Novel substituted isoquinoline compounds are disclosed together with novel 2-phenylethylamides useful as precursors or intermediates for the production of the isoquinolines. The substituted isoquinolines exhibit activity in antagonizing the effects of platelet activating factor (PAF).

1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to substituted isoquinolines, compositions containing the same and methods of using the same to antagonize the effects of platelet activating factor.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Platelet activating factor (PAF) is a mediator of events in the body--an autocoid like histamine, prostaglandins, and the leukotrienes. However, unlike these other substances, PAF is a phospholipid, the first mediator originating from cell membranes to be identified. The structure of PAF is as follows: ##STR1##
PAF is also known by the trivial name pAF-acether, a reference to the acetate group and ether structure which characterize the compound.
PAF is released by a number of different cell types and exerts a vast array of biological activities, including platelet activation/aggregation (the first described property, from which its name derives), bronchoconstriction and increased vascular permeability. Proposed initially as a mediator of inflammation and allergy, but then found to be involved in a number of other conditions ranging from septic shock and early pregnancy to immune regulation, PAF is now considered to be a major agent of cell to cell communication.
Efforts are being directed towards elucidating PAF's role in the many conditions in which it has been implicated, work which has been greatly aided by the synthesis of several specific and chemically unrelated PAF-antagonists. As the evidence for PAF's involvement in a number of conditions slowly accumulates, so the potential therapeutic uses for such compounds are outlined.
These potential indications for PAF-antagonists range from use in asthma and other inflammatory and allergic disorders, to transplant rejection, shock states such as septicaemia, and renal disease. In addition, PAF's involvement in early pregnancy points to new treatments for infertility and new approaches to contraception, while analogues of PAF appear to hold potential for use in cancer and the treatment of hypertension.
The PAF or PAF-acether antagonists which have been developed to date fall principally into four different groups: PAF analogs, which include non-constrained backbone and constrained backbone types, the latter being produced by cyclization of the PAF structural framework; natural products, such as terpens (e.g., ginkolides), lignans and fungal fermentation products; synthetic compounds, primarily pyrazolo-thiazole analogs; and known pharmacological agents used for other purposes, including triazolobenzodiazepine psychotropic agents and calcium channel blocking agents. The following illustrations of typical prior art PAF antagonists are derived from P. J. Barnes et al., J. Aller. Clin. Immunol. 81(5):919-934 (1988); see also P. Braquet and J.J. Godfroid, Trends in Pharmacological Sciences 7(10):397-403 (1986): ##STR2##
In addition to the foregoing, a recently developed antagonist of the PAF-analog type, SRI 63-675, is disclosed in D. A. Handley et al., Thrombosis and Haemostatis, 57(2):187-190 (1987), having the following structure: ##STR3##
Certain diketopiperazine derivatives having PAF-inhibiting activity have recently been isolated from microbial sources, including metabolites of a streptomyces bacterium. N. Shimazaki et al., J. Med. Chem., 30:1706-1709 (1987).
New, more effective antagonists of PAF, particularly of the synthetic type, are actively being sought.

Substituted isoquinolines and methods of using same


When a FADEC detects an abnormality in any of engine+compressor combinations, a FCC controls the amount of air for driving the fan to a level that is lower than that before the abnormality has been detected, until a state is assumed in which the normally operating engine+compressor combination can supply the air at a flow rate necessary for a fan to generate a propulsion force that has been attained before the abnormality has been detected. As a result, the normally operating engine+compressor combination can be prevented from the occurrence of a surge and a resultant overload state. Therefore, when some drive sources from a plurality of drive sources fail, normally operating drive sources can be prevented from being in an overload state.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fan control apparatus, and more particularly to a fan control apparatus that controls a fan that is rotary driven by being supplied with a fluid and serves to generate a propulsion force of a flying object.
2. Description of the Related Art
A propulsion force for causing a VTOL (Vertical Take-off and Landing) apparatus to fly has conventionally been obtained by supplying the air by an bleed gas turbine engine and rotary driving a fan. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2005-125976 discloses a VTOL apparatus having a transfer system of a high-pressure gas type. With such configuration, a drive source takes in the air from an air suction port and compresses the air with a compressor. The compressed high-pressure gas is transferred through a pipe and blown onto an input shaft of the fan to rotate the fan. Based on the fail-safe approach, two drive sources of identical configuration are installed at the VTOL apparatus.
However, in such a VTOL apparatus having two engines, one engine sometimes fails and the so-called OEI (One Engine Inoperative) state is assumed. In the case of such OEI, the revolution speed of the normally operating engine and the turbine inlet temperature are increased over those of the rated output to compensate the insufficient fan drive power. However, immediately after one engine fails, the revolution speed of the normally operating engine is low. As a result, when the required output abruptly increases, a surge or the like occurs, the engine is overloaded, and there is a risk that even the engine that has not failed will not be able to operate normally.


An ovoid flexible pressure vessel is described. At least one hollow pressure cell, formed of resilient material, a passageway, a valving means, a capillary tube, hoop winding, high-strength braiding material and at least one reinforcing ring are provided. The ovoid flexible pressure vessel has a pressure relief device comprising a reduction in thickness of the hollow pressure cell at a predetermined location whereby, when the hollow pressure cell is subjected to an overpressure condition it will fail at the predetermined location. Further pressure release devices include the following: a reduction in thickness of the cell, an indentation, a projecting member, a weakened section of the passageway, a weakening or an absence of high-strength braiding material or hoop winding at a predetermined location along the passageway, a weakening or spreading of fibers in either of the reinforcing panels or in either flexible blankets.

Typically, pressure vessels capable of containing liquids or gases at significant pressures have involved fixed shape cylinders or spheres formed of high-strength metals such as steel or aluminum. Such pressure vessels, while successful for their designed applications, involve a number of problems. First, such metallic cylinders are relatively heavy compared to the gases or fluids that they contain. Second, pressure cylinders contain all of the gas or liquid in a single space. Should the vessel rupture, the entire vessel is destroyed, often with a violent explosion sending shards of metal in all directions. Third, metallic cylinders have a definite shape and cannot be adapted to fit readily in many space-constrained applications. The present invention involves a number of small cells linked to each other by small conduits. The cells are collected in a flexible manifold that allows the collection of cells to be arranged in a variety of different configurations. A pressure vessel of this type can be lightweight, adaptable to a variety of spaces and unusual applications, and is inherently safer in rupture situations.
The present invention is easily adapted to a number of valuable applications through the use of modem, high-strength materials and manufacturing techniques. The pressure handling capability of the vessel can be enhanced through the use of braiding, hoop-winding and overlayment with flexible, high-strength fabric and braiding materials. The pressure vessel may then be further strengthened through the use of plastic resin coatings or the addition of external reinforcement rings. The purity of liquids or gases contained in the vessel may be controlled through the use of special lining tubes placed within the vessel cells during construction. The vessel cells may be prevented from collapsing as gasses or liquids are removed by the introduction of special sponges to the cells during fabrication. For certain special applications, the pressure vessel cells may be fitted with removable, resealable ports, permitting the introduction of relatively large matter into the cells.
A particular problem associated with pressure vessels operated at high pressure is the conditions under which they may fail. Metallic cylinders are particularly dangerous in this regard as they may fragment suddenly if aged or fatigued from many use cycles, even if equipped with overpressure release devices. The present invention provides for a number of controlled pressure release mechanisms that are easily incorporated into the flexible pressure vessels.
The use of numerous small linked pressure vessels also present problems related to effectively joining such vessels together. The present invention provides for novel manufacturing methods for joining such cells.
Various designs have been developed using linked cell technologies. U.S. Pat. No. 6,047,860 issued to Sanders, the present inventor, is directed to a container system for pressurized fluids. The system includes a plurality of ellipsoidal chambers connected by a tubular core. The apertures into each of the chambers are of comparatively small size so that the rate of evacuation may be controlled if a single chamber is ruptured. Thus, the vessels are resistant to explosive rupturing. The container system comprises a plurality of chambers and a tubular core. The size of the apertures in the core are pre-selected so as to control the rate of evacuation of pressurized fluid from chambers. Each of the chambers is generally ellipsoidal and molded of a synthetic material with open front and rear ends. The tubular core is sonically welded to the chamber shells and the exterior of the shells are wrapped with pressure resistant reinforcing filaments. A protective plastic coating is applied to the exterior of the filament wrapped shells.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,222,762 issued to Bebor et al., discloses hollow metal bodies and means for producing them. The hollow bodies described in this invention are particularly adapted for use as pressure vessels and may be produced from tubular bodies by expanding the walls. The zones may comprise spaced spheroids joined together by parts of the initial tube. The hollow bodies described are made by placing a cylindrical tube into a suitable mold and then heating until the metal possesses the plasticity for expanding. By exerting an axially directed compressive force against the ends of the tube and simultaneously applying a high fluid pressure within the tube, the tube ball is axially compressed or upset while portions of the wall are expanded against the walls of the mold surrounding the tube. By suitably adjusting the axial thrust and expanding pressures, the hollow body is formed to possess the same wall thickness and resistivity to pressure yet have the form of a plurality of spaced spheroids adjoined together by parts of the initial tube.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,946,056, issued to Stannard, is directed to a fabricated pressure vessel that is used for the containment of pressurized fluids. The multi-lobed tank comprises a series of cylindrical lobes connected side by side and separated by a septa. Openings or ports in the septa enable fluid communication between the lobes.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,823,668 issued to Van Court et al. describes an inflatable splint. The wrapper of the splint comprises a double layer of material defining a series of flexible fluid chambers divided into elongated enclosures by cementing or heat sealing. It should be noted that the chamber walls are left open at their upper and lower ends whereby all of the elongated fluid chambers are in fluid communication with one another.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,704,512 issued to Falk et al., discloses a vessel that is used for a pressure vessel and made of plastic. The vessel includes a centered tubular part interconnected to a plurality of interconnected fluid compartments distributed peripherally in an annular fashion and thus enclosing the central compartment. The vessels described in this invention may be used to hold liquefied petroleum gas, compressed air, as well as various fire-fighting materials.
While other variations exist, the above-described designs involving linked cell technologies are typical of those encountered in the prior art. It is an objective of the present invention to provide a flexible pressure vessel that is capable of maintaining gasses or liquids at relatively high pressures. It is a further objective to provide this capability in a vessel that is light in weight and that presents a significantly reduced risk of injury in rupture situations. It is a still further objective of the invention to provide a pressure vessel that may be easily adapted to a variety of space constraints. It is yet a further objective to provide a pressure vessel that is durable, easily serviced, and that may be produced inexpensively. It is still a further objective of the invention to provide means for easily increasing the pressure handling capability of the vessel through the addition of external overwrapping, banding or overlayment with high-strength materials.
It is another objective to provide means for controlling the purity of liquids or gasses introduced into the vessel. Further, it is an objective to provide means for introducing solid material into the pressure cells of the vessel through resealable ports in the vessel pressure cells. It is also an objective of this invention to provide for flexible pressure vessels that provide for a controlled release of pressure in overpressure situations. Finally, it is an objective of the invention to provide for safe, efficient and effective means for joining multiple flexible pressure vessels together.
While some of the objectives of the present invention are disclosed in the prior art, none of the inventions found include all of the requirements identified.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Ovoid flexible pressure vessel, apparatus and method for making same


Methods, systems, and computer readable media for performing single radio voice call continuity (SRVCC) handover are disclosed. According to one method, the method occurs at a testing platform. The method includes receiving, via a communications channel for exchanging messages between a first session initiation protocol (SIP) peer and a second SIP peer, a first message for triggering a bearer deletion procedure associated with a call between the first SIP peer and the second SIP peer. The method also includes in response to receiving the first message or a related message, triggering the bearer deletion procedure prior to changing an access technology.

In communications networks, such as LTE or LTE-advanced networks, network components are often tested using devices that generate test packets, send the packets to a device under test, receive responsive packets from the device under test, and generate statistics indicative of the performance of the device under test. For example, in LTE networks, it may be desirable to test the functionality of a serving gateway (SGW), an evolved node b (eNB), or other network nodes by sending streams of test packets to them. In another example, streams of test packets may mimic the traffic that would be received by such a node if the node were operating in a live network. In other tests, the goal is to send streams of packets that test the extremes of the operational capabilities or stress test the device under test.
In some test environments, handover events and related handover procedures may be tested. For example, one or more network nodes may be emulated by a testing platform or other test equipment. User devices or user equipment (UEs) may also be emulated. When testing handover events, the testing platform may emulate a user device moving outside a coverage area. The testing platform may then perform handover-related actions (e.g., emulate messages and/or various procedures) for connecting to additional and/or different network nodes.
Various problems can arise when testing handover events using a testing platform. One problem that may occur is dropped calls or packets. For example, if a handover procedure is not performed correctly, some packets may be sent to nodes no longer in the call's bearer path and may be lost or not be received by an intended recipient.
Accordingly, in light of these difficulties, a need exists for methods, systems, and computer readable media for performing single radio voice call continuity (SRVCC) handovers.

Methods, systems, and computer readable media for performing single radio voice call continuity (SRVCC) handovers


A process for conditioning an ozone gas recycle stream in an ozone pulp bleaching process, wherein the level of carbon dioxide in the recycle stream is controlled to allow full capacity operation of the ozone generator. Carbon dioxide concentration is identified over the relevant operational ranges and maximum concentration is identified for full capacity/optimum efficiency operation. Specific methods are described for controlling carbon dioxide concentration including purging a portion of the recycle stream, counter-current scrubbing of the recycle stream with an alkaline solution and passing the recycle stream through an adsorbent material. Contaminants entering the system also may be reduced by directing the purged recycle stream, which is relatively oxygen rich, into the dewatering press where pulp consistency is increased. In this manner nitrogen surrounding the pulp is displaced by oxygen and thus, does not enter the bleaching/ozone system with the pulp.

The present invention relates to the conditioning of a recycle stream for use in ozone generation processes. More particularly, the present invention relates to the elimination of contaminants from an ozone recycle stream resulting from ozone bleaching of wood pulp.
In general, techniques for generation of ozone are well known to those skilled in the art. While a great variety of methods are known, only two are of significant commercial importance. These methods are ultra-violet radiation of air or oxygen, and corona or electrical discharge in air or oxygen. The ultra-violet radiation method is capable of producing only low concentrations of ozone and is thus generally limited to food preparation processes. The relatively high concentrations of ozone required for processes such as waste treatment or pulp bleaching necessitate the use of the corona or electrical discharge method.
Due to impurities in air, ozone generation using air is limited to concentrations of about 4% by weight. Use of pure oxygen allows the concentration to be increased; however, pure oxygen can be an expensive raw material. It is therefore desirable to recycle the oxygen containing gas discharged after the ozone is used for its intended purpose. When this gas is recycled, various contaminants must be removed from the recycle stream to maintain a minimum efficiency in the ozone generation process.
A number of different techniques are known in the art for removing contaminants, including carbon dioxide, from an ozone generation recycle stream. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,151,943 discloses a method for purifying exit oxygen in an ozone generation system. This reference is typical of the prior art references in that it recognizes that contaminants affect the efficiency of ozone generation, but does not discuss a specific relationship between contaminant level and generation efficiency. Generally contaminants were looked upon as diluents which displace oxygen.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,963,625, 3,748,262 and 4,430,306 disclose the use of molecular sieve materials or adsorbent materials such as zeolite and aluminosilicate to remove contaminants in an ozone generation recycle system. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,287,130 and 4,399,292 each disclose counter-current scrubbing with alkaline materials such as sodium hydroxide to remove organic compounds from the recycle stream. The '130 patent also discusses scrubbing with bicarbonate solutions to remove carbon dioxide, as well as tapping out inorganic components of the exhaust gas. U.S. Pat. No. 4,132,637 discloses an ozone waste treatment system wherein only a portion of the "off gas" is recycled to the ozone generator in order to reduce the amount of contaminants in the feed gas.
In addition to the above references, U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,700,648, 3,421,999, and 3,715,430, each disclose the removal of carbon dioxide in an ozone generation feed gas, although not utilizing a recycle system. The '430 and '999 patents use activated charcoal filters. The '648 patent contemplates the use of adsorbers or scrubbers which utilize sodium hydroxide or soda lime.
The references discussed above all describe methods and apparatus for removing various contaminants from a recycle stream or eliminating carbon dioxide from an ozone generation feed gas. However, none of these references discuss specific levels of contaminants or contaminant removal. Additionally, none of the above references disclose ozone generating and recycle gas conditioning under conditions associated with ozone bleaching of wood pulp. U.S. Pat. No. 4,279,694 shows a block diagram of an ozone no details of operation are disclosed and, like the references discussed above, required levels of contaminant removal are not discussed. Ozone pulp bleaching can produce high levels of carbon dioxide; levels which apparently were not appreciated in the various systems disclosed in the prior art.
Prior art predicted ozone generating ; efficiency does not show a particular concern with respect to carbon dioxide levels over all operational ranges. As with other contaminants, carbon dioxide was considered primarily a diluent with any detrimental effects on ozone generation caused simply by a reduction in the amount of oxygen present. Cromwell and Manely, Effect of Gaseous Diluents on Energy Yield of Ozone Generation from Oxygen, Ozone Chemistry and Technology, Advances in Chemistry Series No. 21, pp. 309-10, (American Chemical Society, March, 1959) state that little loss in energy yield (ozone produced per unit energy applied) is expected for carbon dioxide concentrations in the feed gas up to 10 wt%. This has become generally accepted in the art.
Ozone generation efficiency depends on a variety of factors other than carbon dioxide content and overall oxygen purity. The general effect of various factors is discussed in Nebel, Ozone, "Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology", vol. 16, pp. 693-96 (3d ed., John Wiley & Sons 1981). Of the various factors discussed, generator size, power density, flow rate most directly impact on the cost of generation. Thus, it is possible to maintain apparent generation efficiency at high carbon dioxide contents. However, while increasing the generator size, reducing power density or reducing the actual flow rate maintains an apparent efficiency, capital costs are increased or productivity is decreased. As a result, no overall increase in cost efficiency of the ozone generation plant and recycle system is actually achieved.

Method for reducing contaminants in pulp prior to ozone bleaching


A method and apparatus for sensing by a linear image sensor a two-dimensional image of an object to be sensed includes detecting a position of the object by a position sensor having a first resolution, picking up an image of the object being projected in a direction (V-scan direction) generally perpendicular to an internal scan (H-scan) direction of the linear image sensor in synchronism with relative movement between the object and the linear image sensor, periodically switching a pixel size along the V-scan direction between a plurality of predefined pixel sizes during the relative movement between the object and the linear image sensor in accordance with information of the relative movement detected by the position sensor, and producing from an output of the linear image sensor a two-dimensional image of the projected image having a second resolution of the object to be sensed. The second resolution is a higher resolution than the first resolution.

The present invention relates in general to visual inspection apparatus and, in particular, to image detection technology for use with such apparatus. More particularly but not limited to, the invention relates to image pickup devices for use in detecting a two-dimensional (2D) image of an object to be sensed through the main scanning (H scanning) and subsidiary scanning (V scanning) operations.
One typical approach to detection of a 2D image using a linear image sensor is to read image data out of the linear image sensor while simultaneously permitting a projection image of an object being sensed on the image formation plane to move in a direction perpendicular to the linear image sensor, wherein the internal scanning (H-scanning) gets started every time the projected object image moves a distance corresponding to a single pixel (V-scanning). This H-scan distance may be the size of one pixel in the V direction.
For detection of a movement amount (V-scanning) of the object image in this case, a scale for use in detecting the coordinate system of a workpiece mount table is employable, by way of example.
Currently available scale and its associative detection scheme for detecting the movement amount or coordinates (position) of an object being sensed may include a variety of types of techniques based on various principles, such as the transmitted light detection scheme, diffraction light interference scheme and the like. In any one of these approaches, a graduation detection signal is of a sinusoidal waveform having two phases—phase "A" and phase "B"—with the phase difference of 90°, the sine-wave signal being wave-shaped into a pulse signal for use as a coordinate signal.
In addition, in order to obtain a higher degree of resolution than the graduation of scale, a certain scheme is widely employed which employs a divider circuit for dividing the period of a graduation detection signal into several tens of segments or more.
The term "scale resolution" as will be used in the description below refers to the resulting degree of resolution after execution of the period division processing, rather than the resolution of the scale per se.
It is also noted that the term "scale detection pulse" as used herein refers to a pulse signal obtainable after execution of the division processing in cases where the period is divided.
Conventionally, setup of a pixel size along the movement (in the V direction) of the object to be sensed is such that the scale detection pulse is such that the scale detection pulse is frequency-divided at a predefined frequency division ratio to provide an internal scan start signal of a linear image sensor used. This is because the linear image sensor is internally scanned at equal distances or intervals each equivalent to the pixel size.
Note that one prior known technique for variable control of the accumulation time length in order to control the detection sensitivity of a linear image sensor is disclosed in JP-A-62-225081.
Another technique is disclosed in JP-A-6-133209, which is to deal with CCD shift clocks independently of each other at the upper and lower ends of a known time delay and integration (TDI) image sensor in the case where an image within a pickup view filed is different in movement speed or rate between the upper and lower ends, thereby equalizing them to respective image movement rate values.

Method and apparatus for picking up 2D image of an object to be sensed


A propeller system for an aircraft includes a propeller assembly rotatable about a central axis and a reduction gearbox operably connected to the propeller assembly via a propeller shaft. An electrical power transfer system is positioned such that the gearbox is located axially between the electrical power transfer system and the propeller assembly. The electrical power transfer system includes a slip ring assembly secured to an oil transfer tube extending to the propeller assembly and a brush block interactive with the slip ring assembly to transfer electrical power to a plurality of lead wires extending from the slip ring assembly to the propeller assembly. The brush block is positioned such that brush block tips of the brush block extend toward the slip ring assembly in a substantially radial direction relative to the central axis of the propeller assembly.

The subject matter disclosed herein generally relates to propeller-equipped craft. More specifically, the subject disclosure relates to transfer of electrical power to propeller mounted components of the propeller-equipped craft.
A typical rotor or propeller equipped craft is often equipped with components at the rotating rotor such as deicing components, which require electrical power for operation. The deicing components typically include heating elements embedded into the propeller blades. Wires carry electrical power to the heating elements when deicing is required. The heating elements then melt accumulated ice and prevent subsequent formation of ice of the propeller blade surfaces. To transfer electrical power from the rotationally fixed airframe of the aircraft to the rotating propeller, a plate rotating with the rotor is provided and one or more slip rings are mounted to it. The rotating slip rings interfaces with a stationary brush block mounted to a front cover of a reduction gear box for the engine driving the propeller. In the aircraft, the brush block interfaces with a vertical face of the plate containing the slip rings forward of the gearbox. Leadwires from studs attached to the slip rings distribute electrical power to the various rotating components. Due to the necessary size of the slip rings, the presence of fluids and abrasive materials such as sand and dust in the brush block environment, a high level of wear occurs in the brush blocks carbon brushes and in the slip rings, resulting in excessive amounts of maintenance to repair and/or replace the brush block and slip ring components.

Electrical power transfer system for propeller system


With a display device in which a main display component is supported in a tilted orientation by a stand unit, the leg of the stand unit will not be pushed in, causing the main display component to readily fall over backwards, even if the main display component in a tilted orientation should be accidentally pushed by hand. A stand unit A has a slider 2 affixed to the upper end of a leg 3, a case 1 that houses the slider 2, and a slider position restriction means 5 for restricting the slider 2 to two positions: an upper position and a lower position. The slider position restriction means 5 is equipped with a cam component 6 and a spring 7. The spring 7 has an engagement component 71, and the cam component 6 is equipped with a upper latching component 61, a lower latching component 62, and a wavy serrated face 65 that links these. The function of increasing the moving resistance when the engagement component 71 moves is imparted to the serrated face 65.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display device. More specifically, the present invention relates to a display device with which a leg extension and retraction function that allows the effective length of the leg of a stand unit to be increased or decreased is imparted to a stand unit for supporting a main display component in a tilted orientation.
2. Background Information
In the past, it has been proposed that a main display component having a forward-facing display screen can be tilted by attaching a stand unit to this main display component. This arrangement allows the effective length of the leg of the stand unit to be adjusted to either of two stages, and allows the leg to be stored on the back of the main display component, and pulled out from the back of the main display component (see Japanese Utility Model Registration 2,096,746 and Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application 2005-6057, for example). The structure of a stand unit A used in such a conventional display device will be briefly described through reference to FIGS. 7 and 8.
This stand unit A has an attachment base 100 affixed to the back of a main display component (not shown), and a case 1 in the shape of a flat box is pivotably attached to this attachment base 100 via left and right lateral shafts 110. This case 1 is designed to be positioned in one of two positions, a storage position in which it is stowed in a recess 120 of the attachment base 100, and a working position in which it is pulled out diagonally downward from this recess 120, by the action of a positioning mechanism, which does not appear in the drawings. With the stand unit A shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the flat box-shaped case 1 is formed by screwing a fitted cover (not shown) to a case body 12, using screw holes made in the required places of the case body 12. Accordingly, for the sake of convenience, the number 12 indicating the case body and the number 1 indicating the case are both shown in FIGS. 7 and 8.
The stand unit A has a leg 3, and a slider 2 that is affixed to the upper end of this leg 3 is housed in the case 1 so as to be capable of sliding up and down. The case 1 is equipped with a slider position restriction means 5, and the action of this slider position restriction means 5 restricts the slider 2 to two positions in the case 1, namely, an upper position (see FIG. 7) and a lower position (see FIG. 8). This slider position restriction means 5 is constituted by a cam component 6 in which an upper latching component 61 of an upper end and a lower latching component 62 of a lower end are linked by a flat face 63, and a spring 7 that is a leaf spring equipped with an engagement component 71 that allows the upper latching component 61 and the lower latching component 62 to be selectively latched. The engagement component 71 is formed by the apex of a peaked portion formed in the spring 7. The cam component 6 is provided on the slider 2 side, and the spring 7 is provided on the case 1 side.
When the slider 2 is moved upward as indicated by the arrow Y1 in FIG. 7, so that the lower latching component 62 of the cam component 6 is latched to the engagement component 71, the protrusion length (that is, the effective length) of the leg 3 from the case 1 is shortened. Therefore, when the case 1 is pushed into its storage position in this state, the overall length portion of the leg 3 is also stored in the back of the main display component (not shown). In contrast, the effective length of the leg 3 from the case 1 is lengthened when the case 1 is pulled out from its storage position to its working position, and the slider 2 is moved downward as indicated by the arrow Y2 in FIG. 8 so that the upper latching component 61 of the cam component 6 is latched to the engagement component 71. In this case, if the leg 3 and the lower end of the main display component (not shown) are set on the floor, etc., the main display component will be supported in a tilted orientation by the leg 3.
It has also been proposed that the tilt angle of a display device can be made variable by providing a display device with a fixed leg and a movable leg, and varying the tilt angle of the movable leg (see Japanese Laid-Open Utility Model Application S61-19293, for example). With the device of Japanese Laid-Open Utility Model Application S61-19293, the tilt angle of the movable leg is made continuously variable by using a gear or a stopper member.
With the conventional stand unit A described through reference to FIGS. 7 and 8, when the main display component is supported in a tilted orientation by the leg 3 whose effective length has been increased by moving the slider 2 downward as indicated by the arrow Y2 in FIG. 8, the load produced by the weight of the main display component, etc., is received by the upper latching component 61 of the cam component 6 via the engagement component 71 formed by the apex of the peaked portion of the spring 7. Accordingly, for the main display component to be stably supported by the stand unit A in a tilted orientation, the spring 7 needs to have enough elasticity so that the engagement component 71 will remain latched to the upper latching component 61, and not retract, even if the upper latching component 61 of the cam component 6 is pushed on by the engagement component 71 of the spring 7.
Conversely, when the effective length of the leg 3 is to be increased, the leg 3 is pulled out by hand, the result being that the lower latching component 62 of the cam component 6, which is latched to the engagement component 71 of the spring 7 as shown in FIG. 7, is removed from the engagement component 71, and then the flat face 63 of the cam component 6 is slid over the engagement component 71, and the upper latching component 61 of the cam component 6 is latched to the engagement component 71 as shown in FIG. 8. When the effective length of the leg 3 is to be shortened, the leg 3 is pushed in by hand, the result being that the upper latching component 61 of the cam component 6, which is latched to the engagement component 71 as shown in FIG. 8, is removed from the engagement component 71, and then the flat face 63 of the cam component 6 is slid over the engagement component 71, and the lower latching component 62 of the cam component 6 is latched to the engagement component 71 as shown in FIG. 7. Therefore the spring 7 only needs to have enough elasticity to allow the above operations to be carried out.
Because of this, with a display device that makes use of this stand unit A, the elasticity of the spring 7 must be kept low enough that when the leg 3 is pulled out by hand, the lower latching component 62 of the cam component 6 latching the engagement component 71 can ride up and over while the engagement component 71 of the spring 7 is retracted, and must be kept low enough that when the leg 3 is pushed in by hand, the upper latching component 61 of the cam component 6 latching the engagement component 71 can ride up and over while the engagement component 71 is retracted, but on the other hand, must be kept high enough that the upper latching component 61 of the cam component 6 does not come off from the engagement component 71 of the spring 7 when the main display component is supported in a tilted orientation. Conversely, if the elasticity of the spring 7 is too high, it will be impossible to increase the effective length of the leg 3 when it is pulled out by hand, or to decrease its effective length when it is pushed in by hand.
However, as in these conventional examples, when the elasticity of the spring 7 of the stand unit A is set such that the effective length of the leg 3 can be increased by pulling out the leg 3 by hand, or can be shortened by pushing in the leg 3 by hand, and such that the main display component can be supported in a tilted orientation, if the main display component disposed in a tilted orientation becomes larger and heavier, or if some kind of external pressing force is exerted on a main display component disposed in a tilted orientation, then there is the danger that too high a load will be applied to the engagement component 71 of the spring 7 latched by the upper latching component 61 of the cam component 6 as shown in FIG. 8, and that as a result the engagement component 71 will come off from the upper latching component 61 of the cam component 6.
If this should happen when the main display component is being supported in a tilted orientation by the stand unit A, since the flat face 63 of the cam component 6 will readily slide the engagement component 71 of the spring 7, the leg 3 may be pushed in and its effective length shortened too much, and as a result, the main display component may fall over backwards. More specifically, the leg 3 may be pushed in and the main display component fall over backwards if the main display component should unintentionally be pushed on while the user is viewing the images on the display screen of the main display component that is set up on the floor in a tilted orientation.
In view of the above, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure that there exists a need to provide an improved display device with which measures are taken such that when the elasticity of the spring is set such that the effective length of the leg can be lengthened or shortened by hand and the main display component can be supported in a tilted orientation, there will be no problem of the upper latching component of the cam component coming off from the engagement component of the spring, and the cam component sliding until the leg is pushed all the way in to its storage length, and with which even without changing the elasticity of the spring, it is possible to prevent the problem of a main display component in a tilted orientation collapsing to the rear in the event that the main display component should be large and heavy, or that some kind of external pressing force is exerted on the main display component.
There exists another need to provide an improved display device with which the above-mentioned object can be achieved without modifying the elasticity of the spring, and merely by changing the shape of the cam component, without increasing the number of parts required.
There exists yet another need to provide an improved display device with which measures are taken that allow the elasticity of the spring to be increased or decreased, the result of which is that the action of preventing the upper latching component of the cam component from coming off the engagement component of the spring, and the leg from being pushed in, can be suitably manifested according to the weight of the main display component and other such factors.
This invention addresses these needs in the art as well as other needs, which will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure.


On input coded data, variable length decoding is performed, and motion vector information extracted. The motion vector information is transmitted to the threshold value determination section, and a predetermined threshold value and the value of the motion vector information are compared. Based on the number of motion vector information whose values are the threshold value or more, it determines whether it is necessary to control the interframe motion or not. When the control is necessary because the interframe motion is large, the control signal generation section generates a control signal to suspend the decoding by the varibale length decoding section and thereby reducing a frame rate.

The present invention relates to an image signal decoder for decoding a coded image signal and converting to the previous image signal of the coding, and an image signal display system for decoding a coded image signal, converting to the previous image signal of the coding, and displaying the image signal on a display device, and a liquid crystal display (hereinafter, referred to as LCD) is used as the display device.
Examples of the known apparatuses which highly efficiently code or decode image signals are based on the standards such as the ISO/IEC 13818-2 "Coding of Audio, Picture, Multimedia and Hypermedia Information" and ISO/IEC DIS 11172 "Coding of Moving Pictures and Associated Audio ISO/IEC JTC1/SC29 WG11".
A conventional apparatus for decoding the image signal (hereinafter is referred to as image signal decoder) will be described with reference to FIG. 6. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the example of the conventional apparatus for decoding the image signal. In FIG. 6, the output terminal of a variable length decoding section 601 to which a coded image signal is input is connected to the input terminal of an inverse quantization section 602. The output terminal of the inverse quantization section 602 is connected to the input terminal of an inverse discrete cosine transform (hereinafter, referred to as DCT) section 603. The output terminal of the inverse DCT section 603 is connected to the input terminal of a motion compensation section 604. The output terminal of the motion compensation section 604 is connected to the input terminal of a frame buffer 605. The output terminal of the frame buffer 605 is connected to the input terminal of the motion compensation section 604. A decoded image signal is output from the output terminal of the motion compensation section 604.
Decoding operation of the conventional image signal decoder configured above will be described. The input image signal is image data highly efficiently coded based on the ISO/IEC 13818-2 (hereinafter, referred to as coded data). On the input coded data, variable length decoding is performed by the variable length decoding section 601. By the variable length decoding, the following pieces of information are extracted: motion vector information for motion compensation; coded image signal coefficient information; time information for playback stored in the header; and header information representative of the coding mode of each frame and the like.
The coefficient information includes quantized coefficient data and quantization scale data used for the quantization. On the coefficient information, inverse quantization is performed by the inverse quantization section 602, so that the coefficient information is restored to the original DCT coefficient information which was converted into the coefficient information through quantization. On the DCT coefficient information, inverse DCT is performed by the inverse DCT section 603, so that the DCT coefficient information is converted into the original pixel value information which was converted into the DCT coefficient information through orthogonal transformation.
When the pixel value information is that of a frame on which intra-frame coding is performed (hereinafter, referred to as I frame), the pixel value information is output without undergoing the motion compensation by the motion compensation section 604. When the pixel value information is that of a frame on which forward predictive coding is performed (hereinafter, referred to as P frame) or of a frame on which bidirectional predictive coding is performed (hereinafter, referred to B frame), the pixel value information undergoes the motion compensation. That is, the converted pixel value information undergoes the motion compensation by the motion compensation section 604 by use of the motion vector information extracted by the variable length decoding section 601, and are successively output in accordance with the time information for playback. Determining the coding mode of the frame of the pixel value information, which has been, converted by the inverse DCT section 603 (whether the frame is the I frame, the P frame or the B frame) is made based on the header information.
When the pixel value information output from the motion compensation section 604 is that of the I frame or the P frame, it is temporarily stored in the frame buffer 605 so that it is used for the next motion compensation. The frame buffer 605 is capable of storing a maximum of two frames of reference data so that bidirectionally predictive-coded data can be decoded. The frame buffer 605 has a ring buffer configuration in which when the newest frame data is input, it is stored by overwriting the frame data being oldest in time with it.
In this manner, an image signal coded by a hybrid coding method that uses both intra-frame coding and interframe coding is decoded into pixel value information and is output to the display device.
A conventional image signal display system for displaying a decoded image signal on a display device will be described with reference to FIG. 7 and FIG. 8. This image signal display system is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. Hei 10-11021.
FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the conventional image signal display system. In FIG. 7, the output terminal of a variable length decoding section 701 to which coded data is input is connected to the input terminal of an inverse quantization section 702. The output terminal of the inverse quantization section 702 is connected to the input terminal of an inverse DCT section 703. The output terminal of the inverse DCT section 703 is connected to the input terminal of a motion compensation section 704. The output terminal of the motion compensation section 704 is connected to a frame buffer 705, an image analyzation section 706 and an output signal correction section 707. The output terminal of the frame buffer 705 is connected to the input terminal of the motion compensation section 704. The output terminal of the image analyzation section 706 is connected to the input terminal of the output signal correction section 707. An output image signal of the output signal correction section 707 is input to an image display section 708.
FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the output signal correction section 707. In FIG. 8, the image signal and signal level distribution information described later are input to a level correction section 801. The output terminal of the level correction section 801 is connected to the input terminal of an RGB conversion section 802. The output terminal of the RGB conversion section 802 is connected to a gamma correction section 803.
Next, the operation of the conventional image signal display system will be described with reference to FIG. 7. On the input coded data, variable length decoding is performed by the variable length decoding section 701. By the variable length decoding, the following pieces of information are extracted: motion vector information for motion compensation; coded image signal coefficient information; time information for playback stored in the header; and header information representative of the coding mode of each frame and the like.
The coefficient information extracted by the variable length decoding section 701 includes quantized coefficient data and quantization scale data used for the quantization. On the coefficient information, inverse quantization is performed by the inverse quantization section 702, so that the coefficient information is restored to the original DCT coefficient information which was converted into the coefficient information through quantization.
On the DCT coefficient information restored by the inverse quantization section 702, inverse DCT is performed by the inverse DCT section 703, so that the DCT coefficient information is restored to the original pixel value information which was converted into the DCT coefficient information through orthogonal transformation. When the pixel value information converted by the inverse DCT section 703 is that of the I frame, the pixel value information is output without undergoing the motion compensation by the motion compensation section 704. When the pixel value information is that of the P frame or the B frame, the pixel value information undergoes the motion compensation by the motion compensation section 704 by use of the motion vector information extracted by the variable length decoding section 701. Then, the pixel value information is successively output in accordance with the time information extracted by the variable length decoding section 701.
The coding mode of the frame of the pixel value information converted by the inverse DCT section 703 is determined based on the header information extracted by the variable length decoding section 701.
When the pixel value information output from the motion compensation section 704 is that of the I frame or the P frame, it is temporarily stored in the frame buffer 705 so that it is used for the next motion compensation. The frame buffer 705 is capable of storing a maximum of two frames of reference data so that bidirectionally predictive-coded data can be decoded. The frame buffer 705 has a ring buffer configuration in which when the newest frame data is input, it is stored by overwriting the frame data being oldest in time with it.
The image analyzation section 706 analyzes the pixel value information output from the motion compensation section 704, and generates intra-frame signal level distribution information (e.g. information such as the maximum signal level, the minimum signal level and an average signal level). Based on the signal level distribution information output from the image analyzation section 706, the output signal correction section 707 performs output correction on the pixel value information output from the motion compensation section 704. For example, the pixel value information output from the motion compensation section 704 is input to the level correction section 801 of the output signal correction section 707. Concurrently, to the level correction section 801, the signal level distribution information is input from the image analyzation section 706. Based on the signal level distribution information, the level correction section 801 corrects (contrast correction or level correction) the pixel value information so that the maximum and the minimum levels of the pixel value information are the same as the maximum and the minimum output levels that can be displayed by the image display device, respectively.
The pixel value information (image signal) output from the level correction section 801 is converted into RGB signals by the RGB conversion section 802. On the RGB signals, input and output correction (gamma correction) responsive to characteristics of the image display device is performed by the gamma correction section 803. In this manner, the coded data is decoded into an image signal conforming to the characteristics of the display device, is output to the image display section 708 and is displayed, for example, on an LCD monitor.
Examples of conventional image signal decoders for decoding coded image signals include playback-only apparatuses such as video CD players and DVD players. Moreover, dedicated decoder boards intended for playback on personal computers, and decoder software that realizes playback processing in the form of software are known. The image signal display system uses, as the display device, a TV monitor using a TV picture tube, a monitor using a display cathode ray tube (hereinafter, referred to as CRT), an LCD monitor, or a monitor using a plasma display panel (hereinafter, referred to as PDP).
In recent years, for saving space, an image signal display system using a flat-panel LCD monitor or PDP monitor has been required. In an image signal display system using an LCD monitor as the image display device, image quality is degraded due to characteristics inherent in LCD monitors. Since LCD monitors are low in response speed, afterimages are apt to be formed when a vigorously moving picture is displayed. Moreover, since LCD monitors provide display by the dot-matrix method, interlace interference occurs when the image signal of the interlace method is displayed. In addition, since LCD monitors are low in screen illuminance, the displayed image is low in contrast and dark.

Image signal decoder for determining interframe motion

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A miniaturized dual-balanced mixer circuit based on a trifilar layout architecture is proposed, which is designed for use to provide a frequency mixing function for millimeter wave (MMW) signals, and which features a downsized circuit layout architecture that allows IC implementation to be more miniaturized than the conventional star-type dual-balanced mixer (DBM). The proposed miniaturized dual-balanced mixer circuit is distinguished from the conventional star-type DBM particularly in the use of a trifilar layout architecture for the layout of two balun circuit units. This feature allows the required layout area to be only about 20% of that of the conventional star-type DBM.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a miniaturized dual-balanced mixer circuit which is fully equivalent in function to a conventional star-type dual-balanced mixer (DBM) for frequency mixing of millimeter wave (MMW) signals, except that the construction of the invention is based on a trifilar layout architecture that allows its IC implementation to be more miniaturized than the conventional star-type DBM.
2. Description of Related Art
In communications systems, the mixer is an essential circuit component which receives an input of a carrier signal RF and mixes it with a local oscillation signal LO to thereby produce an intermediate-frequency signal IF, where IF is either an up-converted frequency or a down-converted frequency, i.e., IF=RF+LO or IF=RF−LO.
In millimeter wave (MMW) communications systems, the dual-balanced mixer (DBM) is a widely utilized frequency mixing circuit. Various types of DBM circuits have been proposed, including a ring-type and a star-type. The star-type DBM has better performance than the ring-type so that it is more widely utilized in the industry than the ring-type. The star-type DBM is so named due to the fact that the layout pattering of the microstrip lines used to constitute the mixer circuitry looks like a star.
In practical applications, however, one drawback of the conventional star-type DBM is that it is based on a dual-balun circuit architecture which is considerably large in size in IC implementation so that it is unsuitable for use in the fabrication of miniaturized IC chips.

Miniaturized dual-balanced mixer circuit based on a trifilar layout architecture


Checkpoints may be used to recover from branch mispredictions using scalable rename map table recovery.

Some embodiments of the present invention are generally related to microprocessors, and more particularly, to microprocessors capable of pipelined execution with branch misprediction recovery.
Modern microprocessors may achieve high frequencies by incorporating deep pipelines. These microprocessors may also expose instruction level parallelism (ILP) by predicting branches and speculatively executing past unresolved branches. One consequence of speculative execution may be branch misprediction. Branch mispredictions may greatly contribute to performance degradation, especially in microprocessor architectures that use deep pipelines.


The embodiments of the present invention disclose a rolling type input apparatus, a method for setting sensitivity thereof and electronic equipment. The method comprises: detecting a rolling direction and the rolling distance of a rolling device (1) in the rolling process of the rolling device (1) and generating corresponding interrupts; identifying the number and the direction of the interrupts; responding to the interrupts once by transmitting a moving event signal (10) for controlling a cursor (80) to move on a screen (8) when the number of the interrupts in the same direction reaches a threshold value; detecting parameters reflecting the speed and the amplitude of operations of a user for rolling the rolling device (1); and setting the threshold value according to the detected parameters. The technical solution can improve the automation degree of the rolling type input apparatus.

With the unceasing development of electronic technologies, a trackball, a scroll wheel and other rolling devices have been widely applied to a wheel mouse, a steering wheel of a game machine and other rolling type input apparatuses. At present, the rolling type input apparatuses are used in various terminal products, such as mobile telephones and computers, to control the position of a cursor on a screen.
Compared to a five-way navigation, the trackball is more flexible in direction, and occupies less surface area of a casing. Compared to a two-way navigation, a scroll wheel of a wheel mouse makes it easier for users to change the direction of a cursor.
As shown in FIG. 1, a trackball 11 which is popular in a rolling device is now taken as an example to illustrate the basic operational principle of the trackball 11 set in electronic equipment provided with a rolling type input apparatus in the prior art.
A Hall component is provided in the middle (inside) and in each of the up, down, left and right directions of the trackball 11, respectively. When a user rolls the trackball 11, the Hall components will detect a rolling direction and rolling distance (or angle) of the trackball 11, and generate corresponding interrupts. Software 12 in the rolling type input apparatus may identify the number and directions of the interrupts. When the number of the interrupts in a direction reaches a threshold value set in the software 12, the software 12 will respond to the interrupts once by transmitting one moving event (or called key-press event) signal, and report the moving event signal to a processor 9 in the electronic equipment. After detecting one reported moving event signal, the processor 9 will control a cursor 80 to move on a screen 8 once. Accordingly, one moving event is finished.
The sensitivity experienced by the user is generally what distance (or angle) is rolled by the user for the trackball 11 to activate a moving event, namely, to send a moving event signal to the processor 9 which controls the cursor 80 to finish one moving event. The relationship between the rolling distance of the trackball 11 and the number of interrupts has been determined when hardware set is finished. Therefore, the sensitivity of the trackball 11 may be changed usually by setting a corresponding threshold value in the prior art.
The requirements on the sensitivity are different because of the difference of users' palms and move habits. In the prior art, the sensitivity of the rolling type input apparatus is adjusted by the way of setting a threshold value of the interrupt responded to by the software 12 in the rolling type input apparatus as shown in FIG. 1. To satisfy different requirements of users, the rolling type input apparatus with the trackball 11 in the prior art provides an easy function for setting sensitivity. The users set a value of sensitivity manually, and then the software 12 will set threshold value based on the value set by the users. The higher the value of sensitivity is set by the users, the lower the threshold value is set by the software 12, and the longer distance the cursor 80 is moved on the screen 8 when a certain distance (or angle) is rolled by the users. For example, the trackball 11 generates 6 interrupts by rolling for one revolution; if the threshold value is set to 3, then the software 12 considers that a user presses a direction-key twice (namely, 6/3) after the user rolls the trackball 11 for one revolution, and reports two moving events to the processor 9, namely, to activate two moving event signals; if the threshold value is set to 1, then the software 12 considers that the user presses the direction-key six times (namely, 6/1) after the user rolls the trackball 11 for one revolution, and reports six moving events to the processor 9.
However, it has at least the following problems.
Since sensitivity is a subjective index which can not easily be quantified, users often fail to identify the precise sensitivity suitable for their own. The most suitable sensitivity may be found by personally modifying and attempting, which requires a user's long-term use and several attempts. Since the parameters reflecting the sensitivity of the trackballs are different among different brands or types of electronic equipment, the user has to use a new brand or type of electronic equipment quite a long time and makes several attempts to identify the suitable parameters when using the new brand or type of electronic equipment. Therefore, setting the sensitivity is troublesome.

Rolling type input apparatus and method for setting sensitivity thereof, and electronic equipment


A system for the control of light beams includes a beam splitter placed on the path of the beam to be controlled and deriving a measurement beam from this beam; a detection device receiving the measurement beam and measuring the shape of the wave front of the measurement beam; a wave-front shape correction device placed on the path of the beam to be controlled, activated by the detection device and correcting the shape of the wave front of the beam to be controlled. The detection device includes a light spatial modulator providing for the selective transmission of the portions of the measurement beam; a focusing device receiving the different portions of the measurement beam; a series of photodetectors placed along the focusing plane of the focusing device; a device for the identification of the photodetector or photodetectors, detecting a light wave and computing the shape of the wave front as a function of the photodetectors identified.

The invention relates to a system for the control of light beams, and especially to a system for the correction of the shape of the wave front of a laser beam.
The quality of laser beams is disturbed by thermal lens effects that arise out of the inhomogenous pumping of the laser rods by flash lamps or by diodes. It is important to maintain a quality of the beam that is as close as possible to the diffraction limit, in particular, whatever may be the rate and mean power delivered by the source. The object of the invention is to propose a continuous source or pulsed source architecture capable of delivering a very high-quality wave out of a liquid crystal cell fulfilling the role of a 2D phase modulator.

System for correction the shape of a wave-front of a laser beam


Ionization systems and methods include moving air into contact with one or more ion generators and then past an ozone removal assembly to remove at least some ozone from the air. The air may be moved by a fan and may be filtered before contacting the one or more ion generators. The amount of one or more of the following of the air may be measured: the amount of ions, particulates, temperature, humidity, and other relevant factors. The ionization amount may be adjusted based on one or more of the measured amounts. The one or more ion generators and ozone removal assembly may be constructed as part of a single unit so they can be removed and replaced easily.

Prior approaches to air filtration and/or ionization suffer from various drawbacks. For example, certain air ionization systems, in order to avoid releasing an unacceptable level of ozone, generate ionization levels that are insufficient to fully clean and/or sanitize a particular air stream. Moreover, some air ionization systems have suffered from a lack of configurability and/or intelligent control. Yet other air ionization systems have been complex, expensive, and/or lacking in modular configuration and/or serviceability. These and other drawbacks of prior approaches may remedied by principles of the present disclosure.


Chimeric DNA polymerase having a DNA polymerase domain and processivity factor binding domain not naturally associated with DNA polymerase domain.

This invention relates to DNA polymerases, and in particular those having a processivity greater than that of DNA polymerase I of Escherichia coli.
Processivity is a measurement of the ability of a DNA polymerase to incorporate one or more deoxynucleotides into a primer template molecule without the DNA polymerase dissociating from that molecule. DNA polymerases having low processivity, such as the Klenow fragment of DNA polymerase I of E. coli, will dissociate after about 5-40 nucleotides are incorporated on average. Other polymerases, such as T7 DNA polymerase in the presence of thioredoxin, are able to incorporate many thousands of nucleotides prior to dissociating. In the absence of thioredoxin such a T7 DNA polymerase has a much lower processivity. Such processivity can be measured much as described by Tabor et al., JBC 262, 16212 (1987) and is thought to be advantageous in certain biochemical reactions such as DNA sequencing (see, Tabor U.S. Pat. No. 4,795,699).
As stated above, the T7 DNA polymerase (T7 gene 5 protein) by itself has low processivity. T7 gene 5 protein, however, binds tightly to a processivity factor, the host-encoded thioredoxin, in a one-to-one ratio. Thioredoxin stabilizes the binding of T7 DNA polymerase specifically to a primer-template, and the complex of the two proteins is highly processive, and is capable of extending a primer many hundreds of nucleotides without dissociating (Tabor et al, supra; Huber et al., JBC 262, 16224 (1987)).

DNA polymerase with modified processivity

President and Fellows of Harvard College


The ostomy system with mounting wafer and repositionable pouch includes a resealable tape provided on one of the system members and a releasable film provided on the other system member. In a preferred embodiment of the invention the resealable tape is located on a faceplate of the pouch and the releasable film is located on the body-side mounting wafer. The pouch is thus secured to the body-side mounting wafer by engaging the resealable tape with the releasable film. The resealable tape and the releasable film coupling arrangement permit repeated removal of the pouch from the body-side mounting wafer and repeated resecurement of the pouch to the mounting wafer. The pouch can thus be repositioned relative to the mounting wafer even after the pouch has been worn for a day.

This invention is directed to ostomy systems, and more particularly to a novel ostomy system that permits repeated removal of an adhesively installed ostomy pouch to permit repositioning of the pouch around the stoma.
Ostomy systems with adhesive coupling devices for securing an ostomy pouch around a stoma are shown in European Patent Application Publication 0 611 122 A1. After an ostomy pouch has been adhesively secured around a stoma, it is often desirable to make a further readjustment of the pouch position. However, it is well known that removal of an adhesively secured pouch from its position around a stoma can cause wrinkling or kinks in the faceplate of the pouch that includes the adhesive coupling member. Pouch removal can also cause wrinkling and kinks in a body-side mounting wafer that surrounds the stoma and forms a landing surface for the pouch faceplate when the pouch is adhesively secured to the abdominal area.
Removal and resecurement of an adhesively mounted closed-end pouch after the pouch has been worn for at least a day is especially troublesome since the mounting wafer landing surface for the pouch does not usually remain flat and smooth after a full day's wear. Readherence of the pouch to a non-smooth landing surface is likely to produce gaps or channels at the adhesive interface between the pouch faceplate and the body-side mounting wafer. Such gaps are detrimental to the integrity of the seal between the pouch and wafer, and can provide a path for undesirable leakage of vapor and material from the pouch.
Thus, an ostomy system which has leaks at the interface between the pouch and the body-side wafer due to repositioning of the pouch may require complete replacement of the entire system before it has been used for the normal time duration.
It is also common practice for a user to have assistance in placing or positioning a pouch on the abdomen in order to ensure that the pouch is satisfactorily positioned around the stoma. However, if assistance is not available when needed, the user may proceed to install the ostomy pouch without assistance, thereby risking unsatisfactory positioning and a need for readjustment of the pouch position.
The risk of wrinkle formation at the interface between an adhesively secured pouch and a body-side wafer because of a prospective need for repositioning of the pouch can discourage use of adhesively secured pouches, even though adhesive coupling is generally less bulky than mechanical coupling devices.
It is thus desirable to provide an ostomy system that permits easy removal and repositioning of an adhesively secured pouch without damaging the pouch faceplate or the mounting wafer and without compromising the leak-tight securement of the pouch during such repositioning.


Implementations of the present invention include systems, methods, and apparatus for improving the fuel efficiency (mpg/kpl) of a motor vehicle during those times when the vehicle air conditioning system is operating. Whenever the driver takes his foot off the gas, or the vehicle engine is otherwise caused to decelerate, the refrigerant compressor clutch engages, allowing the compressor to operate on previously-imparted vehicle waste energy (e.g., imparted by the engine, or by downhill travel.) When the refrigerant pressure reaches a pre-set maximum value, the clutch is deactivated, and the compressor stops. When the refrigerant pressure reaches a pre-set minimum level, the clutch is activated regardless of the existence of vehicle waste energy. When the refrigerant pressure reaches another pre-set level between the aforementioned maximum and minimum levels, in the absence of any vehicle waste energy, the clutch is again deactivated and the compressor stops.

1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automotive air conditioning system. In more particular, the present invention relates to systems, methods, and apparatus, for utilizing deceleration of an automotive engine to compress refrigerant in an air conditioning system.
2. The Relevant Technology
For the past several decades, air conditioning systems have been used in automobiles and other motor vehicles during hot weather to provide more comfortable conditions for drivers and other occupants of the motor vehicles. Traditional air conditioning systems utilize a refrigerant to cool and/or dehumidify air. The cool air is then dispersed into the passenger compartment in a manner so as to mitigate the temperature in the passenger compartment.
Traditional automotive air conditioning systems draw the power to compress the refrigerant from the engine of the motor vehicle. In one configuration, an engine fan belt pulley is connected to the engine and to the compressor of the air conditioning system. When it becomes necessary to further compress the refrigerant in the air conditioning system, a clutch (e.g., a magnetically operated clutch—"magnetic clutch") provides engagement between the compressor and the fan belt pulley. Engaging the magnetic clutch allows the fan belt pulley to provide power to the air conditioner compressor from the engine, effectively compressing the refrigerant in the system.
For example, when an air conditioner is switched to an "on" position to cool the motor vehicle's interior, the magnetically-operated clutch provides an effective engagement between the compressor and the fan belt pulley. This translates power from the engine, allowing the compressor to operate and compress the refrigerant. Once compressed to a pre-set pressure level, the compressor is disconnected from the engine, such as by disengaging the magnetic clutch. The air conditioning system then passes the compressed refrigerant through a condenser/heat exchanger and, thereafter, to an expansion valve, orifice tube, or other mechanism in the air box heat exchanger. In the air box heat exchanger, the compressed refrigerant is expanded and liquefied to thereby cool incoming air. The fresh air, once cooled, is directed into the car's interior.
Typically, a high and/or low pressure switch is utilized to identify the pressurization of the refrigerant in the air conditioning system. Pressurization of refrigerant in the air conditioning system allows for desired expansion of the refrigerant in the air box heat exchanger to cool air. Before the refrigerant passes into the air box heat exchanger, such as in the compressor or tubing between the condenser/heat exchanger and the air box heat exchanger, the refrigerant is in a high pressure state. This is often referred to as the high pressure side of the system. When the refrigerant passes into the air box heat exchanger and before being recompressed in the compressor, the refrigerant is in a low pressure state. This is often referred to as the low pressure side of the system.
The configuration of most air conditioning compressors does not require continuous actuation of the magnetic clutch, the engine fan belt, or other sources of power for the compressor. In particular, during operation of the air conditioner, operation of the heat exchanger generally needs only intermittent operation of the magnetic clutch/compressor. As the volume of refrigerant is being expanded and passed into the low pressure side of the system, the transfer of refrigerant to the low pressure side of the system increases the pressurization on the low pressure side of the system. Similarly, the volume of refrigerant that is being held on the high pressure side of the system decreases. The decrease in the volume of refrigerant decreases the pressurization of refrigerant on the high pressure side of the system.
Of course, the decrease in the pressurization on the high pressure side of the system can decrease the efficiencies of operation of the air conditioner. For example, the refrigerant may not provide optimized cooling of air in the air box heat exchanger. The state of pressurization of the refrigerant can thus be detected in a number of ways. In one conventional system, the pressurization of the refrigerant on the low pressure side of the system is monitored as an indicator of the pressurization of the refrigerant on the high pressure side of the system. For example, when the pressurization of the refrigerant on the low pressure side of the system increases to a certain level, the pressurization of the refrigerant on the high pressure side of the system is deemed to have decreased below desired levels.
When the refrigerant on the low pressure side of the system has reached certain upper pressure limits, the magnetic clutch is engaged and power from the engine is translated to the compressor. Refrigerant pulled from the low pressure side of the system is compressed by the compressor to increase pressurization of the refrigerant on the high pressure side of the system. Once the pressurization of the refrigerant on the low pressure side of the system has been reduced by operation of the compressor, the magnetic clutch is disengaged, and the engine is allowed to operate without the increased load required to drive the engine fan belt pulley.
The increase in pressurization of refrigerant on the high pressure side of the air conditioning system allows the refrigerant to be useful as it flow through the condenser/heat exchanger. In particular, the compressed refrigerant continues cooling even when the engine fan belt pulley is not in engagement with the compressor. Ultimately, however, the continual flow of refrigerant and cooling of air in the heat exchanger also results in a gradual decline in pressurization of the refrigerant in the air conditioning system.
When the refrigerant pressure reaches a preset high pressure value on the low pressure side of the system (i.e., depleted high pressure side), the low pressure side limit switch again turns the magnetic clutch back on, allowing the compressor to once again draw power from the engine pulley, and increase the pressurization of the refrigerant on the high pressure side of the system. When the refrigerant reaches the reset low pressure value on the low pressure side of the system, the low pressure limit switch again disengages the magnetic clutch and the compressor from the engine pulley.
Since the depressurization of refrigerant on the high pressure side is gradual, the ongoing air conditioning can continue to run for some time without applying a load on the motor vehicle engine. While this provides efficiencies in system operation, a number of deficiencies are also presented. For example, because the air conditioning system does not apply a continuous load to the motor vehicle engine, the default operating state of the motor vehicle is typically one in which the engine fan belt pulley is not in operation. Thus, motor vehicle engines are often designed to optimally operate in the absence of running of the engine fan belt pulley. As a result, during certain operating conditions, it can be disadvantageous for the air conditioning system to exert a load on the motor.
For example, typical compressors of air conditioning systems may not be actuated when the motor vehicle is idling, or when the temperature of the engine has exceeded certain upper temperature limits. Instead, the compressors of conventional air conditioning systems are configured to operate when the motor is in a state of acceleration or at a constant driving speed. During acceleration, increased load on the engine is expected as part of the acceleration process. While engaging of the engine fan belt pulley during acceleration may place an increased load on the engine of the motor vehicle, such increased load is typically minimal compared to the load placed on the engine during acceleration.
In other words, the design requirements which allow for acceleration of the motor vehicle engine also tends to accommodate the increased load needed to drive the engine fan belt pulley, and charge the air conditioning compressor. While utilizing acceleration cycles to power the air conditioning compressor does not present challenges in operation of the motor vehicle engine, the additional engine load imparted by the air conditioning compressor can nonetheless represent significant fuel consumption increases when compared with engine operation in the absence of such additional load.
For example, in some situations, depending on the specific heat load encountered during operation of the air conditioning system, operation of the air conditioning compressor can result in about 20–25 percent or more reduction in overall vehicle fuel efficiency (e.g., mpg, kpl, etc.) Such energy consumption implications can not only limit the fuel efficiency of the motor vehicle, but can also be quite costly when the air conditioning system is used over a period of weeks or months. Additionally, such additional energy consumption results in the burning of additional fossil fuels which correspondingly increases the total combustion exhaust expelled by the motor vehicle during operation.


Disclosed herein is a method of enhancing colors displayed by an electrochromic display. The method involves incorporating an inert pigment into the display.

1. Field of the invention
This invention relates to an electrochromic display device and to methods for producing same, and more particularly to electrochromic display devices, methods, and compositions for electrochromic devices with greatly enhanced color rendition.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Laminate electrochromic displays are known, such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,413,739, the disclosure of which is incorporated in its entirety by reference. Some known techniques of fabricating electrochromic displays involve side-by-side electrodes, such as illustrated in FIG. 1, wherein a nonconductive substrate A is coated with a conductive layer B of a plurality of electrodes such as metal, metal oxide, conductive polymer, or carbon. An additional layer C.sub.1 is coated on top layers B and A, and comprises an electrically conductive, essentially ionically isolative, electrochromic composite layer comprising a dispersion of electrically conductive, electrochromic particles dispersed in a polymer matrix, e.g., titanium dioxide particles coated with ATO (antimony-doped tin oxide) dispersed in a rubber matrix. Layer D is an ionically conductive layer, e.g., an aqueous polymeric gel such as polyacrylamidomethylpropanesulfonate (known as POLYAMPS) gel, while layer F is a transparent, insulating layer such as a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film, that serves to prevent loss of electrolyte from the conductive layer. Because the conductivity of the electrochromic composite layer C.sub.1 is lower than the conductivity of the ionically conductive layer D, current will preferentially flow from one electrode through the electrochromic layer to the second electrode. Where the electrochromic material changes color with the loss of an anion, the electrochromic effect will be visible over one electrode. Where the electrochromic material changes color with both the gain and loss of an anion, e.g., as is the case with polyaniline, electrochromic effects will be visible over both electrodes.
Doped tin oxides are known among metal oxides for their relative transparency and high electrical conductivity. These properties are advantageous employed in a variety of electro-optical applications, e.g., providing transparent conductive coatings on particles or surfaces. One such application is the fabrication of transparent electrodes on electrochromic display devices which typically have an electrolyte material in contact with an electrochromic material so that an electrochromic effect is generated when an electric potential is applied across the interface of the two materials. When electrodes are provided on both sides of the materials, e.g., in sandwich-like structure, the electrode on at least one side of the display laminate needs to be relatively transparent to permit observation of the electrochromic effect. In such devices, typical electrochromic materials include tungsten oxide, Prussian blue, polyaniline and viologens. Transparent electrodes have been fabricated by vapor deposition of doped tin oxide coatings on glass or plastic substrates. Although doped tin oxides have been employed as transparent conductors in electrochromic devices, it appears that the possibility that doped tin oxide might be useful as a practical electrochromic material has not been discovered. For example, Orel et al. reported in the Journal of the Electrochemical Society, Vol. 141, page L127 (1994) that a film of ATO exhibited a change in light reflectance between the reduced and oxidized state of less than 5% which corresponds to a contrast ratio (as defined hereinbelow) of less than 1.05. Because such a change in color is not readily discernable to the typical human eye, it has not been recognized or discovered that doped tin oxides have useful electrochromic properties.
A variety of dopants are used to make conductive metal oxides, some of which are not known to exhibit any useful electrochromic effect regardless of modification. Similarly, ATO, when provided in film form, also does not exhibit any useful electrochromic effect.
Pigments used in electrochromic displays such as those described above, as well as others having different electrode arrangements, such as sandwich-type displays, wherein electrochromic material is sandwiched between two electrodes, one of which is transparent, have historically had a somewhat limited range of colors. When it has been desired to add color to previous sandwich-type electrochromic displays, an opaque TiO.sub.2 -containing electrolyte with added color pigments has been used. However, this method is not suitable with electrochromic displays having interdigitated (or side-by-side) electrodes, because the electrolyte must be transparent in order to permit the color-changing substances behind it to be seen. Therefore, other methods must be used.

Addition of color to electrochromic displays


An apparatus for mounting electrically conductive balls includes a mounting head which has an attracting tool with a number of attracting holes in its lower surface and attracts electrically conductive balls through a vacuum. The attracting tool is resiliently supported by the mounting head through springs. A flux is stored in a container at a predetermined depth. The electrically conductive balls attracted to the attracting tool project from its lower surface by a length larger than the depth of the flux. When the attracting tool is lowered, the electrically conductive balls contact a bottom surface of the container in a resilient manner due to spring tension of the springs. Then, by raising the attracting tool, the flux adheres to lower surfaces of the electrically conductive balls. With the flux kept at a proper depth, it can be made adhere in appropriate amount to all the electrically conductive balls at one time. It is thus possible to adhere a flux or adhesive in an appropriate amount to a number of electrically conductive balls with high working efficiency and improve productivity of workpieces with bumps considerably.

The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for mounting electrically conductive balls which are used in the process of manufacturing workpieces with bumps.
One of known methods for forming bumps, i.e., protrudent electrodes, on a workpiece in the manufacture process of workpieces with bumps, such as flip chips, employs electrically conductive balls such as solder balls. With this known method, bumps are formed by placing solder balls on the electrodes of a workpiece, and then heating, melting and solidifying the solder balls.
When the bumps are formed on the electrodes of a workpiece, a flux is used to make the solder balls cling onto the workpiece electrodes with good wetness. Heretofore, the flux has been coated on the workpiece electrodes by application means such as a dispenser or a transfer pin.
With the conventional coating method using a dispenser or a transfer pin, however, the flux must be applied on a multiplicity of workpiece electrodes in a spotted pattern. Accordingly, not only has a considerable tact-time (i.e., production time for each part) been required to apply the flux on all the electrodes, resulting in poor productivity, but also the amount of application of the flux has been apt to vary electrode by electrode. Another problem is that the maintenance such as routine management of the dispenser or daily cleaning of the transfer pin requires a lot of labor.

Apparatus and method for mounting electrically conductive balls

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.