An object of the invention is to provide a backup battery charging circuit capable of continuing to charge a backup battery to the limit of the voltage drop of a main battery so as to reduce the possibility of data disappearance to an achievable extent. For this purpose, a backup battery charging circuit comprises: a main battery serving as a power supply; a backward current protection diode; a regulator circuit using the main battery as the power supply; a limiting resistor; a backup battery; a switch for performing direct charging from the main battery; and a comparator for determining whether the regulator circuit or the switch is to be used.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a backup battery charging circuit for charging a backup battery used for the backup of data in a memory, a microcomputer, or clock function.
2. Related Art of the Invention
With recent spread of portable equipment, various apparatuses comprising clock function and the like require a backup battery for maintaining the necessary function even when a main battery serving as a power supply is removed and even when the voltage of the main battery goes lower.
When the main battery is removed and when the voltage of the main battery goes lower, the function of a charging current supply for the backup battery is lost. Thus, the voltage of the backup battery goes lower owing to the current consumption by a device that uses the backup battery as the power supply. When the voltage of the backup battery goes down to a certain voltage or lower, data disappears in the memory, the microcomputer, or the clock function that use the backup battery as the power supply. In order to reduce the possibility of such data disappearance, the backup battery is charged as much as possible during normal operation.
A backup battery charging circuit according to the prior art has configuration as shown in FIG. 2. In FIG. 2, numeral 1 indicates a main battery (such as a secondary battery) serving as a power supply. Numeral 2 indicates a backward current protection diode. Numeral 3 indicates a regulator circuit. Numeral 4 indicates a limiting resistor. Numeral 5 indicates a backup battery.
The operation of this backup battery charging circuit is described below. The regulator circuit 3 receiving the power in the form of the electric potential obtained as the voltage VMB of the main battery 1 minus the forward voltage VT of the backward current protection diode 2 supplies a charging current to the backup battery 5. The backward current protection diode 2 prevents that a current leaks from the backup battery 5 to the main battery 1 when the voltage of the main battery 1 goes lower. The limiting resistor 4 avoids an excessive charging current.
Since the withstand voltage of the backup battery 5 is lower than the voltage VMB of the main battery 1, the output voltage VRG of the regulator circuit 3 is set at a voltage not exceeding the withstand voltage of the backup battery 5.
Nevertheless, when the voltage VMB of the main battery 1 goes lower, the output voltage VRG of the regulator circuit 3 goes lower as shown in FIG. 4. FIG. 4 shows the electric potential obtained as the main battery voltage VMB minus the forward voltage VT of the backward current protection diode 2, the voltage VBU of the backup battery 5, and the output voltage VRG of the regulator circuit 3. The interval (1) indicates a backup battery charging interval.
At the time when the output voltage VRG of the regulator circuit 3 goes lower than the voltage VBU of the backup battery 5, the charging becomes impossible. After that, the electric charge in the backup battery 5 is continuously consumed by the memory, the microcomputer, or the clock function. This causes a possibility of data disappearance unless the backup battery 5 is recharged.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


It is an object of the present invention to improve the curability of a resin composition and a photosensitive composition suitably employed to form e.g., a surface protecting film and an interlaminar insulating film of e.g., an electronic part, while reducing the internal stress remaining in a substrate when the composition is used to form a cured film on the substrate. The photosensitive composition includes a resin (A) having a phenolic hydroxyl group, a crosslinking agent (B1) having at least two oxazoline groups and a crosslinking agent (B2) having at least two groups represented by —CH2OR (wherein R is a hydrogen atom, an alkyl group having 1 to 10 carbon atoms or an acetyl group) and a photosensitive acid-generating agent (C).

Conventionally, as a material used to form e.g., a surface protecting film and an interlaminar insulating film employed for a semiconductor device in an electronic part, various resin compositions or photosensitive compositions have been proposed (for example, see Patent Literatures 1 to 3).
Patent Literature 1 describes a photosensitive resin composition containing the following components in a solvent: a phenol resin (A) having a biphenyldiyl structure in the main chain, a photoacid-generating agent (B) and a compound (C) capable of reacting with the component (A) by an acid generated from the component (B) or by heat. This literature describes, as the component (C), hexamethoxymethylmelamine and tetramethoxymethylglycoluril.
Patent Literature 2 describes a positive photosensitive resin composition containing an alkali soluble resin (A) having a phenolic hydroxyl group, a compound (B) that generates an acid by light, a core/shell polymer (C), a solvent (D) and a heat crosslinking agent (E) that crosslinks the component (A) by heating. This literature describes, as the component (E), for example, hexamethoxymethylmelamine.
Patent Literature 3 describes a positive photosensitive resin composition containing a polycondensate, an oxazoline compound and a photosensitive diazoquinone compound, the polycondensate having a structure formed by the dehydration condensation of an aromatic diamine and a polyvalent carboxylic acid.

Photosensitive composition, cured film and production process thereof, and electronic part


A drill sleeve includes a lower end that engages a bone being drilled with a drill bit of a drill during an orthopedic procedure, an upper end that is movable with respect to the lower end, and a fluid damper between the upper and lower ends for resisting movement of the upper end with respect to the lower end and which may reduce a distance at which a drill bit can plunge through a back side of the bone by increasing resistance to drill movement at occurrence of plunge through the back of the bone. The drill sleeve may include measurement scale and a lock that prevents relative motion of the upper and lower ends after the bone has been drilled for evaluating a position of a depth indicator with respect to the measurement scale that corresponds to a depth of the bore in the bone.

The present invention relates to drill sleeves that protect soft tissues during orthopedic drilling procedures.
During orthopedic procedures, when using drills to make bores in bones for internal fixation of fractured bones, overlying soft tissue may become entangled in drill bits rotated by the drills. For procedures that require drilling bores entirely through the bones, the drill bits may plunge through the back sides of the bones and into the soft tissue beyond the bone which may damage neurovascular structures and/or other soft tissue. Regardless, after drilling bores in bones, the depths of the bores need to be measured so that proper length fasteners can be selected for use in the drilled bores. Measuring bore depth is typically done with a depth gauge that requires an additional step after drilling. While measuring a bore that extends entirely through a bone, a hook of the depth gauge may be pushed beyond the backside of the bone so that the hook can be pulled back into engagement with the backside of the bone to measure the bore. Soft tissue beyond the backside of the bone can be contacted by the hook when it is pushed beyond the backside of the bone. After measuring, the hook may again be pushed beyond the backside of the bone to release the engagement between the hook and the backside of the bone to allow withdrawal of the hook through the bore and at which point the soft tissue beyond the back side of the bone may again be contacted with the hook of the depth gauge.
To address these issues, various devices have been utilized. Drill sleeves having rigid tubes through which the drill bits pass allow the drill bit to be delivered to the bone without directly contacting the soft tissue at the entry side of the bone at which the bore is initiated. Specialized drill bits and matched specialized drill sleeves are available that have corresponding markings for showing how far the drill bits have advanced relative to the drill sleeves. Specialized complex drills are available and can include clutching mechanisms that disengage rotating drives under conditions of reduced torque and others which allow for incremental advancing of the drill bits to predetermined distances.


A transformer interface prevents a false ground fault interrupt in a power supply arrangement. The power supply arrangement has a line wire and a neutral wire connected by way of a ground fault interrupt circuit to an electrically powered device, to which a ground wire is also coupled. The interface has current imbalance sensor transformer windings coupled to the line and neutral wires. A ground wire current sensor transformer winding is coupled to the ground wire. A detector transformer winding produces a signal that triggers operation of the ground fault interrupt circuit, in response to the difference between currents produced by the current imbalance sensor transformer windings exceeding detected ground wire current by a prescribed value.

Manufacturers of electrical equipment and appliances, such as those designed to operate at 110 VAC or 220 VAC, have customarily incorporated ground fault interrupt (GFI) circuitry in the supply path from the power supply input derived from a power outlet, such as a wall outlet, and the electrically powered device or load proper, as a safety measure to protect the user. A typical example of a power supply interconnect network configured for this purpose is diagrammatically illustrated in FIG. 1 as comprising an upstream power transformer 10 from which a 220 VAC line is coupled to a circuit breaker panel 12. A respective leg of the power supply line proper includes a line or 'hot' lead 21 and a return or neutral lead 22. From the circuit breaker panel 12 the leads are typically fed to and terminate at a female electrical receptacle that is mounted at a wall outlet 30, and may include a connection from earth ground to the neutral lead. The electrical appliance or equipment 40 that is to be powered from the wall outlet contains a GFI circuit 50 as part of the power feed that is used to connect the appliance to the wall outlet receptacle. GFI circuit 50 typically contains a sense transformer 51 containing a pair of windings derived from the line voltage lead and the return or neutral lead which are used to deliver power through a GFI-controlled switch 55 to an electrically powered device or load 60.
The GFI circuit 50 operates as follows. As long as the equipment is connected as shown in FIG. 1 and there is no inadvertent contact (as by way of an equipment user) between the power supply leads and ground, then whatever current is drawn by the load by way of the line voltage lead 21 will be returned to the source (the line power transformer) via the neutral lead 22. As a result, the magnetic fields produced by the respective line voltage lead and neutral lead windings in the sense transformer 51 will balance one another, so that there will be no resulting differential magnetic field of sufficient strength to open the contacts 56 and 57 of GFI switch 55. However, should there be an inadvertent contact at the electrical device between one of the power supply leads and ground, then the magnetic fields produced by the respective line voltage lead and neutral lead windings in the sense transformer 51 will be out of balance, yielding a net magnetic field of sufficient strength to cause the GFI switch 55 to open its contacts 56 and 57, thereby interrupting the connection from the power supply and the electrical device and ostensibly protecting the user.
Now although GFI circuits of the type shown in FIG. 1 have worked reasonably well, they have recently begun to suffer faulty operation owing to the incorporation of additional protection circuitry that is now becoming commonplace in modern electronic equipment. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, it is now common practice to incorporate electromagnetic interference (EMI) filter capacitors as part of the electronic equipment, in order to control the emission of high frequency electrical (digital) noise, which is generated by the internal circuitry of the equipment. As shown in FIG. 2, the EMI protection customarily consists of a pair of high frequency by-pass capacitors C1 and C2, which are respectively connected between the line voltage lead 21 and the neutral lead 22 and an earth ground lead 23, so that they provide a current path for high frequency noise from the line or neutral wires to earth ground. However, as a result of these by-pass capacitors, some of the return current now flows through the earth ground lead, so that there is an imbalance in the currents flowing through the respective windings of the sense transformer 51 of the GFI switch 55. This leads to a 'false' triggering of the GFI switch, as the electrical device has been designed to include EMI filtering, which is working correctly. This inability of the GFI circuit to discriminate between designed-in current paths to ground (such as EMI filters which may produce a current imbalance between the line and neutral leads) and a true external ground fault, which may be hazardous to the user, constitutes a problem for users of GFI-protected equipment.

Transformer interface for preventing EMI-based current imbalances from falsely triggering ground fault interrupt


A transmission is provided for use with an associated vehicle having an engine and a drive axle. The transmission has power input means for receiving power from the engine, a hydrostatic unit and first gearing means for communicating power from the power input means to the drive axle, a PTO shaft having first and second ends for use in selectively driving first and second associated implements, second gearing means for communicating power from the power input means to the PTO shaft and, a housing for holding the first and second gearing means as well as the PTO shaft. The transmission also has lubricating means for simultaneously lubricating the first and second gearing means, the PTO shaft and an intermediate shaft.

1. Field of Invention
This invention pertains to the art of methods and apparatuses for vehicle transmissions, and more specifically to methods and apparatuses for a transmission having a power take-off (PTO) shaft located within the transmission housing.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is known to provide vehicles such as lawn and garden tractors with power take-off (PTO) shafts. PTO shafts, which are typically operatively connected to the vehicle's transmission, are used to provide power for an associated implement such as a mower, a tiller, a cultivator or other implements.
A common problem encountered in the art is that PTO shafts require lubrication separate from the transmission lubrication system. This is undesirable, as it requires separate lubricating fluid, separate maintenance, etc.
Another problem encountered in the art is that PTO shafts typically only rotate, and therefore provide power, at one output speed. Different implements which are powered by PTO shafts, however, typically require different output speeds.
The present invention provides methods and apparatuses for eliminating these problems. The difficulties inherent in the art are therefore overcome in a way that is simple and efficient, while providing better and more advantageous results.


A method and system to blend components to form a lubricant having a predetermined characteristic. The method includes determining the characteristic from a model that relates that characteristic as a function of the amount of its components and properties of the components. These predetermined characteristics include KV (kinematic viscosities), CCS (cold cranking simulator), HTHS (high temperature, high shear viscosity), Noack Volatility, MRV (mini-rotary viscometer), Brookfield Viscosity, Soot-Dispersancy, Oxidation, Deposit, Wear, Sulfur, Phosphorus, Base Number, Color, Ash Content, Aniline Point, Acid Number, Viscosity Index, Turbidity, Demulsibility, Foam Stability, Acute Toxicity, Biodegradability, Nitrogen, and Detergency.

The present invention relates to a system and method for lubricant manufacture. In particular, the invention relates to the blending of raw materials to form a lubricant having predetermined characteristics.
In the prior art, lubricant blending is based on fixed formulations generated from laboratories. The raw materials used are usually derived from petroleum processes and there are significant batch-to-batch variations. Therefore, the finished oil properties such as viscosity and metal contents usually reflect the variations in raw materials. The variations in raw materials as well as in finished lubricants are the limiting factors for continuous improvement in blending capability. In recent years, new specifications such as volatility and sulfur content had been added to automotive engine lubricants, making it even harder to blend lubricants meeting multiple specifications
Recent advances in in-line or batch blending technology allow high level of automation in lubricant blending. However, little progress has been made in addressing the issues related to raw material variations and finished lubricant optimization.
The present invention includes a system and method for lubricant manufacture, in which the finished lubricants manufactured using this system and method are a combination of raw materials that result in a lubricant having predetermined characteristics. Furthermore, these lubricants show significant reduction in variations in viscosity and other parameters.

Automated intelligent system for lubricant manufacture optimization

ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company


A system and method are provided, for use with network communication systems such as Internet terminals having World Wide Web browsers, for indicating to the user a parameter related to a piece of remote information, such as an estimation of a length of time required to download a given piece of information resident at a remote site. Hyperlinks, icons, or menu items are displayed, as in conventional systems. Also provided are indicia which give the user the length of time estimate. The indicia may be displayed concurrently with the displayed hyperlink, or otherwise provided, such as by audio or tactile user feedback. In one preferred embodiment, each hyperlink is accompanied by a red, yellow, or green dot, the color of the dot being representative of the estimated download time.

In recent years, the technology of multimedia storage and interactive accessing has converged with that of network communications technologies, to present exciting prospects for users who seek access to remotely stored multimedia information. Particularly exciting has been the recent prominence of the Internet and its progeny, the World Wide Web. The Internet and the Web have captured the public imagination as the so-called "information superhighway." Accessing information through the Web has become known by the metaphorical term "surfing the Web."
The Internet is not a single network, nor does it have any single owner or controller. Rather, the Internet is an unruly network of networks, a confederation of many different networks, public and private, big and small, whose human operators have agreed to connect to one another.
The composite network represented by these networks relies on no single transmission medium. Bi-directional communication can occur via satellite links, fiber-optic trunk lines, phone lines, cable TV wires, and local radio links. However, no other communication medium is quite as ubiquitous or easy to access as the telephone network. The number of Web users has exploded, largely due to the convenience of accessing the Internet by coupling home computers, through modems, to the telephone network. As a consequence, many aspects of the Internet and the Web, such as network communication architectures and protocols, have evolved based around the premise that the communication medium may be one of limited bandwidth, such as the telephone network.
To this point the Web has been used in industry predominately as a means of communication, advertisement, and placement of orders. The Web facilitates user access to information resources by letting the user jump from one Web page, or from one server, to another, simply by selecting a highlighted word, picture or icon (a program object representation) about which the user wants more information. The programming construct which makes this maneuver possible is known as a "hyperlink".
In order to explore the Web today, the user loads a special navigation program, called a "Web browser" onto his computer. A browser is a program which is particularly tailored for facilitating user requests for Web pages by implementing hyperlinks in a graphical environment. If a word or phrase, appearing on a Web page, is configured as an hyperlink to another Web page, the word or phrase is typically given in a color which contrasts with the surrounding text or background, underlined, or otherwise highlighted. Accordingly, the word or phrase defines a region, on the graphical representation of the Web page, inside of which a mouse click will activate the hyperlink, request a download of the linked-to page, and display the page when it is downloaded.
There are a number of browsers presently in existence and in use. Common examples are the NetScape, Mosaic and IBM's Web Explorer browsers. Browsers allow a user of a client to access servers located throughout the world for information which is stored therein. The information is then provided to the client by the server by sending files or data packets to the requesting client from the server's storage resources.
Part of the functionality of a browser is to provide image or video data. Web still image or video information can be provided, through a suitably designed Web page or interface, to a user on a client machine. Still images can also be used as Hypertext-type links, selectable by the user, for invoking other functions. For instance, a user may run a video clip by selecting a still image.
A user of a Web browser who is researching a particular area of interest will often move from one home page, to another, to another, etc., by hyperlinking from each successive page to the next. As discussed above, each successive Web page must be downloaded. Web surfers have become acutely aware of the often significant amounts of real time required to download a Web page, video clip, etc. This time delay can often be measured in tens of seconds, or even in minutes. While such a download is taking place, the user must sit idle and wait.
Thus, an important design objective in an Internet/Web architecture is throughput. Unfortunately, the bandwidth of most Internet communication media is limited, and the volume of traffic is growing as more users gain access to the Internet. Therefore, users are becoming acutely aware of the delays inherent in downloading information.
It is foreseeable that the future will hold a race between the increasing throughput capacity of state-of-the-art communication media, such as fiber optic communication lines, versus the ever-increasing volume of traffic as more and more users take advantage of more and more information coming on line.
For the present, users, clicking on a hyperlink, have no way of knowing, in advance, how much information lies behind the hyperlink, how long the information will take to download, or how much information is displayed prior to the end of the download process. (With regard to the latter issue, some Web pages cannot be viewed at all during the download process. Others provide usable slider bars, so that a user can view the portion already downloaded, while the remainder is still in transit Others use a rastering scheme to allow an image to be viewed while interspersing raster lines are still in transit.)
Therefore, conventional Web browsers have had the drawback that users have been unable to tell how long a download for a given hyperlink would take, unless they actually clicked on the hyperlink. After that, they were committed to waiting out the download, regardless of how long it took, unless they took the action of terminating the download.

System and method for displaying file parameters

International Business Machines Corporation


The present invention provides air conditioning garment for air conditioning an individual wearing said garment. The garment comprises an inner layer of a three-dimensional netting structure enclosed between two layers of substantially air-impermeable fabric, wherein the layer facing the wearer's body is having a plurality of openings directed toward predetermined locations on said body. The garment is having an inlet opening with connection means for connecting the inner layer to a source of air at a predetermined temperature.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to air conditioning garments for individuals under extreme environmental conditions. In particular, the present invention relates to garments such as suits, vests, helmets and parts thereof, for racecar drivers, motorcycle drivers and pilots.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
In a clear day, with ambient temperature of 25 degrees Celsius, cabin temperature may reach 40 degree Celsius and more. Excess heat, when vehicle operators are not aware of their judgment being affected by the harsh conditions, seems to be the cause of numerous accidents.
The major traditional technologies used for air conditioning are air-cycle and vapor-cycle. Air-cycle air-conditioning works by the use of high-pressure air that is accelerated and allowed to expand rapidly, thus exchanging heat with surrounding area and cooling the air. This technology is used primarily for the air-conditioning of large transport aircraft and jet airplanes, where a large volume of pressurized air is available. Vapor-cycle air conditioning, which is the most common technology, exploits the use of a compressor and refrigerant liquid/gas to perform a heat exchange process with the surrounding air, thus cooling the environment.
Such traditional systems, which are used to cool an enclosed space, for instance an entire vehicle's cabin, are not fit for use in special vehicles such as closed-cockpit racecars and small aircraft because of weight and energy consumption considerations. The units used by traditional methods are heavy, in the range of 30–40 kg. This is an extensive and unacceptable added weight to a racecar or a small aircraft, which seriously impedes their performance. Standard air-conditioning units also require a large energy source, which is usually taken from the vehicle's power plant and might consume about 5% of the engine power. This is a negative factor to racecars drivers and owners, needing every bit of engine power. Thus, standard units do not fit for use in vehicles where power consumption demands may reduce performance. Furthermore, standard air-conditioning systems involve high expenses and their installation increases the burden and cost of the racecar or aircraft manufacturing.
The approach taken by the present invention is to air condition the individual rather than the environment. Such an approach fits individuals under extreme environmental conditions such as racecar drivers, motorcycle drivers and pilots mentioned above as well as people who wear protective garments such as fire fighters etc.
Various "personal air conditioning systems" for air conditioning an individual by especially designed garments are known in the art. Such air conditioning systems can be classified as liquid-based systems or gas-based systems. Liquid-based systems employ closed system circulation of cooled liquids and cool by touch. Gas-based systems cool by gas expansion. Both methods employ a system of tubing passing in the proximity of the wearer body for conveying the liquid or gas either in a closed or in an open system.
Existing personal conditioning systems suffer from a number of drawbacks. Conditioning systems which are using liquid circulation in a closed system might be dangerous if upon malfunctioning, liquids stop circulating. In such a case, the isolated liquid layer would heat up and prevent the body from "breathing", thus worsening users physical and psychological situation, which may end in a "heat-shock". Furthermore, liquid systems are susceptible to liquid leakage which might cause inconvenience to the wearer and damage to equipment.
Another main drawback associated with tubing-based systems, for conveying either gas or liquid, is that upon wearer movements tubes might fold and block passage of fluids. On the other hand, if the tubes are made of relatively rigid material for preventing the tubes from folding, then the tubing system imparts the garment rigidity which might limit the wearer's movements. Wearer convenience considerations also limits the diameter of the tubing that can be used, therefore a relatively high pressure in needed in order to obtain reasonable flow rate. Another drawback of tubing systems is that with time tubes tend to get plugged due to precipitant accumulation on the tubing walls.
Accordingly, it is the object of the present invention to provide a personal air conditioning system, which overcomes the drawbacks of known systems.


A golf bag includes at least one pouch for containing at least two golf clubs, each club having a shaft of length Lcg, a cross-section having an area of a given value, and a club head secured to one end of the shaft, the pouch being of oblong shape defined along a longitudinal axis and including a bottom and an opening situated at the end of the pouch remote from the bottom, substantially centered on the axis, the opening having a rim of given shape and an area greater than the sum of the two areas of the cross-sections of the two shafts, the depth of the pouch defined along the axis from the opening having a value that is not less than Lcg; a bearing surface; and elements for mounting the bearing surface in the pouch at a distance from the opening that is less than the value Lcg.

Golf bags are already known such as those described in US 2004/245133, U.S. Pat. No. 6,407,668, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,746,014. Such a prior art bag essentially includes a golf club support comprising a solid part having at least one groove formed in one of its sides for the purpose of receiving a golf club shaft, and a hollow housing formed in another side for receiving the head of the golf club.
Such an embodiment undeniably produces the desired results, however it presents drawbacks, in particular for golfers who carry their own golf bags, since it is relatively bulky, massive, and heavy. In addition, its structure makes the golf bag relatively unattractive and above all not very practical to use on a golf course, whether while the player carrying it is walking, or while stowing clubs. It also makes the golf bag relatively expensive.


A disc drive suspension has a base portion including a baseplate and a plate member, a load beam, a pair of hinge members, and a flexure with conductors. The flexure passes through a gap between the hinge members and ranges over the load beam and the base portion. A thin-walled portion is formed by partial etching on that region of a front end portion of the plate member of the base portion which faces the flexure. A thin-walled portion is also formed by partial etching on that region of a rear end portion of the load beam which faces the flexure.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a disc drive suspension contained in an information processor, such as a personal computer.
2. Description of the Related Art
A hard disc drive (HDD) for recording and reading information to and from a rotating magnetic disc, magneto-optical disc, etc. has a carriage that can turn around a shaft. A positioning motor turns the carriage around the shaft. The carriage comprises an actuator arm, a suspension on the distal end portion of the arm, a head portion including a slider on the suspension, etc.
When the disc rotates, the slider on the distal end portion of the suspension slightly lifts above the surface of the disc, and an air bearing is formed between the disc and the slider. This suspension comprises a base plate, a load beam, a flexure, etc.
In some cases, a flexure with conductors may be located along the load beam. A magnetic head that includes a slider is mounted on the front end portion of the flexure. The flexure with conductors extends from the load beam toward the base plate.
A disc drive suspension shown in FIG. 6 of Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2001-155458 comprises a base portion including a base plate, a load beam formed independently of the base portion, and a hinge member that connects the load beam and the base portion. A spring portion (region between the load beam and the base portion) of the hinge member can bend in its thickness direction. The spring constant of the spring portion is an essential factor that determines the properties of the suspension.
If the flexure with conductors is lapped on the hinge member in its thickness direction, as in the case of the suspension described above, the spring constant of the whole spring portion including the flexure with conductors sometimes may be much higher than the sum of the respective spring constants of the simple spring portion and the simple flexure.
The reason is that if the flexure with conductors and the hinge member are fixed overlapping each other, the flexure is pulled in its longitudinal direction when the spring portion bends, so that the spring portion cannot bend with ease. If the spring constant of the suspension increases, it may possibly influence the properties of the suspension.
To solve this problem, a layout may be proposed such that the flexure with conductors detours beside the spring portion. With this arrangement, however, the flexure passes on one side of the spring portion, so that the weight distribution in the region near the spring portion is asymmetric. Besides, that part on which the flexure with conductors is not fixed is so long that the flexure with conductors is liable to swing.
Further, the hinge member may possibly be halved in the width direction of the base portion so that the flexure with conductors can be passed between a pair of hinge members. In general, however, a flexure with conductors is thicker than a hinge member. Owing to a difference in bending radius between the flexure and the hinge member that is caused when the spring portion bends, therefore, the flexure touches the front end of the base portion and the rear end of the load beam. Thus, the flexure with conductors is pulled, so that the spring constant of the spring portion increases.


The present invention concerns methods for the ex vivo formation of mammalian bone and subsequent uses of the bone. A critical and distinguishing feature of the present invention are defined tissue culture conditions and factors resulting in the formation of bone cell spheroids. The invention also provides for methods of implanting into subjects the ex vivo formed bone. Also described are methods for genetically altering the bone cell spheroids to affect bone formation, identification of candidate modulators of bone formation, and identification of genes involved in bone formation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the fields of biology and medicine. More particularly, it concerns a process for the ex vivo formation of bone and uses thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
The development of a functional tissue such as bone requires the concerted action of a number of microenvironmental signals: cytokines/growth factors, extracellular matrix (ECM) molecules, and cell:cell interactions. Moreover, these regulatory signals must be queued in the appropriate temporal and spatial order, resulting in a developmental microenvironment that facilitates three-dimensional growth. The skeletal system is no exception to such requirements. It is well understood that a number of cytokines/growth factors, such as TGF-β1 family members, modulate bone formation, and that ECM molecules like osteonectin, osteocalcin, and Type I and II collagen, etc., are important in both osteogenesis and chondrogenesis. As opposed to in vitro systems that are predominately planar, the need for three-dimensional tissue-like development is implicit both in the structural nature of the skeleton and its embryonic development. However, the extension of these in vivo spatial requirements to in vitro systems has been difficult and largely overlooked.
Cellular condensation, a process of cell aggregation mediated by mesenchymal:epithelial cell interactions, plays a crucial role during skeletogenesis (Hall and Miyake, 1992; 1995; Stringa et al., 1997). In the developing chick embryo, cellular condensation precedes differentiation into to prechondrocytes (Hall and Miyake, 1995). In contrast, during osteogenesis, cells differentiate to preosteoblasts and then undergo condensation (Hall and Miyake, 1995; Centrella, 1987). This condensation nonetheless precedes osteoblast differentiation and matrix mineralization (Dunlop and Hall, 1995). Studies of prechondrocytes demonstrate that cell condensation is cytokine-mediated, and induces changes in the expression of a number of developmentally important genes. For example, TGF-β1 or BMP2 both stimulate chondrocytic condensation and up-regulate fibronectin, N-CAM, and tenascin (Hall and Miyake, 1995). The requisite step of cellular condensation during mesenchymal chondrogenesis is mimicked in vitro in chondrocyte micromass cultures (Denker et al., 1995). Tuan and colleagues have demonstrated that TGF-β1 treatment of the multipotent C3H10T1/2 cells in small volumes of media at high cell density (i.e., micro-mass cultures) results in the formation of three dimensional structures that are cartilaginous in nature (Denker et al., 1995). These cellular condensations are associated with the up-regulation of cartilage extracellular matrix components such as Type II collagen and cartilage link protein (Denker et al., 1995). Likewise, studies of embryonic chick (calverial or limb-bud) cells confirm the cell-density mediated induction of chondrogenesis (Wong and Tuan, 1995; Woodward and Tuan, 1999), and demonstrate an obligate requirement for cell:cell interaction in this process, most likely mediated by N-cadherin (Woodward and Tuan, 1999), or N-CAM (Oberlender and Tuan, 1994; Miyake et al., 1996).
To date, no in vitro models of tissue-like osteogenic cell growth or cellular-condensation exist. Calverial or bone marrow-derived osteogenic cells are typically grown on two-dimensional (i.e., planar) surfaces. Cell proliferation eventually leads to a localized piling of confluent cells into "bone nodules." This suggests that cell-density plays a role in the process of bone formation; however, studies directly demonstrating a relationship between cell-density and bone-formation are lacking, as are studies demonstrating the formation of three dimensional, crystalline bone (as opposed to reports concerning the mineralization of the extracellular matrix surrounding bone).
Present methods for the repair of bony defects include grafts of organic and synthetic construction. Three types of organic grafts are commonly used: autografts, allografts, and xenografts. An autograft is tissue transplanted from one site to another in the patient. The benefits of using the patient's own tissue is that the graft will not evoke an immune response. However, using an autograft requires a second surgical site, which increases the risk of infection and may introduce additional complications. Further, bone available for grafting comes from a limited number of sites, for example, the fibula, ribs and iliac crest. An allograft is tissue taken from a different organism of the same species, and a xenograft from an organism of a different species. The latter types of tissue are readily available in larger quantities than autografts, but genetic differences between the donor and recipient may lead to rejection of the graft. All have advantages and disadvantages, yet none provides a perfect replacement for the missing bone.
There exists a need for a better way to repair and/or replace bone in subjects suffering from bone diseases or bone traumas.

Process for ex vivo formation of mammalian bone and uses thereof

The Regents of the University of Michigan


A paper feeding apparatus is provided for use in an image forming apparatus. Such a paper feeding apparatus comprises a knock-up plate rotating upwardly and downwardly with a first end thereof provided as a hinge shaft, a driving motor and a paper feeding roller assembly to withdraw a single sheet of paper stacked on the knock-up plate by a driving a force from the driving motor, and further comprises a lift gear unit to upwardly rotate the knock-up plate by the driving force intermittently transmitted from the driving motor through a connecting means; a position sensor arranged to detect whether the sheets of paper stacked on the knock-up plate reaches a predetermined height proper to be fed to the paper feeding roller assembly; and a controller arranged to control the connecting means to be turned on and off based on a signal detected from the position sensor. As a result, a single driving motor is utilized to feed papers and drive a knock-up plate, thereby reducing production costs and enhancing internal space efficiency.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a paper feeding apparatus, and more particularly, to a paper feeding apparatus for use in an image forming apparatus, which advantageously utilizes a single driving source to drive both a knock-up plate and a paper feeding roller assembly at the same time.
2. Related Art
Generally, a paper feeding apparatus is included as part of an image forming apparatus, such as a printer, a facsimile machine, a photocopier and a multi-functional product, for feeding individual sheets of print media such as papers into the image forming apparatus. As shown in FIG. 1, a typical multi-functional product 100 comprises an image former 110 to form an image on a paper 1; an image reader 120 coupled to an upper part of the image former 110 to read documents and transfer image data to the image former 110; and a paper feeding apparatus 130 provided on a lower part of the image former 110 to feed individual sheets of paper 1 from a paper feeding cassette 140 to the image former 110. The image reader 120 includes an image reading table 122, typically of a flatbed type, to accommodate different standard sized papers, and an automatic document feeder (ADF) 124 to automatically feed individual sheets of paper to be read to the image reader 120. In addition, a housing 101 is provided to house the image former 110, the paper feeding apparatus 130, the paper feeding cassette 140 and related components, along with a control panel 103 provided with a controller (not shown) for controlling operation of the image former 110, the image reader 120, the paper feeding apparatus 130 and other components, as well as a display panel 105 for providing visual display of operation. Each paper 1 which is stacked on a knock-up plate 131 of the paper feeding apparatus 130 is picked up by a pick-up roller 201 to be supplied to a paper feeding roller 202. Meanwhile, a reverse roller 204 rotates corresponding to the paper feeding roller 202, and enables the paper 1 to be supplied as a single sheet to the image former 110. The paper 1 which passes through the paper feeding roller 202 and the reverse roller 204 is conveyed by conveying rollers 142 and has an image transferred onto it by a photosensitive drum 111 and a transfer roller 112 of the image former 110. Then, the transferred image is fused on the paper by fixing rollers 113. After fusing, the paper 1 is ejected to the outside through an outlet 114. The image former 110 is positioned inside the housing 101, whereas the paper feeding cassette 140 is removable from the housing 101.
FIG. 2 is a schematic view illustrating a driving relation of a paper feeding apparatus 130 used in the multi-functional product shown in FIG. 1. A driving source of the paper feeding apparatus 130 comprises a main driving motor 210 for driving a pick-up roller 201, a paper feeding roller 202 and a reverse roller 204; and a lift motor 220 for driving a lift gear 221, a partial gear 222 and a lift bar 223 to rotate upwardly the knock-up plate 131 for picking up individual sheet of paper 1 to be fed into the image former 110 for image formation. The main driving motor 210 drives the paper feeding roller 202 and the reverse roller 204 through a plurality of gears 211 and a pick-up clutch 212, and drives the pick-up roller 201 through a transmission gear 206. The lift motor 220 rotates a partial gear 222 through a lift gear 221 such that the partial gear 222 can rotate a lift bar 223 fixed with the same shaft, so as to enable the knock-up plate 131 to rotate upwardly.
The knock-up plate 131, the pick-up roller 201, the partial gear 222 and the lift bar 223 of the paper feeding apparatus 130 in FIG. 1 are mounted to the paper feeding cassette 140. A paper feeding gear 203 and a reverse gear 205 are fixed on the same shaft as the paper feeding roller 202 and the reverse roller 204, respectively to enable individual sheet of paper 1 to be fed into the image former 110 for image formation.
As shown in FIG. 2, the paper feeding apparatus 130 requires separate and independent driving sources to feed individual sheet of paper 1 into the image former 110. Specifically, the paper feed apparatus 130 requires a main driving motor 210 as the driving source to drive the pick-up roller 201, the paper feeding roller 202 and the reverse roller 204; and a lift motor 220 as the driving source to drive the knock-up plate 131, respectively. However, the installation of two independent motors can increase the production cost significantly. Moreover, the double installation of the motors can also be bulky which tends to lower space efficiency of an image forming apparatus such as a multi-functional product. Accordingly, there is a need to provide a paper feeding apparatus for use in an image forming apparatus which advantageously utilizes a single driving source to drive both a knock-up plate and a paper feeding roller assembly at the same time so as to reduce production costs and promote internal space efficiency.


Disclosed is an aqueous jet ink composition suitable for printing scratch and rub resistant identifying marks on substrates such as paper, glass, metal, or plastic substrates comprising water, a colorant, a binder resin, and a wax. An example of the colorant is carbon black. An example of the binder resin is a styrene-acrylic copolymer. An example of a suitable wax is a polyethylene or a polytetrafluoroethylene wax. The jet ink composition may further contain organic solvents, defoamers, conductivity agents, and biocides. Also disclosed are a process for preparing the jet ink composition and a process for producing identifying marks on the substrates.

Ink jet printing is a well-known technique by which printing is accomplished without contact between the printing device and the substrate on which the printed characters are deposited. Briefly described, ink jet printing involves the technique of projecting a stream of ink droplets to a surface and controlling the direction of the stream electronically so that the droplets are caused to form the desired printed image on that surface. This technique of noncontact printing is well suited for application of characters onto a variety of surfaces including porous and non-porous surfaces.
Reviews of various aspects of ink jet printing can be found in these publications: Kuhn et al., Scientific American, April, 1979, 162-178; and Keeling, Phys. Technol., 12(5), 196-303 (1981). Various ink jet apparatuses are described in the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,060,429, 3,298,030, 3,373,437, 3,416,153, and 3,673,601.
In general, an ink jet composition must meet certain rigid requirements to be useful in ink jet printing operations. These relate to viscosity, resistivity, solubility, compatibility of components and wettability of the substrate. Further, the ink must be quick-drying and smear resistant, must be capable of passing through the ink jet nozzle without clogging, and must permit rapid cleanup of the machine components with minimum effort.
Water-based or aqueous jet inks have been in particular demand so that industry can meet the low VOC regulations and improve work place and environmental safety. Several aqueous jet ink compositions have been disclosed in the patent literature. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,207,825 discloses a jet ink composition which comprises an aqueous liquid vehicle, a colorant, and a polymeric additive which is a substituted bisphenol A derivative.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,080,716 discloses a jet ink composition comprising a recording agent, a liquid medium capable of dissolving or dispersing the recording agent, and a substituted benzene or toluene sulfonamide compound.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,254,158 discloses an ink composition which comprises an aqueous liquid vehicle, a colorant, and an additive selected from the group consisting of amine alkoxylates, sorbitan monoester alkoxylates, alkylene oxide adducts of glycerin, and mixtures thereof.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,316,575, having the same assignee as the present application, discloses an ink composition suitable for ink jet printing, comprising an aqueous resin solution and an organic pigment, wherein said ink composition is substantially free of volatile organic compounds.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,345,254 discloses a jet ink composition which is an emulsion or suspension of an organic phase in a water phase, the organic phase including at least one of oil and wax. In one embodiment, the organic phase is said to contain a colorant which may be a pigment or oil soluble dye, and at least one of oil and wax. When certain embodiments of this invention are employed in jet printing, the jet nozzle requires heating to prevent clogging by the wax particles.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,687,887 discloses an aqueous jet ink composition suitable for titling of film or photographic negatives, which is an aqueous system containing a dissolved styrene-maleic anhydride or polyvinyl acetate resin, glycol ethers, carbon black, and certain other additives.
Some of the previously known aqueous jet inks have certain drawbacks such as long drying times, poor adhesion to substrates as shown, for example, by poor finger nail scratch resistance and finger rub resistance, and poor wet adhesion, water fastness, and print quality. Various approaches have been proposed to overcome these drawbacks. For example, the drying time can be greatly reduced through the use of a drying device such as an air knife or an IR lamp. Further, water fastness can be improved by the use of pigments instead of dyes. However, it has been a great challenge to develop a water based jet ink that offers images having good rub and scratch resistance when printed on substrates such as glass, metal, and plastics, and particularly when printed on non-polar substrates such as polyolefins including halogenated polyolefins which are the most difficult substrates to print on.
Thus, there exists a need for aqueous jet ink compositions that can meet the low VOC regulations. There further exists a need for aqueous jet ink compositions that offer improved water fastness and improved adhesion to substrates. There also exists a need for aqueous jet ink compositions that offer images having good rub and scratch resistance such as finger nail scratch resistance and finger rub resistance, particularly when printed on non-polar substrates such as polyethylene, polypropylene, and tetrafluoroethylene.
These and other objects of the present invention will be apparent from the detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention set forth below.


A process for producing an ethylene copolymer, the process including: (a) contacting ethylene with at least one polar comonomer in the presence of at least one modifier and at least one free radical initiator in a tubular reactor under polymerization conditions including a pressure of from 225 to 270 MPa; (b) injecting the at least one free radical initiator into the reactor at a plurality of reaction zones spaced along the length of the reactor, wherein each reaction zone comprises an inlet and an outlet; (c) maintaining the temperature at the inlet of each reaction zone at 150° C. or less, and the temperature at the outlet of each reaction zone is at least 177° C.; (d) controlling the modifier flow at a rate of from 0.02 to 0.986 wt % of the copolymer; and (e) recovering the ethylene copolymer from the tubular reactor, is provided.

High pressure ethylene copolymers incorporating polar comonomers (e.g., vinyl acetate) have a wide range of uses including film production, hot melt adhesive formulation, coatings, extrusion coating, extrusion and coextrusion, blow molding, lamination, injection molding, wire and cable, and resin modification. More recently, because of their transparency, stability, durability and ease of processing, interest has focused on using high pressure ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymers (EVAs) as encapsulants for solar cells.
High pressure EVA copolymers and other high pressure ethylene polymers, such as low density polyethylene (LDPE) and acrylate modified polyethylene (e.g. EMA, EnBA, EAA), are commercially produced using two different process technologies, one employing autoclave reactors (CSTR concept) and the other employing tubular reactors (plug flow concept). For example, EP 2 513 162 A discloses a high pressure polymerization process to form ethylene-based polymers, including EVA, comprising the steps of: (a) injecting a first feed comprising ethylene and optionally a chain transfer agent system (CTA system) into a first autoclave reactor zone operating at polymerization conditions to produce a first zone reaction product, the CTA system of the first reactor zone having a transfer activity Z1; and (b) (1) transferring at least part of the first zone reaction product to a second reactor zone selected from a second autoclave reactor zone or a tubular reactor zone and operating at polymerization conditions, and, optionally, (2) freshly injecting a second feed into the second reactor zone to produce a second zone reaction product, with the proviso that the second reactor zone contains a CTA system having a transfer activity Z2; and with the proviso that the ratio of Z1/Z2 is less than 1.
However, there are significant differences between polymers of the same composition produced using the different technologies in terms of product characteristics, processing and product performance, due to the differences in molecular architecture, molecular weight distribution, and long chain branching characteristics, etc. For example, high pressure polyethylene products produced in autoclave reactors tend to show broader molecular weight distribution and more long chain branching, resulting in better flowability, melt strength, and melt processing characteristics, than equivalent polymers produced in tubular reactors. However, autoclave reactor polymers tend to exhibit deficiencies in conversion rates (throughput) and final product performance (e.g., too much shrinkage and reduced mechanical properties) when compared to the tubular reactor products.
There is therefore interest in finding processes for producing high pressure polyethylene products which combine the high conversion rates associated with tubular reactors with the molecular architecture characteristics (broad molecular weight distribution, long chain branching, and lower crystallization temperatures) of an autoclave polymer product.

Process for producing ethylene copolymers


A blower (1) with a blower housing (2), a blower wheel (4) positioned so as to rotate inside a blower housing (2), an electric motor (6) for the rotational drive of the blower wheel (4), as well as with a saucer-shaped attachment housing (8) positioned externally on the blower housing (2). The attachment housing (8) contains motor-control electronics (10) and exhibits in its connection area facing the blower housing (2) a metallic cover element (14) covering the motor control electronics (10) and protects against an electromagnetic radiation from the electric motor (6).

A blower of the above-mentioned type is known in the form of a radial blower from document EP 2 236 838 A1. The electric motor hereby driving the blower wheel positioned inside the blower housing is constructed as an external rotor motor and is positioned inside the blower wheel. In addition, the electric motor is constructed as an electronically commutating direct current motor, frequently also called an EC motor, for which reason a control electronic unit is required for electronic control. In the known blower, this control electronic unit is housed in a unit known as a terminal box which is secured as the attachment housing outside on the blower housing. By using an EC motor this known blower has advantages which, however, have shown in practice that the operating characteristics are still not optimal.
A similar blower is described in EP 0 985 829 B1, wherein an attachment housing secured externally on the blower housing is disclosed solely as a terminal box—which aside from electrical connections for connecting between the connection lines of the electric motor and an external connection cable also contains an operational capacitor required for alternating current motors.
Finally, the publication EP 1 484 509 B1 describes a double blower arrangement with two radial blowers powered by a common coaxial electric motor, wherein the electric motor is located outside between the two blower housings and supports the two radial blower wheel across axially opposed shafts. Here, too, a terminal box is secured externally on one of the two blower housings.


A portable electronic user device, in the form of an electronic key, having an inherently rigid button for activation by a user. The portable electronic user device further has a flexibly deformable membrane including a first side having at least one support section on which the at least one button is supported via the plunger, and an actuating section, separate from the at least one support section, for receiving and forwarding an actuation of the button to an electrical switch element. There is a rigid frame which bears the membrane on a second side opposite the first side, wherein, in the assembled state, having the membrane in the region of the at least one support section, the frame has at least one breakout, via which the membrane is moveable by the plunger upon activating the at least one button and, in dependence on the size and/or the shape of the breakout, provides a force for resetting the button. As a result of the separation of the generating of the reset force on the support sections movable by the first breakouts and the switch function in the region of the activation section, there is great freedom in the design of the portable electronic user device, wherein reliable triggering of the switch element is always ensured.

Nowadays, there is a need for portable electronic user devices, such as electronic keys or radio keys for vehicles for example, which are intended to allow any desired design variants with any desired button shapes, depending on customer requirements. Furthermore, efforts are increasingly being made to reduce the dimensions, in particular the overall height, of the portable electronic user devices in order to improve the carrying comfort. One problem in this respect is that, on account of the variety of designs, in particular of the buttons which are to be operated by a user, it is necessary to ensure that, when these buttons are operated, a corresponding switching element is also triggered in order to execute a corresponding function, such as the transmission of a door locking signal for a vehicle.


A clocked scan flip-flop 2 is provided in which a latch 14 within the diagnostic data path is reused to store an operational signal value during a sleep mode. The operational signal value is supplied to the latch 14 via a sleep mode path 20 through a transmission gate 22 (or other tristate driver) controlled by a sleep mode control signal SLP. The diagnostic clock signal SCLK, the operational clock signal CLK and the sleep mode control signal SLP together provide the control operations for controlling the various elements within the clocked-scan flip-flop 2 to move into and out of sleep mode.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of data processing systems. More particularly, this invention relates to circuits and methods of operating circuits which allow for the storage of a signal value in operational, diagnostic and sleep modes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is known to provide a variety of different types of circuits for storing signal values. One common type of such circuits is the master slave latch arrangement. Another type of such circuit utilises cross-coupled sense amplifiers and is termed a sense amplifier flip-flop. Another known type of storage circuit is termed a hybrid latch flip-flop. It is also known to provide diagnostic capabilities in association with both these types of flip-flop by adding a scan cell capability whereby a signal value may be captured and then serially scanned out of the circuit for diagnostic purposes.
A further type of storage circuit is a clocked-scan flip-flop. A clocked-scan flip-flop provides diagnostic capabilities and has a number of advantages over the other types of flip flop which also provide diagnostic capabilities. In particular, a clocked scan flip-flop only requires two clock signals to provide its operational and diagnostic capabilities whereas the LSSD flip-flops require three clock signals. This additional clock signal overhead increases the circuit area consumed as well as having other disadvantages. Mux-D type flip-flops require only one clock signal but have the disadvantage of introducing a multiplexer delay into the processing path. Furthermore, clocked scan flip flops are more suited to high speed operation and generally provide lower power consumption than the Mux-D flip-flop designs.
In addition to providing operational and diagnostic modes it is known to also provide a data retention mode, also sometimes called a sleep mode. Such a mode of operation allows the stored signal values to be securely held in a small portion of the circuitry whilst the remainder of the circuitry is powered down for leakage reduction purposes. When power is resumed, the saved signal value is restored and operation continues. One approach to supporting data retention in this way is to add balloon latches to the flip-flops such that signal values can be transferred into the balloon latches which have their own power supply, and then the power supply removed from the remainder of the flip-flops. A disadvantage of this approach is that the balloon latches consume considerable additional circuit area.
It has been proposed for sense amplifier flip-flops and hybrid latch flip-flops which have associated scan cells operating in accordance with the level sensitive scan design methodology to reuse the scan cells for data retention during a power down mode of operation. Whilst this approach reduces the increase in circuit overhead associated with providing the data retention capability, it does require for control the three clock signals of the sense amplifier flip-flops or hybrid latch flip-flops with their known disadvantages in terms of speed, power consumption and other factors.

Circuit and method for storing data in operational, diagnostic and sleep modes


An arrangement and method for closing off fluid passages is disclosed. The arrangement includes first and second closure members inserted one behind the other in the fluid passage, the second closure member slidably fit into the passage with a clearance and positioning against a sealing shoulder in the fluid passage so that abraded particles caused by press fitting of the first closure member behind the second closure member can not get into the fluid passage.

The present invention relates to a device for permanently closing off fluid passages formed in a housing.
Arrangements for permanently closing off fluid passages in hydraulic and pneumatic connectors and housings find many applications and hence are required in large quantities. Closing devices of the above-mentioned type are designed both as force-locking and form-locking elements. Screw-type, bayonet-type and press-type closing arrangements are generally known and widely employed which, admittedly, permit a satisfactory closure of the fluid passages. However, these devices entail disadvantages due to their complicated construction and/or assembly.
For instance, it is known from the illustration of German published patent application DE-OS 37 29 216 to block a fluid passage in a valve block by simply press fitting of a ball into an enlarged portion of the passage, and thereafter caulking the ball in place by upsetting of the passage wall which expedient is reliable and low in cost. This means of closing off a passage has the shortcoming that material is abraded by contact of surfaces of the ball with the surface defining the fluid passage, particularly for relatively soft valve block material during the press fitting. The abraded particles and chips can get into the fluid passage. In consequence of this undesirable effect, thorough rinsing operations are needed in order to eliminate the particles to safeguard the operability of solenoid valves or other sensitive components in the valve block assembly in later use.
Admittedly, it is already known to use so-called "king expanders", wherein a sleeve-shaped supporting body provided with claws is first inserted into the passage to be closed off, a ball is thereafter pressed into the supporting body in order to accomplish the necessary retaining force by expanding the supporting body. However, this closure mechanism still requires a significant assembly effort, and there is still some risk of abrasion particles entering the fluid passages. Also, the manufacturing costs are not minimized. Thus, there is a need for a particularly simple and absolutely reliable closing device.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to devise a closing arrangement which lends itself to ease of manufacture and absolutely reliably closes off a fluid passage with minimal mounting effort and without any possibility of releasing abrasion particles into the fluid passage.

Arrangement and method for closing off fluid passages


The present invention simplifies an apparatus and is capable of, when replacing a roll, swiftly connecting the tail end side portion of a previously paid out web material and the lead end portion of web material to be paid out subsequently. A connecting apparatus 15 comprises a pay-out device 21, which is arranged so as to sequentially pay out web material M, which is wound on a first and second rolls 12 and 13, and a connecting device 22 that connects the portion at the tail end 12a (13a) side of the web material M from either one of the rolls 12 and 13 and the portion at the lead end 12b (13b) of the web material M from the other roll 12 (13). At the tail end 12a (13a) side, of the web material M, substantially a half of a connecting sheet M1 is stuck thereto. The connecting device 15 is arranged so that, when the tail end 12a (13a) of the web material M from either one of the rolls 12 and 13 has reached a predetermined position, the tail end 12a (13a) and the lead end 12b (13b) are aligned with each other, and the respective web material M from the first and second rolls 12 and 13 are connected to each other via the connecting sheet M1.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connecting apparatus and connecting method in which web materials paid out from a plurality of rolls are connected, and in particular, to a connecting apparatus and connecting method wherein the tail end side portion of web material from one roll and the lead end side portion of web material from another roll can be connected automatically.
2. Description of the Back Ground Art
Conventionally, there is used a label laminating apparatus in which a roll of web material having a plurality of labels on a release liner, is set to a predetermined. position, and the web material is paid out from the roll, the labels are peeled off therefrom one by one and stuck to objects to be applied therewith. In the above apparatus, when the web material has been paid out and the roll is replaced with a new one, such troublesome operation is required. That is, the lead end of the web material from the new roll replaced has to be set to the initial position. Accordingly, there resides such problem that the operating efficiency of the label laminating apparatus is reduced.
In order to solve the above problem, the applicant of the present invention has proposed a connecting apparatus, which is disclosed in a patent document (Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-332146). The connecting apparatus is arranged to connect the tail end side portion of a paid out web material to the lead end portion of web material to be paid out subsequently using a connecting piece.

Connecting apparatus and connecting method of web material


A wheel clutch device has two hubs, a shaft module, an engagement base, a clutch base, a clutch unit, and an abutment unit. The shaft module is inserted through the hubs and has a shaft body. The engagement base is mounted on one of the hubs and has at least one engagement base groove. The clutch base is mounted in the engagement base engaged with the shaft body and has at least one alignment slit aligned with the at least one engagement base groove. The clutch unit is mounted around the clutch base and has at least one engagement lump selectively engaged with the at least one engagement base groove and the at least one alignment slit. The abutment unit is combined with the shaft body and abuts the clutch wilt.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a clutch device, and more particularly to a wheel clutch device of a rollator.
2. Description of Related Art
A conventional rollator has a body, two rear wheels, a front wheel, and a transmission module. The body has a bottom frame and a handle. The handle is mounted on a front side of the bottom frame. The rear wheels are rotatably mounted on a rear side of the bottom frame. The front wheel is rotatably mounted on the front side of the bottom frame, and a steering direction of the front wheel can be controlled by the handle. The transmission module is mounted on the bottom frame and has a cell, two motors, and two gear modules. The motors are electrically connected with the cell and are respectively mounted on the rear wheels. The gear modules are respectively connected between a gear module and a corresponding rear wheel. The motors drive the corresponding rear wheel by the gear module, such that the rollator can move forward.
When the cell is short of electrical power, a user needs to manually push the rollator to move. However, the rear wheels cannot be rotated since the rear wheels are mechanically braked by the gear modules to keep from sliding. Therefore, it is laborious for the user to push the rollator to move, particularly for the user who has reduced mobility or is senior in age.


A microprocessor includes a register file that contains registers for storing pieces of data for use by execution units that receive the pieces of data through source ports. A bypass cache includes data registers into which pieces of data from the execution units are written. Data can be written to and read from the bypass cache in fewer clocks cycles than it can be written to and read from the register file. A content addressable memory array (CAM) includes address registers into which destination addresses are written which correspond to the pieces of data in the data registers. In the case of a particular piece of data, the particular data register into which the piece of data is written and the particular address register into which the corresponding destination address is written is controlled by the position of a write pointer provided by a rotating write pointer unit. The CAM includes a comparators that compare the destination address with a source address. If there is a match, a read port is enabled which provides the piece of data in the corresponding data register to conductors leading to the source port. Multiplexers select between pieces of data in the register file and a pieces of data in the data registers of the bypass cache.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to bypass networks in microprocessors and, more particularly, to bypass networks including multiported bypass caches.
2. Description of Prior Art
In a superscaled microprocessor, pieces of data are stored in a register file to be available for use by execution units which are associated with pipelines. It can take four or more clock cycles for a piece of data produced by an execution unit to be written to the register file and then read from the register file to be available for the same or another execution unit. The delay in the availability of the data is referred to as latency. However, the same or another execution unit may need the piece of data before it is available, perhaps even at the very next cycle. If the required piece of data is not available, the execution unit may be idle or otherwise inefficiently used while waiting for the piece of data. The problem is exasperated by an increased number of pipeline stages associated with increased clock frequencies and sizes of internal memory.
As a partial solution to the problem, bypass networks have been employed to hold the piece of data for several clock cycles. The contents of the bypass network is more immediately available to the execution unit than is the contents of the register file, thereby reducing waiting by the execution unit. For example, referring to FIG. 1, a prior art bypass unit 10 includes an array of shift register data latches DL1, DL2, DL3, and DL4 that receive pieces of data from an execution unit. There are corresponding shift register address latches AL1, AL2, AL3, and AL4. Each piece of data is assigned an address in the register file. The address in address latch AL1 is the address assigned to the data in data latch DL1. Likewise, the addresses in address latches AL2, AL3, and AL4 are the addresses assigned to the data in data latches DL2, DL3, and DL4, respectively. The addresses in address latches AL1, AL2, AL3, and AL4 are referred to as destination addresses.
Just prior to a piece of data being written into data latch DL1, the data in DL3 is shifted into DL4, the data in DL2 is shifted into DL3, and the data in DL1 is shifted into DL2. Likewise, the address in AL3 is shifted into AL4, the address in AL2 is shifted into AL3, and the address in AL1 is shifted into AL2. The address assigned to the data written into DL1 is written into AL1. Shifting (from AL3 to AL4, AL2 to AL3, and AL1 to AL2) may occur with each clock cycle.
The pieces of data in data latches DL1, DL2, DL3, and DL4 are selectively supplied to a multiplexer (MUX) 14 through a group of conductors 16, 18, 20, and 22. It will be appreciated that each of conductors 16, 18, 20, and 22 comprises numerous parallel conductors. The particular piece of data that is passed by MUX 14 to conductors 26 is controlled by the state of signals on conductors 30, 32, 34, and 36. The state of the signals on conductors 30, 32, 34, and 36 is controlled by comparators 40, 42, 44, and 46.
For example, assume that a piece of data X is contained in data latch DL2 and that data X is assigned an address 000110. Accordingly, 000110 will be stored in address latch AL2. Because each piece of data is assigned a different address in the register file, address latches AL1, AL3, and AL4 will not contain 000110. If the microprocessor scheduler determines that data X is to be provided to conductors 26, the value 000110 is written as a source address to a conductor 48. The value 000110 is passed to each of comparators 40, 42, 44, and 46, where it is compared with the addresses in address latches AL1, AL2, AL3, and AL4, respectively. Because the contents of address latch AL2 matches the value on conductor 48, a signal on conductor 32 is asserted, while the states of conductors 30, 34, and 36 remain deasserted. Accordingly, MUX 14 passes data X from data latch DL2 on conductors 18 to conductors 26.
There are, however, significant problems with the use of bypass units such as bypass unit 10. First, with each clock cycle, data and addresses are shifted. Over time, this consumes an appreciable amount of power.
Second, such bypass units take up a relatively large amount of microprocessor real estate. The fan-in on MUX 14 is at least as great as the product of the number of data latches and the number of bits per piece of data. Typically, the number of data latches in a bypass unit is at least equal to the number of cycles of the write-read latency. Further, bypass unit 10 holds pieces of data for only a single execution unit. The total real estate increases with the number of execution units.
Accordingly, there is a need for a bypass network that efficiently uses power and microprocessor real estate, yet provides execution units with ready access to pieces of data.

Multiported bypass cache in a bypass network


A phase change memory device comprises: a phase change element for rewritably storing data by changing a resistance state; a memory cell arranged at an intersection of a word line and a bit line and formed of the phase change element and a diode connected in series; a select transistor formed in a diffusion layer below the memory cell, for selectively controlling electric connection between an anode of the diode and a ground line in response to a potential of the word line connected to a gate; and a precharge circuit for precharging the diffusion layer below the memory cell corresponding to a non-selected word line to a predetermined voltage and for disconnecting the diffusion layer below the memory cell corresponding to a selected word line from the predetermined voltage.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a non-volatile phase change memory device for rewritably storing data using a change in resistance state of a phase change element, and particularly relates to a phase change memory device in which a memory cell is formed by connecting the phase change element and a diode in series.
2. Description of the Related Art
A non-volatile semiconductor memory device such as a flash memory becomes more important in recent years. Particularly, attention is paid to a phase change memory device as a promising technique, which uses structural change of phase change material. The phase change memory device has a structure in which a resistance state of a phase change element made of the phase change material is changed by heat and thereby data can be rewritably stored. In a write operation of the phase change memory device, joule heat due to current is generated so as to change the resistance state of the phase change element, and thus relatively large write current such as 500 μA to 1 mA is required. Therefore, if a MOS transistor is used as a select switch of the phase change element in a case of configuring a memory cell of the phase change memory device, it needs to have a gate width large enough to flow the write current and a reduction in cell size becomes difficult. On the other hand, a configuration advantageous for reducing the cell size is proposed, in which a diode is used as an select switch for the phase change element (For example, see US 2005/0270883).
FIG. 7 shows a basic configuration of the conventional phase change memory device having memory cells using diodes. In FIG. 7, each of memory cells MC is formed of a phase change element 10 and a diode 11 which are connected in series. The memory cells MC are arranged at intersections of word lines WL and bit lines BL in a matrix form, one ends of phase change elements 10 are connected to the bit lines BL and anodes of diodes 11 are connected to the word lines WL. Since large current can be flown through the diode 11 with a small area, the cell size of each memory cell MC can be reduced so as to reduce an entire area of the phase change memory device.
In the write operation of the phase change memory device shown in FIG. 7, a specified memory cell MC is selected and write current flows along a path P0 from the bit line BL to the word line WL through the memory cell MC. At this point, an operation of writing multi-bit data on the same word line WL at the same time is assumed as well as the write operation of one bit data. In this case, write current for a selected plurality of memory cells MC flows into one word line WL at the same time along a plurality of current paths P0. Since the resistance component of the word line WL is relatively large, the potential of the word line WL rises when large write current flows intensively. As a result, the write current reduces. Further, when reading out the other memory cell MC during the write operation for the specified memory cell MC on the word line WL, an increase in the potential of the word line WL causes noise and high-speed read operation is hindered.
Mean while, a configuration shown in FIG. 8 may be employed in order to avoid current concentration on the word line WL in FIG. 7. In the configuration of FIG. 8, a select transistor 12 is disposed below the same memory cell MC as in FIG. 7. In the select transistor 12, its gate is connected to the word line WL, one end of a diffusion layer D is connected to the anode of each diode 11, and the other end of the diffusion layer D is connected to a ground line GL arranged in parallel with the bit line BL. Thus, a current path P1 for the write operation of the phase change memory device shown in FIG. 8 is formed through the bit line BL, the memory cell MC, the one end of the diffusion layer D of the select transistor 12 and the other end thereof, and reaches the ground line GL. By such a configuration, even when writing the multi-bit data on the same word line WL at the same time, the current concentration on the word line WL is avoided.
However, if the configuration of FIG. 8 is employed, the select transistor 12 connected to a non-selected word line WL remaining at a low level turns off, and thus the diffusion layer D below the non-selected memory cell MC connected to the select transistor 12 becomes a floating state. When reading out the other selected memory cell MC through the same bit line BL as for the above non-selected memory cell MC in such a state, the diffusion layer D in the floating state is charged. Then, the charge current continues to flow until a predetermined time depending on a diffusion layer capacitance elapsed, and in this time period, a state occurs in which the resistance state of the phase change element 10 can not be determined. The select transistor 12 is required to be formed with a large gate width capable of flowing a large write current. Therefore, the diffusion layer capacitance of the diffusion layer D becomes a large value, and the time required for the above charging is correspondingly becomes longer. Particularly, when the phase change element 10 is written to be in the high resistance state, the time required for charging the diffusion layer D becomes further longer so that read speed drastically decreases.


A display device comprises a first substrate including a first top portion, a first sidewall portion and a first bent portion, a second substrate including a second top portion, a second sidewall portion and a second bent portion, a display element and a packaging material. The first bent portion is disposed between the first top portion and the first sidewall portion. The second substrate is separated from the first substrate by a predetermined distance to form an accommodating space. The second top portion is disposed corresponding to the first top portion. The second bent portion is disposed between the second top portion and the second sidewall portion. The display element is disposed in the accommodating space. The packaging material is disposed in the accommodating space and corresponding to the first sidewall portion and the second sidewall portion.

Field of Invention
This invention relates to a display device.
Related Art
Common display devices encompass liquid crystal display (LCD) devices, electrophoretic display devices, organic light emitting diode (OLED) display devices, etc. Generally, the display device mainly includes a display medium (including an LCD, an electrophoretic display or an OLED display), a substrate and a protection cover, wherein the display is disposed between the substrate and the protection cover. Moreover, a common anti-water/oxygen design in the display device is to dispose a dam seal around the edges of the protection cover and substrate for connecting and sealing the protection cover and substrate, so that the water/oxygen of the environment can be prevented from permeating the display device through the joint between the protection cover and the substrate and the accompanying damage can be thus avoided. However, the above design is unfavorable to the increasingly raised demand for the lightness, thinness and having a larger display area to show a larger image, because the border of the display device will be enlarged, and therefore the display area will be reduced and the appearance of the display device will be unpleasing to the eye.
Although the industry has developed a filling material which is used to comprehensively seal the substrate and the protection cover and covers the display for preventing the water/oxygen from the display, the water/oxygen still can permeate through the joint between the substrate and the protection cover.
Therefore, it is an important subject to provide a display device having a better anti-water/oxygen effect and a narrower border area.


A dual band antenna array comprises a pair of coplanar antenna elements, the first antenna element excitable at a frequency within a first frequency band, the second antenna element excitable at a frequency within a second frequency band. A single transmission feed line in a second plane has an input for receiving a signal, the feed line dividing at a branch point into a first line segment for communicatively coupling the first antenna element with the input at a first feed point, and a second line segment for communicatively coupling the second antenna element with the input at a second feed point. The first and second line segments have lengths adapted for impedance matching at the first and second frequency bands, respectively, relative to the feed line input, to selectively allow energy transmission in one of the first and second line segments while reflecting energy in the other line segment according to the input signal frequency, whereby the activated antenna elements are passively switched based on the input signal frequency.

Antennas are useful in a variety of data communications applications, including, for example, line-of-sight (LOS) communications applications, satellite communications (SATCOM), cellular telephony and digital personal communications systems (PCS). Antenna systems are often implemented as phased arrays of individual antennas or subarrays of antennas that are excited to cumulatively produce a transmitted electromagnetic wave that is highly directional, in order to provide a signal gain in a desired direction or to reject unwanted signals from other directions. The radiated energy from each of the individual antenna elements or subarrays is of a different phase, respectively, so that an equiphase beam front or cumulative wave front of electromagnetic energy radiating from all of the antenna elements in the array travels in a selected direction. Phase or timing differences among the antenna activating signals determines the direction in which the cumulative beam from all of the individual antenna elements is transmitted, and the characteristics of the radiation pattern of the array. Analysis of the amplitudes and phases of return beams of electromagnetic energy detected by the individual antennas in the array similarly allows determination of the direction from which a return beam arrives.
In communication systems, radar, direction finding and other broadband multifunction systems having limited aperture space, it is often desirable to efficiently couple a radio frequency transmitter and receiver to an antenna having an array of broadband radiator elements. For many antenna array applications, it is further desirable that the radiating antenna elements have low losses (e.g. low RF loss), operate across a wide frequency band of interest, and be inexpensive to fabricate. Several concepts have been investigated to provide radar or communications coverage over more than one frequency band using a single integrated array antenna.
With dedicated radar bands such S-Band and C-Band; C-Band and X-Band, for example, many of which are separated by nearly an octave or more of bandwidth, the selection of a radiating element becomes problematic due at least in part to difficulty in providing a suitable impedance match and element radiating pattern over both bands and the scan volume. A single element type may be impedance matched over one frequency band or the other band, but cannot adequately cover both bands. Similarly, a single element type may provide an adequate element radiating pattern over one frequency band, but exhibits nulls (i.e. minima) in the element radiating pattern in the other frequency band that represents a "blind" scan angle for the array.
Moreover, variations in dipole construction have not yielded a structure that provides both sufficient bandwidth and physically configurable within an element grid of a conventional radar array. While it is known that certain broadband elements such as notch antennas having flared or tapered notch antenna elements may be useful in forming wideband antenna arrays, dual band antenna array systems often require active switching, multiple apertures, and complex impedance matching that undesirably affect performance and usefulness of the device.
A system and method which overcomes the aforementioned difficulties is highly desired.

Passive self-switching dual band array antenna


A sheet feeding device, including: a first tray on which sheets to be fed are stacked; a second tray which is disposed above the first tray to provide a two-tier structure and on which the sheets after having fed from the first tray are stacked; a sheet-feed path extending from the first tray to the second tray; a sheet-feed mechanism which is operable to separate one of the sheets stacked on the first tray, to feed the one of the sheets into the sheet-feed path, and to discharge the one of the sheets to the second tray such that the one of the sheets slides under another of the sheets that has been discharged immediately before the one of the sheets; and at least one sheet guide which is configured to warp the sheets discharged to the second tray, in a direction perpendicular to a sheet-feed direction in which the sheets are fed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sheet feeding device which feeds sheets from a first tray to a second tray via a sheet-feed path and in which a sheet is discharged to the second tray such that the sheet slides under another sheet that has been fed immediately before the sheet.
2. Discussion of Related Art
There has been conventionally known an image reading device, such as a copying machine or a scanner, that is equipped with an auto document feeder (hereinafter abbreviated as "ADF"). The ADF is configured to feed document sheets in a sheet-feed direction from a sheet-supplying tray on which the document sheets before being fed are stacked, to a sheet-receiving tray on which the document sheets after having been fed from the first tray are stacked. The image reading device is often equipped with a flat bed scanner (hereinafter abbreviated as "FBS"), in addition to the ADF. For instance, the ADF is provided on a document cover of the FBS. A user selectively uses the ADF and the FBS depending upon an intended operation that is to be performed. Where image reading is performed on a plurality of document sheets, for instance, the ADF is preferably used.
The ADF is often constructed to have a two-tier structure in which the sheet-supplying tray and the sheet-receiving tray are superposed on each other. Further, in the ADF, there is formed, as a sheet-fed path extending from the sheet-supplying tray to the sheet-receiving tray, a so-called U-turned path through which a document sheet is fed while being turned around. Where the sheet-supplying tray is disposed below the sheet-receiving tray, the document sheet which has been fed from the sheet-supplying tray into the sheet-feed path is turned around upward and finally discharged to the sheet-receiving tray. Accordingly, where the document sheet is placed facedown on the sheet-supplying tray, the document sheet is discharged faceup on the sheet-receiving tray.
Where the image reading is performed successively on a plurality of document sheets using the ADF, it is preferable that the order of the document sheets before the image reading be maintained the same as the order of the document sheets after the image reading. Further, it is preferable that the image reading be performed on the plurality of document sheets sequentially from an initial or first page of the document sheets. Where the plurality of document sheets are placed facedown on the sheet-supplying tray, for instance, the first-page document sheet is located at a lowermost position in the document sheets stacked on the sheet-supplying tray. In this instance, there is employed a sheet-feed system in which the document sheets stacked on the sheet-supplying tray are fed in order such that the document sheet which is located at the lowermost position in the stack of the document sheets is first separated from the stack of the document sheets and fed to the sheet-feed path.
As described above, the document sheets which have been fed through the U-turned sheet-feed path for the image reading are discharged faceup on the sheet-receiving tray. Accordingly, in order to collate the discharged document sheets such that the first-page document discharged first to the sheet-receiving tray is located at an uppermost position in the document sheets to be stacked on the sheet-receiving tray after having been discharged, the document sheets to be discharged subsequent to the first-page document sheet need to be stacked such that one document sheet slides under another document sheet that has been discharged immediately before that one document sheet. Patent Publication Document 1 (U.S. 2005/0194731 A1 corresponding to JP-A-2005-253013) and Patent Publication Document 2 (U.S. 2005/0212195 A1 corresponding to JP-A-247575) disclose a sheet feeder equipped with the ADF that realizes such a function.

Sheet feeding device and image reading device


An air cushion maker includes a pair of forming rollers that are provided with recesses and electrothermal wires so that two consecutive plastic films passing between the forming rollers are made into air cushions with geometric puffy air cells.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to machines that make buffer materials for packing purposes, and more particularly, to an air cushion maker that features for simultaneous inflating, sealing and air cell forming.
2. Description of Related Art
A conventional process for making air cushions can be referred to FIGS. 1 and 2. In making the air cushion, two pieces of plastic film 90 are processed by a hot press to have a plurality of transverse sealing lines 91 distributed on the film and a sealing line 92 at a lengthwise side of the film, while an opposite lengthwise side is left open.
Then the film with the preformed sealing lines are rolled up as a film roll to be mounted on a feeding rack of an air cushion maker. A blower and a heat-sealing device are provided besides the air cushion maker. Then a material-feeding device draws the preprocessed film out from the film roll. The blower inflates the plastic film from the open side and the heat-sealing device immediately seals the open side so that air is retained between each two adjacent transverse sealing lines 91 and inflated air cells 93 are thus formed.
In the conventional process, making the transverse sealing lines 91 and inflating the pressed film are separately performed as two successive procedures by using different machines. Consequently, the production cycle is prolonged and only transversely extending cells are producible. In other words, it is impossible for the conventional process to produce rhomboidal air cells as shown in FIG. 8.