The disclosure provides methods of treatment of ocular inflammation and/or neuropathic pain in a subject in need thereof, comprising administering to the subject in need thereof a CB2 target agent, a cannabimimetic agent or a combination thereof. The agent is optionally a cannabinoid, such as a non-psychotropic cannabinoid or a synthetic cannabinoid. In certain embodiments, the non-psychotropic phytocannabinoid is β-caryophyllene or cannabidiol [CBD] and the synthetic cannabinoid is HU-433, HU-308, or a modified CBD such as CBD-DMH. In methods of the disclosure, CBD-DMH is optionally administered in combination with a further CB2 target agent or cannabimimetic agent. The disclosure also provides ocular pharmaceutical compositions containing the CB2 target agents and/or cannabimimetic agents described herein.

There is a need for novel treatments for pain and inflammation. The current agents are inadequate and can, for example, cause unacceptable side effects. Additionally, the growing concern about the potential for addiction with opioid pain treatment further supports the need for new pain therapies. In particular, there is a need for new products for the treatment of ocular neuropathic pain (e.g. corneal neuropathic pain) and/or inflammation (e.g. uveitis).
Cannabinoids have been used for systemic treatment of pain and inflammation. All of the cannabinoids currently sold for human use also exhibit cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CB1) effects which are associated with, for example, hypothermia, catalepsy, hypolocomotion and psychoactive effects so these agents are associated with sedation and other effects that may limit, for example, systemic dosing.
Both CB1 and CB2 receptors have been reported to be upregulated following trauma and inflammation (Pertwee 2008; 2009; 2012; Guindon and Hohmann, 2008). Activation of downstream pathways associated with these receptors is analgesic, anti-inflammatory and, in the case of CB1, can promote cellular proliferation and wound healing (Yang, 2013).
CBD-DMH, like its parent molecule, cannabidiol (CBD), is non-psychotropic and exhibits analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects in animal models. However, CBD-DMH is reported to be more than 10-fold more potent than CBD. The structure of CBD and CBD-DMH have been previously described (Mechoulam et al., 2002; Fride et al., 2004).
HU-308 is a synthetic cannabinoid compound that binds and activates the CB2 receptor specifically (Hanus 1999). An enantiomeric derivative of HU-308, named HU-433, is also a CB2 agonist. HU-433 has been shown to have 2-3 orders of magnitude greater potency in both in vitro and in vivo systems. It shows no psychoactivity. The chemical structures of HU-308 and HU-433 were previously described in PCT Publication No. WO 2010/041253.
Without being bound by theory, cannabis synergy arises from constituent combination effects (Berenbaum 1989; McPartland and Russo 2001; Russo 2011). This may occur via several mechanisms including but not limited to: multi-target effects (receptor agonism or antagonism, anti-oxidant, modulation of endogenous endocannabinoid synthesis or metabolism, etc.), improved pharmacokinetic properties of compounds via modulation of solubility, bioavailability, as well as potential bacteriostatic activity (Wagner and Ulrich-Merzenich 2009; Russo 2011). CBD synergy with other phytocannabinoids and terpenoids from Cannabis has been reported specifically with regard to the treatment of inflammation and pain (Russo, 2011).
Inflammatory eye diseases represent a particular challenge due, for example, to risk of vision loss and blindness. The conditions encompass intraocular inflammation (e.g. uveitis, uveoretinitis, proliferative vitreoretinopathy) as well as extraocular inflammation, including corneal inflammation and neuropathology.
Collectively, ocular inflammation contributes significantly to the global incidence of blinding eye disease and can be a debilitating condition with a high medical and economic burden on populations.
Neuropathic Pain
Neuropathic pain is generated by pathology in the peripheral or central nervous system. A large number of disorders can give rise to neuropathic pain. This may range from nerves being cut (trauma or surgery) or damaged by viruses, ischemic and metabolic injury or complex genetic disorders to name a few. Neuropathic pain may arise from local damage to neural tissues as well as tissues remote to initial trauma and may also arise as a result of chronic inflammatory disease. Pharmacological management is one of the most used pain treatment options but results are poor with many patients obtaining inadequate relief with currently available agents. There is therefore a need for new agents for treatment of neuropathic pain. Neuropathic pain may affect any part of the body including the eye for which there are no adequate treatments at present.
Intraocular Inflammation and Optional Pain
Uveitis is a term used to describe any intraocular inflammation within the eye from the uvea (iris, ciliary body and choroid) to the sclera, retina and optic nerve. It involves either infectious or non-infectious conditions, which can be localized within the eye or associated with systemic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, including reactive arthritis and multiple sclerosis. The most common form of uveitis, anterior uveitis, with inflammation of the iris and ciliary body, is additionally associated with considerable pain and photophobia (Jabs, Nussenblatt et al. 2005; Lee and Dick 2012). Untreated uveitis can lead to permanent loss of vision. Severe uveitis is treated aggressively to mitigate the damage caused by inflammation. However, currently utilized agents, including the "gold-standard" corticosteroids, anti-metabolites, biologic response modifiers and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents, suffer from significant side-effects and in some cases escalating costs (i.e. biologics). A search for newer efficacious, safe and/or cost-effective anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory agents, suitable for acute and chronic use, either as sole treatments or in combination, and delivered locally to the eye, is a priority for the future treatment of ocular inflammation in order to prevent loss of vision.
Anterior uveitis (iritis) is associated with inflammation of iris and anterior tissues and this leads to pain and light sensitivity with pupillary changes in response to light. Anterior uveitis pain is typically resolved when the inflammation is treated so is not classed as neuropathic pain. Generally uveitis represents hyperactivation of the body's immune system; a form of local sepsis. Inflammatory conditions are represented by activation, recruitment, and migration of immune cells, release of proinflammatory cytokines, swelling, oedema and/or tissue damage. In posterior uveitis, this can also include gliosis, and activation of resident immune cells (microglia). In some retinal inflammatory diseases, cell proliferation with subsequent fibrosis and retinal detachment is present (i.e. proliferative vitreoretinopathy).
Posterior uveitis is not clinically associated with pain. Generally conditions with moderate or mild chronic inflammation in the retina do not present with pain but can result in loss of retinal neurons and vision loss. These include: posterior uveitis, retinitis and proliferative vitreoretinopathy.
Extraocular Inflammation and Pain
Corneal neuropathic hyperalgesia involves a dysfunctional corneal pain system and is associated with significant discomfort and persistent heightened sensitivity of the cornea (peripheral sensitization) in the absence of overt trauma or noxious stimuli (reviewed in Belmonte et al., 2004; Rosenthal & Borsook, 2012; Rosenthal et al., 2009). Ongoing excitation of corneal nerves, following corneal damage or irritation, results in the release of neuropeptides and inflammatory mediators that augment the inflammatory reaction (neurogenic inflammation) leading to hyperalgesia. Corneal hypersensitivity, neuroinflammation, pain and photophobia are reported in patients following refractive surgery and chemical/toxic exposure, including repetitive use of benzalkonium chloride-preserved eye drops. Corneal neuropathic pain is also a central pathogenic feature of eye disorders that are collectively referred to as dry eye, and include non-infectious immunological causes such as Sjogren syndrome and systemic lupus as well as infections with Herpes Zoster (reviewed in Rosenthal & Borsook, 2012; Yawn et al., 2013). Up to 20% of adults aged 45 or older are affected by dry eye disease presenting a major health concern with significant economic and societal implications (reviewed in Friedman, 2013; Pflugfelder, 2008). In many cases dry eye disease is refractory to treatment and lacking in a clear association between symptoms and signs. For example, while inflammatory corneal hyperalgesia, as a result of ocular surface desiccation (evaporation dry eye), is the most common form of corneal hyperalgesia, many patients who report dry eye symptoms do not show signs of dry eyes (reduced tears), or superficial corneal erosions. Contrasted are others who have insufficient tear quantity and quality who are asymptomatic. Furthermore, neuropathic disease can sometimes precede alterations in tear film dynamics (Rosenthal & Borsook, 2012; Rosenthal et al., 2009).
Current agents prescribed for corneal neuropathic pain include a wide variety of distinct compounds such as but not limited to, opioids, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, sodium channel blockers (local anesthetics), anti-convulsants, tricyclic anti-depressants and GABAergic agents. However, present pharmacotherapy remains inadequate and the complex nature of corneal neuropathic pain is highlighted by the fact that no single known treatment appears to be effective in managing symptoms. Furthermore, the undesirable side-effects of many currently prescribed agents limit the therapeutic window for treatment. Corneal inflammatory neuropathic pain therefore represents a significant unmet therapeutic need (Rosenthal & Borsook, 2012; Rosenthal et al., 2009).
CBD, or CBD in combination with other endocannabinoid system modulators, has proven clinical and pre-clinical efficacy in the treatment of neuropathic pain resulting from nerve injury and disease (Hsieh et al., 2011; Ward et al., 2011; reviewed in Rahn and Hohmann 2009; Hohman & Suplita, 2006).

Compositions and methods for treatment of ocular inflammation and/or pain


A riser for connection between a vessel and a fixed connection point on the seabed, in the form of an “L”, where the bottom riser arm is connected to the fixed point (2) on the seabed and the top riser arm (3) is connected to the vessel at the point (4). An elastic element (5) is connected to the bend (6) between the riser's arms and an anchoring point (7) on the seabed.

There are several ways a floating structure may be hold steady in relation to a point at the seabed. It may be anchored with inclined anchor lines or vertical anchor lines (as a tension leg platform) or it may be dynamically positioned. In all these different methods will the vessel or platform undergo some movements vertically and horizontally due to waves, wind currents or similar. For all these methods there would be set limits for how much the vessel or platform is allowed to move vertically and horizontally, but there will always be some dynamics in a system with a riser between a point at seabed and a floating vessel or platform, and there are several ways to handle this dynamics.
For a floating structure that is vertically anchored (a tension leg platform) so that the length of the risers is more or less constant, metal risers may be employed that are straight and vertical. Even if the floating structure is a tension leg platform there will be some movement and the risers are normally equipped with heave compensators on the platform deck to compensate for small changes in length and stiffness. Generally there is always a wish for reducing the amount of equipment on a vessel or platform, due to limitations in weight and space. The riser is also usually equipped with stress joints at the seabed. Such stress joint are lengths of tapered pipe. Since stress joints scale to some power of the diameter, they become very large as the diameter is increased, and this imposes practical limits on their maximum diameter.
For vessels or platforms that use inclined anchor lines or are dynamically positioned, the distance between the riser's end point on the vessel and on the seabed may vary considerably due to alterations in the vessel's draught, tides, wind and waves, or as a result of damage to the vessel or the anchor system. In such cases flexible hoses are commonly used, often equipped with buoyancy and ballast to increase their flexibility. Flexible hoses are expensive and there is a wish for using metal risers.
The simplest form is a J-shape, where the riser is in the form of a catenary from the tangential point on the seabed to the platform. This is only suitable for applications where the water depth is several times the maximum horizontal platform movement and where the dynamic platform motions are limited.
A more common form is that of a reclining "S", where the weight of the hose makes it concave up near the end that is connected to the platform, and buoyancy elements make it concave down near the end that is connected to the seabed. From here a continuation resting on the seabed leads to an installation at the seabed. The riser is kept taut by one or two anchor ropes fastened to an anchor. The total length of this riser configuration is approximately 3 times the water depth, and the radii of curvature are so small that the pipe has to be in the form of a flexible hose. In an attempt to use titanium, which can withstand substantially smaller bending radii than steel, it was found that the pipes had to be bent to nearly their final shape, which resulted in considerable installation problems.
One possible solution for a riser configuration with rigid riser elements is a riser as described in WO 97/21017. The riser between the connection point at the seabed and the floating platform, consists of two rigid elements connected with a weighted bend in an angle of more or less 90 degrees near the seabed. This configuration, however, allows for only small movements of the floating structure in a horizontal plane. This is so because the weighted bend always will tend to keep the riser part between the bend and the floating platform in a vertical position and this will give unwanted and critical forces in the substantially horizontal part of riser.
The object of the present invention is to replace these known arrangements with one that allows a shorter riser and which riser does not require buoyancy elements, while at the same time having large flexibility in relation to movements of the floating structure. Another object is to achieve a riser consisting mainly of straight pipe elements, and which is of such a nature that the limited flexibility of metal (steel or titanium) is adequate. A further object of the invention is to produce a riser system with large flexibility in relation to movements of the floating structure which at the same time does not use much space on the seabed.

Riser for connection between a vessel and a point at the seabed


A method and apparatus for generating a stream of images representing a sequence of events related to a system. The apparatus defines a field view of a user from a 3D location within an enclosed area. The apparatus comprises a network interface module for receiving, from a first data source, the sequence of events related to the system, the sequence of events comprising actions of the user performed on one or more tangible instruments of the system, and for receiving, from a second data source, images related to at least a portion of the enclosed area within the field of view of the user. The apparatus further comprises an image generator module for determining a virtual camera position in the enclosed area from the 3D location, and for rendering the stream of images from the virtual camera position to produce a rendered stream of images.

Interactive computer simulation systems are used to train personnel on complex and/or risky tasks. The interactive computer simulation allows a user to train in a computer generated environment by controlling a simulated element (e.g., an aircraft, a ground vehicle, a space station, operating room, etc.). There is a need for a real-time stream of images of the user performing actions within the interactive computer simulation to enable an instructor to observe the user. There is further a need to store such a stream of images to enable the user to review his or her performance in the interactive computer simulation. There is a similar need in actual systems, such as actual aircrafts, ground vehicles, spaces stations, and operating rooms, to capture, process, and store such a stream of images to enable the user to review his or her performance.

Multiple data sources of captured data into single newly rendered video feed


The invention provides biodegradable crosslinked polymers, which have a chelating effect and a dispersing effect to disperse an oily substance and an inorganic substance hardly soluble in water and are excellent in dispersion into water. The crosslinked polymers comprise; an ingredient of molecular weight 5,000 or less in 50% by weight, a bond having at least one of a group (II) represented by the chemical formula --CO--O-- and a group (III) represented by the chemical formula --CO--NH-- as a composition unit between main chains having a water-soluble oligomer structure having the functional group (I) represented by the general formula --COOM (here, M denotes anyone of a hydrogen atom, monovalent metal, divalent metal, trivalent metal, an ammonium group and organic amine group.), and showing a viscosity of 1,000 cP or less at 20.degree. C. by a 20% by weight aqueous solution of the crosslinked polymer.

The present invention relates to a biodegradable crosslinked polymer having a chelating effect and a function to disperse an oily substance and an inorganic substance hardly soluble in water as well as showing excellent dispersion performance into water and further, the invention relates to a process for producing the crosslinked polymer. Still further, it relates to use of the crosslinked polymer, especially, relates to detergency enhanced by combining this crosslinked polymer with a detergent composition and, thence, a builder excellent in biodegradability and a detergent composition containing this builder.
In addition, it relates to a biodegradable medicine, which may be used involving discharge into environment at a final stage, such as a fiber-treating agent, an inorganic pigment dispersant and a water treatment agent.
When a builder is combined with a detergent, the chelating and dispersing effects of the builder increase detergency of the detergent.
Preferable builders conventionally and widely used from viewpoints of performance, safety and price are condensed phosphates such as sodium tripolyphosphate and the like. However, since phosphorous compounds of these types are an origin of eutrophication for a river, lake, marsh and the like, their use has been limited in recent years and substitution of them is in rapid progress.
At present, instead of the condensed phosphates such as sodium tripolyphosphate and the like, zeolite which is not problematic in the eutrophication and safety is used. However, the zeolite is not enough in builder performance and also, it is insoluble in water and, thence, its combination with a liquid type cleaner is not possible and precipitation with the washing may occur.
On the other hand, instead of the above-described inorganic compounds, an organic compound, for example, a polyelectrolyte such as a polyacrylate and polymaleate has been used as a builder. The polyacrylate and polymaleate are superior in the builder performance, but there is a defect that they are poor in biodegradability.
In Japanese Official Patent Provisional Publication, showa 54-52196, a polyacetal carboxylate has been proposed as a polymer type builder improved in biodegradability. The polyacetal carboxylate is not economical because of its high material cost and also, the process for producing the carboxylate is complicate and not of practical use. In Japanese Official Patent Provisional Publications, showa 63-305199 and 63-305200 and heisei 1-306411 and 2-36210, a water-soluble polymer made by polymerizing a monomer having at least two of an ethylenically unsaturated double bond has been proposed. A water-soluble polymer of this type, according to studies of the present inventors, is difficult in controlling the molecular structure and contains a considerable proportion of molecules not having a structure suitable to biodegradation, and therefore, there is a problem that this type polymer may contain an ingredient which does not undergo biodegradation at all or may require a long period of time for biodegradation. Graft polymers of polysaccharides with acrylic acid and the like in Japanese Official Patent Provisional Publication, showa 61-31497, and graft polymers of monosaccharides and/or oligosaccharides with acrylic acid and the like in Japanese Official Patent Provisional Publication, showa 61-31498, have been proposed. In the graft polymers of these types, only the parts of polysaccharides, monosaccharides and oligosaccharides undergo biodegradation, but the graft parts due to acrylic acid and the like have large molecular weights and do not undergo biodegradation.
Like this, all of the forementioned polymers have defects and, therefore, any polymer satisfactory enough has not yet found.
In the field of fiber-treating agents, a polyacrylate has been conventionally used by combining it with a chelating agent to elevate dispersing performance. In the field of inorganic pigment dispersants, a polyacrylate and a maleic acid-acrylic acid copolymer salt have been used to decrease the viscosity of a solution of dispersed slurry and to elevate the stability of viscosity. In the field of water treatment agents, a polymer such as polyacrylate, polymaleate and the like has been used instead of the conventional phosphine-based medicine as a scale suppressant of calcium carbonate.
However, these polycarboxylic acid-based polymers show good performance in various kinds of use, but they have a defect, that is poor in biodegradability.

Biodegradable hydrophilic crosslinked polymer, process for producing it, and uses thereof


The present invention provides a joint construction in an upper part of a center pillar, in which a groove part 5 having a substantially U-shaped cross section, which is open upward and extends in the longitudinal direction of a vehicle 1, is provided in a joint portion between a roof panel 2 and a side body outer panel 3 of the vehicle 1, wherein a roof center member 6 is provided under the roof panel 2, and on the other hand, a rail side inner panel 12 and a center pillar reinforce 10 are provided in a center pillar upper portion D; a vehicle inside end part 10a of the center pillar reinforce 10 extends toward the upper inside of the vehicle 1, and is joined to the roof center member 6, the roof panel 2, and the side body outer panel 3 in the groove part 5; and the vehicle inside end part 10a of the center pillar reinforce 10 is provided so as to extend to a vehicle inside end portion 12a of the rail side inner panel 12.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a joint construction in an upper part of a vehicular center pillar.
2. Description of Related Art
In an upper part of a vehicular center pillar, as shown in FIG. 8, a rail side portion formed by a side body outer panel 51, a rail side reinforce 52, and a rail side inner panel 53, a center pillar portion formed by a center pillar reinforce 54, a side body outer panel 51, and a center pillar inner panel 55, and a roof member portion formed by a roof center member 56 and a roof panel 57 are joined to each other (for example, refer to Patent Document 1). In a joint portion between the roof panel 57 and the side body outer panel 51, which is located in both right and left end parts of the roof panel 57, a groove part 57a having a substantially U-shaped cross section, which is open upward and extends in the longitudinal direction of a vehicle, is formed.
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 9-109926 (No. 109926/1997)]
Of these component members in the upper part of the center pillar, the rail side reinforce 52, the center pillar reinforce 54, and the roof center member 56 are formed by using members having a large sheet thickness for the purpose of increasing vehicle body strength. On the other hand, the side body outer panel 51, the rail side inner panel 53, the roof panel 57, and the like are formed by using members having a small sheet thickness for the purpose of reducing vehicle body weight.
However, the above-described conventional joint construction in the upper part of the center pillar is disadvantageous in terms of vehicle body strength because the center pillar reinforce 54 and the roof center member 56, which have a large sheet thickness, are separated from each other. Also, the conventional joint construction is disadvantageous in terms of vehicle body strength because spot welds in the groove part 57a of the roof panel 57 are made in a lapped portion of the roof center member 56 having a large sheet thickness and the side body outer panel 51 and the roof panel 57, which have a small sheet thickness.

Joint construction in upper part of center pillar


Hair care compositions are provided in which a silicone oil is dispersed in water by the action of a diquaternary polydimethylsiloxane. Polyvinylpyrrolidone may be included as a co-dispersant/stabilizer. The dispersed silicone oil combination is useful in hair conditioner formulations.

In accordance with hair composition terminology, the term "silicone oil" is used herein to designate water-insoluble silicone polymers which are applied to hair to improve its feel or appearance. Silicone oils can provide the hair with a silky, lubricious feel. They can also provide a lusterization effect. These results are obtained by coating hair strands with thin films of silicone oil.
Since silicone oils are substantially water-insoluble, after application to the hair they tend to remain thereon despite rinsing with water. Silicone oil can therefore be applied in a shampoo, or in a hair conditioner applied after shampooing, and then followed by water-rinsing.
The two most common types of hair conditioning silicone oils are referred to in the International Cosmetic Ingredient Dictionary (CTFA) as "dimethicone" and "dimethiconol". Dimethicone is defined as a mixture of fully methylated linear siloxane polymers end blocked with trimethylsiloxy units. Dimethiconol is a dimethyl silicone polymer terminated with hydroxyl groups. Such hair conditioning silicone oils are relatively non-volatile liquids. Dimethicone and dimethiconol silicone oils are obtainable from commercial sources in the United States and other countries.
Since silicone oils have very limited solubility in aqueous products, they are usually applied in the form of aqueous emulsions or dispersions. For example, in a water-based shampoo or hair conditioner, the silicone oil may be dispersed with the aid of an emulsifying agent, and the dispersion or emulsion may be stabilized by the inclusion of thickeners.
Cationic hair conditioning agents are also commonly used in hair treating compositions. Typically, cationic hair conditioning agents contain one or more cationic quaternary nitrogen groups, and one or more hydrophobic long chain aliphatic or silicone polymer. The cationic group can provide a degree of substantivity between the conditioning agent and hair. The long chain hydrophobic groups, which are derived from long chain fatty acids, or are silicone polymers, can provide hair conditioning functions.
Silicone oils have been disclosed as ingredients of water-based shampoos which also contain a quaternary nitrogen-containing conditioning agent and an anionic surfactant. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,704,272, 3,964,500, and 5,034,218 are illustrative of such formulations. Silicone oils are also disclosed as ingredients of after-shampoo hair conditioning emulsions. (See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,387,090.)
Silicone co-polymers, designated by the CTFA as "dimethicone copolyol" are also used in hair conditioner compositions. The cosmetic Dictionary definition is: a polymer of dimethylpolysiloxane with polyoxyethylene and/or polyoxypropylene side chains. These copolymers are not silicone oils since they are water-soluble.
Cationic silicone polymers have been proposed for use in hair conditioning compositions, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,529,586, 4,597,962 and 4,839,167. U.S. Pat. No. 4,529,586 describes a hair conditioning composition in which one of the ingredients is an amino functional silicone polymer. The composition also contains a cationic surfactant-emulsifier and a cationic polymer.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,597,962 discloses compositions containing cationic silicone polymers of specified structural formulas. The compositions also include a cationic surface-active agent and a water-soluble diquaternary polyammonium compound.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,839,167 discloses an emulsion-type hair cosmetic containing a dimethylpolysiloxane polyoxyalkylene copolymer. The compositions also contain dimethicone copolyol, and the compositions are formulated from mixtures of water and ethanol. In the compositions of the previously cited patents (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,529,586 and 4,597,962) water is used as the carrier.

Hair care composition containing dispersed silicone oil


A printing apparatus which shuts off the power supply to the apparatus, if a state in which the power supply to the apparatus is meaningless continues for a predetermined period, to prevent wasteful electricity consumption. When a LBP has an abnormality, an error processor detects the abnormality, executes a predetermined processing such as notification of the occurrence of error, and outputs error information to a power controller. The power controller determines whether or not the abnormal state has continued for a predetermined period. If the power controller determines the continuation of the abnormality for the predetermined period, it outputs a power-off instruction to a power. The power shuts off the power supply to the respective elements of the LBP.

Present invention relates to a control method for a peripheral device connected to an external device and a printing apparatus using the control method.
Printer is one of peripheral devices connected to an external device such as a host computer. In case of abnormal state (error) in the printer itself or its printing operation, the printer informs a user of the error using a display such as an LCD panel or an LED. However, the error state continues unless the user removes the error, while a large amount of electricity is being consumed.
Generally, the user manipulates a switch to turn on or off the power to the printer. Further, even when the printer does not execute printing, large amount of electricity is always consumed to maintain a warmed-up state of the device. For this reason, if the user forgets to turn off the power, the considerably large amount of wasted electricity is not negligible.
Further, even when the printer does not execute printing operation, the display (a backup light, a fluorescent display tube etc.) and an LED display current state as long as the power is ON.
Recently, a printer is often used in a network environment and it is located distant from a user. Because of such distance, the user is often unaware of an error occurred to the printer for a while. Some network notifies the user of the occurrence of error at the printer via a host computer. However, as the user does not always monitors the host computer, the error state may not be found for hours. In this case, electricity will be wasted until the user notices the error. This poses a problem from the viewpoint of saving energy.
Further, even when the external device (host computer) is not connected to the printer, or the power of the external device that the printer is connected to is off, i.e., in a case where there is no possibility of data transmission to the printer, electricity is wastefully consumed as long as the power of the printer is on. This also poses a problem from the viewpoint of saving energy. For example, in the network environment, in a case where the printer is placed away from the external device, it is likely that the user forgets to turn off the power to the printer after the user has turned off the power of the external device.
As described above, the conventional printer continues wasting electricity until the user turns off the power, in spite of a meaningless state, i.e., an error state is not found for hours, or the power of the host computer is off and the printer is not used for hours.
Further, even in a case where the printer does not execute printing for hours though the power is on, the display and the LED continue displaying the state of the printer. Thus, the electricity is wasted by the display or the LED.
It should be noted that the above-described problem of wasting electricity is not limited to the case of conventional printer. Other peripheral devices connected to a host computer have a similar problem.

Peripheral device control method and printing apparatus


A column base assembly for erecting temporary column structures, a base assembly held firmly in place by a vehicular tire resting thereon. The base assembly provides an easily erected column structure usable in a variety situations where a temporary structure can be erected near to a parked vehicle, such as signs, lights, sheds, tents or awnings. The base assembly provides a vertical receiving tube for holding a column, and a horizontal receiving tube attached to the vertical receiving tube for holding a beam. The column and beam can be used in cooperation to hold signage or other accessories. The base assembly provides a sturdy and stable column base erectable on hard surfaces, eliminating the need for staking.

The invention relates to a base assembly for a column structure, particularly to an unanchored, simply-supported base assembly which is prevented from overturning by the weight of a vehicular tire pressing down upon a base plate of the base assembly, pressing the base plate against the ground or other datum.
The invention is particularly adapted for temporary support columns which would remain securely in place as long as the vehicle, which provides the tire which holds the base plate down, is stationary at the site. Typical uses for such a base assembly would be for columns holding signage or awnings adjacent to an automobile at an automobile show; for supporting a banner or display on a column adjacent an automobile at an automobile sale lot; for supporting a shelter over a boat residing on a trailer, the trailer providing the tires which hold down the base assembly which supports the columns of the structure, or for erecting a temporary shelter, such as a tent, adjacent to, or over, a vehicle.
Temporary columns for displaying signage or holding awnings or canopies usually require that the column base plates be staked or otherwise anchored into the ground. Also, guy-wires directed from the top of the columns to adjacent areas where they are staked into the ground are sometimes used. These type of anchoring systems are more difficult to use, especially where the ground is an asphalt or concrete surface where stakes can not be easily driven. The present invention provides a base assembly which requires no penetrations of such hard surfaces.


There is provided a light diffusing element made of a thin film capable of realizing low back scattering and a high haze. A light diffusing element according to an embodiment of the invention includes: a first region having a first refractive index n1; a refractive index modulation region having a substantially spherical shell shape and surrounding the first region; and a second region having a second refractive index n2, the second region being positioned on a side of the refractive index modulation region opposite to the first region. The light diffusing element satisfies the following expressions (1) and (2):0.0006≦Δn/L  (1)10≦(Δn)2×A×B≦100  (2).

A light diffusing element is widely used in illumination covers, screens for projection televisions, surface-emitting devices (for example, liquid crystal display devices), and the like. In recent years, the light diffusing element has been used for enhancing the display quality of liquid crystal display devices and the like and for improving viewing angle properties, for example. As the light diffusing element, for example, there is proposed a light diffusing element in which fine particles are dispersed in a matrix such as a resin sheet (see, for example, Patent Literature 1). In such light diffusing element, most of incident light scatters forward (output plane side), whereas apart thereof scatters backward (incident plane side). As a refractive index difference between each of the fine particles and the matrix becomes larger, diffusibility (for example, a haze value) increases. However, if the refractive index difference is large, backscattering increases. More specifically, there is proposed a technology for placing a light diffusing element on the top surface of a liquid crystal display device so as to enhance the display quality of the liquid crystal display device. However, such light diffusing element does not have sufficient light diffusibility (for example, a haze value of less than 90%), and dose not exert any sufficient effect of improving the display quality. On the other hand, in the case where a light diffusing element having large light diffusibility (for example, a haze value of 90% or more) is used in a liquid crystal display device so as to enhance the display quality, when outside light is incident upon the liquid crystal device, a screen becomes whitish, resulting in a problem in that it is difficult to display a video and an image with a high contrast in a bright place. This is because the fine particles in the light diffusing element cause the incident light to scatter backward as well as forward. According to the conventional light diffusing element, as a haze value becomes larger, backscattering increases. Therefore, it is very difficult to satisfy both the increase in light diffusibility and the suppression of backscattering. Further, in an illumination application, as a haze value becomes larger, backscattering increases and a total light transmittance decreases, which degrades light use efficiency.
As means for solving the above-mentioned problems, based on the concept of suppressing the reflection at an interface between each of the fine particles and the matrix, for example, there are proposed: core-shell fine particles, in which the refractive index of a core is different from that of a shell, and fine particles having gradient refractive indices, such as the so-called gradient index (GRIN) fine particles, in which the refractive index changes continuously from the center of each of the fine particles toward the outer side, are dispersed in a resin (see, for example, Patent Literatures 2 to 8). However, with any one of those technologies, a thin light diffusing element with a high haze cannot be obtained. For example, in the GRIN fine particles of Patent Literature 8, when a thickness of a refractive index change portion is defined as L (nm) and a refractive index change amount of the refractive index change portion is defined as Δn, a steep refractive index change portion with a Δn/L of 0.00053 (nm−1) is formed. However, a light diffusing film using the GRIN fine particles of Patent Literature 8 only gains a haze of 86.5% even when a film thickness thereof is set to as large as 20 μm. As described above, there is a strong demand for a thin light diffusing element with a high haze (having excellent light diffusibility).
Meanwhile, along with the expansion of applications of liquid crystal display devices in recent years, various new problems have arisen. For example, in mobile telephones, in order to impart durability and design property, a plastic substrate (in general, an acrylic plate) is placed on a liquid crystal display portion. Further, in in-car displays such as a car navigator, tablet PCs used often industrially, public displays, and multi-functional mobile telephones, a touch panel is placed on the surface of a display portion (see, for example, Patent Literature 9). Such front substrate (for example, a plastic substrate or a touch panel) and a polarizing plate are usually fixed with a double-sided tape attached to an edge portion of the polarizing plate. The thickness of the double-sided tape is generally about 120 μm, and hence, there is a problem in that the thickness of the entire liquid crystal display device increases. In the case of using such double-sided tape for the touch panel, in order to minimize impact, sponge of about 1,000 μm is also used together with the double-sided tape, and hence, the thickness further increases. Further, only edge portions are bonded to each other with the double-sided tape, and hence, an air layer is formed between the polarizing plate and the front substrate. The refractive index of air is about 1.0, whereas the refractive index of a member forming the front substrate such as a polymer or glass is about 1.4 to 1.7. Thus, the following problem arises: a refractive index difference between the air layer and the front substrate becomes large, and hence, visibility in a bright environment is degraded owing to interface reflection of external light. Further, in the liquid crystal display device, a color filter layer of a liquid crystal cell generally functions as a screen. In the case of using a touch panel as the front substrate, an input hitting point is on the surface of the front substrate. In this case, the following problem arises: there is a distance between the surface of the liquid crystal cell serving as a screen and the surface of the front substrate, and hence, parallax is caused.
In order to suppress reflection of external light and glittering of a display screen in a liquid crystal display device using a front substrate, there has been known a liquid crystal display device in which a front substrate and a polarizing plate or a display are attached to each other with a pressure-sensitive adhesive layer having a light diffusing function interposed therebetween (see, for example, Patent Literatures 10 and 11). However, the light diffusing pressure-sensitive adhesive layer needs to be thick in order to realize a high haze (impart light diffusibility), which makes it difficult to realize a reduction in thickness.
Further, in recent years, an attempt to suppress power consumption of the liquid crystal display device has been made. The liquid crystal display device is generally being developed for a panel portion and a backlight portion separately, and the attempt to suppress power consumption has been made mainly in the backlight portion. FIG. 23 illustrates a basic structure of a general direct type backlight unit. Light sources 551 are arranged at a predetermined interval in a lamp house 550 having a reflective film attached to an inner surfaced thereof. A diffusion plate 552 is placed above the lamp house 550 for the purposes of holding the shape of the lamp house, eliminating a lamp image, and the like. In general, it is difficult to eliminate a lamp image only with the diffusion plate 552, and hence, a few diffusing sheets (diffusing films) 570 are placed. Further, for the purpose of enhancing brightness, a brightness enhancing sheet 110 such as a reflection type polarizer is placed. Light emitted from a backlight source is finite, and hence, there is a demand for enhancement of use efficiency of the backlight source. In order to fulfill this demand, for example, there has been proposed a backlight unit using a reflection type polarized light separation element including a metal lattice arranged on a wire grid (see, for example, Patent Literature 12). However, there is a demand for further enhancement of the use efficiency.

Light-diffusing element, polarizing plate having light-diffusing element attached thereto, polarizing element, and liquid crystal display device equipped with those components


A non-volatile memory device includes a field region that defines an active region in a semiconductor substrate, a floating gate pattern on the active region, a dielectric layer on the floating gate pattern and a control gate on the dielectric layer. The control gate includes a first conductive pattern that has a first composition that crystallizes in a first temperature range, and a second conductive pattern that has a second composition that is different from the first composition and that crystallizes in a second temperature range that is lower than the first temperature range, the first conductive pattern being between the dielectric layer and the second conductive pattern.

Example embodiments relate to non-volatile memory devices and to methods of manufacturing the same, and more particularly, to flash memory devices and methods of manufacturing flash memory devices.
Semiconductor memory devices may generally be classified as either volatile or non-volatile memory devices. Volatile memory devices (e.g., dynamic random access memory devices and static random access memory devices) may have relatively higher input/output (I/O) speeds, but lose data stored therein when power to the device is shut off. Non-volatile memory devices (e.g., read-only memory devices and electrically erasable programmable read-only memory devices) maintain data stored therein even when power is shut off. Flash memory devices are an advanced type of electrically erasable programmable read-only memory which can erase data at relatively high speeds.
In a flash memory device, a plurality of stacked gate structures are arranged in a cell region of a semiconductor substrate. The semiconductor substrate may comprise a bulk semiconductor substrate or a semiconductor layer that is formed on a semiconductor or non-semiconductor substrate. Each stacked gate structure includes a tunnel oxide pattern (e.g., a gate oxide pattern), a floating gate pattern and a control gate pattern. The floating gate pattern and the control gate pattern are separated by a dielectric layer.
In response to electric voltages that are applied to the substrate and the floating gate pattern, electrons may be either pushed into or pulled out of the floating gate pattern via a Fowler-Nordheim (F-N) tunneling mechanism and/or a channel hot electron injection mechanism in order to store or erase data. The voltage may be applied to the floating gate pattern through the dielectric layer.
A tunnel oxide layer is formed in the cell region of the substrate. The floating gate pattern, the dielectric layer and the control gate pattern are then stacked on the tunnel oxide layer, thereby forming the stacked gate structure in the cell region of the substrate.
A high coupling ratio is required between the floating gate pattern and the control gate pattern in order to induce the voltage applied to the control gate pattern to the floating gate pattern. The coupling ratio is a function of both the surface area and the thickness of the dielectric layer, with larger surface areas and smaller thicknesses both acting to increase the coupling ratio. However, if the thickness of the dielectric layer is reduced too much, the electrons in the dielectric layer may tend to leak into the floating gate pattern, thereby deteriorating the charge retention characteristics of the floating gate pattern. Consequently, the surface of the dielectric layer tends to be enlarged as necessary to increase the coupling ratio.
Since the floating gate pattern typically is formed using doped polysilicon, it may be difficult to form the dielectric layer as a thin thermal oxide layer on the floating gate pattern. In addition, there is a problem that the thin thermal oxide layer may exhibit excessive leakage currents. Consequently, a multilayer structure that includes a sequentially stacked first oxide layer, followed by a nitride layer, followed by a second oxide layer is usually used as the dielectric layer in a flash memory device. Such an oxide/nitride/oxide dielectric layer (hereinafter, referred to as ONO layer) has a dielectric constant that is larger than the dielectric constant of a thermal oxide layer.
In a conventional flash memory device, the floating gate pattern comprises a plurality of floating gates that are formed on line-shaped active regions. A device isolation layer is formed on a field region portion of the substrate, and this field region (and/or the device isolation layer thereon) may define the active region portion of the substrate. An upper surface of the device isolation layer may be lower than an upper surface of the floating gate pattern. Thus, a field recess is provided between neighboring floating gates and side surfaces of the floating gates are exposed to the field recess. The dielectric layer is formed on the device isolation layer and the floating gate pattern along a surface profile of the substrate including the field recess. Thus, the side surfaces and a top surface of the floating gate pattern are covered with the dielectric layer. Therefore, the width of the field recess is reduced by the thickness of the dielectric layer on the sidewalls of the adjacent floating gate lines. A polysilicon layer is formed on the dielectric layer to fill the field recess, to thereby form the control gate pattern of the flash memory device.
Unfortunately, the reduction in the width of the field recess that results from forming the dielectric layer on the side surfaces of the floating gates may cause non-uniform deposition of the polysilicon layer, and thus various process defects such as voids and/or seams may be formed in the control gate pattern. Moreover, as the integration density of flash memory devices is increased, the gap distance between the floating gates is reduced, and hence an aspect ratio of the field recess tends to be increased. With such higher aspect ratios, the likelihood that voids and/or seams may be generated is increased.
The presence of voids and/or seams in the control gate pattern may reduce the coupling ratio of the flash memory device, which may deteriorate the electric characteristics of the flash memory device. Particularly, when a heat treatment is conducted on the polysilicon layer for purposes of reducing the specific resistance of the control gate pattern, the silicon bonds (Si—Si bond) are frequently broken, and silicon (Si) atoms may migrate to the boundary surface between the dielectric layer and the control gate pattern. Thus, a depletion field is intensively found between the dielectric layer and the control gate pattern due to the heat treatment.

Non-volatile memory devices and methods of manufacturing the same


This invention relates to a support and guide element for movable, suspended door and wall elements. The support and guide element is designed so that a smooth movement can be securely executed, even in the vicinity of junctions and intersections. This is achieved because four support rollers are fastened to a square support roller cage block, but where only two of the four support rollers support the weight of the door or wall element in the running direction of the door or wall element. The other two support rollers are oriented at right angles to the running direction, and, during movement of the door in the running direction, only come into contact with the roller rail at a junction or intersection. Above the running rollers there are guide rollers, which guarantee secure guidance of the wall element.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a support and guide element for the sliding movement of door and wall elements that are suspended from a stationary roller rail. The door or wall elements are mounted, for example, by means of a truck or trolley which is guided in a system of roller rails fastened to the ceiling. The ceiling rails are designed such that the support or guide element is disposed inside the roller rail. The roller rail further comprises a recess running along its bottom side, wherein the shaft of the support and guide element projects through the recess and is fixedly connected to the door or wall element located therebelow. The running surfaces for the truck or trolley are generally the bottom inside surface of the roller rail. In addition, to impart a greater degree of stability to the truck or trolley, lateral guidance of the trolley within the roller rail should also be provided either by guide pins or guide rollers. These guide rollers or guide pins can generally be disposed above the support rollers and contact the side walls of the roller rail.
2. Background Information
One example of a support and guide element for a movable or sliding door or wall is disclosed in German Patent No. 21 45 793. Two co-planar pairs of rollers are employed, which have the same clear distance from one another and fill up the width of the rail. There are also means which guarantee that the support body is sufficiently supported in the vicinity of the intersection of two rails. The roller pair is oriented symmetrically in relation to the trunnions. But beyond a certain point, such a configuration may result in the support rollers slipping out of the guide rails.
Another example of a support and guide element is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,889,112. This United States patent discloses the design of an arrangement of support and guide rollers, wherein the support and guide rollers are oriented symmetrically around a pivot.
As another example, German Patent No. 35 22 824 also discloses a support and guide system for movable door or wall elements. In this German patent, the trolley is preferably equipped with eight support rollers. The trolley is guided by head rollers, which are mounted on vertical axles, in conjunction with guide means, which are located on the ceiling rail. In addition, spheres which can rotate in all directions are used as support elements, which spheres guarantee that the support rollers move in the running direction and provide linear guidance of the trolley in the rail junction areas. The overall design and construction of this trolley is very complex, and thus is not an economical solution.
As a final example, German Utility Model 72 47 479 discloses a support and guide element mounted in the center so that it can rotate. The support and guide element is equipped with four support rollers and three guide rollers. As a result of the trolley mounting being located in the center, a particularly complex support element is necessary to guarantee a smooth movement of the support element at the junctions of the roller rails.
All known support and guide elements have decisive disadvantages, which disadvantages can be summed up by noting that it is precisely at the junctions or intersections that smooth motion and thus a user-friendly operation is unobtainable. Further, it is precisely in these areas where, when the wall element is moved, a locking of the support rollers occurs. This locking may be attributed, to some extent, to the fact that the guide system formed by support rollers and guide rollers does not function smoothly when crossing a junction.

Guiding system having a trolley for moving suspended door panels and the trolley


A tarpaulin system that turns a flatbed trailer into a fully covered trailer and closes to provide an open flatbed trailer. The system is comprised of a plurality of inverted U-shaped support bows extending laterally across the trailer and secured to sections of the tarpaulin. Each support bow has rollers secured thereto for sliding movement along rails on each side of the trailer. A plurality of pairs of inverted U-shaped uplifting bows also extend laterally across the trailer and are pivotally secured to the support bows on opposite sides to spread apart during opening of the system. Intermediate support rods are secured between adjacent pairs of uplifting bows and extend laterally across the trailer between the uplifting bows beneath the tarpaulin sections to restrict the tarpaulin sections from falling between the uplifting bows when the system is closed.

The present invention relates to improvements to the tarpaulin system described and illustrated in applicant's U.S. Pat. No. 6,634,697, issued Oct. 21, 2003. That patent describes and illustrates a tarpaulin support for a tarpaulin system that converts a flatbed trailer into a fully covered trailer and back again into an open flatbed trailer, as desired. A plurality of tubular bows of inverted U-shape construction extend laterally across the flatbed trailer and are moveable on rails mounted on opposite sides of the trailer between open and closed positions. Means are associated with each of these bows to secure thereto peripheral portions of tarpaulin sections for covering the trailer when the system is in the open position. Pairs of U-shaped uplifting bows are pivotally secured to lower portions of the arms of each of the tubular bows, on opposite sides, to spread apart during opening of the tarpaulin system and support the tarpaulin from beneath when the system is open, and to close to a position near the corresponding tubular bow members when the system is closed.
When the bows are moved to the closed position, in accordion fashion to one end of the trailer, portions of the tarpaulin sections tend to slip down between the bows thereby taking up cargo space at that end. Also, the portions of the tarpaulin which become squeezed between adjacent bows and uplift bows when the system is in the closed position are subject to increased wear and tear.
Other patents of general background interest relating to tarpaulin systems for flatbed trailers include U.S. Pat. No. 4,711,484 of Tuerk, issued Dec. 8, 1987, U.S. Pat. No. 4,902,064 of Tuerk et al., issued Feb. 20, 1990 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,429,408 of Henning et al., issued Jul. 4, 1995.
Also of general background interest is U.S. Pat. No. 5,934,735 of Wheatley, issued Aug. 10, 1999, which patent describes and illustrates a connector assembly for formation of a tonneau cover frame which may be easily and selectively secured to a vehicle and/or easily disassembled for storage.
Embodiments of the present invention provide a tarpaulin support system for flatbed trailers which will assist in holding the tarpaulin sections above the support and uplift bows when in closed position. Embodiments of the present invention also provide a more easily manufactured and transported tarpaulin support system of the type in question.

Sliding tarpaulin systems and components for flatbed trailers or truck bodies


A method and apparatus for maximizing the data transmission rate from a source data path to selected channels of a destination data path having a different width from the source data path. In a preferred embodiment, the data transfer circuit includes at least one transfer register that is typically of the same width as the data source. Each bit from the transfer register is input to a plurality of multiplexers, each of which typically selects a single bit and outputs the selected bit to the destination.

The present invention relates generally to data transfer circuits. Specifically, a method and apparatus are provided for maximizing the data transmission rate from a source data path to selected channels of a destination data path having a different width from the source data path.
Inefficiencies naturally occur when data from a source of one width is transmitted to a destination of a different width. If the data destination has a narrower width than the data source, each data cycle transmitting the data from the source to the destination will waste bits. Looking at circuit configuration 100 in FIG. 1, for example, the width of data source 102 is 16 bits, while the width of destination 104 is 4 bits. In a typical application, data source 102 and destination 104 may be registers for storing data. Thus, only 4 bits will be transmitted in one data cycle from source to destination, meaning that 12 bits are wasted, assuming that data bus 106 has a total capacity of 16 bits. A complete transfer of data from source 102 to destination 104 will therefore require four data cycles on bus 106, which is very inefficient since it requires four transmissions to the same destination.
Similarly, when the data destination is wider than the data source, the destination is typically mapped into multiple ports (addresses), with the data being sent in multiple cycles to the different ports, again resulting in wasted bits in each data transmission. Looking at the circuit configuration 200 in FIG. 2, for example, the width of data source 202 is 16 bits, while the width of each destination 204 and 206 is also 16 bits. However, the first destination address 204 requires only 8 bits of source data and the second destination address 206 also requires 8 bits of source data. Thus, the first data cycle transmits 8 bits of data from source 202 to the first destination address 204, wasting 8 bits of source data that could have been transmitted across 16-bit wide data bus 208. The second data cycle then transmits another 8 bits of data from source 202 to the second destination 206, again wasting 8 bits of source data that could have been transmitted on data bus 208. Thus, two data cycles are needed for the entire data transmission, though data bus 208 could have handled the contents of the entire data source 202 in only one data cycle.
The problem described above is of particular concern when testing integrated circuit chips. Integrated circuit chips customarily undergo exhaustive testing during the manufacture process prior to encapsulation in a package or use of the package on a circuit board in order to ensure reliable operation of the chip. The chip die undergoes functional and parametric testing in at least two different stages of the manufacturing process. At one stage, a semiconductor wafer containing multiple chip dies is probed by a probe tester that tests each of the dies individually. At another stage, after an individual chip die has been encapsulated in a package, a programmable package tester can be used to thoroughly test the integrated circuit chip package.
In a preferred digital test system, testing is controlled by a control unit, which may be, for example, a central processing unit (CPu) or a dedicated block of control logic. These test systems generally include a data source, usually a memory space divided into separate tester channels, for storing state information for each pin of the integrated circuit chip. The stored DUT input and output states are commonly referred to as test vectors. In order to perform a functional test of the device, the device tester, under control of appropriate test software, applies excitations to and receives responses from the device under test (DUT) under control of the tester. More specifically, the control unit transfers test vector data from the data source through the tester channels to a destination, the DUT pins. The control unit also transfers the test vector data from the data source to a comparator, where each resultant output state of the DUT is compared to an expected value by the tester. If the actual and expected values correspond, the chip has passed the test.
For example, the integrated circuit chip may be a programmable logic device (PLD), which is a programmable integrated circuit that allows the user of the circuit, using software control, to customize the logic functions the circuit will perform. In this example, a first group of test vectors is used to initialize the PLD in a desired logic configuration, and a second group of test vectors is then used to exercise the configured PLD. Again, the observed result is then compared with an expected result to see if the PLD is functioning properly.
In such test systems, the speed with which the control unit can move data from the data source to the DUT and comparators is of primary importance. The faster the control unit can move the data, the greater the resultant test vector rate. An exemplary alternate method of increasing the test vector rate is described in related application Ser. No. 08/790,693, entitled "METHOD AND APPARATUS OF INCREASING THE VECTOR RATE OF A DIGITAL TEST SYSTEM," also assigned to the assignee of the present application and incorporated by reference herein. Therefore, the inefficient transmission of data from a source of one width to a destination of a different width described above seriously impairs the speed with which the control unit can execute a test program. The multiple data cycles required to transfer data from source to destination slow down the test program and lengthen the testing process.
Therefore, a new testing method and apparatus are desired to maximize the data transmission rate from a source data path to selected channels of a destination data path having a different width from the source data path, especially in the context of an integrated circuit chip test system.


Disclosed herein are system, method, and computer program product embodiments for providing a mixed-cart solution for an in-store app. An embodiment operates by receiving a request to add an item from a physical store to an associate shopping cart associated with an account. It is determined that the account is additionally associated with an online shopping cart associated with the store, and that the requested item does not exist in the online shopping cart. It selected item is added to the associate shopping cart. Both the online shopping cart and the associate shopping cart are provided to a computing device configured to simultaneously display both the online shopping cart and the associate shopping cart.

Many traditional brick-and-mortar stores now have apps and websites through which customers can order their products. Many customers use both the apps to order products, and also come into the store to purchase certain products, particularly those that they want immediately. However, when these customers come into the store, the sales associate helping the customer does not have access to the online data which could prevent the sales associate from being able to provide a premium customer-service experience.
In the drawings, like reference numbers generally indicate identical or similar elements. Additionally, generally, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the drawing in which the reference number first appears.


A system and method for engine parameter trending in which the engine control module (ECM) periodically stores to non-volatile memory various engine operating parameters over the life of the engine. The system is configurable such that a variable number of samples of a variable number of engine parameters can be stored. In addition to storing each engine parameter, each write to non-volatile memory is also time stamped. This data is used to track the health of the engine over its life cycle. Such data can be useful in providing decreased down time due to increased troubleshooting ability. The system includes a variable number of calibratable predetermined trigger points available so that the data is always logged under the same operating conditions. All triggers must be satisfied for a specified time in order to ensure consistent engine operating conditions when each data set is taken. When all of the predetermined input trigger thresholds have been met for a calibratable predetermined length of time and a predetermined time interval has been reached, the designated parameters are stored in non-volatile memory for extraction and use by a service tool. If the trigger preconditions are not satisfied, the ECM will wait a percentage of the data-logging time increment in order for the preconditions to all be satisfied before writing the monitored parameters to non-volatile memory. If the preconditions are not met after that additional time period, the ECM will evaluate the individual conditions and write to non-volatile memory whichever monitored parameters are valid, given which preconditions have been met.

It is well-known that internal combustion engines exhibit degradation in performance and/or reliability over time as wear occurs on the moving portions of the engine. Without maintenance, all engines will eventually fail after some period of use. Additionally, it has long been recognized that preventative maintenance (servicing the engine before it fails) can substantially reduce the overall cost of operating an engine. This is because the pieces of an engine work in concert with one another, and failure of one piece can lead directly to failure of other pieces. Replacing the pieces that are most likely to fail before such failure occurs can therefore substantially lower engine maintenance costs. Obviously, it is desirable to be able to predict when such failure is likely to occur so that preventative maintenance can be performed beforehand, but not so early that a significant portion of the replaced part's useful life is not utilized.
For applications where the engine is in a commercial vehicle, such as a diesel truck, it is also desirable to be able to predict engine failure in advance in order to minimize productive downtime of the vehicle. Such downtime can be very expensive to the vehicle owner due to lost revenue in addition to the repair cost.
Most modern engines are controlled by an electronic engine control module (ECM) that has access to the readings of various sensors placed around the engine, and it is known in the prior art to cause the ECM to periodically store selected sensor data in order to track the "health" of the engine versus time. Such data can be very useful in predicting mechanical failures in advance of a breakdown so that preventative maintenance can be performed. Such data can also be valuable to instill buyer confidence in the health of an engine when it is sold on the used market.
However, the ability to forecast the need for engine servicing and the ability to troubleshoot engine failure by looking at historical engine sensor data can be hampered if the data is not collected in a controlled manner. There is therefore a need for an engine control module that is operative to collect and store engine data in a consistent manner, such that all of the data stored is relevant to the rest of the stored data, thereby making historical data comparisons useful. The present invention is directed toward meeting this need.

System and method for engine parameter trending


A method and apparatus of detecting a frame boundary by using a preamble are provided. The method includes delaying the preamble by a predetermined length of time, wherein the preamble includes an LTF and a code of the (n+1)th one of 2n sync sequences of the LTF is the inverse of a code of the last one of the sync sequences of STF; calculating a correlation value between the preamble and the delayed preamble; and detecting a frame boundary by comparing the correlation value with a threshold correlation value.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of creating a preamble, and a method and apparatus for detecting a frame boundary using a preamble.
(b) Description of the Related Art
In recent years, an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) system has been widely used in wireless communication systems because it makes efficient use of limited frequency resources and offers high-data transmission rates.
In IEEE 802.15.4m, which is currently under standardization, a short training field (STF) and a long training field (LTF) are used as a preamble. The STF included in the preamble of IEEE 802.15.4m has a pattern that repeats itself n times within an OFDM symbol. Thus, a device that has received the preamble can estimate the boundary of the OFDM symbol. However, it is not easy to detect the boundary of an OFDM symbol only by a repeating pattern of STFs.

Method of creating preamble, and method and apparatus for detecting frame boundary

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute


A cleaning system of the invention may include an operator wearable torso belt, a swivel hook fastened to the belt, and a holder releasably hung on the hook, with the holder sized to releasably hold a chemical container. The cleaning system further may include a chemical container, a spray gun, a chemical draw line connecting the chemical container to the spray gun, and a liquid supply line extending from a multi-functional cleaning machine to the spray gun. If desired, the chemical holder may include a first compartment, a second compartment, and a third compartment. The first compartment holds the spray gun when the spray gun is not in use, the second compartment holds the chemical container, and the third compartment is sized to hold a tool such as a squeegee or the like.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention is directed to portable cleaning systems, and in particular, to such systems that enable a user to selectively deliver, through a spray gun or the like, a pressurized liquid (for example, water) and a mixture of such a liquid and a cleaning liquid (for example, a cleaning liquid concentrate).
2. Description of Related Art
Over the years, several cleaning devices have been proposed for use in cleaning various areas of commercial, industrial, and institutional buildings. In recent times, cleaning machines have been developed that are more operator-friendly and that are more efficient and effective. One such machine includes an onboard chemical injector fluidly connected to an onboard chemical concentrate and to a source of pressurized liquid (Robinson U.S. Pat. No. 6,206,980). And while this machine performs extremely well, there is a desire to make a cleaning system that is even more operator-friendly, efficient and effective.

Cleaning system including operator-wearable components


Systems and methods for providing memory access circuitry in application specific integrated circuits, and in certain configurations for recovering data from non-volatile memory registers in a partially disabled application specific integrated circuit as provided. In one configuration, a virtual partial dual-port non-volatile memory is provided having a secondary partial read only port. In another configuration, a physical partial dual-port non-volatile memory is provided having a secondary partial read only port.

Modern electronic systems that are produced in relatively high volume often include application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) in order to reduce chip count, package size, cost and power requirements. ASICs often include entire 32-bit CPU core processors, memory blocks including ROM, RAM, EEPROM, Flash and other large custom logic building blocks that previously would have been separate discrete chips. Such an ASIC is often referred to as a System-on-a-chip (SoC) because of the high level of integration provided.
Several companies provide various ASIC design and production services including Samsung, IBM, Texas Instruments and Toshiba. There are several types of ASICs available that offer certain libraries and standard processes to speed development including standard cell design and gate array design. Additionally, full custom design chips may be designed and procured.
In traditional multi-chip electronic systems, multiple integrated circuits including a processor, memory, non-volatile memory, logic, power distribution, clock or other subsystem are mounted and interconnected on a printed wiring board. In such a device, one or more of the non-memory components may fail when the non-volatile memory circuit is still functioning. In such a case, memory records may be retrieved from the functioning non-volatile memory device such as by removing it from the printed wiring board and for example placing it in a second working printed wiring board.
However, if the electronic component includes a SoC ASIC, then the failure of a portion of the circuit not damaging the non-volatile memory may still render the non-volatile memory record inaccessible. Accordingly, there is a need o provide for recovery of non-volatile memory records in a partially disables application specific integrated circuit.

System and method for data recovery in a disabled integrated circuit


A control apparatus of a power supply system including a battery, a battery sensor to detect a state quantity of the battery, and a generator to generate a power for the battery includes a controller. The controller executes normal charging control to control battery charging based on a detection result from the battery sensor, by controlling an operation of the generator. The controller executes failsafe control to prioritize battery charging regardless of the detection result from the battery sensor, if the battery sensor is determined to be operating abnormally. The controller executes full charging control to charge the battery until the battery is fully charged, when the failsafe control ends. The controller executes the normal charging control after a state-of-charge of the battery used in the normal charging control is set to a value corresponding to a state where the battery is fully charged, when the full charging control ends.

The disclosure relates to a control apparatus of a power supply system.
In the past, a battery and generator (e.g., an alternator) are provided as a power supply system mounted in a vehicle or the like, and the battery is charged using electric power generated by the generator. Control of charging such a battery (hereinafter, also referred to as "charging control") is generally performed on the basis of detection results from a battery sensor that detects state quantities such as voltage and current of the battery, as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2016-116255, for example.

Control apparatus of power supply system


A seal assembly for use in conjunction with a trocar assembly includes a seal body adapted for movement for selectively opening and substantially completely closing the seal assembly. The seal assembly includes a longitudinal axis extending therethrough with a transverse plane substantially perpendicular thereto. The seal body includes a proximal end and a distal end, the proximal end making a first angle with respect to the transverse plane and the distal end making a second angle with respect to the transverse plane, wherein the first angle is less than the second angle.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to trocars. More particularly, the invention relates to a multi-angled duckbill sealing assembly for trocars.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A trocar assembly is a surgical instrument that is used to gain access to a body cavity. A trocar assembly generally comprises two major components, a trocar sleeve, composed of a trocar housing and a trocar cannula, and a trocar obturator. The trocar cannula, having the trocar obturator inserted therethrough, is directed through the skin to access a body cavity. Once the body cavity is accessed, laparoscopic or arthroscopic surgery and endoscopic procedures may be performed. In order to penetrate the skin, the distal end of the trocar cannula is placed against the skin that has been previously cut with a scalpel. The trocar obturator is then used to penetrate the skin and access the body cavity. By applying pressure against the proximal end of the trocar obturator, the sharp point of the trocar obturator is forced through the skin until it enters the body cavity. The trocar cannula is inserted through the perforation made by the trocar obturator and the trocar obturator is withdrawn, leaving the trocar cannula as an access way to the body cavity.
The proximal end portion of the trocar cannula is typically joined to a trocar housing that defines a chamber having an open distal end portion in communication with the interior lumen defined by the trocar cannula. A trocar obturator, or other elongated cylindrical surgical instruments axially extend into and are withdrawn from the trocar cannula through the proximal end portion of the chamber defined by the trocar housing.
It is the present practice to provide the chamber of the trocar housing with a sealing mechanism, such as a sealing grommet or gasket, through which the instruments extend. The sealing mechanism seals against the outer surface of the inserted instruments and thereby prevents fluids and insufflation gas from leaving or entering the body cavity through the trocar cannula. In fact, insufflation gas does not enter the trocar cannula at any time due to the higher abdominal pressures encountered during medical procedures.
Some current trocar assemblies utilize a "duckbill" seal assembly. Duckbill seal assemblies include a pair of opposed valve members which open and close in much the same manner a duck opens and closes its bill. Duckbill seal assemblies generally include a straight wall angle which defines the flex point for the opening and closing of the duckbill seal assembly. However, by limiting the wall angle to a single value, manufacturers must consistently trade off between the overall seal height, drag force, inversion and other trocar assembly parameters.
Prior art trocars generally call for an initial design optimization selecting a 30-45 degree wall angle to minimize the overall height and drag force. The choice of a 30-45 degree wall angle is, however, made at the expense of tear reliability because the limited angle results in more direct contact between the instruments and the surface of the seal assembly. Studies have indicated the wall section next to the center ribs of current duckbill seal assembly is susceptible to local buckling and thus tear failures occur at angles where the instrument contacts the seal assembly at angles approaching 90 degrees. That is, where the trocar obturator or other insertion tool contacts the duckbill seal assembly at angles approaching 90 degrees, local buckling and tear failure of the duckbill seal assembly becomes more likely.
Accordingly, there is a need for a trocar assembly that includes a duckbill seal assembly improving tear resistance and buckling prevention. The present invention provides such a duckbill sealing assembly.


An apparatus for removing heat from the backside of a packaged flip chip. In one embodiment, the top side of an integrated circuit die is mechanically and electrically coupled to the top surface of a package substrate via a plurality of solder bump interconnections. A heatsink is supported above the backside surface of the die and the package substrate by standoffs. The height of the standoffs is selected to produce a gap between the heatsink and the backside of the die. The gap is filled with a highly conductive heat transfer medium, such as a thermal grease, to provide a heat path between the die and the heatsink. A spring clip flexibly attaches the heatsink to the package by providing a force to the heatsink to seat the standoffs against the top surface of the package substrate.

Within the integrated circuit industry there is a continuing effort to increase integrated circuit speed as well as device density. As a result of these efforts, there is a trend towards using flip chip technology when packaging complex high speed integrated circuits. Flip chip technology is also known as control collapse chip connection (C4) technology. In C4 technology, the integrated circuit die is flipped upside down. This is opposite to how integrated circuits are typically packaged today using wire bond technology. By flipping the integrated circuit die upside down, ball bonds may be used to provide direct electrical connections between the die and the package. Unlike wire bond technology, which only allows bonding along the periphery of the integrated circuit die, C4 technology allows connections to be placed anywhere on the integrated circuit die surface. This leads to a very low inductance power distribution to the integrated circuit which is another major advantage of C4 technology.
As integrated circuit technology has improved, substantially greater functionality has been incorporated into the devices. As integrated circuits have expanded in functionality, the size of the devices have diminished resulting in higher clocking frequencies and increased power consumption. As a consequence, the integrated circuit devices of today generate more heat while possessing smaller surface areas to dissipate the heat. Therefore, it is important to have a high rate of heat transfer from the integrated circuit package to maintain the junction temperatures of the integrated circuit within safe operating limits. Excessive junction temperatures may affect the performance of the circuit and cause permanent degradation of the chip.
In wire bond technology, the chip is attached to the bottom of the package which is usually a heat slug or a heat spreader. The heat slug or spreader provides a thermal interface to attach heatsinks. Since the heat slug and spreader possess a high degree of mechanical strength, a heatsink can be directly attached to either of these devices. The slug or spreader thus protects the die from outside forces that might otherwise damage the die.
In contrast to wire bond technology, a flip chip is attached to a package via a plurality of fragile solder bump interconnections. Since the force needed to hold a heatsink in place is typically 10-20 lbs, the direct attachment of a heatsink to the backside of flip chip may crush the die or cause a solder bump interconnection to crack or break. Although an underfill material may be placed under the die to cushion the solder bumps from the force being applied to them, the direct application of force onto the contact bumps is highly undesirable.
FIG. 1 illustrates a prior art approach to removing heat from the backside of a flip chip. As shown in FIG. 1, a flip chip 102 is mounted onto a ceramic package substrate 104 via a plurality of solder bump interconnections 106. A ceramic cap 108 is attached to the perimeter of the substrate generally by a solder seal 105. The inner height of cap 108 is designed to be slightly greater than the height of die 102. A thermal grease 112 is positioned between the backside of die 102 and cap 108 to provides a heat flow path from the die to the ceramic cap. The thickness of thermal grease 112 is commonly referred to as the "bond line thickness." A finned heatsink 110 is typically attached to the top of cap 108 by solder 114. Because present day integrated circuit devices dissipate considerably more power than those in the past, it is necessary to optimize the heat removal capability of the packages that house these devices. As such, the bond line thickness between the cap and die must be held to an absolute minimum.
Although the use of a cap protects the die from external forces, it limits the package's ability to remove heat from the die by increasing the thermal resistance of the flow path between die 102 and heatsink 110. For heat to escape from the backside surface of die 102 to heatsink 110 it must first pass through thermal grease 112, cap 108, solder 114 and the boundary interfaces of each of these materials. As a result, the thermal performance of the capped package is limiting.
The use of a capped package also requires that the package substrate and cap have matching coefficients of expansion in order to maintain a proper bond line thickness between the backside of the die and the cap. For this reason, the package substrate and cap are almost always made of a ceramic material. The trend in the integrated circuit industry, however, is to move away from the use of ceramic packages since the costs of these packages are relatively high. Ceramic packages are also heavy. Instead, lighter and less expensive plastic packages are now being used to house integrated circuit chips. The use of caps in conjunction with plastic packages introduces several problems. First, since a cap must be thermally conductive, it is nearly impossible to match the coefficient of expansion of the cap with that of a plastic substrate. In addition, plastic substrates are not as flat and rigid as their ceramic counterparts. These problems preclude the application of a cap to a plastic package since the bond line thickness between the cap and the backside of a die cannot be properly controlled to within the strict tolerances required by today's high powered circuits.
Therefore, what is needed is an apparatus for removing heat from the backside of a packaged flip chip.

Apparatus for attaching a heat sink to the back side of a flip chip package


Polysilicon electrical depletion in a polysilicon gate electrode is reduced by depositing the polysilicon under controlled conditions so as to vary the crystal grain size through the thickness of the polysilicon. The resulting CMOS transistor may have two or more depth-wise contiguous regions of respective crystalline grain size, and the selection of grain size may be directed to maximize dopant activation in the polysilicon near the gate dielectric and to tailor the resistance of the polysilicon above that first region and more distant from the gate dielectric. A region of polycrystalline silicon may have a varying grain size as a function of a distance measured from a surface of the dielectric film.

Field effect transistors (FETs) and doped polysilicon resistors are common elements in solid state circuits. Gate conductors are formed by the deposition of crystalline polysilicon which is subsequently doped and, in many instances, must have a predetermined electrical resistance. Furthermore, it is important that polysilicon electrical depletion adjacent to an interface with dielectric be minimized in order to improve transistor performance.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,017,810, to Furukawa et al., titled "Process for Fabricating Field Effect Transistor with a Self-Aligned Gate to Device Isolation", suggests a method for forming a gate conductor from an N+ or P+ type doped polycrystalline silicon on an insulating layer, but does not teach variation of crystal grain size in controlled manner.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,766,989, to Maegawa et al., titled "Method for Forming Polycrystalline Thin Film and Method for Fabricating Thin Film Transistor", suggests a method of forming a polysilicon semiconductor thin film, which, in part, contains microcrystals that serve as crystal nuclei for polycrystallization on an insulating substrate. The film is polycrystallized by laser annealing to generate crystals all of substantially the same size. This reference discusses prior art in which excimer laser radiation is employed to generate polycrystalline layers having crystals of different size where the variation occurs laterally, i.e., in a direction perpendicular to a direction of the thickness of the polysilicon.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,346,850, to Kaschmitter et al., titled "Crystallization and Doping of Silicon on Low Temperature Plastic", suggests the use of short-pulsed high energy processing of an amorphous silicon layer to crystallize the same.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,164,338, to Graeger et al., titled "Method of Manufacturing a Polycrystalline Semiconductor Resistance Layer of Silicon on a Silicon body and Silicon Pressure Sensor Having Such a Resistance Layer," suggests a method of manufacturing a polycrystalline semiconductor resistance layer over an insulating layer, in which the polysilicon is first applied as a continuous nearly amorphous silicon layer. This layer is thermally processed to promote the epitaxial growth of additional polycrystalline silicon thereon.
It is considered that none of the known prior art teaches a method in which a crystalline polysilicon deposit has a controlled crystal size varying with depth.

CMOS transistor with a polysilicon gate electrode having varying grain size

International Business Machines Corporation


Provided are an apparatus and method of operating a multi-changer of an optical disc player which restricts an initial operation of the multi-changer of the optical disc by referring to a disc chucking and tray open/close states. According to the method, it is determined whether a type of a disc, which is currently mounted in the disc mounting unit, has been determined before, if a tray open or close key is inputted. If it is determined that the type of the disc has not been determined before, the tray is opened or closed. Then, if the tray is closed, the type of the disc is determined after chucking the disc which is currently mounted in the disc mounting unit. According to the method, it is possible to stabilize a player by restricting an initiating operation of the multi-changer of the optical disc, which occurs needlessly due to a tray open/close key, when a disc is not yet chucked.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method of operating a multi-changer of an optical disc player, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method of operating a multi-changer of an optical disc which restricts an initial operation of the multi-changer of the optical disc by disc chucking and tray open/close states.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a disc multi-changer performs by stopping a spindle motor and initiating a servo chip and a pick-up using only open/close key values.
FIG. 1 is a flowchart of a conventional method for operating a multi-changer of an optical disc player. The conventional method determines whether a tray open/close key is inputted or not, and a tray open/close key flag is set to check a key input if the tray open/close key is inputted (operations 100 and 101). After the open/close key flag is set, a spindle motor is stopped to halt a disc which is being played at that time (operation 102). When the spindle motor is stopped, a flag initiating a pick-up is set (operation 103).
Then it is determined whether a pick-up initiation flag is set, and if the pick-up initiation flag is set, the pick-up is initiated by initiating a servo chip and actuating a sled motor to place the pick-up at a predetermined position (operations 104, 105 and 106).
After the pick-up is initiated, tray open/close operations are performed, i.e., the tray is opened and closed (operation 107).
After completion of the tray open/close operations, it is determined whether the disc is chucked (operation 108). If the disc is chucked, a type of the disc is determined, and the disc is played (operations 109 and 110).
Referring to FIG. 1, in order to perform the tray open/close operations when the open/close key is inputted from a remote control, the spindle motor is stopped, the servo chip is initiated, and the operations for initiating the pick-up are repeated. Here, the aforementioned operations are related to read or write data from or to the servo chip, and thus a delay in time is inevitable to safely read or write data. The delay in time affects the entire operations of a system and lengthens the overall delay in time. In addition, the servo chip initiation is to apply a hardware reset to the servo chip, where a set of servo coefficients is written to the servo chip if the servo chip initiation is performed. When the tray open/close key is repeatedly inputted, the servo chip is unnecessarily reset and the servo coefficients are written to the servo chip, and thus the servo chip operates from a busy state. Further, when the tray open/close key is repeatedly inputted, the pick-up, which has been already in the initiation position, is unnecessarily moved again. If the pick-up initiating operation is performed, a main micom processes a time interrupt to set the position of the pick-up. Here, if the tray open/close key is repeatedly inputted, the main micom is not properly capable of processing the time interrupt.

Apparatus and method for reducing program selection time in multi-changer of optical disk player


The hydrometallurgical copper extraction processes of the present teachings generally including two steps: a conditioning or activating step using low concentrations of ammonia and ammonium in an aqueous solution; and an acid leaching step. The processes of the present teachings can be performed at low temperature, for example, at ambient temperature, and at atmospheric pressure.

Pure copper is rarely found in nature. Instead copper is usually combined with other elements in copper ores. Over a dozen copper ores are mined commercially around the world. Sulfide ores, in which copper is bonded to sulfur, are the most common. Other copper ores include oxide ores, carbonate ores, and mixed ores.
The processes for extracting copper from a copper ore varies according to the type of ore, the desired purity level of the final product, and other factors. Each process typically includes a series of steps during which unwanted components are removed physically, chemically and/or electrochemically, with the purity of copper increasing during the process. The first step often is the physical concentration of a copper ore into a copper concentrate, in which the level of copper can be increased from a few percent up to about 20% to 30%.
The extraction processes can be hydrometallurgical or pyrometallurgical. Hydrometallurgical processing of copper ores often results in incomplete recovery of copper and other precious metals, long cycle times, poor product quality, and the difficulty in disposal and/or treatment of reagents and by-products of the aqueous processes. Alternative copper extraction processes, particularly for refractory materials such as chalcopyrite or copper concentrates, can be conducted at high temperatures, under high pressure (e.g., an increased partial pressure of oxygen), and/or with strong chemical oxidants or expensive reagents.
Chalcopyrite (CuFeS2) is one of the most abundant copper-bearing minerals, which accounts for approximately 70 percent of the world's known copper reserves. For more than 30 years, a significant number of processes have been developed to leach copper from chalcopyrite. A number of demonstration plant operations have been conducted, but none of the processes have become completely commercially operational. During the past decades, there has been a decline in copper grades, often remarked upon as a future challenge to the copper industry. The decline in ore grades is projected to continue and, in addition, ore mineralogy would become more complex. The need to process low-grade and/or complex chalcopyrite-containing ores has been the main driver for the development of hydrometallurgical processes.
Thus, there is a need to improve the hydrometallurgical extraction of copper from copper ores and copper concentrates.

Soluciones Tecnológicas Mineras Coriolis Limitada