Disclosed are topical leave-on compositions such as antiperspirant and deodorant compositions comprising (b) from about 0.01% to about 10% by weight of selected pantothenic acid derivatives, (b) from about 10% to about 99.89% by weight of a liquid carrier, wherein the composition has a pH of from about 2.0 to about 5.0, or otherwise comprises an acidic skin active agent or other similar material such as an aluminum-containing antiperspirant active. The selected pantothenic acid derivatives remain stable within the antiperspirant or acidic compositions and provide improved skin feel and cosmetics benefits.

The present invention relates to topical leave-on compositions, including antiperspirant and deodorant compositions, that contain selected acid-stable pantothenic acid derivatives. The selected materials are soothing to the skin, provide for improved application cosmetics, and remain acid-stable when used in acidic topical compositions or those compositions containing aluminum-containing antiperspirant actives or other acidic skin active materials.
Pantothenic acid derivatives such as panthenol and similar other materials are commonly used in a variety of chemical forms and derivatives in personal care products intended for topical application to the hair or skin. These materials are well known for use in a variety of hair care products as well as in topical skin care products to provide a smooth, soothing skin feel, and to provide a soothing application to otherwise irritated skin. These materials have also been described for use in antiperspirant and deodorant products, most often as racemic mixtures of the D and L isomeric forms of panthenol or as the pure, biologically active, D isomeric form.
It has now been found, however, that many pantothenic acid derivatives such as panthenol and similar other materials are unstable when formulated into compositions comprising aluminum-containing antiperspirant actives or other acidic materials including organic acids. It has been found that many pantothenic acid derivatives such as panthenol are relatively unstable when formulated into such compositions, or even when formulated into compositions that otherwise have an acidic pH in the range of from about 2.0 to about 5.0. It has been found that these materials often undergo an acid-catalyzed degradation when used in combination with organic acids or other acidic materials such as aluminum-containing antiperspirant actives, especially when the combination is within an aqueous system, to form by-products that readily and undesirably form off-odors as well as small crystals around and throughout the composition. This degradation can occur during formulation and processing, as well as during prolonged product storage, but is most significant when the formulating, processing, or prolonged storage is accompanied by elevated temperatures.
It has also been found that pantothenic acid derivatives can be formulated into compositions having a pH of from about 2.0 to about 5.0, with little or none of the above-described chemical degradation, crystal formation, and off-odor formation, provided that the pantothenic acid derivative is selected to have the chemical formula as defined herein. It has also been found that pantothenic acid derivatives can now be formulated in combination with acidic materials such as organic acids or aluminum-containing antiperspirant actives, without the above-described off-odor development and crystal formation, provided that the pantothenic acid derivatives are also selected to have the chemical formula as defined herein.
It has also been found that the selected pantothenic acid derivatives as described herein also help to soften or condition underarm hair, or underarm hair and skin, and that this softened or conditioned underarm hair, or underarm hair and skin, is much easier to shave. It is believed that the softened or conditioned underarm hair cuts more easily during the shaving process as a result of less drag on the hair or skin now caused by the shaving device.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a topical leave-on composition having a pH of from about 2.0 to about 5.0, within which a pantothenic acid derivative is formulated and remains more acid-stable over prolonged periods of time. It is a further object of the present invention to provide an antiperspirant and deodorant composition that contains an aluminum-containing antiperspirant active, and which contains a pantothenic aced derivative that remains more acid-stable over prolonged periods of time despite concurrent use of an otherwise acid antiperspirant active such as an aluminum-containing active. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a topical leave-on composition that contains an organic acid and a pantothenic acid derivative, wherein the pantothenic acid derivative is selected so that it remains more acid-stable within the composition over prolonged periods.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a method of softening or conditioning underarm hair, and to provide a method of enhancing ease of shaving of underarm through the softening or conditioning of the underarm hair by the topical application of the pantothenic acid derivatives as described herein.
The present invention is directed to topical leave-on compositions comprising (b) from about 0.01% to about 10% by weight of selected pantothenic acid derivatives having the formula:
wherein R1, R2 and R3 are independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, C2-C20 hydrocarbons, C2-C20 carboxylic acid esters, and combinations thereof, and wherein not more than two of R1, R2 and R3 are hydrogen; and (b) from about 10% to about 99.89% by weight of a liquid carrier, wherein the composition has a pH of from about 2.0 to about 5.0, or otherwise contains an acid material such as an organic acid or an aluminum-containing antiperspirant active.
It has been found that the topical leave-on compositions of the present invention can be formulated to comprise pantothenic acid derivatives that remain more stable in an acidic formulation or within a formulation that otherwise contains organic acids or aluminum-containing antiperspirant actives.
The present invention is also directed to methods of preventing or inhibiting underarm perspiration wetness and odor, and to methods of enhancing the ease of shaving underarm hair by conditioning or softening the underarm hair, or by conditioning the underarm hair and or skin, all through the underarm application of the antiperspirant and deodorant embodiments of the present invention.
The topical leave-on compositions of the present invention comprise as essential components selected pantothenic acid derivatives, a liquid carrier, and an acidic profile defined by a formulation pH of from about 2.0 to about 5.0 or an acidic profile defined by the concurrent use of acidic materials such as organic acids or aluminum-containing antiperspirant actives. Each of these essential components or features of the compositions of the present invention is described hereinafter in more detail.
The term xe2x80x9canhydrousxe2x80x9d as used herein refers to those compositions or materials that contain less than about 15%, more preferably less than about 10%, even more preferably less than about 1%, most preferably zero percent, by weight of water.
The term xe2x80x9cambient conditionsxe2x80x9d as used herein refers to surrounding conditions under about one (1) atmosphere of pressure, at about 50% relative humidity, and at about 25xc2x0 C., unless otherwise specified. All values, amounts and measurements described herein are obtained under ambient conditions unless otherwise specified.
The term xe2x80x9cvolatilexe2x80x9d as used herein refers to those materials that have a measurable vapor pressure at 25xc2x0 C. Such vapor pressures will typically range from about 0.01 mmHg to about 6 mmHg, more typically from about 0.02 mmHg to about 1.5 mmHg, and have an average boiling point at one (1) atmosphere of pressure (atm) of less than about 250xc2x0 C., more typically less than about 235xc2x0 C. at one (1) atm. Conversely, the term xe2x80x9cnon volatilexe2x80x9d refers to those materials that are not xe2x80x9cvolatilexe2x80x9d as defined herein.
The term xe2x80x9cleave-onxe2x80x9d as used herein refers to the compositions of the present invention and means that such compositions are intended solely for leave-on application to the skin, and therefore specifically excludes rinse-off applications such as shampoos, facial or hand cleansers, or any body wash or cleanser composition. In this context, the topical leave-on compositions of the present invention are preferably substantially free of cleansing surfactants, which means that the leave-on compositions preferably contain less than 1% by weight of such cleansing surfactants, even more preferably less than 0.5% by weight of such cleansing surfactants, most preferably zero percent by weight of such cleansing surfactants. The compositions may, however, contain emulsifying or other processing surfactants that are not intended to provided any significant cleansing benefits when applied topically to the skin.
The topical leave-on compositions of the present invention, including the antiperspirant and deodorant embodiments thereof, can comprise, consist of, or consist essentially of the essential elements and limitations of the invention described herein, as well as any additional or optional ingredients, components, or limitations known or otherwise effective for use in such compositions.
All percentages, parts and ratios are by weight of the total composition, unless otherwise specified. All such weights as they pertain to listed ingredients are based on the specific ingredient level and, therefore, do not include solvents, carriers, by-products, filler or other minor ingredients that may be included in commercially available materials, unless otherwise specified.
The antiperspirant and deodorant embodiments of the present invention comprise an aluminum-containing antiperspirant active suitable for application to human skin. The concentration of the active should be sufficient to provide the desired perspiration wetness or odor control from the formulation selected.
The antiperspirant active concentration in the antiperspirant and deodorant embodiments of the present invention ranges from about 0.1% to about 30%, more preferably from about 5% to about 30%, by weight of the composition. These weight percentages are calculated on an anhydrous metal salt basis exclusive of water and any complexing agents such as glycine, glycine salts, or other complexing agents. The antiperspirant active can be solubilized or solid, but is preferably in the form of a dispersed solid particulate. The dispersed particulates most typically have average particle size or diameter of less than about 100 xcexcm, more typically from about 1 xcexcm to about 40 xcexcm.
The antiperspirant active for use in the antiperspirant and deodorant embodiments of the present invention include any aluminum-containing material having antiperspirant activity, which can be used alone or in combination with other antiperspirant active materials such as zirconium-containing actives. The antiperspirant actives suitable for use herein include astringent metallic salts, especially inorganic and organic salts of aluminum, zirconium and zinc, as well as mixtures thereof. Particularly preferred are aluminum-containing and/or aluminum/zirconium-containing salts or materials, such as aluminum halides, aluminum chlorohydrate, aluminum hydroxyhalides, zirconyl oxyhalides, zirconyl hydroxyhalides, and mixtures thereof.
Preferred aluminum salts for use in the antiperspirant and deodorant embodiments of the present invention include those that conform to the formula:
Al2(OH)aClb.xH2O
wherein a is from about 2 to about 5; the sum of a and b is about 6; x is from about 1 to about 6; and wherein a, b, and x may have non-integer values. Particularly preferred are the aluminum chlorohydroxides referred to as xe2x80x9c5/6 basic chlorohydroxidexe2x80x9d, wherein a=5, and xe2x80x9c2/3 basic chlorohydroxidexe2x80x9d, wherein a=4. Processes for preparing aluminum salts are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,887,692, Gilman, issued Jun. 3, 1975; U.S. Pat. No. 3,904,741, Jones et al., issued Sep. 9, 1975; U.S. Pat. No. 4,359,456, Gosling et al., issued Nov. 16, 1982; and British Patent Specification 2,048,229, Fitzgerald et al., published Dec. 10, 1980, all of which are incorporated herein by reference. Mixtures of aluminum salts are described in British Patent Specification 1,347,950, Shin et al., published Feb. 27, 1974, which description is also incorporated herein by reference.
Preferred zirconium salts for use in the antiperspirant and deodorant embodiments of the present invention include those which conform to the formula:
ZrO(OH)2-aCla.xH2O
wherein a is from about 1.5 to about 1.87; x is from about 1 to about 7; and wherein a and x may both have non-integer values. These zirconium salts are described in Belgian Patent 825,146, Schmitz, issued Aug. 4, 1975, which description is incorporated herein by reference. Particularly preferred zirconium salts are those complexes which additionally contain aluminum and glycine, commonly known as ZAG complexes. These ZAG complexes contain aluminum chlorohydroxide and zirconyl hydroxy chloride conforming to the above described formulas. Such ZAG complexes are described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,679,068, Luedders et al., issued Feb. 12, 1974; Great Britain Patent Application 2,144,992, Callaghan et al., published Mar. 20, 1985; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,120,948, Shelton, issued Oct. 17, 1978, all of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Antiperspirant actives suitable for use in the compositions include aluminum chlorohydrate, aluminum dichlorohydrate, aluminum sesquichlorohydrate, aluminum chlorohydrex propylene glycol complex, aluminum dichlorohydrex propylene glycol complex, aluminum sesquichlorohydrex propylene glycol complex, aluminum chlorohydrex polyethylene glycol complex, aluminum dichlorohydrex polyethylene glycol complex, aluminum sesquichlorohydrex polyethylene glycol complex, aluminum zirconium trichlorohydrate, aluminum zirconium tetrachlorohydrate, aluminum zirconium pentatchlorohydrate, aluminum zirconium octachlorohydrate, aluminum zirconium trichlorohydrex glycine complex, aluminum zirconium tetrachlorohydrex glycine complex, aluminum zirconium pentachlorohydrex glycine complex, aluminum zirconium octachlorohydrex glycine complex, aluminum chloride, aluminum sulfate buffered, and combinations thereof.
It has been found that aluminum-containing actives when used in combination with panthenol, pantothenic acid derivatives, and other similar materials, promotes the acid degradation of the panthenol material during processing and prolonged storage, especially when such processing or prolonged storage is at elevated temperatures. The degradation results in undesirable crystal formation and off-odor development. It has also been found that this acid degradation and subsequent crystal formation and off-odor development can be minimized or avoided by selection of the pantothenic acid derivatives as defined herein.
The topical leave-on compositions of the present invention include aqueous compositions containing organic acids, wherein the organic acid preferably helps to maintain the composition pH from about 2.0 to about 5.0, more preferably from about 3.0 to about 4.5.
It has been found that the selected pantothenic acid derivatives as defined herein are more stable than many other panthenol-related materials as formulated in an aqueous system containing an organic acid, or even as formulated into an anhydrous system containing at least small amounts of water as the term anhydrous is defined herein. In this context, the term xe2x80x9caqueousxe2x80x9d refers to those embodiments of the present invention that contain at least 15%, preferably from about 30% to about 99%, of water by weight of the composition.
Non limiting examples of organic acids suitable for use in the topical leave-on compositions of the present invention include salicylic acid, lactic acid, glycolic acid, 3-hydroxy benzoic acid, 4-hydroxy benzoic acid, acetyl salicylic acid, 2-hydroxybutanoic acid, 2-hydroxypentanoic acid, 2-hydroxybutanoic acid, cis-retinoic acid, trans-retinoic acid, azelaic acid, lactic acid, glycolic acid, pyruvic acid, and combinations thereof. Highly preferred is salicylic acid. Salicylic acid and other suitable organic acids are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,710,141 (Lin et al.), which description is incorporated herein by reference.
The organic acid concentration in the topical leave-on compositions of the present invention, especially the salicylic acid-containing embodiments, preferably represent from about 0.01% to about 20%, more preferably from about 0.10% to about 7.0%, even more preferably from about 0.5% to about 2.0%, of such organic acid, especially salicylic acid, by weight of the composition.
The topical leave-on compositions of the present invention, including the antiperspirant and deodorant embodiments thereof, comprise selected pantothenic acid derivatives that remain more stable than panthenol and other similar materials in acidic compositions or in compositions containing acid-producing materials such as aluminum-containing actives, and are also suitable for topical leave-on application to the skin. The selected pantothenic acid derivatives are most typically in liquid form and dispersed throughout or otherwise solubilized within the liquid carrier component of the composition.
The term xe2x80x9cpantothenic acid derivativexe2x80x9d as used herein refers to those materials that conform to the formula:
wherein R1, R2 and R3 are hydrogen, C2-C20 hydrocarbons, C2-C20 carboxylic acid esters, or combinations thereof, provided that not more than two of R1, R2 and R3 are hydrogen. Preferably, R1, R2 and R3 are independently selected from hydrogen, C2-C8 hydrocarbons, C2-C8 carboxylic acid esters, or combinations thereof; more preferably, R1 and R2 are hydrogen, and R3 is a C2-C8 hydrocarbon, C2-C8 carboxylic acid ester, or combinations thereof; most preferably, R1 and R2 are hydrogen and R3 is ethyl. The selected pantothenic acid derivatives may be derived or otherwise obtained from any known source, which may include pantothenic acid or materials other than pantothenic acid, so long as the resulting material has the above defined chemical formula.
Specific non-limiting examples of selected pantothenic acid derivatives for use herein include ethyl panthenol, panthenyl triacetate, and combinations thereof. Preferred are the d-isomeric forms of such derivative forms, most preferably d-ethyl panthenol.
The concentration of the pantothenic acid derivative for use in the compositions of the present invention preferably ranges from about 0.01% to about 10%, more preferably from about 0.05% to about 5.0%, even more preferably from about 0.5% to about 3.0%, by weight of the composition.
The topical leave-on compositions of the present invention, including the antiperspirant and deodorant embodiments thereof, comprise a liquid carrier at concentrations ranging from about 10% to about 99.89%, preferably from about 20% to about 70%, by weight of the composition. Such concentrations will vary depending upon variables such as product form, desired product hardness, selection of other ingredients in the composition, and so forth. The liquid carrier for use in the composition can be aqueous or anhydrous, and includes any liquid material, or any non-liquid material that is otherwise rendered liquid within the composition, that is known for use in personal care applications or is otherwise suitable for topical application to the skin.
The topical leave-on compositions of the present invention, including the antiperspirant and deodorant embodiments thereof, may be aqueous or anhydrous as defined herein, but either way, will most typically comprise at least small amounts of water, typically as water of hydration from formulated solids such as antiperspirant active salts. For aqueous embodiments of the compositions of the present invention, the liquid carrier is an aqueous carrier comprising from about 15% to about 99%, more preferably from about 30% to about 99%, water by weight of the composition, wherein the aqueous carrier or the topical leave-on composition preferably has a pH of from about 2.0 to about 5.0, more preferably from about 3 to about 4.5.
The liquid carrier component of the compositions of the present invention may comprise a volatile silicone liquid, which may include cyclic, linear and/or branched chain silicones. The concentration of volatile silicones in the topical leave-on compositions as well as the antiperspirant and deodorant embodiments thereof preferably ranges from about 5% to about 80%, preferably from about 20% to about 60%, more preferably from about 30% to about 60%, by weight of the composition. The volatile silicone is preferably a cyclic silicone having from about 3 to about 7, more preferably from about 5 to about 6, silicon atoms. Most preferred are those that conform to the formula:
wherein n is from about 3 to about 7, preferably from about 5 to about 6, most preferably 5. These volatile cyclic silicones generally have a viscosity of less than about 10 centistokes. Suitable volatile silicones for use herein include, but are not limited to, Cyclomethicone D5 (commercially available from G. E. Silicones); Dow Corning 344, and Dow Corning 345 (commercially available from Dow Corning Corp.); and GE 7207, GE 7158 and Silicone Fluids SF-1202 and SF-1173 (available from General Electric Co.). Non limiting examples of suitable volatile silicones are described in Todd et al., xe2x80x9cVolatile Silicone Fluids for Cosmeticsxe2x80x9d, Cosmetics and Toiletries, 91:27-32 (1976), which descriptions are incorporated herein by reference.
The carrier liquid for use in the topical leave-on compositions may comprise a non-volatile silicone liquid, preferred concentrations of which range from about 1% to about 35%, more preferably from about 5% to about 30%, by weight of the composition. The non volatile silicone carrier is preferably a liquid at or below human skin temperature, or otherwise in liquid form within the topical leave-on composition during or shortly after topical application. Preferred are those nonvolatile liquid silicones that conform to either of the formulas:
wherein n is sufficiently large to provide a viscosity of up to about 100,000 centistokes, preferably less than about 500 centistoke, more preferably from 10 centistoke to about 200 centistoke, even more preferably from 10 centistoke to about 50 centistoke, as measured under ambient conditions. Specific non limiting examples of suitable non volatile, linear, silicone carriers include Dow Corning 200, hexamethyldisiloxane, Dow Corning 225, Down Corning 1732, Dow Corning 5732, Dow Corning 5750 (available from Dow Corning Corp.); and SF-96, SF-1066 and SF18(350) Silicone Fluids (available from G.E. Silicones).
Many other liquid carriers known for use in personal care products can be used in the topical leave-on compositions of the present invention, alone or in combination with the liquid carriers described in more detail herein. Examples of such other carrier liquids are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,013,248 (Luebbe et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,968,489 (Swaile et al.), which descriptions are incorporated herein by reference.
The topical leave-on compositions of the present invention, including the antiperspirant and deodorant embodiments thereof, may further comprise a suspending or thickening agent to help provide the compositions with the desired viscosity, rheology, texture and/or product hardness, or to otherwise help suspend any dispersed solids or liquids within the composition.
The term xe2x80x9csuspending agentxe2x80x9d as used herein, unless otherwise specified, means any material known or otherwise effective in providing suspending, gelling, viscosifying, solidifying and/or thickening properties to the composition or which otherwise provide structure to the final product form. These suspending agents include gelling agents, and polymeric or nonpolymeric or inorganic thickening or viscosifying agents. Such materials will typically be solids under ambient conditions and include organic solids, silicone solids, crystalline or other gellants, inorganic particulates such as clays or silicas, or combinations thereof.
The concentration and type of suspending agent selected for use in the topical leave-on compositions of the present invention will vary depending upon the desired product hardness, rheology, and/or other related product characteristics. For most suspending agents suitable for use herein, total concentrations range from about 0.1% to about 40%, more typically from about 0.1% to about 35%, by weight of the composition. Suspending agent concentrations will tend to be lower for liquid embodiments (e.g., pressurized or other liquid sprays, roll-ons, etc) and higher for semi-solid (e.g., soft solids or creams) or solid stick embodiments.
Non limiting examples of suitable suspending agents include hydrogenated castor oil (e.g., Castor wax MP80, Castor Wax, etc.), fatty alcohols (e.g., stearyl alcohol), solid paraffins, triglycerides and other similar solid suspending esters or other microcrystalline waxes, silicone and modified silicone waxes. Non limiting examples of optional suspending agents suitable for use herein are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,976,514 (Guskey et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,891,424 (Bretzler et al.), which descriptions are incorporated herein by reference.
Other suitable suspending agents include silicone elastomers at concentrations ranging from about 0.1% to about 10%, by weight of the composition. Non-limiting examples of such silicone elastomer materials suitable for use as a suspending agent herein are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,654,362 (Schulz, Jr. et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 6,060,546 (Powell et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,919,437 (Lee et al.), which descriptions are incorporated herein by reference. These silicone elastomers materials can also be added for their skin feel or other cosmetic benefits alone, or for such benefits in combination with suspending agent benefits.
The topical leave-on compositions of the present invention, including the antiperspirant and deodorant embodiments thereof, may further comprise any acid-stable optional ingredient that is known for or otherwise suitable for use in topical or personal care products, including antiperspirant and deodorant compositions.
Non limiting examples of optional ingredients include dyes or colorants, emulsifiers, perfumes, propellants, antimicrobial deodorants, deodorant perfumes, preservatives, vitamins, non-vitamin nutrients, emollients, coupling agents or other solvents, processing aides such as viscosity modifiers, and so forth. Examples of such optional materials, especially for use in the antiperspirant and deodorant embodiments of the present invention, are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,049,792 (Elsnau); U.S. Pat. No. 5,019,375 (Tanner et al.); and U.S. Pat. No. 5,429,816 (Hofrichter et al.); which descriptions are incorporated herein by reference. Other examples of optional materials for use in the topical leave-on compositions of the present invention are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,824,666 (Deckner et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,710,141 (Lin et al.), which descriptions are incorporated herein by reference.
Still other optional materials include topical substrates on or within which the composition of the present invention is coated, impregnated, or otherwise associated. Suitable substrates include any woven or non-woven, water-soluble or insoluble, substrate that is known for or otherwise suitable for topical application to the skin, and which is compatible with the selected ingredients in the composition. Non-limiting examples of some suitable substrates for use herein are described in U.S. Ser. No. 09/624,320 (Pung et al.), filed Jul. 24, 2000, which description is incorporated herein by reference.
The topical leave-on compositions of the present invention, including the antiperspirant and deodorant embodiments thereof, may be prepared by any known or otherwise effective technique suitable for formulating the desired topical or antiperspirant/deodorant product form.
Suitable methods of making various antiperspirant and deodorant products forms are described at length in the antiperspirant and deodorant art. These various methods can easily be used or otherwise modified by the skilled artisan in formulating the antiperspirant and deodorant embodiments of the present inventions. For solid antiperspirant embodiments, such methods include those described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,822,603 (Farris et al.) and U.S. Pat No. 4,985,238 (Tanner et al.). For pressurized antiperspirant embodiments, such methods include those described in U.S. Pat. 6,136,303 (Ruebusch et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 4,904,463 (Johnson et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,840,786 (Johnson et al.) For soft solid or cream embodiments, such methods are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,902,571 (Putman et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,902,570 (Bretzler et al.). All such method descriptions in the above-identified patent publications are incorporated herein by reference.
Other methods of making the topical leave-on compositions of the present invention, including the antiperspirant and deodorant embodiments thereof, are described hereinafter for the some of the exemplified compositions of the present invention.
The topical leave-on compositions of the present invention may be applied topically to the desired area of the skin to provide a means for applying an acid-stable pantothenic acid derivative to the skin, preferably in combination with a organic acid such as salicylic acid or an antiperspirant active such as an aluminum-containing antiperspirant salt or polymer.
The antiperspirant and deodorant embodiments of the present invention may be applied topically to the axilla or other area of the skin in an amount effective to reduce or prevent perspiration wetness and malodor. The composition is preferably applied in an amount ranging from about 0.1 gram to about 20 grams, more preferably from about 0.1 gram to about 10 grams, even more preferably from about 0.1 gram to about 1 gram, to the desired area of the skin. The compositions are preferably applied one to two times daily, preferably once daily, to achieve effective antiperspirant and malodor control.
The antiperspirant and deodorant embodiments of the present invention can also be applied topically to the axilla as noted above, with the additional purpose or intention of providing a method of softening or conditioning the underarm hair, and thus also providing a method of enhancing the ease of shaving such underarm hair. It has been found that these embodiments of the present invention not only condition or soften the underarm hair, but that consumers notice an enhanced ease of shaving when the underarm hair has been so conditioned or softened within about 72 hours, preferably within about 48 hours, of application of the composition to the underarm. In this context, ease of shaving refers to the consumer perception that the underarm hair is cut more easily, with less drag on the hair and skin, during the shaving process.
The antiperspirant and deodorant embodiments of the present invention can be formulated in a variety of product forms and then applied to the axilla or other area of the skin in the manner described herein. Such product forms include solids (e.g., sticks), semi-solids (e.g., lotions, creams, soft solids), or liquids (e.g. aerosols, non-aerosol sprays, roll-ons, porous dome liquids).
The topical leave-on compositions of the present invention are evaluated to determine the relative acid or hold stability of selected pantothenic acid derivatives as defined herein (e.g., ethyl panthenol, panthenyl triacetate) relative to other pantothenic acid derivatives (e.g., panthenol, calcium pantothenate). In this context, acid or hold stability is found to correlate with the lack of visibly apparent crystal formation within or extending from the sample product or by the lack of any significant off-odor development, over a 24 hours period at an elevated hold temperature of 85xc2x0 C.
Samples A and H are antiperspirant and deodorant embodiments of the present invention, whereas Samples C and D are comparative examples that do not contain the selected pantothenic acid derivatives as defined herein. Each comprises by weight of the total composition 25.25% aluminum zirconium trichlorohydrate, 60.00% cyclopentsiloxane, 5.00% fully hydrogenated HEAR oil, 1.25% C18-acid triglyceride, 0.50% vitamin E acetate, 5.00% dimethicone 10 cs, and 3.00% of a pantothenic acid derivative.
Each sample composition is formulated with the above-described ingredients and then held at 85xc2x0 C. as a heated liquid for a 24 hour period and evaluated during that that period of time for any visibly apparent crystal formations within or extending from the formulation, and for any off-odor development. The evaluated product is maintained in the heated liquid state at 85xc2x0 C. during the evaluation period to assimilate the elevated processing or hold temperatures often associated with the making of such antiperspirant and deodorant products, and to assimilate those conditions that favor acid-degradation of pantothenic acid derivatives as described herein.
The data from the evaluations as set forth in Comparative Data Table below shows that the compositions containing the selected pantothenic acid derivatives as defined herein (e.g., ethyl panthenol, panthenyl triacetate) do not exhibit the undesirable crystal formation during the 24 hour evaluation period and shows little or no off-odor development as compared to the compositions containing the other pantothenic acid derivatives (e.g., calcium pantothenate, panthenol).

Topical leave-on compositions containing selected pantothenic acid derivatives


An automatic CRC format detection and selection device observes FCS errors during an interval, incrementing counts thereof. When a determination is made that an error count threshold has been met, the CRC format may be automatically changed in order to enable CRC format detection and switching without requiring a user to have knowledge of the format or how to accomplish its change.

This invention relates to data transmission, and more particularly for a method and apparatus for detecting the CRC format in Wide Area Network (WAN) monitoring, for example.
In Wide Area Network communication, for example with the PPP protocol, a cyclic redundancy code (CRC) is employed for error detection. The sender of a data frame calculates the CRC and includes the calculated value with the frame of data. At the receiving end, the receiver calculates the CRC based on the data and compares the calculated value with the CRC value sent by the sender.
Current practices employ both 16 bit and 32 bit CRC. It is important that the same type of CRC be employed by both the sender and the receiver of the data, in order for the error detection to operate as designed. Particularly in the case of network test and monitoring equipment, wherein a particular instrument may be used on many different specific types of networks, or may be installed by persons not familiar with the particular network or protocol configurations, the particular form of CRC that is in use may be unknown.
In accordance with the prior art, it was necessary to manually select either 16 or 32 bit CRC format with monitor and test equipment, requiring the user to have knowledge of the CRC format in use and to have the skill to make the setting properly. An incorrect CRC format would make an analyzer or other test instrument unusable.

CRC format automatic detection and setting


An aspect of this invention is a computer-executable method for distributing one or more features associated with information to be transported by a communications network that includes a plurality of end nodes interconnected via a plurality of network nodes. The method includes receiving one or more features associated with information to be transported by the communications network, wherein the one or more features are specified at an end node of the plurality of end nodes for receipt by a network node of the plurality of network nodes; responsive to the one or more received features, configuring at least a portion of the communications network to perform actions on information based upon the features; receiving the information using the plurality of network nodes; and based at least on the received features and the configuring, performing one or more actions with the information. Illustratively, the one or more actions comprise sending the information to one or more edge entity nodes in accordance with the configuring and the received features.

The networking infrastructure of a "smart" city or urbanized area may be called upon to support the task requirements of multiple end users such as a plethora of municipal, governmental, and public safety agencies. As these agencies execute various intra- and inter-agency tasks and missions, the networking infrastructure should be capable of supporting the communication needs of these tasks and missions. For example, modern packet-based communication systems strive to attain and maintain desirable network-level metrics in terms of bandwidth, delay, jitter, and probability of loss.
These metrics are often specified in terms of a desired Quality-of-Service (QoS). Transmissions may be organized and network resources provisioned to support a limited number of classes of service. For example, traffic-engineered Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) may be employed to support a limited number of classes of service such as best-effort, constant-bit-rate, or variable-bit-rate. MPLS is a technique for directing data from one network node to the next based on short path labels rather than long network addresses, thereby avoiding complex lookups in a routing table. The labels identify virtual links (paths) between distant nodes rather than the endpoints themselves.
Depending on the intended end use of the information that is transported by the packets, improving performance at the network level in terms of QoS may not necessarily improve utility or value for end users. For example, several tasks may utilize video feeds which consume significant amounts of bandwidth. Illustrative tasks that are associated with video feeds include traffic control, safety surveillance, utility grid monitoring, and assisting first responders. Thus, several ongoing agency tasks may require the use of bandwidth-demanding video feeds collected from a large number of cameras that have been installed throughout a city. However, a particular video feed could comprise, for example, a scene of an empty street containing no activity of interest. Hence, the specific feed would be of low value, even though significant network resources are consumed to transport it. Dedicating precious resources to support a low-value task means that the network may lack additional resources to support contemporaneous high-value activities such as video feeds from a traffic accident, the scene of a crime, or a chemical spill. In order to support the information needs of tasks, activities, and missions in a smart city, there is a need for the underlying communication networks to become responsive to the needs of end-users as well as the nature of the tasks, activities, and missions that are to be executed, so as to increase the overall value of the information that is delivered to the end users.

Performing value and context aware communications networking

International Business Machines Corporation


An optical receiver (20) for multimode communications comprises:    a mode demultiplexer (21) having an input connected to a multimode link (22) and a plurality of output lines (231-234), wherein the mode demultiplexer is adapted to couple each of the modal components of the optical signal substantially into a selected one of the output lines,    a plurality of coherent optical detectors (251-254) respectively connected to the output lines to produce a set of electrical digital signals each comprising an in-phase component and a quadrature-phase component,    a plurality of independently adjustable optical delay devices (241-244) arranged on the output lines to impart a selected delay to each of the corresponding modal components, and    a signal processing device (26) adapted to process the digital signals to recover the independent modulations of the respective modal components by inverting a mode-mixing characteristic of the multimode link.

A potential disruptive solution to further increase capacity in long-range optical transmission systems is to exploit more than one spatial propagation mode in optical fibers. Such mode division multiplexing enables for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) transmission. WO-A-2010/151432 discloses examples of such an optical multimode transmission system. In optical multimode transmission systems, the different spatial modes have different propagation constants and arrive with a time delay at the receiver side. This delay is a function of the transmission distance and the differential mode group delay (DMGD). In long-range applications, such delay is likely to exceed a processing depth capability of conventional digital signal processors.

Optical receiver for multimode communications


A movable insert for a die-casting mold having a cavity in which a core is mounted and slidable between a retracted position in the cavity and an extended position in which the core extends from the movable insert core. The core has a connector releasably connecting the core to a locator. The locator moves the core between the retracted and extended positions.

Metal die-casting processes generally utilize a mold having a fixed insert presenting a first mold face which is pressed up against a movable insert presenting a second mold face. Molten metal, such as aluminum, is injected into a space between the fixed insert and the movable insert. The molten metal is allowed to solidify in the space and then the fixed and movable inserts are separated in a direction referred to herein as the "machine direction". The solidified metal (now a die-cast part) generally remains with the fixed insert and is removed or "stripped" from the fixed insert.
As long as the part only includes portions that taper away from the movable insert in the machine direction, forming and stripping are relatively straightforward. Occasionally, however, a part will include an opening which extends away from the movable insert in a direction not parallel to the machine direction and which must be surrounded by metal. If the part does not have a reduced diameter or breadth portion along the length of the opening, this can be accommodated by a "slide" that is pressed up against the core during forming and withdrawn prior to stripping of the part from the core.
Occasionally however, it is desirable to form such an opening which has a reduced breadth or diameter portion along its length with a larger diameter or breadth portion adjacent the movable insert. FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a prior art mold assembly for forming such a part.
FIG. 1 illustrates a typical movable insert at reference 10 and fixed insert 12 for molding a part 14 having an opening 16 which is narrower at reference 18 than it is adjacent the movable insert 10. To form the enlarged diameter portion adjacent the movable insert 10, an added (or "loose") core 20 is mounted over a shaft 22 extending from a slide 24. The mold, generally indicated by reference 26, is closed. Molten metal is injected into the space between the fixed insert 12, movable insert 10 and added core 24 to form the part 14. Once the molten metal has cooled, the slide is withdrawn and the movable insert 10 and fixed insert 12 are separated. The part, which will still contain the added core 20 is then stripped from the fixed insert and the added core 20 is pressed out.
Such a procedure is labour intensive and potentially dangerous, as an operator has to put their hand between the movable insert 10 and fixed insert 12 to place the added core 20 on the shaft 22. If the mold 26 were to inadvertently close, the operator's hand could get trapped and serious injury could result. Furthermore, if the added core 20 is not precisely mounted, defective parts may result.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a movable insert having a core which is movable between a retracted position in the movable insert to an extended position extending from the movable insert.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide such a core which is movable between the retracted and extended positions without manual intervention by a human operator.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide means for preventing movement of the core toward the movable insert during molten metal injection.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a movable insert having a retractable core with means to lock the core in the retracted position.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a core locator releasably connectable to a retractable core for moving the core between its retracted and extended positions.

Movable insert for die-casting mold with retractable core


An operation circuit for performing either fixed or floating point mathematical operations, having a mode control function for a multiplier including a multiplier, an arithmetic logic unit (ALU) and a signal generating circuit. A signal specifying the operating mode of the ALU, either a fixed point mode or a floating point mode is used by the signal generating circuit for generating either a fixed point multiplication signal or a floating point multiplication signal to control the multiplier, respectively.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an operation circuit used for a digital signal processor (DSP), more specifically to an operation circuit having a mode control function for a built-in multiplier.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an operation means having a mode control function for a multiplier of a conventional digital signal processor, which is shown on Page 9 of the users' manual of the digital signal processor MSM 699210 manufactured by Oki Electric Industries Co., LTD. (February, 1988).
In FIG. 1, both numerals 101 and 102 designate registers for storing data which is to be operated, upon and an output of the register 101 is given to a multiplier 103 and a selector 104, and an output of the register 102 is given to the multiplier 103 and a selector 105.
The multiplier 103 executes mutual multiplication of data to be operated upon which are stored in the above-described registers 101 and 102, and multiplier outputs the result thereof to the selector 104. Whether the multiplier 103 executes fixed point multiplication or executes floating point multiplication at this time is specified by a mode control signal 202 being an output signal of a control register (CR) 201 given to the multiplier 103.
The control register 201 comprises a control bit controlling the operating mode of the multiplier 103. The value of a signal 203 specifies that a multiplication to be executed by the multiplier 103 is a fixed point multiplication or a floating point multiplication. In other words, signal 203 specifies the operating mode of the multiplier 103 in response to the contents of an instruction to be executed by the DSP comprising this operation circuit is determined by the control bit of the control register 201. Then, in correspondence to the value set in the control bit of the control register 201, the operating mode of the multiplier 103 is specified by the mode control signal 202.
The selector 104 selects either the output of the register 101 or the output of the multiplier 103, and gives it to an arithmetic logic unit (ALU) 106. The selector 105 selects either the output of the register 102 or the output of an accumulator 107 as described later, and gives it to the ALU 106.
The ALU 106 executes various arithmetic and logic operating with the outputs of the above-described selectors 104 and 105 taken as inputs, and outputs the results thereof to the accumulator 107.
The kind of operation, for example, fixed point operation, floating point operation or another operation, to be performed by the ALU 106 at this time is determined by the contents of the instruction to be executed by the DSP comprising this operation circuit, which will now be described.
An output of a decoder 108 is given to the ALU 106; an operation control signal 109. The decoder 108 decodes an operation specifying signal 113 according to a predetermined field for specifying an operation to be executed by the ALU 106 in the instruction to be executed by the DSP comprising this operation circuit, specifically an ALU operation specifying field, and gives the result thereof to the ALU 106 as the operation control signal 109.
Accordingly, the ALU 106 executes an operation specified by the operation control signal 109 with the outputs of the both selectors 104 and 105 as inputs, and accumulates the result thereof in the accumulator 107.
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the above-described field related to control of the multiplier 103 of the control register 201, and numeral 301 designates an MM flag stored in the above-described control bit.
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a function of the MM flag related to control of the multiplier 103 of the control register 201 as shown in FIG. 2. In the case where the value of the MM flag 301 is set to "1", the multiplier 103 is put in the fixed point multiplication mode, and executes fixed point multiplication. Also, in the case where the value of the MM flag 301 is set to "0", the multiplier 103 is put in the floating point multiplication mode, and executes floating point multiplication.
Hereinafter, description is made on operation of the conventional operation circuit having mode control function for multiplier configured as described above.
Specifying of the operation mode of the multiplier 103, that is, setting of the value of the MM flag 301 is performed by an instruction which sets the content of the control register 201.
First, in the case where fixed point multiplication is performed, the MM flag 301 of the control register 201 is set to "1" by an instruction. Thereby, the mode control signal 202 specifying fixed point multiplication is given to the multiplier 103 from the control register 201, and therefore the multiplier 103 is put in the fixed point multiplication mode, and executes mutual fixed point multiplication of data stored in the registers 101 and 102.
On the other hand, in the case where floating point multiplication is performed, the MM flag 301 of the control register 201 is set to "0" by an instruction. Thereby, the mode control signal 202 specifying floating point multiplication is given to the multiplier 103 from the control register 201, and therefore the multiplier 103 is put in the floating point multiplication mode, and executes mutual floating point multiplication of data stored in the registers 101 and 102.
The operation mode of the ALU 106, that is, the kind of operation to be executed by the ALU 106 is specified directly by an ALU operation specifying field specifying ALU operation in the instruction. The operation specifying signal 113 corresponding to this field is decoded by the decoder 108, and is given to the ALU 106 as the operation control signal 109. Then, the ALU 106 executes an operation specified by the operation control signal 109 for data given from the both selectors 104 and 105, and makes the accumulator 107 accumulate the result thereof.
Then, in the case where sum and product operation, is executed, the data formats of product and sum are the same, and therefore the multiplier 103 and the ALU 106 process data of the same format. This means that when fixed point multiplication is performed in the multiplier 103, fixed point operation is performed in the ALU 106, and when floating point multiplication is performed in the multiplier 103, floating point operation is performed in the ALU 106.
Then, in the operation circuit having mode control function for multiplier of the conventional DSP having the configuration as described above, the operation mode of the multiplier 103, that is, whether fixed point multiplication is to be performed or floating point multiplication is to be performed is specified by the MM flag 301 of the control register 201, and the operation mode of the ALU 106, that is, whether fixed point operation is to be performed or floating point operation is to be performed is specified by the ALU operation specifying field in the instruction. In other words, the operation modes of both of the multiplier 103 and the ALU 106 are specified independently in the instruction to be executed by the DSP. For this reason, in programming, a programmer is required to consider it while recognizing the operation mode of the multiplier 103 all the time, and therefore the efficiency of programming work is reduced. Also, an instruction is necessary which sets a bit equivalent to the content of the control register 201 for controlling the operation mode of the multiplier 103, specifically the MM flag 301.
In addition, there is a problem that the operation mode actually specified to the multiplier 103 cannot be checked in debugging.
Furthermore, there is another problem that in performing an interrupt or executing a subroutine call, the operation for maintaining the operation mode specified to the multiplier 103 in the same mode before and after the execution becomes complicated.

Circuit for fixed point or floating point arithmetic operations


An incubator to maintain environmental conditions suitable for an infant is provided. The incubator comprises a vertical support structure with a plurality of horizontal columns connected to a bottom end of the vertical support structure to form a base portion. A crib is mounted on to the vertical support structure above the base portion for supporting the infant. The crib comprises a base plate and a plurality of plates arranged in a predetermined manner to form side walls of the crib. At least one dispenser nozzle is provided in the side walls for supplying water vapors to the crib. A humidification system, attachable at least to the base portion of the incubator, is fluidly connected to the inlets of the dispenser nozzles for supplying the water vapors. A radiant warmer is mounted on a top end of the vertical support structure for supplying radiant heat energy to the crib.

Embodiments of the invention relate to an incubator. More particularly, the subject matter relates to a crib of the incubator.
An incubator is an apparatus used to maintain environmental conditions suitable for an infant. It is used in preterm births or for some ill full-term babies to maintain environmental conditions.
The use of incubators for maintaining the environmental conditions suitable for an infant is known in the art. The conventional incubators comprise a bassinet enclosed by a hood/canopy in which an infant can be kept in a controlled environment for medical care.
The conventional incubators comprise a heater and a fan to circulate the warmed air to the enclosure through convection. Said heater is interfaced with the control unit for maintaining the uniform temperature inside the bassinet. The incubator further comprises a humidifier for maintaining humidity inside the bassinet. A plurality of access ports are provided in the bassinet for nursing care.
In conventional incubators, it is difficult to access the infant placed in the incubators basinet. This is because the basinet is enclosed by a hood/canopy. The hood/canopy is used to enclose the basinet to maintain humidity in the basinet. This type of design results in an increase in the number of components in the incubator, and in turn increases the cost of the incubator. Further the hood/canopy occupies a large amount of space around the incubator.
Hence there exists a need to provide a simple and efficient humidifying mechanism in an infant warmer, without dependent on a hood/canopy. Further, the infant should be easily accessible for the mother and the caregiver.


A fuel injector diagnostic is disclosed. In one example, the diagnostic can determine if that amount of fuel injected or the timing of start of injection is degraded. Thus, the fuel injector diagnostic method can distinguish between different types of injector degradation.

Engine controllers and engine control strategies operate fuel injectors to deliver precise amounts of fuel at precise times relative to engine crankshaft angle to improve engine efficiency and reduce engine emissions. Further, when precise amounts of fuel are injected at a precise engine crankshaft angle, an expected amount of torque may be produced at the engine crankshaft via the engine cylinder. However, if a fuel injector or other component of a fuel injection system degrades, it is possible for engine torque and emissions to degrade during engine operation. For example, a change of injector response time may degrade fuel injection timing and amount of fuel injected so that engine torque varies and engine emissions degrade.
In U.S. Pat. No. 7,317,983 the inventors describe a method for balancing cylinder torque in response to engine speed. In particular, the method appears to adjust an amount of fuel injected to a cylinder based on engine speed that is related to a particular fuel injection and combustion event. However, the method appears to correct for torque imbalance without diagnosing injector operation. For example, the method appears to adjust an amount of fuel injected to a cylinder to correct a torque imbalance, but the method does not appear to determine whether or not the fuel injector is operating within expected performance criteria. Nor does the method appear to diagnose whether fuel injection errors are related specifically to variation of injected fuel amount or variation of start or end of fuel injection.
The inventors herein have recognized the above-mentioned shortcomings and have developed a method for diagnosing fuel injection, comprising: adjusting an amount of fuel injected to a cylinder to balance a torque produced via the cylinder with a torque produced via a different cylinder; sweeping fuel injection timing of the cylinder during the adjusting of the fuel injection amount; and indicating degradation of fuel injection when a minimum amount of fuel injected to the cylinder to balance the torque produced via the cylinder is outside a range.
By adjusting fuel amount and fuel injection timing it may be possible to determine whether a fuel injector is injecting fuel in an expected amount during an expected time period. For example, sweeping injected fuel amount and fuel injection timing can provide data for determining where a minimum amount of fuel injected balances cylinder torque. The amount of the minimum amount of fuel to balance cylinder torque and the timing where the minimum amount of fuel that balances cylinder torque occurs can be compared to timing and amount of a previously determined minimum fuel injected to balance cylinder torque. If the presently determined minimum amount of fuel to balance torque of an engine cylinder is outside of a range, injector degradation may be indicated. In this way, cylinder torque balancing and the minimum amount of fuel injected to balance torque of a cylinder can be used to diagnose operation of a fuel injector.
The present description may provide several advantages. For example, the approach may provide specific information regarding fuel injector degradation. For example, the approach can isolate whether injector degradation is related to an amount of fuel injected or to a timing of start or end of fuel injection. Further, the approach may be applied without additional diagnostic hardware. Further still, the approach may be applied at conditions where the engine operates during the normal course of operation.
The above advantages and other advantages, and features of the present description will be readily apparent from the following Detailed Description when taken alone or in connection with the accompanying drawings.
It should be understood that the summary above is provided to introduce in simplified form a selection of concepts that are further described in the detailed description. It is not meant to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, the scope of which is defined uniquely by the claims that follow the detailed description. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any disadvantages noted above or in any part of this disclosure.


An aqueous potassium sorbate solution has a dissolved oxygen concentration of not more than 3.0 mg/l. The aqueous potassium sorbate solution can be obtained (i) by degassing an aqueous potassium sorbate solution to thereby control the dissolved oxygen concentration to 3.0 mg/l or less, or (ii) by performing a reaction in a system, in which the oxygen concentrations of the gas phase and of materials to be reacted are reduced, in the production of an aqueous potassium sorbate solution by a reaction of sorbic acid and potassium hydroxide in the presence of water. The resulting aqueous potassium sorbate solution exhibits successively stable hue.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an aqueous potassium sorbate solution exhibiting successively stable hue, a production method and a storing method of the same, and a method of producing potassium sorbate.
2. Description of the Related Art
Sorbic acid and its salts have antiseptic and antimicrobial activities and are substantially nontoxic to the human body in normal concentrations in practical use. These compounds are therefore useful as food additives. Of a variety of known processes for producing sorbic acid, a commercially important pathway is a process of polymerizing crotonaldehyde and ketene to form an intermediate polyester, and decomposing the polyester to yield sorbic acid. Sorbic acid obtained by this technique contains a variety of colored substances and other impurities and is generally subjected to a purification operation such as treatment with activated carbon, distillation or recrystallization, and is then subjected to a neutralization reaction with potassium hydroxide to thereby yield potassium sorbate. The above-prepared potassium sorbate is in an aqueous solution state and is generally further subjected to a drying process to evaporate water to thereby yield powdery potassium sorbate, or is further subjected to a granulation process to thereby yield granular potassium sorbate. In actual use as a food additive, however, potassium sorbate is dissolved again in water and is used as an aqueous solution.
In general, potassium sorbate increases in color and odor over time after its production and is deteriorated in quality. Potassium sorbate in an aqueous solution state particularly strongly has this tendency and is deteriorated in quality in a short time, and the solution itself is colored. A powdery or granular potassium sorbate obtained by drying such a colored aqueous potassium sorbate solution is naturally colored and does never exhibit a recovered hue.
Regarding dried potassium sorbate, a variety of measures to prevent deterioration in quality have been taken and many proposals have been made. Such proposals include, for example, a production method, in which colored substances are removed in the production process to thereby improve hue immediately after production, and a storing method, in which a storage container is sealed with an inert gas or a moisture-impermeable packing material is used. However, each of these techniques is directed to dried potassium sorbate, and no effective solution on potassium sorbate in an aqueous solution state has been proposed. Accordingly, the aqueous potassium sorbate solution must be immediately dried and granulated to yield a dried product in conventional production methods.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an aqueous potassium sorbate solution exhibiting successively stable hue, and methods of producing and storing the aqueous solution.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an aqueous potassium sorbate solution and methods of producing and storing the same, which are useful for obtaining potassium sorbate exhibiting satisfactory and successively stable hue.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a method of producing potassium sorbate exhibiting satisfactory and successively stable hue.
To achieve the above objects, the present inventors focused attention, among a series of production steps for potassium sorbate, on a step for the neutralization of sorbic acid with potassium hydroxide and on the resulting aqueous potassium sorbate solution obtained in this step. They found that there is a link between deterioration of hue and dissolved oxygen contained in an aqueous solution, when potassium sorbate is stored in the state of an aqueous solution. This finding suggested that colored substances are formed by an action of oxygen dissolved in the aqueous solution. Finally, the present inventors found that deterioration of hue during storage as an aqueous solution can be prevented by controlling the dissolved oxygen concentration in the aqueous potassium sorbate solution to a specific range and that this type of aqueous potassium sorbate solution can yield potassium sorbate exhibiting satisfactory and successively stable hue (color).
Specifically, the present invention provides, in an aspect, an aqueous potassium sorbate solution having a dissolved oxygen concentration of 3.0 mg/l or less.
In another aspect, the present invention provides a method of producing an aqueous potassium sorbate solution, which includes the step of degassing an aqueous potassium sorbate solution to thereby control the dissolved oxygen concentration in the aqueous solution to 3.0 mg/l or less.
In a further aspect, the invention provides a method of producing an aqueous potassium sorbate solution, which includes the step of allowing sorbic acid to react with potassium hydroxide in the presence of water. In this method, the reaction is performed in a system in which the oxygen concentrations of a gas phase and of materials to be reacted are reduced to thereby yield an aqueous potassium sorbate solution having a dissolved oxygen concentration of 3.0 mg/l or less.
The invention provides, in yet another aspect, a method of storing an aqueous potassium sorbate solution, which includes the step of storing an aqueous potassium sorbate solution having a dissolved oxygen concentration of 3.0 mg/l or less in such a condition that the oxygen concentration of a gas phase above the liquid level of the aqueous solution is less than that in the atmospheric air.
The invention provides, in another aspect, a method of storing an aqueous potassium sorbate solution, which includes the step of storing an aqueous potassium sorbate solution having a dissolved oxygen concentration of 3.0 mg/l or less in a container composed of an oxygen-impermeable material.
In addition and advantageously, the invention provides a method of producing potassium sorbate, which includes the step of drying an aqueous potassium sorbate solution having a dissolved oxygen concentration of 3.0 mg/l or less to thereby yield a powdery or granular potassium sorbate.
A feature of an aqueous potassium sorbate solution of the present invention is that the aqueous solution has a dissolved oxygen concentration of 3.0 mg/l or less. If the dissolved oxygen in the aqueous potassium sorbate solution is out of the above-specified range, the aqueous solution markedly becomes colored over time. This is provably because colored substances are formed by action of oxygen contained in the aqueous potassium sorbate solution. In other words, minimized oxygen prevents the formation of colored substances to thereby reduce hue change over time.
The aqueous potassium sorbate solution is obtained by allowing sorbic acid to react with potassium hydroxide in the presence of water. Material sorbic acid is not specifically limited and includes any sorbic acid obtained by a known or conventional method. Sorbic acid is generally produced by, for example, a process in which crotonaldehyde is allowed to react with ketene in the presence of a catalyst such as a zinc salt of fatty acid to yield a polyester, and the polyester is hydrolyzed with an acid or alkali. The above-prepared sorbic acid generally contains a variety of impurities and requires a purification operation to remove the impurities. The purification operation includes, but is not limited to, treatment with activated carbon, distillation, recrystallization, and other known or conventional operations, and combinations of these operations.
Potassium hydroxide for use herein includes any potassium hydroxide which is pursuant to industrial standards and is commercially available, of which an aqueous potassium hydroxide solution is preferred for its easiness in handling. The concentration of such an aqueous potassium hydroxide solution is, for example, from about 45% to about 50% by weight, and preferably from about 49% to about 50% by weight.
A reaction (a neutralization reaction) between sorbic acid and potassium hydroxide is performed in the presence of water. For example, an aqueous slurry of sorbic acid is mixed with an aqueous potassium hydroxide solution to thereby yield potassium sorbate. A reaction temperature is, for example, from about 0xc2x0 C. to 80xc2x0 C., and pH of the reaction mixture during reaction is from about 8 to about 13. Upon the completion of reaction, pH is preferably adjusted to about 11. The reaction can be performed in any of a continuous system, semi-batch system and batch system.
The invented aqueous potassium sorbate solution can be obtained, for example, by reducing the dissolved oxygen concentration of the aqueous potassium hydroxide solution and water (water for the preparation of the sorbic acid slurry) for use in the neutralization reaction and the oxygen concentration of a gas phase of the reaction system less than those in normal conditions, in the aforementioned production method. Alternatively, it can be obtained by subjecting an aqueous potassium sorbate solution after the completion of reaction to an operation for removing dissolved oxygen (degassing operation). Any of these techniques can be chosen and employed in the invention.
More specifically, the aqueous potassium sorbate solution having a dissolved oxygen concentration of 3.0 mg/l or less can be obtained by allowing sorbic acid to react with potassium hydroxide under such a condition that the material aqueous potassium hydroxide solution and water are subjected to a degassing operation to thereby reduce the dissolved oxygen concentration to 3.0 mg/l or less and that the oxygen concentration of the gas phase is reduced (10.5% by volume or less, preferably 5% by volume or less, and most preferably 0% by volume) less than that of the atmosphere (air). The reduction of oxygen concentration can be performed by, for example, replacing the gas phase with an inert gas such as nitrogen gas. Alternatively, an aqueous potassium sorbate solution exhibiting successively stable hue which compares favorably with the above-prepared product can be obtained by subjecting an aqueous potassium sorbate solution to a degassing operation immediately after the completion of reaction, without any measure for reducing oxygen during the reaction.
As the technique for removing dissolved oxygen of the aqueous potassium sorbate solution or the material aqueous potassium hydroxide solution or water, any technique can be selected, as far as the resulting dissolved oxygen concentration of the aqueous potassium sorbate solution is ultimately 3.0 mg/l or less. Such techniques include, for example, bubbling of an inert gas such as nitrogen gas into the target liquid, and reduction of pressure of a gas phase above the liquid level. Each of these techniques can be used in combination with an operation for further efficiently removing dissolved oxygen, such as stirring or agitation of the liquid. Each of these techniques can be used alone or in combination, depending on the scale of production to thereby efficiently reduce dissolved oxygen.
Even when the dissolved oxygen concentration in the aqueous potassium sorbate solution is once controlled to 3.0 mg/l or less, the dissolved oxygen concentration returns to that in normal conditions in a short time if it is left in the ambient atmosphere. According to a storing method of the present invention, an aqueous potassium sorbate solution having a dissolved oxygen concentration of 3.0 mg/l or less is stored in such a condition that the oxygen concentration of a gas phase above the liquid level is less than that of the atmosphere. In the storage, the gas phase of a container should preferably have a minimum volume within a range inviting no problem in practical use. Additionally, the gas phase should preferably have an oxygen concentration of half or less (10.5% by volume or less) of that of the normal atmosphere, and particularly preferably 5% by volume or less.
If a storage container is composed of an oxygen-permeable material, oxygen permeates through the container to the aqueous potassium sorbate solution to increase the dissolved oxygen concentration to thereby color the aqueous solution in a long-term storage. According to another storing method of the invention, an aqueous potassium sorbate solution having a dissolved oxygen concentration of 3.0 mg/l or less is stored in a container composed of an oxygen-impermeable material. Such storage containers include, but are not limited to, glass containers, containers made of stainless steel and other metals, and resinous containers having an oxygen barrier coating film. In preferred materials for the container, the components thereof do not solve out into the aqueous potassium sorbate solution.
In preferred storing methods, the dissolved oxygen concentration of the aqueous solution is reduced during or immediately after the reaction between sorbic acid and potassium hydroxide, and contact with oxygen is avoided. Such storing methods are therefore useful to produce an aqueous potassium sorbate solution exhibiting stable hue over the long time.
According to a method of producing potassium sorbate of the present invention, the aforementioned aqueous potassium sorbate solution having a dissolved oxygen concentration of 3.0 mg/l or less is dried to thereby yield a powdery or granular potassium sorbate. Powdering or granulation of the aqueous potassium sorbate solution by drying can be performed by a known or conventional process. For example, granulation processes of potassium sorbate include extrusion granulation, in which the moisture of the powder is controlled with a moisture conditioner, and the powder is extruded; fluidized-bed granulation drying process, in which the aqueous solution is sprayed with hot air to form a fluidized bed, and drying and granulation are concurrently performed; as well as spray drying, tumbling granulation, oscillating granulation, and compression molding.
According to the present invention, the aqueous potassium sorbate solution exhibits markedly low coloring even after a lapse of a long time from the production and can be advantageously used as intact as a food additive for a long-term preservation. Additionally, when the aqueous solution is further subjected to a drying process to yield a dry powder, the aqueous solution can be stored without deterioration of hue and quality even in a process in which the aqueous solution must be left for some time after the completion of reaction due to process limits. Accordingly, the invented methods are greatly significant and useful.
The product potassium sorbate can be used as a preservative for foods such as fish pastes, butters, cheeses, bean pastes, and preserves.
As thus described, the invented aqueous potassium sorbate solution has a dissolved oxygen concentration in a specific range to thereby reduce the oxygen-induced formation of colored substances, and therefore exhibits successively stable hue. The invented method can easily and efficiently produce such an aqueous potassium sorbate solution exhibiting successively stable hue.
According to the invented method of storing an aqueous potassium sorbate solution, an excellent hue quality (color quality) can be maintained over a long time. Additionally, the invented method of producing potassium sorbate can easily produce potassium sorbate exhibiting satisfactory and successively stable hue.

Methods of storing aqueous potassium sorbate solution


An under view mirror apparatus includes a housing having an opening and a holding rib extending toward the opening and a frame fixed to the housing at the opening in the housing. The frame is provided with an opening and a projecting portion extending along the periphery of the opening in the frame. A holding clip extends from the frame. A mirror is mounted in the opening in the frame and is held against the projecting portion of the frame by the holding clip and the holding rib.

A conventional mirror apparatus is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 5-24603. This mirror apparatus comprises a housing having an exterior design portion, a frame fixed to the housing and provided with an opening, and a mirror disposed in the opening of the frame. In this conventional mirror apparatus, the mirror is supported between the edge of the opening and holding ribs formed in the housing.
The length of the ribs formed in the housing is restricted when the strength of the ribs is considered. Therefore the shape of the exterior design portion of the housing is restricted by the length of the holding ribs. This means that freedom with respect to exterior design is affected especially when the exterior design portion of the housing becomes a part of the exterior design portion of a deflector structure.
An under view mirror apparatus is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 6-72249. This under view mirror apparatus includes a deflector structure located at the rear of a vehicle, a mirror structure which can assume an unused state in which the mirror structure is retracted in the deflector structure and a used state in which the mirror structure sticks out of the deflector structure, and a sealing member disposed between the deflector structure and the mirror structure which touches the deflector structure and the mirror structure.
The mirror structure identified by a housing having an exterior design portion, a frame fixed to the housing and provided with an opening, and a mirror disposed in the opening of the frame.
The sealing member of this conventional under view mirror apparatus seals the space between the deflector structure and the mirror structure and defines the position of the mirror structure relative to the deflector structure. A flat attach portion is formed at the contact portion of the sealing member, with the contact portion touching the deflector structure and the mirror structure. The sealing member is attached along the edge of the mirror structure by the flat attach portion.
However, in this under view mirror apparatus, it is necessary to cut the sealing member into several segments in order to attach the sealing member along the edge of the mirror structure.

Under view mirror apparatus for a vehicle


A portable electronic device having a screen and a numeric keypad, comprises: a sound card for processing sound signals to produce musical tones; a musical synthesizer, associated with said sound card, for electronically synthesizing musical instruments; and a user interface for interfacing said musical synthesizer to a user via said screen and said numeric keypad. The device can be a cellular telephone and may be able to interact with other devices.

The present invention relates to electronic music on hand portable and communication enabled devices and, more particularly, but not exclusively to electronic music on PDA and cellular type devices.
PDA and cellular devices with musical ability are available. Such devices have sound card capabilities that enable them to play high quality musical notes and they are able to play music files, for example ring tones, or allow a user to enter his own ringtone via the keyboard.
A major limitation with such electronic devices is the limited resources. Both permanent and temporary memory are severely limited as compared with desktop or laptop computers, and the musical ability must not interfere with the other activities of the device, for example its communication abilities. Thus an add-on feature such as music should not exceed resource requirements as follows: ROM should be limited to about 20 MB (including built-in content), and RAM usage should be limited to about 8 MB of dynamic RAM.
Another consideration is power consumption—sound hardware consumes a relatively large amount of battery power. Any sound hardware should be kept in a sleep mode whenever possible in order to conserve battery power. It is expected that a full battery could be emptied by about 1-2 hours of sound playback.
Due to these limitations, the utilization of the sound card has generally been limited. Users are able to play and set up ring tones but nothing much larger, and the ability to set ring tones allows the user nothing more than to play a set of tones. The communication ability of the cellular device is used solely to download such ringtone files.
In general a musical product is wanted that is simple for a beginner to use, but that also satisfies the requirements of the more sophisticated user. In this case the sophisticated user is a user with a good musical background, often one who can play a musical instrument or has a knowledge of musical theory. In particular the product should produce better results for the advanced user, and for the beginner should be expected to produce steadily better results the more the product is used.
There is thus the overall feeling that the full capabilities of the cellular device are not being fully utilized.

Electronic music on hand portable and communication enabled devices


An improved circuit and method is described herein for extending the usable frequency range of a high performance, narrow band phase locked loop (PLL) device. For example, the improved circuit and method may perform a calibration sequence for calibrating an LC-type voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) immediately before or during operation of the PLL device. Unlike previous methods, the calibration sequence described herein provides a fast and convenient method for extending the usable frequency range of a PLL by shifting the center frequency of the LC-type VCO to a desired frequency. For example, the VCO center frequency may be incrementally shifted (e.g., either high or low) to compensate for the actual environmental conditions in which the PLL is used (i.e., to compensate for specific process, voltage, and temperature conditions). Once the calibration bits are set to the desired frequency, the calibration sequence is disabled, and the appropriate calibration bit values are applied to the VCO during normal operation of the PLL.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to electronic circuits and, more particularly, to clock generation and timing circuits.
2. Description of the Related Art
The following descriptions and examples are given as background only.
Phase locked loops (PLLs) are commonly used for data and telecommunications, frequency synthesis, clock recovery, and similar applications. In some cases, a PLL may be used in the I/O interfaces of digital integrated circuits to hide clock distribution delays and to improve overall system timing. In other cases, a PLL may be used as a clock multiplier for downstream circuit components. In one example application, an input clock of 10 Mhz can be multiplied by the PLL to yield a 1000 Mhz output signal, which may then be used for clocking internal circuit components. Ideally, this input (or source) clock multiplication could result in an output that is in perfect phase alignment with the input clock. However, in practice this is often not the case.
A typical PLL device 100 is shown in FIG. 1 as including an optional reference divider (div M) 120, a phase frequency detector (PFD) 130, a charge pump 140, a low pass filter 150, a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) 160, and an optional frequency divider (div N) 170.
During operation, PLL circuit 100 receives a reference clock signal (FREF) from an external source (e.g., a crystal oscillator) 110. The phase frequency detector compares the reference signal (FREF) to a feedback signal (FVCO) generated by components within the PLL circuit. More specifically, PFD 130 detects differences in frequency and/or phase between the reference and feedback clock signals, and generates compensating "up" and "down" signals in response thereto. The particular control signals generated depend on whether the feedback clock signal is lagging or leading the reference clock signal in frequency or phase. The up/down control signals are passed through charge pump 140 and filter 150 to integrate the control signals into a control voltage, which is sent to the VCO. The voltage-controlled oscillator converts the voltage information into one or more output frequencies (FVCO). One of these output frequencies may then be sent back to the PFD via a feedback loop.
In some cases, frequency divider 170 and reference divider 120 may be included for adjusting the frequencies of the feedback and reference clock signals, respectively. For example, frequency divider 170 may be used for dividing the frequency of a VCO output signal (FOUT) to produce a divided down feedback signal (FOUT/N), while reference divider 120 is used for dividing the frequency of the external clocking signal to produce a divided down reference signal (FREF/M), which is similar or dissimilar to the divided down feedback signal. In such cases, PLL 100 may function as a clock or frequency multiplier. However, dividers 120 and/or 170 may not be included in all cases.
In conventional PLL devices, high-performance inductor-capacitor (LC) VCOs are often used to create low-noise, high-speed PLLs. For example, LC-type oscillators are often used in PLL designs tailored for wireless and low power applications, as well as other applications requiring precise timing. Unfortunately, LC-type oscillators have a tight frequency range, which is sensitive to variations in process, voltage and temperature (PVT). In some cases, variations in PVT may cause the VCO frequency range to shift outside of a target range, thereby limiting the usable frequency range of the PLL device. For this reason, various solutions have been proposed for extending the usable frequency range of a PLL device employing an LC-type oscillator.
One solution to the above-mentioned problem is to create or use a VCO with a wide frequency range. For example, a wider frequency range can be obtained by increasing the gain of an LC-type oscillator, or by using a completely different oscillator (e.g., a ring oscillator) with an inherently wider frequency range. Unfortunately, large VCO gains are undesirable because of their sensitivity to noise. In addition, although a wide frequency range may be easily obtained when the ring oscillator is employed as a VCO, the ring oscillator is not without limitations and usually demonstrates poorer phase-noise performance than the LC-type oscillator.
Another solution is to use multiple LC-type oscillators within the PLL device. For example, a first VCO may be used for generating frequencies within a 2-2.45 GHz range, while a second VCO is used for generating frequencies within a 2.45-2.5 Ghz range. Additional or alternative VCOs may be used for generating frequencies within other ranges. Unfortunately, the second solution may be undesirable in many applications, due to the relatively large die area consumed by the additional VCO(s).
In yet another solution, an LC-type VCO may be calibrated during the manufacturing test process to shift the VCO operating frequency into a desired range. For example, test circuitry may be used for measuring the max VCO frequency, measuring the min VCO frequency and calculating an average of the two. The test circuitry may then be used for adjusting the programmable bits supplied the LC-type VCO until the measured value(s) equal a set of target value(s). Unfortunately, the third conventional solution is too slow (i.e., adds additional test time) and does not compensate for the environmental conditions that the device will actually be used in (i.e., the method does not account for power supply and temperature variations, only for process variations).
In yet another solution, an LC-type VCO may be calibrated during operation of the PLL device to shift the VCO operating frequency into a desired range. One such solution is described in a paper entitled "A Delta-Sigma Fractional-N Synthesizer using a Wide-Band Integrated VCO and a Fast AFC Technique for GSM/GPRS/WCDMA Applications," and published in the July 2004 issue of IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits (JSSCC), vol. 39, no. 7, pgs. 1164-1169. In this solution, a pair of switches are used for disconnecting the low pass filter from the VCO (i.e., opening the loop) to enter a VCO calibration mode. To achieve calibration, digital frequency counters are used for counting the number of reference and feedback clock pulses supplied thereto. A comparator is then used to determine the proper VCO frequency by comparing the number of feedback pulses to the number of reference pulses, while a state machine is used for adjusting the programmable bits supplied to the VCO. Unfortunately, the frequency counters and state machine used in the fourth solution are too slow for many high-speed applications (e.g., it may take about 650 clock cycles to complete the calibration using the method describe above). In addition, the switches used for disconnecting the low pass filter from the VCO introduce a series resistance into the PLL signal path. This is undesirable because it tends to alter the behavior of the filter.
Therefore, a need remains for an improved calibration solution that may be used for extending the usable frequency range of a PLL device. Preferably, the improved solution would allow frequency calibration and compensation of a narrow band PLL over a wide range of actual environmental conditions, including process, voltage, and temperature. Even more preferably, the improved solution would provide a circuit and method for calibrating an LC-type oscillator during operation of a PLL device, wherein said calibration is performed without opening the loop and with much greater speed than possible with conventional solutions.

Circuit and method for extending the usable frequency range of a phase locked loop (PLL)


When the eye selection mode is set, upper-level menu items "EFFECT" and "FADER" are displayed. When an operator gazes "EFFECT", functions "TELESCOPE-CONTROL", "FREEZE", "MOSAIC", and the like are displayed as lower-level menu items of the item "EFFECT". When the operator gazes "MOSAIC" next, mosaic processing is executed. On the other hand, when the operator gazes the upper-level menu item "FADER", functions "OVERLAP", "WIPE", "TRIGGERED FADE", and the like are displayed. When the operator gazes "TRIGGERED FADE", corresponding processing is executed.

The present invention relates to a user interface and, more particularly, to a setting apparatus which set a function in a given main device on the basis of the line of sight of an operator.
Many functions are provided on the main units of electronic devices available nowadays. FIG. 1 shows a conventional method for changing the setting contents of functions of the main unit by a user.
Assume that a main device shown in FIG. 1 corresponds to a video camcorder and has a viewfinder 50, a "MENU" key 40, "NEXT" key 41, and ".+-.ADVANCE" keys 42. The video camcorder as the main unit has, as one of its functions, a function of setting the internal time of the camcorder to be the local time of a place designated by an operator.
A case will be examined below wherein a user designates a place name, the local time of which is to be set. For this purpose, the user has to select a function of setting the local time from many functions of the camcorder, and then designate the place name or his or her choice. In the prior art shown in FIG. 1, the function is selected by designating an item "TIME ZONE" on the menu screen.
For this purpose, the user depresses the "MENU" key 40 first. Upon depression of the key 40, a menu shown in FIG. 1 is displayed on a screen area 50a in the viewfinder 50. Subsequently, the user depresses the "NEXT" key 41. The key 41 sequentially moves a cursor indicated by a mark "" on the menu. The user moves the mark "" to the position of the item "TIME ZONE" on the menu by depressing the "NEXT" key 41. In the example shown in FIG. 1, "SYDNEY" is selected as the place, as shown in a screen area 50b. Also, on a screen area 50d in the viewfinder 50, place names (Tokyo, Sydney, Hongkong, and Bangkok in this case) in this device are displayed.
The user selects the place name, the time of which is to be displayed, by depressing the "-" or "+" key. For example, upon depression of the "+" key, the displayed place name changes clockwise, i.e., in the order of "TOKYO".fwdarw."SYDNEY".fwdarw..cndot. .cndot. .cndot..fwdarw."BANGKOK".fwdarw."HONGKONG".fwdarw."TOKYO". On the other hand, upon depression of the "-" key, the displayed place name changes in the order of "TOKYO".fwdarw."HONGKONG".fwdarw."BANGKOK".fwdarw..cndot. .cndot. .cndot..fwdarw."SYDNEY".fwdarw."TOKYO".
When "TOKYO" is displayed on the screen area 50d, the user depresses the "MENU" key 40 again to determine "TOKYO" as a place to be set, and "TIME ZONE" of the internal time of the main unit changes to "TOKYO".
However, as described above, when the menu is displayed on the display screen to change the setting state of the functions of the main device, since the "MENU" key 40, the "NEXT" key 41, and one of the "+" and "-" keys must be operated, the user must operate at least three manual switches in this case. For this reason, the conventional operation for changing the setting of functions is very troublesome.
In view of this problem, in recent years, an electronic device such as a video camera which has an electronic viewfinder for displaying a plurality of functions on a monitor screen and a gazing point or line of sight detection device for detecting the gazing point of the operator on the monitor screen has been proposed.
In such video camera, when an operator gazes at a function index displayed in the monitor screen, a gazing point is detected, the function desired by the user is determined on the basis of the detected gazing point, and the function corresponding to the function index corresponding to the gazing point is executed. Execution of a function based on line of sight detection, i.e., selection of a function based on line of sight detection will be generally referred to as an "eye switch" hereinafter.
An example of the eye switch will be explained below with reference to FIG. 2.
A video camera shown in FIG. 2 has nine functions "WIND CUT" to "EYE SWITCH". Upon depression of a "MENU" key 40, the names of these nine functions are displayed on a screen area 50e in an electronic viewfinder 50. An operator moves a cursor 51 to the position of "EYE SWITCH" on a screen area 50f in the viewfinder 50 using a "NEXT" key 41. The "EYE SWITCH" function further includes four functions displayed as "FADE" (a function of fading out an image), "DATE" (a mode of inputting a date), "TITLE" (a mode of inputting a title), and (a mode of rewinding and reproducing a partially recorded portion). In an example shown in FIG. 2, "FADE" was selected in the previous setting operation.
When the user wants to select the function , he or she depresses one of "ADVANCE" keys 42. For example, upon depression of the "+" key 42, the mode included in the "EYE SWITCH" function changes, on a display screen area 50h, in the order of "FADE".fwdarw."DATE".fwdarw."TITLE".fwdarw..fwdarw."OFF".fwdarw."FADE".cnd ot. .cndot. .cndot..
On the other hand, upon depression of the "-" key 42, the mode changes in the order of "FADE".fwdarw."OFF".fwdarw..fwdarw."TITLE".fwdarw."DATE".fwdarw."FADE".cnd ot. .cndot. .cndot. When the user depresses the "MENU" key 40 again as is displayed, the video camera determines that the user has selected the mode, turns off the menu displayed in the viewfinder 50, and displays a mark 52 in the viewfinder 50 instead.
At this time, the function is not executed. In order to execute this function, the user gazes the mark 52. The line of sight detection device arranged in this video camera detects that the line of sight of the user matches the mark 52, and starts execution of the mode.
In the above-mentioned prior art, to change the function of the main device using the function setting apparatus, a plurality of menu screens or pages are required, and many key operations are required to change the menu screen or page, resulting in a very cumbersome function changing operation in the conventional apparatus.
In the conventional function setting apparatus, only one name is displayed on the menu page screen provided with the eye switch. For this reason, the operator cannot simultaneously confirm the setting contents for all the functions of the electronic device main body.