical environment. For example, a description of a physical object may be overlaid onto the physical object. Mixed Reality (MR) displays may further include artificial objects (used interchangeably with "virtual" to denote non-physical objects generated by an AR display) such as an image of furniture that may be moved about the physical environment. For purposes of this description, AR will be described as encompassing MR.

Augmented unification of real and object recognized attributes


An optical element of non-metallic, transparent, material, preferably quartz glass or calcium fluoride, is fastened to a mount or a mount element that is provided with a surface that forms a gap with the optical element. The surface that forms the gap is coated with a metal solder that melts at a temperature below about 100.degree. C. The optical element is placed at the metal solder, and the metal is melted, resulting in a positively locking connection with the optical element.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an optical assembly of an optical element of transparent material and a mount or mount element.
The invention also relates to a process for fastening an optical element of non-metallic, transparent material, particularly quartz glass or calcium fluoride, to a mount or mount element.
The mount or mount element in the sense of the invention is to be understood to mean any component that is not in itself light-conducting and is suitable for mechanically fixing one or more optical elements and connecting them into an optical assembly or bringing them into operative connection, or bringing them into operative connection with adjusting elements.
The invention further relates to UV optical systems, microscopes and projection illumination equipments with at least one optical assembly according to the invention.
2. Discussion of Relevant Art
Jointing techniques for the connection of lenses, prisms, flat plates and mirrors to mounts are well known.
Cementing is important because particularly small stresses on the optical parts are attained. Modern forms use UV setting adhesives. The organic cements however exhibit distinct radiation damage when irradiated with wavelengths shorter than the Hg-I line, so that they are hardly usable for DUV projection illumination equipments with a 193 nm excimer laser.
Conventional positive connections such as flanging or attachment rings produce excessive strains in the optical material in this field of application.
Annular brazing of glass and the like to mounts is known from European Patent EP 0 761 623. These serve primarily as gastight joints of windows for lasers, vacuum chambers and the like. As a rule, the operation uses high temperatures in the brazing region at about 400.degree. C. and higher. Such high temperature treatment is excluded in the case of finished precision optics with antireflection layers and the like.
From U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/134,227 of Carl Zeiss, a suitable soldering technique for optical precision mounts is known, with an adhesion layer of quartz or calcium fluoride, as well as providing a material locking connection of a local nature with studs or lugs.

UV-resistant jointing technique for lenses and mounts


The invention relates to a handle body for body care implements, such as toothbrushes, hairbrushes, razors, etc. having a skeleton form base structure formed from a hard component for supporting at least one soft component. The base structure includes a grip part with an elongate, spinal core arranged in the grip with protruding extensions in the form of ribs and/or stump-like raised parts that form open spaces filled with the soft component.

The invention relates to a handle body for body care implements, such as toothbrushes, hairbrushes, razors, etc.
In the document WO-A-02/078489 there is a description of a toothbrush that is provided with a head and a handle comprising a hard plastic component. Formed on the surface of the handle are raised parts with a border of soft-elastic material.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,298,516 discloses a toothbrush with a brush body and a brush head, the brush body having a handle which has two elastic elements. The first elastic element covers over the free end region of the handle, in particular where the grip is in contact with the inner surface of the hand during use. The second elastic element serves as a rest for the thumb. The elastic elements preferably consist of a thermoplastic elastomer.
A toothbrush made of plastic with a ribbed handle and an indentation for receiving the thumb of a user is described in DE-C-4222931. The handle of the toothbrush has a core, which bears ribs which are spaced apart from one another and altogether form an adequate gripping surface. The ribs have a substantially disk-shaped form.


An axle assembly for a vehicle includes a housing, a differential assembly rotatably supported within the housing, a differential cover and a gasket assembly positioned between the housing and the differential cover. The gasket assembly includes a body and a magnet coupled to the body. The magnet is positioned in communication with a lubricant located within the interior of the housing.

The present invention relates to a gasket assembly for a differential cover of a vehicle drivetrain, and more particularly, to a gasket having an integral magnet.
Many vehicles are equipped with a carrier housing rotatably supporting a differential assembly. The differential assembly is typically positioned between a vehicle transmission and output axles to supply a driving force to the vehicle wheels. The differential assembly includes gearing to transmit drive torque to the output shafts while permitting speed differentiation between the output shafts. A ring gear is typically coupled to the differential housing. The ring gear is in driving engagement with a pinion gear coupled to a rotatable input member. A volume of lubricating fluid is stored within the carrier housing to lubricate the gearing. Over time, the gears, bearings and housing may wear and metal particles enter the lubricant. A differential cover is coupled to the carrier housing to protect the gearing from the external environment and to maintain the lubricant within the housing. The differential cover is removable to allow service access to the gearing.
Many carrier assemblies include a magnet permanently coupled to the differential cover or the carrier housing to function as a metallic particle collection device. Attachment of the magnet to the bottom of the carrier housing or to the differential cover pan is typically costly due to the requisite cleaning and preparation processes associated with adhesively attaching a magnet. Furthermore, durability concerns exist because the magnets may dislodge or move within the carrier housing leading to possible component damage.
The present invention relates to an axle assembly for a vehicle. The axle assembly includes a housing, a differential assembly rotatably supported within the housing, a differential cover and a gasket assembly positioned between the housing and the differential cover. The gasket assembly includes a body and a magnet coupled to the body. The magnet is positioned in communication with a lubricant located within the interior of the housing.
Further areas of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating the preferred embodiment of the invention, are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.

Differential assembly with cover gasket having integral magnet


A system and a method for measuring ultraviolet ray protection of a cosmetic material. In an embodiment, the system for measuring the ultraviolet ray protection of a cosmetic material includes: a light source for emitting light including ultraviolet bands; a transparent plate through which the lights emitted from the light source pass, and having one surface to which a cosmetic material to be tested is applied; a wavelength conversion film, which changes, to a predetermined size, the light, of an ultraviolet band, of the light having passed through the transparent plate and makes the same pass therethrough; and a photosensitive sheet, which accommodates the light having passed through the wavelength conversion film and has a photosensitive property for light of UVA and UVB bands among the ultraviolet bands.

Cosmetic materials that are used for ultraviolet ray protection are used to block ultraviolet rays of the sunlight. These cosmetic materials have different ultraviolet ray protection, so various methods for accurately measuring the abilities have been used.
In the related art, the ultraviolet ray protection of cosmetic materials was measured through an in-vivo test. The ultraviolet ray protection was measured by measuring the ratio of a light amount causing an erythema after applying products to a light amount causing an erythema before applying the products through clinical tests. However, although accuracy is secured since the in-vivo test are performed actually on a person, but the test subject has to be exposed to ultraviolet rays, so there are inconvenience and danger. A method of comparing a gene expression amounts in skin cells due to the sunlight is disclosed in KR10-2015-0064573 A, but this also includes the problem that a test subject has to be exposed to ultraviolet rays.
Meanwhile, the ultraviolet ray protection of cosmetic materials was measured through an in-vitro test in some cases. In detail, a method of measuring a transmission property by applying a cosmetic material to a plate was selected in some cases. However, in the in-vitro test, the ultraviolet ray blocking agent decreases in activity as it receives ultraviolet rays, so a correction reflecting this problem is required. Further, a plate cannot induce an erythema, so a weight is required for a wavelength causing an erythema in calculation. Accordingly, various mathematical corrections, for example, applying a weight, are used, so there is a problem that there is a large error or deviation in the resultant value. Further, the amounts of cosmetic materials applied to a plate are not uniform, so there is a problem that a large error is generated.

System and method for measuring ultraviolet ray protection of cosmetic material


A navigation system integrated into a materials transport vehicle for use by an operator, the system including a plurality of display devices each having a screen; a location determining component operable to determine the current location of the materials transport vehicle; a memory operable to store one or more modules, the memory including vehicle operator transport preferences comprising time periods available for operating the materials transport vehicle and materials transport requirements comprising a materials transport destination; and a processor operable to execute the one or more modules to determine a transport schedule for use by the materials transport vehicle operator, the transport schedule based on the materials transport requirements and the vehicle operator transport preferences, determine a transport route from the current location to the materials transport destination using the transport schedule, and present the transport route on one of the display devices.

Global Positioning Systems (GPS) have been developed to provide accurate positioning data. In traditional GPS systems, a receiver is used to capture input signals to identify a location of the receiver with respect to one or more GPS signal sources, such as satellites. In this manner, a device including the receiver may be used to navigate from the identified location to a designated location.
When the device is provided with a library of roadways (such as streets, avenues, boulevards, paths, highways, expressways, alleys, trails) the device may be capable of indicating a route between the identified and designated locations. For example, upon accepting an end point, the device may access a library containing roadway data to indicate which roadways may be used to reach the designated location.
Vehicle entertainment and infotainment systems are often configured for installation within vehicle dashboards for direct vehicle integration. Such systems may only provide select information and control for vehicle instrumentation and components, media, communication, entertainment, navigation, weather, scheduling, documenting content and functionality to vehicle operators and passengers. The systems may be installed within customized dashboards and standardized ports, such as DIN, double DIN, for ready access by the vehicle operators and passengers. Some systems may integrate with vehicle data buses (e.g., CAN) to acquire data related to operation of the vehicle.


A key switch used for a keyboard incorporated as an input device in electronic equipment. The key switch includes a support plate; a key top arranged above the support plate; a pair of link members interlocked to each other to support the key top above the support plate and direct the key top in a vertical direction; and a switch mechanism capable of opening and closing a contact section of an electric circuit in accordance with a vertical movement of the key top. The switch mechanism includes a membrane switch sheet carrying the contact section at a position corresponding to the key top and placed on the support plate. Each of the link members includes a sliding part slidably engaged with the support plate. The membrane switch sheet is provided with a through-hole in a region where the sliding part of each link member is engaged with the support plate, the sliding part of the link member being slidably placed on the support plate through the through-hole in the membrane switch sheet.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a switch configuration for key-entry operation and, more particularly, to a key-entry switch device (hereinafter referred to as a key switch) preferably used for a keyboard incorporated, as an input device, in electronic equipment. The present invention also relates to a keyboard provided with a plurality of key switches. The present invention further relates to an assembling jig usable for assembling a key switch.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a thinner or low-profile-type keyboard for a portable electronic apparatus, such as a notebook or palm-top personal computer, it is required to reduce the height of a key switch for a key-entry operation as well as to improve the operability of the key switch. The key switch usable in the low-profile keyboard generally includes a support plate (e.g., a metal sheet, a bottom panel of a keyboard, etc.), a key top arranged above the support plate, a pair of link members interlocked to each other to support the key top above the support plate and direct the key top in a vertical or up-and-down direction, and a switch mechanism capable of opening and closing a contact section of an electronic circuit in accordance with the vertical or up-and-down movement of the key top. The key top is movable substantially in the vertical direction relative to the support plate, through an interlocking action of the link members, while keeping a predetermined posture of the key top. Key-entry operability of the key switch is affected by the amount of stroke (the vertical movement) of the key top and by key-entry operation properties accompanying a so-called "click feeling" during the vertical movement.
Conventionally, in the above key switch, several types of link-member pairs have been used. For example, the first type of link members, which may be referred to as a gear-link type, are assembled together into a reverse V-shape as seen in a lateral direction (or in a side view) and meshed at toothed end regions thereof with each other (see, e.g., Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2003-031067 (JP-A-2003-031067)). The second type of link members, which may be referred to as a pantograph type, are assembled together into an X-shape as seen in a lateral direction (or in a side view) and are rotatably or slidably joined at the intersections thereof with each other (see, e.g., Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2002-231090 (JP-A-2002-231090)). Also, a widely-used switching mechanism is configured from the combination of a sheet-like switch including a pair of flexible circuit boards respectively carrying contacts in a mutually facing arrangement (referred to as a membrane switch sheet, in this application), and an actuating member disposed between the key top and the membrane switch sheet and acting in accordance with the downward motion of the key top to close the contacts.
In a key switch disclosed in JP-A-2003-031067, a base panel shaped as a flat frame is disposed on a membrane switch sheet spread and placed on a support plate. Each of a pair of link members combined in the reverse V-shape as seen in a side view is provided at one end thereof with one or more teeth constituting a meshing structure and a pivoting part pivotally joined to the key top, and at another end opposite thereto with a sliding part slidably engaged with a guide section formed in the base panel. During the period when the key top moves in the vertical direction, the link members pivot about the pivoting part in a mutually interlocking manner through the meshing structure, and the respective sliding parts slide along the upper surface of the membrane switch sheet under the guidance of the guide section of the base panel. A dome-shaped actuating member formed of a rubber is used in the switch mechanism. The actuating member is fixed to the membrane switch sheet in the opening of the base panel, with a dome-top thereof facing toward the key top. On the inner surface of the dome-top of the actuating member, a protrusion is formed to be aligned with the contact section of the membrane switch sheet, which acts to press and close the contact section as the key top is lowered. In this key switch, a click feeling in a key-entry operation is ensured by the buckling or elastic deformation of the rubber-made dome-shaped actuating member.
In a key switch disclosed in JP-A-2002-231090, a through-hole is formed in the membrane switch sheet spread and placed on the support plate, so that a guide section and a pivot-support section, provided on the support plate, extend through the through-hole to project from the membrane switch sheet. In the pair of link members combined in the X-shape in a side view, one link member is provided at one end thereof with a pivoting part joined pivotally to the key top and at another end with a sliding part slidably engaged with the guide section of the support plate, while the other link member is provided at one end thereof with a pivoting part pivotally joined to the pivot-support section of the support plate and at another end with a sliding part slidably engaged with the key top. During the period when the key top moves in the vertical direction, the link members pivot in a mutually interlocking manner through a generally center pivoting structure, and the respective sliding parts slide along the key top and the support plate. The link members are also connected together through a return spring shaped in a plate spring, and a plate-spring shaped actuating member separated from the return spring extends from one link member. At the end of the actuating member, a protrusion is formed to be aligned with the contact section of the membrane switch sheet, which acts to press and close the contact section as the key top is lowered. In this key switch, a click feeling in a key-entry operation is ensured by the buckling or elastic deformation of the return spring.
Incidentally, it has been known that a keyboard including a plurality of key switches is configured in such a manner that, in order to improve a key-entry operability of the key tops disposed in a predetermined array on the upper surface of the keyboard housing and to thereby reduce fatigue of an operator, an operator can put his both hands on the keyboard in a natural position where the finger tips of both hands generally converge toward each other and, while maintaining this natural position, can perform a key-entry operation by his finger tips on the top surfaces (i.e., key-operating surfaces) of the respective key tops (see, e.g., Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 8-234882 (JP-A-8-234882)) without sensing any incongruity. The keyboard disclosed in JP-A-8-234882 has a configuration wherein the normal parallel arrangement of the plural key switches is maintained, and wherein the key-operating surfaces of the respective key tops are formed so as to show, in a right-hand key switch group as seen from the operator, a rectangular profile with the right end thereof descending in a plan view, and to shown, in a left-hand key switch group as seen from the operator, a rectangular profile with the left end thereof descending in a plan view. With this configuration, it is possible to prevent the increase in dimension (or occupying area) of the keyboard, in comparison with a configuration in which the respective key switches are arranged obliquely to conform to the natural converging postures of the hands.
The key switch disclosed in JP-A-2003-031067 is configured such that, in the key-entry operation, the gear-link type pair of link members slides at the respective sliding parts along the upper surface of the membrane switch sheet. Therefore, the thicknesses of the support plate and the membrane switch sheet are included in the dimension in the height direction of the key switch. Also, at an instant when the key top reaches the lowermost position of the vertical movement, the link members are disposed to be substantially in contact with the upper surface of the membrane switch sheet at regions between the sliding and pivoting parts thereof, which determines the amount of stroke of the vertical movement. Thus, it is necessary to reduce the thickness of the membrane switch sheet, in countermeasures for height reduction and operability improvement of the key switch. In practice, however, it is considered that the thickness of the membrane switch sheet has been reduced to a physical limit.
In contrast, the key switch disclosed in JP-A-2002-231090 is configured such that, in the key-entry operation, the sliding part of one link member of the pantograph type pair of link members slides, inside the through-hole of the membrane switch sheet, along the guide section of the support plate. Therefore, it is possible to eliminate the influence of the thickness of the membrane switch sheet on the height dimension of the key switch. Also, at an instant when the key top reaches the lowermost position of the vertical movement, the link members are received inside the through-hole of the membrane switch sheet at regions between the sliding and pivoting parts thereof. Therefore, it is also possible to eliminate the influence of thickness of the membrane switch sheet on the amount of stroke of the vertical movement of the key top. Contrary to this, the support plate is also provided with a through-hole at a location corresponding to the through-hole of the membrane switch sheet, so that the link members are supported on the support plate, during the key-entry operation, by only the guide section and the pivot-support section provided locally in the support plate. As a result, the stability of the interlocking movement of the link members (especially, of the sliding motion of the sliding part) may be degraded, and thus the key-entry operability of the key top may be impaired.
On the other hand, in the keyboard disclosed in JP-A-8-234882, the plural key switches are arranged such that the profiles of the key-operating surfaces of the key tops in the right-hand group are generally symmetrical to those in the left-hand group as seen from the operator. Therefore, in order to operate the key switches without sensing incongruity at the finger tips, the operator is required to use both hands in correspondence with the positions of the key switches. This configuration may be difficult, especially for an inexperienced operator. Further, the plural key tops having substantially same size and different shape are used in the above keyboard, so that the assembling process of the keyboard may become complicated and thus may lead to increase in the manufacturing cost.
Further, as the height reduction of the key switch is facilitated, the dimensions, especially of the link members, is decreased. Also, the assembling process of the key switch has often been performed manually, and it becomes difficult to manually assemble the small-sized link members accurately on the support plate, without causing damage or loss of the link members. Thus, it has been required to develop an assembling jig usable in the process for assembling the low-profile key switch.

Key switch, keyboard and key-switch assembling jig


A method for bonding metallic plates includes: sandwiching a laminated body, which includes a plurality of metallic plates and is formed with an inner cavity opening on a surface thereof, between a pair of jigs each having a flat abutment surface abutting against respective surfaces of the laminated body, wherein at least one of the jigs is formed with an atmosphere communication path, which communicates with the inner cavity and atmosphere; and heating the laminated body while applying pressure to the laminated body with the pair of jigs in a lamination direction of the laminated body.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method for bonding a plurality of laminated metallic plates and a jig for the bonding of the metallic plates.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hitherto, there has been known as an inkjet head that ejects ink from nozzles, one in which a flow-path unit including an ink flow path therein is formed of a plurality of metallic plates laminated on each other. For example, US 2004/0183867 A discloses an inkjet head includes a manifold and a flow-path unit having individual ink flow paths extending from the manifold to the nozzles via pressure chambers. This flow-path unit is formed of a laminated body in which a plurality of metallic plates are laminated and bonded to each other. In this case, as a method for bonding the plurality of metallic plates, bonding with adhesive or diffusion bonding may be used.
In the case where a plurality of metallic plates are bonded to each other by means of the diffusion bonding, the plurality of metallic plates are sandwiched with flat-shaped jigs from both sides thereof and are applied to pressure while being heated at a high temperature (about 1000° C.) in vacuo. Thereby, metallic atoms are mutually diffused in bonding surfaces of the metallic plates and finally, the metallic plates are bonded to each other. When the bonding is conducted by means of the diffusion bonding described above, the plurality of metallic plates can be bonded to each other all at once. Therefore, the bonding step can be simplified.

Method for bonding metallic plates and jig for the bonding of the metallic plates


A braking and stabilizing system for use by a roller blade skater comprises an elongated shaft adapted to be manually held by the skater and having a roller on at least one end thereof adapted to be biased against a skating surface and a brake mechanism controllable by the skater for braking rotation of the roller.

The sport of roller blading was created by off season hockey players as a means of maintaining physical condition. The sport has rapidly gained in popularity and is now enjoyed by skaters of all degrees of athletic ability. A corollary to the increase in popularity of roller blading is an advance in roller blade technology, particularly, properly engineered wheels and bearings that permit relatively high speeds to be achieved.
One negative has developed, however, in that high speeds, while relatively easy to achieve, often cannot be handled by the average skater. The art of turning and/or braking from a high speed, with its inherent shift of body weight and position, is difficult to master and often results in a fall. Falls incident to turning and/or braking, are experienced by virtually every novice skater. Accordingly, a need has developed for a braking and stabilizing system that enables a skater to maintain balance at all speeds and safely slow down and/or turn.

Braking and stabilizing system for roller blades


Disclosed is a mobile cart that may include, in some instances, a framework assembly comprising an extended configuration and a collapsed configuration, at least two wheels attached to the framework assembly, and a removable liner secured to the framework assembly in a removable fashion. The removable liner may include a collapsible floor, at least three collapsible sides extending vertically from the collapsible floor, and at least one retaining member. The mobile cart may include at least three corners and the at least one retaining member may be configured such that the removable liner can be selectively removed from and secured to the framework assembly.

Many people transport equipment or other objects in a passenger vehicle but require a way to transport the equipment or other objects beyond where the passenger vehicle travels. For example, when attending a recreational event, a person may need to transport objects from a parking area to a different area of the recreational facility. A solution is to bring a wheeled cart in the passenger vehicle. Existing devices often fail to provide an efficient folding mechanism with an easily removable and replaceable cover or liner. There is a need for improved devices and methods for folding collapsible carts.


An industrial vehicle which is equipped with an engine and having an Eco-mode in which torque of the engine is restricted includes an accelerator, an accelerator opening detector that detects an opening of the accelerator, a vehicle speed detector that detects a speed of the vehicle, an engine speed detector that detects a speed of the engine, and a torque restriction releasing unit which, when the torque of the engine is restricted, if conditions that the opening of the accelerator detected by the accelerator opening detector is a first predetermined value or greater, that the vehicle speed detected by the vehicle speed detector is a second predetermined value or smaller and that the engine speed detected by the engine speed detector is a third predetermined value or smaller are satisfied, releases the torque restriction.

The present invention relates to an engine-powered industrial vehicle.
A hybrid vehicle equipped with an Eco-mode (an economy mode) for the purpose of improving fuel efficiency has been proposed. By pressing the Eco-mode button, the vehicle is placed in the Eco-mode in which the output torque of the vehicle is restricted for energy saving, which leads to an efficient driving of an engine. Such vehicle is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2008-105532.
This Publication discloses a hybrid vehicle in which, in the economy mode, torque is supplemented by the motor while the engine is being driven efficiently so as to maintain the vehicle performance for improvement of fuel efficiency. Unlike such a hybrid vehicle, in an engine type industrial vehicle having no traction motor, specifically in a forklift truck, simply operating the forklift truck in the Eco-mode so as to improve the fuel efficiency by restricting the torque may cause some troubles to some operations of the forklift trucks due to shortage of torque. For example, an industrial vehicle carrying a heavy load may not be able to climb a slope in a working site, which is supposed to be climbable, due to insufficient hill-climbing performance or insufficient engine torque.
The present invention is directed to providing an industrial vehicle capable of providing a torque restriction control in an Eco-mode that permits both improvement of fuel efficiency and maximization of vehicle performance.


Dural substitutes are provided, which include collagen treated and/or prepared to be physiologically compatible and substantially free of active viruses and prions. Suitable forms for the dural substitutes include a sponge, a film, a non-woven matrix, a felt or a combination of at least two of the foregoing forms. Also provided are a method for preparing dural substitutes and a method for promoting meningeal tissue growth.

The human brain and spinal cord are covered with meningeal membranes whose integrity is critical to the operation of the central nervous system. When the integrity of a person's meningeal membranes is intentionally or accidentally compromised, serious consequences may ensue, unless the membranes can be repaired.
The meningeal membrane comprises three overlapping layers of tissue, which are in order from outside to inside, the dura mater (or dura), the arachnoid and the pia mater. Repairing damaged meningeal membranes has largely focused on implantable and/or resorbable constructs (known as dural substitutes) which are grafted over the damaged dura mater and are designed to replace and/or regenerate the damaged tissue. Researchers have experimented with a wide variety of substances as dural substitutes, but have not found a dural substitute that is safe, effective and mass-marketable.
Autologous grafts of tissue from other parts of the body, such as fascia lata and pericardium, can be effective as dural substitutes; however, autologous tissue is relatively difficult to obtain and can require the additional costs and risks of a second operation for the patient. By definition, such tissues cannot be mass-marketed.
Cadaverous dura mater has also been employed as a dural substitute. Like autologous tissues, cadaverous tissues can be difficult to obtain, and thus cannot be mass-marketed. Only about 4 to 5 transplantable units can be prepared from each donor, and cultural biases make it difficult to readily obtain donors.
More importantly, cadaverous dural substitutes have been implicated in the transmission of prion infections. An Oct. 6, 1997 meeting of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) relating to such dural substitutes resulted in a call for stricter processing controls, and a warning that such dural substitutes might be banned if adequate safety precautions are not employed to prevent transmission of infections, such as Creutzfeld-Jakob disease (CJD). Regulatory agencies in other countries, such as the Japanese Ministry of Health, have gone even further by banning the use of cadaverous dura mater in brain surgery. Moreover, the World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended banning the use of cadaverous dura mater in brain surgery because of the risk of CJD transmission.
Dural substitutes comprising gold, silver, platinum, nickel, steel or gelatin have been researched; however, they have been found unacceptable for a variety of reasons, including high rigidity, poor incorporation, fibrosis, low resistance to infection and excessive foreign body response or regenerative processes. See, e.g., the references listed in the attached Bibliography.
Numerous studies have evaluated the safety and effectiveness of xenografts using non-human tissues as dural substitutes. Although non-human tissues are more readily harvested and mass-marketed than human tissues, they have not performed ideally as human dural substitutes.
Intact bovine pericardium tissue implants, while perhaps the most popular dural substitute in the U.S. at present, may transmit bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). Intact tissues can cause excessive fibrosis and encapsulation, possibly resulting in the development of hemorrhagic complications, such as the formation of subdural hematomas and even death. Xenografting with porcine biomembrane has been shown to result in severe adhesions when infection occurred in animal studies, and xenografting with certain collagen laminates or collagen films has been shown to result in a severe inflammatory response comprising fibrosis, neomembrane formation and meningeocerebral adhesions. See Bang-Zong et al., "Study and clinical application of a porcine biomembrane for the repair of dural defects," 69 J. Neurosurg. 707 (1988); Kline, "Dural replacement with resorbable collagen," 91 Arch. Surg. 924 (1965); Jannetta et al., "Formaldehyde-treated, regenerated collagen film and film-laminate as a substitute for dura mater," 16 Surg. Forum 435 (1965); and Lee et al., "Experimental evaluation of silicone-coated Dacron and collagen fabric-film laminate as dural substitutes," 27 Neurosurg. 558 (1967).
A physiologically compatible dural substitute that does not create adhesions is particularly important when there is a need for repeated surgical treatment. In treating brain cancer, for example, cancers can recur, requiring repeated opening and closing of the dura mater to gain access to the recurring cancer and/or even repeated removal of cancerous sections of the dura mater. Patient outcomes could be improved by repairing the damaged dural tissue with a physiologically compatible dural substitute that does not create life-threatening adhesions. Moreover, doctors would be more willing to surgically intervene where indicated if the likelihood of creating adhesions were reduced.
Despite the previously reported problems with collagen xenografts, the inventors continued to work with collagen as a dural substitute. In 1993 and 1995, Narotam et al. (groups including some of the present inventors) reported that a collagen sponge showed promise as a dural substitute. See Narotam et al., "Experimental evaluation of collage sponge as a dural graft," 7 British J. Neurosurg. 635 (1993), and Narotam et al., "A clinicopathological study of collagen sponge as a dural graft in neurosurgery," 82 J. Neurosurg. 406 (1995). Although the collagen sponge disclosed in these papers appeared to effectively function as a dural substitute, there were significant safety issues still to be recognized and resolved.
The collagen sponge used (i.e., Bicol.RTM.) was bovine in origin and, despite its prior use as a temporary protective material on the brain surface beneath retractors, the collagen was not sufficiently decontaminated so as to preclude the possibility of causing a xenogenic infection when permanently implanted. Contrary to the knowledge and teachings of the 1995 article at page 410, right column, it is now known that the collagen sponge disclosed in the Narotam et al. articles poses a health hazard due to the possibility of infectious agents (e.g., prions and viruses) surviving the manufacturing process. The lack of significant chemical processing does not provide a suitable safety margin for the inactivation of viral or prion contaminants and therefore cannot adequately prevent, or reduce the likelihood of, infecting dural substitute recipients.
Thus, there has been a need for a mass-marketable collagen-based dural substitute that would be physiologically compatible (i.e., non-inflammatory, non-adhesion inducing, etc.), sufficiently noninfectious (i.e., decontaminated, etc.) to prevent the transmission of viruses and prions to dural substitute recipients, pliable, available in a variety of sizes, high in tensile strength, inert, optionally capable of forming a water-tight seal, and optionally suturable.
All references cited herein, including prior patent applications, are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

Dural/meningeal repair product using collagen matrix


The present invention finds application in the field of multi-computers, and more particularly to the collection of data from nodes in a multi-computer system. The multi-computer includes a number of nodes for performing computing and data transfer functions, each node communicating with one or more other nodes in the multi-computer through a message routing network. Each node includes a measurement device for measuring predetermined events occurring within each node. The system includes a concentrator bus for communicating measurement data packets produced by the measurement device, and a concentrator node for outputting a multiplexed serial sequence of the measurement data packets in response to a parallel asynchronous input of the measurement data packets received over the concentrator bus from the nodes. The multiplexed serial sequence of measurement data packets is communicated over a collection bus to a collection node that demultiplexes and processes the measurement data packets.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of information processing, and in particular to a secondary data transfer network in a multi-processor environment.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many modern computer systems employ multiple processing units designed to perform a variety of tasks. In the typical mainframe or minicomputer, individual processing boards or "nodes" are mounted in a card cage and connected to a backplane so that data may be routed to and from the processing boards over a message routing network connected to the backplane. The node boards plugged into the backplane may also serve primarily as memory elements, which can be shared by the processor nodes.
For a variety of functions, computer system users and designers often desire to collect certain data from the individual nodes. For example, the system might be used to monitor the performance of the nodes. By keeping track of parameters such as the number of times each node accesses memory or a particular subroutine, the percentage of bus bandwidth being utilized, and the communication traffic between different node boards, a system designer can efficiently configure the computer system and application programs to optimize performance.
FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional method of collecting data from nodes in a multi-processor system. (The terms "multi-processor" and "multi-computer" are used interchangeably herein.) Nodes 101, 102, 103 and 104 communicate with each other over a routing network 105, which in this case is shown in the conventional "butterfly" form. One of the nodes may serve as a collection node 103 to receive the performance measurements (or other data to be collected) from the nodes over the same "butterfly" network that is used for interprocessor communications. The heavy lines in FIG. 1 illustrate the path in the routing network taken by information communicated between nodes 101 and 104. The line marked with squares defines the path traversed by information collected from node 101 by collection node 103. This routing diagram demonstrates that because collection data is sent over the same network as data used by the multi-processor system during routine operations, such as the running of application and operating system programs, both the routine operations and the data collection process contend for the same portion of the routing path. Such a dual-use configuration is dubbed an "invasive" data collection or monitoring technique.
Invasive methods pose special problems when the collection system is designed to measure system performance. Not only does an invasive monitoring system slow down the measurement process, but it also affects the measurements themselves. Because the performance data travels over the same paths as all other information communicated between the processors, it is nearly impossible to factor out the effects on system performance caused by the performance measurement process itself. This is due primarily to the randomness of contention events that occur when routing resources are to be shared.
One prior art solution to the problems posed by invasive performance monitoring techniques is to collect relevant data using an independent, noninvasive collection network. For example, FIG. 2 illustrates the use of a token ring 201 that is independent of message routing network 202 to collect performance data from nodes 203, 204 and 205. In this example, node 204 has possession of the token 206. Thus, node 204 has control of the token ring and can send information along the ring to a collection processor 207. A major deficiency of this serial collection method is that only one node can send messages along the token ring at a time. Consequently, processor 207 cannot collect real-time performance data and will actually miss the collection of certain real-time parameters unless the nodes store the relevant information until they obtain possession of the token and control the token ring.
The present invention overcomes the drawbacks of conventional implementations by providing a noninvasive secondary data transfer network that enables the asynchronous parallel collection of data from nodes in a multi-computer.

Merging network for collection of data from multi-computers


The present disclosure provides methods for extracting viral particles from a sample comprising cells enclosing the viral particles. Also provided are kits that includes two or more items selected from a cell suspension solution, a cell lysis solution, a first fractionation solution, a second fractionation solution, a pellet suspension solution, a solid phase chromatography column, and a viral concentration set such as centrifugal filters.

Viral vector-mediated delivery of foreign genes and small non-coding RNA such as siRNA and miRNA has been extensively used as a powerful tool in basic research and medical R&D. Present viral vectors include adenovirus, retrovirus, lentivirus, adeno-associated virus (AAV) and herpes simplex virus (HSV), among which retrovirus and lentivirus are the most in use according to their uses in recent research publications. Retrovirus and lentivirus belong to the class of Retroviruses that are the kinds of viruses packaged in their host cells and secreted in the medium. This characteristic enables direct collection of these viruses from the medium by ultracentrifugation, the convenient purification resulting in wide use of them. In contrast, adenovirus and AAV are so called "naked viruses" that are mostly located within their host cells after packaged, thus leading to their difficult purification. Efforts have been made in the last decades and several methods for AAV and adenovirus purifications have been developed including cesium chloride-(CsCl) and iodixanol-based density gradient ultracentrifugation, affinity chromatography and ion exchange chromatography. Unfortunately, these methods are either laborious and time-consuming or inefficient in viral purity and recovery. Currently gradient ultracentrifugation is still a common technique in use for AAV purification because it yields high viral purity. But there are a few of serious limitation: (1) significant reduction of infectivity, (2) gradient-associated health risks, (3) gradient-associated toxicity, (4) scale-limited production and (5) cumbersome procedures.
AAV and adenovirus are naturally existing viruses. AAV is the only viral vector that has been widely testified not to cause cytotoxicity and immune response while adenoviruses have been found to cause immune responses. In addition, AAV shows efficient transduction and stable expression in dividing and non-dividing cells such as neuronal cells and is, therefore, considered as a most potent viral vector in both basic research and R&D of gene therapy. One example is Glybera, the first gene therapy medicine approved in European Union in 2012, which successfully uses AAV as vector to deliver lipoprotein lipase gene for treatment of lipoprotein lipase deficiency. Currently AAV has been used as a vector to develop gene therapy medicines in many pharmaceutical companies in the United States and around the world. Based on the advance in use, it is the urgent need to explore a convenient and efficient technology for purification of the virus.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Compositions and kits for purification of viral particles from host cells