An apparatus for treating sludge, comprises a press for dewatering the sludge, a compaction device for receiving and compacting sludge dewatered by the press, a shredder for receiving and shredding sludge compacted by the compaction device, and a tube conveyor for conveying shredded sludge from the shredder. The press is controlled to vary the flow rate of the sludge in response to at least one sensed operational parameter of the press, such as the momentary power for operating the press, pressure in the sludge in the press, sludge concentration in the press, sludge feed flow to the press or separated water flow from the press.

Processes for treatment of polluted water normally involve a screening step, in which solids are removed by passage of the water through a screen. The removed solids, the screenings, form a wet, water-containing sludge that has to be dewatered and in many cases washed before the it can be deposited, incinerated or taken care of in another way. In order to obtain a manageable sludge that can easily be transported, deposited or incinerated it is essential that the solids content of the dewatered screenings is as high as possible. The same type of dewatering, and/or solids/liquid separation, and the same type of problems as those described below are also encountered in many industrial processes e.g. the dewatering and washing of cellulose pulp in the pulp and paper industry and in the food industry when pressing fruit juices and/or extracting oils from vegetable or animal material, but for brevity the description below will use screenings from treatment of polluted water as an example.
Sludge of screenings from municipal wastewater treatment plants normally contains cellulose fibres. Such sludge is suited for dewatering in screw presses and/or in piston presses also called ram presses. These types of presses as well as wash presses based on these press types are collectively referred to as press or presses in the following text. In the screw press the sludge is introduced into a hollow cylinder, having a water pervious wall, in which a rotating press screw compresses the sludge so that water is pressed out of the sludge and can escape through the water pervious cylinder wall. In the piston or ram press the sludge is likewise introduced into a hollow cylinder, having a water pervious wall, but here the dewatering is achieved by use of a piston that is pressed into the hollow cylinder and thus pressing water out of the sludge. The water escapes through the water pervious cylinder wall. Both screw presses and piston or ram presses are normally provided with a compaction device for the sludge, where the sludge is compacted and further water separation takes place. Such a compaction device is usually an extension of the hollow cylinder and may have either solid walls or water pervious walls and may be straight or bent.
In a so called wash press wash water is introduced into the sludge, mixed with the sludge and then removed by pressing, carrying with it fine solids that are sent back to the treatment plant for treatment together with the polluted water. This procedure can be repeated until the desired cleanness of the sludge has been obtained. In that case for each repeated wash cycle the pressure on the sludge is released, wash water is introduced and mixed with the sludge and then removed by renewed pressing According to one wash procedure the sludge is initially dewatered by pressing after which the pressure on the sludge is released, wash water is introduced and mixed with the sludge and then removed by renewed pressing. Also this procedure can be repeated until the desired cleanness of the sludge has been obtained A wash press may be either of the screw press type or the piston press type.
A conveyor tube is normally connected directly to the press for transporting the dewatered screenings to a container or deposit. Such a conveyor may be arranged to transport the dewatered screenings horizontally or at any angle to the horizontal. When dewatering sludge screenings it is desirable and of great economic value to get the sludge screenings as dry as possible after dewatering and washing/dewatering. However, current methods for obtaining a dry sludge after dewatering lead to problems in the press/conveyor system caused mainly by problems in the transportation of the sludge in the tube conveyors that are normally used in conjunction with the presses. Since dry sludge is in the form of lumps, aggregates or a hard "sausage" it causes a high friction against the conveyor tube wall, so that it might get stuck in the conveyor and cause blocking of the same. This means that to enable transport of the dewatered sludge the desired distance and at the desired angle to the horizontal, the sludge has to be kept wetter than is desirable from an economic point of view.
The problem of combining dewatering the sludge to a high dryness in presses and transporting the dewatered sludge in a tube conveyor or tube screw conveyor is well known in the industry and a number of solutions have been tried but none of the known solutions has given a satisfactory solution to the problem.
It is, for instance, well known to use conveyor tubes with widening diameters in the direction of transportation to avoid blocking by dry sludge. This will work as long as the sludge and dewatering parameters are in accordance with the design values. However it is in the nature of sludge and sludge dewatering that the properties of the sludge are variable and this will directly affect the dewatering performance of the press. Therefore, when using conveyors with widening tubes, i.e. conical tube sections, one always has to allow for these variations by setting the parameters of the dewatering press so that it will produce a wetter sludge than would be possible in order to ensure that the conveyor does not block up as the sludge load and/or the sludge characteristics in the press changes. In order to be able to operate optimally for different sludge characteristics one would need a set of conveyor tubes with different slopes of the wall of the conical section. These tube sections would have to be changed in accordance with sludge properties, which would be impractical. The solution using widening conveyor tubes will consequently produce sub-optimal results in respect of dryness of the sludge and it will also be susceptible to disturbances if an unforeseen change in the parameters should occur. In order to be on the safe side for the conveyor the dewatered sludge is normally kept much wetter than could be achieved by the press.
Another way that has been tried to solve the problem at hand is to use a tube conveyor of a type that allows variation of the slope of the conical section. In this way a certain adjustment of the tube can be carried out during operation in case the sludge characteristic and dryness after dewatering should change, but this requires constant supervision or a complicated control system. Changes cannot be made quickly enough to properly adjust to changes in load or sludge characteristics and the span of possible settings of the slope is limited. A further drawback of this system is that it can only be used for transporting the sludge a short distance and it cannot be used for lifting the sludge more than a short distance to a conveyor and/or a container. The sludge will exit from this device in the form of big lumps, which requires a conveyor screw with a big diameter for the further transport of the sludge. The reloading into a big diameter screw conveyor is costly and impractical.
Sludge dewatering by use of screw presses, piston presses and wash presses is an important operation in wastewater treatment and industrial processes. The laws and rules guiding the disposal of sludge and waste products are getting stricter all the time and there is a great need for simple methods and devices by which dried sludge that is transportable over long distances and at desired angles to the horizontal can be produced. It is a hygienic requirement that the sludge should be dewatered and transported in closed equipment and conveyors. The lay-out of wastewater treatment plants often requires closed transport of the sludge over long distances and also vertically between floors due to building constraints.


A non-woven fabric comprising thermally fusible composite fibers with shortened heat-sealing time and improved heat-sealing strength is provided. The non-woven fabric is produced using side-by-side type or sheath-and-core type thermally fusible composite fibers comprising a first component consisting of polyethylene and a second component consisting of polyester, said polyethylene occupying continuously at least a portion of the surface of the fiber in the length direction, wherein said polyethylene is a copolymer having 1.6/1,000 C or more methyl branches in its molecular chains, a density from 0.940 to 0.965 g/cm.sup.3, and a Q value (weight average molecular weight Mw/number average molecular weight Mn) of 4.8 or less.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thermally fusible composite fiber, and to non-woven fabric made of such a fiber.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A low-density non-woven fabric of a METSUKE (weight per unit area) between approximately 10 and approximately 45 g/m.sup.2 is used as the surface material for paper diapers, sanitary napkins, and the like. As the uses of non-woven fabrics have become diversified, property requirements for non-woven fabrics have become more strict, and there has been demand for non-woven fabrics which maintain high strength at a minimum weight while retaining a soft texture. In the context of such a recent situation, products such as pants-type diapers are required to have a certain strength, and this is accomplished by heat-sealing non-woven fabrics with each other. For this reason, a non-woven fabric having excellent heat-sealing properties is demanded.
In order to satisfy such a demand, it is necessary that the non-woven fabric be constituted of fine, thermally fusible composite fibers, and that the low-melting component contributing to the thermal fusion of thermally fusible composite fibers have sufficient adhesive strength as well as flexibility.
Examples of thermally fusible composite fibers include the combinations of polypropylene and polyethylene, polyethylene terephthalate and polyethylene, and polyethylene terephthalate and poly(ethylene terephthalate)-co-(ethylene isophthalate). The polyethylene materials include high-density polyethylene, low-density polyethylene, and linear low-density polyethylene.
However, when low-density polyethylene or linear low-density polyethylene is used as the low-melting component of the thermally fusible fibers, the fibers may become adhered to one another at a low temperature, but are easily peeled apart. Also, although the resultant non-woven fabric has a soft feel, it has low strength, low rigidity due to low density, and a sticky feel. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-92722 discloses a. fine thermally fusible composite fiber using linear low-density polyethylene having a low rigidity as the low-melting component, as well as a thermally fusible non-woven fabric comprising such a fiber. However, this fabric has poor heat-sealing properties and a low strength, and does not satisfy the requirements of the non-woven fabric achieving the object of the present invention.
On the other hand, non-woven fabric made of thermally fusible composite fibers in which high-density polyethylene is used as the low-melting component has higher density and rigidity, higher strength, and good heat-sealing properties as compared to non-woven fabrics made of low-density polyethylene and linear low-density polyethylene. However, since the high-density polyethylene used as the low-melting component has a high melting point, the processing temperature must be elevated in order to achieve sufficient non-woven strength and heat-sealing properties. This is disadvantageous in that the resultant non-woven fabric has a stiff feel. Furthermore, although lower non-woven processing temperatures are desirable from the point of view of energy costs, sufficient strength cannot be achieved unless the processing temperature is sufficiently high.
In order to solve such problems, a thermally fusible composite fiber disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-251612 has as its high-melting component polypropylene or polyester, and as its low-melting component high-density polyethylene, which has many methyl branches in its molecular chain and a relatively low melting point. However, increasing the number of methyl branches in polyethylene generally lowers the density, and increasing the Q value (weight average molecular weight Mw/number average molecular weight Mn) increases the unevenness of the polymer. Both of these effects lower the tensile strength of the low-melting component, lower the adhesive strength of the low-melting component at points where fibers intersect one another, and result in insufficient strength of the fabric itself and of heat sealing.

Thermally fusible composite fiber and non-woven fabric made of the same


A graphical user interface is generated at a mobile communication terminal having a first touch screen of a first size, the graphical user interface including one or more touch screen input options. The generated graphical user interface is transmitted from the mobile communication terminal and to a vehicle communication terminal having a second touch screen of a second size. An indication of touch screen input received at the second touch screen of the vehicle communication terminal is received at the mobile communication terminal and from the vehicle communication terminal. A function corresponding to the touch screen input received at the second touch screen of the vehicle communication terminal is executed at the mobile communication terminal.

Navigation devices can be used to provide mapping and routing information to users. In-vehicle navigation devices or portable navigation devices can be used to provide driving directions while a user traverses a route. Many such navigation systems rely upon Global Positioning System (GPS) functionality to determine the location of the vehicle and use the determined location in providing driving directions. In addition, navigation devices may include a display unit to display routing and location information to a user.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A tank cap with a lock of a fuel tank comprises: a gasket member (2) for sealing a fuel supply port of the fuel tank; an locking member (3) arranged in a periphery of the fuel supply port; and a slider (4) arranged between the gasket member and the locking member. The slider (4) moves in conjunction with the gasket member, in such a manner that the locking member is prevented from moving in the transverse direction when the gasket member moves in a closing direction in which the gasket member comes close to the locking member, that the locking member is capable of moving in the transverse direction when the gasket member moves in a separating direction in which the gasket member is separate from the locking member, and that the locking member is maintained in a maintaining state in which the stopper is kept intruded into the moving passage of the locking member, even if the gasket member moves in the separating direction, when the locking member is prevented from moving in the transverse direction. In addition to this, for example, a temporary assembling cap (102) is incorporated between the outer circumference of the gasket member and the outer circumference of the locking member of the tank cap with a lock. Therefore, the tank cap with a lock can be packed while the key is withdrawn from the tank cap.

The present invention relates to a tank cap with a lock which is attached to a fuel supply port of a fuel tank. In addition, the present invention also relates to a method of packing the tank cap with a lock.
Conventionally, a tank cap with a lock, which can be removed from a fuel supply port only when it is unlocked by a predetermined key, is used for the fuel supply port of a fuel tank of a motorcycle. This tank cap with a lock is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 58-48423. This tank cap with a lock is arranged with the intention of preventing the key from withdrawing from the key hole of the tank cap in a state that the tank cap is being removed from the fuel tank.
When the tank cap is attached to the fuel supply port, a gasket member is brought into close contact with the peripheral edge portion of the fuel supply port and simultaneously a locking piece of the tank cap with a lock automatically protrudes in the transverse direction by the action of a spring incorporated into the tank cap with a lock. Then the locking piece of the tank cap with a lock is locked with the peripheral edge portion of the fuel supply port, so that the tank cap is put into a locked condition. In this locked condition, the key can be withdrawn from the key hole.
Unless the tank cap is unlocked by the key, it is impossible to remove the tank cap with a lock from the fuel supply port. In order to remove the tank cap with a lock from the fuel supply port, it is necessary that the key is inserted into the key hole of the tank cap and turned. Due to this operation, the locking piece can be unlocked from the peripheral edge portion of the fuel supply port. In this way, the tank cap with a lock can be removed from the fuel tank.
The above-mentioned conventional tank cap with a lock is designed, in such a manner that it is impossible to withdraw the key from the key hole in the removed state in which the tank cap with a lock is being removed from the fuel tank. Namely, in the conventional tank cap with a lock, the tank cap is made with the intention of preventing the key from withdrawing from the tank cap when the tank cap is being removed from the fuel tank.
However, according to the arrangement of the above tank cap, there is a possibility that the key can be withdrawn from the key hole in a state that the tank cap is being removed from the fuel tank as follows. In the case where a gasket member is pushed up by a hand while the tank cap with a lock is being removed from the fuel tank, an elevating cylinder of the tank cap with a lock is raised in cooperation with the movement of the gasket member, and then the locking piece is unlocked from the stopper surface of the elevating cylinder and protrudes outside. Therefore, the key can be withdrawn from the tank cap.
As described above, in the conventional example of the tank cap with a lock, when the gasket member is pushed up somehow, the key is withdrawn from the tank cap, so that there is a possibility that the key thus withdrawn is lost.

Tank cap with lock of fuel tank and method of packing the same


The present invention provides a catalyst particle of an inner core, an outer layer surrounding and bonded to the inner core, the outer layer of a zeolite beta catalyst, and the outer layer having a volumetric fraction from about 0.17 to about 0.62 of the entire catalyst particle.

The current process of choice for commercial phenol production utilizes the autocatalytic cumene/air oxidation to cumene hydroperoxide (CHP) route for over 50% of the world's production of phenol. A key step in this process is the decomposition (cleavage) of CHP produced in the oxidation section of the plant to phenol and acetone using dilute mineral acid (H2SO4) as an acid catalyst. Use of the liquid acid requires subsequent neutralization and purification of the phenol at substantial cost, and a waste stream generation that could be avoided if an effective solid acid catalyst could be used. CHP decomposition is a very exothermic reaction which is normally carried out on a commercial scale in continuous stirred or back-mixed reactors. In such reactors only a small fraction of CHP is unreacted at any given time and the reaction medium consists essentially of the products of decomposition of CHP, i.e., phenol and acetone, plus any solvent (e.g., cumene and/or recycle acetone) and other materials added with CHP to the reactor. During cumene oxidation small amounts of dimethylphenylcarbinol (DMPC) and acetophenone are also formed. In the presence of acid catalyst, DMPC dehydrates to alpha-methylstyrene (AMS), a useful by-product. Very high yields of AMS can be obtained from pure DMPC, e.g., 98% yield upon dehydration over acidic silica at 300° C. In the presence of phenol, however, and more specifically in a phenol/acetone/cumene mixture which is a solvent in the decomposition of CHP/DMPC mixtures, the ultimate AMS yield is normally about 50-60 mol % of the DMPC. Main by-products are AMS dimers and cumylphenol which have no commercial value. Formation of cumylphenol also reduces the phenol yield.
Although phenol and acetone have been produced by the decomposition of the cumene oxidation product for decades using a liquid mineral acid such as sulfuric acid as a catalyst, there is a continuing incentive to produce them at a lower cost and with a reduced by-product formation.

Solid acid catalyst and process for decomposition of cumene hydroperoxide


A sewing machine including a needle being supplied with an upper thread, a loop taker which accommodates a bobbin for a bottom thread, and a drive unit, which forces the needle to perform a reciprocating movement. The needle, during its movement and in cooperation with the loop taker, executes a stitch on a sewing material being advanced between the upper thread and the bottom thread. A take-up lever, for each stitch, pulls tight a knot being formed in the sewing material by the upper thread and the bottom thread in cooperation. The sewing machine further includes a thread transfer member supplying the needle with an upper thread with either a thread portioner or a friction braking assembly for friction braking of the upper thread. A switch switches between thread supply with the thread portioner or with the friction braking assembly. A control unit controls the thread supply from the thread portioner or, alternatively, controls the friction braking assembly.

To establish a seam on a fabric, today, there exists on the market a number of devices of different designs for performing lock stitches. On common home sewing machines an upper thread and a bottom thread on a bobbin in cooperation with a needle are used, in a known way, to bring the upper thread to perform a lock stitch on the fabric, which is sewn on the sewing machine.
A correct relation between the length of the upper thread and the length of the bottom thread of a stitch is desirable to accomplish a seam that looks decorative and holds a high quality. The proportion between the length of the upper thread and the bottom thread of each stitch depends on the relation between the tension of the upper thread and the bottom thread, respectively, during the forming of a knot that is made by upper thread and bottom thread and which constitutes a lock for a stitch in the seam.
To obtain the desired quality of a stitch, it is desirable that the knot of a stitch can securely be placed at the desired location in relation to the fabric. Usually, an optimal location of the knot is in the middle of the fabric as seen in a cross section of the extension of the fabric.
In prior art it is known to automatically adjust the present thread tension of the upper thread based on thread consumption of former stitches of the seam. Such a device is disclosed, as an example, in document U.S. Pat. No. 6,012,405. In this device the real thread consumption of the upper thread is measured be means of a decoder for consumed thread length after a completed stitch, whereby this information about real thread consumption for an already performed stitch is used to adjust the thread tension of a subsequent stitch to accomplish a correct relation of thread lengths between upper thread and bottom thread. This and other similar solutions presupposes that the amount of upper thread required for a present stitch is known in advance.
Document U.S. Pat. No. 4,967,679 discloses a solution to attain automatic control of thread feed, wherein a sewing machine for straight seams utilizes thread out portioning in accordance with a requisite amount of upper thread, and which adjusts the thread tension of the upper thread at zigzag sewing. The thread out portioning of this solution is mechanically driven, wherein rolls which drive the thread are rotated synchronically with the driving mechanical members of the sewing machine. At zigzag sewing the thread tension is electrically set according to a manually predetermined value.
In this described solution the consumption of upper thread per stitch may not be predetermined for other types of seams than for straight seams. The thread out portioning is effected in dependence of a cyclic movement on a mechanical member of the sewing machine. The selected mechanical member executes the same cyclic movement also for other types of seams, e. g. at zigzag seams, whereby thread may not be fed by means of thread out portioning controlled by said mechanical members other than for straight seams.
However, the possibility to predetermine the thread consumption of upper thread consumption for a subsequent stitch is known. Such a determination takes into consideration, without being limited to these factors, stitch length, the thickness of the fabric, angular deviation between a present and a subsequent stitch, stitch speed and other parameters set by an operator. Such a determination of thread consumption is shown in the publication U.S. Pat. No. 6,012,405, a publication, the content of which in its entirety is incorporated into this description by reference.
Earlier, it has been problematic to use thread out portioning as an alternative to friction braking and to be able to freely switch between these, when in both cases the control unit of the sewing machine shall fulfil the demand to control the out portioning of upper thread and the brake force at friction braking respectively.
The present invention provides a device and a method to render a free choice of thread feed possible by means of a selection of thread out portioning or friction braking for all types of seams performed by the sewing machine.


An electrical charging system including a storing vessel for storing a diagnostic tool and a wireless charging system integrated with the storing vessel for wirelessly charging the diagnostic tool when the diagnostic tool is placed within the storing vessel.

In many industries, diagnostic systems play an increasingly important role in manufacturing processes, as well as in maintenance and repair throughout the lifetime of the equipment or product. Some diagnostic systems are based on personal computer technology and feature user-friendly, menu-driven diagnostic applications. These systems assist technicians and professionals at all levels in performing system diagnostics.
With equipment and products becoming more advanced, more complex, and more expensive with the addition of electronic components the knowledge base and financial resources required to properly use, maintain, and fix these items have grown immensely. Different diagnostic systems are built with varying capabilities to perform various functions. For example, some diagnostic systems may include a simple code reader, while other diagnostic systems include complex computer architectures. Oftentimes, diagnostic systems are powered by portable power source for standalone operation with wireless connection to the equipment's interface. The portable power source typically requires a wall adapter or a charger device with a physical connection to an electrical power source. Also, the portable power source may require a long time to charge and thus render the diagnostic systems inoperable during charging.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a method and system that efficiently charges a portable power source of a diagnostic system. Also, it is desirable to provide a method and system that wirelessly charge the portable power source of a diagnostic system.

Method and system for wirelessly charge a diagnostic tool


An entry door telephone system having a touch-tone telephone with a keypad and an incoming phone line connected to the telephone. A door speaker phone is switchably connected in parallel with the touch-tone telephone, and a paging module is switchably connected in series with the door speaker phone for completing a circuit between the touch-tone telephone and the door speaker phone in response to a data signal transmitted from the keypad of the touch-tone telephone. For controlling operation of this system, a control box is connected to the paging module, the door speaker phone and the touch-tone telephone such that the circuit between the touch-tone telephone and the door speaker phone is broken in response to a data signal transmitted by the touch-tone telephone. Finally, a power source is connected to the paging module and the control box for supplying power thereto.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates to an entry door answering telephone system and, more particularly, to an entry door answering telephone system having a door speaker phone switchably connected to a touch-tone telephone through a paging module and a control box, thus enabling a resident to use the touch-tone telephone already used to receiving incoming phone calls to communicate with the door speaker phone.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An increasingly popular method of home protection relates to communication systems used to converse with persons attempting to gain entrance to a residence before unlocking the door and letting such persons in. Such communication systems, however, require installing one communication unit outside near the entrance to the residence and another inside the residence in a location where the resident may freely use the communication unit. To use the communication system, therefore, the resident must go to the location of the inside communication unit and use the unit there. This may present a problem for persons most in need of a communication system, namely the elderly or infirm. There is therefore a need for a door answering system which may be used from more than one location within a residence and which does not require new wiring to those locations.
Furthermore, as the communication system above described requires two separate units, both must be purchased, resulting in added expense for the consumer. There is therefore a need for a door answering system which may require purchase of only one communication unit and may use communication devices already present in a typical residence.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an improved entry door answering telephone system.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an entry door answer telephone system which uses a standard touch-tone telephone connected to a door speaker phone for communication with persons outside the residence.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide an entry door answering telephone system which may be accessed from any touch-tone telephone in the residence which is connected on the same telephone line.
Finally, an object of the present invention is to provide an entry door answering telephone system which is relatively simple and inexpensive to manufacture and safe and durable in use.


An aircraft has a boom, a propulsion assembly coupled to a first end of the boom, and a first wing coupled to a second end of the boom. The propulsion assembly is coupled to the boom by a rotating joint. A second wing is optionally coupled to the rotating joint. The first wing is coupled to the boom by a rotating joint. The first wing is coupled to the rotating joint by a hinge. A vehicle with roll, pitch, and yaw maneuverability able to mirror the aircraft movements may be coupled to the second end of the boom. The vehicle body may be picked up with a vehicle chassis disconnected from the vehicle body. The boom houses an energy source to power the propulsion assembly. A rudder is coupled to the second end of the boom. A paddle is disposed between the propulsion assembly and the boom.

Traffic congestion is a major problem across the developed world and getting worse by the day. In all corners of the globe, people drive daily to commute to work, to shop, to travel cross-country for work or vacation, and for any number of other purposes. As populations grow in number and advance economically, more and more cars are added to the roadways. Two million passenger vehicles are added to the world's roadways every year. For 2018, an estimated 81.50 million vehicles were produced globally, up from 79.02 million in 2017. The world's infrastructure has so far not expanded or adapted to meet the growing demands.
One concept for reducing congestion is the introduction of self-driving vehicles. Self-driving vehicles can potentially communicate directly with each other and with local infrastructure systems to coordinate the speeds and locations of every vehicle on the road. Such coordination would allow for the removal and traffic lights and optimization of traffic fluidity. The introduction of self-driving vehicles en masse will allow drivers to reach their destinations quicker. However, an autonomous transportation future will not itself solve the congestion problem. Moving to autonomous vehicles does not reduce the number of vehicles on the road or increase the amount of space on existing highways.
Another proposed solution is to take commuting to the skies. In a concept similar to ridesharing, sky taxis in development will allow commuters to share a ride on electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft between skyports spread throughout a metropolitan area. However, construction of hundreds of skyports in the hearts of cities around the world will cost billions and take decades. Once built, passengers will have to arrange transportation to and from skyports and process through security screenings. Moreover, due to their inefficient design, sky taxi aircraft will require full occupancy of between four and six passengers to remain profitable. Unless a commuter is flying between hot-zones at peak times, there will more than likely be a wait before boarding. Even worse, remote destinations with few potential riders will not be able to support a skyport. The sky taxi concept requiring skyports limits the destinations to only large metropolitan centers.
Therefore, a need exists for a transportation system that can truly reduce congestion on the roads while also expanding travel into the air without requiring a large skyport infrastructure.

Electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft


Resources which are to be related to a first interface between a terminal and a first network node and to a second interface between the first network node and a second network node are jointly determined during the allocation of radio technical resources for data transmission for a subscriber. Throughput and transmission characteristics of the first interface requested by a subscriber are taken into account and coherence of the resources which are to be allocated to the first interface and the resources which are to be allocated to the second interface is taken into account. Allocations of other subscribers are considered and the value to all subscribers is optimized.

Radio communication systems are used for transmission of information, voice or data with the aid of electromagnetic waves over a radio interface, also called an air interface, between a sending and a receiving radio station. An example of a radio communication system is the known GSM mobile radio system as well as its further development with the packet data service GPRS or EDGE, of which the network architecture is described for example in B. Walke, Mobilfunknetze und ihre Protokolle (Mobile Radio Networks and their Protocols), Volume 1, Teubner-Verlag Stuttgart, 1998, Pages 138 to 151 and Pages 295 to 311. In this case a channel formed from a narrowband frequency range and a time slot is provided in each case for transmission of a subscriber signal. Since a subscriber signal in a channel differs in frequency and time from the remaining subscriber signals, the radio station can detect the data of the subscriber signal. In new radio communication systems, for example the UMTS system, the individual subscribers are additionally differentiated by different spread codes.
With packet-switched data transmission the data is transmitted for a number of subscribers over one and the same physical channel. In the GPRS or EDGE systems which are currently the norm a number, for example six, physical channels, which are designated as packet data channels, are provided for packet switched data transmission. Each subscriber can in these systems also occupy a number of these packet data channels simultaneously (multislot). Depending on the subscriber, a packet data flow (Temporary Block Flow TBF) is broken down in such cases into time-limited radio blocks which are transmitted. In this case different modulation/coding schemes are applied to give error protection. The possible modulation/coding schemes differ as regards the subdivision of the radio block into useful load and error-protection information. Depending on the modulation/coding scheme set, these radio blocks have a different useful load but the same length. Depending on the radio conditions a connection is assigned a modulation/coding scheme with greater or lower error protection. If radio conditions are bad, a modulation/coding scheme with a greater level of protection against errors and if conditions are good a modulation/coding scheme with a lower level of error protection is assigned. Since the proportion of the useful load differs depending on the modulation/coding scheme used, the data rates which can be achieved also differ.
For packet data switching a radio communication system for example comprises a GSM mobile radio network with GPRS, a multiplicity of Serving GPRS Support Nodes (SGSN) which are internetworked and which establish the access to a fixed data network. The Serving GPRS Support Nodes are further connected to Base Station Controllers (BSC). Each Base Station Controller in its turn makes possible at least one connection to at least one Base Station (BTS) and handles the administration of the technical resources of the base stations connected to it. For administration of the radio technical resources for packet switched data transmission the base station controller includes a Packet Control Unit (PCU). A base station is a transceiver unit which can establish a communication link to a mobile station over a radio interface. The individual subscribers are allocated on a channel for packet-switched data transmission via the packet control unit.
After the data arrives in the packet control unit PCU this is transmitted via what is referred to as the Abis interface to the base station, encoded there and sent over the air interface to the mobile station. The Abis interface is a PCM30 connection with a data rate of 64 Kbit/s, which is divided up into four subchannels each of 16 Kbit/s. Thus one constant-length data packet per time slot is transmitted on the Abis interface. Since, depending on the modulation/coding scheme used, different useful data rates are available to a user on the radio interface, a different quantity of time slots is required on the Abis interface for the further transmission of this data, depending on the modulation/coding scheme used. So that a subscriber who obtains a high data rate via the radio interface can use this high data rate, it must therefore be possible at the Abis interface to allocate a sufficient quantity of time slots accordingly. One option for avoiding a bottleneck when undertaking this allocation is to design the Abis interface so that for each subscriber, independent of the modulation/coding scheme actually used, the number of time slots required for the highest data rate is reserved. This leads to inefficient utilization of the line capacity however.
An arrangement of transmission channels of an Abis interface in a cellular radio network is known from US 2002/0003783 A1. In this patent publication, a prespecified number of transmission channels is permanently allocated to operations and signaling on a base-station-specific basis. A required number of transmission channels is allocated dynamically to a packet data transmission, with a quantity of packet data being varied depending on a modulation and with a coding scheme of a Um interface.
The underlying problem is thus that of finding a method for allocating radio technical resources for packet-switched data transmission in which on the one hand satisfactory data rates are guaranteed for all subscribers and on the other hand the available infrastructure resources can be used effectively.

Method for allocating radio technical resources for data transmission in a radio communication network


An alignment unit for use with an irrigation system comprises a housing, an alignment sensor, an alignment controller, and an actuator. The irrigation system may include a plurality of spans, each including a drive tower and a drive unit. The housing may house at least a portion of the alignment unit. The alignment sensor may measure a real-time alignment of the drive tower. The alignment controller may be in communication with the alignment sensor and may be operable to receive the real-time alignment of the drive tower and energize the drive unit based on a first range of real-time alignment values. The actuator may couple with the alignment controller and may reorient at least a portion of the alignment controller in relation to the alignment sensor.

Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate to control systems for irrigation systems. More particularly, embodiments of the present invention relate to control systems to guide irrigation systems with elevated irrigation pipelines in an automated and continued manner while reconfiguring alignment of the pipelines in various configurations.
Description of the Related Art
Crops are cultivated throughout the world in a wide variety of climates with different terrains and soils. It is desirable in many of these climates to artificially supplement the climate's natural precipitation via irrigation systems to ensure crops receive adequate water. Additionally, irrigation systems can be used to deliver fertilizers and chemicals to, among other things, promote healthy crop growth, suppress weeds, and protect crops from frost.
Common irrigation systems include center-pivot systems and lateral-move systems, each having an elevated, elongated pipe supported by a plurality of drive towers spaced along the pipe. The pipe includes a plurality of spaced sprinklers that may extend downward toward the crops to enable distribution of water to the crops from above. Center-pivot systems are ideal for use in fields having circular crop areas and generally include a hydrant located in the middle of each circular crop area. In such systems, a plurality of spans are linked together radially outward from the hydrant. Each span includes a tower and a truss assembly that supports the pipe and the sprinklers which deliver water to the crop area while the spans rotate about the hydrant. Lateral-move systems are ideal for use in square, rectangular, and irregular-shaped fields. Such systems generally include one or more hydrants located in and/or adjacent to a field and/or one or more ditches located along or through a field that are connected to the pipe and the sprinklers. Unlike the center-pivot system having a pipe with a stationary end, the pipe in a lateral-move system is connected to and extends from a movable cart designed to traverse up and down a cart path. The pipe may be locked at an angle perpendicular to the cart path and pivot at an end at the cart path, which is desirable if the cart path extends down the middle of a field to enable pivoting from one side of the cart path to the other with each pass along the cart path.
In both center-pivot and lateral move systems, each span is long, for example, one hundred thirty five feet and two hundred feet. To move the span during an irrigation operation, each of the drive towers includes two or more wheels that are fixed in orientation and driven by a mechanical drive unit. The mechanical drive units may be a series of electric motors or other similar sources of propulsion. In general, the mechanical drive units propel the span forward or backward in a circular or lateral pattern along a field and over crops, to provide crop irrigation.
While the spans are being driven, it may be desirable to automatically reconfigure an alignment of the irrigation system. For instance, it may be desirable to reconfigure the alignment of one or more spans to relieve stress in the pipe caused by an uneven grade or to cause one or more spans to wrap or swing around obstacles in a path of the system.

Tower alignment system and mechanism that allows programmed changes to the alignment automatically


Disclosed is a pair of conductive rings and method for making the conductive rings for introducing an integral network of capacitive structures around a semiconductor die of a semiconductor package. The pair of conductive rings include a ground rail ring that is defined around a semiconductor die pad that is configured to receive a semiconductor die. The ground rail ring has a first plurality of extension spokes that extend away from the ground rail ring. The pair of conductive rings further includes a power rail ring that is defined around the semiconductor die pad. The power rail ring has a second plurality of extension spokes that extend away from the power rail ring and toward the ground rail ring.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to semiconductor package technology and, more particularly, to techniques for designing bypass capacitive structures between power and ground rails of a semiconductor package.
2. Description of the Related Art
As device operating speeds and the slew rates of driver switching simultaneously increase, the quality of the power V.sub.dd and ground V.sub.ss routing systems become a critical factor in the overall integrity of the system. In current designs, providing a source of charge in close vicinity of the switching activity is essential for the proper functioning of an overall integrated circuit system.
In the prior art, a common way of providing a reservoir of charge near switching circuitry (i.e., I/O driver circuitry) has been to mount discrete capacitive components between the power V.sub.dd and the ground V.sub.ss lines. As a result, prior art system have been able to somewhat improve a system's electrical performance. These discrete capacitors are usually mounted on a package substrate and then directly interconnected to the power V.sub.dd and ground V.sub.ss through conductive leads and vias.
However, a major problem with using discrete capacitors to decouple the system V.sub.dd and V.sub.ss lines is that they lose their effectiveness at high frequencies. Furthermore, there is often not enough space on the semiconductor package surface to mount a larger number of discrete capacitors that may be necessary to decouple the system.
An example of a typical semiconductor package is shown in FIG. 1A. FIG. 1A shows a semiconductor package 100 having a package substrate 102. A semiconductor chip 104 is mounted on the package substrate 102. A plurality of conductive traces 106 are routed on the package substrate 102. A ground rail V.sub.ss ring 108 is routed on the package substrate 102 and connected to the semiconductor chip 104 by a plurality of bond wires 105a. A power rail V.sub.dd ring 110 is also routed on the package substrate 102 and connected to the semiconductor chip 104 by another plurality of bond wires 105b.
For ease of illustration, only four bond wires are shown, but as is well known in the art, many more bond wires 105a and 105b are used to provide appropriate connections between semiconductor chip 104 and ground rail ring V.sub.ss 108 and power rail V.sub.dd ring 110. A discrete capacitor 112 having conductive leads 114a and 114b is mounted to the package substrate 102. In this example, only two discrete capacitors are shown mounted on the package substrate 102. However, in order to provide sufficient charge near driver circuits of the semiconductor chip 104, many more discrete capacitors 112 should be mounted on the package substrate 102.
Although more discrete capacitors 112 can be added to the package substrate 102, because discrete capacitors 112 are relatively large components, there is typically not enough space on the package substrate 102 surface to mount the number of discrete capacitors 112 necessary to provide a sufficiently close charge storage location and an adequate level of decoupling for the power V.sub.dd and ground V.sub.ss lines. As will be discussed further below, the conductive leads 114a and 114b may also exhibit unacceptably high levels of impedance at high frequencies, which necessarily reduce the effectiveness of the discrete capacitors 112.
FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view A--A of FIG. 1A, which illustrates the respective layers of the semiconductor package 100. The packaging substrate 102 is made up of several layers including solder balls 116, a power plane V.sub.dd 118, a ground plane V.sub.ss 122 and dielectric layers 119, 120 and 124. Conductive leads 114a and 114b are connected to conductive vias 126 and 128. In the same manner, bond wires 105a and 105b are connected to conductive vias 130 and 132. The conductive vias 126 and 132 are defined through the dielectric layer 124 and connect to the ground plane V.sub.ss 122. In the same manner, the conductive vias 128 and 130 are defined through the ground plane V.sub.ss 122 and dielectric layers 120 and 124 to connect to the power plane V.sub.dd 118.
FIG. 1C shows a simplified partial top view of a ground rail V.sub.ss ring 108 and a power rail V.sub.dd ring 110 with their respective conductive vias 130 and 132. In this manner, the semiconductor chip 104 is able to interconnect to the ground plane V.sub.ss 122 and the power plane V.sub.dd 118 through respective bond wires 105a and 105b.
As can be appreciated even more in FIG. 1B, only a limited number of discrete capacitors 112 can be mounted onto the packaging substrate 102. Conductive leads 114a and 114b with their respective vias 126 and 128 define conductive paths to the power plane V.sub.dd 118 and the ground plane V.sub.ss 122. These paths exhibit high impedance at high frequencies. Therefore, conventional devices are generally not able to provide low impedance paths between the power plane V.sub.dd 118 and the ground plane V.sub.ss 122.
Another problem with the use of conventional discrete capacitive components is that on-chip driver circuitry, which is required to switch at fast speeds, typically accesses an amount of charge that is stored in the discrete capacitors 112. Unfortunately, the distance between the discrete capacitors 112 and a selected on-chip driver circuit will be different, depending on the placement of the discrete capacitor on the package substrate. As is well known, as the distance between the driver circuitry and the stored charge increases, the speed at which on-chip driver circuitry (and other circuit components) operates will necessarily slow down. This therefore detrimentally impacts on the performance on any semiconductor chip 104 that may be mounted on the package.
In view of the foregoing, it is desirable to have a method and apparatus that provides for a low impedance path between the power V.sub.dd and ground V.sub.ss lines , and remain efficient at high frequency. It is also desirable to have a device that can be installed easily into the semiconductor package without being limited to the space available on the package substrate.

Semiconductor package having capacitive extension spokes and method for making the same


A dispensing cap permits the contents of a canister to be heated prior to being dispensed. The cap includes a dispensing mechanism and is designed to be mounted to the top of a canister containing a product. Small apertures spaced about the cap permit heated water from a faucet or other source to enter the cap and flow over the top of the canister below and within the cap. The heated water warms the top of the canister, interior dispensing mechanism, and the contents of the canister. As a result, the contents of the canister are warm when dispensed. When used with a shaving cream or gel canister, for example, the heated contents provide a more comfortable shave than contents dispensed at a colder room temperature.

Shaving cream and gel products are typically packaged in pressurized metal canisters and can be purchased by consumers at drug, discount, and grocery stores. The canisters are generally stored in the home at room temperature, usually in a medicine cabinet or other bathroom cupboard, resulting in a dispensed shaving product that is at room temperature or a slightly lower temperature due to the insulating effect of the metal canister.
To provide a more pleasant shaving experience, it is often desired to warm shaving cream or gel prior to applying it to the skin. A warmed shaving product provides a more comfortable and effective shave by opening skin pores, softening facial hair, and soothing shave-abraded skin.
To heat the contents of ordinary shaving cream or gel canisters in the home, the canister must be placed in standing hot water or held under running water. Because the product that it is most desired to warm is the product that will be dispensed first, generally located at the very top of a pressurized canister, these methods of warming the canister and contents are inefficient and most often not effective at reaching the desired product because it is located within the canister beneath the dispensing mechanism. Barbers and other professionals use electric heating devices that dispense a warm shaving lather mixed with hot water. Electric heating devices used by barbers, however, are expensive and are often too bulky to be used in a home environment by an ordinary consumer.
Other attempts have been made to create a device to warm shaving products. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,095,122, to Liewiecki et al., discloses a device for dispensing the contents of a pressurized dispenser in a warmed condition. A cylindrical heat-conductive chamber is permanently attached to a can and the chamber is closed by a cover and filled with a heat-conductive and distributing material, for example metallic wool. In use, the chamber is heated by holding it under a hot water faucet or in a hot air blast.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,655,552, to Aiken et al., discloses a heat transfer cap assembly for use with a dispensing canister containing a pressurized product. The cap assembly defines a volume for retaining hot tap water to heat gel in a thermal conductor forming a conduit between a nozzle adaptor and an outlet in the side of the cap assembly. An initial use of the dispenser assembly will require depressing a trigger button to fill the gel conduit with pressurized shaving product for heating.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,217,937, to Kasparian, discloses a pressurized dispensing can that has a main compartment for storing the product to be dispensed and a hot water compartment that is an integral part of the can above the main compartment. In use, a cap on the hot water compartment is removed, hot water is run into the compartment, and the cap is replaced.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,024,987, to Myles, discloses a device for a pressurized container that is detachably threaded onto the end of a water faucet for a continuous supply of hot water therefrom to heat a lather product in the container. U.S. Pat. No. 3,111,967, to Bullard, discloses another approach. In the Bullard patent, material from a can is dispensed into the cap and the cap is held under hot running water to heat the dispensed material in the cap. The cap is then removed from the running water and the shaving lather is taken out of the cap by the fingers and applied to the shaver's face.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,175,733, to Lerner, the contents of a dispenser are discharged into a circuitous passage within a unit attachable to the top of an aerosol dispenser. The contents are heated within the passage by hot water that is placed in the unit through an opening on the top cover.
While the above-described devices provide a warmed shaving product, the devices are complex, expensive to manufacture, and not compatible with commercially available shaving cream and gel canisters. Therefore, there is a need for a simple, inexpensive device for quickly and effectively heating the contents of a shaving cream or gel canister.


An agricultural implement is towed behind a tractor or other propelling vehicle and is mounted on a lifting mechanism at the rear of such vehicle so that the forward part of the implement is supported by such mechanism. In one embodiment the agricultural implement includes a seed drill that introduces seeds into the ground at a substantially constant depth below ground level, despite possible undulation in the surface profile of the field which is being seeded.

The invention has been developed primarily in connection with an agricultural implement of the fully mounted type, but it may also be applied to an implement of the semi-mounted type in which the forward part of the implement is supported by the lifting mechanism at the rear of the propelling vehicle, whereas further parts of the implement are supported by ground wheels. The main implement of this type to which the invention may be applied, with particular advantage, is a direct drilling implement (a seed drill), in which it is important to ensure, as far as possible, that the seed is introduced into the ground at a substantially constant depth below ground level, despite possible undulation in the surface profile of the field which is being drilled.
A direct drilling implement is capable of introducing seed directly into unprepared ground. It is not necessary to plough or work the soil before the drilling machine is used. Therefore, to achieve direct drilling on unprepared ground, the implement normally has disks mounted at its front end, and immediately behind them are grubber tines which cut down into the ground and loosen the top layer of the soil down to the depth where the seed is to be introduced. The machine also has rollers at the rear end of the machine which press and pack the loose soil over the seed, after introduction into the ground.
Depth control of the machine is usually carried out by use of depth wheels. The purpose of these wheels is to prevent the tools which loosen the soil from penetrating too deeply into the ground. However, when the soil is hard, the working tools of existing implements do not have sufficient force to penetrate deeply into the ground. The seed drills are usually mounted on a second frame, which is pivotally connected to the main frame. This second frame is pressed down onto the ground surface by a number of springs, and such springs have to be strong enough to hold the second frame in position. The rollers at the rear end of the implement prevent the second frame, with its seed drills, from penetrating too deeply. The seed drills are usually positioned on tines that are resiliently connected to the second frame.
Therefore, in existing machines, depth control is achieved by use of the main depth wheels, and the rear rollers hold the implement in a required position. However, it is a matter of practical experience that existing machines are not always capable of maintaining the seed drills at a required depth, owing to variable hardness of the ground surface and/or variable undulation in the ground surface.
Failure to maintain a substantially constant drilling depth will result in uneven germination of the seed, or possibly no germination at all at certain parts of the field.
Given that the ground level of most fields has a varying profile e.g. undulating in the form of successive humps and hollows (and together with varying ground hardness causing variable penetration by the grubber tines etc), it is difficult to maintain a substantially constant depth of drilling using existing implements, in that a tractor/implement combination will tend to oscillate (in a vertical plane) during transit across a field, and which tends to result in the height of the "seed drills" varying out of phase with this oscillation, resulting in variation in the height of the seed drill relative to the immediately underlying ground surface, with resulting variation in depth of introduction of seed into the ground.
At the very least, this can result in different rates at which the germinated seed pushes upwardly through the ground surface, and at the worst results in a total failure of the seed to germinate.

Agricultural implement having a set of ground working tools


The invention relates to a clamp comprising a first C-shaped jaw having first and second limbs and an interconnecting bight portion. A second jaw is mounted pivotably to the second limb, and a releasable ratchet-and-pawl arrangement is provided for locking the second jaw relative to the first jaw in a number of degrees of closure. A finger-actuable tab is provided on the pawl for releasing the pawl from the ratchet and allowing bidirectional pivoting of the second jaw. The first limb is provided with a circular aperture and the second jaw is arranged to urge material to be clamped between the first and second jaws through the cavity, so as to increase the effectiveness of clamping. The material which has passed through the cavity also serves as a cushion. The clamp is particularly suited for use as a diaper clamp.

The invention relates to a clamp, and in particular to a clamp for securing diapers.
Many conventional clamps have opposed jaws which are biased towards one another by a resilient member, such as a spring. Lever arms are usually provided on each jaw to force the jaws apart. The jaws of these clamps are generally biased fairly strongly towards one another, which makes them unsuited to applications such as the fastening of diapers, as they may tend to pinch the baby wearing the diaper if carelessly applied. Furthermore, an outer face of one of the jaws is liable to bear against the infant's skin, which may lead to irritation.


Laser lights emitted from a light source 30 are diffused in a direction parallel to main surfaces of a light guide plate 9 by a one-dimensional diffuser 5. The diffused laser lights are converted to parallel lights by a first cylindrical lens 6, and are then converged in a direction of the thickness of the light guide plate 9 by a second cylindrical lens 7. The converged laser lights are reflected 90 degrees twice by a mirror 8, and are guided to a side surface of the light guide plate 9.

Conventionally, a backlight illumination using a cold cathode fluorescent tube is widely used for a liquid crystal display apparatus using a liquid crystal display panel. Further, in recent years, a backlight illumination using light emitting diodes (LED elements) of three colors, which emit red, green, and blue lights, respectively, has been developed so as to reproduce natural color tone with enhanced brightness.
In particular, for a relatively small-scale backlight illumination used when an enhanced brightness is unnecessary, a lateral light source type planar illumination apparatus of a so-called edge light type is used in which a light from a light source is incident on a side surface (incidence plane) of a light guide plate, and the light is emitted from one main surface (emission surface) of the light guide plate so as to perform illumination. On the other hand, for a large-scale backlight illumination used when a high brightness is needed, a direct illumination apparatus having cathode fluorescent tubes or LED elements arranged in a planar form is used.
In the future, a demand for a liquid crystal display apparatus which has a thin large screen used for, for example, a wall-hanging television may be increased. However, reduction in thickness of the direct illumination apparatus is more difficult than reduction in thickness of the edge light type illumination apparatus. On the other hand, the edge light type illumination apparatus having an increased screen size may not ensure a sufficient brightness.
In order to realize a liquid crystal display apparatus having a thin and large screen, a study for an edge light type planar illumination apparatus using, as a light source, LED elements each having a brightness enhanced has commenced. For example, a type disclosed in Patent Document 1 has been suggested.
In a case where LED elements are used as a light source for the edge light type illumination apparatus, when a plurality of LED elements are arranged in line on a side surface of a light guide plate, power consumption may be increased and/or generation of heat may be increased. Therefore, it is disclosed in Patent Document 1 that, as shown in FIG. 18, a bar-type light guide element 400 is disposed adjacent to the side surface of a light guide plate 500, and two LED elements 300 are disposed on both ends of the bar-type light guide element 400. In this configuration, lights from the two LED elements 300 are subjected to multiple reflection in the bar-type light guide element 400, so as to obtain a uniform light amount distribution, and are then incident on the side surface of the light guide plate 500 from the side surface of the bar-type light guide element 400 after the uniform light a mount distribution is obtained.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 11-271767

Planar illumination apparatus and liquid crystal display apparatus using the same


A glucose sensor assembly useful in patient systems includes an oxygen sensor from which glucose levels in the vicinity of the peritoneal cavity may be inferred. The sensor assembly may be associated with electronics, such as any or all of a DC power supply, an LED source of blue light, a photoreceptor for red light, a CPU, and transceiver, by a direct percutaneous connection. Alternatively they may be associated transdermally with the sensor and some of the electronics being located subdurally. Insulin infusion means are contemplated to respond manually or mechanically to information from the sensors through the CPU. Mechanical response may be automatic. Infusion means may be located subdurally. It is contemplated that the present invention enable revitalization or replacement of fluorescing compounds and glucose oxidase within the sensor assembly.

1. Field
This invention relates generally to glucose measurement for ongoing diabetes management. It provides a particularly useful application for implanting bioluminescent oxygen sensors within the peritoneum from which to infer glucose levels therein.
2. State of the Art
Heretofore treatment and management of diabetes has been undertaken through many and varied techniques. The approach predominantly used involves periodic pricks of the skin with a needle whereby a blood sample is obtained and tested directly to provide information about blood glucose levels. This information is then utilized as a basis from which to approximate a physiological equilibrium within the patient.
While such a direct measurement of glucose levels in blood samples from diabetes patients provides reasonably useful information about insulin levels at a given point in time, the dynamic nature of blood sugar physiology and the complexity of factors influencing blood sugar levels renders such information inadequate. Blood samples have characteristically been drawn from extremities of the body with blood sugar levels delayed from those that would normally trigger the body's more accurate natural production of insulin near the liver and kidneys in a non-diabetic patient. The glucose level in the peritoneal fluid more closely approximates the glucose level in the blood within the portal vein (which feeds the liver and kidneys), with a reduced lag time as compared to the glucose levels in the extremities such as the arms, legs and interstitial fluid. Similarly, the variables of patient food selection and amount, physical activity, insulin dosage, regimen, and protocol for a diabetes medical patient each have a dynamic impact on physiological balance within the patient's body that can change dramatically over a short period of time. If the net result of changes in these variables and dynamics results in a disequilibrium expressed as too much glucose ("hyperglycemia"), then more insulin is required, whereas too little glucose ("hypoglycemia") requires immediate intervention to raise the glucose levels. A deleterious impact on physiology follows either such disequilibrium.
Hyperglycemia is the source of most of the long-term consequences of diabetes, such as blindness, nerve degeneration, and kidney failure. Hypoglycemia, or insulin shock, on the other hand poses the more serious short-term danger. Insulin shock can occur at any time of the day or night and can cause the patient to lose consciousness, necessitating frequent monitoring of blood glucose levels that renders the skin-prick approach impractical, particularly with young children. Even diligent patients who perform finger-sticking procedures many times each day achieve only a poor approximation of continuous monitoring. Accordingly, extensive attention has been given to the development of improved means of monitoring patient glucose levels for treatment of diabetes.
Many efforts to continuously monitor glucose levels have involved implantable electrochemical biosensors. These amperometric sensors utilize an immobilized form of the enzyme glucose oxidase to catalyze the oxidation of glucose to gluconic acid and hydrogen peroxide. Such sensors may be used to measure hydrogen peroxide resulting from the enzymatic reaction. More typically, these biosensors measure oxygen consumption.
An example of the latter, oxygen consumption, paradigm may be found in a sensor developed by David Gough and his colleagues at the Department of Bioengineering of the University of California-San Diego. This approach allows glucose and oxygen to diffuse into the enzyme-containing portion of the sensor on one side while oxygen alone diffuses through an oxygen electrode on the other side to provide contrasting information about the background concentration of oxygen.
To provide continuous measurement, biosensors are placed within the body. One method of placement is percutaneously with an indwelling needle and an attached external wire associated with a readout device. A risk of infection is associated with percutaneous biosensors. Another disadvantage of prior art percutaneously-placed biosensors is the need for recalibration to blood glucose values at least once daily and possibly more often.
Alternatively, the sensors, transmitter and battery of prior art devices have been totally implanted in the body and transmit radio signals to an external receiver. Disadvantageously, the body responds to the implant as an insult. To protect itself against a perceived invader, the body experiences a foreign body reaction by encapsulating the implant with protein, shortening the life of the total implant and adversely affecting the accuracy of information provided. Cell and proteinacious encapsulation from a foreign body reaction typically results in reduced performance from these implanted biosensors. The size of the total implant is also regarded as a problem. Further, studies of such intravascular implants portend a risk of clotting.
Studies at the University of New Mexico headed by Dr. Ebtisam Wilkins suggest that the life of sensors can be extended by periodic infusion of fresh glucose oxidase immobilized to powdered graphite in a suspension that is then pumped into a thin channel between a membrane contacting the tissues and the electrode surface, thus flushing the spent enzyme. Such periodic infusions are susceptible to all of the disadvantages attendant to invasive procedures.
Material prior art further includes U.S. Pat. No. 4,657,736 to Marsoner, et al. entitled "Sensor element for determining the oxygen content and a method of preparing the same;" and U.S. Pat. No. 5,030,420 to Bacon, et al. entitled "Apparatus for oxygen determination." Marsoner teaches use of a sensor containing any of various fluorescent indicator substances solubilized in generally homogeneous distribution throughout a polymerized silicone polymer carrier material. Such fluorescent indicator substances tend to be toxic to a patient or other biological hosts. Disadvantageously, when such fluorescent indicator substances are dissolved homogeneously throughout a carrier, a greater exposure of the patient or other biological host to the toxic fluorescent substances is likely to result. Bacon similarly teaches fluorescing complexes immobilized and isolated throughout an insoluble matrix such as light-transmissive silicone rubber.
There remains a need for a sensor apparatus wherein a fluorescing indicator substance is encapsulated within a surrounding barrier rather than dispersed homogeneously throughout such barrier. The need would be beneficially addressed at least in part by provision of an implantable sensor wherein an indicator substance capable of fluorescing is encapsulated within an oxygen permeable silicone polymer carrier material.
A need exists for a sensor suitable for location in the vicinity of the peritoneum as a part of a system and method for inferring glucose levels within the peritoneum. This need would be addressed by location of a sensor within the peritoneum, whether other portions of the system associated with the sensor, such as light source, photoreceptors, batteries and CPU, are located outside of the body or embedded within the body. Such a sensor would beneficially be susceptible to periodic revitalization, preferably less invasively or noninvasively.
A further need exists for a method of infusing insulin into the vicinity of the peritoneum in response to inferences of glucose levels within the peritoneum suggestive of the onset of a hyperglycemic condition. Such a means would desirably allow for the subject patient to directly respond by affecting the timing and nature of such insulin infusion relative to prevailing conditions or would alternatively allow for a third party or automated response that may in one alternative embodiment be remotely actuated.

System, apparatus and method for inferring glucose levels within the peritoneum with implantable sensors


A storage system in one embodiment comprises a plurality of storage devices and an associated storage controller. The storage controller is configured to identify a dataset to be scanned to generate a capacity release estimate for prospective deletion of that dataset, to designate a content-based signature prefix to be utilized in the scan, and to scan logical address mapping information for the dataset to identify one or more pages of the dataset that have the designated content-based signature prefix. The scanning further comprises, for each such identified page, determining a reference count of the page, and responsive to the reference count of the page having a particular value, determining a compressibility measure for the page. The storage controller generates the capacity release estimate for prospective deletion of the dataset based at least in part on the one or more page compressibility measures determined as part of the scan.

In many storage systems, it is desirable to provide efficient release of storage capacity, for example, as such storage capacity becomes available due to deletion of storage volumes, in order to better accommodate the input-output (TO) processing demands of system users. However, conventional approaches to storage capacity release can be problematic. For example, in content addressable storage systems, multiple snapshots of a given storage volume or set of storage volumes may be maintained, and it can be difficult to determine which of the snapshots will be most beneficial to delete in terms of amount of storage capacity that would be released upon deletion of that snapshot. Conventional techniques for generating such capacity release estimates can require substantial computational and memory resources, thereby undermining system performance.

Storage system configured for efficient generation of capacity release estimates for deletion of datasets


The antimicrobial acid-catalyzed coating composition of the invention is an acid-catalyzed coating composition formulated with at least one antimicrobial agent to provide antimicrobial activity to the coating composition and an article coated therewith.

The present invention relates to acid-catalyzed coating compositions having an antimicrobial agent(s) ("antimicrobial acid-catalyzed coating compositions"), coatings formed from antimicrobial acid-catalyzed coating compositions, and articles of manufacture having such coatings.
Acid-catalyzed coatings are known for their superior physical properties, such as moisture and stain resistance, adhesion and wear resistance. These properties are due to the crosslinking of the polymers by an acid catalyst.
Generally, acid-catalyzed coating compositions are simply polymers crosslinked as a result of a reaction catalyzed by an acid. They usually have four components:    1. a crosslinking resin or resins, in many cases an aminoplast (e.g., urea-formaldehyde, melamine-formaldehyde, etc.);    2. one or more backbone resins (e.g., alkyds, acrylics, polyurethanes, etc.), which contain functional groups that will react with the crosslinking resin(s);    3. one or more carriers (water and/or organic solvents, blends of organic sovents with or without water) for transporting the resins to the article to be finished; and    4. one or more acid catalysts (e.g., para-toluene sulfonic acid (p-TSA), toluene sulfonic acid (TSA), phenyl acid phosphate, n-butyl acid phosphate, etc.).

Antimicrobial acid-catalyzed coating compositions


A solar-thermal conversion member includes a β-FeSi2 phase material. The solar-thermal conversion member exhibits a high absorptance for visible light at wavelengths of several hundred nm and a low absorptance for infrared light at wavelengths of several thousand nm and, as a consequence, efficiently absorbs visible light at wavelengths of several hundred nm and converts the same into heat and exhibits little thermal radiation due to thermal emission at temperatures of several hundred ° C. The solar-thermal conversion member may therefore efficiently absorb sunlight, provide heat, and prevent thermal radiation due to thermal emission.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a solar-thermal conversion member, a solar-thermal conversion device, and a solar thermal power generation device.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventional solar thermal power generation devices convert sunlight to heat and use this heat to generate power. In these devices, sunlight is concentrated at a collector and this concentrated sunlight is used to heat a thermal medium (oil, dissolved salt, molten sodium, and so forth) in a container or a flow channel.
Investigations have been carried out into coating the surface of the container or flow channel in order with this coating to promote the absorption of the concentrated sunlight and inhibit thermal radiation by thermal emission to the exterior from the container or flow channel (July, 2002, NREL/TP-520-31267, "Review of Mid- to High-Temperature Solar Selective Absorber Materials", C. E. Kennedy (referred to below as Kennedy)).
In connection with this, as shown in FIG. 1 the solar spectrum (thermal emission spectrum at a blackbody radiation temperature of approximately 5500° C.) extends centered on the visible light region at wavelengths of several hundred nm. On the other hand, the thermal emission spectrum at several hundred ° C. (for example, approximately 580° C.), which are temperatures readily obtained in solar-thermal conversion devices, extends centered on the infrared region at wavelengths of several thousand nm. Thus, the range of the thermal emission spectrum at the temperatures obtained in solar-thermal conversion devices is shifted from the range of the solar spectrum.
The emittance of thermal emission at a particular temperature corresponds to the absorptance for the light in the thermal emission spectrum corresponding to this temperature. Accordingly, low thermal radiation due to thermal emission at a temperature of several hundred ° C. means a small absorptance for the light in the thermal emission spectrum corresponding to a temperature of several hundred ° C., i.e., a small absorptance for infrared light at wavelengths of several thousand nm.
Thus, a coating that exhibits a high absorptance for sunlight and a low thermal radiation due to thermal emission at a temperature of several hundred ° C. can be said to be a coating that has a large absorptance for visible light at wavelengths of several hundred nm and a small absorptance for infrared light at wavelengths of several thousand nm. Such a coating can be advantageously used to promote the absorption of concentrated sunlight and to inhibit thermal radiation due to thermal emission to the outside from a container or flow channel.
Kennedy lists materials for such coatings and specifically gives W, MoO3-doped Mo, B-doped Si, CaF2, HfC, ZrB2, SnO2, In2O3, Eu2O3, ReO3, V2O5, LaB6, and so forth.
In addition to the selection of the material itself for such coatings, the layer structure of the coating is also conventionally optimized.
Coating layer structures are specifically described, for example, by Kennedy and in WO 02/103257. These documents also propose that interference due to reflection at the interfaces of a plurality of stacked layers having different refractive indices can be used to provide a coating that exhibits a high absorptance for visible light at wavelengths of several hundred nm and a low absorptance for infrared light at wavelengths of several thousand nm. Here, Kennedy describes the use, for example, of stacks of metal layers such as Mo, Ag, Cu, and Ni with dielectric layers such as Al2O3, SiO2, CeO2, and ZnS.

Solar-thermal conversion member, solar-thermal conversion device, and solar thermal power generation device comprising a β-FeSi2 phase material


According to one embodiment, an image processing apparatus includes a display unit, an image acquiring unit, a reduction processor, a combining unit, and a display processor. The display unit displays images. The image acquiring unit acquires a plurality of photographed images, with photography ranges thereof being gradually changed. The reduction processor reduces the photographed images acquired by the image acquiring unit. The combining unit combines the photographed images reduced by the reduction processor to generate a preview image. The display processor displays the preview image on part of the display unit that displays the photographed images acquired by the image acquiring unit.

Some image processing apparatuses combine a plurality of images to generate a composite image. Such image processing apparatuses require images within a predetermined range, to generate a composite image (for example, a composite image obtained by photographing a predetermined object) including the predetermined range. The related art has a problem that a generated composite image should be visually inspected by human to check whether the image processing apparatus properly acquired the image.


The present invention provides a strained-Si structure, in which the nFET regions of the structure are strained in tension and the pFET regions of the structure are strained in compression. Broadly the strained-Si structure comprises a substrate; a first layered stack atop the substrate, the first layered stack comprising a compressive dielectric layer atop the substrate and a first semiconducting layer atop the compressive dielectric layer, wherein the compressive dielectric layer transfers tensile stresses to the first semiconducting layer; and a second layered stack atop the substrate, the second layered stack comprising an tensile dielectric layer atop the substrate and a second semiconducting layer atop the tensile dielectric layer, wherein the tensile dielectric layer transfers compressive stresses to the second semiconducting layer. The tensile dielectric layer and the compressive dielectric layer preferably comprise nitride, such as Si3N4.

The integration of electronic microchip devices such as resistors, capacitors, fuses, diodes and transistors on a silicon substrate is the basis for integrated circuit (IC) wafer fabrication technology. The most popular IC technology, CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor), revolves around the improvements that have been made in FET (field-effect transistor) design and fabrication.
The FET is a voltage-amplifying device. The greatest advantage of the FET is its low voltage and low power requirements. Two basic types of FET are the metal-oxide (MOSFET) semiconductor and the junction (JFET). MOSFETS have been the mainstay transistor in IC products. There are two categories of MOSFETs: nMOS (n-channel) and pMOS (p-channel). Each MOSFET has an input electrode called the gate. The term "metal oxide" refers to the material the gate is made of. The most popular material used in the formation of gates for MOSFETs is polycrystalline silicon material that is deposited on the substrate during IC fabrication. Polycrystalline silicon must be doped with one of the common p-type or n-type dopants to give the material its conductive characteristics.
SOI technology and the advantages attributed thereto regarding CMOS integrated circuits are well documented. SOI technology involves silicon wafers having a thin layer of oxide buried therein. Semiconductor devices are built into the thin layer of silicon on top of the buried oxide. SOI substrates provide superior isolation between adjacent devices in an integrated circuit as compared to devices built into bulk wafers, since SOI technology eliminates latch-up as well as reduces parasitic capacitances. CMOS ICs fabricated with SOI technology have less active current consumption while maintaining device performance equivalent to that of similar devices formed on bulk-silicon (bulk-Si) substrates. SOI technology has become increasingly more common as the demand for battery-operated equipment increases due to its low power requirements at high speeds of SOI devices.
Many different techniques exist regarding the formation of SOI wafers. One of the more popular methods used to fabricate SOI substrates is separation by implantation of oxygen (SIMOX). SIMOX involves implanting oxygen ions into the silicon substrate to form the buried oxide layer. Layer transfer which includes wafer bonding is another technique employed for forming an isolation layer in a substrate. Forming silicon islands through a series of etch and oxidation steps can provide a lateral isolation structure.
In standard MOSFET technology, both channel length and gate dielectric thicknesses are reduced to improve current drive and switching performance. The carrier mobility of a MOSFET device is a critical parameter as it has direct influence on output current, as well as switching performance. Consequently, one can increase device performance by enhancing the channel mobility. Such enhancement has been provided in certain devices by providing a strain to the silicon film. A net strain can be provided by either compressive stress of the silicon film or tensile stress of the silicon film. While there are many approaches to stress the silicon, the primary focus in the past has been on using abutting layers of nitride or other materials on the front end of the substrate. All of these have been direct etch/deposition approaches for SIMOX based SOI structures.
Further, many approaches to stress channels have primarily relied on creating the "same-sign" stress in the channel. In all these cases, the same-sign stress transfer occurs because the channel is in front of the film (for example, etch stop liner) edge. By "same sign" it is meant that the stress in the silicon channel will be tensile, if the film is tensile, and compressive, if the film is compressive.
In view of the above remarks, there is a need to provide a semiconducting device that combines the advantages of SOI technology with strain based device improvements.

International Business Machines Corporation


The invention relates to a method (MTH) for estimating the coverage area of a directive antenna of a local positioning system while setting up said system, said antenna being located in the vicinity of an area of interest, the method (MTH) comprising the following steps: —Distributing (DIS_TR) a plurality of transponders over the area of interest—Performing (MSD_SS) measurements of signal strength between the antenna and said transponders—Estimating (EST_CV) the coverage area by using said measurements.

In recent years, there has been an increasing demand for reliable and objective evaluation of sport specific data. The measurement and analysis of the trajectories of athletes is one possible approach to gain such insights. It allows the assessment of the physical performance and tactical behavior of athletes. Thus, it can yield helpful feedback for athletes, coaches and referees. Furthermore, spectators can be supplied with additional information about the accomplishments of their idols.
Local Positioning Systems (LPS) provide a means for the measurement of athletes' positions and motion trajectories. State-of-the-art systems use time-of-arrival or time-difference-of-arrival measurements of electromagnetic waves. These electromagnetic waves travel between antennae with fixed and known positions and mobile transponders (tags) with unknown and variable positions. Using the timing measurements from several antennae with respect to the mobile transponder, the position of the mobile transponder in the coordinate system of the local positioning system can be determined. When such a mobile transponder is attached to an object or person, the position of this object or person can be determined from the position of the mobile transponder.
Usually, directive antennae are preferred over omnidirectional antennae in order to extend the ranges of the radio coverage areas. Throughout this text, 'range' shall mean the maximum distance to the antenna to which the transponder may be located in order to receive electromagnetic waves from said antenna. In addition, 'coverage area' shall mean the area on which the transponder must be located to receive electromagnetic waves from said antenna.
For illustrative purposes only, a radiation pattern of a typical directive antenna is given in FIGS. 1a and 1b. In particular, FIG. 1a shows the horizontal radiation pattern and FIG. 1b shows the vertical pattern. It is to be noted that 'radiation pattern' refers to the angular dependence of the strength of the electromagnetic waves from the antenna.
An important issue regarding the antenna coverage of an area of interest is the difficulty of finding out which area can be covered by which antenna during system setup. The position and orientation of each antenna is of vital importance for optimal coverage of the area of interest and hence for accurate and continuous position tracking. Although some heuristics for antennae placement have been proposed in the literature, finding the best positions and orientations is difficult in practice since the operator does not get any feedback about the current system coverage while setting up the system. Hence, the placement and orientation needs to be based on experience and rough manual estimates about which area is covered by a given antennae. Estimating the covered area is made even more difficult by obstacles in the line-of-sight of the antenna (ceiling, flags, etc.). Simulation of the signal propagation could provide some guidance for the operator, but these would require extensive modelling of the venue in order to obtain realistic results.

Method for estimating the covered area of a directive antenna of a local positioning system while setting up said system


The present invention relates to coating compositions in pulverulent form which are solid below 30.degree. C. and liquid above 150.degree. C. and contain. A) 10 to 99 parts by weight of a copolymer component containing at least one copolymer which is prepared from olefinically unsaturated compounds, has a weight average molecular weight of 1500 to 75,000 and contains in chemically bound form PA0 B) 1 to 90 parts by weight of a polyol component containing at least one organic polyol having at least two hydroxyl groups per molecule,. (i) 1 to 30% by weight of cyclic carboxylic acid anhydride groups (calculated as C.sub.4 H.sub.2 O.sub.3) and PA1 (ii) 0.3 to 10% by weight of epoxide groups (calculated as C.sub.2 H.sub.3 O), and. provided that for every anhydride group of component A) there are 0.1 to 10 hydroxyl groups of component B).

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to powder coating compositions which are solid at temperatures below 30.degree. C. and liquid above 150.degree. C. and which are based on A) copolymers containing carboxylic acid anhydride groups and epoxide groups and B) polyhydroxyl compounds.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is known to use compositions containing polyacrylates having at least two carboxyl groups per molecule and polyepoxide compounds, optionally based on acrylates, as powder lacquers. Japanese Patent Application 73-9,319 (Publication number: 49-116,134; Chem. Abs. 82(24):157882e) describes heat curable powder coating compositions containing A) a solid acrylate resin prepared by the reaction of a hydroxyl group-containing copolymer with a polycarboxylic acid or its anhydride and B) an epoxide group-containing copolymer. The two polymers are mixed together as melts at temperatures of about 100.degree. C. and the mixtures are ground up after cooling. The coatings may be applied to metal surfaces and hardened at temperatures of about 200.degree. C.
DE-OS 23 47 680 describes heat curable powder lacquers containing A) 50 to 97% of an epoxide group-containing copolymer having a molecular weight of 3,000 to 15,000 and a softening point of 80.degree. to 150.degree. C. and B) 3 to 50% of a carboxyl group-containing hardener having a softening point of at least 50.degree. C., wherein the hardener may be a copolymer containing carboxyl groups.
Japanese Patent Application 75-146,705 (Publication Number: 52-069,936; Chem. Abs. 88(12):73374a) describes heat curable powder lacquers based on glycidyl (meth)acrylate copolymers containing A) 100 parts of a copolymer (T 30.degree. to 100.degree. C., molecular weight 3,000 to 70,000) containing 10 to 50% by weight of glycidyl(meth)acrylate, 30 to 85% by weight of acrylic acid C.sub.1 -C.sub.12 -alkyl esters and 0 to 60% by weight of another comonomer, B) 0.1 to 30 parts of a copolymer which regulates flow properties (T.sub.g >50.degree. C., molecular weight >1000), containing 30 to 85% by weight of (meth)acrylic acid alkyl esters, 1 to 50% by weight of a monomer having a glycidyl, carboxyl, hydroxyl or amide group and 0 to 69% by weight of another monomer and C) 3 to 55 parts of an aliphatic dicarboxylic acid having 4 to 20 carbon atoms. The lacquers adhere firmly to metals without previous surface treatment.
U.S. patent Ser. No. 3,991,132 and U.S. patent Ser. No. 3,991,133 describe heat curable powder lacquers obtained from A) an epoxide-containing copolymer containing 5 to 20% of glycidyl methacrylate and 80 to 95% of other comonomers (T.sub.g 40.degree. to 90.degree. C., molecular weight 1500 to 15,000) and B) an anhydride cross-linking agent, either a dicarboxylic acid anhydride or a dicarboxylic acid anhydride homopolymer, provided that the copolymer is difunctional. In U.S. patent Ser. No. 3,991,132 the copolymer is synthesized from at least 2 to 10% of an unsaturated acid amide and in U.S. patent Ser. No. 3,991,133 the copolymer is synthesized from at least 2 to 10% of a C.sub.5 -C.sub.7 - hydroxyalkyl(meth)acrylate in addition to 70 to 93% of other comonomers such as methyl or butyl methacrylate, styrene or vinyl toluene. Further, a quantity of the anhydride hardeners is replaced by a hydroxycarboxylic acid so that 0.1 to 0.4 carboxyl groups of the hydroxycarboxylic acid are present for every functional group of the copolymer.
It is also known to use components containing anhydride groups with components containing hydroxyl groups as powder lacquers. Lacquer systems of this type are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,069,275 and 4,101,606, British Patents Nos. 1 366 081 and 1 561 828 and European Patent Applications Nos. 73 022 and 209 377. Such powder lacquers are normally hardened at temperatures of 130.degree. to 200.degree. C., but it has been found that the cross-linking reactions do not proceed to completion at relatively low temperatures, e.g., 130.degree. to 160.degree. C., so that the solvent resistance of the lacquer films obtained is not sufficient. it is only at hardening temperatures of 170.degree. to 200.degree. C. that lacquer films with acceptable solvent resistance are obtained.
In none of the previously described publications are copolymers containing both cyclic carboxylic acid anhydride groups and epoxide groups described as binders or powder lacquers.
It has now surprisingly been found that copolymers of olefinically unsaturated compounds containing both cyclic carboxylic acid anhydride groups and epoxide groups in the same macromolecule are excellent binders for powder lacquers when used in combination with polyels if they have the required softening point or range. The special advantage of such binder compositions is that they enable solvent-resistant lacquer films to be obtained at low stoving temperatures, e.g., at 130.degree. to 150.degree. C.
Another advantage lies in the fact that initially component A) does not contain free carboxyl groups which are required for cross-linking with the epoxide groups of component A). The required carboxyl groups are subsequently formed by the reaction of the carboxylic acid anhydride groups of component A) with the hydroxyl groups of component B). These new binder compositions therefore have considerably better storage stability at room temperature than comparable state of the art systems containing carboxyl groups.
Due to the high cross-linking densities which may be obtained, powder coatings having a very high level of chemical and solvent resistance can be obtained from the binder compositions according to the invention.
The binder compositions according to the invention therefore on the one hand have excellent storage stability at room temperature or at moderately elevated temperatures below their softening range and on the other hand result in coatings having excellent properties.

Epoxide and anhydride groups-containing copolymer with polyol